Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Dreaming of Becoming a Spirit User
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'I'm going insane.'
Before I knew it, rumors had spread like wildfire through the knight academy. Whenever students spotted Highness, they hurriedly turned their heads and walked far away.
'To think I'd be ostracized here...'
This was group bullying, something I hadn't even experienced back in Korea.
"Tch, what did I do to deserve this?"
A grumbling voice leaked from Russel, who was walking beside me.
"Hoho, big brothers, this little guy is the flower bud of the red Kylie. It blooms in early spring and scatters its fragrance all the way to summer."
And the culprit behind my ostracism, Highness, was excitedly gazing at the trees in the courtyard.
'How does such brute force pour out from that frail body? Did her ancestors suck some ogre blood?'
Back in Korea, middle-aged men jab straws into deer and all sorts of animals, claiming it's good for the body.
I was curious about the genetic history of the Petrin Count family, Highness's house.
"Russel, how did you summon your spirit?"
It was said that commoners living in remote mountains had higher spirit affinity than nobles.
However, since it required affinity, mana, and help from a spirit user, it was as hard for ordinary commoners to become spirit users as it was for an orc to eat garlic for a hundred days and turn into an ogre.
"My father was a spirit user."
'Huh? A spirit user? But how is he a commoner?'
Spirit users, in some ways, were treated even better than mages.
I'd heard that even summoning a mid-grade spirit earned you treatment on par with a 4th Circle mage or higher.
Yet Russel's father, despite being a spirit user, was just a commoner.
'Suspicious. This guy's been hiding something since the first time I saw him.'
He introduced himself as a commoner, but every subtle action he took exuded elegance.
The kind that you'd believe if he said he was a noble.
"Wow! They call it the Forest of Spirits, and it really feels like we're in the middle of a forest."
I'd meant to ask Russel one more thing, but we'd already arrived at the Forest of Spirits inside the imperial palace.
It was where spirit users received training and lessons about spirits.
'The imperial spirit users number around twenty. There's a high-grade wind spirit user and a high-grade earth spirit user, right?'
Spirits existed in ranks below the Spirit King: supreme-grade, high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade.
Spirit users who could summon them usually aimed for high-grade spirit summoning as their ultimate goal.
Supreme-grade spirits and the Spirit King existed, but throughout history, only a handful had ever summoned a supreme-grade spirit, and no one had summoned a Spirit King.
No, summoning even a supreme-grade spirit earned you treatment on the level of a 7th Circle great mage.
'They crawled out early.'
Sky Knights' aerial battles involved things I'd tasted once before, like the Blessed Spear magic lances, mages' spells, and spirit users' spirit attacks.
Today's lesson was about spirits.
The punks who formed the academy's delinquent gang.
'That guy's the heir to the Pasain Ducal House, huh?'
A smug-faced bastard around twenty with blue hair.
Maybe because he was destined to become the head of one of the four great ducal houses that controlled the empire, the other noble brats were wagging their tails and flanking him.
'His vibe is exactly like Hwang Sung-taek's.'
Tedran, the heir to the Pasain Ducal House, gave off the same energy as Oseong Group's crown prince, Hwang Sung-taek.
Zzzt.
Our eyes met in midair.
Thud, thud.
'Huh?'
The moment our gazes locked, the annoying prick came over with that sleazy smile.
Flanking him were five trainees, including Jusain—the guy I'd laid an egg on—and Alphonso.
"Your name's Kaier, right?"
'No, who the hell gave you permission to talk down to me?'
He started with informal speech without even asking.
"Yeah, and you're Tedran, right?"
I shot back with the same informal tone.
"You bastard! Do you know who this is?!"
"Insolent cur! How dare you speak so freely, you commoner trash!"
His dogs barked furiously, their faces flushing red at my clapback.
I picked my ear, letting their words flow in one and out the other.
"Puhahaha! Good! A real man needs that kind of spirit!"
Instead of getting mad at my attitude, Tedran burst into hearty laughter.
'Not bad?'
He seemed a cut above the other punk noble brats.
"Come under me. I'll make you a Sky Knight of my ducal house, not some indefinite imperial Sky Knight."
"Gasp!"
His flunkies looked shocked at his seemingly generous offer.
"R-Really, my lord?"
They bowed politely, asking if it was true.
"Of course! I am the heir to the Pasain Ducal House..."
"That's what I figured you'd say."
"......"
Tedran's smug smile froze into a shit-eating grimace mid-self-praise.
"You're young yourself—don't live like that. Quit acting like a cocky little shit throwing money around! Bam!"
They flinched as I clenched my fist, pretending to swing.
"Watch it. One more snide remark, and I might bury you under the training grounds."
I threw out a mercenary-style threat.
"Hoho! My big brother is so cool."
Heiness, who feared nothing in this world just like me, praised me from the side.
"Y-You bastard!"
Tedran, who wasn't even a duke yet, had been strutting around.
His face burned crimson from the insult he'd probably never received before.
"That piss you off? Then see me at tomorrow's sparring session~"
"....."
The empire's ducal house might scare others, but not me.
The world is wide, and places that would welcome a skilled guy like me were everywhere.
"Grind."
Tedran ground his teeth instead of replying.
"Nice weather today."
I whistled past his beastly glare and strolled into the forest.
Resolved that if he messed with me again, I'd bury him deep for real.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"When dealing with spirits—especially in the skies—beware the wind spirits' attacks. The Air Plates worn by Sky Knights can block up to 4th Circle magic, but they can't fully defend against the physical attacks of spirits striking from the sides or rear."
The spirit lesson unfolding in the Forest of Spirits.
Count Kafuin, a high-grade spirit user who could summon the high-grade wind spirit Jin.
