The Swordmaster’s Son

Chapter 10

Though rare, there were those in the world who commanded powers unlike the familiar aura and mana. Among these extraordinary powers, shadow force reigned as the rarest of all. Also, there were only two kinds of beings that could tame the shadow force: those born of Solderet like Murakhan, and those bound by contract, like Jin.

Empowered by the shadow force, Murakhan in his prime could hold his ground against five nine-star warlocks, and this level of prowess was something that transcended the bounds of Jin’s comprehension.

Therefore, Murakhan was the best teacher Jin could ever wish for, especially in the present state, as Solderet was no longer speaking to Jin.

“For beings who wield spiritual energy such as you and me, releasing your spiritual energy is the first and the last skill you’ll ever need to know.”

“The first and the last?”

“Meaning to say it’s a fundamental skill and a killing move at the same time. Its principles are rather simple. It’s similar to that of a sorcerer releasing his magical energy.”

Sorcerers became capable of releasing their magical energy once they reached three-star level.

In other words, being able to release one’s magical energy was tantamount to reaching a three-star level. As Jin had reached five-star in magical prowess in his previous life, releasing his magical energy was a simple matter.

However, Murakhan only knew that Jin possessed magical powers, not that he also carried the magical knowledge of a five-star sorcerer in his head.

Jin didn’t reveal to Murakhan that he’d gone through a rebirth. In fact, he had no plans of revealing that to anybody.

“But releasing magical powers isn’t much of a killing move for sorcerers, is it? As far as I know, at least,” Jin offered.

“Did you think they would be of the same caliber just because they share the word ‘release’? What I was referring to was the process.”

“Hmm.”

“Therefore, before you can learn to release your spiritual energy, you must first learn to release your magical energy.”

“Why is that?” Jin asked.

Murakhan shrugged his shoulders at Jin’s question. “You start with the easy ones first. How could you train with a real sword without learning to use a wooden one?”

“Aha.” Jin nodded in understanding, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed, as he had long since mastered releasing his magical energy.

Well, I suppose I could use a review. I haven’t ever released my magical energy since my rebirth anyway.

Murakhan had Jin sit in an upright position, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha. That’s funny. To think I would teach magic to a Runcandel child. If your father ever got word of it, neither you nor I would be spared.”

To study magic as a Runcandel was essentially to commit treason against the clan.

Most warrior clans despised magic, but none more so than Runcandels, who took it to an extreme. Ever since the death of their first patriarch, the Runcandels strictly forbade magic. It was a taboo in the family.

However, this taboo only arose from their belief that learning magic would prevent them from reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship. This was only confirmed by the few spellswords that did come about in history, only to vanish with lackluster achievements to their name.

The magic clans held a similar opinion.

While the magic clans never quite forbade mastery of weapons, they detested the use of auras. Their reason was that the use of aura would taint the purity of their magic.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The reason why the Runcandel clan considered magic a taboo stemmed from a humiliating agreement they had reached with the Zeifl Clan a thousand years ago.

In the time of Temar, the Runcandel Clan was originally a spellsword clan.

Although, of course, the Runcandel Clan back then was nowhere as renowned as they were now, and most of their original history had either been lost or distorted over time.

There were only a handful of people who were aware of this fact, including Murakhan and the reborn Jin, the contractor of Solderet, alongside a handful of central figures in the Runcandel and Zeifl clans.

“The fact that I frequented this dungeon at all would put my life in jeopardy once I was found out,” Jin said.

“True, considering what I’ve seen of your father’s character while he used to visit this place. We’re partners in crime, so I’ll let you in on a secret before we get started. People have a notion that while spellswords are a rarity, they could never gain much power, right?”

“That seems to be the case.” Jin pretended he didn’t know better, and Murakhan laughed out loud in satisfaction.

“That’s all bullshit! That’s all bullshit the stupid followers of Zeifl Clan came up with, those who are far more evil than the Runcandels. It does demand one to fulfill a tremendous set of requirements, but a spellsword is the pinnacle of them all. And your family was supposed to be a spellsword clan blessed above the rest.”

“Really? I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“Aren’t you amazed at all?” Murakhan asked in a somewhat disappointed tone.

Jin feigned surprise later, with a “wow,” but Murakhan shook his head in disapproval.

“Haha, I suppose nothing is more amazing than the fact that I met you. Anyway, so what are these requirements?” Jin asked.

“See? You’re one bratty kid. One needs to have an affinity for magic, together with an insanely strong physique which is attuned to aura, and finally, a contract entered with a god.”

“So, I have it all.”

“If you can see that now, there shouldn’t be any reason for you to fear learning magic. But promise me one thing, kid. Before you get strong enough, you must never expose your magic to your family.”

“I know that much already. I don’t have to promise you such a thing. I’m only eight years old. Why would I want to die?”

“Of course, of course. Your goal should be set on reaching the very top, so you can help this dragon live in comfort and luxury. Then let us begin. First, let’s try awakening your magical energy. Hm, so what this should feel like is that...”

Wrooom.

Jin raised a walnut-sized orb of mana over his palm and Murakhan could only stare back at him with his eyes wide open.

“You crazy bastard. What’s this? It’s not fair if you manage to pull it off in less than a second! I wasn’t even done explaining!”

Jin was surprised too.

He’d tried to control his powers so as to not overdo it, but he ended up creating a mana orb. His eight-year-old body lacked the finesse and control his twenty-eight-year-old body had been capable of.

