Chapter 106
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Dream (6)
A single knight overturning the tide of battle.
That is the realm every knight dreams of reaching.
But such a sight can only be found in myths, legends, and folktales.
It's not easy to witness it in real life.
...But what if you did see it?
What if you could behold such a scene, even just once?
A person cannot imagine what they have never seen.
But once they have seen it, even just once, they can unleash boundless imagination based on that experience.
Those so-called geniuses are like that.
Given even the tiniest kernel of new inspiration, they envision and create vast fields of wheat.
That was exactly the case with Cardina.
'I want to do that too.'
She didn't know why Federback had appeared in her dream or how he had grown so strong.
But Cardina wished for it anyway.
Whether it was a dream illusion or a magical reverie, she yearned to achieve those feats that Federback was performing right now.
In that instant, a new sprout took root in the depths of Cardina's unconscious.
A possibility realized through exposure to something she had never even seen before.
And desire.
It instantly burrowed deep into her unconscious, sending stems and leaves sprouting up to the surface of her awareness.
A powerful goal.
Aspirations directed toward it.
The will to shatter the framework of her previous world and leap beyond.
The moment she became aware of it.
'...!'
Cardina found herself facing a staircase leading to the heights above.
And at the topmost landing, so distant it appeared as a mere speck, there was the faint outline of a door.
Cardina instinctively knew.
'...The door to the 5th Circle!'
Beyond it lay what the world called the realm of the Sword Master.
'That's enough.'
Federback pulled his gaze away from the crystal orb.
A sprout had taken root in Cardina's heart.
Whether that sprout would grow into a millennium-old tree or wither and die immediately was up to Cardina.
But Federback was certain.
Cardina would nurture the new bud in her heart into a colossal tree capable of blanketing the entire world.
Just then, Quinbits came rushing over at full speed.
"Success? Success? Success?"
"......"
Federback furrowed his brow.
"Half success."
"Huh? Why?"
"I thought this experience would let me break through the 5th Circle wall too."
The 5th Circle was the stage where one could condense aura blade density to a solid level—what was commonly known as the Sword Master realm.
Quinbits asked incredulously.
"You think 5th Circle is feasible at your age? Even your father only just crossed that wall recently."
"That's why you need to hurry and complete Garmelda's equation."
"Wait, why bring that up out of nowhere, employer?!"
Federback clicked his tongue lightly and started walking.
"Still, there was some progress. Looks like I've passed the midpoint of 4th Circle."
"You're way too casual about it, but the whole empire would lose their minds. A fifteen-year-old reaching mid-4th Circle swordsmanship."
Federback didn't bother responding.
'Just reliving the battlefield against the demonkin is bringing back my old power. I should use this dream war function more often.'
Cardina, himself, and many more people would experience this.
Federback planned to recreate the countless battlefields he'd faced before regressing as individual stages.
...The Third Battle of Kalchim Gorge.
'I remember it as the fight where the Demon King's 7th Legion commander ambushed us. Almost no humanity survived that defeat. I lost my left eye then too. I'll base a stage on those memories.'
...The Final Fortress Siege on the Northern Front.
'The battle against a full platoon of giant special forces was a nightmare incarnate. I took 286 massive spears to the body and somehow held out. Looking back, I wonder how I didn't die. These memories will help with staging too.'
...The Siege of the Undead Tower in the Demon King's Deep Territory.
'The defenses weren't as tight as expected for the Demon King's inner sanctum. But who would've thought an ultra-high-grade Death Knight, never deployed to the frontlines, was stationed there. In our duel, it sliced my heart twenty-five times—I wished I'd just died on the spot. This'll make a good dream stage too.'
Cardina would face mountains of enemies ahead.
Federback nodded, thinking of his sister, who was probably fast asleep, oblivious to the world.
Soon after.
'Running an old battlefield after so long has my body fired up.'
Federback closed his eyes while still seated.
They say you learn while teaching.
In guiding Cardina and inspiring her, Federback had gained inspiration himself.
Ku-woooo...
A pale, chilling energy poured from Federback's body.
At the same time.
Flaaash—
Red light flashed in Federback's eyes.
The crimson glow soon turned to flames, mingling with the cold white aura.
Craaack— Roooar!
The vine wall Quinbits had meticulously woven burst into flames and froze solid at once.
"Hey! Do that somewhere else!"
What was it? Quinbits' shout felt like it came from far away.
Federback looked down at his hands.
Flames rising from his right hand, icicles creeping down his left.
Cold and hot energies swirled rapidly through his veins, purging all bodily impurities.
Federback's entire body heated up even more.
His mana core throbbed vigorously in his mindscape.
A bright, intense sun at the center of the vast abyss of the unconscious.
It drew in surrounding mana while radiating hot, brilliant energy.
The Meursault House had produced powerful mana users for generations—a prestigious knightly lineage.
