Aurora Stella and Baekgyeong
Ellis let out a soft, weary sigh as she pressed her fingers to her temple, her expression heavy with a mix of regret and reluctant understanding.
“...Oh my. Young master... you still...”
She thought of her own daughter, who had never quite been like this—always a whirlwind of passion and fire. Yet something in the way Luke spoke now felt eerily familiar, as if the same spark had simply dimmed rather than vanished.
[Mommy! I hate this!]
“...Perhaps. It’s like seeing Elli in him now, isn’t it? The same bold fire, just buried beneath layers of duty and pain.”
Ellis’s gaze drifted toward Luke, still deep in conversation with the ghost, and for a moment she allowed herself to feel a flicker of something like pride. Her granddaughter was going to be just fine.
Meanwhile, Luke turned to Cheon Baek-gyeong and spoke with casual certainty.
“I’ll explain the rest later. First, I want to learn the old man’s sword.”
[Hm! Excellent. Is there a suitable training ground nearby?]
One ghost and two children set off to find an open field, the old man’s voice echoing with theatrical excitement.
***
Nia made her daily pilgrimage to the ducal estate with military precision, arriving exactly on time every single morning.
After work she returned to the modest house Luke had arranged near the castle grounds, where she shared quiet evenings with the Riana Family children. They were thriving—Luke’s patronage had given them genuine purpose and steady wages.
And Nia, the undisputed sparring partner of the young master, had received formal permission to train on the ducal grounds.
Of course, a few landmines remained.
[What? The young master’s sparring partner?]
[Hah! If I’m going to spar with the young master, I need to step on him first!]
[...Isn’t this just an easy way to get along?]
[What nonsense is that?! This is a matter of pride! You should be ashamed!]
A few dissenting voices that dared to suggest the arrangement was actually beneficial were swiftly silenced by the overwhelming majority of knights.
[Kueeeeeek! I, the undefeated Sword Debate Champion, will not be defeated!]
[How... how did you...?!]
[Ahh. That tongue alone could rival or surpass the young master’s...!]
One after another, the ducal knights fell to Nia’s razor-sharp debates. The once-proud warriors of the Servalki household found themselves completely at a loss for words.
Now Nia lay stretched out beneath the warm afternoon sun, one arm draped lazily over her eyes, the other resting on her stomach.
The reigning First Sword of Sword Debate had not been disturbed in ages. No one dared interrupt the girl’s well-earned rest.
Until now.
“Nia!”
“...E. Young master.”
Nia sat up in one fluid motion, ash-gray hair catching the light like a halo.
The only person in the world capable of pulling her from her nap had finally arrived.
“You’ve been working on your basic stamina, haven’t you?”
“...Yes...”
“Nia, you really should be running around Stygna every chance you get. Compared to that, your training feels a bit weak...”
Luke scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
“Today we’re going to train together. And I have someone I’d like to introduce you to... well, a ghost.”
“...A ghost?”
“Mhm. You’ll see soon enough.”
[Tch. Two kids and a ghost. I feel like I’ve become a nanny.]
Cheon Baek-gyeong grumbled as Luke took Nia’s hand and led her toward the edge of the training grounds.
“Nueee...”
“Nia, you’re being too dramatic. Don’t put on a show.”
[...I don’t think I’m putting on a show.]
The three of them continued their lively banter all the way to the open field.
***
“I’ll introduce you. Nia, this is the old man I found in the armory—Cheon Baek-gyeong.”
As soon as Luke spoke, the ghost materialized before the girl, towering yet strangely kind.
[Greetings, child. This seat is Cheon Baek-gyeong.]
“Huh?”
Nia stared in wide-eyed surprise at the apparition, and Luke quickly stepped in.
“Old man, this is Nia. Her talent with the sword matches mine—maybe even exceeds it. Treat her accordingly.”
[Hm?]
Cheon Baek-gyeong narrowed his eyes, studying the girl with newfound intensity.
[...Oh my. I see it now. The child possesses an extraordinary gift. Her body is frail, but that is a minor inconvenience. Once her realm advances, it will cease to matter.]
The ghost nodded slowly.
[Very well. I shall teach her.]
But Luke immediately shook his head.
“No need. Nia doesn’t require instruction. Or rather, she already knows what sword she must wield.”
[...Huh?]
“Nia already understands which sword she must grasp.”
[...Oh? This child’s talent is immense... yet she has already progressed that far?]
