Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Chapter 18: Revival Route
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“I’ve heard plenty about the Crown Prince’s talent as a knight.”
Dabi nodded as he looked at the knight order headquarters, where the foundations were steadily rising.
“He never received an official title, but they say he was already at the level of a Knight Commander. Of course, that was before he secluded himself due to health issues.”
“Now that he’s fully recovered, he needs to get back on track. I’ve already mentioned it to him, so drop by Silverwood Palace from time to time.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. If the empire’s strongest knight helps with training and offers advice, my brother will regain his old skills in no time.”
“It would be a great honor to be of help to the Crown Prince. But that’s not the issue right now.”
Dabi turned to me, putting strength into his voice.
“What on earth happened in those few days? How can a person change so suddenly?”
“Me? I’m definitely feeling much better.”
I’d just run laps around the training ground for an hour, and I still had plenty of stamina left. Before, I’d been collapsing every five minutes or so.
“It’s not just ‘a bit better’—you’ve become an entirely new person.”
Dabi shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s not just stamina. The stability in your joints has reached an astonishing level. Do you remember how many times you got hurt the last time you ran?”
“Roughly three or four?”
“Nine times. Your knees, ankles, and even your hip joints nearly burst, right? And that was just from running for an hour. Without recovery magic or elixirs, you would’ve been crippled from those nine injuries.”
“No way, was it that bad?”
“It was that bad. But now you ran nonstop for a full hour without a single break, and you’re fine. Of course, your soles are a mess.”
I was just taking off my shoes to treat the blisters on my feet. Dabi knelt down and examined my body from all angles before sighing.
“To repeat myself, the stability of your body has improved to an absurd degree. At this level, you’re not far behind Didi.”
“It’s all thanks to eating the core. Didi’s like that because of a core too.”
“You mean the Ancient Wolf core. But didn’t you present that to the Emperor and the Crown Prince?”
“Regal gave me an extra one to eat. Thanks to it, my body’s better, and I’ve grown taller.”
“Taller?”
“Yeah. Taller.”
“Have you gotten taller?”
Crunch.
My teeth ground together. No way he didn’t notice? The difference over just a few days was huge!
“That’s why tall guys are… Hmph, even so, compared to you, it’s nothing, right?”
“No, forgive me. I was so focused on the other changes that I missed this one. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
Dabi hurriedly bowed his head. Seizing the moment, I yanked the sword from his waist and stood up.
“I won’t forgive you.”
Clang!
“Your Highness!”
“Nice sword. You committed a sin, so you pay the price, right?”
“…….”
I heard Dabi swallow hard in panic. Wow, after eating the core and returning to normal, my hearing’s gotten way sharper too?
“Just kidding. Since we’re training anyway, isn’t it about time I tried holding a sword?”
“It’s still too dangerous. You should start with wooden swords or training blades to get used to weapons.”
“Really? It seems more manageable than I thought.”
I took a few steps back first. Then, gripping the sword with both hands, I lightly stepped and swung it.
Whoosh.
Swoosh.
A sword that was long and heavy enough to be unwieldy for me. But not so much that I couldn’t swing it.
The key was keeping my center of balance so my body didn’t get dragged by the sword’s weight.
This was basics among basics. Even in my fifth regression, I’d barely touched near Knight Expert.
“No…….”
Dabi, watching, went wide-eyed like he’d seen a ghost. Heh. What’s with the shock over this? Want me to really blow your mind?
Alright. This’ll be fun.
So, I prepared it. The knight skill every knight learns first.
Gale Blade.
Of course, it normally requires magic armor to use.
You leverage the extra strength, speed, and weight from the magic armor to give the swinging blade multi-stage acceleration.
That gathers wind pressure on the blade, which you can then shoot at a target, creating a shockwave.
The core is how many stages of slow acceleration followed by fast acceleration you can pull off in that brief swing.
Of course, without magic armor now, the minimum two stages is my limit.
Swoosh!
Lacking weight, I spun my body hard for centrifugal force, then added two accelerations with a big swing at the end.
First, slow.
Then, fast.
Slash!
I felt wind pressure form on the blade instantly.
But that was just a feeling.
“Huh?”
The fast acceleration made my body unable to handle the recoil, and I pitched forward.
Thud!
As I slammed the sword into the dirt and tumbled, Dabi dashed over like lightning and caught me.
“Your Highness! Are you alright?!”
“Yeah……. I’m fine.”
“That was dangerous! If you’d fallen onto the sword you stabbed into the ground, it would’ve been bad!”
“I twisted my body at the last second so that wouldn’t happen. Tch, guess it’s not that easy. My arm’s numb.”
“Of course it’s not easy! No, that’s not the point…….”
Dabi squeezed his eyes shut, pondering for about five seconds.
“That just now… Were you trying to use Gale Blade?”
“Yeah. Gale Blade.”
“Good heavens.”
Dabi shook his head in amazement.
“This is real……. My suspicions were right.”
“What?”
“Your insight.”
Insight? Why bring that up?
