The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 7
Only Noblemtl
A thin, dark blue mana stretched across the castle’s corridors.
The mana that seemed to be guiding Enoch’s path was still so weak that it seemed like it would break.
So much so that if you were to lose focus even a little bit, you might just miss it.
Enoch looked around, carefully blending in with the crowd of people milling about in the hallways.
‘I guess I’ll have to be careful not to stand out.’
I walk along the edge of the shaded hallway to avoid the gaze of those around me, and focus on the faint flow of mana.
After walking for a while, the message I had seen in my inner world suddenly came to mind again.
– ? Lack of understanding of Enoch Elseid’s ‘Mana’
Lack of understanding of mana, huh?
Now that I think about it, there was one thing that had been unclear until now.
‘Why couldn’t the last swordsman learn how to absorb mana?’
is a trait that absorbs the user’s experience through the sword.
Then wouldn’t it be normal for the last swordsman of the empire, or the best swordsman, to absorb even the understanding of mana?
The swordsmanship that I had seen in my inner world had shown me how to deal with magicians by projecting mana onto the sword.
So, if you think about it logically, he should have already understood about mana… … .
You gained the sense of seeing mana from that swordsman, but you weren’t able to absorb how to actually use mana?
‘There is some other reason.’
widely.
The next moment Enoch stopped walking.
After following the faint path of mana for a while, the hallway that was bustling with other people had already ended.
What appeared before his eyes was the basement stairs of a remote castle where no one had come or gone for a long time.
But it wasn’t as deep underground as the prison he’d been locked up in before.
‘A warehouse? It’s pretty dusty for something like that.’
Enoch walked down the increasingly thickening flow of mana.
An underground space illuminated by dim green magic lanterns.
A red thread of mana that crosses the empty space of the hallway.
The end of the red line led into a small door at the end of the hallway.
Enoch paused for a moment.
At the end of a remote underground corridor, there’s this abandoned room. No matter how I look at it…
‘If it was a game, it would definitely be a room with an event!’
Enoch grabbed the strap of the black cloth bag he was carrying on his back.
Even if an emergency arises, we have weapons.
Besides, although this place is uninhabited, it is still the fortress of the Elseid family. If it was a truly dangerous place from the beginning, it would have been controlled separately.
There was no reason to be afraid.
Squeak-
As I opened the rusty door and went in, the dark interior was bathed in the light of the stone lantern shining in from the hallway.
It was a room so dark that I couldn’t see anything.
However, most of the indoor structures, such as pillars and chairs, were terribly destroyed, and it was barely possible to make out the dust and cobwebs that were tangled around them.
But the form looked somehow familiar.
‘It’s a facility similar to Dionil’s personal training ground.’
It was a private training ground with a structure almost identical to that place. At this point, it was not hard to guess who the owner of this place was.
Enoch opened the dusty ‘Training Log’ on the table.
‘Enoch’s handwriting.’
The same handwriting I saw in his room.
Perhaps this abandoned training ground was Enoch’s personal space.
He picked up the dying magic lantern hanging on the wall of the training ground and held it high into the sky.
A dim light filled the room.
Enoch held his breath for a moment at the sight of the light.
A myriad of unknown swords of all kinds.
Swords of all shapes and sizes were haphazardly placed on the floor of the training grounds, which was covered in faint darkness.
‘Now that I think about it, Enoch is seventeen now.’
According to the official history of , Enoch was already holding a sword.
He was considered talented with swords even before he was 13, when he was locked in the dungeon. So it would have been natural for Enoch to have used his own sword as a child.
‘So that’s all… .’
Enoch looked around at the countless swords and meditated.
‘Are these the swords originally used by Enoch?’
Enoch, who had been trying to devote himself to magic after he turned thirteen, put aside his sword.
Could it be that those were the things he had practically thrown away along with the training ground?
‘The condition is serious.’
All the swords are rusted and cracked.
It was a sight that seemed like a graveyard for swords.
They are not fancy swords, nor are they made of good metal. They are just ordinary iron swords.
Even the original shape was barely maintained. It was in no condition to be repaired and used again.
These were swords that were completely different from the swords of the Black Sword, which had remained intact even after being neglected for a much longer period of time.
After all, in a magical empire overflowing with magical tools for magicians, it would be a great achievement to have managed to obtain a sword, even if it was something cheap and easily corroded.
Isn’t the name of the game ?
Thud, thud.
Enoch walked across the abandoned swords that were stuck here and there on the ground.
The swords lurking in the darkness resonated with his footsteps and welcomed him with the cold sound of metal.
