014
“Mental training, begin!”
I glared at the charging Akard and gripped my sword tightly.
Thump, thump.
Mana spread from the core through my heart to every corner of my body, awakening each cell. Power overflowed and my senses began expanding.
Physical enhancement through mana focused in the heart, a symbol of those who wield it.
Existing physical abilities are greatly enhanced. Depending on mana control, a gap of one or two stat levels can be sufficiently covered.
Some innate physical abilities may also be exceptionally amplified.
In my case, it’s my eyes.
It feels like they get amplified several times more than other areas. As such, I could clearly read where Akard’s sword was aiming.
‘Right shoulder.’
*Clang!*
I easily blocked the first attack.
Akard’s eyes twitched.
It’d be nice if I could counterattack here, but unfortunately he overwhelmed me in strength and speed. His next attack immediately followed.
‘Left abdomen.’
*Chang!*
‘Right thigh.’
Kkaang–!
An indescribable thrill surged through me as I watched Akard’s expression contort more and more while fending off my attacks.
“This bastard!”
With minimal motion, yet movements fueled by all my strength, a subtle sense of dissonance crept in as I kept parrying his attacks.
An unknown force was ever so slightly adjusting my movements.
It was so natural that I almost failed to notice it. Only because I was sparring against Akard, who possessed far superior strength and speed, could I barely perceive it. It was no wonder I couldn’t detect it while training alone.
Just as when cultivating magic, mastering a skill seemed to be more than just etching theory into one’s mind.
“Try and block this!”
Akard raised his sword over his head. The memory of my skull nearly being shattered—the catalyst for my reincarnation awareness—overlapped like déjà vu.
His movement into the stance for the Guardian Swordsmanship First Style: Cleaving Mountains felt excruciatingly slow.
The openings were glaringly obvious.
‘Lionel Style Swordsmanship Third Style: Swift Thrust.’
Shaeaek– Peoreok!
I struck his wrist perfectly.
It was a monumental first counterattack, demolishing the wall I had built to isolate myself from the world as the Phantom Prince of Emerald Palace.
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“Kuaaak!”
His scream echoing through the training hall, and the thrilling sensation transmitted through the sword, made the corners of my mouth curl up involuntarily.
‘I’ve done it now.’
The thought flitted across my mind.
From the moment I arrived at the Third Order’s training hall and first saw the Fourth Prince’s group, I knew an easy way to extricate myself from this situation.
All I had to do was dodge any fatal blows and let him vent until his fervor cooled.
‘But somehow, I don’t want that.’
Live a life without regrets.
On the first night after my reincarnation awareness, I made that resolution while gazing at the starry sky.
Ah, that’s not to say I’ll lead a life like a moth flinging itself into flames despite knowing it will burn to death.
I know that living without regrets is no different from saying I’ll drink a piping hot iced Americana.
How should I put it…? Rather than the literal meaning, it has a stronger sense of wanting to live life to the fullest, then laugh heartily and close my eyes at the very end.
Though my memories have holes here and there, the thoughts that flashed through my mind in those final moments remain vivid.
I should have fed that orphanage director rat poison for habitually assaulting the children. At that interview where my orphan status was clearly being looked down upon, I should have stood up and walked out right then and there. That girl a friend introduced me to… Ah, to think my life’s final moments were filled with such petty regrets.
In this present life’s final moments, I don’t want to harbor any trivial regrets like that.
As I showed a different side from my past, living as if buried alive in the Emerald Palace, I was well aware that many people would be displeased.
As soon as the fact that I wielded mana was revealed, didn’t pranks like “poisoned milk” increase?
Well, whatever.
I judged that beating the 4th Prince senseless was still not the same as jumping into the fire. Perhaps I’ll flutter my wings around there.
Although the timing was earlier than expected, that brat was definitely a problem that had to be solved and overcome. No matter what mischief he might try in the future, it would be better than being hit directly.
“You, you, you bastard!”
Akard’s momentum changed as he distorted his face like a demon. His eyes turned crimson, and his veins bulged as if about to burst. It was clear that he was operating mana beyond his tolerable limit.
If I let my guard down and got hit properly, it wouldn’t be surprising if I ended up crippled in one of my limbs.
Physical ability, mana. He overwhelmed me in both. Yet, I didn’t feel much sense of crisis. For some reason, my heart was pounding pleasantly.
“That face right now. The best I’ve seen so far.”
At my sarcasm, it sounded like his sanity was snapping.
“Yaaarrrggghhh!”
With a rough roar, Akard stomped the ground.
The Lion’s Roar, the 5th stance of the Guardian Sword Art. A charging technique aimed at the opponent’s vital points. Until the moment it reaches right in front of you, it’s impossible to predict where it will aim.
‘If he had reached the realm.’
I could clearly read where he was aiming.
The heart.
There is a taboo in duels between knights. Attacking the heart, which stores mana. That was exactly what he was trying to do to me.
Staring coldly at the incoming Akard, I gripped my sword tightly. As the mana spread through my body via the bloodstream, my whole body felt feverishly hot.
Shatter-
Facing his sword charging towards my heart, I swung down the pommel of my sword.
The 4th stance of the Rionel Guardian Sword Art, Shatter.
A powerful striking technique using the pommel at the end of the sword grip. Due to this technique, the swords of the Rionel Kingdom have highly developed pommels.
A skilled knight’s Shatter can easily smash boulders the size of a house. I may not be at that level, but if I strike the blade accurately.
*Kkang-! Kkwangkrang!*
It’s enough to shatter an ordinary sword.
*Phisoot- Jjureureurk.*
One of the sword fragments scattered in all directions grazed Akard’s cheek.
