The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 109

Baron’s Family Second Son – Episode 109

Knights and Wizards.

If their skills are similar, knights are favored in a duel. There are several reasons, but the biggest is that as knights reach higher levels, they gain high resistance to magic, while wizards don’t easily gain resistance to Aura [a type of life energy or magical power].

Besides, high-level magic requires long incantations and gestures, making it difficult to use powerful magic quickly. In a limited duel space, wizards easily give up distance, and most are not used to physical activities. Knights have many advantages, while wizards often face disadvantages.

‘If I lose, I’ll bite my tongue and die.’

But I didn’t think I would lose. That kind of talk only applies when their skills are closely matched.

“If you apologize politely now, I’ll consider giving you Ruin [likely a powerful artifact or weapon] as a gift and call off this duel. I don’t want to be accused of the strong oppressing the weak with force.”

“…That’s why you’re a kid.”

A duel formed on the spot, so few people initially watched. But soon, rumors will spread, and spectators will gather. A battle between transcendents [individuals who have surpassed normal human limits] is a rare sight to see, perhaps only once in a lifetime.

“No need to argue, let’s start right away. The loser will listen to the winner. It’s enough to say that the side that becomes unable to fight or shouts surrender has lost.”

“The sword has no eyes, so be careful. But I’ll try my best to ensure you can get up quickly.”

What, the sword has no eyes? Every word is a gem [sarcastic remark]. I’m amazed how someone who can’t even control their own sword could become a Master [a high-ranking warrior or mage]. But it seems the rumors weren’t false, as the evidence of a Master, different from ordinary Aura, soared from his sword.

“Haha. If you admit defeat now…”

Thwoom-

A bullet shot at him, who was full of confidence. The bullet, not so fast, flew accurately towards the opponent’s sword. A situation where the bullet would be cut by the sword even if he stood still. I don’t know what he was thinking in that situation, but at least he knew what would happen next.

Thud-

The face of him, who was nicely confident, or arrogantly speaking, was about to be crumpled like a piece of paper.

#

Efram Linchester.

He thought of himself as a genius, and he wasn’t wrong. He was definitely a genius. In the first place, he couldn’t have become a knight if he wasn’t a genius, and he was talented enough to be counted among the best, so he was able to stand in this position. The problem was that he knew that fact too well.

‘I am the best.’

There were no setbacks in his path. Like any genius, difficulties that seemed like mountains to others felt like small hills, and everyone around him was busy giving him thumbs up as he began to achieve great results at a young age.

But as the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little. Excessive praise eventually became poison. Excessive flattery went beyond stimulating motivation, and excessive confidence became arrogance, making him arrogant.

If he had mediocre talent, he would never have crossed the wall of Master, but his talent made him overcome the wall even with laziness – of course, the modifier ‘late’ is not suitable for the realm of transcendents – if he had only kept the passion he had when he first learned the sword, he would have truly deserved the title of [Future of the Empire].

The problem was that his arrogance not only did not resolve but became even more serious. Then he heard the news of Ruin’s development. He was also obsessed with Titans [powerful magical constructs or weapons] like other knights, and as soon as he heard the news about Ruin, which was more powerful than ordinary Titans and could be ridden by Masters without problems, he came to Renil.

He thought that he was the most suitable person for such a machine and that he deserved it. That arrogance caught him and led him to this situation, but from his point of view, there was no problem.

His purpose was not to build a friendship with Renil but to obtain Ruin. In the process, the condition of winning the duel with Renil was attached, but he believed that there would be no problem with that either. He had heard so much about Renil that his ears were calloused, but in the end, they were of similar level, and traditionally, swords were advantageous in one-on-one battles between swords and magic.

‘A kid? I’ll show you who’s the kid.’

Of course, if Renil was seriously injured, he wouldn’t be able to make Ruin, so he had to adjust his strength appropriately, but that thought disappeared like smoke just a few seconds after the duel began.

Thwoom-

A strange stick of unknown origin. And a small metal piece shot from that stick. It was quite fast, but he had enough ability to react. But he didn’t move. He thought it wasn’t very powerful, but the metal fragment was flying towards the sword on its own without him having to move. He had no doubt that it would be neatly cut in half.

Clang-

Not a sharp sound like ‘slice’ but a sound close to a roar was heard, and the impact was transmitted to his hand through the sword. He almost dropped the sword from his hand due to the unexpected impact, but thanks to the pride of a knight who cherished the sword like his own life, he was able to prevent such an unfortunate event from happening.

However, the shock to his mentality was as great as the shock to his wrist. Enough to blank out for a moment even though the duel had started and attacks had been exchanged.

‘Clang?’

A sound that he couldn’t hear, that he thought he couldn’t hear anymore. It was a sound that could only be heard when two sides collided without either being cut, when they were evenly matched.

Aura Blade [a blade made of pure Aura].

