Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Book 2 Chapter 12: Veria Woodlands (3)

Rylan let out a breath and evaluated the state of the first jaguar, taking advantage of the current brief lull.

The beast stumbled with a whimper. It bled from more than ten different wounds, which ranged from gaping holes to large cuts. Each of the gashes was more than a meter long and over twelve centimeters deep, painting a grim picture. Blood continued to flow, sinking into the soft earth and drowning the green grass. The jaguar’s damaged limbs shook as they struggled to hold up its weight.

However, the injured state of the enemy only made Rylan narrow his eyes.

Beasts are at their most dangerous when under the threat of death.

It was obvious judging from the glint in the injured jaguar’s eyes. Even in the midst of incredible pain, it still snarled at him. And, of course, that was no longer the only enemy he needed to worry about. He glanced at the larger newcomer. The second jaguar was around one and a half times bigger than the first one. The muscles under its hide looked like chiseled stone, and its claws were bigger than any sword he’d seen in this life. Somehow, its expression was even more bloodthirsty than the other one’s.

Rylan placed his blade on his shoulder and cracked his neck.

“Son!” Gerard shouted from the side.

Rylan felt his father’s mana move and resonate with the outside world.

“Wait!” he hurriedly said loudly. “I can do this. You know it better than anyone.”

Gerard gritted his teeth.

“…Do it quickly!”

Rylan nodded with a smile. Gerard’s faith in him was only natural: Gerard had been the one who had fought against him the most, either in pure spellcasting alone or in general. There was no one in this world who better understood Rylan’s strength other than Rylan himself. Still, he was very grateful for his father’s concern.

He blinked. The second jaguar tensed up its muscles, crouching with a growl.

Here it comes.

A heartbeat later, the jaguar leaped forward like an arrow being released from its bowstring. Despite its size, its lunge was even faster than the first beast’s. Rylan threw his wand upward and grabbed his sword’s hilt with both hands, then raised it above his head.

Mountainpeak Swordsmanship, Second Movement: Landslide.

In mid-air, the giant jaguar’s pupils dilated. It abruptly started twisting its body, but it was already too late. Rylan brought the blade down, his mana circulating throughout his body with unprecedented speed.

It was as if the atmosphere had been split in half. The earth below caved into a perfectly straight rift as the air was forced to part.

The blade first reached the beast’s moving right arm. It touched the hide, then sliced past it like a hot knife through butter. Muscle and flesh gave way to the powerful Sword Art, clearing up the way to the bone amidst a storm of crimson. The attack reached the creature’s thick arm bone and kept going. Rylan narrowed his eyes. With one last harrumph, he cleanly cut off the beast’s right front limb, forcing it to roar in pain.

The blood and loud roar threatened to overwhelm his senses, but Rylan’s gaze was perfectly calm. He glanced at the jaguar, which had just touched the ground and was completely off-balance because of the loss of a limb. Theoretically, this was the perfect opportunity to finish it off. However…

Falling Snow Steps: Snowfall.

Rylan jumped up, then stepped on the air to go even higher. A heartbeat later, the first jaguar landed where he had just been standing with a shaking body. Its injuries widened, making it stumble in place, but the monster only looked up at Rylan with eyes glowing with malice.

With a grin, he extended his left hand to the side. As if on cue, his wand fell right into it, making him start chanting. As if they recognized what he was doing, the two jaguars moved at the same time. The bigger one tried to climb a tree, likely to be able to reach him with a leap, but since it was now three-legged, its progress was slower. In the same vein, the smaller beast struggled to put strength into its sliced muscles and limbs. Blood flowed freely.

Rylan pointed his wand at the smaller jaguar.

“Water Bullets.”

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Mana coalesced into water spheres around him and shot toward the creature’s face with a burst of speed. As they flew, they became smaller and smaller, but their speed also increased. Rylan waved his wand. The projectiles curved, then accurately dug into the monster’s eyes, piercing through the sclera and irises and forcing their way until they reached the optic nerve.

The creature shook its head with a pained roar. Without missing a beat, Rylan brought down the sword in a stab. The blade dug into the jaguar’s neck, cutting through everything between its cervical vertebrae and reaching the throat on the other side. The windpipe was cleanly split in half.

One down.

Rylan raised his gaze to behold the leaping figure of the bigger jaguar, almost upon him. Its maw was wide open, going straight for his head. With calm eyes, he stepped on the air to move backward. The beast’s attack missed him as it began to fall. He pointed his wand at it.

“Firebolt.”

The small bundle of fire crashed against the jaguar’s left shoulder, searing through its hide and flesh. The creature roared, revealing an opening. Without hesitation, Rylan shot forward with Snowfall. A moment later, his blade severed the creature’s throat. Blood gushed out with surprising force and landed on the corpse of the smaller jaguar.