This was added to the fact that he’d had few opportunities to employ magic in recent years.

While Jin was busy trying to come up with an excuse, Murakhan rose to his feet with his fists clenched tight.

“Yes, Solderet! Now I can see why you picked this boy as the promised contractor of a thousand years! Hahaha, you are something. You really are something! Kid, don’t get me all excited, you know?”

His mistake had turned things in his favor.

So Jin scratched his head and worked up an awkward smile, then asked, “Is this supposed to be something that incredible?”

“Of course, it’s incredible! Throughout my entire existence, I’ve only seen three humans manage to float a mana orb on their palms at your age! The first was the forefather and the first patriarch of the Zeifl Clan. The second was the fourth patriarch of the Zeifl Clan. And now, you!”

Murakhan added that the first and the fourth patriarchs of the Zeifl Clan had managed to float their mana orbs at the ages of five and seven respectively, to an unamused Jin.

Jin knew better about himself. He, too, was certainly a magical prodigy of their caliber. In his past life, he reached five-star in three years’ time and entered the contract with Solderet, so perhaps he held even more talent in magic than they had.

If I had been born to the Zeifl Clan in my past life, I would’ve reached at least eight-star by the age of twenty-eight, or even become a nine-star warlock.

Murakhan’s face grew stern.

“Kid, I honestly expected it would take you years until you learned to release your spiritual energy. We might even get started before leaving Storm Castle. Let’s move on to the next step right away!”

The next task was mana transfer. It was a basic technique wherein one had to take the mana placed on one hand and transfer it to the other hand, without a single margin for error.

This, too, was as easy as using a fork and knife for Jin, but he saw the need to pace things.

He was already filling Murakhan with enough expectations. To add more to them would be burdensome for Jin as well.

The mistake he made earlier did work to his benefit, but the heart of the matter was that he indeed made a mistake at all. It only proved that he would need proper practice and repetition until he could control his magical powers as fluently as he did in his past life.

Jin followed Murakhan’s instructions to slowly move the mana on his right palm to the other. Hm. I suppose ten minutes should do, for the first successful attempt. After ten minutes, Jin was able to move the mana formed in his right hand precisely to his left hand, and Murakhan grinned wide at the success.

Beads of sweat formed on Jin’s forehead. To slow down an easy task on purpose was harder than the task actually was, just as lifting a heavy object slowly is harder than it is otherwise.

“Well done. Very good. If you manage to do it within five seconds, you’ll be able to release your magical energy. At the same time, it will qualify you as a three-star sorcerer.”

“How long do you think it will take me to get there?” Jin asked as he wiped the sweat on his forehead.

“Two years.”

Then I should pace myself for about a year.

Jin nodded as he made calculations in his head.

“Today, focus on practicing the mana transfer until you return. And make sure you don’t practice it in the castle, when I’m not around.”

“Okay.”

After one more hour of practice, it was time for him to return to the castle. As Jin packed his notes and the basket he brought, Murakhan laid himself on the floor and scratched his thighs.

“Oh, and kid, make sure you bring a basket full of strawberry pies tomorrow. You might want to do it while I’m being a nice dragon,” Murakhan commanded as Jin began to leave.

“The strawberry pie you had earlier was the last of it. Do you have any idea how many strawberries you devoured in the last six months?”

“Darn it, then just bring me any pies your nanny bakes up!”

“Care for some minced rat pie then?”

“Why you tiny little brat. Hey! Hey! Come on!”

Zoom!

Jin darted across the dungeon toward the hole.

“Something else, not a rat pie! Please!”

The next day, Jin presented to Murakhan a basket full of apple pies.

The dragon was so pleased that he patted Jin on the head.

* * *

A year passed, and the morning of September 9th, 1789 dawned. It was Jin’s ninth birthday.

To spend one’s birthday in the Storm Castle, where it was rainy all year round, couldn’t be good for any child’s mental health.

Winds and rain battered down on the windows of the castle as Gilly, a dozen servants, and the five guardian knights placed candles on a birthday cake.

“Happy birthday, Young Master Jin.”

“Happy birthday!”

“Thank you, everybody.”

Everyone gathered clapped as he blew out the candles on the cake.

Clank, clunk, clank, clunk. The knights’ gauntlets caused a metallic noise that drowned out the claps. Any birthday party would’ve been merrier than this, even for the common folk. But for Jin, this was quite a warm and blissful occasion, for in his previous life, he hadn’t received a birthday celebration like this when he was nine.

As Gilly cut the cake and gave slices to everyone, the guardian knight manning the castle gate came running across the hallway.

“Young Master Jin!” It was Kahn, the guardian knight.

“Kahn?”

There weren’t many occasions that made Kahn run through the hallways.

Jin sensed that somebody in the family must’ve visited him.

“The eldest young lady has come to visit!”

“You mean Luna is here?” Jin answered as he got to his feet.

Jin’s eldest sister, Luna Runcandel.

She was the firstborn child of the thirteen siblings, and was renowned for being the strongest of the Runcandel children. She was only twenty-eight years old, but was already a nine-star knight. For once, the people were right about something.

However, she was a lone figure who always acted alone, who continuously refused to enter the arena to gain succession to the throne.

She’s not someone who’d visit just to give birthday wishes for her young brother. What brought her here?

Jin pressed his nose against the window and looked outside. He could see Luna coming up the steps of the Storm Castle with bold strides, carrying her symbolic chopsword, Krantel, on her back.