Admit It (3): The Three Paths of Mana
The quiet clearing in a corner of Arjen Academy lay wrapped in the early dawn breeze. The spring wind carried a sharp chill as it swept through, scattering thick piles of winter leaves and dust. Whiiiing—
Where the wind had passed, Lydia and Aria stood beside a large rock.
“...”
“...”
The princess and the saintess. One stood with her arms folded in silence, the other with her hands clasped in earnest prayer. Both were staring straight ahead.
Unlike the usual sight of Arty being one-sidedly beaten and trained, a faint tension hung in the air today. It was because two figures—a boy and a girl—were facing each other with serious eyes, preparing for a spar.
Arty and Mave.
They stood side by side in comfortable academy training uniforms, each holding a light wooden sword in hands roughened by training. This was a proper spar, not a one-sided beating.
In the silence, the two quietly assessed each other.
“...”
“...”
Slowly, they began drawing mana from their second hearts….
Beneath the dawn sky, the bodies of the boy and girl shimmered with a soft blue light. The sight of two auras rising in parallel was almost mystical.
“...”
“...”
Mave had wiped away her usual girlish expression, returning to the face of a serious knight. Her sharp eyes gleamed through strands of black hair dancing in the wind. In a firm voice, she addressed the brown-haired boy.
“Arty, you bastard. So you really have reached the realm of Flow.”
“...”
“Well, I suppose it’s only natural—you’re the one who defeated the skeleton rider. When I reached Flow at seventeen, after two years of apprentice knight training, the commander called me a genius of the century. But the Gallia Kingdom truly is vast. To think someone the same age has reached the exact same level.”
“...?”
“Among the first-year swordsmanship students who enrolled only a month ago, only you and I have attained Flow. The seniors would faint if they knew.”
“...??”
“I offer you my respect, Arty. I can’t even imagine how many years of brutal, blood-soaked training you must have endured alone.”
“...”
Arty opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“...Mave.”
“Hm?”
And then, to the girl who had just explained the concept of Flow, he asked:
“What is the Flow realm?”
“...”
Mave tilted her head.
“...Aren’t you right now awakening your Mana Heart and naturally circulating mana through your body? Resonating between your true heart and your mana heart?”
“Mana Heart?”
“The second heart that apprentice knights and elite soldiers train so desperately to awaken. It’s beating inside you right now to let the mana flow.”
“I just enrolled in the academy and started doing morning physical training under Lydia’s guidance. That’s how I ended up like this… Honestly, I don’t really understand all the knight terminology.”
“...”
For reference, they had enrolled in Arjen Academy exactly one month ago.
“...”
In short… Mave had awakened her mana in the second year of training. Arty had awakened his in the first month.
That was what it meant.
“Ugh…!”
Mave’s face instantly reverted to that of an irritated girl. Her trembling finger jabbed toward Arty.
“One month?! Don’t lie to me, you country bumpkin—! You filthy commoner—!”
“...We’re both commoners, you know. You don’t have to say it like that.”
“Shut up! No! You were born in some rural village, grabbed a tree branch, and spent years sweating blood in training, only to awaken your Mana Heart after me—!”
“Wait, why are you suddenly writing my childhood for me?! I was just a normal farm boy!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
“...”
Arty, who had somehow acquired an extraordinary prodigy backstory in the span of a few seconds, wore a thoroughly bewildered expression. Just as Mave’s face grew even redder and she prepared to shout more—
Lydia, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward. At this rate the poor knight would turn into a jealous mess again from her inferiority complex.
‘Her romance trigger is getting worked up over swordsmanship inferiority… What a high-maintenance rival. Aria’s eyes have been completely dead since a while ago.’
Aria was quietly muttering, “Lies again…”
Lydia spoke calmly.
“Arty possesses the Holy Sword Danan, which carries the power of healing and purification. That is why he was able to repeat high-intensity training that would kill an ordinary person—using the sword’s unique recovery ability. In simple terms, he spent the past month repeatedly dancing on the edge of life and death. There is no need to feel so discouraged, Mave.”
“Life-or-death experiences…”
“Indeed.”
“...So he truly is the master of the Holy Sword.”
Mave’s eyes wavered slightly. As someone who had devoted herself to the sword, it was almost impossible to believe. Yet Arty’s monstrous growth rate could only be explained by that single fact.
Lydia nodded.
“Correct. However, Arty’s swordsmanship is still at the level of a toddler taking his first steps. He only reached Flow so quickly because he trained while relying on the sword’s healing. The road ahead remains long. And you already know that the remaining path cannot be conquered with such shortcuts.”
“...”
“Mave, do not lose heart. Your effort and talent are comparable to one who holds the Holy Sword. And that includes training that risks one’s very life.”
“...”
Mave shyly brushed her black hair behind her ear once more.
“I-I see. If Your Highness says so, then it must be true.”
“Call me Lydia.”
“Ly… Lydia.”
“Good.”
“...”
The corners of Mave’s mouth rose just a little.
‘…Hehe, I’m on friendly terms with royalty now.’
It was a moment of soaring knightly pride. How could such an ideal royal exist?
