Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 37

The real McLine swordsmanship was gone. What the McLine knights practiced now was weak, just a shadow of the past.

Logan said no for his own reasons. The Sword Master could not know what Logan was really thinking.

“Hmm,” the Sword Master said, looking at Logan. “If that’s really all you want, I won’t argue. Come with me then.”

Logan asked for something simple, just as he thought he would.

The Sword Master stood waiting. “You’re here,” he said. Then he saw Logan behind him. “But who is this?”

“He is my guest,” the Sword Master replied.

“Guest?” One of the knights guarding the gate looked surprised. “Pardon?”

The Sword Master had brought someone to the training grounds! This place was very important to him. And he was calling this young man his “guest.” The knights’ eyes opened wide in surprise.

“What are you staring at?” the Sword Master said, his voice a little louder. “We have things to do. Open the gate!”

“Yes, sir!” The knights jumped. They quickly nodded and started to push the heavy stone gate open.

The heavy stone gate opened with a loud CREAK. Logan stepped into the training grounds. It was all hard, gray rock. The air smelled like metal and dust. He could hear the faint sound of swords clashing in the distance.

Logan’s eyes were first drawn to the display case filled with numerous swords, but his gaze quickly shifted to the bookshelf beside it.

Logan was surprised to see a bookshelf in a training ground, which seemed quite out of place. The Sword Master went straight to the shelf and pulled out a book.

He then tossed it to Logan.

『Sky』. The name was too grand for a lower-level swordsmanship manual, so Logan looked at Felix, puzzled.

“It is indeed a lower-level swordsmanship manual. Practicing only this could easily harm your body. However, it has unique aspects, so it’s worth reading for reference.”

But Logan had no expectations for the swordsmanship manual anyway.

“Then, the certificate…”

“Tsk tsk. Is that really all you need? There’s a limit to how little you can want.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’ll say it again, how about a mid-level swordsmanship manual? There are quite a few decent ones.”

It was strange. The giver was more eager to give than the receiver was to receive.

But Logan’s mind was made up.

“How about you just write the certificate separately? With the understanding that you’re giving it to me without specifying the name of the swordsmanship manual…”

The Sword Master sighed with an incredulous look, but then nodded.

‘Receiving a mid-level swordsmanship manual would truly make it a fair trade. Then, this connection would end there.’

In Logan’s opinion, that was the limit.

No matter how pleased the other party was, it was merely an aphrodisiac and a cure for impotence.

He quickly picked up the certificate placed on top of the swordsmanship manual and bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

As Logan was examining the certificate, pleased, Felix, who was watching him, said in an astonished voice.

“…Are you not even going to take the swordsmanship manual?”

“Ah. I, I’m sorry.”

“I can’t understand what you’re thinking at all.”

Logan smiled awkwardly at the Sword Master’s light sigh, but then an entirely unexpected remark followed.

“No matter how I think about it, this isn’t right.”

“Pardon?”

“Even if you’re satisfied, I’m not. No matter how I think about it, this trade isn’t fair, so I’ll give you something else. Will you accept it?”

‘I just wanted him to keep that indebted feeling…’

But with the Sword Master going this far, it was difficult to refuse any further.

“I’m really fine with just this… Haha, but it wouldn’t be polite to refuse any more.”

If it was a mutually satisfying trade, even without the feeling of being indebted, the connection would continue.

Thinking that, Logan suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.

‘What is he going to give me?’

Considering the Sword Master’s reputation, it wouldn’t be a simple gift.

Logan’s heart pounded as he imagined what it could be.

“I will personally teach you a technique that you can use.”

Felix’s words froze him in place.

‘Teaching?’

And from the kingdom’s strongest Sword Master, no less.

A mid-level swordsmanship from a famous knight order wouldn’t trade for tens of millions of gold, because it was usually a secret belonging to the state.

The teachings of the Sword Master, said to be the kingdom’s strongest Aura user, could be worth even more than that.

‘Of course, it might not be anything special, but if it’s really excessive…’

Logan’s expression became complicated because that could be a problem.

“I can see you’re not greedy,” the Sword Master said with a smile. “You don’t ask for much.”

“Pardon?”

Logan was bewildered by the evaluation he was receiving for the first time in both his past and present lives.

“But this is a gift I’m giving because my heart isn’t at ease. And with this, you can more certainly prove that you have a connection with me, wouldn’t you agree?”

The Sword Master smiled kindly and made an offer that was impossible to refuse.

No matter how great the Divine Sword’s secrets were, there was no reason to forcibly refuse the teachings of the current strongest person in the kingdom, who was going so far as to say this.

Moreover, as the Sword Master said, it was also about forging a connection that transcended the relationship Logan had originally sought through the trade.

‘This is a real jackpot.’

The loss he was willing to endure for the future had returned as several times the profit.

Having made up his mind, Logan immediately prostrated himself on the spot.

“Thank you!”

“Good. Now you’re acting like a young man your age.”

The Sword Master chuckled and stood up abruptly from his seat, approaching Logan.

With each step he took, his aura grew stronger, and by the time he was five steps away, it had transformed into an oppressive force that felt suffocating just to look at.

The Sword Master suddenly moved. With a SHING sound, he pulled out his sword. It was long and silver, shining even in the dim light. As he moved, Logan felt a heavy pressure in the air, like a weight pushing down on him. This was the Sword Master’s aura.

Logan could only stare without saying a word, as a calm voice followed.

“Focus. I won’t be teaching you kindly. Gauging the talent of a promising young man is one of the pleasures of an old man.”

With those words, the Sword Master’s expression, which had been smiling, turned utterly serious.

