Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Phaion, the class representative of Class 2 in the high school division who had fought a round with Mord, had suffered serious injuries and would have to stay in the medical center for the time being.
Although this world had magical healing, recovery still took time for injuries of that severity.
Mord, who had sent Phaion to the medical center immediately after arriving at the high school division, was given a three-day confinement punishment.
If the injury had been minor, it might have been overlooked, but the wounds Mord had inflicted on Phaion were excessive. Mord himself was aware of that, so he did not think the punishment was unfair.
“Only three days… is it because that guy Phaion struck first?”
If anything, he found it odd that it ended with just three days of confinement.
In any case, Mord finally left the lodging he had been staying in and was assigned a room in the high school dormitory.
“Bigger than my one-room place.”
The room was about 33 square meters in size.
In terms of space alone, it felt much more spacious than the one-room apartment where Eom Tae-seong had lived before the accident. Part of that was also because there were no facilities like a bathroom.
“Either way, I’ve got a lot to do, so I won’t be bored over these three days.”
He had not been idle over the past two days either.
By focusing intensely on what he had grasped in just 10 minutes in the elementary division and 30 minutes in the middle school division, he had trained for a full day and improved enough to move on to the high school division.
“A book, huh. It’s been a while since I’ve seen something that isn’t an e-book.”
While Mord was under confinement, the instructor had given him a book.
It was a tactical theory manual. Since warriors had to take a theory exam as well when taking the warrior test, he needed to understand the contents of the manual.
There were theory classes in the high school curriculum, so he could learn it during those sessions, but Mord decided to read it anyway since he had nothing else to do during confinement.
“This is really analog production?”
Mord examined the manual with curiosity.
It was not a book produced by a printing press.
Each character had been handwritten by a person, and the illustrations were also drawn by hand.
“So metal movable type probably exists, but if it’s not a high-volume book, they just make it manually?”
Come to think of it, even in Earth’s history, the labor of “hand-copying” had existed for quite a long time.
Even if printing technology existed, perhaps handwritten copies were still made when demand did not exceed a certain level.
With that thought, Mord began reading the manual.
“This is easy.”
The manual was about 50 pages long, and the content was not particularly difficult.
“But for the original Mord, this would have been quite difficult.”
The original Mord had never received proper education.
Illiteracy rates in this world were quite high, and the original Mord was also illiterate.
For someone like that, theoretical study itself would have been a trial. He figured that might also be the reason why Phaion had not yet become a warrior.
“It’s a relief that I can read not just the language but also the writing. If I had to start from scratch like a complete illiterate, I would’ve lost quite a bit of time…”
Unlike the original Mord, who was illiterate, the current Mord could read letters as naturally and fluently as if they were Hangul.
“The exam shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
Eom Tae-seong, who had come from Earth, had graduated from a four-year university in Seoul through fierce entrance competition, and although he had dropped out midway, he had even gone through graduate school.
Studying a 50-page manual—especially one that only contained the basic tactical theory necessary to act as a Bernas warrior—was not difficult at all for him.
“For these three days, I’ll combine martial training with this.”
Since he had only recently begun learning martial combat techniques, there was plenty of room for improvement through repeated training.
In addition, he had some clues from his fight with Phaion, so he wanted to test a few things.
However, Mord’s resolve to spend the three days diligently studying and training was broken the following afternoon by an external interruption.
After finishing lunch at the dormitory cafeteria and returning to his room, Mord was organizing key points in his notes while writing in the manual when someone came to see him.
“The Grand Duke wishes to see you.”
It was Todd, the warrior instructor, someone Mord was already acquainted with.
“The Grand Duke?”
“Yes. Get ready immediately.”
At those words, Mord asked with slight confusion.
“What should I prepare?”
Todd glanced over Mord and said,
“You seem to have washed.”
That was true.
While other trainees were often dirty due to not washing properly, Mord, though his appearance was somewhat disheveled, was clean.
He had Earth-born standards of cleanliness, so he could not stand not washing regularly.
“That should be enough. Just go as you are.”
“Really?”
Mord was taken aback.
The Grand Duke Bernas was the ruler of an entire nation. And yet he was supposed to appear before such a person in such a rough appearance?
“This isn’t an official occasion. You’ll be meeting him privately in secret, so it’s fine. He doesn’t expect etiquette or formality from you, so just don’t behave rudely.”
It seemed the Grand Duke Bernas was not particularly concerned with formalities.
“Come to think of it, that was shown in Se-Dok-Ma as well.”
In any case, Mord could not help but feel nervous about this meeting. This was on a completely different level from anything so far, facing the owner of immense power who stood among the strongest even in Se-Dok-Ma.
Soon, Mord boarded a carriage waiting outside together with Todd.
Unlike the cargo carts he had ridden before, this was a proper carriage, and the ride quality reflected that.
As the carriage set off, Todd spoke.
“There have been plenty of rumors about you. Especially the incidents in the elementary and middle divisions… they were truly… unbelievable.”
“I felt the same way. I didn’t expect what they were teaching there to be that easy.”
“Is that so?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you were quite cunning. I believe everyone thinks the same.”
At that, Mord tilted his head, unable to understand what Todd meant.
“You mean the incidents in the elementary and middle divisions were a plan to draw the Grand Duke’s attention?”
“No.”
“……”
Todd was taken aback by Mord’s immediate denial. Mord’s demeanor was so indifferent that his answer seemed sincere.
“Why would I endure embarrassment for something like that? In the elementary division… ah.”
As he recalled the elementary division incident, his face suddenly grew hot again.
Todd looked at him with a puzzled expression and said,
“So it wasn’t planned?”
“If I wanted attention, why would I use such a method? I’d just become a warrior and show overwhelming skill.”
