Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Book 2 Chapter 40: Assignment (1)

Rylan looked through the window as he put on his uniform. The Academy grounds and Caer Rhelon, which lay beyond it, were as awe-inspiring as ever. A second later, he turned to look at Aelfric, who was also in the middle of putting on his robe.

“If you say so, I’ll believe it,” Aeflric said with a grin.

Rylan smiled at him.

“Just like that?”

“Of course,” Aelfric nodded matter-of-factly. “You’re the one saying it.”

Rylan walked closer to him, keeping his smile, and ruffled Aelfric’s hair.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I won’t let any monster kill you. But you’ll have to struggle a bit, as I told you before.”

Aelfric’s smile faltered a bit as he looked down at the floor. Rylan gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder before walking up to the door and opening it. With a small sigh, Aelfric left the dorm room. Rylan looked at his back.

I’m sorry, but it’s necessary.

For Aelfric’s development, the Battle Fundamentals assignment needed to be as close as possible to a real battle. Rylan wouldn’t let anything or anyone kill his brother, but he still agreed with the notion that Aelfric needed battle experience.

He walked through the Academy’s hallways, following Aelfric’s lead, a bit lost in his thoughts. Part of his attention was turned to his Mana Core and the Circles peacefully spinning around it. A current of mana slowly flowed into it continuously, almost undetectable. It was one of the fruits he’d been through in the past three weeks. He ran his fingers on Silver Twilight’s hilt.

Still a long way to go.

It had been almost four weeks since the beginning of classes. Each day had been filled with learning and training. Magic’s arcane and mysterious secrets were gradually unraveled under the guidance of the experienced professors and, most notably, Damian himself. However, this had also allowed him to realize how great Damian was. The more attuned he became to mana, the more obvious Damian’s strength became. At a certain point, Rylan had started comparing himself to his old master, which was why he didn’t feel even a sliver of pride about his current power. But that didn’t mean the training had been ineffective.

My magical abilities are improving faster than ever.

Even though Rylan didn’t have his past life’s Trait, his progress had been unceasing. He had absorbed everything he could about magic, this world’s Skills, spells, mana, Professions, and much, much more. It hadn’t even been a month since the beginning of classes, but he had already grown by leaps and bounds. Both his Mana Core and his mana itself had changed: this only became more obvious once he circulated his mana.

But that’s not the best part of the Academy.

Rylan looked at Aelfric’s back. The past month had been a valuable opportunity for him to simply be with his younger brother and his new friends, including Hayden and Jasmine. Even Lillia and Regis had dropped by once, much to his surprise. These peaceful days and moments were the most valuable treasures this Academy had offered him, even above the sating of his personal desire to learn magic and become powerful.

Rylan took a deep breath. The air was warm, but not too hot.

“How are things with Luna?” he asked suddenly.

Aelfric flinched before looking over his shoulder with a smile.

“It’s going well. I don’t know if she likes me back, though.”

“Just ask her.”

“Hell no. We’ve talked about this already.”

Rylan shrugged.

“My opinion won’t change, so the advice is still the same.”

Aelfric scoffed.

“What would you know? Yue was all you had. Swords don’t count.”

Rylan’s smile faltered before he raised his bent finger as if he were holding a world-class weapon, ready to flick Aelfric in the forehead.

“You’ve been getting too comfortable around me, brat.”

Aelfric laughed and shook his head, saying nothing else and turning back to look in front. Once his brother had looked away, Rylan smiled and lowered his hand.

This is all I need.

Together, they made their way to the classroom. Once they arrived, Rylan automatically scanned the room until he found Hayden, who was waving at him. The same group as usual was around him. Rylan approached his friends with a smile. After exchanging some greetings, the professor arrived, making them all sit down and get ready for the lecture.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Silently, Rylan focused his full attention on the female professor’s words once she began to speak. Every single one of them represented an opportunity to become greater than he was.

***

One after the other, the days ticked by.

Rylan continued to dedicate himself to both training his body and improving his spellcasting. He grew to understand how different types of spells could interact with each other and create unforeseen reactions, and became more familiar with the different types of monsters that could be found in the Ceotha Kingdom. Naturally, there had also been classes about the kingdom’s terrain and key strategic fortresses. Aelfric had endlessly complained about the subject after each class that tackled it, but Rylan had only laughed at his brother and explained the importance of knowing such information.

In such a fashion, he never stopped learning or growing. Even though he hadn’t Leveled up since there had been no battles, Rylan woke up each day knowing that he was stronger than on the day before. It was an intoxicating feeling that he’d almost forgotten after being forced to grow stronger to deal with the scourge that Evenon had been, then needing to raid and clear an Open Dungeon in a single try. The opportunity of training without a blade hanging over his neck was refreshing and something that he had last experienced only as Roland. Of course, he didn’t expect this feeling to last, but for as long as it did, he only needed to keep going.