“Now. Draw your sword.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the aura emanating from the tip of his sword began to bind Logan’s entire body.

‘Ugh!’

He was told to draw his sword, but even that was not easy.

The hand reaching for the scabbard at his waist trembled, unable to shake off the Sword Master’s aura.

‘This is an Aura user…’

In his past life, he had never even imagined facing an Aura user directly.

During his mercenary days, whether they were allies or enemies, he was never close enough to even approach them. And during his time as an independent soldier, the Aura users on his side didn’t have the time to leisurely deal with him, and the Aura users of the Empire were targets to be avoided at all costs.

Logan had only seen Aura Users from far away before. Now, he was face-to-face with one, and it was very different.

“Damn it!”

But the Aura User was much stronger than Logan thought.

As he struggled to move his trembling hands, a question suddenly arose.

“Is this something all Aura Users can do?”

Even if the Aura User wasn’t very strong, could they still trap someone’s body with invisible aura, like magic?

If that were the case, all wars would be decided by battles between Aura Users, meaning normal soldiers wouldn’t matter.

But then Logan realized, “Wait, maybe this isn’t something all Aura Users can do. Maybe *this* is a special skill.”

As his thinking changed, so did his approach.

Oooong.

The Force Core in his heart vibrated, powerfully emitting energy.

The Force, amplified through the two cores, began to enhance only his senses, rather than the overall abilities of his body.

As a result, his heightened senses, temporarily approaching a very focused state, began to analyze the aura binding his body.

Soon, the situation began to become clear.

“Amplify. Focus. Disperse.”

The aura that Geom-Gong naturally spread as he raised his Force was amplified at a specific moment and concentrated to pressure his body.

However, that alone was not enough to immobilize him.

It felt like every time Logan tried to move, the aura pushed back harder, stopping him.

The analysis was done, but how it was possible was still unknown.

However, he was able to find a way to move his body at that moment.

He needed to move just a little bit faster than the aura was trying to stop him.

With this simple act alone, Logan was able to draw his sword.

Clang!

“Indeed… you have talent.”

With Geom-Gong’s words of admiration, suddenly, the aura pressing on Logan vanished. It all rushed to Geom-Gong’s sword instead.

Oooong.

And a red blade began to overlay the sword.

‘Aura Blade?’

Logan saw the Force inside Geom-Gong and the aura outside working together to create a real blade of power.

This image stayed in Logan’s mind.

‘Ah, no. It’s not….’

Just as Logan began to understand.

“Watch closely. This is the Gravity Sword.”

With Geom-Gong’s words, a huge red sword began to come down over Logan’s head.

The red sword looked over 3 meters tall.

The power coming from it made it impossible to even think about blocking it.

“If you use it right, this trick is good against weaker enemies. I’ll show you slowly. Focus!”

The red sword fell slowly, very slowly, over his head.

‘I, I have to avoid it… Ugh!’

He tried to get out of the way of the falling blade, but his body wouldn’t move.

The aura from the red sword went right through his body, messing up his senses.

It felt like the pressure of the aura he had felt before drawing his sword was much stronger.

It was a helpless feeling, as if his body was not following his will at all.

‘That blade is greatly amplifying the aura.’

He only knew how it worked because he had felt it earlier.

But even knowing how it worked, he couldn’t think of a way to deal with it right away.

Oooong.

At that moment, a small vibration inside his body made Logan’s eyes flash open.

Logan’s Force grew stronger and started to block the enemy’s aura that was going through him. His senses started to come back.

It was unexpected for Logan himself.

“Huh?”

Geom-Gong smiled, looking surprised, and in an instant, the red sword began to move faster than ever before.

Logan knew he couldn’t avoid this attack.

‘Kuh!’

At the last moment, Logan’s sword went up, covered in golden light.

Kwaaaang!

With a big explosion, Logan’s body was thrown back.

Thud.

Plop.

Logan crashed into the wall of the training ground and fell to the floor.

He lifted his head and vomited blood, his face twisted in pain.

Cough.

Everyone could see he was badly hurt inside. He struggled to sit up, using his broken sword to help.

But the first words from Logan, who barely opened his mouth, were questions about the sword.

“It’s, it’s not an Aura Blade…?”

Geom-Gong smiled, looking pleased.

“Would I teach you something you can’t even imitate? You saw correctly.”

When he heard that, Logan smiled slightly.

Plop.

With that satisfied look, Logan lost consciousness.

The knights who saw Geom-Gong opening the door to the training ground bowed their heads.

“There’s a fainted fellow inside. Take him to the treatment room with care.”

“…Yes?”

The knights were the Duke’s most trusted men. They were surprised by this order and reacted slowly.

‘He said he was a guest?’

They all wondered the same thing.

But Geom-Gong didn’t answer their questions.

“I’ve helped him for now. Take good care of him, let him get completely better, and then tell me. I need to talk to him again.”

“Yes!”

After hearing the knights’ answer, Geom-Gong smiled, deep in thought.

‘He’s definitely something special.’

He had spoken sternly, but he didn’t really plan to fight seriously.

The sword that cut off his sleeve that day was quite sharp, but he didn’t think Logan could even move when faced with the Gravity Sword.

But Logan was better than he expected, and he started fighting a bit more seriously because he was impressed.

Geom-Gong thought, ‘They say you learn best when you get hurt. Maybe these wounds will make him stronger.’

Even when he thought about his best students, the Esperanza Knights, he knew none of them were as talented as Logan.

Geom-Gong smiled again. ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘this will be very interesting to watch.’

Geom-Gong, Felix Esperanza, began to take a serious interest in Logan.