“……”
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Rather than doing strange things as a trainee, that approach would have attracted the Grand Duke’s attention far more effectively—and in a more positive way.
“The Grand Duke requested to meet you after receiving a report of yesterday’s events in the high school division.”
“So defeating a descendant of Bernas was enough to catch the Grand Duke’s interest.”
“If anything, it’s because he was someone who could have become a warrior based purely on physical ability. And aren’t you younger?”
“…Right. I am younger than him.”
Mord found that fact rather awkward. It had only been a few days since he became this body, and he still felt that sense of unfamiliarity each time.
While conversing with Todd, the carriage soon arrived at its destination and came to a stop.
It was a training ground built on the western side of the Grand Duke’s castle.
Uniquely, this training ground had an open roof, exposing the sky, yet it could not be observed from the outside. That was due to magic applied to the place.
Tuaaaang!
And as soon as they entered following Todd, a loud explosion echoed.
A shockwave rippled through the space.
In its center, Mord spotted a man.
An elderly man with mostly white hair intermingled among pale platinum blond strands.
With a strong impression and a rugged beard, the man was astonishingly large.
So much so that the ten men standing before him with weapons looked small like children in comparison.
“The Grand Duke Bernas!”
A 2.5-meter-tall muscular giant—Grand Duke Bernas.
Twang! Tuaaaang!
The ten men launched fierce attacks at the Grand Duke.
No, more precisely, they were attacking something invisible surrounding him.
“Is that a barrier made of mana?”
The barrier distorted light, making the Grand Duke’s figure appear slightly warped.
At some point, the Grand Duke spoke.
“Stop. All of you, step back.”
The ten men ceased their attacks and retreated to a distance.
Once they had moved far enough away, the Grand Duke raised his hand.
Then the barrier surrounding him rapidly transformed. From a spherical shape enveloping his entire body, it reshaped into a large circular shield protecting only the front…
Kwaaaaang!
From it, a white shockwave was unleashed, devastating the area ahead.
“Hm.”
The Grand Duke looked at the traces of destruction he had created with a dissatisfied expression.
“Efficiency is poor. Further research is needed.”
Mord could tell what technique the Grand Duke had just used.
“The Mirror of the War God. So it was still under development at this point?”
It was a technique he had used when fighting the protagonist’s group in Se-Dok-Ma.
A broken-level ability that absorbs both physical impacts and magical attacks, then converts them into shockwaves and returns them to the enemy.
At that moment, the Grand Duke’s gaze turned toward Mord.
“You’ve come.”
The Grand Duke dismissed the ten men assisting his training and welcomed Todd and Mord.
Though he was dressed in simple training attire, the moment their eyes met, an overwhelming presence could be felt. Even without doing anything, it was clear he was an extraordinary strongman.
“He isn’t deliberately applying pressure. Even just being at ease without concealing his presence is enough to feel like this.”
At the same time, Mord felt a different kind of pressure, not from his strength.
“Divine blood.”
It was the pressure of facing someone who had mastered the power Mord himself had yet to properly control.
They were individuals sharing the same divine lineage, but one stood at an overwhelmingly higher level. That difference naturally made Mord feel as though he should lower himself.
“I greet the Grand Duke.”
Todd knelt on one knee and spoke.
Mord quickly followed suit.
“Both of you, raise your heads and stand. I called you here because I find formalities bothersome.”
The Grand Duke spoke as if it were a hassle, so both of them slowly stood up.
Having been warned in advance, Mord did not meet the Grand Duke’s eyes directly and instead kept his gaze slightly lowered.
“So this is what it means to lower your eyes.”
He was in front of someone where even eye contact could be considered disrespectful enough to cost him his head.
At that moment, the Grand Duke strode forward and grabbed Mord’s chin, lifting his head.
“Hm.”
Startled, Mord and the Grand Duke locked eyes directly.
It was a rather overwhelming experience.
“Very tall.”
Since arriving in this world, Mord had not encountered anyone taller than himself over the past few days. That made the other person’s eye level being so far above him feel unfamiliar.
“Who is your mother?”
“Ri, Rina, sir.”
Mord stammered for the first time since arriving in this world, caught off guard.
“Rina. I remember. You resemble your mother more than me.”
Indeed, Mord and the Grand Duke did not resemble each other much in appearance.
Even their eye colors were different. While Mord had dark brown hair and deep green eyes, the Grand Duke had platinum blond hair and silver-gray eyes.
“Seeing it in person, those eyes are quite peculiar.”
The Grand Duke’s original eye color had not been like that.
Members of the Bernas lineage have their eye color change as their divine blood awakens, eventually becoming silver-gray.
Not just plain gray, but a unique, translucent quality that reflects light.
After releasing Mord, the Grand Duke asked,
“You awakened your divine blood this year?”
“Yes.”
“For someone like that, your body is quite large. Is that because you carry my blood?”
Mord suspected otherwise. It was likely more influenced by his mother, Rina.
In the first place, the reason the Grand Duke had taken Rina as a partner was because she was a rare woman among females—tall enough that she had endured countless insults from those around her, much like Mord now.
“I heard you did something interesting at the training institute. You defeated the class representative of the high school division who was about to take the warrior exam, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you won using only physical enhancement against someone who uses Impulse.”
“That’s correct.”
Mord answered calmly.
He did not worry that this answer might offend the Grand Duke.
After all, the Grand Duke had taken interest in him because of that very incident.
“That’s interesting. That means your body and mana surpass those of someone who has trained for two years in the high school division… I’d like to see just how far you can go. Kessner!”
The Grand Duke called out in a booming voice toward outside.
Then a man rushed in from a different passage than the one Mord had entered.
“Yes, Grand Duke!”
He was a man with disheveled golden hair, like a lion.