Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Real One's Different, I Tell You (2)
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His left hand was clasped behind his back, his sword-gripping right hand dangling loosely at his side. His aura was serene, his breathing relaxed. Uncle looked for all the world like he was out for a casual stroll.
"Hoo."
I carefully regulated my breath. Adjusting my grip on my sword over and over, I circled around Uncle.
"Do you need more time?"
Uncle spoke with a face like he might yawn any second. It was blatant provocation.
I gladly took the bait.
Tak-tak.
I kicked off the ground. Dragging my dangling sword along the floor as if it might scrape it, I slashed upward in one fluid motion.
Screeech.
Uncle twisted his upper body. That alone was enough to make my attack miss spectacularly.
"Going for the neck right from the first strike—your sword is as vicious as ever."
Glare at the tongue-clicking Uncle, then launch a second attack immediately.
Clang.
I pulled down the extended sword, slicing toward Uncle's shoulder. Of course, this attack didn't land either.
I swung my sword again.
Chaeng-chaeng-chang.
Thrust, slash, stab—I unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Half of them missed completely. The other half were blocked by his sword.
"That should be enough to warm you up."
From behind his vertically crossed swords, Uncle asked. His eyes gleamed like a beast lurking in the underbrush, waiting for its prey.
"Bring out your mana."
Instead of answering, I glanced around. Adelia, the Royal Knights, and everyone from the 1st Prince's Palace were watching us. All of them fixed on me and Uncle.
Uncle probably wanted the picture of me rolling on the ground in front of them all. Utterly pathetic.
Shallow. So damn shallow.
I shook off my sword vigorously and retreated.
Hoo.
Steadying my breath, which had risen to my jawline, I let my sword hang loose.
"Giving up already?"
Uncle taunted me annoyingly.
"As if."
I shot back curtly and met his eyes.
As annoying as it was, I had to acknowledge what deserved it.
Uncle was strong. Too strong for the current me to handle.
And that Uncle was biding his time. Waiting for me to draw mana from my Mana Heart.
To deliver an even more crushing defeat.
A lesson for his nephew's foolish choice, or punishment for a wastrel who'd crushed a genius's potential—or maybe both.
Whatever his motive, it didn't matter.
What mattered was that the moment I activated my Mana Heart, things would likely play out just as he wanted.
I glanced down at my body.
The Mana Heart nestled in my chest now felt substantially heavier. Thanks to scraping together mana like my life depended on it, chased by that sword-crazed maniac nipping at my heels.
But it still wasn't enough.
Uncle had said he'd use just a single ring, but I couldn't assume his one was like anyone else's.
Even Arwen Kirguyen's single ring had shown power leagues beyond some backwater knight's.
No doubt Uncle's ring was several times more potent than hers.
It was a crisis, sure. But I wasn't worried.
"Smirking?"
I must have been smiling without realizing it. Uncle's expression soured as he looked at me.
"Isn't it strange?"
I asked him.
"Just 400 years ago, countless knights achieved unbelievable feats. All of them wielded Mana Hearts. This kingdom's founder was one of them."
"Can't prove it with your sword, so now you're resorting to words to tout its virtues?"
I ignored his blatant sneer.
"And yet, just because one decent technique came along, all those legendary knights' arts get dismissed as trash. How absurd is that?"
Uncle scowled deeply as he retorted.
The resonance of Mana Chain was the natural counter to Mana Heart, so that's why Mana Heart fell out of use.
"Everyone thinks that. That Mana Chain was stronger, so Mana Heart got obsolete."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I see it differently."
It wasn't because Mana Chain was stronger than Mana Heart that it fell out of use.
"What was weak wasn't the Mana Heart—it was its wielders."
Uncle dismissed my words as childish wordplay.
"Not all Mana Hearts are created equal."
Mana Hearts had clear distinctions in caliber.
"If you're talking about the upper, middle, and lower grades, that's meaningless. None of the masters felled by Quad Chain knights lacked an upper-grade Mana Heart."
True. There was that classification too.
But that was just a convenient split based on efficiency. The real measure of a Mana Heart's caliber wasn't some trivial difference in efficiency or power.
"Ever heard of the Martial Odes?"
Uncle was openly irritated now.
"This is a place for crossing swords, not chattering about ear-tickling songs."
His face said he couldn't grasp what I was getting at.
"I figured an uncle who calls Mana Heart a low-class technique fit for mercenaries would say that."
Words are cheap—a single demonstration beats a hundred arguments. Probably meant for times like this.
"Come on."
Uncle flicked his sword tip, as if he wouldn't wait any longer.
Watching him, I murmured softly.
"A hundred victories over twenty aspiring knights dreaming of knighthood—that is my pride, my strength."
"What?"
