Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Book 2 Chapter 36: Mana (1)

Rylan breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked at his empty plate, feeling like he’d just gone through the Basilisk Wilds again. Finally, he had won the war and could now retreat to the safety of his haven.

“Yeah,” Hayden said from the seat opposite to him, making him raise his gaze. The boy was frowning and looking around. “I think I see what you meant.”

Rylan immediately nodded.

“You finally see the light.”

“It wasn’t too bad,” Aelfric said from next to Rylan as he looked around. “It’s sort of fun being around so many people my age. It took a while for us to manage to order our food, but it wasn’t that long.”

Rylan and Hayden sent Aelfric a disapproving glance at the same time, making him laugh. Rylan sighed. He’d underestimated the crowd. Not only had there been simply too many students trying to grab their food at the same time, but they had also acted in the opposite way compared to his class. Instead of opening a path, they had gathered around him and Hayden with shining eyes, hands desperately outstretched for a handshake. Because of this, it had taken even longer for Rylan and his group to make their way to their destinations.

Rylan stood up and stretched his body.

“Well, our next class is in twenty minutes, so let’s start heading back,” he said with a grin.

Aelfric opened his mouth to reply as he started to stand up. However, Rylan only narrowed his eyes and abruptly turned around to meet the eyes of a familiar blond girl who was about to touch his shoulder. He smiled at her.

“Good afternoon, Jasmine.”

Instead of replying, she pulled her hand back and stared at him with some suspicion.

“…How could you even tell? I tried my best to surprise you,” she said.

Rylan shook his head slowly.

“Your steps were too noticeable.”

Jasmine furrowed her brow.

“In the middle of this many people? With so much shouting?”

He shrugged, making her frown. She stepped closer to him, pouting. Rylan looked at the two girls behind her, who were staring at him with shining eyes. Between them, Liam Lamollet nodded at him.

“It’s good to see you again,” Liam said with a grin. He then greeted Aelfric, Luna, and Hayden, who greeted him back.

Before anyone could say anything else, the girl on Liam’s left stepped forward and beamed at Rylan. She was short and thin, with brown hair and warm chestnut eyes, as well as brown skin.

“I’m Isa!” she exclaimed in an energetic voice, sounding like there was nothing in the world that would be able to bring down her mood. “I finally get to meet you!”

The other girl nodded at Rylan. She was taller than Jasmine and had violet hair and green eyes.

“And I’m Maria Venac,” she stated calmly.

Rylan nodded at the two girls who looked like complete opposites. As he was about to reply, Isa spoke again, keeping her bright smile.

“I don’t think you need to introduce yourself. Even if we hadn’t watched the tournament, Jasmine has talked about you enough for us to know even your shoe size.”

Maria smiled while Liam’s eyebrows twitched. Jasmine spun in place to look at Isa as if she were trying to dodge an attack on the battlefield, hiding her expression from Rylan.

“No, I haven’t!” she quickly replied, maybe a bit too quickly.

Isa donned a smug expression as she crossed her arms. Traces of mischief gradually filled her demeanor, as if she were deciding on how far she would go with this. Jasmine flinched, her back still turned to Rylan before she turned around again to look directly into his eyes. She was blushing.

“I mean, I just told them what I was about to tell you! I want you to teach me!” she said, clearly flustered.

Rylan only smiled and nodded at her.

“Sure, I don’t mind. I would like it too.”

Jasmine quickly nodded.

“A-Anyway, how is your first day of classes going so far?”

Isa scoffed.

“As if you haven’t been watching him for—” she started before suddenly shutting her mouth once Jasmine looked at her and looking away with a grin.

Rylan sighed internally. He might not have had much experience with women in his past life, since Roland had pursued the sword alone, but he wasn’t stupid. Besides, teenage girls weren’t exactly subtle.

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Jasmine is definitely pretty, but she’s too young.

Even in this life, he was already eighteen while she was only sixteen. Once his past life’s mental age was factored in, they were so far apart that it didn’t even make sense for him to entertain the idea.

Maybe close to ten years from now.

Still, that was a matter for another time. As he thought about this subject, Rylan abruptly furrowed his brow.

…Yue doesn’t count, does she?

He wasn’t too sure how Moonlight would react if he met her with a wife by his side, especially because she had gone as far as to give him the Moonlight’s Eternal Promise Title. They were both aware of everything they had gone through for each other. Rylan shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was no use in thinking about a hypothetical wife and the implications of that. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. Still, he couldn’t really shake off an ominous feeling.

Meanwhile, Jasmine looked at him again, clearly struggling to recompose herself. She took a deep breath.

“Why don’t we go to the classroom together? We can discuss the specifics of our training on the way,” she said in a steadier tone. Once Rylan nodded, she looked at Hayden and the others. “Of course, I mean together with all of you. It’s a good opportunity for us to start getting to know each other.”

“Well, since you’re going to be training with Rylan, sure!” Aelfric exclaimed with a smile. “I’m Aelfric.”

