Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Sword (2)
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The Welton family's training grounds were vast, befitting their reputation.
The floor was made of a special metal, designed to withstand the power of Count Welton, a Sword Master.
'Come to think of it, I've hardly ever been to the training grounds.'
The count had brought him here a few times when he was younger than he was now. There was no reason to visit without even basic training, let alone sword practice.
Perhaps that's why the scene unfolding before Jamie felt so unfamiliar.
Even though it was the house he'd lived in for over seven years.
Jamie stepped into the training grounds. He spotted a man standing with his back turned.
It was Count Welton.
Unlike usual, he was dressed in training robes, and the aura he exuded was entirely different.
"You're here."
The count spoke without turning around.
At his level, it wasn't hard to tell who had arrived without looking.
"Yes."
"Coming here means you're prepared to prove yourself."
"I'm serious about this."
"Good. Seriousness. Fine word."
The count stood his wooden sword upright from where it had been resting on the ground.
"I'll face you with this one blade. Use everything you have to block my sword."
It was just a wooden sword, but in the hands of Count Welton, its weight changed completely.
Jamie swallowed dryly.
The count's presence wasn't wild; it was refined to perfection, making it all the more terrifying.
'On par with Sable. No, maybe even more.'
He'd never seen the count at full power, so he couldn't be sure, but based on this alone, he was no inferior to Sable.
Was he always this strong?
He knew a Sword Master had to be powerful, but he'd thought it was just a bit above Beyrl's level.
"I won't use Aura."
Even a wooden sword infused with a master's Aura became more threatening than any named blade.
And how could Jamie, who hadn't even reached master class yet, handle an Aura Blade?
He'd be sliced to pieces before he could prove anything.
Not that the count would do that to his own son.
"......So I can use magic?"
Jamie knew as much, but he confirmed with the count just in case.
"Magic, sword, whatever. As long as you block my sword once without holding back on means or methods, I'll teach you the sword."
The count was saying his sword wouldn't be easy to block.
Just once.
Block a wooden sword without Aura.
But the one swinging it was a Sword Master.
'Destroy the wooden sword.'
Not difficult.
Without Aura, it was just a sturdy piece of wood.
"Ready?"
Jamie slowly drew up his mana as he replied.
He'd already summoned Black and finished auxiliary casting.
"Yes."
At Jamie's response, the count turned.
His expression was utterly serious, so unfamiliar it was like facing a stranger.
The count took a step forward.
"Here I come."
The starting signal.
Count Welton's final courtesy.
And Jamie felt a chill run through his body as alarms blared in his head.
Just one strike, he'd said.
But—
'He's really trying to kill his own son?!'
Jamie stared in shock at his father, who had closed the distance in an instant and raised his wooden sword straight.
Was this what he meant by showing resolve?
Jamie gritted his teeth against the cold sweat trickling down his back.
'Better this way than half-hearted. Black!'
Kreek!
Black controlled the mana flow.
Destroy the wooden sword.
And even injure Count Welton.
That was what the count wanted.
Jamie concentrated mana in his fingertips. The memorized spell's formula unraveled from them.
'Destroy it!'
Death Forefinger
Concentrated mana destruction spell
He didn't take his eyes off the falling wooden sword.
Jamie thrust his powerfully condensed mana finger toward the wooden sword.
Just before collision, the two forces tangled violently, whipping up a gale.
He had no idea how a mere wooden sword without Aura could exert such power.
"Shatter!!"
Finger met wooden sword.
If it broke now, it was his victory—
"I said no Aura."
The count's gentle rebuke.
The wooden sword bent unnaturally.
Jamie’s eyes widened at the movement defying physics.
"A sword isn't simple."
Swing it tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of times—refined to the extreme, it transcended acrobatics.
"It'll hurt."
Time seemed to slow.
In that endless moment, Jamie smiled.
"I said I was serious too."
Left Hand of Ruin
Black magic-infused secret destruction art
His pitch-black left hand reached for the grotesquely flying wooden sword.
A secret spell blending black magic exquisitely.
Yet not pure black magic, allowing its destructive power to be revealed.
This time, the count's expression shifted subtly.
Kwajik—!
The satisfying crack echoed.
The count's eyes widened.
'The wooden sword...!'
It snapped.
Stunned by the unexpected for a moment, Jamie's attack didn't end there.
