Chapter 10

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 10

The reason Pedrock had shed so many tears.

It was because Allen had spent years buying and consuming elixirs from all sorts of places in an attempt to cure the Curse of Mana Deprivation.

Among them were several that were difficult to obtain even with money.

Who could have imagined that the energy from those elixirs, which should have been digested and disappeared long ago, was still lingering inside his body?

There was only one possible explanation.

Once again, it was because of the Curse of Mana Deprivation.

Just as his body had been unable to accumulate mana, the mana that entered it had also been unable to escape.

Thump—

Allen felt his heart pounding.

‘How much mana could I gain if I absorbed all of this?’

Although his mana stat had definitely increased by one, the enormous mass of mana remained unchanged.

Ten? Twenty?

Whatever the case, he was certain he could gain at least several dozen points of mana.

‘And here I was, happy just to be able to swing a sword.’

For the time being, he needed to focus on making this enormous mass of mana his own.

‘I can do it.’

A broad smile spread across Allen's face as excitement surged through him.

Allen closed his eyes and began cultivating again. Little by little, as though melting ice, he repeated the process of absorbing the condensed mana and making it his own.

[Mana has increased by 1.]

[Mana has increased by 1.]

[Mana has...]

[...]

__________________

For four days, Allen practically lived on the training grounds. He spent that time making the mana within his body his own.

He even reduced the amount of time he spent sleeping, yet he didn't feel tired in the slightest.

If anything, he felt as though he could fly.

[Mana: 17]

His mana had increased by a total of fifteen points.

And it wasn't just the numbers that had risen. As his mana increased, Allen felt a sense of freshness and fullness he had never experienced before.

Enhancing his physical abilities with mana had also become much easier. Needless to say, the effects were remarkable.

And there was still a considerable amount of the condensed mana remaining.

‘I could just kiss him.’

Who?

My past self.

Thanks to the system and the elixirs he had consumed in the past, the speed at which he accumulated mana had increased dramatically. Without the slightest exaggeration, the Allen of today was a completely different person from the one four days ago.

On the final day, Allen woke after a good night's sleep, collected his prepared luggage, and left the annex.

Before leaving the main castle, Allen went to see someone.

“Have you eaten?”

Axion, who had been reviewing documents in the Family Head's Hall, looked puzzled at Allen's visit.

“Eaten?”

“Yes. It's already past mealtime, isn't it?”

“I ate something. But did you come all this way just to ask me that?”

Axion let out a quiet, incredulous chuckle. Allen had asked whether he had eaten the last time they met, and now he seemed to have come just to ask the same question again.

“No. I'm going away for a little while, so I came to let you know. I'll be back before too long, so please don't worry.”

“Worry? What nonsense. But why are you telling me this?”

“Because you're my father.”

Axion's eyebrows twitched at Allen's answer.

Before he could say anything, Allen quickly added,

“This isn't an official audience, after all.”

He remembered being scolded for failing to address his father properly in an official setting.

At present, only Axion and Allen were in the Family Head's Hall.

“Fine. How you address me doesn't matter. But where are you going?”

“Somewhere a little far from the family estate. Think of it as a training journey.”

At the mention of training, Axion examined Allen's aura.

“You've changed quite a bit in the past few days.”

“You can tell?”

“It's not as though you were trying to hide it.”

“How could I keep secrets from you, Father, even if I could hide them from others?”

With an interested expression, Axion rose from his seat. He descended the steps and walked toward Allen.

As the distance between them narrowed, Allen's eyes trembled.

During their previous meeting, they had barely exchanged any words, and his father had remained quite far away.

It was then.

Whoosh!

Axion's sword came flying toward him at tremendous speed. Sensing a threat to his life, Allen moved reflexively.

It was so fast that avoiding it without using mana would have been difficult.

If Axion had truly intended to harm him, he could have killed him with a single stroke. Yet it didn't feel as though his father intended to go easy on him either.

There were several moments when Allen was genuinely in danger. But each time, he experienced a strange sensation, as though something were helping him.

It was mana.

‘So this is what it feels like.’

Even while dodging his father's sword, Allen felt a sense of joy.

He could dodge what should have been impossible to avoid and see what should have been impossible to perceive. The mysteries of mana were truly like magic.

After evading several consecutive sword strikes, Allen took a large step backward. He had successfully escaped Axion's offensive.

But after retreating that step, Allen suddenly realized something astonishing.

‘He doesn't have a sword?’

He had clearly felt as though there was a sword, yet Axion was empty-handed. He wasn't even wearing a sword at his waist.

“Not bad.”

“Did you suddenly attack me to test my abilities?”

“Attack? You call something like that an attack?”

Axion snorted. It was shameless of him to say so, but Allen couldn't argue.

After all, if his father had truly attacked him in earnest, his body would already have been sliced into dozens of pieces.

“Your progress has been remarkable. Are the elixirs you consumed while afflicted with the Curse of Mana Deprivation finally taking effect? Such a transformation in only a few days.”

Even without a detailed explanation, Axion seemed to have immediately recognized the source of Allen's progress.

In any case, hearing even a simple “Not bad” was practically the highest praise imaginable. Allen had never received anything resembling a compliment from Axion in his entire life.

Quickly forgetting his surprise, Allen's mood brightened, and he spoke playfully.

“I'm starting to look a little more suited to being the young family head, aren't I?”