And Enoch finally stopped in one place.
A long, double-edged sword haphazardly embedded in a large piece of rock.
He slowly picked up the longsword.
If I pull this out, I can now guess what will happen.
He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the sword.
Hwaaaa …
And once again, a pitch-black world unfolded before my eyes.
? Memory Synchronization Progress of “Enoch Elseid” (Basic)
? “The meaning of swordsmanship” is being inherited…
? Progress: 0.1%
Enoch’s inner world.
But even there, the surroundings still looked like a training ground.
Except for one thing, the swords that were stuck in the floor.
The numerous swords stuck in the floor were all emitting sharp and keen sword light.
As if we had gone back in time to a time before rust had set in.
Swish.
And in the midst of the swords that had regained their old appearance, a familiar shadow appeared.
‘…Enoch?’
As expected, the shape is covered in glitches in the form of noise.
But you can see.
It was unmistakably his own image.
He is much shorter than he is now.
Could this be Enoch’s childhood?
Little Enoch of the past stood alone among the countless swords.
In front of him like that.
‘Another shadow’ came to mind.
As expected, it was the shape of a person I was seeing for the first time.
[…Enoch.]
The strange shadow spoke softly to young Enoch in a voice that was difficult to understand.
[In the swordsmanship that uses mana, each movement, or form, has a transcendental meaning.]
It was an unidentifiable voice.
A voice you’ve definitely never heard before.
And yet it rang so familiarly in my mind.
[The highest level that only a very small number of swordsmen can reach is called Sword Saint.]
[Only after reaching that level can one project one’s own mana onto the sword. The mana thus placed into the sword creates movements with the will contained in all of the swordsman’s life, thereby completing ‘swordsmanship’.]
Enoch. It was definitely his previous memory.
[It is forgotten by the magicians of the empire who simply draw on the mana contained in the surrounding environment, but mana is something that can be built by one’s own will. It is a unique mirror that reflects one’s entire self.]
Someone with a pale appearance said these words while looking down at the young Enoch in the past.
A sad voice, locked in that memory, spoke.
[Therefore, a swordsmanship made of unique mana is something that can never be inherited by others. A swordsman perfects a single swordsmanship that only he can use throughout his life, and then dies and is forgotten.]
‘…what?’
One inspector perfects only one sword technique.
So does that mean that each and every swordsman in the sword world has different swordsmanship?
[Listen carefully, Enoch. Swordsmanship that burns space with blazing flames. Swordsmanship that can cut down targets dozens of paces away. In addition to these, there are countless other swordsmanships in the world that you cannot even imagine, and they have existed and disappeared through swordsmen who have lived countless lives.]
‘I see.’
The ‘swordsmanship’ mentioned here didn’t simply mean moving a sword. After all, movements that utilize mana are not ordinary.
‘By the way, who is this talking about now? Could it be young Enoch’s teacher?’
I’m not sure, but the atmosphere suggests it might be so.
[But you are different. You have the potential to understand the sword techniques created by others, and the unique mana contained in those techniques.]
When I listened closely, I could tell it was a woman’s voice.
But I still couldn’t guess the identity.
[He is worthy of being called an unparalleled genius.]
Enoch suddenly looked down at the sword with a strange feeling.
For some reason, the more I listened to her, the more my skills and senses for the sword came alive in the tips of my hands that held the hilt.
That’s right.
The knowledge of handling swords is becoming clearer and clearer.
[In order to truly unfold the meaning of swordsmanship, you must first project all of your mana onto the sword.]
Movement of hands and legs.
Actions and their meaning and connections.
All of those meanings are so vividly understood that it’s almost eerie, like a memory that you can’t forget even if you want to.
[Only those who have built their own world through constant reflection and strong will can use their own ‘unique mana’ that manifests their own mana. That is the essence of the mana that swordsmen who have reached the realm called sword masters project onto their swords.]
A feeling and understanding that I felt for the first time swept over my body.
Before I knew it, countless pieces of knowledge about swords were whispering coldly in my ears.
Enoch looked at the old sword in his hand.
Enoch’s old sword, clutched in his hand, seemed to be the key to his past memories.
[That is the mindset of a swordsman who puts his own will into the sword.]
A voice in faded memories spoke softly.
[So, Enoch, you must find out for yourself.]
His past is melted into the simple sensation of holding a sword.
The senses, focused to the limit, stirred on their own, pulling up something from deep within.
[What is it that you truly wish to achieve with your sword?]
Hwaaaaak─!
At that moment, a dark blue halo appeared on the sword, dispelling the darkness.
