The Weight of the Sword and the Dawn of Youth
After the commotion surrounding Kalia’s transfer following the Ability Selection Ceremony had settled, time began to slip away with startling speed. It had already been several months since I turned ten. The promise we had made while rolling on the floor that day had become a secret bond between the two of us. Kalia had returned to being the stoic, meticulous knight who guarded my side as if nothing had ever happened, and I had resumed my usual daily routine. Yet, while the surface remained the same, the air flowing between us had shifted in a subtle, profound way.
Whenever we crossed blades and I looked ahead, I saw Kalia’s face directly. Her cold, sunken red eyes, her pale cheeks despite the heat of training, and her serious expression that never wavered. Amidst the heavy vibrations transmitted through our clashing swords, I faced the overwhelming aura Kalia exuded head-on. Our swords collided, and my body was sent reeling. I regained my footing, then exhaled and inhaled sharply. The North was still cold. Every time I saw my white breath scattering into the air, I realized that this was a land better suited to the chill of ice than the warmth of human life.
As always, I was swinging my sword in the private training grounds with Kalia in tow. While I was learning the orthodox swordsmanship of the Valenvalt family, I had also asked Kalia to teach me her own practical combat style. Usually, mastering even one style of swordsmanship is a daunting task. Dabbling in too many things often leads to being a master of none. But the body of Cassian, whom I had transmigrated into, was different. His talent was truly overflowing. It seemed entirely possible for this body to simultaneously absorb both the Valenvalt swordsmanship and Kalia’s style—these two top-tier martial arts.
‘Well, I am the lead in a romance fantasy, after all.’
Perhaps the original plot didn’t hold much meaning now that I had already transmigrated. However, the setting of "innate talent" granted by the world would surely still be embedded in my muscles and nerves. To draw out the charm of a character for readers like me, a talented appearance would be far more "marketable" than an incompetent one.
"Young Master, your focus is wavering," Kalia’s cold voice shattered my thoughts. Ever since I had asked for her guidance, she had been displaying her capabilities as a mentor without reservation.
"…Sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment." I tightened my grip on the sword again. "Let’s go again, Kalia. This time, let’s increase the speed a little more than before."
Although I was devoting myself to practice every day and my body was growing noticeably stronger, I still wasn’t satisfied. The talent this body possessed was certainly exceptional, but my standards had already been set by the powerhouse standing right in front of me.
Our swords clashed in the air, and the sharp sound of metal rang out several times. It was a predictable result, but I was the one being pushed back with every exchange. ‘To think that even when she’s holding back, it’s like this. It’s no wonder she took down that wyvern all by herself.’
I had learned through later investigation that a wyvern was a kind of natural disaster that required at least three quasi-knights to risk their lives just to stand a chance against it. Every time I recalled the fact that she had hunted such a monster alone, I felt the weight of Kalia’s strength anew. Was it because of that overwhelming martial prowess, or was it because of her existence itself? I wondered if I had started to admire her at some point.
Of course, the Valenvalt swordsmanship was a noble, orthodox style that was near perfection. But what captured my gaze more intensely was Kalia’s sword. Her free-spirited, domineering swordsmanship that didn’t bind itself to form, but instead surged like a storm to force the enemy to submit.
"Young Master, your reaction is slower than before. Move your legs a bit more," Kalia said, adjusting her grip and closing the distance.
‘It’s unconventional. It’s already too late to respond.’
The moment I thought that, my vision flickered briefly. The tip of Kalia’s sword slid along the face of my blade, and then, with a strange rotation, she used the recoil of my wrist to knock my sword away.
Clang—!
As my sword struck the ground with a sharp noise, I lost my balance and stumbled backward. A tingling vibration still lingered in my palm, and in front of my empty hand, the cold afterimage left by Kalia’s swordsmanship sliced through the air.
"…Amazing," I said, letting out a hollow laugh as I looked at the sword stuck in the ground. Kalia exhaled very softly as she lowered her blade. Its tip remained pointed at the ground without a tremor.
"You were caught too easily by an unconventional move, Young Master. The more domineering an opponent’s swordsmanship is, the more you must guard against your vision narrowing due to being overwhelmed by their momentum."
Kalia picked up my sword from the ground, dusted it off lightly, and handed it back to me, hilt-first. "However, your response just now wasn’t bad. A normal ten-year-old would have had their wrist shattered before the sword even flew away."
It was a blunt tone, but it clearly contained genuine acknowledgment. I took the sword she offered and gripped it again. The precision hidden behind the domineering swordsmanship—I felt it painfully once more that this was the core I needed to learn from Kalia.
"Thanks. I’ll try not to get caught by that trick next time." I said that and reflected on the sparring. As I continued to spar with Kalia, I gradually adapted to the domineering energy hidden within her swordsmanship. While teaching me, Kalia had given me an important piece of advice.
