Chapter 17

“Those who don’t understand the essence of sword techniques think they should use mana by dividing it according to each stance.”

Eisen stroked the wooden sword as he spoke to Lucian.

“When they strike with power, they concentrate everything in their arms; when swords clash, they focus only on crushing with weight; when they dodge, they pour all their attention solely into their legs. Each time, they make the mana in their body move in a chaotic way.”

“…Isn’t that how it’s done?”

“Of course not.”

At the immediate reply, Lucian flinched.

In his past life, he had used the technique in exactly that way, and Eisen’s confident denial made him feel ashamed.

“Then, how should mana be used?”

“It should be used like this.”

Whooong.

When Eisen swung the wooden sword through the air, a bluish glow flowed from his body.

Seeing the shape of the mana clearly with his own eyes, Lucian shivered.

‘Incredible—materializing the mana of the entire body without any prior preparation.’

Normally, when famous knights unleashed their power, mana would manifest briefly only in the specific part being focused on.

But now, Eisen was materializing mana throughout his entire body just for demonstration.

“Watch closely.”

Whoosh.

Each time Eisen moved, the materialized mana twisted and changed form.

How the mana shifted with each stance.

Where it should be concentrated when an instant change occurred.

Everything was visible with such sharp clarity it felt almost tangible.

While Lucian watched in awe at this near-divine display of art, the demonstration ended.

“Did you understand?”

“P-please, show me one more time.”

“As many times as you’d like.”

At his words, Eisen smiled and repeated the technique.

Lucian’s eyes moved endlessly, tracking the movement of the mana.

Each light movement was a treasure that couldn’t be bought even with a thousand gold pieces.

“What do you think? Do you get it now?”

“…The mana of the whole body is always maintained at a constant level.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Eisen smiled with satisfaction, seeing how quickly his student understood.

“If you move all the mana from one place to another with every stance, there’s a huge disconnect between movements. After using one technique, the flow is inevitably cut. And in battle, even that small interruption is enough to get your throat cut.”

Lucian couldn’t respond.

He had always believed the key to swordsmanship was to reduce those gaps—but now it turned out the real issue was that such gaps existed at all.

It felt like he had dug through a mountain, convinced it was a gold vein.

‘No wonder knights adjust their stances so quickly.’

“When using mana, you must maintain full-body reinforcement while also leaving some in reserve to redirect. The key point isn’t withdrawing the mana already in use, but continuing the technique with the mana you’ve kept in reserve. And also…”

Eisen paused and withdrew the materialized mana.

Then he took a correct stance, different from before.

“When mana control becomes free, this is also possible.”

Bang.

“…!”

As he swung the sword, the air exploded with a sharp sound.

Lucian was startled by the impact, but the most incredible part came right after.

Bang, bang, bang.

‘What is this…?’

The sword flowed.

A sound that a normal knight could only make by delivering each strike with full halted force.

But Eisen was bursting the air while allowing the sword to flow continuously.

Even seeing it with his own eyes, Lucian couldn’t believe it was possible.

After completing ten strikes like a dance with the wooden sword, Eisen lowered his weapon.

“This is the sword you will learn from now on, third young master.”

Gulp.

Lucian swallowed hard without realizing it.

Eisen hadn’t even shown the Lion Heart Technique yet.

He had only demonstrated the extreme result of mana control.

And yet, that simple mana handling, not even a full technique, held such power.

Lucian once again realized how crucial a master was for a swordsman.

As he remained awestruck, a question crossed his mind.

“…Then, what happens if the Lion Heart Technique is used in a state of free mana control?”

At the question, Eisen let out a laugh.

“Of course, it would unleash tremendous power. If possible, I’d like to show you directly, but I can’t here.”

“Why not?”

“This is a training field used by other knights. If I destroy it, the grand duke will scold me.”

That was enough.

If used seriously, it had the power to destroy the entire training ground.

“Well. I’ve shown you the path to follow—now let’s test your mana control. We’ll start by alternating between vertical and horizontal cuts.”

***

For the next three days, Lucian focused solely on repeating vertical and horizontal cuts.

It wasn’t just about swinging the sword but maintaining mana at a constant level.

Whoosh.

‘I thought it would be simple, but old habits keep getting in the way.’

Though his body had changed, his soul had performed those movements for years.

When swinging the sword, his past-life habit of cutting with interruptions would surface.

It was nearly automatic, so correcting it wasn’t easy at all.

“You’ve improved a lot. You learn quickly.”

“Thank you.”

Despite Eisen’s praise, Lucian couldn’t smile.

After over a decade of practicing sword techniques, he had been confident he could master this perfectly in a single day.

Yet, he had wasted three whole days just correcting bad habits.

‘…For a while, I’ll need to focus solely on swordsmanship. If those old habits surface, it’ll be troublesome in many ways.’

It might seem clumsy, but even used incorrectly, Lucian’s technique had become a skill of its own.

If he showed off a technique he supposedly hadn’t learned, it would draw attention.

To avoid unnecessary suspicion, he needed to completely rebuild his body.

‘Well, in the end I came off as a fast-progressing beginner, so maybe it was lucky. If it had been obvious I’d already mastered it, that would’ve been a headache.’

When someone demonstrates a technique, it’s one thing for a genius to learn it immediately and quite another for a mediocre person to master it fully.

A common swordsman might not notice the difference, but someone at the level of a Swordmaster definitely would.

In that sense, Lucian’s old habits turned out to be an unexpected help.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next level. This time we’ll coordinate movements together—”

Suddenly, Eisen stopped and looked toward the entrance of the training ground.

