Grant had grown up being called a genius.
A dull talent could train for a lifetime and still fail to reach even Grade 1, while most people reached their limit at Grade 4 Aura User.
Only those with talent could surpass Grade 4, and even more exceptional individuals had to put in well over ten years of effort to become Grade 5 Aura Users.
Yet Grant had become a Grade 5 Aura User at his current age of only twenty.
‘Me, a genius?’
Compared to Mitchell, who had only been holding a sword for two months, Grant was merely gifted.
‘No, before that, does that even make sense?’
It was hard to believe.
He could still vividly see Mitchell emitting Aura as he took down three mages and one martial artist in an instant.
Even if the Aura could be explained by the unusual cultivation method Mitchell claimed to have learned, the movements and judgment he had displayed afterward were entirely his own.
Putting everything else aside, even swinging a sword and cutting through a person was no easy feat. Cutting through a human body was nothing like cutting through a thin tree branch.
His stance was crude, yet he instinctively knew how to produce power.
‘Then why is his stance so crude?’
With talent this exceptional!
Anyone who witnessed Mitchell’s glittering talent firsthand would go mad with the desire to teach him properly from the very basics.
Just as Grant felt now.
Once his thoughts reached that point, an absurd idea suddenly occurred to him.
“You said two months……. Did you perhaps teach yourself the sword?”
“I learned from books.”
Huh…….
If that was true, then Grant himself was not even gifted. He was merely average.
And countless other martial artists were downright dull-witted.
By this point, Grant actually found it harder to believe.
He did not know why Mitchell was telling such an absurd lie, but since he seemed to want to hide the truth, Grant decided to let it pass for now.
“I think it would be best if I taught you everything one step at a time from the beginning. Would that be all right?”
“Before that, may I do some physical conditioning first? I’ve found that using the sword afterward works better. The books said so too.”
“Of course. It is a good method for improving your stamina and preventing injuries once you begin serious training afterward. I will watch, so go ahead and do what you normally do.”
Mitchell began jogging lightly around the training ground.
Running with light, springy steps, he gradually increased his speed.
After roughly two laps, he was nearly sprinting at full speed.
‘That seems a little fast.’
Grant was worried because it was far too quick for a warm-up, but he decided to keep watching.
Mitchell was not one of the family’s trainees, so Grant intended to see how he normally trained and adjust accordingly.
But Mitchell only stopped after running at that full speed for thirty straight minutes.
‘He doesn’t seem to be using Aura either. He must have been born with a strong body.’
Training in Aura strengthened the body more than that of an ordinary person even when Aura itself was not actively being used.
Naturally, someone who had already possessed an exceptional physique to begin with would become even more durable.
Grant himself was such a case, so he could do the same.
Grant continued watching while thinking about how he should structure Mitchell’s physical training…….
‘Hmm.’
Running in a squat.
‘Hmmm.’
Running on all fours.
‘Huh.’
Running while doing a handstand.
‘What kind of ridiculous training is this……?’
Then came strength exercises such as push-ups and horse stances.
Every single exercise was even performed at high speed.
When Mitchell finally seemed to finish everything and started walking back, Grant was left speechless.
Mitchell’s entire body had turned red, and all his clothes were soaked through with sweat while steam rose from him.
An enormous amount of heat was surging as though struggling to escape his body.
This was brute force taken far too far.
How could he do all that without even using Aura? Wasn’t that an amount of training no human being should be capable of enduring?
Grant seriously wondered whether Mitchell had troll blood mixed into him, but judging by his delicate features, there was no possible way.
As Mitchell trudged over, Grant seriously wondered whether they should proceed directly into swordsmanship training like this.
Then Mitchell came over, drank some water, and spoke.
“Ahh, that feels good. By the way, do you have anything heavy I can drag while running for my cooldown?”
“Stop it, you crazy bastard!”
***
After that absurd physical conditioning finally ended, they rested for a while before beginning swordsmanship training.
Grant cleared his throat while looking at Mitchell’s expressionless face.
“Ahem. Pick up your sword.”
“…….”
“I apologize for shouting earlier.”
“…….”
“And I’m sorry I called you a crazy bastard. Your training looked so excessive that I was worried you might hurt yourself.”
At Grant’s words, Mitchell abruptly stood and picked up his sword.
In truth, Mitchell had been wondering what exactly had been wrong with his training.
He had only trained as he normally did, yet Grant had gone so far as to call him a crazy bastard.
He had been pondering that question, and only after hearing Grant’s explanation did he finally understand why.
“I’ve always trained about this much, so you don’t need to worry about me getting injured.”
“What is that body of his, an ogre’s or something?”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“I was talking to myself. More importantly, I will start by showing you how to hold the sword. The grip you are currently using is for the two-handed swords used by knights, so the balance will probably feel wrong.”
So that was it…….
Knights who fought in thick steel armor mainly used two-handed swords with long blades and hilts.
And the book Mitchell had studied was a manual meant for knights, so even the grip had been different.
He really did need to learn things properly.
Mitchell turned his attention to Grant, who personally demonstrated how to grip the sword.
“Benefactor, place your hands on the hilt like this…….”
“By the way, how about you stop calling me ‘benefactor’? We’re about the same age, so you can speak more casually too.”
“Sure. All right, Mitchell. Pick up the sword.”
What the…….
Mitchell stared blankly at him in disbelief, but there was not the slightest hint of malice on Grant’s face as he immediately switched to casual speech.
So Mitchell decided to let it go.
The sudden change in tone had simply caught him off guard. They were the same age, and Mitchell himself had told Grant he could speak more comfortably.
Mitchell held the sword exactly as Grant had shown him.
“Right, hold it like that. Now swing it once.”
