Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Chapter 91: Wonder and Admiration - End of Book 1

Standing, Damian looked at the arena with a shaking gaze. Myriad emotions swam in his chest, including surprise, shock, and concern. He looked at Hayden, who sat on the ground as a green aura washed over him, then at the smiling Rylan.

This continued for several seconds. Each felt like an eternity.

The moment Damian took a deep breath, it started. A few people in the audience broke into wild shouting and cheering. They were followed by others. As if a dam had been broken, the cheering spread as the atmosphere boiled. In less than ten seconds, the previously silent stadium virtually erupted. The cheering was deafening. Countless people stood up. Their shouts reached Damian.

“Holy shit! Holy fuck!”

“Dual casting? At sixteen? Hayden! Marry my daughter!”

“Who gives a fuck about Hayden? Are you blind? Did you not see what happened?”

“Rylan Flameheart, you fuckers! The greatest there is!”

“Swordsmanship? What the fuck? What the actual fuck?”

“Am I going crazy? Am I completely insane? Hey, slap me!”

Yelling and cheering mixed in a veritable cacophony that shook the stadium itself. Unbridled shock flowed through the audience, each of them struggling to come to terms with what they had just witnessed. Some shook their heads in wonder, while others only shouted at the top of their lungs with red faces, waving their fists. Any semblance of order had disappeared. All that remained was a crowd of thousands of people overwhelmed by what had happened. No number of guards would be able to control this situation.

However, it was as if Damian couldn’t hear them at all. He only continued to stare at Rylan and Hayden.

“Henry,” Damian suddenly said, his voice perfectly clear despite the noise around him. There were hints of excitement in it, but it was mostly filled with worry and wariness.

He chose to forsake the king’s official title without a second thought, not in the mood for formalities.

“Yeah, I know,” Henry replied in a low tone as he walked to stand next to Damian. “I’ll do everything I can, but it likely won’t be enough. I’ll start by doubling the Royal Magic Academy’s security.”

Damian furrowed his brow as he continued to stare at the two boys.

“…What did we just behold, Damian?” Henry asked, his voice now filled with disbelief and wonder. “Even if he invested every single Free Point into his physical stats, he’s only Level 25. To use both swordsmanship and magic to cross the gap between himself and an opponent a whole Circle higher…”

Damian took a deep breath, aware of what the king was truly asking.

“…I don’t know how he did it. And yet, it happened all the same,” he replied. He stopped himself, his expression making his confusion obvious. “I thought I sensed his mana move strangely when he drew his sword, but… I can’t explain what I felt.”

Henry nodded with a grave expression.

“So it wasn’t just me. Still, what I felt was too faint. I don’t know how to explain it, either. It wasn’t the same as when he cast a spell, but I can’t compare it to anything else. I have no guesses.”

Damian nodded in silence. In a way, it was a novel experience that he hadn’t expected in the least from this tournament. An eighteen-year-old, Second Circle Mage moved his mana in a way that neither he nor Henry recognized, even though they were the two strongest Mages in the kingdom. It was ludicrous, to say the least. However, wasn’t it just as unbelievable for Rylan to be so skilled with swordsmanship and capable of using it to complement his magic?

Damian stared at Rylan as if he were looking at a creature of legend.

I can’t see the bottom of this abyss.

The current Rylan was still weak compared to the upper echelons of the Ceotha Kingdom and nearby kingdoms, but his potential was endless. Damian grinned in admiration.

“Henry,” he started. “You looked into Rylan’s history, right? Have you managed to confirm that story about him beating a Fourth Circle Mage months ago?”

Henry nodded.

“It took some effort, but yes, it’s almost certainly true. It’s absurd, really. His father, Gerard Flameheart, helped him, but the mere fact that he was strong enough to face a Mage in the Fourth Circle means that he still hasn’t shown everything he can do. Not even against Hayden. This battle only added credibility to that story.”

Damian shook his head as his grin widened into a smile. He’d had his own people investigate Rylan themselves, but Henry’s confirmation cemented it as the unavoidable truth.

Unbelievable.

“After much training and effort over many years, a Mage can face their limits and possibly surpass them,” Damian said after a few seconds of mutual silence, keeping his smile. “But Rylan Flameheart… he hasn’t surpassed them, but he found a way around those walls.”

