Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Book 2 Chapter 26: Third Circle (1)

The day after the discussion with the Academy professors and the others.

Rylan sat on his bed, cross-legged, looking at Gerard, who sat on the chair by the desk.

“I think it’s possible,” Rylan said after a second. “We just have to be careful.”

Gerard frowned before vehemently shaking his head.

“No.”

“You know it’s worth it.”

“Doesn’t matter. No.”

Rylan let out a sigh.

“He has to go through it eventually. Postponing that moment is only harmful. For his sake, we need to do this.”

Gerard flinched. Rylan knew that his father could see the reason behind his words, as a battlemage. He said nothing else. The seconds ticked by in silence.

“…We’ll start slow. Weak creatures at first.”

Rylan readily nodded.

“Of course. I’m not planning to throw him in a Dungeon and tell him to fend for himself.”

Gerard sighed deeply before closing his eyes.

“I know you want to protect him, but as I said, this is something that he has to go through. At this point, the earlier the better,” Rylan continued.

Gerard took a deep breath.

“Fine. But I’ll go with you the first time around. I won’t let you push Aelfric too far based on Roland’s training methods.”

Rylan nodded.

This went better than I thought.

He had anticipated his father’s reaction to his proposal, especially because it was about Aelfric. Rylan watched the concerned Gerard with a warm grin. Was it because he felt guilty over not being able to rip Aelfric out of Rylan’s clutches before Rylan remembered his past life? Gerard was very protective of Aelfric. Rylan had just managed to convince Gerard to let him delve into the Woodlands with Aelfric for training purposes after almost fifteen minutes of back and forth.

Or maybe he’s just protective of all of us?

Since Lillia and Regis hadn’t come, there was no way for him to know. His case was a bit different; Gerard had still worried about him before his eighteenth birthday, but that concern was marred by Rylan’s actions. Shortly after remembering his past life, Rylan had proven himself as a skilled combatant. There had been no reason for Gerard to worry too much about him. The same didn’t go for Aelfric.

“It’s settled, then,” Rylan said. “I’ll talk to Aelfric about it. If he accepts it, we’ll start tomorrow, while the professors are still here to watch the estate.”

Gerard nodded, keeping his frown.

“There’s also something I wanted to talk to you about, before you pulled me into this conversation about your… plan.”

Rylan tilted his head.

“The Third Circle,” Gerard continued, his voice a tone lower. “Personally, I don’t think you’re very far from it. In terms of stats, you’re there already. We can do it while you’re still here, but you might prefer to do it with Damian.”

Rylan flashed a smile, making Gerard blink.

“I have no reason to go through it with Damian, even if he’s a more powerful Mage than you. To begin with, I had already planned to reach the Third Circle while I’m still here, before classes begin. I don’t want to risk being found out.”

Gerard raised an eyebrow before understanding dawned upon him. It was true that Damian was a more experienced and skilled Mage than Gerard, but that wasn’t what Rylan was worried about.

My Circles are different.

His Circles resembled an Aura Heart while still keeping their spellcasting abilities. They were entirely different from ordinary ones. If Damian were the one to oversee his creation of a new Circle, the man would realize this in a heartbeat. The consequences of that were unlikely to be positive in the least.

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Gerard nodded slowly, rubbing his chin.

“…I see. Yeah, I understand. Good move. Let’s get started right now, then.”

“Studying, you mean?”

“Yeah. But I don’t think we’ll need to spend too much time on it.”

Rylan furrowed his brow in confusion.

“It’s true that you need more knowledge before you reach the Third Circle. But it’s also true that your Circles are unique, as you just said, and you already know how Aura Hearts work inside and out,” Gerard continued with a smile, standing up.

Rylan blinked. It was a simple fact that he had overlooked. He stopped to think about it for a second.

Isn’t it likely that the further I go, the less I’ll need to know about the standard Circles theory?

Right now, he was only at the Second Circle, but the differences between his Circles and ordinary ones were already obvious. The whirlpool within him continued to rotate, feeding his body every time he circulated his mana in an almost permanent fashion. But what would it look like once he reached the Fifth Circle? By then, wouldn’t the maelstrom have changed entirely?

“Now, let’s go to my study,” Gerard said, moving toward the door. “I’ll fill you in on the basics and use a few books for assistance. We’ll stop to talk to Aelfric on the way.”