Thus, Federback was innately gifted in mana sensitivity.
Every cell in his body refined and attuned to mana.
Crack— Crack— Craaaack—
The mana core burst and regenerated endlessly.
Quantitative expansion.
Pain unbearable for ordinary people accompanied it, but pain was the fodder for growth.
The agony widened the space, filling it with boiling mana.
A feat that would make typical mana cultivators shake their heads and call him mad.
But Federback proceeded without hesitation.
'I can see it.'
He aimed to attain in a single night what others needed decades of training for.
Tsss... Tsss...
Mana extended like roots, soon incinerating impurities in his veins.
First, mana surged to the upper left, becoming blazing flames that engulfed his entire left arm.
Federback's left hand convulsed.
...Roooar!
Palm skin charred black.
Burnt flesh crumbled like ash, exposing pristine white bone.
Meanwhile.
Craaack— Craaack— Craaack— Craaack—
His right hand underwent massive changes too.
Darkened flesh froze solid, then shattered into fragments.
The arm collapsed, revealing white bone throughout.
'......'
It was gruesome just to watch, but Federback didn't scream once.
The pain was brief; immense liberation followed.
His body felt as light as feathers.
All impurities incinerated from within.
Tsss... Tsss...
New flesh grew.
Muscles and skin covering the bones.
Federback's already pale skin now gleamed ethereally white.
His body was so light that a slight push off the ground felt like it would launch him skyward.
'Pain is fleeting, but strength is eternal.'
Federback circulated mana through his reconstructed body.
Bubblle— Bubblle!
His heart boiled like a miniature furnace.
Mana originating there churned hot and heavy as molten metal.
Mana.
The mystical power forming the foundation of this world.
The source of terrifying might and all wondrous existences.
Guided by that source, Federback ascended the staircase.
...1st Circle. Those who can see and hear mana.
...2nd Circle. Those who can feel mana as touch.
...3rd Circle. Those who can gaseous-ize accumulated mana.
...4th Circle. Those who can liquid-ize accumulated mana.
In a trance, Federback sensed an invisible wall.
It loomed right before him, within arm's reach.
...The fifth stage, 5th Circle. Those who can solid-ize accumulated mana.
The Sword Master realm.
His father had crossed it after decades of waiting, thanks to the opportunity Federback provided.
Federback stared at the 5th Circle wall right in front of him for a long while.
'Not yet.'
After much deliberation, he decided not to open the door.
'Opening it now would mean I can't handle the backlash wind from within.'
The door to the Sword Master realm didn't open peacefully just because one willed it.
Not only was the door itself immensely heavy and stiff, but the moment it cracked open, powerful gusts from pressure differences posed a deadly risk.
Get caught wrong in that headwind, and you'd be hurled not just back from the door, but tumbling down all the stairs you'd climbed.
Mana reflux or rampage—turning into a cripple.
'I need more weight before trying again.'
Federback realized he'd reached the pinnacle of 4th Circle.
And that entry to 5th Circle was imminent.
'From now on, it's just the countdown.'
Soon, he'd reclaim his pre-regression power.
Federback boldly opened his eyes.
Then.
"...!"
Quinbits' face was right in front of him.
Their nose tips nearly touching.
No, actually touching.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm fine, so don't worry."
"I'm not fine."
"This is my first time watching a human awaken up close... I've seen plenty of bugs emerging from pupae, but this is incomparably moving."
"You saw it all? I'm done now."
"My observation's over too. I was just savoring the overwhelming emotion. You torched my house—can't I at least get a good look?"
Finally, the two separated their noses.
Federback moved first.
"I'll be waiting for your research results."
With that, he left Quinbits' courtyard without looking back.
Quinbits called from behind.
"Must be nice. At fifteen, eyeing 5th Circle—everyone would praise you to the skies."
"I don't need praise."
Federback replied without turning.
"Praise feels good? Then criticism would feel bad. Only by transcending others' judgments can you seize what you truly desire."
"......"
Quinbits fell silent at his words, standing still.
Meanwhile, Federback strode away steadily.
"If you catch more test subjects like Shedioldis or lower ones, send them over. Keep up the research."
Not forgetting his final employerly exhortation to the end.
"......"
Even after Federback left, Quinbits stood there for a long time.
Then, as if entranced, she murmured.
"I found him, Master. Someone who says the exact same things as you."
Staring at the spot where Federback had faded to a dot, Quinbits continued.
"Master always said it: Find a man as strong as you, as smart as you, as respectable as you, and as handsome as you."
The face of her master, Garmelda, flickered before her eyes.
Garmelda smiling kindly with her white beard.
Quinbits smiled back with moist eyes.
"That man will become as strong as you someday. He's already as smart as you. Respect for him is growing in my heart too."
Soon, her ear tips flushed faintly.
"...And he seems way more handsome than you."
Garmelda's apparition looking somewhat sullen must have been her imagination.