As if breaking the sword wasn't enough, he extended his left hand fully toward the count.
An audacious move.
The count approved of his son's boldness.
But he couldn't lose his dignity as family head any further.
Chak—
He easily caught his son's wrist.
Jamie’s face tinted with slight panic. He'd thought he'd land a real hit.
"You thought that would actually work?"
"......"
No reply meant his son had been dead serious.
The count was dumbfounded but also proud.
"Where'd you learn a spell like that?"
"I made it myself."
"Hah—"
Reached the level to create such a powerful spell on his own?
The count knew little of magic, but developing new spells was incredibly difficult.
Truly astonishing talent.
No, it was beyond talent. His son was a mage worth more than one man.
"And still, you want to learn the sword?"
"It might sound arrogant, Father, but I'm not learning for show. I've never taken the sword lightly."
In his past life or this one. He'd seen swordsmen's power firsthand.
The blades they forged through effort weren't child's play.
Count Welton alone emanated immense presence without even Aura.
Though he still believed magic superior.
"I need it for my future."
"Future?"
"Yes. The future."
"What future?"
"This one. I've been through a lot lately. I have talent in magic. I know that better than anyone. But it's not enough. We're facing a tough fight, Father."
"Jamie."
"You have some idea too."
His young son was already gazing far ahead.
Maybe not so far, but that was for adults to handle.
Not a seven-year-old's worry.
The count meant to say as much.
"I'm young, but not a child. You know that."
The count was at a loss for words.
Jamie's words pierced his heart.
His son was different from peers. He'd known, but treated him like a child anyway.
Now Jamie was saying not to.
The count gazed silently at Jamie.
His face, identical to his own, held firm resolve.
"It'll be tough."
"I'm prepared."
"We'll start tomorrow. Be here by dawn at six."
"Yes!"
Jamie beamed at the count's words.
The count chuckled at his son.
"Let's go."
A hawk-faced man unusually gentle helped his two daughters into the carriage.
A spirited girl boarded with brisk steps, followed by one with elegant poise.
The contrasting pair were Rebecca and Ash Valle, daughters of Viscount Valle.
The viscount smiled at his seated daughters.
"Both excited, huh?"
"It's been ages since we went out!"
Ash bounced happily inside the carriage.
Rebecca nodded shyly.
'From the same womb, yet so different. Amazing.'
The viscount shook his head at his contrasting daughters and boarded.
"Then we're off."
The carriage departed at the coachman's signal.
Ash, peering out the window, whipped her head toward her father.
"Hyis must be huge, right?"
"One of the biggest in the kingdom's east."
"Exciting."
"By the way, Ash, aren't you close with the Welton heir?"
"Hmm......"
Ash pondered, nibbling her lower lip at her father's question.
She'd met Jamie Welton five months ago at the eastern nobles' party. They'd dropped formalities then, but no contact since.
Shed thought of writing, but her personality balked at anything cringey.
'Should've sent one anyway?'
A simple check-in would've been fine.
As Ash stayed silent, the viscount tilted his head and nudged her.
"Ash?"
"Huh? Oh, uh. Y-yeah. Close. Probably......"
"What’s that mean? Close or not."
"Anyway!"
Ash shouted and turned to the window.
Not even puberty age yet.
Watching his fast-growing daughter, the viscount felt oddly melancholic. It didn't suit his sharp, hawkish features.
Forcing a smile, he turned to eldest Rebecca.
"What about you, my big girl? Friends with the young master?"
"Huh? Uh......"
Rebecca pondered like Ash.
The viscount seriously wondered if something happened with the count's son.
'No way.'
He was close with Count Welton, but didn't know kids' affairs fully.
Still, bad blood would've shown on their expressive faces. They'd looked happy coming home from the party.
Maybe just too long apart.
He concluded alone, nodding with a smile.
"You can get close again. No need to force it. If personalities clash, nothing for it."
Rebecca tilted her head.
"Not quite."
"Hm?"
"Just... not sure if it's friendship or something else."
Rebecca clasped hands over her chest.
Her heart raced.
Since meeting Jamie Welton in the forest five months ago, it beat like this whenever she thought of him.
But inexperienced, she couldn't pinpoint why.
'Want to see him again.'
Then she'd know why her heart raced.
Viscount Valle sighed softly at his eldest.
Daughters' hearts were a mystery.