Preparation (1)

The incident of a thief breaking into Ian's mansion was completely resolved in just one day under the supervision of Darcan, the Heavenly Sword Lord.

Charlotte, the mastermind behind this event, was severely condemned before the senior figures of Hisperion and was almost kicked out of her family as a heavy punishment.

Of course, it was not a permanent exile—only a temporary disciplinary action—but still.

'I never thought they'd punish her this harshly.'

Ian, who had heard all the details from Kelbian, was also taken aback by how heavy the punishment was.

'Not only was all her property confiscated, but she also has to pay a monthly fine of 15 gold, and even for everything she eats and wears at the Sword Dragon Hall, she has to pay.'

Charlotte had become penniless and in debt in an instant.

For a while, she would be living a life even more destitute than most commoners.

'The Heavenly Sword Lord is really ruthless, even to his own children.'

Is he the type to discipline his children with an iron hand?

On the other hand, perhaps he wanted to show his favor toward Ian, and that's why he imposed such an excessive punishment.

'Well... At least thanks to it, I've achieved complete peace.'

The Heavenly Sword Lord strongly condemned Charlotte in front of all the senior figures of Hisperion.

It was both a judgment on the culprit and a warning to everyone.

A warning that no one—not even his own children—should ever lay a hand on his guest.

He made it clear that if anyone, not even his own child, touched Ian, his guest, he would never forgive them.

At that tribunal, the Heavenly Sword Lord publicly revealed just how special Ian was to him.

'Thanks to him, at least until I enter the Sword Dragon Hall, I'll enjoy real peace.'

There were now about two weeks left until admission to the Sword Dragon Hall.

'I need to make the most of this two-week period of peace.'

After those two weeks, he would face various tests and fierce competition at the Sword Dragon Hall, so there was much to prepare in advance.

First was aura training.

Within two weeks, he intended to raise his aura level to at least early-stage Expert.

If he absorbed the elixirs sent by the Heavenly Sword Lord and the aura stored in Vladiark, that should be more than achievable.

He might even be able to reach farther than that.

Second, basic physical conditioning.

Regardless of aura, building a sturdy body was equally important.

The body was the vessel that held the aura.

If the body was strong, the aura could be displayed in full.

He was planning to undergo intense physical training in the mornings with Sophia.

And third, Sophia's physical strength, swordsmanship, and aura.

Sophia was already in pretty good shape.

After all, she'd built up basic stamina and strength from working at the mansion.

Doing the laundry with thick blankets and wringing them out, moving dozens of heavy boxes of food supplies, quickly cleaning the expansive mansion floors in a limited time, etc.

For all that hard labor, Sophia's strength and muscles were hardly lacking.

But when it came to aura or swordsmanship, she was a total novice.

All she had seen of swordplay was from a distance when Ian practiced alone, and she'd rarely had the chance to even witness the use of aura.

And her physical ability, though good for an ordinary person—especially a sixteen-year-old—was still lacking in terms of agility, reflexes, and flexibility by the standards of swordsmen.

'Physical conditioning, aura, swordsmanship. It'll be pretty tight to address all that in just two weeks.'

Honestly, two weeks was a very short time to resolve everything.

'Still, if we work hard, we'll manage somehow.'

It wasn't baseless optimism.

Ian had reached the very top of swordsmanship, attaining the level of peak-stage Swordmaster in his previous life.

He knew exactly what training Sophia needed most, what cultivation techniques would be most efficient, and which sword techniques would be most effective.

All sorts of know-how were crammed in Ian's mind.

Additionally, Ian was quite talented at teaching, with plenty of experience instructing others in his previous life.

He could justifiably be called one of the continent's top trainers.

With that kind of ability, if he focused solely on teaching one person for two weeks, meaningful results were inevitable.

'The problem is after two weeks. When I enter the Sword Dragon Hall.'

He could manage until admission.

But after that, who knew what might happen?

'It's basically the calm before the storm.'

These two weeks of peace were no different than the silence before the storm.

Right now, thanks to the Heavenly Sword Lord's protection, everyone was leaving Ian alone. But two weeks later, he'd have to be on guard.

With the lord publicly showing how special Ian was, all of Hisperion's senior figures now had their eyes on him.

Some would try to figure out why the lord was giving Ian special treatment; some would be jealous of the lord's favor; some would try to keep Ian in check, test him, or just hang around hoping for scraps.

'This could well be the last peaceful break I get.'

The more attention he got, the more enemies would appear.

He needed to build up as much strength as possible during these two weeks.

So that whoever picked a fight with him, he could crush them easily.

'No point in delaying. Let's start right away.'

It was just after lunch in the afternoon.

Ian called over Sophia, who had been sunbathing, explained their two-week plan, and got straight down to training.

"It's finally starting for real! I'll keep up even if I pass out! Go ahead and make it tough!"

"Excellent. That's a good attitude."

And so, a day. Two days. Three, four, five...

Mornings: running.

"Haa, huh! I—I think I'm going to throw up...!"

"Don't stop! Keep running! This is your breakthrough moment!"

"H-how come you... huh, huh...! don't get tired at all...! U-uweegh!!"

"Run even while puking!!"

"Uu, ugh...! uweegh!"

Afternoons: sword practice.

― Smack! Smack! Smack!

"Keep your wrist flexible! Move your feet faster! That's it, good job!"

"Huff! I think I've got some talent, don't you think?"

― Smack!

"Ow!"

"Don't let your guard down! Keep your field of vision wide and keep moving!"

"U-uuh...! Yessir!"

Nights: aura cultivation.

"I'm channeling aura into your circuits right now. Can you feel it?"

"Y-yeah. It's warm and, kinda ticklish..."

