The sun sank below the horizon,
and deep darkness descended.
“Ha! I can finally get some mana training done.”
Damp air greeted me as I entered the forest.
It had already been three months.
During the day, I trained in swordsmanship. At night, I trained my mana.
THUD.
I sat cross-legged and focused my mind.
“My Coming-of-Age Ceremony is tomorrow already…… Thankfully, I finished in time.”
Through the training I had done, my body had completely adapted to the Mana Chain.
It was time for one final inspection before the duel.
CRACKLE.
“Thrilling!”
Electricity spread along my nerves into every corner of my body before returning to my spinal cord.
The mana that failed to return to my spinal cord became blue currents and dispersed outside my body.
Anyone else would have turned pale at the sight, but it was all too familiar to me after watching Third Imperial Princess Melina fly across the battlefield like lightning every day.
‘Still, letting that mana discharge is a bit wasteful.’
I slowed the Mana Chain’s rotation slightly.
It was one of the results of the past three months of training.
The amount of mana discharged from my body decreased dramatically.
“All right! Shall I move around a little now?”
TAP!
My mana-expanded senses detected my surroundings.
The straight trees, the chirping insects, and the birds hunting those insects.
Even through the pitch-black darkness, I could sense every corner of the forest.
Let’s run.
WHOOSH.
The wind rushing past me felt cool.
This feels good.
My control over the mana was perfect.
But I had no intention of being satisfied with this.
In this life, I would complete the Sword Saint’s mana cultivation method and become even stronger.
In my previous life, regret and lingering remorse had driven me forward.
Whenever I wanted to give up on everything, Mother’s dead face came to mind.
Then I had to keep moving, fleeing from Mother’s unfocused eyes.
This life would be different.
I would never leave myself with regrets or run away again.
The Demon King.
That overwhelming majesty, like a god that human strength could never hope to defeat.
‘Honestly, he’s a brutal opponent.’
Even if I fought him another hundred times, I could not imagine myself winning.
Nevertheless.
“I decided I’d never run away again.”
TAP.
“All right, that’s enough. Should I head back?”
I trudged out of the forest.
With the Coming-of-Age Ceremony tomorrow, I was planning to get some sleep.
That was, until a dark-clad man appeared.
“Father?!”
***
Father was sitting on the steps of an old cabin at the edge of the forest.
“You are finally here.”
“What brings you here, Father?”
“You brat. The racket from all your rampaging was so loud that I came here myself.”
Loud?
That could not be true.
“Don’t tell pointless lies. They aren’t funny.”
“Ha! You did not even flinch. Could you not at least pretend to be surprised?”
“I worked myself to the bone to ensure nothing leaked outside the forest. And if something really had leaked out, other people would’ve come before you.”
The people serving the Grand Duchess and Second Young Master Vlad, for instance.
“You insolent wretch. You have grown disgustingly large without retaining even a speck of cuteness.”
What was this sudden talk about cuteness?
Since when had our family cultivated anything like that?
“So why did you come all the way here?”
Father pulled something from inside his clothes.
It was a long box with an air of refinement.
“What is this?”
“Tradition.”
Father stroked the box with his rough hand.
“Those born with Fenrir blood must prove themselves upon reaching adulthood by facing a knight of a higher realm.”
“I know. While the children of other noble houses enjoy banquets, we swing swords.”
Father held the box out to me.
“Take it.”
A sword engraved with the family crest appeared.
It was a tradition I had never known about in my previous life, when I had not undergone the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
“The head of the family personally bestows a sword upon one undergoing the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. That is another tradition of House Fenrir.”
“This is the sword you will wield tomorrow.”
I reached for it.
Looking back, I had been consumed by a deep sense of defeat in my previous life.
I had shut myself in my room, beating my chest and resenting everyone.
But in the end, the person I hated most was myself for doing nothing and running away.
The sword fit my hand with a sharp snap.
I could tell at once that it had been crafted for me and fitted to my measurements.
“Well, it isn’t bad.”
I grinned, baring my canines.
“You wretch. Your skills are wretched, yet your standards have grown needlessly high.”
Only a brusque remark left Father’s mouth.
In my previous life, those words would have wounded and discouraged me for no reason.
But not now.
“We’ll find out tomorrow whether my skills can match my standards.”
“Do not become conceited. Vlad is not an opponent you can afford to underestimate.”
“It isn’t conceit. It’s confidence.”
When I met Father’s eyes, I could see the warmth I had failed to recognize before.
“By the way, Vlad is my opponent tomorrow. Since you came to see me, that must mean I’ve already knocked at least one rival out of contention, right?”
“Ha! Do not get ahead of yourself.”
“Why else would you come all this way to personally give me a sword?”
“Wake from your dream. This is tradition, nothing more. I gave swords to both of your brothers as well.”
I knew.
He valued fair competition more than anyone.
There was no chance he would give me special treatment alone.
Even so, standing here face-to-face with Father did not feel unpleasant.
It was a silent night, with darkness settled heavily around us.
