Chapter 33: Struggle, Acquisition, Enjoyment (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: Struggle, Acquisition, Enjoyment (3)
Zed pointed his finger to the side.
There, a mountain of round iron spheres was piled high. Tall tables, designed for placing the spheres upon, were also visible.
“Move the iron spheres and the tables over here.”
“How many should we move, Uncle?” Heitona asked.
Zed smirked—a strangely wicked smile.
“Four tables. As for the iron spheres, bring as many as you can.”
The three of them moved the tables and spheres to the center of the secret training ground. Each iron sphere was heavier than a full-grown man, and every time they moved one, something heavy rattled from within.
What is this?
As he moved the spheres, Jin confirmed that he had never seen these in his previous life.
It made sense. This training, using these specialized iron spheres, was reserved for direct descendants learning Runcandel swordsmanship. Before his regression, Jin would never have had the chance to even glimpse them.
Thud. Thud.
Every time they dropped a sphere, it left a deep indentation in the hard-packed earth.
Only after the three of them had moved about fifty spheres did Zed tell them to stop.
“Do you know what these iron spheres are?” Zed asked, placing one of the spheres onto a table. It came up to a height just below his waist.
“We do not, Uncle.”
“These are called Blue-Eye Stones. They earned that name because they emit a clear, elegant sound when struck.”
The Tona brothers tilted their heads, unable to understand why such stones were necessary for swordsmanship training. Jin didn't let it show, but he was just as curious about how the Blue-Eye Stones would be used.
Zed smoothly drew the sword from his waist and rested its blade against the Blue-Eye Stone.
“From now on, I will strike this sphere three times. Compare the sounds.”
For the first strike, Zed applied almost no strength, letting the sword drop lightly.
Doooooo…
A dull, muddy tone rang out. It was a deeply unpleasant sound, the kind that could make one feel motion-sick if they listened for too long.
“An unpleasant sound, isn’t it?”
Next, Zed struck the sphere again. This time, his strike was far more disciplined and rapid.
Clang!
A clear and beautiful chime rang out, truly worthy of the name Blue-Eye Stone. The sound seemed to travel through their ears and gently caress their entire bodies.
“Ohhh!” the Tona brothers exclaimed in unison. Jin also stared at the Blue-Eye Stone, his eyes wide.
“Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve heard it myself, but it is quite nice,” Zed said. “As you just saw, these Blue-Eye Stones produce a very dull sound when struck weakly, but they offer such a beautiful sound when the correct amount of force is applied.”
It was a simple principle.
However, Jin noted that Zed hadn’t explained exactly how much ‘correct force’ was required. He also realized what an excellently structured, simple training method this was.
The goal of this training must be to strike the sword so that the Blue-Eye Stone always produces a clear sound.
Producing a clear sound on the first try would be ideal, but judging by Zed’s demeanor, that was clearly not going to be easy.
That meant they would have to keep striking the sphere until a clear sound emerged. The unpleasant noise they would hear in the process would surely shatter their concentration. And even if their concentration wavered, they couldn't stop, so the format naturally forced them to refine their mental fortitude.
Then what is the third strike?
The key to the first and second strikes was force control. The third would likely be the same, as there seemed to be nothing else to do but strike the Blue-Eye Stone with a sword.
He said this training suits the physical capabilities of a Runcandel. That’s why he called it simple and ignorant. But what Uncle has shown so far involves too few risks.
Runcandel swordsmanship was the Path of the Overlord, and the Path of the Overlord always came with risks. There was no way a Runcandel swordsmanship training session, which only pure-bloods could learn, would be this safe.
When we were carrying them, there was definitely a rattling sound inside the Blue-Eye Stones. Something is inside. It definitely felt like pieces of iron…
Ah!
The moment Zed raised his sword again, Jin realized the answer. He grabbed the napes of the Tona brothers standing on either side of him.
“The third is this.”
“Get down!” Jin shouted as he ducked.
Caught by their necks, the Tona brothers had their faces slammed into the ground by Jin’s raw strength. They were about to hurl curses the moment they hit the dirt, but the scene that unfolded next left them blinking in shock.
BOOM!
At Zed’s final blow, the Blue-Eye Stone exploded with a thunderous roar.
Dozens of iron beads burst out from within. They flew at speeds comparable to arrows, each one possessing enough power to kill an untrained person instantly if it hit a vital spot.
“Wh-what…”
“Heh…!”
The Tona brothers looked around in terror, their legs trembling at the sight of the iron beads embedded in their surroundings.
“The youngest has good instincts,” Zed said with a satisfied smile. “Yes, the Blue-Eye Stone is designed to explode like this if it’s subjected to too much impact.”
As Jin brushed the dirt off his clothes, he thought his uncle was completely out of his mind. He had plunged his nephews into mortal danger without a single word of warning.
But on the other hand, a thought occurred to him.
This is a training every Runcandel does. Most of my siblings were also taught by Uncle Zed, which means they all went through this ignorant demonstration.
In his case, his sharp instincts had allowed him to duck and avoid it. The Tona brothers had benefited from those instincts.
Then what about his other siblings?
“You are the first since Luna to remain uninjured during the Blue-Eye Stone demonstration. Excluding her, everyone else was struck by the iron beads at this exact moment and suffered grievous injuries. You could call it a rite of passage.”
Seeing Zed chuckling as he spoke, the Tona brothers instinctively felt that a path of suffering had just opened wide before them.
