Innate Talent
Quite some time had passed since they arrived in the imperial capital.
Perhaps it was the change of place. A few of their habits had shifted in subtle ways as well.
The biggest change of all was that Shiron had taken over the day-to-day running of the annex.
Unlike Dawn Castle, where the maids delivered meals to each of their rooms, Shiron used the excuse of a reduced staff to propose that they eat together from now on.
"How's today's menu? Not too bland or anything?"
"...Mm. It's good."
Lucia swallowed a mouthful of the red pasta as she answered.
Unlike the dry, overly salty slabs of meat they had eaten at Dawn Castle, the ingredients supplied to the annex were all of excellent quality.
In other words, anything you made with them tasted good.
Apparently unsatisfied with her reaction, Shiron brought over a grater and a white lump of something.
"Hold on a second."
With practiced hands, he began shaving it into a fine white powder.
"How about this?"
"...I think it's even better than before."
"Is that so."
Shiron pulled a notebook from his pocket and jotted down Lucia's feedback. Only after confirming that she was properly satisfied did he finally take his seat at the table.
"I made it myself, but it really is pretty good."
Of course, Shiron did not cook every meal with his own hands. He merely designed each day's menu and slipped in dishes tailored to Lucia's palate.
The finished menu was then handed off to the demon maids, so that Lucia could taste what she wanted whenever she wished without Shiron lifting a finger.
Lately, every dish that appeared on the table had gone through this custom process. It had to be a hassle, yet Shiron rolled up his sleeves and took it on without a single word of complaint.
Is this really all right?
Lucia chewed on her fork, troubled.
Leaving everything to a child again and again had begun to prick her conscience.
She might look like a little girl, but she was a reincarnator who still carried the memories of her past life.
No matter how much more socially adept Shiron was than the present Lucia, no matter how much better he was at handling work or cooking, she did not want to become some useless woman who simply let other people raise her.
And if that "other person" was an eleven-year-old boy, even less so.
She had once offered to help just because she hated always being on the receiving end, only to be told that this was something he wanted to do himself and that she should sit quietly.
In the end, Lucia decided to accept Shiron's goodwill with good grace.
He had politely declined Eldrina's offer to hire as many servants as they needed, and he only handled tasks within the limits Lucia could tolerate. If she still found something to complain about after all that, she would not even count as human.
"About today,"
"Huh?"
Lucia froze with a piece of bread halfway to her mouth. Sauce dripped from the bread, which was still soaked in what remained on her plate. Shiron gestured for her to finish eating first.
"Siriel said she wants to train in internal arts together."
"..."
At those words, Lucia's expression turned lukewarm.
She had known for a long time that Shiron was interested in handling Aura, but unfortunately she had never been able to teach him herself.
Until not long ago, she had believed that internal energy was something that simply accumulated on its own if you swung a sword long enough in silence.
She herself could instinctively manipulate her true energy and pile internal power into her dantian, but when she learned that other people could not do the same, it had felt like a bolt of lightning had struck her skull.
"I mentioned it in passing last time, but I guess she was still bothered that I can't control internal power yet."
Shiron wiped his mouth with a napkin as he continued.
The core gimmicks of Reincarnation Sword God—raising Adaptability and Proficiency—had been fairly intuitive.
The longer you stayed in a "combat state" while swinging a weapon, the higher your proficiency climbed. Status ailments like freeze or poison built resistance the more attacks you took, making the game easier to clear.
But things like internal power, mana, fighting spirit, and cultivation methods had been completely unfamiliar elements.
Even if someone grafted extra arms onto you, you would never use them properly without knowing how they were supposed to feel.
That was why he had kept putting it off—until the opportunity finally arrived.
"Good morning!"
"Why did you come all the way here? We would have gone to the training grounds if you'd just waited."
"So what? I wanted to see you sooner."
Siriel's cute greeting. There were still a full twenty minutes left until the appointed time, yet she had already brought Yohan down to the lower floor ahead of schedule.
The main house where she lived stood on the far side of the training grounds.
But she had wanted to see her friends even a moment sooner, so she had not minded the trouble of retracing her steps.
"Good morning, Young Master Shiron, Lady Lucia."
"Thank you for making time for us when you must be busy, Sir Knight."
"...Hello."
Shiron and Lucia both bowed their heads in greeting to Yohan.
"Don't even mention it. Lady Siriel kept pestering me to hurry over."
"G-Grandpa! I told you not to say that!"
Siriel flushed with embarrassment, and Yohan let out a hearty laugh as he played the fool. Maybe it was because she was among children her own age, but the little lady's expressions had grown much richer lately.
"At any rate, it seems everyone is ready, so shall we be on our way?"
Yohan held up an ornate chest and started leading the way.
Three children and one old man. Their destination was a stone building set aside in one corner of the training grounds.
What's that?
Shiron found himself wondering about the box Yohan was carrying. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Yohan noticed the boy's gaze and explained.
"These are spirit medicines meant to assist with your internal arts training."