A higher concept of Aura and the exclusive property of Masters.

Wasn’t the biggest reason why those of lower levels couldn’t stand against Masters, no matter how many there were, because there was nothing they couldn’t cut? Even he was fascinated by its power, but he couldn’t cut a metal lump the size of a finger?

‘That can’t be.’

It happened because he was careless and didn’t use his full power. An accident happened because he didn’t try to cut with all his might, because he thought it was enough to just deflect it.

‘I’ll cut it with all my might!’

He readjusted the slightly loosened grip on his hand and tightened his loose mind. He vowed to show his true skills this time if it flew again.

#

‘What are you doing?’

The duel had begun. I made the first move, and he blocked it. It would have been strange if he couldn’t block it since I went in so openly, but it was enough as a signal to start the duel. But what is he doing?

‘Aren’t you coming?’

In a battle between a knight and a wizard, the knight’s top priority is to close the distance. Unlike the strength in close combat, the more the distance increases, the less the knight can do.

There is also a way to fly Aura in the form of a slash, but the power, range, and magic consumption are not efficient.

Nevertheless, Count Linchester was holding on to the sword as if it were a rope from the sky and didn’t think of moving like a turtle entering its shell. The Aura in the sword was even more intense than at first… Isn’t that like a scared dog cowering and barking hard?

‘Keep staying like that.’

I remembered the days when I used to spar with my father-in-law almost every day to improve my skills. Blood-draining times, thanks to which I didn’t get pushed back in close combat even when facing ordinary knights, but it was true that I could exert my full strength when I kept a proper distance.

Thud- Thud- Thud-

The first bullet that signaled the start was a bullet that I had made with quite a bit of thought.

Special Mass Bullet.

I didn’t think about other purposes. Extreme physical force. It was a bullet that sacrificed everything for the physical force that wizards inevitably lacked. Speed, range, portability, and cost-effectiveness. But as much as I gave up those things, the return was great. I was able to properly capture the physical force I had aimed for.

Thanks to that, the bullets I’m currently firing are not much different from the general bullets I’ve been using so far. It was a bullet to land the final blow, so it was a waste to use it for checking. Nevertheless, the power shown by the storm of various elements in the barrage of bullets pouring down like rain was enormous. It seemed like a violent storm was raging, ready to tear apart even the slightest gap.

However, Count Linchester also endured the pouring bullets with a sword barrier and the storm of elements by surrounding his body with magic, as if he hadn’t obtained the realm of Master by playing Ddakji [a Korean children’s game]. I fully expected him to endure this much.

Thanks to this, I was able to leisurely avoid the slash fired from the smoke that rose as the storm subsided, and of course, I was able to cope with the opponent who approached in the blink of an eye.

‘Easy. Is this the difference in experience?’

No matter how much I raised my physical abilities with all kinds of magic and engravings, it was lacking compared to the body of a Master. Nevertheless, avoiding his sword and finding gaps to counterattack didn’t feel so difficult.

When I sparred with my father-in-law, I was busy avoiding even though he didn’t use his full strength, but the fact was that his movements were readable because I had grown by one or two levels compared to that time.

‘At this rate, it’s really no different from a half-wit.’

He is a Master. The Aura Blade on the sword proved that fact. But is it because he hasn’t been a Master for long? The movement was not much different from the knights of the lower level. At this rate, it seemed that there would be no big difference from them if it weren’t for the art of Aura Blade.

“Ugh!”

After a few moves of focusing on evasion, his face turned red as if it would explode at any moment, whether it was because the fact that he couldn’t even graze a single wizard had hurt his pride. The Aura also grew in size as if expressing his anger, but the speed of the sword only slowed down as he did so.

‘I should finish it soon.’

Thanks to the commotion, more and more spectators are gathering. It’s a situation where they’ll be swept away even if they come a little closer, so there’s no one big enough to come close, but I didn’t know what kind of accident would happen if they kept gathering. It didn’t seem like the crazy bull in front of me would care about that.

Tatting-

I quickly moved back and scattered bullets with the meaning of checking. Not as powerful as the first bullet, but enough for checking. While he was swinging his sword to block the bullets pouring down with fierce momentum, I took out the Special Mass Bullet once again.

#

‘Come.’

Of course, Efram was watching the scene. If he wanted to follow, he could have closed the distance enough even if he suffered some damage, but he deliberately gave way. He thought that the unidentified metal lump that had not appeared since the first collision would appear as a result. As expected, that thought was not wrong.

‘I’ll cut it properly this time.’

Thud-

No doubt. That heavy noise that still remains in my memory. As much as I had been waiting, I swung my sword towards the predicted trajectory. Without doubting that I would cut it in half this time. But this time again, a slightly different sound from his expectations was heard in his ears.

Clang-

Baron’s Family Second Son – Episode 109 – End