The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 60

Rustle – Rustle –

Dark room.

Only the quiet sound of turning pages could be heard.

“Amazing. I actually understand the magic formulas that stumped me before.”

Books were densely packed all around.

Every single one was an ancient artifact.

If the wizards of the Magic Council saw this, they would be drooling and rushing to get in here.

[Of course. You’re sharing my knowledge now. But your magical power is still limited.]

Alrn Zabiuss spoke, sitting in his familiar posture on the sofa he used to use in his lifetime.

“Is there really no way around that? You’re a great mage from the Magic Era.”

[This is my first time inhabiting a body like yours. And back then, no one had ever eaten a dragon’s heart. The dragon’s heart is a condensed form of magic power. If you mess with it, your body will explode.]

“Hmm…….”

Unfortunately, even the magicians of the Magic Era didn’t know how to open the magic meridian [pathways for magical energy flow].

‘In the end, is my only choice to meet the Dragon?’

Although he knew there was no other way, what Alrn Zabiuss had said kept replaying in his mind.

‘Nardie Maugg…….’

He would have all the answers.

Meeting him.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t found a way; it was something he would eventually encounter.

Until then.

Kahlil thought he should become stronger in any way he could.

[By the way, that guy Kaie Essir. Is he really human?]

“What do you mean? Are you saying he’s a dragon or something?”

[I can’t be sure, but if he’s really human, then catching a dragon with just magic is by no means an easy feat. It would be difficult even for me.]

“Well, there were rumors that even the Council of Seven you were on weren’t entirely human.”

[Rumors and truth are never the same. You saw his fight.]

At Alrn’s words, Kahlil shrugged lightly.

“Well, I’ve only seen one battle.”

[Was there anything else besides magic?]

“Something else?”

[It could be that he borrowed the power of magical tools, or that it was mixed with elemental magic. Or maybe he received help from someone else you don’t know.]

Alrn Zabiuss was very interested in dragon hunters.

A dragon is an existence at the extreme of magic.

The fact that he hunted such an existence with magic was enough to pique his interest.

“Are you saying that he might have used some other trick that we don’t know about? You really don’t want to admit it, do you?”

[Humph……. Did that guy leave any words or anything?]

At his question, Kahlil suddenly recalled the message Kaie Essir left at Einheri before leaving the mansion.

“Come to think of it, there was one thing.”

[What is it?]

Kahlil showed the bracelet locked on his wrist.

“It’s something he left behind with the dragon’s heart. He knew that if you swallowed the heart, your body wouldn’t be able to withstand it, so he left it as a precaution.”

[This is……. This is something I’ve never seen before either. It’s not an artifact from the Magic Era. It could be an artifact from 250 years ago when he lived.]

Alrn Zabiuss stared at the jewel embedded in the Bracelet of Greed, which was smoothly crafted.

[Maybe it’s the work of dwarves or gnomes. Not just anyone can achieve this level of sophistication.]

“Come to think of it, he said something when he left this behind: that there are two more bastards like him.”

Kahlil recalled.

Things that are not found in history but are stranger than Kaie Essir.

[Maybe they’re not human.]

“Hmm?”

[It’s just a play on words. The fact that he belittled them by calling them ‘things’ may not be just to show friendship. This bracelet alone may be one of the ‘things’ he’s talking about.]

At Alrn’s words, Kahlil felt like he had been hit in the back of the head.

Because he himself was human and Kaie Essir was human, he naturally assumed that the others were also human.

[Of course, it’s just one of many possibilities……. It’s inevitable that you thought that way. It seems that there are hardly any quasi-humans left in this era.]

“Was the Magic Era a thousand years ago different?”

[Of course. From Elvenheim where the elves lived, to Ironbar of the dwarves……. It was a problem because there were troublesome Nephilim [half-angel, half-human beings] and demons, but anyway, it’s very different from now.]

“…….”

Kahlil’s head felt heavy with complicated thoughts.

If.

Like Alrn said, if the two people Kaie Essir referred to were not human, it would be even more difficult to find them.

Moreover, a person who is not even recorded in history.

‘Difficult.’

Kahlil let out a low sigh.

Since when was it?

The wrong past.

After the regression, he felt that the countless plans he had made were gradually going awry.

That is.

It was because he learned about the veiled events in the life he had regained, not just because he had returned to the past.

[Don’t get too serious. After all, they are beings of the past. There’s no need to risk your life for a word left 250 years ago.]

“Is that so…….”

[Now is the time for you to get stronger. That’s why you were trying to get the Ice Talon. Isn’t that right, Sword Saint?]

At Alrn Zabiuss’s words, Kahlil gave a bitter smile.

“Stop trying to tease me. It’s not funny at all.”

[Keu keu keu…….]

At Kahlil’s answer, Alrn appeared as a blurry afterimage like smoke. But it wasn’t as clear as it was at Gray Headmaster.

[You know that you need to become stronger than you are now, just as much as you entrusted Michael to me, right?]

But for now, he was satisfied just to have escaped the prison-like headmaster’s office.

[I know what kind of monsters are in Nardie Maugg’s lair. That’s why you can’t go where he is.]

“I know it well.”

After successfully regressing.

If you were to pick the fastest way to become stronger, it would be to borrow the power of the dragon.

But even knowing that, he couldn’t go.

