Rogue Villain-Chapter 250: Head Empty

Ackster didn’t know where the thought came from. But he realized that maybe he didn’t notice the Sword God doing anything other than cutting his arms off because the Sword God wasn’t doing anything else.

Of course, it could also be because the Sword God was simply too strong for Ackster to notice anything. But the Sword God had said that Ackster was strong enough to do this. Acksyter was a little doubtful. But if the Sword God’s words were true, it meant it was a matter of technical skill, not pure strength.

The more he thought about it and considered the possibility, the more he realized it was possible.

Why would the Sword God waste effort or time with something as unnecessary as drawing a sword, making a cutting motion, and actually doing anything if he wanted to cut someone’s arm or head off when he could just cut it without any extra effort? 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

If Ackster was on the right track, he could somewhat guess that the Sword God was using something like a formless sword will. It was a different concept from mana, skills, martial arts techniques, and magic.

Ackster wasn’t sure since it had never been explained in the original story. The Hero never got a chance to have a proper face-off against the Sword God even until the end, which meant that the only times the Sword God showed up, he beat the shit out of The Hero without the writer of the original story explaining how or what his techniques did.

But The Hero’s sword teacher was also an accomplished swordsman, even if he didn’t end up as strong as either The Hero or the Sword God. And in one of The Hero’s final moments with that teacher, he had talked about the next level of swordsmanship.

From what Ackster could tell, it was also a realm of pure swordsmanship that not even The Hero reached until the end.

If he were right, Ackster wondered how he was supposed to learn formless sword will without even knowing how to swing a sword properly. It was something even the talents of The Hero hadn’t been enough to do, at least not in time.

But if there was anything Ackster was confident in, it was his talent and ability to grow when straddling the line between life and death. And right now, although he appeared calm, Ackster was constantly remembering the sensation of holding his own head. A single mood swing or whim from the Sword God was enough to end his stubborn life.

That same Sword God also seemed to want Ackster to learn how to use Will as the first step of his training. Ackster didn’t have a choice.

He would do it, or he would die. It was the same as with most of his other training sessions.

If Ackster succeeded, he would experience monumental growth proportional to the effort he had put in and how close to dying he had come. If he failed—He wouldn’t fail.

Ackster didn’t even let the thought enter his mind. Doing so would be the first step to failure. He imagined himself succeeding and proceeded with that mental image occupying the majority of his mind.

Ackster had multiple skills that relied on his Spirit stat, and his Spirit stat was SS rank. His mind and mental tenacity were powerful enough to control his thoughts. The only question was if his mind was powerful enough to manifest his Will into the physical world.

After all, Will was nothing but a materialized expression of one’s willpower. And ackster was nothing if not stubborn and determined. He had more willpower than he knew what to do with. He had even used that willpower to bring his Pain Tolerance to SS rank.

Now, Ackster just had to use that willpower as a tool and not just as a foundation for his motivation. It felt similar to how he had to learn to control his vitality instead of letting it run free.

The two were completely different, but the process of how he learned to control his life force inspired Ackster regarding how he could learn to control his willpower. He first had to become aware of it as an actual thing and not just an esoteric concept.

Ackster closed his eyes and cleared his mind.

He wouldn’t get anywhere if he was stuck listening to his muddy thoughts. He needed to free his senses of distractions and his mind of clutter.

With his mind empty, Ackster had no idea what the next step would be. He didn’t know where to begin. So, he didn’t begin.

Ackster sat cross-legged with an empty mind and a calm heart. He wasn’t doing anything special, just the same kind of mediation he had done when learning to sense both mana and vitality.

However, nothing happened. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but with his Overhuman Senses, which were an even better skill than what Ackster had had when he sensed mana and vitality, he had thought he would sense something pretty quickly.

Reluctant to give up or ask the Sword God to give another demonstration, Ackster continued feeling for the willpower hidden away inside his brain since that was the only logical place Ackster could reason it to be.

Ackster could find his mana concentrated in the lower center of his chest and the air around him. He could find vitality in his heart and other living beings or plants. It only made sense that willpower, something like a resource of the mind, would reside inside his head similarly to vitality and mana in the rest of his body.

But Ackster didn’t find anything except a couple of dust bunnies. He had no intentions of giving up, but the definite lack of progress made him wonder if he was maybe barking up the wrong alleyway.

Ackster’s instincts told him he was on the wrong path. But more than that, Ackster doubted the Sword God had done or would do something like this just to swing a sword without swinging a sword.

’That’s it!’