Rylan nodded and moved his legs out of the bed, then stood up. He followed his father through the manor’s corridors until they reached Aelfric’s room. He knocked on the door, which opened a few seconds later. A smiling Aelfric met Rylan’s eyes, making him smile as well. Behind Aelfric, Sarah bowed to Rylan and Gerard.

“Welcome, young master, Family Head,” she said.

“You know you don’t need to do that every time, right? Not at this point,” Rylan stated with a small sigh. “But I understand why you do it.”

Sarah raised her body and smiled, green eyes shining because of the sunlight.

“Isn’t it better if I still do it?”

“…Not really?”

Aelfric looked back and forth between them.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” he asked. “It’s a habit, at this point.”

Rylan ruffled his hair and walked into the room, followed by Gerard. The man looked at Sarah with a grin.

“I agree with Rylan, but do what’s most comfortable to you,” he said, then turned toward Aelfric. “We’re here because we wanted to talk to you, son.”

Aelfric tilted his head as Rylan closed the door.

“I want to take you into the Woodlands,” Rylan said.

Aelfric immediately flinched, while Sarah blinked in surprise.

“…To fight?” Aelfric asked in a low voice.

“Yes.”

Aelfric furrowed his brow but said nothing else. In his eyes, Rylan could see the conflict he was going through.

Well, I guess it’s to be expected.

It was clear that Aelfric knew about the necessity of becoming stronger and a capable fighter. The evidence of this was that when they had been attacked by bandits on the way to Caer Rhelon, Aelfric had agreed to fight them for the combat experience.

But that tournament match changed things.

For the first time, Aelfric had been forced to confront the pain that came with combat. The strain, the burden of inflicting pain on someone else, the feeling of spells burning his flesh and cutting his bones. The limitations of his skills and the prospect of needing to improve for an unknown amount of time to reach an equally illusory goal. Aelfric had faced the reality of becoming a warrior, and it had frightened him.

“I’ll be with you,” Rylan continued in a soothing tone. “You won’t be in real danger. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to shield you from all injuries.”

“…Because I need to learn how to actually fight. Even when the enemy is coming for my life and won’t hesitate to cripple me to cut off my head.”

“Yes. For your sake, you need to be able to protect yourself, and there’s only one way to do it. Besides, you’ll get XP and Level up a bit.”

Rylan looked at his younger brother with a soft gaze. Truthfully, he wished he didn’t have to do this. Watching Aelfric struggle and bleed would be unpleasant to say the least. However, because of the Academy, it was unlikely that he would be able to stay by Aelfric’s side the whole time, even if Aelfric also managed to get in. This was without considering the current circumstances as a whole. With war on the horizon, Aelfric needed to become a capable fighter as soon as possible.

As his thoughts reached this point, Rylan frowned.

I need to ask Damian about that when I come back.

“…I get it. I’ll go with you,” Aelfric said, dragging Rylan out of his thoughts. “I agree with what you said. When do we start?”

“Tomorrow,” Gerard answered. “I’ll go with you two, but later on, you’ll be going in with Rylan alone. I’m sorry you need to go through this, son.”

Aelfric took a deep breath.

“No, don’t worry about it, Father. Growing pains, I guess,” he looked at Rylan. In his eyes, Rylan could still see the same absolute trust as usual. “With Rylan there, my life isn’t going to be in danger at all. Even though it maybe should be.”

Rylan smiled bitterly and put his hand on Aelfric’s head.

“We’ll worry about life-and-death training once we get through this part first. For now, just get used to casting your spells during battle,” Rylan replied.

Aelfric beamed at him, but he could detect a nervous tinge to his brother’s smile. He glanced at Sarah. She was frowning in concern, but also said nothing.

This is something he needs to do.

Rylan repeated this sentence in his mind a few times.

After some brief back and forth, he left with Gerard, leaving Aelfric to gather his thoughts and prepare for tomorrow. He looked at Gerard on the way to the study.

“What are you going to do about Nathan?” he asked.

Gerard immediately frowned deeply.

“…He’ll probably stay behind even after the professors leave, using Liz as an excuse. If he goes back to Caer Rhelon, he’ll take your mother with him. Frankly, I don’t know.”

Rylan nodded and didn’t ask anything else. Finally, after walking for a while, they reached the study. Gerard pushed the doors open and entered the room. Rylan closed the doors behind him as he entered.

“So,” Gerard said, turning around to face him. “Let’s begin.”

The man went around the desk and sat on his plush chair, grabbing a thick book with a red cover on the way. He laid the tome on the wooden desk. Rylan approached the desk with a serious expression.

The journey to reach the Third Circle had officially begun.