‘Her flowing golden hair is dazzling, her figure is perfect as a woman, she possesses calm and cool judgment, and she even has deep insight into swordsmanship… She is the very model of royalty from the ‘country of knights.’ I’m so proud to be a citizen of Gallia.’
For her sake, Mave would not hesitate to give her life.
As for why the princess knew so much about the Holy Sword, Mave simply chalked it up to intuition. After all, one only had to look at the silver-haired girl standing blankly beside her.
‘The Saintess is right there, so she must have given her guidance.’
Having heard the entire explanation, Aria was horrified.
“What?! The Hero could have died?!”
“...”
‘…Never mind.’
The moment Mave turned toward Lydia with renewed curiosity, Arty clapped a hand over his mouth and cried out.
“Huk?! Life-or-death experiences?! Wait, Lydia! Just what exactly have you been making me do?!”
“That’s right! What if the Hero had been gravely injured—!”
“It was all done after confirming that the Holy Sword had chosen him. Surely you do not think I bear Arty any personal grudge. Both of you, trust me.”
“...”
“...”
Arty and Aria swallowed their protests. From the atmosphere alone they could vaguely sense the truth: the morning training sessions Lydia had been putting Arty through every day were lessons so valuable that even Mave—the top student of the swordsmanship department—would be shocked.
‘To be honest, carrying a rock on my back while doing push-ups and running with Lydia doesn’t even feel that hard anymore. But still… this is way beyond what I imagined.’
‘So following the princess’s teachings really does make the Hero grow stronger at an incredible pace. I knew it, but this is still beyond imagination…’
That princess was truly beyond imagination.
“...”
“...”
The two let out simultaneous sighs.
When Lydia sensed the mood had settled enough, she turned back to Mave.
“The conversation has strayed. I unintentionally interrupted the swordsmen’s spar. Please, continue.”
“...”
“There is no need to feel intimidated by Arty. You are beginning to sense it yourself, are you not? He may hold the Holy Sword, but as a swordsman he is still ignorant of many things and quite clumsy.”
“...Yes.”
Mave nodded. What mattered now was not why the princess knew so much about the Holy Sword.
‘What matters now is fighting him on equal footing and winning. So I should teach him a little first.’
She looked at Arty.
“Country bumpkin.”
“What, idiot knight?”
Arty answered in a blunt tone. There was no reason for two commoners to use honorifics with each other.
Mave smiled at his attitude. This kind of emotional clash was exactly what made duels between swordsmen so interesting.
“I’ll specially teach you. The path you and I are walking is the first of the three paths of mana—the path of Flow.”
“The first…”
“It is a realm reached by the kingdom’s elite soldiers and outstanding apprentice knights. Even in an academy filled with talented individuals, not many have achieved it. Perhaps thirty at most?”
“Only that many?”
“Indeed. And the next destination we must strive for is the path of Ignition. A path so long and arduous it is difficult to compare to Flow… It is the realm of true knights—Ignition.”
“Ignition…!”
A blazing image flashed through Arty’s mind.
Like a flowing river—Flow.
Like burning flames—Ignition.
“Those who stand on the path of Flow gain transcendent stamina. Those who walk the path of Ignition can make their mana sparkle along their blades and speak of true swordsmanship. Only those who have reached this realm may call themselves elite knights, regardless of their original status.”
“What exactly is true swordsmanship?”
“A realm where one does not simply swing a sword, but can contain the very principles of the world within it.”
“Principles…?”
“...In commoner terms: sword energy shoots from your blade, it becomes insanely hard, and it looks really cool.”
“Ooh…!”
Arty tilted his head again.
“Mave, then what’s the final path?”
“...”
Mave did not answer. Instead she gazed at the brightening sky. A sparkle had begun to shine in her eyes. Just uttering the word made her heart tremble with excitement.
“The path that sparkles like the sun itself—Aurora. In the Gallia Kingdom, only two people have ever reached it… the commander and the captain of the royal guard. It is a realm permitted only to the tiniest handful of geniuses.”
“Aurora…?”
“In commoner terms, we say it like this.”
Mave laughed brightly. Her smile shone brilliantly beneath the morning sun.
“Sword Master!”
“Sword Master…!”
It was a dream. The dream every boy and girl in the Gallia Kingdom had from the moment they first grabbed a tree branch. The dream realm where one could pour the entire world onto the tip of a sword and create miracles.
Mave declared, “I will reach it one day. What about you?”
“!”
Arty felt a shiver run through him. Sword Master. It was the realm of the hero Arjen. The aurora realm that shone like the sun.
‘Do I… want to reach that place?’
“...”
Instead of answering with words, he raised his wooden sword. In his heart, he admitted it. Not as the hero who wielded the Holy Sword, but as a boy holding a wooden sword in his hand—he had begun to dream a new dream….
‘I will accomplish it…!’
That was the clearest answer of all.
Lydia watched quietly and smiled. Beside her, Aria placed a hand over her chest, her cheeks turning faintly red. In the sunlight, it was not the face of the ‘Hero’ but the face of a ‘boy’ that shone brighter than anyone else’s.
And then—
Mave also raised her wooden sword.
“All right, come at me, Arty! Let’s settle this with our blades!”
“Haaat—!”
The two wooden swords collided brilliantly beneath the morning sun.
Clack—!