The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 8

9. Opening the Door

The next day.

After Kwell left, Caryl quietly made his way to the library, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

‘It took quite a while. The only obstacle in the mansion is Father. If I had consumed the Dragon’s Heart while Father was here, he would have noticed my change immediately.’

Even in his current state, Caryl couldn’t deceive him.

That was why he had been waiting for Kwell to leave.

‘Well, I also needed time to prepare my body.’

Creak, creak, creak…….

Finally.

The door opened.

It sounded as if it hadn’t been used in ages.

The musty smell from the neglected books tickled his nose.

But Caryl smiled softly, as if even that smell was pleasant.

He was trembling.

Hadn’t he endured countless eons for this moment?

But enduring the past few days was more excruciating for Caryl than that time.

When he came out of this place again.

‘I will be different.’

* * *

“You crazy bastard.”

“Elliot, you are a nobleman now. Watch your language.”

“……”

At the rebuke from Tyren, the second son, Elliot lowered his head with a sullen expression and said.

“But even you saw it, didn’t you, brother? The way that guy treats Father. And as if that wasn’t enough, he locked himself in the library as soon as Father left for the Imperial Palace……”

Tyren listened to Elliot’s words quietly, his expression cold and almost emotionless.

Although he lacked the talent for martial arts compared to his other brothers, he was the most intelligent and quick-witted among them.

He had been adopted into the McGovern family five years ago.

At the age of twelve, he had already mastered *The Prince* [a famous political treatise], and by thirteen, it was no exaggeration to say that he had mastered all the war tactics and theories that existed on the continent.

A genius of unparalleled talent.

There were even rumors that if he had been ten years older, his family might not have been destroyed.

But all of that was in the past.

There was no point in dwelling on events from his childhood.

“Both of you, stop it.”

Mart calmed the two down.

“Brother, magic from a foreigner? Is that even possible?”

“Tyren, what do you think?”

“Mana is originally the condensation of one’s own body and the energy floating outside it. To gather it, one must have mana vessels [channels for magical energy] inside the body. Everyone in the Empire has them, but……”

At Mart’s question, Tyren continued in a stiff voice.

“As you all know, foreigners don’t have those mana vessels from birth. And that’s not just a matter of learning or not learning magic.”

The understanding of magic.

“If they can’t even feel mana, it’s impossible for them to understand the structure of magic, no matter how many books they read.”

“That’s right.”

Elliot nodded at Tyren’s words.

It was a story everyone knew.

But Mart deliberately reminded his brothers of this once again.

‘Even for Imperials, it is impossible to understand all of magic.’

The five elements of magic.

Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning.

‘They are born with one element.’

Each element has compatibility, which made it impossible to learn magic of other elements.

‘It’s just a childish phase of a foreign child who was defeated by the Empire. He’ll give up soon and come out of the library.’

Everyone thought so.

Even the unparalleled genius.

No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn’t figure it out.

No, this was something that no one on the continent could fathom.

* * *

“Cough, cough.”

When Caryl took out a book from the bookshelf, a cloud of dust billowed up.

Caryl waved his hand and tilted his head back.

“If Kaie Essir saw this, he would be appalled.”

The old library, left unmanaged and neglected, had clearly been abandoned long ago.

‘No. He must have deliberately cast a spell to keep it neglected, so in a way, it’s a great feat.’

Caryl looked around.

『The Light of the World』

『Research on the Essence of Magic』

『On the Sorcery of Foreigners』

“……”

He looked at the books scattered on the floor.

Looking at the books packed tightly on the shelves, though not large in number, Caryl couldn’t help but be amazed.

A chilling feeling.

They were books related to the Divine Revelation [a source of magical knowledge].

All of them were written directly by Kaie Essir.

‘A library with only low-level magic books? Even these books alone give this place tremendous value.’

Of course, it would take several years before he realized that.

‘Right now, it would be dismissed as a nonsensical novel.’

Rustle…….

Caryl picked up a book and turned the pages.

Familiar words appeared.

Thud-

His hand stopped.

A picture filling one side of the book.

A gloomy, giant tower was engraved within it.

“……”

Caryl closed his lips as he looked at the picture.

It was as if he, who lived 250 years ago, knew the future, and had left these books behind.

[Kaie Essir? He’s an amazing human. He’s the only one who has been recognized as great by a dragon.]

-Is that so?

[Do you know what the standard for a great mage is among humans?]

-Of course. If you can condense mana into mana vessels in eight of the twelve special meridians [pathways for mana] flowing throughout your body, you can be called a great mage.

Mana vessels that can store mana in the body.

Meridians that circulate mana.

There are three types of people in the world.

‘Those who can send mana to the mana vessels through more than five meridians.’

They receive the title of mage and are only a small number in the Empire.

‘Those who have few meridians to open and use mana to strengthen their bodies or swordsmanship.’

Naturally, most of them are raised as knights.

Finally, foreigners like himself who have no meridians or mana vessels.

[Kaie Essir opened nine meridians out of the twelve.]

-I see.

[You, who have no mana vessels, may not realize how amazing that is, but there was probably no mage more outstanding than Kaie Essir.]

-Compared to you?

At that moment, Nardie Maugh laughed.

[Comparing a dragon to a human? That’s absurd. No matter how great they are, humans only have one element, after all.]

“Here it is.”

Caryl’s eyes lit up.

He removed the stacked books and found a small wheel under the bookshelf behind them.

It was a device that could never be found unless carefully observed.

Creak, creak, creak…….

The heavy bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a rusty lever hidden behind it. Caryl turned the lever hidden in the gap of the stone wall with all his might.

Clang-

The sound of the lock being released was heard.

Gulp.

Caryl swallowed hard, unknowingly, with a tense face, fearing that the sound might leak out.

At that moment.

For some reason, Nardie Maugh’s last words suddenly flashed through his mind.

[From the beginning, our attributes as dragons are completely different from those of humans. If I had to define it…… Hmm.]

He tilted his head as if contemplating for a moment.

[Colorless.]

Shortly after, Nardie Maugh snapped his fingers and said.

[Yes, that would be good.]

He nodded with satisfaction.