"What kind of spirit medicines?"
Lucia blinked as she asked. Even in her previous life, spirit medicines had been precious treasures that anyone who claimed to know a sword would scramble after with fire in their eyes.
Back then the age had been so harsh that even Kyle, who bore the title of Hero, had only managed to taste them a handful of times.
"There's some boiled from a unicorn's heart, and some finely ground from a fire dragon's horn. For the most part, they help mana accumulate more easily in the dantian."
"They look terribly expensive."
"Lord Hugo ordered that no expense be spared in supporting the young master and the young lady."
With a metallic clack, Yohan took a ring of keys from his coat and unlocked the stone building.
The lock itself looked unusual enough that Shiron guessed the building they were about to enter was something special.
Whoosh—
When the tightly shut door was flung open, a cool yet heavy air began to spill outward.
"Don't tell me—Terrasite?"
"You recognize it, I see."
Yohan regarded Lucia with a kindly smile.
"Yes. The entire interior of this building is finished in Terrasite. It is a mana training chamber Lord Hugo had specially commissioned."
Terrasite—a mysterious stone that constantly released dense concentrations of mana—was a mineral that took considerable effort to obtain, both because of that unique property and because it was not particularly profitable to mine.
I've never seen Terrasite this pure before...
Even five hundred years ago, this mysterious mineral had drawn the attention of countless mages and alchemists. But—
Seira once said that with the techniques of that era, refining it was an impossible dream, never mind processing it...
Lucia recalled her memories of the past.
Airships were one thing, but seeing objects like this made her keenly aware of just how much time had passed.
"It feels strange somehow. Like I'm underwater, except I can still breathe just fine."
"That's because of the high mana density. A mild form of poisoning that people who can't handle internal energy often experience."
Yohan answered the stream of questions as they walked down the corridor.
He showed not the slightest sign of annoyance. If anything, he looked pleased—like a grandfather watching his grandchildren show off.
At the end of the narrow passage, a wide chamber opened up.
The entire floor of the chamber was filled with black sand the same color as the building's inner walls. Shiron thought of the mineral Yohan had just described—Terrasite.
"Well then, we ought to decide on an order..."
Yohan opened the chest and took out a bottle filled with a blue liquid. The gently sloshing fluid cast a faint, eerie blue glow.
"How about starting with Young Master Shiron?"
"Works for me."
"Please sit in the center here and assume the proper posture."
Shiron carefully settled into the spot Yohan indicated. The old knight rested a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"I will now guide mana along your meridians. All you need to do is feel the unfamiliar sensation flowing through your body."
"Yes."
Is this like the qi circulation from martial arts novels?
"Sss... haa..."
Shiron recalled the abdominal breathing he had once seen on television.
I can definitely feel something.
He could sense the energy that had entered through Yohan's hand spreading toward his heart.
And yet—
For reasons he could not name, the energy simply remained there, lingering around his heart.
What ought to have radiated from his chest through his entire body instead felt as if it were circling endlessly in place.
As though something were blocking its path.
"Hm..."
Yohan seemed to sense the strangeness as well and withdrew his hand from the boy's back.
"Would you try taking this? It is a spirit medicine that temporarily raises the concentration of mana within the body."
Yohan held out the bottle of blue liquid. Shiron nodded without a word and uncorked it.
Pop—
He downed the liquid, which shimmered with blue energy, in a single gulp. The taste... surprisingly, there was none at all.
"...I will begin again."
"Yes."
Yohan started guiding mana once more through the back of the seated Shiron.
"..."
Or rather, he tried to.
"..."
No matter how much time passed, there was no sign of the mana spreading.
"..."
"Could you... lie down for a moment?"
Shiron turned and stretched out on his back. Looking up at Yohan from below, he saw the old knight's face was soaked with sweat.
He looked thoroughly exhausted; Shiron could guess how hard the man had been working.
Yohan began pressing here and there as if taking a pulse.
A short while later—
Yohan let out a low groan and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Your meridians are tangled."
"..."
"The pathways of the upper and middle dantians are so thoroughly knotted that I do not believe we can proceed any further."
The upper and middle dantians.
They meant the head and the heart.
"W-what does that mean?"
Sensing that something was going very wrong, Lucia, who had been watching from a distance, cut in.
"Young Master Shiron has a body that cannot handle mana. If we force the meridians open, the aftereffects could be severe... he could die."
Yohan forced the words out with difficulty.
Which meant—
That Shiron would struggle to achieve greatness not only as a mage, but as a martial artist as well.
"I am sorry."
Yohan spoke as if pronouncing a death sentence over the boy.
A dark shadow settled over his face.
"Come on, Sir Knight. You've got nothing to apologize for. It's fine."
Shiron smiled as if it were nothing at all.
He had already known it would turn out this way, so it truly did not bother him.
No one understood better than Shiron himself that he had no talent.
The only thing that had changed was that he now knew the reason.
But—
When Lucia rose to her feet, the look on her face said she was anything but fine.