Dark blue mana.
Enoch looked at the mana without any change in expression.
I’ve never handled a sword in my life.
I’ve never dealt with mana before.
But at the same time, Enoch already knew how to use them.
It was an indescribably confusing feeling.
? 「Meaning of Swordsmanship」 Inheritance Progress: 100%
He was already feeling the previous Enoch through the sword.
─A sword that I swung and mastered countless times during my childhood.
Training that was repeated desperately even when my palms were sore.
The sword that he swung at a young age, shedding tears of blood and expressing his disgust at being despised by the world.
A talent that no one recognizes.
The sword movements were engraved all over Enoch’s body.
‘Is it shared?’
Enoch’s childhood, which he had never experienced before.
Fragmentary memories that came to mind the moment he picked up the sword. And the sword techniques he had learned continued to flow in.
All of that was conveyed through the sword he was holding.
I suddenly felt dizzy.
He was Enoch.
At the same time, it wasn’t Enoch.
For a moment, he felt his identity shaken, and he felt an unbearable dizziness.
But even in all this confusion, one thing was certain.
knife.
A sword stretched out coldly and aimed at the world.
I was convinced that it was solely mine.
Kkudduk.
Suddenly, my inner world changed with a low, loud noise.
The surrounding scenery changes again.
And just as he had seen the swordsman in action before, an indistinct shape appeared before Enoch’s eyes.
‘Silhouette of a wizard?’
I could tell why.
In Enoch’s childhood memories, a scene from his past dealing with a wizard was being played out.
Who is that guy in front of me?
I don’t know why they are attacking Enoch.
However, the magician forming a magic circle in front of my eyes was clearly filled with murderous intent.
‘…What on earth happened to Enoch during his childhood?’
But those distracting thoughts disappeared the moment I saw the cold, dark blue mana shining above the sword.
The sharp blade cuts away the afflictions.
Swish.
He aims his sword quietly ahead.
The tip of the sword, which had not moved an inch, aimed at the lines of mana that the wizard had spread out in all directions.
The next moment, Enoch swung his sword. The blade, emitting a dark blue light, cut through the air, making a sharp sound.
Peeing!
And in the next moment, the line of mana that had crossed my eyes was cut off with a sharp sound.
The wizard tried to step back in confusion, but Enoch swung his sword repeatedly.
Chaaang!
When he finally cut off all the lines of mana that were spread out before his eyes.
The magic circle of the wizard that had been emitting light shattered into dazzling particles of mana and scattered into pieces.
? Magic blocking success!
Ah. That’s what it felt like.
Enoch smiled faintly, between the crystals of light that swept past his cheeks.
What the last swordsman of the empire showed in the inner world can now be reproduced.
? Synchronization of some of Enoch Elseid’s memories through mana
? Understanding of the basic sword skills acquired in the past
The shadow, whose magic had been blocked, staggered back a few steps, distorted, and then disappeared without a trace.
After that, as if it had been waiting, a message emerged from my inner world.
? Succession completed
? “The Meaning of Swordsmanship” (Basics)
Understanding mana means understanding yourself. The movements that are completed by putting it to use on a sword are called swordsmanship.
The black sword that he had forged was so sharp that it could even cut through his own doubts.
? Effect: Understands mana and projects it onto the sword.
“… Ugh.”
But that’s it.
Enoch’s body suddenly lost all its strength. His past memories, which had been hazy, also disappeared.
The dark blue mana light that had been on the sword soon disappeared.
Enoch managed to steady his wobbly legs.
‘I never thought that projecting mana onto a sword for a short while would be this tiring.’
It wasn’t hard to guess why.
‘It’s probably because I still don’t understand enough about mana.’
He is not Enoch. There is no way he could have wielded a sword so skillfully as the original. Let alone the unfamiliar element called mana.
But that’s okay.
This was just the beginning.
‘You can learn how to handle mana and the sword slowly.’
What will happen in this world in the future?
Where to get what.
And no one knows better than you how to deal with them.
‘By the way, I heard earlier that there were many swordsmen in the empire.’
Shh.
A faint smile of a veteran who had found a way to raise his character’s specs appeared on Enoch’s lips.
‘Then I guess I’ll have to go and look for the relics left behind by the various swordsmen?’
Places where he could upgrade his specs were popping up in his head one after another.
It’s not that I’ve become stagnant due to the form.
There were quite a few places that I could roughly guess.
‘Just wait.’
When I raised my head after making plans for the future like that.
In my inner world, which was beginning to fade, pale letters were emerging.
? Conditions for absorbing experience in the next stage: …