Chapter 30
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Still Not Free
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Easily blocking the sword, Fred raised an eyebrow.
‘Sigh. What’s the point of a name?’
As I clamped my mouth shut, Fred made an effort not to pry.
I wanted to focus on the sword too, so I held back my words.
【Become Luke and fight!】
‘That’s not me. You saw how aggressive I got. Didn’t you stop me for that reason?’
【I stopped you because it was Requiya! Afraid Andre Bong would kill Requiya! This guy’s not Requiya!】
‘You can’t kill this one either.’
【Ah, right! But why aren’t you following Blue Eye?】
‘It’s for preparing against emergencies.’
【What emergency?!】
Who knows what might happen with people.
Blue Eye could be snatched away or vanish at any moment, right?
If I get too accustomed and overly reliant, I’d end up a hollow shell of a machine without its OS.
【Why no answer?!】
‘Busy focusing. Just better safe than sorry.’
【Aha! First! Second! Third! Safety first!】
‘Close enough.’
I gave Silver Star a vague reply while clashing swords with Fred, lost in thought.
‘I see it clearly now. He’s no one with murderous intent toward me.’
Fred was a man seasoned in teaching.
Unconsciously, it felt like I was being instructed by him.
He’d come to guide his subordinates—an experienced instructor and drill sergeant.
Fred’s blade probed my openings, and the moment I dodged or parried, he anticipated it and targeted somewhere else, as if to say, “You’re sloppy here. Shore this up,” conversing through steel.
‘Just like someone with Blue Eye.’
The Red Dragon Knight I’d hurled off the waterfall had trusted his prowess and dropped his guard, ending up a splattered calamari.
Fred, on the other hand...
‘He’s got tons of experience in desperate, life-or-death fights.’
【Knights fight plenty too!】
‘Sure, but something tells me it’s different from Fred.’
How often do knights in their orders—swarming en masse—get backed into a corner by weaker foes or monsters, fighting desperately?
They’d hold overwhelming force, but Fred’s swordsmanship reeked of raw exigency.
In true blade duels where a split-second lapse spells death, spotting and exploiting the enemy’s weakness is vital. Kill or be killed.
Fred was a swordsman who mastered both.
【Kekeke-! Not bad! Andre pooong-!】
‘Were you testing my insight too? Ease up on my patience already?’
I kept my focus on the spar even while bantering with Silver Star.
Shifting my feet for better footing, twisting my waist and wrists to strike vitals.
【Gotta regularly check if you qualify as Silver Star’s protector!】
‘Sheesh, you rascal. Planning to SOS the Queen if push comes to shove?’
I was starting to get the hang of the sword.
It was nothing like rote repetition to ingrain movements into muscle memory.
I trusted that a technique fully internalized through endless reps would execute itself before I even thought about it.
‘The sword’s path is clear even without Blue Eye. Or more like... I feel it in my skin?’
Even in a single clash with Fred, I leveraged insight to replay his movements dozens of times in my mind and body, honing them.
To onlookers, one exchange—but my shadow self drilled it scores of times in that instant.
An innate gift from Blue Eye and Silver Star, beyond my control.
Something I couldn’t have done trapped in the Sanctuary.
Meaning either my vessel had expanded, letting me wield the Insight Ability better...
‘Or Fred’s just that exceptional a swordsman.’
【Both! Toolsep’s melting fast!】
Training with Requiya, endless rumination unearthed breakthroughs; sparring a worthy foe spurred real gains.
I forgot we were sparring and let out a chuckle.
“What’s so funny... mid-spar...”
Fred’s eyebrow twitched.
The look on his face wasn’t irritation—it was bafflement.
He wasn’t frowning at my laugh, but at how he was steadily losing ground.
“Hah-. Astonishing.”
“Hahaha, Captain...”
Requiya and Fred’s men watching were just as stunned.
‘I’m shocked too.’
【Silver Star too!】
Whoosh-, swish-.
At some point, our blades stopped clashing altogether.
When I swept to bat his sword from my throat, it coiled like a serpent toward my ribs; parry that, and he slipped back.
Close in on his shoulder—he guards, and my blade redirects to his neck.
‘Reading intent. Fred’s natural flow means he’s long since reached that realm.’
Once I gained the upper hand, Fred faltered, retreating step by step.
‘Could push further. But Fred’s holding his true strength. Why conserve?’
The bout, started at the training ground’s heart, had drifted to its edge.
My thrust’s tip kissed Fred’s brow.
No fight left in him, so I lowered my sword and asked flatly.
“This enough?”
Rolling his stiff wrist, Fred cracked a grin.
“Real-time evolution? Or were you sandbagging?”
“Believe what you want.”
No need to explain.
Still, I was grateful to Fred for helping weave that thread of enlightenment.
He’d aided me in becoming swordsman Andre Bong—not Luke Seid.
