Sharpening the Blade
‘…I was with the Elpoldo Knights. Though they were wiped out a long time ago.’
A brief moment to catch his breath.
The words his comrade had uttered just when he thought there was no turning back.
Roan still remembered the name of that knight order.
Of course he did.
‘Thank you. For treating me as a friend, even though I was twisted from being alone for so long.’
Because those had been his last words.
Cedric Rowell.
The man chosen to be the vessel of a transcendent being, and the tragic knight who met his end because his comrades failed to realize it in time.
"Actually,"
On their way out,
Roan spoke up as he stepped pleasantly along the dirt path.
"Jane, you're not weak."
"You're telling me that now? What, do you think I'm pissed off or something?"
"No, I mean it sincerely."
Roan's voice was serious.
Jane's skills were among the absolute best on the continent.
She was a mage who could instantly finish chanting the incantation for a blazing beam of light that could engulf two people at once.
"You could easily look down on most mages."
"Hmph, you think that's going to make me feel better?"
"But if you were to fight someone other than a mage!"
"...What?"
"You'd be taken down before you could even finish your chant. You'd be in serious danger fighting monsters, too."
Because he had actually witnessed it happen, the examples flowed naturally from his mouth.
Though the face of the person listening was souring by the second.
"Ha, is that so? How wonderfully pleasant to hear."
Wearing a twisted smile, Jane stared straight at Roan.
"This actually works out perfectly. I've been curious about the skills of the guy who put that uptight Belog in his place."
Jane stopped in her tracks.
"Why don't we have a go? Judging by your tone, you seem pretty confident."
"Confident? I'm always confident."
Roan grinned.
This was exactly the reaction he had been baiting.
'She always bites if you give her a little nudge.'
"Great. There's a clearing just a bit further ahead. Let's go there."
"...Are you talking about the training grounds the Magic Tower students use?"
"That's the one!"
"Are you crazy? You want to fight in front of the kids?"
Of course he did.
'Because if I remember correctly, it's right there.'
Lumen's Crystal.
A magical artifact that stored pre-cast incantations, drastically reducing spell-casting time.
'When I first found it, I didn't even know what it was.'
An item obtained while fighting a transcendent being during the age of ruin.
He had found it by chance, used magic by chance, and experienced its effects by chance.
'We managed to kill the transcendent being, but she was eventually overwhelmed. Jane herself had reached her limit.'
Back then, they had no time and didn't know how to utilize it, but things were different now.
"Alright! Let me know when you're ready. I'm good to go whenever."
"Hmph, I was ready way before you."
Refusing to lose even a single word, Jane spread her hand.
Whoosh!
The rising flames were anything but ordinary.
"I haven't seen it myself, but I know you're strong. So!"
Cutting herself off, Jane began her incantation.
She was fast.
In less than three seconds, Jane finished her chant and unleashed her magic.
Portals opened around her body.
Long spears of flame shot out from them.
Eight of them hurtled toward Roan's position.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
Dirt and dust exploded upward with a violent roar.
"I'm not holding ba—"
"Alright, that's one."
A chilling sensation brushed against the back of her neck.
If he had swung his sword just then...
'I would have died.'
Goosebumps broke out over her skin at the thought.
But without letting it show, she continued the duel.
...
"Well? What do you think? Exactly ten times."
Exactly ten times.
The evasion and surprise attack had only happened the first time.
For the remaining nine, he had blocked her attacks and countered.
As if mocking her, he had completely neutralized every single spell she threw.
"C-Coward! Let's go again! What are the odds of a mage running into someone like you on a real battlefield anyway?!"
"Hey, there are no excuses on a battlefield."
Jane flinched.
The sheer weight behind his words felt entirely different.
But only for a moment.
Instantly shifting the mood, Roan clapped his hands and moved to a different spot.
A reasonably flat, wide stone.
It was right in front of the resting area used by the Magic Tower students.
"Alright! This is the last one. If you lose this, you're training with me, got it?"
It was phrased as a question, but it was practically a done deal.
But what could she do? She was the one who insisted on tagging along!
"Fine. Then... I'll show you a real spell."
She began to chant.
This time, the incantation was much longer.
In response, a massive amount of mana surged from her small frame, gathering at her fingertips.
"Oh...!"
The condensed mana began to take a spherical shape.
A sun of brilliant flame that looked capable of easily swallowing dozens of people.
It was the fire magic Jane had been most confident in during his past life.
'...As expected, she's still a bit unpolished.'
There were many shortcomings compared to her past self.
The shape was imperfect, and the pressure and heat it radiated fell short of what he remembered.
Though the students watching from the sidelines already had their jaws hanging open.
"Hmph, frozen in place, are we? I guess this spell is a bit too much even for you."
She didn't wait for Roan's answer.
She hurled it immediately.
Rumble...
With a strange, roaring sound, the massive sun reached Roan.
There was no sign of it bouncing off his shield.
'Wait, was that too strong?'
A sudden wave of regret hit her.