WHOOOSH—
“See? If you don’t swing it properly, the sound…….”
WHOOSH—
“Gets dull…….”
SWISH—
“……or so I was going to say.”
“What?”
“Nothing. You’re doing well. From now on, keep practicing downward slashes, diagonal slashes, horizontal slashes, and thrusts until you can consistently make that sound. If the sound stops coming out properly, take a short break. And of course, you can’t use Aura.”
Mitchell began swinging his sword again.
Grant watched in disbelief. Changing one’s grip and swinging with it usually took quite some time to get used to.
Yet after only two swings, Mitchell was already moving the sword along a perfect trajectory.
Nor did it seem likely that this was actually the grip Mitchell had originally used.
There was no reason for him to have hidden that, and when Grant had seen him using the incorrect grip before, Mitchell had looked quite accustomed to it.
‘Still, he won’t be able to do very many from the start.’
Simply changing one’s grip caused previously unused muscles to come into play.
Unless someone was accustomed to it, they would inevitably tire much faster than usual.
Mitchell had also just completed extremely intense physical conditioning, so he should tire even faster.
Grant decided to see how many swings Mitchell could manage and began swinging his own sword beside him as part of his own training.
SWISH— SWISH— SWISH—
A uniform sound came from both swords.
The number of swings steadily accumulated and quickly reached three digits.
SWISH— SWISH— SWISH—
One hundred, five hundred, one thousand…….
By the time they finally reached a thousand swings, Grant’s breath had climbed all the way to his chin.
Grade 2 or Grade 5, anyone would become exhausted moving this much without using Aura.
Grant gritted his teeth and managed another hundred or so swings before finally lowering his sword.
His hands trembled.
He wondered how Mitchell, who was still swinging beside him, was managing.
Grant felt that if he continued training alongside him any longer, his own body would give out, so he decided to stop Mitchell.
“Mitchell.”
SWISH— SWISH— SWISH—
“Mitchell!”
Only after seeing Mitchell’s face did Grant realize what state he was in.
Complete unity of self and sword.
His stance had not broken in the slightest, but the sweat, bulging tendons, and the way his arm and sword trembled every time he raised them made it clear that Mitchell had exhausted all his strength as well.
And yet the sound of every swing could not have been cleaner.
At least during the instant his sword descended, there was not the slightest tremor.
Grant shook his head.
‘If…… he’s trained like this every single time…….’
Then perhaps Mitchell had not been deceiving him after all.
Little by little, Grant began accepting that unbelievable truth.
And at the same time, flames surged into his own eyes.
Something he had forgotten for a long time had returned to him.
“Shall I go again?”
After replenishing his fluids, Grant rose and began swinging his sword once more.
***
In the Runei Family’s office, Edrick, captain of the Martial Corps that commanded the family’s martial artists, was meeting privately with the Family Head.
“So Grant has been devoting himself to training lately?”
“That is correct. Ever since our benefactor arrived, he has trained together with him every day for the past fifteen days.”
“Ho ho, that is good news.”
Kayden laughed heartily.
Ever since Grant had rapidly advanced to Grade 5, he had not trained very much.
It was certainly not because he was lazy.
Kayden knew that better than anyone.
‘That boy…….’
Grant had been working toward the goal of restoring the family to prominence, and thanks to those efforts, several of their businesses had even begun producing tangible results.
Yet Kayden could not help feeling sorry for his son.
Kayden himself stood at the very edge of Grade 6.
If he could cross just one more wall, he would reach the supreme realm known as Aura Master, yet even after so many years, that glorious title had never come easily within reach.
Aura Master.
The aspiration of everyone who looked upon a sword and began walking the path of the sword.
Naturally, Kayden was no exception.
At one corner of his heart sat a regret as heavy as a boulder.
What if he had turned his eyes away from the family, which had been like a candle before the wind, and devoted himself solely to training from childhood?
That was why he did not want his son to live the same life he had.
All the more so because Grant possessed talent far greater than his own.
Kayden wanted to carry the family’s crisis on his own shoulders and let his son walk comfortably along the road behind him.
He wanted Grant to concern himself with the family only after it had become more stable—after they had established a foundation that would allow him to pursue the realm of Master without worry.
But reality had not allowed that.
Was that not why his son had cast aside his training and devoted himself solely to the family’s affairs?
“But if he is training like that, what is he doing about the matter with Chief Steward Hail?”
“He only begins moving after his training is finished and night has fallen.”
“Tsk, tsk. At that rate, when does he expect to find him?”
Kayden clicked his tongue, but having heard that Grant had begun training again, the smile had still not left his face.
“There is also something I need to report regarding Chief Steward Hail.”
“A report…….”
At the mention of Chief Steward Hail, Kayden’s voice sank.
He desperately wanted to know why Hail had betrayed them and where he was now.
But they would only learn any of that after finding him.
“Speak.”
“A young beggar says he saw Chief Steward Hail inside the Rapel Family estate. He said Hail was moving around freely, so it did not look as though he had been abducted.”
CREEEAK.
The wooden armrest beneath Kayden’s hand groaned as it twisted.
Edrick watched the silent Kayden before cautiously speaking.
“Should I tell the Eldest Young Master as well?”
“I told him to handle it himself, but how could I simply leave everything to him? Make whatever arrangements are necessary so he can deal with this quietly.”
“Yes, understood.”
“I should be the one to clear the road the family must travel. Grant only needs to follow behind me.”
Kayden stared toward the part of the estate where the family training ground was located.
That sentiment was the mindset of a true father.
But there was one thing he had failed to predict.
“Mitchell! We found Chief Steward Hail!”
“Oh. When are we storming in?”
“As soon as possible!”
Grant and Mitchell might move first.