“You see through an opponent’s abilities in an instant. This time it’s a technique. When I demonstrated Gale Blade before, didn’t you grasp its entire essence in that one moment?”
No, that’s not it.
I’d poured most of my ten years in the fifth regression into mastering Gale Blade just once.
That’s why I could imitate it now.
Of course, Dabi didn’t know that and was staring at me with sparkling eyes. I pursed my lips like it was no big deal and turned away.
“So what? It failed anyway.”
“It wasn’t a failure. It was perfect.”
“Perfect? The technique didn’t activate.”
“The technique didn’t activate because you weren’t wearing magic armor, Your Highness. If you’d had the armor’s weight, you could’ve maintained balance at the end and naturally released the wind pressure at the target.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. No, it’s even more astonishing that you completed it to that stage without armor. I haven’t even taught Meredes multi-stage acceleration yet, and you saw it once and replicated it…….”
Dabi’s expression turned serious fast. He suddenly clapped and declared solemnly.
“Then starting today, we’ll begin magic armor adaptation training immediately.”
“Huh? Today?”
“The original plan was at least a year of basic stamina training……. But putting you through that now would be a crime. From now on, we’ll cut the existing stamina training from two hours to one.”
Oh, really?
“Instead, we’ll add two hours of magic armor adaptation and one hour of swordsmanship.”
Wait a minute.
Doesn’t that make the total training time double? From two to four hours?
“Wait, who decided to…….”
“You can’t avoid it.”
Dabi grabbed my shoulders and locked eyes with me.
“This is your destiny, Your Highness. Please wait just a moment. I’ll fetch the magic armor right away.”
Before I could say anything, he bolted toward the mansion like a shot.
What the hell?
At that last moment, the madness in Dabi’s eyes sent chills down my spine.
Even facing the otherworld army later on, he didn’t have that grim look, did he?
His switch must be flipped wrong…….
Or, thinking about it, did I flip Dabi’s switch wrong? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have imitated Gale Blade!
* * *
“Crushed by the calamity I brought upon myself…….”
Staring blankly, an old song lyric naturally came to mind.
Dabi’s afternoon training was brutal enough that even elixirs and recovery magic couldn’t keep up.
We’d agreed on one day of training, one day of rest, but that means I have to go through this hell again in two days?
“Whew…….”
No! Save me! There’s someone on the third floor of this mansion!
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
A girl with brown eyes asked worriedly. Snapping out of it, I recalled the name of the girl with her hand in the water bucket.
Rune.
The plucky girl who escaped Verit on her own power to reach the mansion and save her starving family from the tyrannical lord.
“I’m fine. Just tired.”
“The knight seems too harsh. Treating someone as noble as you so roughly…….”
“You saw the training?”
“Ah. Um……. Sorry.”
Rune bowed her head, flustered.
“I didn’t mean to peek. I just happened to see from the window…….”
“Fwaaah…….”
Suppressing a wave of sleepiness, I shook my head gently.
“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re hiding the training.”
“But for someone like me to be so rude…….”
“It’s fine, so don’t worry about it. More importantly, Rune?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Focus on the sensation in your palms.”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
The girl in the chair startled and stared at her hands in the bucket.
Even after arriving at the mansion quite some time ago, her anxiety was plain.
Well, being treated so grandly by a prince in his own home would fluster anyone.
“But don’t tense up too much. Have you adjusted to life here?”
“Yes. The maids have all been so kind……. But is it really okay for someone like me to stay so long in Your Highness’s mansion? Maybe I should just go back home…….”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t worry about home first. You said Alun in Verit, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“I’ve made sure that village gets extra support. I confirmed your family’s all healthy and well, so relax.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. How can I ever repay this kindness…….”
“What you’re doing now is repaying it. So focus.”
‘Rune, who arrived at the mansion on her own power’ is a top-tier talent who could aim for Arch Wizard in the future.
And powerful mages are essential forces you can’t do without for blocking future otherworld waves.
Especially since mages are far scarcer than knights, talents like Rune must be properly nurtured.
“Can I really become a mage?”
Rune asked, looking at her hands in the water. I smiled and nodded.
“Yeah. You can. A mage can spot another mage.”
“But someone like me…….”
“You have talent. If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in me. Don’t you trust me?”
“O-Of course. I believe Your Highness.”
“Good. Of course, you can’t wield magic right away. That’s why we start with basics like this water immersion to awaken your senses.”
Water immersion.
This is a basic magic training method developed by the Magic Guild.
More precisely, it’s for those with talent but who haven’t manifested magic yet.
The method is simpler than you’d think.
Just dip both hands in a bucket of water and imagine magic.
“How’s it feel? Notice the water temperature changing?”
“Not yet……. I’m not sure.”
“You don’t have to just imagine fire. Try ice instead and see if the water gets colder. If pushing doesn’t work, try pulling.”
A novice mage can’t produce visible flames or frostbite-level cold.
But even if invisible, tiny magic activates, and most give up in frustration without realizing.
With hands in water, you’ll feel even slight temperature changes.
Feeling that and gaining the reality of using magic—that’s the core of water immersion.