“It's too early to be arrogant. Your progress is the result of a fortunate encounter. Don't mistake it for your own ability.”

“Is that so?”

He had been so nervous before coming, but being alone with his father was neither as frightening nor as awkward as he had expected. His fear of his father had been a misunderstanding created by his past self.

The greatest swordsman on the continent. The head of the Vishken family.

Those grand and imposing titles had made his father seem so unapproachable.

“Have you finally come to your senses?”

To his father at this point in time, Allen had only ever been a son who was frustrated and consumed by despair over his curse.

It was an entirely understandable question.

“Yes. I won't cause you any more trouble, Father.”

“Your arrogance knows no bounds. Now you're even concerning yourself with my troubles?”

“Do I really seem that arrogant?”

“You seem quite excited that your curse has been lifted.”

“Of course I'm excited. I've finally solved a problem that plagued me my whole life.”

“Your whole life? You're still a green youngster.”

Allen smiled awkwardly at his father's sharp remark.

His father would probably never know what kind of life Allen had lived or that he had traveled back several decades to return here.

If he knew, Allen thought that even his father, who was so sparing with praise, might at least tell him, “You've been through a lot.”

“Let's take a walk.”

“Pardon?”

“I've been sitting for so long that I'm getting restless.”

Allen was startled by Axion's words.

A walk? Just the two of them?

Apparently, Axion hadn't been asking for permission, because he was already walking out of the Family Head's Hall.

Allen hurried after him. When the two emerged from the hall together, Iorga and the other swordsmen were astonished.

“Family Head!”

“There's no need to follow us. We're just going for a short walk.”

At Axion's command, Iorga hesitated before bowing his head. His gaze briefly shifted toward Allen.

The family head was going for a walk with the second young master?

No, this was closer to seeing him off. After all, the second young master had said he had come to see the family head briefly before leaving the main castle.

“I must be lucky today. Even Father is seeing me off.”

Unlike the beaming Allen, however, Axion had not suggested the walk without a reason.

“The matter with the Lord of Steel Castle is not over yet.”

Axion brought up the Lord of Steel Castle.

He knew everything: that the man had interfered with Allen's mission and that Allen had punished his disciple for it.

“He isn't the sort of man to let things end here. He cares for my eldest son far more than you realize.”

“Is that why you suggested we take a walk?”

“Did you think I did it because I find you adorable?”

His father had not suggested a walk simply to spend time with his son.

This farewell was a form of protection.

A warning that he was paying attention to his son and that others should not dare interfere with him carelessly.

Realizing there was a purpose behind their time together, Allen felt both disappointment and gratitude.

‘Well, of course. It's not as though he came to see me off because he wanted to spend even one more minute with me.’

For now, this was the extent of the relationship between Allen and his father.

Allen tried to focus more on his gratitude than his disappointment. If his father truly hadn't cared about him, he wouldn't have bothered seeing him off at all.

When they reached the front of the main castle, Allen asked,

“Shall I bring you back a souvenir?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get going. If it looks like you'll be delayed, contact us through the family's intelligence network in that region.”

“I'm not a child anymore.”

“You're still a novice.”

With a mocking laugh, Axion took a platinum coin from his robes and held it out.

A platinum coin was worth a full hundred gold coins. Allen's travel funds had already been rather tight, so this was a welcome surprise.

“Is this pocket money?”

“Who was it that just said he wasn't a child?”

“Then what is it?”

“It's a mission.”

Allen was startled.

He had heard that he would be assigned another mission soon, but he hadn't expected one to come so quickly.

Axion explained the details of the mission.

“There is a group called the Iron Shackles Society in the northern part of the Owen Kingdom. They're scum who use debts as an excuse to enslave ordinary citizens, violate women and children, and sell them beyond the kingdom's borders.”

“They sound like terrible people. Do you want me to capture them?”

“Simply capturing them won't be enough.”

Axion spoke firmly.

“Your mission is to eliminate the leader of the Iron Shackles Society.”

Eliminate.

It meant taking his life without fail.

“I heard you let all those bandits live.”

Apparently, Axion had assigned this kind of mission after reading Lucas's report.

Both his brother and his father seemed to think he was far too softhearted.

His father had these two sides to him.

The father who left the Family Head's Hall to see his son off and protect him, and the lion who threw that same son into a dangerous abyss.

It was then.

Ding!

[A mission has been registered.]

[Category: Mission]

[You have received an errand from the family head. Eliminate the leader of the Iron Shackles Society.]

[Time Limit: ∞]

[Reward: All Stats +2]

A message appeared suddenly.

Allen didn't even need to read it carefully. Its contents entered his mind immediately.

‘A mission?’

Apparently, the system would grant a reward if he completed his father's errand.

Two points to every stat.

It was by no means a small reward. Considering how hard he had trained over the past few days just to gain a single stat point, this was practically equivalent to obtaining a precious elixir.

More importantly, since it was a mission from his father, it was something he would have to do anyway.

“It's a family mission, after all. Of course I'll do it. You can count on me.”

“If you need anything, visit one of the family's branch offices.”

“Understood. Then I'll be off.”

Allen bowed his head in farewell and left the main castle.

‘You've misunderstood me, Father.’

The elimination of the Iron Shackles Society's leader.

As Allen thought about that mission, a fierce gleam appeared in his eyes.

‘I've killed more than my share of monsters wearing human faces.’