Once he reached the beginning of the third month since the beginning of classes.

Inside Damian’s mage tower, in a large, empty room.

Rylan let out a breath and cracked his neck, feeling the sweat running down his body in the shape of droplets. His breathing was a bit hurried but stable. He narrowed his eyes at the white-haired man on the other end of the room, who was surrounded by a thin violet layer of mana.

“Again,” Rylan said loudly before lowering his center of gravity a bit.

Wordlessly, Damian lifted his index finger. Mana started gathering around it outside the Shield. It was the signal for Rylan to get ready, since his master had no need to move or gather his mana before attacking. Rylan let out another breath and widened his eyes slightly. His focus reached its peak as he analyzed the amount of mana around Damian.

Now.

Rylan suddenly extended his arms to his sides, as if trying to hug an invisible giant, palms facing up. Around the left hand, the atmospheric mana resonated with the mana inside him and started taking the shape of a long arrow. Around his right hand, however, the mana’s movements were entirely different: it hummed before extending its reach to the air around it and contorting into the shape of several blades. Rylan clenched his jaws as both spells rippled, threatening to escape his control, but Damian gave him no time to do too much about it. The old man drew a circle with his extended index finger. The mana that he had gathered solidified into stone in a heartbeat before shooting toward Rylan like meteors.

Rylan analyzed the incoming boulders in an instant. Each was as big as he was, and they all had different trajectories. However, those were not random. Each sought to seal off possible escape routes and force him to get hit. Rylan pointed his hands at them.

“Magic Missile.”

Wind Blades.

The moment he finished the chant of a spell with his words and thought of another, both masses of mana became much more unstable, but they didn’t collapse. They only became more volatile as fractions of a second passed, but Rylan didn’t even bother to move. He was almost there. His concentration maintained its peak, as if warring against his mana’s natural tendencies. Meanwhile, the boulders mercilessly approached. Rylan slowly exhaled.

As the first boulder arrived and forced him to leap to the side, right into the path of another incoming boulder. The spells that were threatening to burst out of control at any instant instead calmed down. The difference was slight, but Rylan’s focus allowed him to perceive it with razor-sharp accuracy. He resisted the urge to laugh as he avoided the second boulder and looked at Damian. More boulders were coming into being out of thin air around the man. An idle thought struck Rylan.

He's noticed it too.

That only made things easier.

Rylan weaved between the human-sized projectiles as they endlessly flew at him. Every dodge only brought him closer to the impending feeling. He didn’t bother to count how many boulders he avoided. It happened as he dodged a particularly large one. The Magic Missile and Wind Blades took shape at the same time before shooting toward the boulder. The large Blades divided it into pieces, and the Missile blasted a hole through the middle segment. Rylan leisurely stepped into the gap between the different segments. No other rocks flew at him. He looked at the System notification in front of him with a smile.

[You have acquired the Active Skill Dual Casting (D).]

Rylan gave the System window a satisfied nod.

Finally.

It had taken him this long, even though he’d gone through systematic training and had an expert’s specific advice, but that only made the reward all the sweeter.

“Good work,” Damian said loudly as he approached, making Rylan look at him. “It was faster than I thought.”

Rylan tilted his head.

“Faster? Hayden can do it, and he had no help from anyone. He’s also sixteen.”

Damian shook his head.

“You needed to start from what was basically the ground up. You barely had any Skills, even though you were already at the Second Circle. I’m honestly amazed it didn’t take longer. You’re a genius, Rylan. Beyond what I ever expected.”

Rylan shook his head with a grin.

“There’s still a long way to go. Time will tell if this will be enough.”

Instead of looking confused, Damian only lost his smile.

“…Yeah. Things are getting worse. I wonder if I’ll be enough, too.”

Rylan knew what he was talking about without needing to ask. The Empire’s advancing borders had become an increasingly greater problem with each passing day, one he was intimately familiar with because of the fact that Damian was his master and the strongest Mage in the kingdom.

Damian looked at him, wiping away the grim expression but keeping his furrowed brow.

“Your Battle Fundamentals assignment is this week. Is your brother prepared?”

Rylan nodded.

“He is. I’ve made sure of it.”

Damian slowly nodded back.

“…I’m sure you know the importance of not coddling him.”

“I do,” Rylan replied firmly. “Don’t worry. The others are also reasonably ready. We’ll be fine.”

Damian smiled slightly.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll later hear from Jasmine and Hayden how you all performed, but you’ll find no issue with fighting a hobgoblin. Not after having cleared the Basilisk Wilds.”

Rylan nodded and looked at the empty air.

“System. I want to see my Status Window.”

The air shimmered before the large, translucent rectangle came into view.