Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Measurement Ceremony (2)
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‘It’ll be three stars, right?’
Sena Aleyas bit her lip as she watched her youngest cousin brother undergo the measurement ceremony.
‘Liz hitting three stars earlier was surprising enough…’
Liz Aleyas, the daughter of her small aunt Estr.
She was undoubtedly a genius. Reaching three stars at sixteen was rare even looking back through the Aleyas family history.
But Sena knew about Sion, who wielded sword aura at twelve, so she wasn’t all that shocked.
‘To use sword aura, you need at least three circles. So Sion must be three stars.’
That would bring even louder cheers than before.
Reaching three stars at twelve was even rarer.
‘Wait, no way it’s four stars, is it?’
Sena felt sweat trickling down her back.
If Sion turned out to be four stars, it would be a massive deal.
‘That’d basically lock in Sion as the next-next Knight Order Leader! No, Grandpa might even skip a generation and hand it straight to Sion!’
If that happened… everyone else would be like dogs chasing a chicken.
‘No, no. Calm down. That’s impossible.’
Four stars at twelve was way too unrealistic.
Sure, three stars was unrealistic too… but Liz had already shown it was possible at sixteen.
If Sion was a genius surpassing Liz, then three stars at twelve was feasible.
But four? No way. That was truly impossible.
‘If it turns out Sion’s three stars… our house will be at a huge disadvantage in the fight for next Knight Order Leader.’
Eldest son Serxes, eldest daughter Helena, second daughter Estr, second son Kurt.
Among the four siblings, Sena’s father Serxes had been leading.
But starting with this ceremony, Estr—who raised Liz to three stars—had pulled ahead.
If Sion was three stars too, Kurt would surge even further.
‘Dad would drop to third place. To turn that around… I have no choice but to work harder myself.’
Sena already had the advantage of being established in the Knight Order.
She’d have to leverage that and rack up achievements ahead of time.
‘Still, if Sion bursts out with three stars at twelve…’
Lost in gloomy thoughts,
The measurement officiant’s voice rang out.
“Sion Aleyas! Number of circles: one… one star!”
What…?
* * *
“What?”
Ianus Aleyas’s eyes widened.
“No way. Isn’t something wrong?”
“F-Family Head. The measurement is accurate.”
The officiant pointed at the artifact.
“As you can see, only one ring formed.”
“……”
Ianus scowled at the single red circle on the mirror.
“This can’t be… Sion, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why only one circle?”
Ianus glared and pressed me.
“Didn’t you say you could use sword aura?”
Hearing Ianus’s words, the people around swallowed hard.
“S-Sword aura? That kid?”
“Sion Aleyas, right? Kurt’s son.”
“How old is he now?”
“Twelve, I think?”
“A twelve-year-old using sword aura?!”
As the murmurs grew, just as I opened my mouth, a hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey, you crazy punk!”
It was Robel, who’d been trading barbs with me until moments ago.
“What were you thinking, lying to Grandpa like that? Apologize now! Hurry!”
Robel pressed down hard on my shoulders. He clearly wanted me on my knees.
“That kid lied to the Family Head? Said he could use sword aura?”
“Tch, doesn’t he value his life?”
“Kurt’s in deep trouble now. How’s he gonna fix this?”
“It’s his fault for bad parenting.”
The crowd buzzed.
Glancing back, I saw Helena grinning ear to ear.
‘You sure wear your temper on your sleeve, Aunt.’
Meanwhile, Robel seemed genuinely worried for me.
Even after our spat earlier, here he was fretting. Nice kid at heart.
“Thanks for worrying, Brother Robel, but it’s fine.”
“W-What?”
I shoved Robel’s hand off and stepped forward.
“Family Head, I can use sword aura.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. How do you use sword aura with one circle?”
“Is the number of circles what matters?”
“What?”
“I read Duke Johan’s ‘Transcendent Swordsmanship Compendium,’ which taught sword aura to the Aleyas family. It never said the number of circles matters for sword aura.”
Mentioning the book second only to the Holy Spirit Church scriptures in sanctity for the Aleyas family hardened Ianus’s expression.
“Not the number… but the amount of mana. That averages out to three circles.”
“It’s an average, yes.”
“What?”
“Please take another look, Family Head.”
“……?”
I placed my hand on the artifact again.
It sensed the mana wavelength from my palm, and a red circle began forming on the mirror.
“There’s only one circle. But look closely.”
“Ah…!”