Henry nodded, eyes shining.

“Indeed. His ability to unite two completely different combat styles puts him above all of his peers. He’s closer to overcoming those barriers than any of them.”

Damian felt only disbelief and admiration. It had been a long while since something had shaken him like this. Eighteen years old, Second Circle. However, he had been able to contend against a genius who had reached the Third Circle at sixteen and could dual cast. Not only that, but from the moment Rylan drew his sword, the battle’s flow completely changed in his favor.

A monster.

Hayden was an incredible, generation-defining genius in his own right. Without any sort of financial support, he had risen to this level and even learned dual casting. With proper teachers and training, he would improve even faster than before and become one of the strongest Mages in the Kingdom of Ceotha, at the very least. However, when it came to fighting, he paled in comparison to Rylan. All Rylan lacked was a Third Circle and higher magic stats. He was superior when it came to almost everything else.

Damian furrowed his brow in confusion, his eyes filled with wonder.

…How?

Rylan was too young to know how to fight like that. It was only possible if he had spent years fighting and struggling, even with his inhuman talent. The more Damian thought about it, the more he realized it shouldn’t be possible. Rylan challenged his entire worldview. How could someone so young be so experienced? What kind of swordsmanship could effectively match a Third Circle Mage? Why had he only reached the Second Circle if he was this good?

…I don’t know.

Damian smiled again. He was just barely able to accept this development if he considered that Rylan was the most talented person he’d ever seen, even more than himself, but the reality wouldn’t change. He still didn’t have a way to fully explain Rylan’s sudden surge in physical prowess, but he believed that explanation existed. Excitement slowly filled Damian’s chest now that the shock was wearing off.

“Still, Rylan isn’t the only impressive one. Hayden is incredible,” Henry said. “He’ll surpass both of us in the future. He might have lost against Rylan, but that doesn’t make him less of a genius, either. With the Academy’s guidance, he’ll remain above everyone in his generation, except for Rylan.”

Damian nodded, moving his gaze to Hayden, who had stood up. Henry’s words were absolutely true. In the future, Hayden might even be able to make up for the difference between himself and Rylan. He looked at the king, who looked back into his eyes.

“I’ll need your help, old friend. But I won’t fail,” he said, his voice brimming with determination.

Henry nodded.

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“As I said, I’ll do what I can. The safety of those two is something the very Kingdom cares about. Something I care about.”

Damian turned back to Rylan and Hayden, who were shaking hands with smiles on their faces as their healing finished. His eyes carried a hint of pity.

“…How unfortunate it is, to be so talented but born in a kingdom like ours.”

Henry scoffed.

“Maybe. Either way, we’ll do what we can to allow them to grow.”

Damian continued to stare at the two boys. It was impossible to contain the spread of information, since thousands of people had watched the battle. He could only hope that the Empire wouldn’t act too quickly.

“Today, we witnessed a battle between two people who will reach the peak,” he said in a low tone as he stepped forward.

Damian walked to the edge of the area reserved for him and the king and kept going. With one wave of his hand, his feet stepped on the air. He slowly floated downward and snapped his fingers. The sound rumbled like thunder, overpowering even the deafening cheers and shouts. His mana resonated with the atmosphere around him, making it vibrate strongly. It was as if cold water had been poured onto the crowd’s burning excitement. In nothing but a few seconds, most went silent, overwhelmed.

Rylan and Hayden raised their gazes to look at Damian, who was still staring at them with complicated emotions.

“The battle is over,” he said. His voice echoed, even though he hadn’t yelled. “Rylan Flameheart is the winner and takes first place in the Royal Magic Academy’s tournament, which has now ended.”

Hayden sighed and then smiled, patting Rylan on the shoulder. Damian couldn’t help but grin. Then, he looked around at the audience.

“All applicants, the results of the entrance exams will be made available twenty days from now. Keep in mind that your entire performance affected the evaluation, not just what place you reached in the tournament,” Damian turned back to face Rylan and Hayden, smiling. “As promised, the tournament’s top three are now my direct disciples. That does not mean the others are weak or worthless. You’re all the future of this kingdom. Everyone, I wish all of you good luck.”