Hayden and Luna then introduced themselves and exchanged greetings with Jasmine, Liam, and Jasmine’s two friends before they left the cafeteria as a group. The path back to the classroom remained beautiful, naturally. The tall stone buildings were adorned with large glass windows and draping curtains. Inside the buildings proper, simple but good-looking furniture could be seen. Students, both freshmen and seniors, walked through the hallways and the areas outside the buildings. Some groups sat on the grass under the shade of the large trees, while other young men and women only seemed to be rushing to their destination.

Rylan took all of this in with complicated emotions. It still felt a bit unreal that he was getting to live something that Roland never had, at least not properly. It was one of the first few experiences that he felt belonged to ‘himself’ alone. His leisurely stroll drew a few confused glances from Jasmine and the others, except for Aelfric, who only smiled knowingly.

After some time, they arrived at the classroom’s entrance. It was the same one as before.

“So,” Jasmine said as she pushed the doors open, looking at Rylan with a determined expression. “You have to drop by the estate tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied.

As agreed, he would occasionally help Jasmine with her training. Truthfully, it wasn’t something he had chosen to do merely out of respect for the fact that she had chosen to pursue swordsmanship on the side. It was because they were in different positions: unlike him, Jasmine needed to study both swordsmanship and magic from the ground up. He had the memories of his past life, but Jasmine had chosen to train in swordsmanship in a world that shunned it entirely.

I feel like I owe her at least a bit of assistance.

Since he could fully focus on magic, there wouldn’t be any harm in helping her with her training sometimes. In fact, she could even help him back when it came to magic. Even though he had reached the Third Circle, he still didn’t know any Third Circle spells and how to best use them.

But that’s why I’m going over to Damian once today’s lectures end.

Rylan stepped into the classroom and quickly found his seat. This time, Hayden and Jasmine sat to his sides, Maria and Isa sat in the row behind them, and Aelfric and Luna sat some distance away. Liam had needed to leave to go to his actual classroom, as a senior and not a freshman.

The remaining lessons of the day went by without a hitch. Each introduced a discipline that Rylan was certain would help him significantly, from Basic Spell Theory to Monster Characteristics. By the end of the school day, Rylan was certain that joining the Royal Magic Academy had been the right choice. Still, the day wasn’t over just yet.

After giving the rest of his group a brief goodbye, he made his way to Damian’s Mage Tower. Even though he drew a few glances on the way and many students greeted him, none stopped him from entering the Tower itself. As usual, the same middle-aged woman was behind the wooden counter at the center of the large room. Books floated about in the backdrop of shining lights. The woman merely bowed and pointed at a stairway, which was a different one from that of last time. Rylan nodded at her and went through the winding stairways and convoluted paths that led to Damian’s study.

Once he arrived at his destination, he knocked lightly on the door, which then opened. Damian was sitting on his chair and smiling at Rylan. The sunset’s orange rays hit the man’s pure-white hair, making it look like his head was on fire.

“How was the first day?” Damian asked as Rylan entered the study, which was the same as usual, down to the minute details.

“Pretty good,” Rylan replied. “Made me excited for the future. There’s a lot to learn.”

Damian laughed.

“But I guess it wasn’t enough?”

Rylan shrugged.

“Just trying to make the best of what I have.”

Damian chuckled and stood up.

“Well, you’re indeed a special case. Hayden lacks formal training and proper instruction, making it a testament to his talent that he has made it so far. The children of nobility, such as Jasmine Lamollet, lack battle experience and the knowledge to properly utilize the weapons they already have. The commoner students lack everything I mentioned, making them the ones who benefit the most from the Academy. You aren’t exactly like anyone I mentioned.”

Rylan tilted his head.

“You obviously have even more experience than Hayden, as you showed in your battle against him and by clearing an actual, difficult Dungeon. You are similar to him in the sense that you were never properly taught the ways of magic except by your father, but your achievements would have been impossible if you didn’t at least have an idea of what you’re doing. Naturally, this means you are much more experienced than the nobles,” Damian continued.

“I think theory is the way to go for my current self,” Rylan stated. “There’s still too much I don’t know about magic.”

Damian nodded calmly.

“Yes, I agree. Given the lifestyle you led before turning eighteen, it’s only natural that you might lack even more knowledge than Hayden, who at least searched for common books. I just wonder how beneficial that knowledge would be to you.”

Rylan furrowed his brow.

“What do you mean?”

In response, Damian smiled.

“You’re pioneering your own path. You found a way to make up for your spellcasting’s weaknesses with swordsmanship. I’m not sure what I should teach you. If I go too far, I might accidentally ruin the style you’re creating.”

Rylan shook his head.

“No need to worry about that. I can simply adapt.”

Damian stared deep into his eyes for a few seconds.

“…I suppose so. I should believe in your talent a bit more. Very well,” Damian sat back down on his chair and motioned for Rylan to sit down on the one in front of the desk. “Why don’t we start with what exactly mana is?”

Intrigued, Rylan sat down on the chair. It was a question he’d had for a long time now.