Exploits are etched into the heart,
and etched exploits become Martial Odes.
The small accomplishments I'd piled up over the past half-year had taken form as a Martial Ode, settling into my body.
I kicked off the ground.
"Hah!"
I brought my sword down in a powerful overhead strike, channeling my charging momentum and mana into it. Uncle grimaced and raised his sword.
Woooong.
Even before our blades met, I felt the distinctive vibration of the ring's mana.
Bam!
The fierce impact sent my sword bouncing back. In that split second, the ring's mana burrowed in, churning my insides.
In that instant, a clear song resounded in my mind. The vibrations roiling through my body vanished in a flash.
This is a Martial Ode.
I flashed a triumphant smile.
To earn this ode, I'd sparred over a hundred times, enduring the ring's mana over a thousand. All while bearing the agony of mana reflux.
"You're second to none at brute-forcing through it."
Uncle clicked his tongue.
"Does it look like I'm forcing it?"
I launched another strike at the babbling Uncle. Mana surged toward my sword without the slightest interruption.
Bam-bam-bam!
In an instant, I unleashed over a dozen sword strikes.
"Heh."
Uncle looked at me with a hint of admiration. Even then, I kept pressing him with my sword.
Bam!
Dead serious now, he met my attack head-on without dodging. His face showed iron determination to churn my guts for good.
Bam!
A flicker of doubt crossed his features.
Bam-bam!
The doubt grew into a larger one.
Bam!
And then disbelief.
"How..."
"What, thought I'd be puking blood and collapsing?"
Our swords clashed in midair.
Kwajik.
The ring's vibrations, fiercer than before, burrowed into my sword. But even that dissolved away instantly.
Uncle glared at me.
"What in the..."
"I told you."
I spun my body, slashing horizontally.
"Not all Mana Hearts are the same."
"So full of yourself."
Looks like my words had rubbed Uncle the wrong way.
Until now, he'd been purely defensive—but now he launched his first offensive.
Shwick.
I blocked the sword flashing right in front of my nose and gritted my teeth.
Thanks to the Martial Ode, I'd avoided fighting through mana reflux pain, but Uncle was still a tough matchup for me.
In a flash, our swords clashed over a dozen times in the air.
Bam-bam-bam!
Strikes flew back and forth again.
The sharp glint in Uncle's eyes gradually softened. Then, at some point, it reverted to the indifferent gaze from the start of the duel.
But unlike that gaze, his strikes grew keener with time.
Kwajik!
I finally took a hit to the sword.
"Kugh."
Clutching my shoulder, I staggered back. Under the condition of not stepping back, Uncle didn't pursue.
"Surviving this long is impressive enough. Well done."
I hadn't expected me to hold out this well, he said with a touch of admiration.
Looking at his face made my blood boil. That smug, know-it-all attitude infuriated me.
"400 years ago, the knights made a grave mistake."
I said, enduring the pain in my shoulder.
"Leaving their descendants enemies."
A knight's Martial Ode was a record of past and present—and a path to the future.
Facing mighty foes elevates the soul's caliber, resetting limits toward greater existences. The vessel expands, transcending bounds.
That was the essence of Martial Odes.
The knights of 400 years ago possessed Martial Odes worthy of [Myth] or [Hero].
They must have been passed down intact at first.
Sword arts, proper heart forging, shining odes—all of it.
But time gnawed away at those brilliant exploits, eventually consigning them to oblivion.
Dragons they'd never seen, giant kings they'd never heard of.
Faith faded, doubt took root.
And in the end, they became fanciful songs or absurd myths.
An unbelieved Martial Ode was no different from cheap ditty.
"New Martial Odes were forged, sure. But scraps between middling foes yield at best [Extraordinary Grade] odes."
Merely victories over ten knights,
merely soloing a hundred soldiers,
merely exploits against humans.
When no houses on the continent retained [Myth] or [Hero] Martial Odes, a new wind blew.
The knights I knew must have been swept away and eroded by it.
"Did you drink in the morning? I can't make heads or tails of what you're saying."
Uncle glared at me with irritation.
"Come on. Let's end this pointless spar."
Uncle's aura sharpened like a blade.
Ah! Kicking away the path to transcendence with their own feet, flaunting petty arts!
"Mana Chain—that trash won't reach 「Transcendence」."
Bail Ballerhard. Arrogant, foolish knight.
"You need to know how much you've lost."
If you don't, I'll show you.
Kirrr—my sword began to ring sharply.
"Wondered why you weren't drawing that eerie sword."
Stepping forward, I sang softly.
"Slicing scales no famed sword could breach, drinking that searing blood."
Pain like chunks of my Mana Heart were being hacked away coursed through me as I raised my sword.
A short song echoed in my mind.