“Uh, uh, uh?”
I grinned at him as he made a dazed expression, seeming to regain his senses.
“How about we end it here, brother.”
In a very low voice, audible only to Akard, he muttered, “Before you get beaten up more.”
“This, this! That, that sword! It’s because of that trashy defective sword! Quickly bring me a proper sword!”
With his face flushed red, Akard roared at his attendants. It seemed he needed to be beaten to regain his senses.
Well, it was a favor.
He was more than willing to beat him like a dog, ensuring he could never show his face near the Emerald Palace again.
I reached into my pocket, took out a handkerchief, and wiped my forehead. The sweat-soaked handkerchief. I flung it at the one watching the attendant running with the sword.
Slap!
The handkerchief struck Akard’s face sharply. For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend the situation, bringing his hand to his moistened face.
“This, this, this, this······.”
He seemed to grasp the situation quickly but couldn’t continue speaking.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t bring my gloves. If you don’t want to get beaten, leave now.”
I should at least have some safety measures in place.
As long as I don’t cripple him, a duel would not bring any direct punishment upon me, no matter how severely I beat him.
“You f**king bastard!”
Duel, established.
***
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”
With every swing of Evan’s sword, a crisp striking sound and grunting echoed through the training grounds. Akard, the source, didn’t understand the situation.
‘How, how is this possible!’
In just a month, the tables had turned, and Evan, once a mere living training dummy, was no longer beneath him.
“Argh, you f**king bastard!”
Shaa-ack-
With a roar, Akard’s thrust aimed for Evan’s head. A hit to the eye could lead to blindness at worst, death at most – a dangerous attack.
Tilting his head slightly to dodge, a chilling aura flickered in Evan’s eyes. His sword then struck Akard’s abdomen with force.
Crack! Oof.
A pain like broken ribs. Momentarily dazed, Akard’s legs gave way.
“Ugghhh······.”
Whack! Whack! Thud!
The successive blows made him forget the pain in his abdomen.
“Th-That- Ugh!”
Akard wanted to cry out and stop the duel, but Evan didn’t give him a chance.
Shouldn’t that be stopped?
Most of the members of the 3rd Knight Corps watching the duel between the two princes glanced at the attendants of the 4th Prince, thinking that.
Even without their cues, the two attendants, except for George whose expression looked like his soul had left, were asking the guard knights to stop the duel between the two princes.
“Sir Reyna, please stop them right away.”
“Something terrible might happen if this continues.”
It wasn’t out of sincere concern for their master. It was because Akard’s temperament meant they would inevitably face the consequences later.
“This is not a duel, but a fight to the death. We cannot intervene unless one side admits defeat or becomes incapacitated.”
“But this is not a proper duel!”
“That’s right! If the 4th Prince gets seriously injured, there will be severe punishment! Sir Reyna? Sir Reyna! Are you listening?”
“Don’t worry. He won’t get too hurt at this level. **I’m making sure he doesn’t become a vegetable.**”
“Wh-What does that…”
Reyna Jeanne.
Graduating from the Royal Knight Academy with the highest grades in history, she was exceptionally admitted to the 2nd Knight Corps as a commoner. She was living a daily life like a noble swan among a flock of chickens.
In simpler terms, an outcast… However, as long as she could have three meals a day and a place to practice swordsmanship, she was quite satisfied with her daily routine.
There were various unavoidable circumstances that led Reyna, who was exempt from all knight corps duties, to be assigned to guard the 4th Prince today.
The knight originally scheduled for the morning shift had to leave because his wife went into labor earlier than expected.
The knight who was supposed to substitute got into a carriage accident on his way to work.
And so on…
In any case, a series of unlikely coincidences led Reyna to be here now.
“aaargh! Stop-“
*Thud!* *Thump, thud.*
The 4th Prince, struck in the jaw by the 5th Prince’s sword, collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, ending the duel.
The attendants became flustered.
“Your Highness!”
“A stretcher! Bring a stretcher! George, why are you just standing there, you idiot!”
“Oh, yes! I understand.”
Reyna stepped back from the commotion and, watching the 5th Prince calm down from the duel’s excitement, inwardly declared:
‘A monster.’
Reina, who was raised by a group of prostitutes following the mercenary band. She lived feeling one more sense different from ordinary people.
The path the sword should move, the sword path.
Through a slender line, a sweet scent, a beautiful melody…… She felt the sword path through a completely different sense from time to time. Even though she had only struggled to recreate it, at some point people began to call Reina a ‘monster’.
‘You’re just like me.’
There was no trace of her usual vagueness in her eyes. At first glance, it resembled Youngnae, who fell in love at first sight after actually meeting her imaginary prince. To be precise, it was the joy of meeting a kindred spirit.
“Alfonzo, let’s go back.”
“Yes!”
Reina glanced over the knights of the practice hall and unconsciously took a step forward to follow Evan, who abruptly left.
She wanted to run up and ask right away.
If the prince was the same as her.
“Lady Reina! There will surely be severe punishment for what happened today!”
“Yes! It’s all Lady Reina’s fault that Prince Akard ended up like this!”
If the servants trying to shift the blame onto her had not clung to her, she surely would have done so.
***
“Your relationship with Reina Jeanne has dramatically improved.”
“You have gained 5,000 RP.”
As I left the practice hall of the 3rd Knightly Order, I stopped for a moment after checking the message that popped up in the notification window.
Why did my relationship with her suddenly improve?
“Achievement, ‘I Guess I’m Popular Too’ has been achieved.”
“You have gained 5,000 RP.”
“[Name Record] has been unlocked.”
I decided to slowly think it over while enjoying the rewards given.