“She is truly remarkable. Nia, would you show me your sword—one more time? Aurora Stella.”
“...Yes...”
Nia hesitated, then nodded with quiet resolve.
“It will tire me afterward, but... I’ll do it.”
“Perfect. Old man, do your worst—make him stare in awe.”
“Understood.”
[Hm. I’m curious how far you’ve come. Remember, I have no patience for mediocre swordsmanship.]
“Don’t worry.”
Nia’s eyes glowed with fierce certainty.
“My sword is the greatest of its age.”
[Oh?]
Nia gripped the hilt at her waist.
***
The Calamity of the Single Sword—Nia.
Among the veteran gamers of Sacred Souls, her reputation as both the Sword Calamity and the Tongue-Hero had spread far and wide.
[Regardless of everything else, her swordsmanship must never be underestimated.]
[Gamers, bow before her blade.]
No one in the high ranks dared mock the girl’s skill.
“Huu...”
Right now, at this very moment, the most powerful and terrifying sword Nia possessed lay about to unfold.
Oscura Stella—Dawn Sky Sword.
“Nia hasn’t learned a single mana concentration technique. Her tier remains only 1st.”
[Tier... the measure of strength in the western lands... An unrefined body producing swordsmanship that defies explanation. I’m not entirely convinced.]
“Well, the old man has already seen how Nia operates. He won’t be discouraged.” Luke’s lips curved into a smirk.
“I swear to you, Nia’s sword is the strongest I have ever seen.”
Cheon Baek-gyeong’s skeptical gaze followed the girl as Nia finally began.
“Aurora Stella.”
The moment Nia’s quiet voice fell silent, the air itself seemed to tremble.
Swoosh!
Nia’s blade sliced through the air, sending a signal to the heavens.
[...Ahh.]
Cheon Baek-gyeong couldn’t hold back his quiet admiration.
***
The girl had existed beneath everyone—swallowed by sorrow, poverty, and endless hunger.
Yet she had still dared to look up at the sky.
Because that sky had been breathtakingly beautiful.
Enough to fill two eyes that had seen only darkness and despair.
So she had reached for it—tentatively, carefully.
But hope, the cruelest of companions, always slipped away at the last second.
Nia’s hand had never truly touched the sky.
Until the day she realized: the sky was already inside her heart.
She no longer needed to reach upward. She reached inward instead.
And there, cradled against her chest, was the sky she had drawn herself—tiny, fragile, and impossibly bright.
It was dawn.
It was dusk.
It was the very sky she had always loved.
It was Nia’s sword.
It was Aurora Stella.
***
[Ahh...]
Cheon Baek-gyeong stared at the blade unfolding before him and let out a long, involuntary sigh.
Crude.
Utterly crude.
Yet the ghost’s supreme realm had already seen the future she drew.
A sky drawn not toward the heavens, but toward herself—until the day that blade would one day cut the earth and sever the sky itself.
[Hah... a master’s talent...!]
Cheon Baek-gyeong regretted his earlier doubts instantly, but the words could not be unsaid.
That child would one day paint her own sky.
“Nueeeee...”
And when he finally beheld the exhausted, deflated girl who had just finished the technique, the ghost let out a genuine, delighted laugh.
[Truly a peculiar child.]
“Nia, I told you to build up your stamina.”
“Nueee... young master...”
“I’ll help you up. You’re leaning against the wall again.”
“Nueee...”
“How did you survive in Stygna?”
“Riana-unni helped...”
“If you hadn’t been Riana, you would have been in real trouble.”
The strange conversation ended with Luke gently setting Nia against the nearby building and walking away.
Once Nia was safely left to rest, Luke turned back to the ghost.
“What the old man is going to give Nia is this. Help complete that sword.”
[Very interesting. This should be entertaining.]
“I thought the same. And what I’m giving the old man is simple.”
Luke pointed at himself.
“Old man, you once cut off the right arm of the God of Martial Arts. Teach me that sword.”
[Hm.]
“Enough to face the coming evil gods... we’ll discuss that later, as promised. Still, it looks extremely useful. And remember—I’ll kill the God of Martial Arts myself.”
Cheon Baek-gyeong pondered for a moment, then spoke in a low, reluctant voice.
[...No.]
“...Eh?”
Luke’s expression tightened in genuine surprise.
Before he could protest, the ghost smiled faintly.
[There is something better.]
“...What?”
[Learn it, child. This seat will teach you my sword—Baekgyeong.]
[Decree content]