Both Rylan and the beast touched the ground at the same time, but only one of them was still alive. Rylan looked at Gerard with a smile.

“See?”

Gerard scoffed.

“…You shouldn’t be this strong. You weren’t even wounded, even though you’re still at the Second Circle.”

Rylan nodded. In a way, he agreed with his father. He looked at the System window floating in front of him.

[You have reached Level 29.]

“The stat gains per Level are too good,” he said after a second. “Especially since I use all of them. The boost to my stats when I use both magic and swordsmanship is also pretty significant. It’s a great Class.”

Gerard furrowed his brow.

“And the Sword Arts? How many can you even use in a row at this point?”

Rylan rubbed his chin as he quickly swung his sword to get rid of the layer of blood coating the blade.

“I mean, the higher your stats, the more of a difference each stat point makes. You know that. To begin with, I’m only using Sword Arts of introductory sword styles. They aren’t very straining by default. The stat increases are enough to give me energy to do it.”

Gerard frowned.

“…Introductory. Of course.”

Rylan smiled at him.

“Don’t be too mad about it, Father. Come on, let’s go. There’s a lot to see still.”

Gerard stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

“…From this point forward, it’s highly likely that we’ll encounter enemies capable of using magic. Worst-case scenario, we’ll run straight into a Spriggan. I won’t let you fight alone anymore.”

Rylan nodded back. To begin with, the main objective was to clear the Open Dungeon as soon as possible and kill as many monsters as they could. There was no need to stress over possible wasted XP gains and whatnot. In a world like this, the opportunities to become stronger were countless.

Gerard waved his staff. The Magic Shield around him became thicker.

“Follow me.”

The man started running. The Shield around him didn’t even ripple. Rylan nodded to himself.

Together, they continued to make their way deeper into the Veria Woodlands.

***

Elizabeth frowned as she looked through the window. Coming in through the glass were the orange hues born out of an overwhelming sunset. The sunrays dyed the clouds in the waning sky in their color. Cantavega’s buildings and the forest beyond the town added the finishing touch. Ordinarily, she would’ve found the sight beautiful enough to be considered enthralling. However…

“Where are they?” she snapped, sounding harsher than intended. “I mean, it’s already so late.”

She turned to the side, facing a large wooden table with several individuals by it. To the side were a bowing Sarah and a fidgeting Aelfric.

“No need to worry too much,” a sultry female voice resounded. Elizabeth looked at the speaker. The crimson-haired woman dressed in tight clothing wore a surprisingly calm expression. “They can’t have gone too far in. Your husband is also a powerful Fifth Circle Mage. They’ll be fine.”

Elizabeth frowned.

“And if they decide to keep going?”

Alice shrugged.

“They won’t.”

Elizabeth scoffed.

“They shouldn’t, but there’s now a three-week timer over their heads, so they might.”

Alice’s eyebrow twitched. Before she could say anything else, Aelfric took a step forward.

“Nothing is going to happen,” he stated with a determined expression. His tone revealed absolute faith in his words. “Rylan is there.”

Elizabeth’s gaze softened. She understood what he meant. Anyone aware of Rylan’s true identity and reincarnation would want to believe in his strength, but…

I’m his mother.

She wouldn’t stop worrying until her husband and son returned safe and sound, no matter how powerful Rylan had become. To begin with, based on what he’d told her, he was nowhere near the same level of strength as Roland.

Everyone in the room looked at Aelfric with strange expressions, except for Elizabeth and Sarah.

“…I understand your feelings, but I believe everything will be alright,” Rebecca said after a second, her purple hair glinting in the sunlight. “They’re probably trying to make Rylan Level up as much as possible before going into the Dungeon. If I recall correctly, Rylan was at Level 25 during the tournament. He’s probably gone through Class Evolution by now.”

Hugo silently nodded. The room went silent. Elizabeth tightened her grip around her arm and looked through the window again.

“Believe in them, Mom,” Aelfric suddenly said. “They can do it.”

“And if they can’t,” Alice said after throwing the boy a glance. “That’s what we’re here for. They’ll return soon.”

Elizabeth didn’t reply. She only fixedly stared at the forest beyond Cantavega. It was expansive and seemingly endless, extending itself into the horizon. The more she looked at it, the larger it seemed to become.

Please, be safe.

She gritted her teeth.

***

Rylan took a deep breath and ran his free hand over the large cut on his torso. It extended itself from shoulder to waist in a large gash, though it wasn’t too deep. Blood unceasingly flowed. He looked at the enemy in front of him with calm eyes.

“Now this is annoying,” he muttered under his breath.

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