“I know you held back too, Fred. We can go again if you like.”
“Nah. Got subordinates to drill. Sparring you was plenty helpful.”
Ah, so he’d reserved his strength for his real job.
Unlike me, quick to heat up, he put duty over petty victory.
The heart realm, they called it.
A man of profound depths.
“Hoo-.”
I let out a long breath. Stared at the sword in my grip.
Sword.
‘Scraped past death’s door swinging on instinct. Finally starting to feel natural in my hands.’
Thud-.
The stone lodged in my heart swelled a touch.
‘Gray tint.’
Divinity realms had tiers, but they were nominal.
No sharp borders, no rigid steps.
‘Said there’s a trial to advance from Silver.’
Growth to Silver lacked thrill—no palpable leveling sensation.
Yet it scaled with effort, no frustrating plateaus.
And you could expand your vessel sans tier-up.
A Silver’s capacity might eclipse a Gold’s.
So what set them apart?
Higher tiers compressed divinity denser.
Greater potency from the same output.
Why prioritize divine power? It’s my prime survival tool.
Mana cultivation whenever free, but Toolsep devours it all—no magic learning.
Thus, divine power it is.
To grow stronger. To bolster Silver Star’s gifts.
【Yay! See even farther! Spinning yellow bird too!】
I glanced skyward.
Birds of every stripe wheeled overhead like predators on the hunt.
‘Sanctuary’s spies watching me.’
Stronger than yesterday, yet still not free.
Bitter taste in mouth, I gazed up as Requiya asked.
“Captain, sticking around the training ground?”
“Yeah. Training till we hit the mines.”
“I’ll follow.”
Daylight hours: cycles of training and meditation.
Breaks: fed Hama milk procured from innkeeper Suhes, watched Fred drill his men.
‘One hell of an instructor.’
Not that his backstory suddenly piqued my interest. Fred’s, I mean.
What tale led a warrior like him to free-city security chief?
Obvious, probably.
Ditched corrupt overlords, wandered till washing up here.
【Sounds legit!】
‘Assuming that quells idle curiosity. Get too nosy, and it’s meddling.’
【Meddling? Like helping Requiya’s revenge?】
‘Yeah. Close enough.’
People’s lives follow patterns everywhere, right?
Vast continent, myriad races—but kindred spirits tread similar roads.
Fred carried the scent of a warrior unyielding to ideals betrayed.
Training wrapped, Fred approached us.
“Still got business with me, Andre?”
Meal-finished Hama scampered about tongue lolling puppylike.
The kids who’d peeked shyly when I held him now chased Hama in uncontained glee.
I watched, then broached casually.
“Ever seen a guy die, come back, and swing a sword?”
This touched on Charles from the Sanctuary—and Requiya’s quest too.
I’d asked her; she knew zilch.
Only what the boasting Charles—slain by my hand—had crowed.
Learned necromancy from Fiore palace’s elusive archmage.
“Not pegging me for a monster, are you...”
Hmm. Wouldn’t be hale if I’d encountered one. Fred stroked his chin, mumbling.
“Won’t pry if it’s tough to share.”
Could sift truth from lies even in mutters.
‘No way he’d still breathe... He’s faced that power firsthand.’
Bench-seated, Fred crack!-slapped his knee, bittersweet smile twisting.
His unkempt black beard quivered.
“Had kids of my own. Sweet innocents like these.”
Fred’s gaze tracked Hama and the tumbling young’uns.
Clothes muddied, hair tousled, they crawled dirt-bellied, tongues out like Hama.
Smile returning, he shook off hesitation with a fierce head toss.
“Before this place, I trained palace guards in Brad Kingdom. Tiny nation—barely known on the continent. Borders Fiore...”
Fred’s tale stretched long.
Sword-and-adventure-loving youth Fred Shobiding couldn’t spurn the king’s favor; settled as royal swordmaster.
“Ten years back already. Trained droves of fine warriors myself. Who’d guess a monster-hunting vagrant like me had teaching chops? The king spotted it. Keen eye—not just anyone’s a monarch.”
So when’s the resurrection magic bit drop?
I pried a callus off my finger, eyeing tuckered Hama flopped doglike in slumber.
Requiya, sidelong glances—bet she’s itching for details too.
Knowledge fuels vengeance.
【Why so curious?!】
‘Told you. She aids me, I aid her. Give and take.’
【Hmm...】
Like you’d grasp human virtues.
Stick to wuxia novels.
【Got it! Repay favors double, enemies tenfold—the way of the jianghu!】
Quit the wuxia already!
“Then one day, the kids vanished en masse. Youngest prince among ’em. Guards searched, nada. Forest’s a witch’s snarl to palace-dwellers. Ronin like me was cut for tracking.”
Fred sighed deep, lamenting.
Requiya’s eyes went saucer-wide at the unforeseen turn.