"The greatest weakness of a domineering sword is, paradoxically, when you meet someone who uses an equally domineering sword. When momentum clashes with momentum, if you meet an opponent who is more skilled and stronger than you, you will be crushed by that pressure and have no recourse."
Therefore, Kalia’s teaching was to engrave into my body the sense of reading the opponent’s flow and becoming accustomed to that momentum through constant experience.
"…Well, I haven’t met an opponent who uses a more domineering sword than I do yet, though."
The nonchalant addition wasn’t arrogance; it was a firm conviction that only a true powerhouse could possess. In that respect, Kalia was an indisputable, true powerhouse. Perhaps that detachment, which radiated from her without needing to show off that she was at the pinnacle, was the biggest reason I had come to admire her.
‘Do the villains of this romance fantasy that I have to face also possess this level of momentum?’
I gripped my sword again. The experience I had gained while facing the massive wall that was Kalia would become my most powerful weapon against any enemy I would meet at the academy in the future.
The sun was setting slowly beyond the training grounds. Kalia sheathed her sword. "Young Master, it is almost time for dinner."
If not for Kalia’s reminder, I would have been so immersed in training that I wouldn’t have noticed the time passing. I paused with my sword in hand and looked at the sky, where a violet twilight had already descended.
"Has it already been that long?"
Dinner time. It was the time that had recently changed the atmosphere of our mansion. After Kyle had run away, my mother had fallen into despair for a while and even skipped meals. Then, perhaps due to some change of heart, she had suddenly issued a strict order that "at least for dinner, the family must eat together." Even if the family consisted only of my stoic father, my mother, and me, it was a simple composition.
To be honest, that dinner table was far more draining than sword training. It was inevitable that the seat where only the sound of cutlery clashing could be heard in a silence so heavy that even breathing felt cautious would be more uncomfortable than eating alone. But if my mother’s mood could improve even a little by doing so, I could willingly endure that much discomfort as her son.
"I should head in. Kalia, you go and get some rest, too. Thanks for keeping me company in training today."
I sheathed my sword and handed it to Kalia. She took my sword out of habit and bowed her head lightly. "Yes, then. I will have the maids stand by so you can change your clothes."
While I took off my sweat-soaked training clothes and changed into neat formal wear, I simulated the conversations that would take place at the dinner table in my head. The topic would likely be focused on my "Ability Selection Ceremony," which was only a few days away.
I stood in front of the mirror and adjusted my attire. I could see shoulders that had become quite firm for a ten-year-old’s body. If one were a male lead in a romance fantasy, their appearance was naturally bound to be handsome. The face reflected in the mirror was quite satisfactory. It was exactly that of a cold, beautiful boy.
‘How handsome will I become when I grow up more?’
Like the childhood of a male lead in a romance fantasy, if I grew up just like this, I wouldn’t have to worry about living as a bachelor for the rest of my life. I also wanted to date, meet someone I loved, and get married in this place. Perhaps because of the memories of my previous life, or because I was a stranger cast alone into this unfamiliar world, I seemed to have a personality that felt loneliness more than I thought. It was a fact I realized anew while having a deep conversation with Kalia. That was why I wanted to make someone "completely on my side" even more. Beyond a simple master-servant relationship or family bond, someone with whom I could connect even at the soul level.
In that sense, the academy was the perfect place. A place where youths with different stories and charms gathered. If it were in that intense yet brilliant space, perhaps someone I could truly like would appear. Of course, I would have to solve the incidents and accidents, but there would be time to enjoy my youth, right? I was human, after all… Ah… come to think of it, in the webtoon, Cassian had a fiancée. But I remembered that both of them didn’t just dislike being engaged; they loathed it. And it was an engagement with a princess, but I remembered that the engagement relationship ended surprisingly easily. Apart from that, the princess was also an ambiguous character to be included in the villainess category, but she was a person who was on that borderline… I wasn’t sure. From the beginning, I didn’t look favorably upon things like engagements, so I had no intention of continuing the engagement anyway.
‘Anyway, natural encounters are the best. It’s a romance, after all.’
Since it was a romance fantasy world, I dreamed of such things a little. Since it ended easily in the webtoon, it would end easily if I wanted to end it, too. So, I just had to think about the youth I would enjoy at the academy.
‘Who will I meet when I go there?’
Leaving the exciting imagination behind, I performed a final check of my attire. I judged that there were no issues, and I soon went outside and headed to the dining room. And soon, I arrived at the dining room.
"I apologize for being late, Father, Mother."
My father’s cold eyes, which had been sitting at the head of the table, turned toward me. Beside him, my mother, who had now regained her health quite a bit, also slowly lifted her head.