Father and son remained there together for a long while without speaking.
***
BOOM, BOOM!!!
The noise from the spectators grew louder with the beating of the drums.
The stands were packed with people who had come to watch my Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
“I can’t believe this many people came to see me get the shit beaten out of me—or watch me beat the shit out of someone else.”
“It cannot be helped, Young Master. People always crave stimulation.”
CLANK.
I felt the heavy weight of the armor.
“So how many people do you think came hoping to see me beat someone?”
Lina swept her gaze across the stands once before answering calmly.
“I believe approximately half of them are on your side, Young Master.”
“Really? Based on what?”
“Your performance in the previous tournament dramatically increased the number of people who support you. They are primarily poor and powerless residents of the territory. Do they not still send you letters from time to time?”
“True. They’re entertaining whenever I take them out and read them. What about the ones hoping to see me beaten?”
“Primarily nobles. In particular, those connected to Lady Lilian, the Grand Duchess.”
She finished tying the straps of my armor as she answered.
CLANK, CLANK.
“This is incredibly uncomfortable. Can’t I just take it off?”
“My goodness, what are you saying?!”
Mother entered the waiting room and stared at me in horror.
“The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is fought with real swords! What will you do if something terrible happens because you refused to wear armor? Put your helmet on immediately!”
“A-all right. I will. I was planning to wear it anyway.”
I quickly put on the helmet and tied its straps before one careless remark caused her lecture to grow any longer.
“Here is your sword.”
Lina handed me the sword.
The sword Father had given me last night,
the sword signifying that I carried the family’s blood.
“Thanks.”
“I, Bale von Fenrir, head of House Fenrir, hereby declare the beginning of Pietro Fenrir’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony!”
The old man had an impressive set of lungs.
His voice thundered through the entire arena.
“Son, be careful and give it your all!”
“Young Master, I sincerely pray for your victory.”
I gathered my sword and nodded once.
“Then shall I go?”
FLAP.
“WAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
The cheering was so deafening that my ears rang.
“Pietro! Pietro!”
“How dare you call the Young Master’s name so casually! Young Master, do your best!”
“Aaah! Young Master Pietro, you’re so handsome!”
“Hey, we’re counting on you! Send that arrogant noble bastard flying with one blow!”
As the spectators cheered for me, I grinned and waved.
“Gahaha! You lunatics! Don’t blame me if you’re arrested for insulting a noble!”
Their cheers, their encouragement, and the smiles on their faces as they looked at me made my heart feel strangely ticklish.
‘This doesn’t feel bad.’
I stepped onto the arena.
I inhaled deeply.
The fresh air filling my lungs cleared my head.
“Let the opponent enter!”
CLANK, CLANK!
The sound of steel armor striking against itself.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The bastard entered the arena, hauling his massive body along.
“Don’t tell me that’s……!”
“Second Young Master Vlad?!”
“Wasn’t he supposed to fight a knight?! Young Master Vlad already completed his Coming-of-Age Ceremony.”
“Then are the brothers fighting each other? This has never happened before.”
“Is this really going to be a fight between brothers?!”
The residents of the territory murmured, voicing their confusion and concern.
“To think Young Master Vlad would personally step forward to educate his inferiors.”
“That illegitimate bastard is trying to climb far above his station.”
“The lowborn are always the least capable of understanding their place.”
“Now that Young Master Vlad is personally disciplining him, order will finally be restored.”
The nobles, on the other hand, remained entirely relaxed.
They had known in advance that Vlad would appear.
And they could not even imagine him losing to me.
“Hey, little brother. It’s been a while.”
Vlad climbed onto the platform.
He approached me with a broad smile.
“I heard you’ve been training diligently. They say you swung your sword every single day without missing one.”
The closer he drew, the more his smile faded.
Before long, he was glaring at me with a sharp gaze.
The eyes of a hunter looking at prey.
“Without even knowing your place.”
He raised his sword and pointed it at me.
“I shall show you clearly just how vast the distance is between a true noble like me and a lowborn wretch like you. Engrave it deep into your bones.”
An arrogant declaration of war.
Faced with Vlad’s confident words, I……
“Ha, good grief. You talk too much.”
merely picked at my ear.
“What? You lowborn bastard!”
“Enough. Hurry up and draw your sword, Honored Elder Brother.”
SHING—!
He drew his sword from its sheath.
“I’ll kill you!”
“Your spirit is admirable, at least.”
SHING—!
I drew my sword as well.
“That sword……!”
“Ah, this?”
As though bewitched, Vlad stared only at the wolf crest.
“I heard it was tradition for the head of the family to give his children swords. So I got one.”
GRIND.
“……I’ll engrave into everyone’s minds that you have no right to wield that sword.”
“Yes, yes. Your spirit is truly admirable.”
The two of us stood facing one another with matching swords.
“From this moment, the duel commemorating Pietro Fenrir’s coming of age shall begin!”
CRASH—!
“Let us see whether your sword is as sharp as your tongue!”
The instant Father made his declaration, the two of us charged at each other.