Unlike the other instructors I'd met, this mid-fifties spirit user had a gentle, next-door-neighbor vibe.
His explanations were detailed and kind, too.
"Especially if the enemy formation has a high-grade spirit user, you won't be able to mount an aggressive offense. Lower spirits of the same element can't oppose higher ones—that's a key trait of spirits."
'Hoo, so becoming a high-grade spirit user makes you top dog.'
There's only one supreme-grade spirit user on the continent right now.
Some duke in a kingdom, apparently.
"As you all know, our empire has two high-grade spirit users. But there's only one Sky Knight among them: me. Our greatest hypothetical enemy, the Raviter Empire, has two."
Brr.
Russel shuddered violently beside me at the mention of the Raviter Empire.
"Count Lineke and Count Midon, who died suddenly ten years ago. If Count Midon hadn't perished, we'd have taken a massive hit in any war with the empire."
Grip.
'Why's he getting so worked up?'
At the names Count Lineke and Count Midon, Russel clenched his fist hard.
"Count Midon was the wind element's successor, one even I feared. Had he lived, the continent would have one more supreme-grade spirit user."
'Alrighty?'
Russel's eyes closed at the mention of Count Midon.
His hardened expression hinted at some unspeakable backstory.
'Could it be?'
I connected Russel to the wind spirit user Midon family.
'Nah, no way...'
Russel had calmed down, back to his usual self.
I couldn't be sure, but it felt plausible.
Why else would a count's son come all the way to the Bazran Empire—always the designated enemy in drills—to become a Sky Knight?
"I hear there's a wind spirit user among the new trainees. Come forward!"
Count Kafuin gathered the spirit users, as if to demonstrate something.
Thud, thud.
Russel and two others stepped up.
"Three of you... They said this year's trainees were exceptional, and it's true."
The count looked pleased at the three spirit users.
It starkly showed how rare they were.
"As Sky Knight trainees, you must all be mid-grade spirit users. Summon yours— the spirits you've contracted with."
The count smiled calmly.
"Shuriel, summon!"
"My friend!"
"I command you, contractor! Shuriel, summon!"
The spirit users called their spirits in their own voices.
Fwaaah!
'Whoa!'
With their summons, a mid-grade wind spirit Shuriel appeared ten meters above their heads.
'These guys can flip battleships with ease.'
Shuriel was eagle-sized.
Small in stature, but its physical destructive power was immense.
"Hahaha! Impressive affinity. And at your young age, your mana is quite robust."
The mana spirit users supplied to their spirits was minimal.
But more efficient than magic, and pure like upper dantian mana, it was usable for spirit users.
'The range of the user's mana sets the spirits' activity area.'
Low-grade sylphs useful against regular soldiers, mid-grade ones efficient for Blade Knights and mages.
Their power scaled with the summoner's mana capacity.
'I want one too.'
With classes starting and everything so hectic, I hadn't brought up spirit summoning yet.
Tonight, I'd ask Russel and get one for sure.
"As I mentioned earlier, spirits have a strict hierarchy. Like lions ruling beasts, it's absolute and unchanging in their world. I'll demonstrate."
'H-High-grade spirit!'
The count meant one thing.
Summoning the high-grade wind spirit Jin.
"Jin, my friend~! Reveal yourself here!"
Spirits grew more conscious the higher the grade.
A book in the imperial library said high-grade ones had intellect surpassing adult humans.
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Pababababababababababat!
No sooner had the count spoken than a whirlwind tore through the Forest of Spirits.
My cloak flapped wildly, nearly sucked away.
"Ah....!"
"Jin!"
A massive, transparent wind humanoid appeared.
'The genie from Aladdin!'
The Arabian Nights genie was named Jin too.
Unlike the rigid comics version, this one felt flexible.
'Those pecs are killer!'
A rippling transparent shadow in the air.
The high-grade wind spirit Jin, five times human-sized, boasted bulging muscles like a bodybuilder sculpted from wind.
"Trainees, order your summoned spirits to attack."
Count Kafuin commanded with overflowing confidence.
"Shuriel! Attack!"
"Friend! Attack!"
The spirit users attacked eagerly, as if they'd been waiting.
They were spirit users too, but this was their first high-grade spirit, and they were thrilled.
Kieeeek!
But instead of slicing through like arrows, the Shuriels shrieked in midair like chickens spotting a hawk.
"Gah!"
Cries escaped the spirit users.
"See that, trainees? As future Sky Knights, remember this: if the enemy has a high-grade spirit user, only attack through coordinated mage and knight assaults. The gap between high-grade and low-grade spirits is like that between Blade Knights and regular soldiers. Jin, force-return them."
The count spoke to Jin not as an order, but a request to a friend.
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A sharp gust swirled in the air.
"Urk!"
"Ugh!"
Thud, thud.
The spirit users screamed and collapsed as their spirits were forcibly returned.
"It was a non-lethal force-return, so the spirits are unharmed. But if facing an enemy, never put your precious spirit allies in front."
Every lesson brimmed with sincerity and love.
His gaze on the spirit users held deep affection.
"If you have questions about spirits, come to me anytime. That ends today's lesson. May the gods bless your futures...."
Despite his count title, Count Kafuin bowed his head in greeting—a bold move.
He'd make a fine master.
'It's decided! I'll ask him for the spirit summoning!'
A spirit user's help was key for summoning.
I hesitated with Russel, but trusted the count.
'Jin, right? Heh, just wait.'
The high-grade wind spirit Jin gazed arrogantly at the humans from its rippling wind body.
Pabat!
Our eyes met in midair, Jin's bulging-chested gaze locking with mine.
Smirk.
A brief smile flashed.
'Umahahaha! You're mine now!'
They say abs and brains don't mix.
Especially when the pecs are inversely proportional to the skull.