Just as with studying and exercise, fundamentals were important in magic and swordsmanship.
Yulian had never properly learned swordsmanship.
No matter how much natural talent someone possessed, an unpolished gemstone would never reveal its brilliance.
And when the opponent was another human rather than a monster or animal, that difference would only grow larger.
‘On the other hand, if Yulian properly learns swordsmanship, his ceiling will be far higher than mine.’
What I could teach him was limited to the fundamentals.
‘I’ll have to ask that guy later.’
Thinking of a companion from my memories, I lowered my sword.
“I think this proves I can protect myself. What do you think?”
“......I’d believe you even if you said you were a knight instead of a mage.”
Yulian looked frustrated.
As he steadied his breathing, I could see his competitive spirit blazing in the eyes fixed on his sword.
At that moment, the knights who had been watching in silence burst into applause.
CLAP CLAP CLAP―!
“Wow...... Sword aura was already impressive enough, but I’ve never seen anyone counter it like that.”
“Where in the world did Lord Lumio learn swordsmanship?”
“He must just be a genius. I’m not even sure the Captain could beat him.”
Cheers and exclamations followed one after another.
Among them, I could see Arisa clapping with her mouth hanging open.
I shrugged and turned toward Yulian, who seemed lost in thought.
I whispered quietly,“So you’re coming outside with me, right?”
“......Let’s have one more match.”
I knew he would say that.
When swordsmen went as far as using sword aura and still lost that anticlimactically, most of them felt unsatisfied and deluded themselves into thinking they could win next time.
I remembered a foreign tale claiming that to earn a swordsman’s loyalty, you had to defeat him seven times and release him seven times.
“As many as you want. I haven’t even broken a sweat.”
I said the last part quietly, but deliberately loud enough for him to hear.
I wanted to get under Yulian’s skin a little.
There was also a chance he hadn’t been using his full strength because his opponent was me.
Come at me properly.
That way, you won’t have any regrets.
Yulian stepped back and adjusted his grip on the sword.
A vein stood out on his forehead.
“Please give me another lesson.”
***
Yulian simply couldn’t understand it.
After returning to the territory following the Kardum incident, he had trained harder than anyone.
He had resolved to become stronger so Lumio would never collapse again.
While Lumio stayed inside the Magic Tower making scrolls, Yulian guarded the door on the first floor and swung his sword endlessly.
He devoted himself so completely to training that the people around him had begun calling him a training fiend.
Even he could feel himself rapidly improving as he learned to handle sword aura.
And yet, in this short span of time, he had sparred four times and lost all four.
Every defeat had been absolute.
He hadn’t landed a single hit.
No matter how quickly he swung or how much more sword aura he used, his blade never touched Lumio.
It was absurd.
Wasn’t this the same young master who had struggled just to climb a mountain only a few weeks ago?
Yet now, Lumio’s body looked trained enough that anyone could believe he had spent years as a knight.
The fifth spar.
Even when Yulian brought his sword down without holding back, Lumio didn’t so much as blink.
When he had lost the first time, Yulian had mostly been disappointed in his own weakness.
Now, all he could feel was awe toward Lumio.
Yulian had been called a genius by knights since childhood.
‘Genius, my ass. In front of a real genius, I’m just an ordinary man.’
He was undoubtedly frustrated, yet for some reason, a smile rose to his lips.
Faster.
If that wasn’t enough, faster than before.
He drove himself all the way to his limits.
WHOOSH―!
The sword grazed Lumio’s hair.
Yulian had put so much force into the swing that his muscles swelled and tingled, yet this was all he had managed.
A few strands of Lumio’s bangs had been cut.
Then Lumio began his counterattack.
A wooden sword came toward Yulian’s side.
He quickly gathered his strength and knocked it away.
‘The impact through my hand was too light.’
The first attack had been a feint.
Lumio had pretended to attack, induced Yulian to defend, then changed the trajectory and followed with a thrust.
Heavy impacts from the wooden sword struck his shoulder and solar plexus.
“Ghk!”
Yulian clenched his teeth and endured the blows.
Then he swung his sword with every ounce of strength he possessed.
Give up flesh to take bone.
At that moment, Lumio twisted the hand holding his sword.
He pushed Yulian away with the end of the hilt while retreating himself.
As Yulian’s wooden sword once again cut through empty air, Lumio kicked him in the abdomen.
Because Yulian had concentrated all his strength into his arms, he lost his balance and collapsed helplessly.
“......Want to keep going?”
Yulian silently stared at the hand Lumio extended.
He took it, rose to his feet, and answered,“That’s enough.”
At this level, the monsters around the territory wouldn’t be able to injure Lumio.
“I lost. I simply can’t beat you. I never imagined I wouldn’t land even a single hit...... Understood. I’ll go along with your plan, Lord Lumio.”
Rather than feeling defeated, he was actually relieved to know that Lumio was this strong.
And Yulian was beginning to understand how he himself needed to improve.
“But I have one request as well.”
Until now, all he had done was imitate the knights around him and train without a teacher.
Today, he had felt the limits of that approach.
Which meant he could still become stronger.
“Please teach me swordsmanship.”
“There’s someone more suitable than me to be your swordsmanship teacher...... but I can teach you the fundamentals.”
“Someone more suitable?”
Lumio told him there was a secluded expert.
