Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Even Legends Have Class Differences (1)
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My uncle clicked his tongue and continued.
"No knight bothers learning such outdated techniques anymore."
"Then how the hell do they accumulate mana in their bodies?!"
If a knight doesn't form a Mana Heart, how could they possibly wield mana in their body? It's not like mages weaving rings to store it.
"Like this."
"What?"
"Knights weave rings just like mages to wield mana."
It sounded so utterly absurd that I just laughed.
"I'm not joking."
His expression was like watching a clueless kid bragging about trading a fifty-thousand-won bill for a one-won coin. That was how my uncle looked at me.
For the first time, seeing that face, I realized something was deeply wrong.
While I'd been stuck in the royal treasury, a ton of time had passed. A whopping four hundred years, in fact, and the world had changed beyond recognition. The common sense and systems I knew had been uprooted entirely.
Knights aiming to surpass human limits through Mana Hearts? Apparently, that was ancient history now. They'd started linking multiple rings instead of a single heart for more efficient mana use—two hundred years ago, no less.
"Why on earth?"
Why bother weaving multiple rings when you had a perfectly good Mana Heart?
"Because it's easier, faster, more stable, and stronger."
My uncle replied as if it were the most obvious thing.
"Ha."
Fine, let's say Mana Chains were that much more efficient. But the very concept of the Mana Heart vanishing entirely? That didn't make sense.
I'd seen countless people reach superhuman realms through Mana Hearts. Their achievements weren't so trivial that a new training method could dismiss them.
"Two hundred and twenty years ago, the continent's top ten Swordmasters were all crushed. By knights who'd ascended through rings."
After that, Swordmasters faced endless challenges and lost every time, eventually becoming punching bags or measuring sticks for combat prowess.
"That's just..."
"Not impossible. Sword aura drawn from linked rings had a property that shattered sword aura from the heart. No one formed a Mana Heart after that."
The famous martial families across the continent abandoned their traditions around then.
"A hundred years ago, the Ilai count family, the last holdouts clinging to Mana Hearts, fell completely. Mana Hearts became a low-class trick for mercenaries."
And here I was, the idiot using that low-class mercenary trick?
Ha ha ha. It was so ridiculous I could only laugh.
"Did you read some heroic novel or something?"
My uncle clicked his tongue again. With so many excellent techniques out there, why learn something so archaic? He stared at me like I was some freak.
"How was I supposed to know?!"
"Not knowing would be weird. It's basic common sense."
His tongue-clicking face was infuriatingly smug. I hadn't liked him from the start, but now it was on a whole new level.
"Read this. I brought it in case you had any real interest in the sword—don't make a fuss, just read it yourself. And this is how you use it."
My uncle handed me a book.
"Mana Chain Fundamentals," written by Bruno Burdorf, eighth successor to Werner Ratzel, sixteenth disciple of the Mana Chain creator Ernest Altringen, and compiled by Gregory Hessler.
The title alone made me not want to open it, but I forced myself. To fill the four-hundred-year gap, I had to read it whether I liked it or not.
"Times have really changed."
Sword-Beginner, Runner, Expert, Master—the knightly terms I knew were now moldy relics. The new era was full of unfamiliar concepts.
Mages had [Circles], knights had [Chains], and knightly realms were divided by the number of rings.
[Single Chain], [Double Chain], [Triple Chain], [Quad Chain], [Penta Chain]
These strange words denoted current knights' levels. And the knights who'd turned the continent's top ten Swordmasters into punching bags two hundred and twenty years ago? Quad Chain knights.
"Quad... not even Penta."
The Mana Heart fully settled in my body felt unnervingly vivid. It had seemed so beautiful yesterday; now it felt like a tumor inside me.
"Ha."
Even when I entered this fat wastrel's bloated body, even when I lost all the divine power accumulated over centuries, I'd been confident.
With centuries of swordsmanship know-how, recovering lost power was nothing.
And I'd succeeded in forming a Mana Heart despite this body's poor aptitude. Given time, I could reclaim my past strength—I still believed that firmly.
But this was a different issue.