He furrowed his brows before anyone appeared and spoke.

“What brings you here, fourth young master?”

“As expected of you, Swordmaster. You noticed me even before I showed myself.”

From the other side of the door, a still-youthful voice echoed.

It didn’t seem like he was trying to hide, as the voice approached along with the sound of footsteps.

Soon after, a boy of Lucian’s age appeared, accompanied by a servant.

“Joshua greets the master. And it’s a pleasure to see my brother again.”

There was only one person who could call Lucian by name and be called Joshua.

Joshua Valdeck, the fourth son of the grand duke.

Though younger, they had different mothers and were only six months apart in age—practically the same age.

While Lucian hadn’t yet reacted to Joshua’s sudden appearance, Eisen spoke again.

“Yes, good to see you. But the third young master is currently training, so I must ask you to leave. If you have something to discuss with this old man, I’ll come find you later.”

“I haven’t come to see the Swordmaster, but my brother. As the younger brother who learned first, I want to help a bit with his training. Would you grant me that permission?”

“Help with the training?”

“When learning mana control, there’s always a stage involving light sparring, isn’t there? The goal is to maintain a consistent amount of mana even while using sword techniques. If possible, I’d like to be that sparring partner.”

What nonsense.

Joshua hadn’t learned enough himself to be in any position to teach anyone.

And yet, he intended to suddenly barge into the middle of the training.

While Eisen let out a disbelieving chuckle, Joshua hurried to bow his head.

“If I’ve made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But I’m quite busy myself, and this is practically the only time I can have a conversation with my brother. If possible, I’d like to help with his training and, at the same time, make up for the meeting we haven’t been able to have.”

In other words, helping with training was nothing more than a superficial excuse.

The real goal was to strengthen the bond between brothers by supporting each other.

That too was an absurd argument.

Choosing precisely the sacred time of training to build bonds?

And even choosing only a sword duel?

His intentions were so transparent it was almost ridiculous.

But Eisen couldn’t refuse so easily.

‘This is… politics.’

Eisen had lived obsessed with the sword, but that didn’t mean he was ignorant of scheming.

He had never plotted anything himself, but in his youth, he had suffered enough from it.

That’s why Joshua’s intentions, as a mere novice in such things, were completely transparent to him.

‘He never expected me to accept in the first place. Is his real goal to keep requesting duels and get refused?’

At first, Joshua would lose a bit of dignity and nothing more.

Interrupting someone else’s training was already impolite, and there were plenty of reasons to say no.

But if he kept requesting duels again and again, and kept getting rejected again and again…

The attention would gradually shift from Eisen to Lucian and Joshua.

‘His goal is to brand the third young master as a coward.’

Unless he attacked with killing intent, this was a duel under the supervision of a Swordmaster.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was no real risk of injury—yet to refuse it?

Lucian’s lack of bravery would be criticized far more than Joshua’s impudence in interrupting training.

And the most troublesome part was that the excuse he gave, at least on the surface, was perfectly valid.

The other two brothers had already had several unpleasant run-ins with Lucian in the past.

However, Joshua had almost no contact with him, and their sword skill levels weren’t overwhelmingly different.

As a brother, he was in a perfectly reasonable position to ask for a duel to build rapport.

‘What a complicated situation.’

If this had simply been a matter of disrespect toward Eisen, he would have rejected it instantly.

The problem was that this proposal was essentially a political maneuver aimed at the third young master.

If Eisen rejected it, the one who would be harmed wasn’t Eisen—it was Lucian.

As Eisen hesitated, his gaze turned to Lucian.

“Master, I know this is disrespectful, but please accept my younger brother’s proposal.”

“Eh?”

“Though we’re in the middle of training, he came all the way here saying he wants to strengthen our bond. As the older brother, it would be shameful not to indulge a little in my younger brother’s whim.”

“…!”

At those words, Eisen’s eyes widened while Joshua’s face twisted completely.

With a single sentence, he had reduced Joshua’s actions to nothing more than childish whims, while portraying himself as the magnanimous elder brother.

‘The third young master’s tongue is nothing to scoff at either.’

With that kind of reply, it was clear he had accepted with a purpose in mind.

Eisen nodded without a word and stepped back.

“If that is what the third young master wishes, then so be it. However, this duel between the two of you will end with this one time. No matter how important sibling relationships are, personal matters can’t be prioritized over training.”

“Of course. Isn’t that right, little brother?”

“Y-y… yes, that’s right.”

Joshua’s eyebrows trembled as he forced a smile.

He had managed to avoid him until now, and now he was talking as if he had raised him?

‘Let’s see if you can keep talking like that after this.’

Grinding his teeth, Joshua pulled away the cloth resting on the arms of his servant.

As the real sword was revealed, Eisen’s brow furrowed.

“Why are you suddenly pulling out a real sword?”

“It’s just a duel, and with wooden swords there’s no tension, don’t you think? Since we have this opportunity, how about using real swords? Neither of us has ever been on a real battlefield, so it would be a good experience too.”

“This is already…!”

At behavior that was clearly crossing the line, Eisen became enraged.

It was already disrespectful to taint the training with scheming, and now he was suggesting using real swords?

He wasn’t even bothering to respect the excuse he had used to ask for the duel?

Just as Eisen was about to unleash his fury—

“That’s a fantastic idea! Let’s do it right now!”

“…!?”

Lucian’s enthusiastic shout cut both of them off completely.