Nardie Maugg was currently asleep, and no matter how great his swordsmanship was, there was a physical limit.

Ogres, minotaurs, and even golems.

The dragon’s lair was by no means a place that could be breached alone.

“And there’s another reason.”

Alrn shrugged lightly.

[Yes. As you get stronger, I can regain my original power.]

Soul Contract.

Thanks to the contract with Kahlil, he was able to exert some influence in reality.

But the level he could get involved in was at best throwing nearby furniture or shaking a table.

If someone who didn’t know saw it, they would recognize it as a poltergeist phenomenon at best.

The current state of the great mage who shook the world is just a mere ghost.

[In that sense, I will teach you how to use the Ice Talon from now on. A sword suits you better than learning magic.]

Kahlil stared at the blue-bladed sword on the table.

Magic Sword.

Freezing Talon.

Magic Era.

In the days when humans, dwarves, and elves coexisted, there was a very unique group.

Blader.

Those who gathered only to create strong weapons.

The dwarves and elves, who seemed like they could never be together, and the Council of Seven joined forces to create five works.

The chakram [a bladed throwing weapon] with the power of fire sealed within, Flame Punish.

The staff with the power of wind, Infinite Breath.

The magic sword of water, Freezing Talon.

These three were the weapons that Kahlil had seen in his previous life.

‘The other two were lost and could not be found. But as long as Alrn Zabiuss is here, maybe we can find the other two weapons as well.’

After regressing, Kahlil had been thinking about it for a while.

In order to properly express his swordsmanship, he needed a sword that suited him.

And the weapon that fits that is now in his hands.

“I know how to use it.”

Kahlil shook his head at Alrn’s words.

[If you’re talking about the method of that woman with the weak dragon magic power in your memory, forget it. That’s not using the sword; it’s being swayed by the sword.]

“…….”

[You should know too, as someone who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, that woman’s swordsmanship rather ruined the Ice Talon. Well, there was no other choice, so I couldn’t help but know.]

Kahlil was silent.

“If that guy heard your words, he wouldn’t have stayed still. His personality was terrible, but his swordsmanship wasn’t bad.”

Then he thought of one person.

If you go further south from the Istria Three Kingdoms, there was a southern tribe living outside the empire’s sphere of influence, like the northern barbarians.

Unlike the mountainous north, the south was a vast prairie, so most of them were horse-riding tribes.

Among them.

There was a tribe that tamed and rode heteromorphic animals similar to Kargons [large, monstrous beasts].

That is.

Diggon.

Most of the south was made up of minority tribes, but Diggon, led by Miliana, the only human with dragon magic power in her previous life, maintained such a large force that it could be called a kingdom.

[Wasn’t bad? That’s the problem. Even with the strongest weapon, he couldn’t beat a human without magic power. Isn’t that right?]

Kahlil laughed lowly at his words.

[They were just guys with strong pride. They were humans blessed by Tosca, who was called the Golden Dragon. There were rumors that a child born between him and a human woman was the ancestor of Diggon, but it happened hundreds of years ago in the Magic Era, so I don’t know.]

“Was it that long ago? If that’s true, then the dragon’s blood is really potent. It’s being maintained even after all these years.”

[I wouldn’t use the Ice Talon like that.]

“Then?”

[I’d rather create Dragon Tooth Soldiers [warriors created through dark magic]. The will disappears, but that’s much better for adapting to dragon magic power.]

Kahlil closed his mouth at his nonchalant words.

“You’re talking about the curse that injects dragon’s blood into living people. It’s a forbidden secret art within the empire.”

[What good is the empire when the world is destroyed?]

“And it’s also a lost art.”

[The person who lived in the era before it disappeared is right in front of you?]

“…….”

Alrn Zabiuss chuckled as if he was having fun teasing Kahlil.

“I will never use humans as sacrifices.”

[Because of that petty pride, more people died. If you’re going to die anyway, isn’t it better to be helpful?]

“What do you think of humans? There must have been a time when you were human too.”

Kahlil said firmly.

“There’s nothing more foolish than judging good and evil only by the conclusions that have been reached. Even if I know the future, I will never use that kind of technique.”

At his firm stance, Alrn Zabiuss shrugged lightly and said.

[Well, the choice is yours. But tell me if you need it. The Immortals who use curses all follow the magic system we created.]

“…….”

[The past is just the past. In that sense, I’m not trying to take you to a place of memories for the sake of sentimentality.]

Kahlil let out a low sigh.

“I know. Aside from the war, it’s a sacred place where spirits live. But I didn’t know that the Council of Seven would touch spirits in addition to magic.”

[It’s not exactly because of elemental magic.]

“Then?”

[We just studied spirits for the sake of magic. And what I’m going to teach you now is not swordsmanship.]

Alrn changed the subject as if he didn’t want to provoke Kahlil any further.

[Don’t think that you’ve realized everything about the sword just because you’ve wielded it for countless hours. No sage can become a god.]

“Are you saying that my swordsmanship has limitations?”

But rather, those words made Kahlil worried. He denied the sword to him, who had reached the pinnacle with only the sword.

Tuk-

Alrn lightly tapped Kahlil’s shoulder and said with a meaningful face.

[For countless hours, you’ve only wielded the sword ‘without’ magic power.]

“…….”

[It’s not the end just because you put magic power into the sword.]