All judges and important nobles on the separate platforms stood up and started clapping. The audience soon followed suit, overwhelming the stadium with more cheers. Rylan and Hayden shook hands once more, smiling. Damian observed Rylan carefully. Serene eyes that didn’t seem to be affected by the atmosphere following his victory in the least, stable posture, straight back. He nodded to himself.

I won’t let a madman like you take them.

He needed to be ready for anything and anyone who could threaten the Kingdom and these boys. Not because he wanted to use them to strengthen the Kingdom’s position, but because he knew that the two would be targeted by almost every force wary of the Kingdom of Ceotha. This was especially true when it came to factions that were outright hostile to them.

Floating in the air in silence, Damian looked at Rylan and Hayden with worried eyes. Then, he let out a smile as the audience’s cheering got louder.

Even if just for a bit, he wanted to be happy to have witnessed such an incredible battle.

***

Rylan stretched his body as he finally managed to enter the corridor that led outside of the circular arena.

That was harder than I thought.

Hayden’s dual casting had soundly defeated his own spellcasting abilities. In the end, he had been forced to draw his sword and partially rely on Roland’s mastery and memories. Still, Rylan smiled.

Parts of the same whole.

He was glad that he’d managed to use magic to complement Roland’s swordsmanship. As ‘Rylan,’ his skills had been useful. It was enough. There was a long road ahead, but he was sure he could tread it. Rylan nodded to himself and turned his thoughts to the System windows that had appeared after the fight ended.

[Your Intelligence has increased by 1.]

[Your Wisdom has increased by 1.]

[Your Strength has increased by 1.]

[Your Agility has increased by 1.]

Not bad.

He willed the Status Window to appear before him.

Status Window

Name: Rylan Flameheart

Level: 25

Race: Human (F)

Class: Mage

Profession: none.

Trait: Determined

Stats

Strength: 60

Agility: 60

Endurance: 61

Body: 61

Intelligence: 89

Wisdom: 71

Free Points: 20

Active Skills

Magic Missile (F); Stormcaller Sword Style (S), Mountainpeak Swordsmanship (A), Second Imperial Swordsmanship (B), Falling Snow Steps (A), Earth Grab (F), Earth Spikes (E), Firebolt (F), Wind Blades (F), Water Bullets (F), Gust (F), Ray of Frost (F).

Passive Skills

Mana Core (Second Circle), Sword Handling (E), Stamina (E), Blade Affinity (D), Precision (E), Force (E), Overpower (D), Balance (E), Cutting Edge (D), Persistence (D), Mana Affinity (E), Faster Casting (D), Lionheart (C).

Hybrid Skills

Sword Mastery (Master), Mana Cultivation (Beginner).

Titles

Apprentice Mage; Reincarnator; Swordmaster; Intermediate Monster Slayer; Hard-working; Duelist; Swordseeker; Bladedancer; Battlemage.

His stats had increased a bit, but his gaze was naturally drawn to his new Title. Its information appeared before him.

[Title

Battlemage: magic has only augmented your abilities as a born fighter. You have demonstrated great mastery in using spellcasting in deadly battles. Through pain and struggle, you tempered your fighting skills.

Effects: when in battle, your casting will be 8% faster and all your spells will be marginally stronger. Increases concentration during a fight. The longer the battle goes on, the greater the effects, up to a limit of 12%.]

Rylan smiled. It was the first Title related to magic that he’d acquired.

This is ‘my’ achievement.

He nodded to himself, knowing that he needed to keep this up. Still, there was no harm in feeling happy about his progress. As long as he kept improving, he would be able to protect his family. That was all that mattered, even more than proving himself and escaping Roland’s shadow. Rylan let out a small sigh.

There will be consequences to this battle.

At the very least, many noble families would now try to recruit him, including the Astassier house. However, right now, he didn’t want to think about any of that. He only wanted to meet his family and celebrate his victory with them.

With this purpose, Rylan shook his head and walked back to the quarters he’d stayed in just before the fight. He’d agreed to meet with Sarah and Aelfric there.

He reached his destination and looked at Leo, who stood next to the door. The man bowed much lower than before.

“…Congratulations, Master Rylan. Now that you’re here, I will take my leave.”