She rushed over to Roan's side.
...He was perfectly fine.
"What, you're fine."
Half-relieved, half-annoyed.
And as she checked on him, Jane's gaze naturally drifted behind him.
The stone bench where the students used to rest had reacted to the mana, rising up like a stone slab.
"Aha! It worked. This is exactly what I was aiming for."
"...What is this?"
"Something to help you grow."
Bewilderment filled her eyes.
And right in the center, something exceptionally eye-catching was floating in the air.
'A rune stone...?'
Jane's eyes widened.
Her hand instinctively reached out to grab it, but she quickly pulled it back.
Rune stones were dangerous because one never knew what kind of magic was imbued within them.
"You can tell, right? That it's no ordinary stone."
But heedless of her caution, Roan casually plucked it out of the air.
"W-Wait! You idiot! Do you even know what kind of magic is sealed inside that rune stone—"
"I do."
"...What?"
"I know everything. It's a research artifact hidden by one of the founders of the Magic Tower. A rune stone that shortens incantation times."
—Lumen's Crystal.
A rare magical rune stone that stores pre-cast incantations, drastically reducing spell-casting time.
Jane snorted at his words.
"Don't be ridiculous. You think shortening incantations is that easy?"
"You'll see when you try it yourself."
Roan tossed it to her.
Jane caught it, acting as if she were only doing so reluctantly.
Instantly, her fingertips flared with heat.
"—..."
As a short spell slipped from her lips unconsciously, the rune stone began to react.
The engravings on the small stone came alive, transforming into the characters of her incantation.
"You..."
"Aren't you more curious about that than me? Try it first."
She couldn't argue with that.
Jane turned her gaze back to the rune stone.
Then, she chanted.
Using her brilliant mind to deduce the shortcut, she skipped the engraved phrases.
And then.
"Ha."
A fireball erupted from her fingertips.
Whoosh!
A nearby training dummy was instantly engulfed in flames.
Jane stared blankly down at her hand.
"...It really shortened it. No, it feels like I skipped the chant entirely."
"How is it?"
"How is it? It's..."
Jane looked at Roan.
Her face was a mix of confusion and shock.
"How did you know about this? No one who uses this place had any idea. Who are you, anyway?"
"Me?"
Roan pointed a thumb at himself with a grin.
"The guy who's never going to let you die!"
Jane's face immediately contorted in disgust.
"That is so incredibly cringe."
"Moving on,"
Roan brushed her comment aside.
"I won the bet, right? From now on, you're practicing at every stop along the way."
"Hmph, I didn't forget. I even remember the Elpoldo Knights."
Though her words were gruff, she couldn't stop fidgeting with the rune stone.
'But be careful. You could get consumed by the rune stone—'
Roan started to think, but shook his head.
She would manage on her own.
And even if she did get consumed by it, he was here to protect her this time.
"So? Where are we going?"
"Grayhill Citadel."
A ruined fortress under imperial jurisdiction.
"...That's incredibly far from here."
"Exactly. Which makes it perfect."
What did that even mean?
As Jane looked at him in confusion, Roan immediately explained.
"You can practice using the rune stone on the way there."
"Are you underestimating me? I can master using a magical artifact in a single night."
Roan nodded at her boast.
He was thinking about how much he missed this bickering, but Jane interpreted his nod differently.
"Don't look down on me! I only let you win because of our class matchup! In a chaotic melee, I'd win hands down!"
"Sure, sure."
Roan's patronizing response only irritated Jane further.
...
Bang!
"Ugh..."
She groaned.
Her mind was likely in a daze from the repetitive practice.
The rune stone had even exploded on the spot, and she might have been hurt if Roan hadn't swatted it away in time.
"...So,"
Jane spoke up, looking embarrassed by her mistake.
"Are there more of those things at Grayhill Citadel? You know, like the ones in the basement."
The cultists in the hidden tenth floor and the basement of the Magic Tower, which was practically a labyrinth.
Jane's eyes naturally sparkled.
It was the thirst for adventure that any denizen of the continent was bound to harbor.
Seeing this, Roan replied with absolute confidence.
"I have no idea!"
"...You acted like you knew everything, and now you suddenly don't?"
"I really don't. Our second comrade is a wandering knight. After his order was wiped out, he just wandered all over the continent."
"Then how are we going to find him? That order was destroyed two months ago. He must have gone much further by now."
"Exactly."
That's why!
"We have to head that way. That's where the strongest traces of Cedric Rowell will be."
Cedric Rowell.
Jane muttered the name to herself.
"...He doesn't sound very famous."
It wasn't a name she'd seen in the papers, nor was it one whispered in rumors.
Since Roan had chosen her, she assumed he would only pick incredibly strong people, but was that not the case?
"He's not famous yet. On top of that, he's self-centered and bristles whenever anyone tries to show him kindness."
"What? So he's even worse than me."
"Still! Once Rowell grows, he'll be incredibly reliable."
Why?
"Because the armor he wears grows along with him."