"Focus more. Memorize this route. This will be your solo cultivation path from now on."

"Wh—huh!? M-my lower stomach is way too ticklish...!"

"Of course. I'm tickling it on purpose."

"Agh! Seriously!"

Before bed: stretching.

"Outer and inner thighs—make sure you stretch this part every day. I'll massage it for you. It's going to hurt. Be prepared."

"Eh~ How bad could a massage—Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

At dawn, he split his sleep to work on aura level growth.

"zzZ... zzZ..."

Sophia collapsed into unconscious sleep each night, exhausted by the hard training.

That was when Ian's personal training began.

'The elixirs the Heavenly Sword Lord gave me are all absorbed as of today.'

Thanks to that, in just one week, Ian's aura stage leaped from Late-Stage User to the entry-stage Expert.

'If I'd used ordinary training methods, I could never have made so much progress.'

If he'd used the cheap common cultivation techniques, it would've taken over half a year to absorb all the elixirs, and the energy absorption rate would've been terrible.

'Thanks to the Heavenly Dawn Technique I learned from Yuria...'

The Heavenly Dawn Technique, a supreme cultivation method passed down only to Hisperion direct descendants.

Thanks to the Heavenly Dawn Technique, Ian had absorbed all the lord's elixir in just a week, with almost 100% absorption efficiency.

'Reaching Expert stage at age 14. An incredible feat, though I don't really feel it.'

The only other people in history to reach the Expert stage at age 14 were the 5th Heavenly Sword Lord, Ragnar, and the supremely talented Yuria.

It had only ever happened twice in history.

Though Ian had accomplished a historic feat, it didn't strike him as that impressive.

'Probably because something even greater is within reach.'

Ragnar Hisperion, known as the greatest swordsman of all time, was said to have reached the entry level of Swordmaster at age 18.

'I can reach Swordmaster even faster than that.'

If this growth speed continued, Ian would reach it by 17 at the latest.

'Plus, I even have the greatsword Vladiark, which lets me absorb others' aura...'

If he used this sword to rapidly accumulate a huge amount of aura, he might hit Swordmaster before turning 16.

'Let's try right away.'

Ian sat cross-legged, grabbed Vladiark with both hands, and focused on the aura stored within.

― Thump! Thump! Thump!

Vladiark glowed gently red, pulsing like a living heart—as if to welcome its master.

'Stored aura: the equivalent of a single Advanced-Stage Expert level swordsman.'

But even if he absorbed all this aura, he wouldn't inherit the full power of an Advanced-Stage Expert's level as it was.

That was because breaking through the blocked meridians inside the body was just as important as the amount of aura and one's realizations.

And breaking through those blocked meridians consumed a considerable amount of aura.

'The blockages in the meridians are clogged with impurities.'

The aura used to break through the impurities would be mixed with filth, become impure, and unusable.

'There's a way to project already-cleared meridians using the Authority of Projection, but...'

It also consumed a massive amount of aura.

In the end, whether he broke through directly or projected via the Authority of Projection, the aura consumed would be similar.

Aura consumption was unavoidable for unblocking meridians.

'For now, should I change locations?'

Ian picked up Vladiark and moved into the bathroom next door.

Because clearing the impurities from the meridians produced a foul smell.

He didn't want to disturb Sophia's deep sleep with rotten stench.

'Alright. Ready.'

Ian stripped down and sat cross-legged in the bathtub.

As he gripped Vladiark and slowly pulled the stored aura into his body—

― Dding!

[The Authority of Projection is reading the data stored in 'Vladiark' of the Old ■? ■.]

A blue window appeared before his eyes.

[There are 2 skills you have not yet confirmed.

Would you like to check them now?

[Y/N]

"...?"

What's this?

The Authority of Projection reading data stored in Vladiark?

And what the heck is "the Old ■?'s ■"?

Let's check it for now.

[You have accepted.]

As soon as he intended to check, the blue window refreshed and new words appeared.

― Dding!

─────────

◆ Skills absorbed into Vladiark:

- [Dark Hook Throw (黡葛投) Lv.63]

- [Shadowless Skybreaker (無影飛破) Lv.58]

─────────

'Huh?'

Ian's eyes widened.

Just seeing the words on the blue window, he instantly understood what they were.

Dark Hook Throw.

A technique that materializes aura like a hook to capture a target.

Shadowless Skybreaker.

A martial art that combines stealthy footwork and assassin techniques for surprise attacks.

'This is...!'

It was the martial arts of an assassin.

The sort of techniques used by assassins who had been devoured by Vladiark.

Why would such techniques be in Vladiark...?

'...!'

Suddenly, one hypothesis flashed through his mind.

'Did Vladiark absorb not just aura, but even the skills of assassins!?'

Was it possible for Vladiark to absorb not just magic power but even techniques!?

'But...'

In his previous life, he'd never seen the Grand Duke of Gluttony, the previous owner of Vladiark, replicate the techniques of those he'd slain.

'Wait! Could it be...!'

Is it only possible to extract techniques absorbed by Vladiark using the Authority of Projection?

'If that's the case...!'

If Ian's hypothesis was true—

Vladiark was a weapon completely optimized for the Authority of Projection...

In essence, the perfect set when paired with the Authority of Projection.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

The ranking for me is a bit confusing...

Author-nim uses entry,early,advanced, late, and peak when describing the stages of the ranks of the characters.

And at the moment the ranks are Aura User, expert, master, grandmaster, and Demigod...

I'm not sure if there will be ranks in between, but those are the currently known ranks...

If you find any mistakes, please let me know by commenting or pinging me in the discord server...

Thank you for reading!!!

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】