Leo’s voice shook in equal parts excitement, respect, and dread. Rylan nodded at him and opened the door. Less than two steps inside, he froze. Staring at him were Elizabeth, his three siblings, and Sarah. There was no time to question how his mother had managed to meet them again. They blinked at him before Sarah, Elizabeth, and Aelfric smiled almost at the same time.

“Rylan!” Aelfric yelled, actively jumping in place with shining eyes. “You’re so fucking awesome! You really… you! So cool!”

Rylan laughed as he closed the door behind him and approached his family. Sarah bowed, while Regis and Lillia looked at him with conflicted expressions. Elizabeth was the first one to step closer to him. She gently cupped his face in her hands and smiled sweetly.

“I am glad you won, son. I knew you would, but it would have been fine even if you hadn’t.”

Rylan kept his smile.

“Thank you, Mom.”

“You won as the person that you are, not just because of your past life. I’m proud of you, Rylan. I’m sure your father will bear witness to your efforts. They led you here. You got this far because you, too, are great.”

They only smiled at each other for a couple of seconds.

“Congratulations, my lord. I don’t think there’s anyone your age who’s able to even get close to matching you,” Sarah said as she raised her body. She smiled widely at him.

“Hell yeah! You’re the greatest! There’s nobody else like you!” Aelfric shouted, almost jumping in place again.

Rylan got close to him and ruffled his hair.

“I’m gonna make sure you become even stronger, too. I got you, Aelfric,” Rylan replied. “We’ll grow together.”

Without hesitation, Aelfric jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. Rylan hugged him back with a smile, his chest filled with warmth. These small moments were ones that Roland hadn’t experienced for many decades. Each was incredibly precious.

Rylan affectionately celebrated his victory with his mother, Sarah, and Aelfric. His older siblings only stared at him.

“Rylan,” Regis suddenly said loudly, making everyone look at him. His brow was furrowed. “…Good job.”

He looked like the words had left a bad aftertaste, but Rylan only smiled sincerely.

“Thank you, brother.”

Lillia glanced at Regis, then nodded at Rylan.

“Yeah, good job,” she said.

They said nothing else, but Rylan still felt giddy. He didn’t need his older siblings to forgive him after all that he’d done. This much was enough.

The waiting room’s luxury paled in comparison to what he felt at this moment. To him, there was nothing more precious than his family.

***

Gerard read the letter in his grasp, hands trembling. The contents were simple: they consisted of nothing but the tale of Rylan’s victory, a few days ago. Gerard read it thrice over before decisively standing up. As he was filled with the urge to cast Whisper and order someone to prepare a carriage, he stopped himself, gritting his teeth.

…I can’t go.

Self-loathing filled him. What kind of father was he, if he couldn’t even go to his family right now and celebrate Rylan’s greatest achievement in this life? He would also be able to see his wife and children together.

However, reality was harsh and unforgiving. The Open Dungeon continued to be a problem, and a trip back and forth from Caer Rhelon would take over a month. As Cantavega’s guardian, he couldn’t ditch his responsibilities. His heart felt like it was being torn apart.

…Pathetic.

Gerard grabbed his chest with a frown. After a few seconds, he cast Whisper. His target was Rast.

“I think I know what this is about. The news has reached me too,” Rast Vaard’s voice resounded in Gerard’s head.

With Rylan, I’ll be able to clear it.

“…I would’ve called you crazy a few months ago, but after the Evenon fight and now this… I’ll send a letter to Caer Rhelon, but you should be the one to write it. Let’s bring him back as soon as possible and deal with this.”

I’ll write it right now. Send it today.

“Of course. Then, talk to you soon.”

Gerard smiled sadly before his eyes stopped glowing.

The situation is getting worse.

Nevertheless, with Rylan’s help, they would be able to solve the Dungeon issue. Even against Spriggans and Ents, he fully believed in his son’s abilities.

Within his heart, pride slowly replaced the self-loathing.

***

Deep in the heart of the Veria Woodlands, the beast opened its eyes. The scent of blood had made it wake up. It raised its head and stared in a certain direction. Its gaze pierced through the gaps between the trees and reached the glowing, giant blue circle that floated in the air. The only way in and out of its newfound domain.

The beast narrowed its eyes. It had stalled long enough.

It was time to raze the city to the ground.

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