After all the effort to grow a Mana Heart, it would shatter against unheard-of Mana Chain users. How could I feel good about that?
As I pondered, my hands kept turning pages, my eyes scanning the dense yellowed text.
"Fundamentals of Mana Chain Synthesis"
The key to obsoleting a once-dominant secret art was written out like a cheap recipe.
But the content wasn't so simple.
"So it's not some worthless trash technique."
Just skimming the manual made it clear why Mana Chains had replaced Mana Hearts.
Mana Chains clearly had that potential. Yet when I finished the book, I couldn't help but laugh. No more worries or unease lingered.
"Altringen, Altringen."
I closed the book and glanced at the cover. The tacky design bore the title meticulously inscribed. "Mana Chain creator 'Ernest Altringen'..." That name at the top stuck out.
"No wonder it rang a bell."
Long ago, some hybrid neither pure swordsman nor mage had shown up. He'd demanded to test if I deserved the title of Sword Saint and drew his blade on the spot.
He used a bizarre technique that roiled the opponent's mana. Right—his family name was Altringen.
"What happened to that guy again?"
The next day, my uncle's gaze remained the same. Like looking at a prodigal who'd ruined his future with an irreversible mistake.
"Do you get the situation now?"
He finally asked after a long silence. I nodded.
"Then you know how foolish your choice was."
"It was hasty, but calling it foolish is a stretch."
As expected, displeasure crossed his face.
"You didn't read the book, then."
"I read it. Multiple times."
"Then you didn't understand it properly."
"I understood plenty."
My uncle stepped back, folding his arms. His expression dared me to explain what I'd grasped.
"Mutual complement, rotation, resonance between rings."
I listed a few key terms for him. My summary of Mana Chain synthesis from last night.
"Hm."
His eyes flicked to the escort knights watching from afar. He figured I was showing off what I'd heard from them.
"Whatever. It's all useless to you anyway."
Since I wasn't becoming a knight and already had a Mana Heart, what did Chain principles matter? he said dismissively.
"True. Can't change what's already learned. Besides..."
A glint appeared in his eyes. He expected me to throw a tantrum.
What did he want? Should I pretend to regret it?
Others' rice cakes always look bigger. But no—mine looked far superior.
"I don't regret it one bit."
His gaze treated me like the world's biggest idiot.
"Just refusing to admit it? Or still clueless about reality?"
His indifferent tone dripped with contempt.
Facing that blatant disdain, I simply smiled.
"Ever heard of class differences?"
He didn't answer. His hardened face glared, displeased by my smile. I pressed on.
"Not all Mana Hearts are created equal."
Idiot.
Bail Ballerhard clicked his tongue at his nephew. Bragging about that meager achievement after crippling his own potential—it was pathetic.
"Do you think you're special?"
The nephew didn't reply. But Bail knew exactly what he was thinking.
"There are fools among mercenaries like you. Deluded into thinking they're ancient heroes."
Drunk on past dreams, blind to reality.
"Know what happened to them?"
His foolish nephew was just like them.
"Not one broke past even two rings. They all fell by the wayside."
He needed a lesson. This thunderbolt-headed freak had to learn the magnitude of his mistake and the world's towering walls.
"Double Chain. If you can beat a Double Chain knight..."
So he'd never soar like a fool again. So his sister wouldn't grieve.
"I'll become your guardian, as your mother wishes."
"I don't know what kind of man you are."
Was it worth it? That's what the nephew seemed to ask.
Bail straightened at the petty provocation, becoming a giant with that small shift.
"I am Bail Ballerhard, commander of the Northern 3rd Legion, captain of the Black Spear Cavalry, count of the kingdom. One of the five silver lions serving His Majesty, and a knight of four linked rings."
His aura surged like a storm.
Ching!
The Royal Knight Order drew blades in unison, aiming at Bail. Even before that fearsome hostility, he didn't blink.
"That's the name of the man who might stand behind you."
Staring at such a Bail, the nephew picked one title from the many.
"A Quad Chain knight."
His plump cheeks twitched. Bail couldn't tell what expression it was.
"Don't whine later."
The nephew was probably smiling.