He added that it would take time to find the man, so Yulian should master the fundamentals until then.
“Understood.”
Yulian nodded, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
‘To think he was even searching for a teacher for me without my knowing......’
It was something he couldn’t have imagined only a few weeks ago.
Now in high spirits, Yulian shouted,“Let’s go subjugate the monsters right away!”
Arisa answered with a look of contempt.
“You change sides ridiculously fast. Aren’t you the same person who was using sword aura a moment ago because you were determined to stop him?”
“Now that I know Lord Lumio’s strength, there’s no longer any need to stop him.”
“Just so you know, I’m Lumio’s first disciple. Don’t try to take my place.”
“You asked him barely an hour before I did. Do you want me to treat you like my senior over that? You’re not a child.”
“A-A child? You’re the same age as Lumio, aren’t you? I’m older than you!”
Lumio watched the two of them with satisfaction before settling the matter.
“All right, all right. Let’s go to the Magic Tower and prepare first. We need to treat Yulian’s injuries too.”
***
The estate of the Baron-rank Samuan Family in Dorios Territory.
SLAP!
Nasda was being slapped by his father, Samuan.
“You bastard! You handled the debt so badly you couldn’t even bring back the principal?!”
SLAP!
When Samuan learned that Nasda had returned from the North without even recovering the principal, his anger refused to subside, and he struck his son across the face again.
It was the exact same cheek Lumio had struck.
Nasda’s cheek turned bright red.
Blood vessels burst beneath the skin, bruises formed, and one of his molars loosened.
“You took mercenaries with you, yet you were driven away at the gate! There was so much to squeeze out of that place, and you handled it like that...... I’m sick of looking at you. Get out!”
“My apologies.”
Nasda bit his lip tightly, bowed politely, and left the room.
The inside of his mouth must have split, because he tasted iron on his tongue.
“Fuck, what the hell was I supposed to do? It wasn’t as though I could let them throw me into a northern prison.”
If he had refused the money, they obviously would have claimed that they had tried to repay the debt and he had refused to accept it.
That was why he had been forced to enter the tiger’s den alone.
With knights standing on either side of him and Lumio threatening him with that glib tongue of his, who could have argued in that situation?
“This is all because of that fucking bastard Lumio.”
As far as Nasda knew, the lord of the North had never possessed that much nerve.
If Lumio hadn’t been there, he would at least have recovered the principal.
After leaving the estate, Nasda headed toward the slums of Dorios.
At the far end stood the hideout where the Captain of the Viper Mercenary Corps was staying.
When he thought about it, these bastards were the real problem.
‘That Enforcer was supposedly a lower-tier Expert, yet he fucking ran away?’
Nasda stormed forward and threw open the door.
“Well, look who it is...... Isn’t that Nasda?”
The instant the door opened, the stench of blood assaulted his nose.
The floor was drenched in it.
The mercenary Nasda had just been cursing was tied up with rope and being tortured.
“You came at the perfect time. I’m punishing the rats who ran away, just like you asked.”
Rex, the Captain of the Viper Mercenary Corps, known as the Head Collector, pointed at his blood-soaked subordinate and grinned.
The rage that had risen all the way to Nasda’s head rapidly cooled.
“Why did they run?”
“They say it was because of that lord’s son named Lumio. But didn’t you say he was a mage?”
“That’s right. I was told he’s a 2nd Circle mage. I told you that beforehand.”
“This one says something different. Claims he isn’t a mage.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“I checked with the Administrator and the Vice Captain of the Knights who were driven out of that territory. They said he was a 1st Circle mage.”
Rex glared fiercely at the bound subordinate.
“Hmm...... Did you lie to me? Did that bastard pay you off or something?”
“He’s definitely a mage. Rumors have spread throughout the territory too. More importantly, he was sick and couldn’t even leave his bed. When would he have had time to train his muscles or anything like that?”
SLASH!
The instant Nasda finished speaking, Rex cut off his subordinate’s head.
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his movements.
The cleanly severed head rolled across the floor.
Nasda swallowed hard and concealed the tremor in his voice.
“Do you have any idea how much money we lost because of you? What are you going to do about it? Either return the money you took...... or finish the job properly.”
“I’ll finish the job. What do you want?”
Rex had a filthy personality and seemed like a complete psychopath, but he had never failed a job he personally took on.
“Lumio.”
“His head enough?”
“Yeah.”
“Easy enough. Do you know how many mages I’ve killed? Those bastards can’t do anything once you get close.”
Good.
If Rex handled it personally, Lumio would die no matter how capable he was.
Nasda remembered Lumio’s arrogant eyes.
The thought of that light going out made him smile.
Once that bastard was dead, he would bring the mercenaries back and change the balance of power again.
“What are you going to do with the rest of the subordinates who ran away that time?”
“What do you mean?”
“Once you deal with Lumio, I wanted to give them a chance to make up for their mistake......”
“Too late.”
“What?”
Rex lit the single lamp in the dark room.
Corpses lay everywhere.
Judging by the swords in their hands, a fierce fight had taken place here.
“There’s one thing I’m curious about...... How strong are you?”
“Who knows? Someone like me has never bothered getting his strength measured...... I did kill a bastard who was boasting about being a mid-tier Expert once.”
Rex wiped the blood from his sword with a towel and continued,“Does that answer your question?”