Jin, however, felt a sense of pride at being the first since Luna.
“Uncle, may I ask how Sister Luna avoided this?”
“Hmm, you’ll be disappointed if you hear it. Your older siblings all asked the same thing.”
“It’s alright.”
“That girl, to be precise, didn’t avoid it like you did. Just like everyone else, she was hit by all of them. She just didn’t get hurt. The child was just that sturdy…”
As Zed had said, it was a somewhat deflating story.
Still, there was a takeaway. He had secretly wondered what he would have done if there was a sibling who had ‘dodged everything’ without any prior knowledge. If that were the case, it would mean they possessed talent superior to his own.
“Anyway, you must have understood the training method. From today on, you will strike iron spheres every afternoon. You will continue until you can produce a clear sound no matter when or in what situation you strike.”
*
Luna’s room.
She was enjoying a quiet moment, drinking tea with her nanny.
It’s about time for the youngest to be tested. The Mind’s Eye training will be put to use. Getting hit by a Blue-Eye Stone will hurt quite a bit, but I’m sure he’ll do well. There’s a real joy in watching him grow.
Sip.
“My Lady.”
“Yes, Nanny.”
“I’m finding Lady Myu and Lady Anne a bit suspicious, seeing how they’ve been trying to keep Young Master Jin in check lately.”
The two were discussing the identity of the culprit behind the attempt to ‘assassinate’ Jin.
— I have already experienced one assassination attempt. It’s something I’ve never told anyone. Even Gilly doesn’t know. In that sense, the battle has already begun.
Ever since Luna first visited Jin at Storm Castle and heard that story, she had been searching for the culprit. For five whole years.
Part of it was because she cherished Jin dearly.
But it was also because it was a long-standing family taboo for a pure-blood of the main house to wage a succession war against a Runcandel who had not yet left Storm Castle.
If Luna reported the incident to Cyron, the entire family would be turned upside down. She judged that such an outcome would do Jin more harm than good.
Most of all, there was no evidence.
“Hmm, they act out, but surely… would they be crazy enough to attempt an assassination inside Storm Castle?”
In reality, what Jin had experienced was not an assassination but a curse called Delusion of the Blade—a fact of which Luna was still unaware.
“To be honest, I think Young Master Jin might have lied. He was only ten at the time; isn’t that an age where one might do such a thing? And indeed, there has been no progress for five years.”
“I don’t think Jin lied. Back then, the youngest was even wary of me. It wasn’t just awkwardness; it was the gaze of someone who felt a threat to his very life.”
“Then shall we investigate Lady Myu and Lady Anne for now?”
“Yes, please. I’m actually more uneasy that there’s been no progress. I have a… foreboding feeling.”
“I’m the one with a foreboding feeling. I’m worried you’ll be hurt by your siblings again, My Lady.”
“Haha, Nanny. It’s been a long time since I turned thirty.”
Luna hid a bitter smile behind her teacup.
*
A day passed.
Jin and the Tona brothers had yet to hear the beautiful sound of the Blue-Eye Stone. Nor had they exploded a stone and been hit by iron beads.
Dooooong…!
Doong…!
For four hours, the unpleasant noise had been filling the secret training ground.
I can say this for certain. This is the foulest training I’ve ever done.
The sound constantly blurred his concentration. The Tona brothers had already retched on the floor a few times, and Jin was barely holding onto his sword, drenched in a cold sweat.
Receiving hellish training in the intermediate class in the morning and striking Blue-Eye Stones in the afternoon made him feel like he was dying. Moreover, he simply couldn't get used to the unpleasant sound and the vibrations that came with it.
“Five-minute break.”
At Zed’s words, the three of them simultaneously dropped into a formal cross-legged position. However, the Tona brothers were exhausted both mentally and physically, and their posture was a mess.
But even the break was not a true break.
The ‘rest’ Zed spoke of meant maintaining a seated position while extending one’s sword straight out and keeping it coated in Aura. Even rest was part of Aura training.
Jin’s grip on his sword trembled violently, and the Tona brothers could barely hold theirs up properly.
For Jin, it was merely the foulest training, not the most difficult.
In his previous life, he had put in dozens of times more effort than others just to reach 1-star by the age of twenty-five. Compared to those despair-filled days, the Blue-Eye Stone training was bearable.
First and foremost, increasing the destructive power of my Aura is the priority.
Zed had exploded the Blue-Eye Stone without manifesting Aura.
But that was only possible because the sword strike of an 8-star knight was on a completely different level from theirs. They had to grow their Aura first to hear the clear tone and, eventually, break the Blue-Eye Stone.
“Daytona, Heitona. Do not collapse. If you cannot even manage this, you will not survive in Runcandel.”
As Zed spoke calmly, the Tona brothers corrected their posture, on the verge of tears. It seemed hard enough to make them cry, but Jin remembered that, before his regression, these dim-witted brothers had both become Flagbearers of the family.
In my past life, even these two succeeded. If so, there’s no way I can’t do it.
Therefore, there was no need to be impatient.
Jin closed his eyes and focused on the Aura flowing through his sword. Doooong, doong. He heard auditory hallucinations of the sound, but Jin knew well how to erase such distractions behind closed eyes.
I felt it on the first day, but this boy… he’s quite the piece of work. The Tona brothers are holding on well enough, too. Perhaps he might even break Luna’s record.
Zed only thought this to himself; he did not praise Jin.
Praise could wait until after he had broken Luna’s record.