Ianus finally grasped it and let out a gasp.
“Y-Yes. That’s it!”
Ianus grabbed the artifact with both hands, peering in and raising his voice.
But the others seemed clueless.
“What? Why’s he like that?”
“Isn’t it still one circle?”
“What the heck?”
As confusion spread from Ianus’s outburst,
A cool voice cut through the crowd.
“One circle, but not an ordinary one.”
“……!”
It was Ianus’s second daughter, Estr.
She alone—who raised her daughter Liz to three stars—seemed to understand.
“Haha, hahaha!”
Then Ianus’s laughter boomed.
The crowd was stunned. Ianus rarely laughed out loud like this.
“A true genius has been born in the Aleyas family!”
True genius.
The Family Head’s words sent ripples through the crowd again.
“Look!”
Ianus hoisted the artifact high.
High enough for everyone to see the red circle on the mirror.
“See! One red ring… but peer closely, and you’ll see it’s multiple ultra-thin rings layered together!”
“……!”
Now everyone got it.
“As I said first, Sion’s circle is one! But its density… several times that of the other kids!”
“Ah…!”
Gasps threatened to bring the banquet hall down.
* * *
‘Ah…!’
Sena, who’d been watching blankly, finally understood.
‘R-Right. Sword aura needs mana equivalent to three circles… If one circle holds more than that, even one star can use it!’
Normally, multiple circles exist because one has storage limits.
The more mana you pack in, the higher the density, making control hard. One slip, and the circle bursts, leaving you mana-less forever.
So people spread it across multiple circles. Obvious.
But… if your control is so masterful you can pack way more mana into one circle?
‘This is insane!’
Sion could wield three-star knight skills at one star.
By simple math, two stars means six-star level, three stars means nine-star.
What about four or five?
If his growth stalled midway, it’d be moot—but unlikely.
“Sion, how did you achieve such mana density?”
“Truth is, I studied mana control on my own.”
“What? Self-taught?”
“Yeah. Never thought to split circles. Just gathered mana bit by bit without thinking, and it got denser and denser.”
“You brat, you think this is ‘bit by bit’ level?”
Hearing Ianus and Sion’s exchange, Sena felt defeat.
Different league. No winning against that brother.
But she didn’t feel bad.
The awe of witnessing something monumental.
* * *
‘As expected, no one figures it out.’
[Of course. They’d never dream it’s a circle from the Dialogue Church’s wicked secret art.]
‘Don’t call it wicked. I gathered mana with pious intent.’
[Hahaha. Good sense of humor.]
‘This guy?’
Dialogue Circulation Method.
A secret art passed down in the Dialogue Church.
Designed to create ultra-high-density circles, maximizing mana capacity.
The Dialogue Church originally had many taboo sorceries defying Holy Spirit Church doctrine—this was one.
‘But the Dialogue Circulation Method has a fatal flaw.’
You need mastery over mana control to use it.
Can’t apply it to existing circles. Must start from the first for ultra-density.
‘So… to use it, a veteran mana control expert smashes all their circles and restarts from one star.’
[Decades of hard-earned circles to dust, back to square one? Not easy.]
‘That’s why almost no one in the Dialogue Church actually used it.’
But.
I reincarnated retaining Archbishop Hausel’s mana control techniques.
So I could use the Dialogue Circulation Method from the start.
Result: ultra-high-density circle, sword aura with one circle.
[Those who know mana will grasp how amazing you are.]
Some might think same mana amount, just fewer circles—but no.
Casting a three-circle spell with one circle? Activation over three times faster.
Pulling from one circle beats syncing multiples. Less strain too.
Most crucially… you build capacity faster and more.
[Others take time for a normal circle… you make one with triple mana quicker. Huge.]
As Igzard said, huge.
Ianus was thrilled, shaking my hand wildly.
“You’re the future of the Aleyas family.”
“You flatter me, Family Head.”
“Call me Grandpa.”
“It’s a formal occasion…”
“Fine by me.”
“Got it, Grandpa.”
Seeing Ianus—who always scowled on the battlefield—beaming like this felt awkward.
“At last, the time has come to eradicate the Dialogue Church from this land! Ah, the Holy Spirit has blessed our house!”
“…….”
If he knew it was from that Dialogue Church wicked art… he’d faint.
Old man might clutch his neck and drop dead.
‘I’ll take this secret to the grave, Grandpa.’
I vowed to keep it, out of filial piety.