Equipment Privilege
Seeing that I couldn’t sense any mana, I figured he must be quite skilled.
“You’re still green, huh. Your lies are painfully obvious.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“I can read it on your face. You already know my level.”
As he said, mana welled up in me unlike what his words suggested.
The middle-aged knight who called himself “uncle” was at the 7th Circle.
He was even bigger than Taria, his muscles bulging from constant training.
“It’s too obvious to be a lie. That huge greatsword on your back, plus the insignia of the Imperial Knights. If I asked anyone on the street, they’d tell me exactly who you are.”
“Your words sound smooth, but there’s no soul behind them. Still, that’s weird. Your acting is kid-like, but the vibe isn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t seem the type to not know my identity. I doubt you’d let a knight from the Imperial Knights follow you for no reason.”
“What I know is that you’re the young prince of Solea. But at fifteen you’ve already reached the 6th Circle and are called a genius.”
“I’m a little embarrassed, but you know a lot.”
“No. There’s something more.”
As he spoke, the middle-aged knight pulled the sword from his back.
It was a massive greatsword.
“I’ll drag out everything!”
The knight leaped high into the air.
His overwhelming strength and weight were clear, so my only choice was to dodge.
I moved quickly and barely escaped.
“Uraaa!”
The greatsword slammed down with a deafening boom, shattering the ground.
It was absurd.
“If you’re making all this noise, what’s the point of the tailing?”
“I don’t know. Just fight! The high-ranking ones will lose anyway!”
The knight charged at me relentlessly, swinging his greatsword wildly.
Facing an 8th Circle opponent with solid muscles was beyond my strength and mana.
I dodged the attacks as much as I could, but the knight swung the heavy sword fast and wide.
I had no choice but to block with my sword. The fierce impact made my whole body ache.
“Ghk!”
“Whoa? Blocked, huh? Let’s see how much more you can take!”
I felt mana circulating inside the knight’s body.
He began reinforcing his body and weapon with it.
And the amount was far beyond what I imagined.
He was pulling in at least 7th Circle mana.
“How are you going to use that much mana? Are you sane?”
“Oh my, you can feel my mana moving, huh? That’s amusing! So I’ll have to make this uncle more entertaining!”
Thanks to the reinforcement, his attacks became even faster and more powerful.
I had no choice but to use mana too.
When I pushed my mana to the upper limit of 6th Circle, I could block and endure his strikes.
“Even in this uninhabited place, it’s too much. If you swing that heavy sword wrong, the surrounding buildings will be destroyed!”
“The division leader said to do it, so it’s fine!”
“Division leader? You mean Kroden-nim?”
“Yeah. Now that I’ve revealed I’m from the Imperial Knights, no need to hide my identity. This uncle’s name is Krux.”
Krux von Steiner.
I had heard the name before.
The 4th Division commander of the Imperial Knights, with seven divisions in total.
In my past life I never met him because I died in the civil war, but he was definitely a formidable warrior.
“If someone this strong survived, he would have been a great help during the demon invasion.”
While our swords clashed, Krux left an opening.
To properly talk, I had to stop him, so I stabbed at that gap.
At a speed that was avoidable.
“Huh!”
Krux was startled and backed away when he saw me exploiting his opening.
“Your skill isn’t amateur at all.”
“Since you’ve told me your name, tell me why you’re doing this to me.”
“Good. If you block this, I’ll tell you.”
Grinning, Krux began condensing mana into his greatsword.
I could feel a huge amount of mana gathering there.
There was only one reason to pour that much mana into a weapon.
He was about to fire a mana-infused sword qi at me like an attack spell.
“Don’t. If you’re planning that, the area could be destroyed and innocent people hurt.”
“Then block it. I have a feeling you can.”
“I sensed he was a weirdo while clashing swords, but I didn’t think he’d be this stubborn…”
His eyes burned with madness.
Krux was going berserk.
“I don’t understand why you’re attacking me or why you’re preparing an attack knowing it will cause harm. But I’ll stop you with everything I have!”
I poured nearly 7th Circle mana into Regret, the limit of what a 6th Circle user could handle.
If I could, I would have crushed this crazy uncle with 8th Circle mana. But I couldn’t reveal that yet!
Regret vibrated as it accepted the mana.
If the sword that was once the Holy Sword was superior to any other blade, injecting 6th Circle mana would make it far stronger than one infused with 7th Circle.
“You’re ready. Then take this!”
Krux roared and swung his sword with all his might.
But the direction…
The moment I saw the way he swung the greatsword, my will faltered.
The mana released from Krux’s sword flew straight up into the sky.
“You were testing me.”
“Of course. Would the Imperial Knights really destroy a city? Only a madman would.”
It was my mistake for thinking I could see through people thanks to my past-life experience.
Krux genuinely enjoyed fighting me.
But he was an adult who knew how to separate enjoyment from orders.
I thought I had a young body with an uncle’s soul inside, but that was arrogance.
I was still young.
Krux sheathed his greatsword again and said,
“You passed the test.”
“What test?”
“The test I gave you.”
“Then what kind of test?”
“Come to the palace tomorrow. You’ll find out then.”
Krux turned and walked away.
But he stopped, turned back, and muttered,
“You really have a good sword.”
“A good sword, and a good owner. That’s why the sword His Majesty prepared for tomorrow will look shabby.”
“You called me here just to give me a sword, didn’t you? No matter how good my sword is, the fact that it’s the sword His Majesty gave me is the point.”
“Your words are convincing, but it’s only ‘convincing.’ You’re still young, so you don’t know the difference between natural and convincing.”
Krux turned and waved as he left.
“See you tomorrow, young talent. Next time, don’t hide your real skill.”
My head was a mess with too many thoughts, but the questions would be answered tomorrow.
Since the area was remote and no one was around, I left before people gathered from the noise.
I ran to the orphanage to catch up with Rua.
But Rua wasn’t inside yet. She waited a little away from the entrance.
Standing with arms crossed on the hill above the orphanage, she looked down at me.
“Why didn’t you go in first?”
“If you were the brother, you could go in first? With that noisy sound, I’d be left alone.”
“I… can’t.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Then Rua took a small handkerchief from her pocket.
“Bend your waist.”
“Waist?”
Rua stood on tiptoes and wiped the sweat on my forehead.
It wasn’t just physical exhaustion. I was too tense.
“I believed you’d be fine, but I was still worried. I’m glad you came back safe.”
“Thanks for waiting.”
“So what exactly happened?”
“Some crazy uncle attacked me.”
“A crazy uncle? Coming for volunteer work and then…”
“You’ll probably meet him tomorrow too.”
After explaining the situation roughly, Rua and I entered the orphanage.
The children spotted us and burst out with cheers, running over.
“Erebon hyung and Rua are here!”
“Erebon oppa, you haven’t eaten dinner yet? Let’s eat together!”
Their noise brought Sister Riela out from inside.
“Oh, it’s student Erebon and student Rua. It’s not a volunteer day today, so what brings you…”
“I couldn’t come tomorrow, so I came early because I’ll miss the kids.”
“Thank you. The kids love you two so much. I’m grateful you came just for them. You haven’t eaten, have you? Come in and eat with us.”
“I’d be happy to.”
The orphanage’s budget was tight, so the food was worse than at a regular restaurant.
But the children ate with such delight that my appetite returned.
For the orphanage kids, the best volunteer work was simply playing together without thinking.
I decided to focus only on playing with the children, leaving the day’s events for later.