Count Royden Romani held his arms behind him and looked at the result of the fight that had just taken place. His office's window was quite the spot for peeking into fights. His wife was beside him, having watched the same scene.
"He's changed so much…" the woman, his wife, Rithea Romani said.
"Enlightenment indeed changes people," he said. "To think my useless son changed this much in such a short time."
"What was that swordsmanship though? It didn't look similar to the family's," she said.
"Of course, he never learned it. The technique he used seemed imperfect, he couldn't really pull it off. He must have seen someone use it in the past and tried to copy it but ultimately failed. There's nothing to worry about; untrained swordsmanship works like that. Although it'd be unwise to do that in a real battle since he can't even use it properly." Royden Romani said. "Thankfully, he doesn't have to do any real fights anytime soon."
"Yeah," Rithea sighed. "Our territory's not as dangerous as some other ones, thank the Goddess. Also, at this rate, you think he'll be able to attend the Academy?"
"Honestly… I can't say," Royden said. "After enlightenment, people experience a short burst of growth and then slow down. It depends on how long this 'short burst' will last for Iskandaar."
"...." Rithea, the boy's mother, looked at his receding back with worry. She really hoped he would get to attend the Academy. It'd be a pity if he never got to experience that part of his life.
Not that she minded if he stayed in the villa all his life, either. This was a safe place, he could stay here as much as he wanted… But every mother wanted her boy to fly high from the nest.
****
My eyes parted slowly.
It was nighttime, moonlight filtered through the windows, but it wasn't the only thing that came through the windows.
A shadowy figure entered my room and searched the tables and drawers. I wouldn't have seen them on my first try if not for the level hovering above them.
[Level 20]
It was a [Thief]. With brackets.
And he had weapons at his side.
I really thought that this villa was safe, but a mere level 20 thief had somehow got past the guards and entered my room. If it was an assassin instead, I'd have been dead already.
I stayed still in my spot, eyes barely open. I kept myself aware of where the thief moved, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
When he moved to the right side of the bed, his back entirely turned towards me, I leaped from the bed, grabbed the sword hung in the wall, and rushed toward him.
"...!" The thief turned towards me, eyes wide, and blocked my sword with his dagger. He barely managed to succeed, jumping backward while curing under his breath.
"Drop your stuff and run," I taunted him. I would never let him flee, of course, but it'd be easy if he showed me his back.
Unfortunately, he seemed too experienced for that. He grumbled and held two daggers with both his hands. "Should have stayed in your bed, young master," he spoke, voice sickly, "at least that way, you wouldn't have ended up dead." Then he blurred towards me.
His speed surprised me. He was using a Skill. Unlike the spar earlier, where we played with our wooden swords, this was a real battle. The enemy was going to use skills, and his goal was my throat.
He was far stronger than Tyrone, too. His level was in the 20s, meaning he was already in his second Ascension. I really hope he was a [Thief] as I assumed because it'd be troublesome if his Class was actually [Assassin] instead.
I barely managed to block it. No, I failed. His sword missed its initial target, my throat, but it still gashed against my shoulder. Blood splashed outwards while I let out a groan.
I didn't bother to suppress the groan, it was in my support if someone heard and came to help. I didn't bother to yell, however, the second I'll need to take a big breath might just be enough for this bastard to take my life.
"Please die, you foolish noble!" The thief-turned-assassin swiped his daggers at me, and I blocked his advances with my sword. Minor wounds spread across my flesh, but I managed. However, I wasn't sure for how long. The only thing between his daggers and me was the sword. The moment I dropped it I'd die.
I had to find an opening to perform a technique. It's a fool's errand to try to win against him by dragging the battle. Unfortunately, he was a bit too fast compared to me.
– Shingg! Shangg!
Waiting for a perfect opportunity seemed like a dream as my wounds kept piling up. At this rate, I wouldn't even be able to swing my blade properly even if I got an opening.
I had to perform it right now, no matter what.
I sloppily withdrew my sword and swung it towards him like an amateur, urging him to attack me.
"Such a big opening," the thief shouted and rushed at me.
Then, I tapped into my real skills.
The blade of my sword lit up, it grew heavy yet faster.
[True Demon Sword Art, First Form— Absolute Cataclysm of the Demonic Butterfly]
My sword exploded with my Qi as I waved it forward. The thief's eyes widened, and he crossed his arms to defend, but it was too late—he was already caught in my technique. It exploded right in his face, like ten thousand sharp butterfly wings flapping at once.
He shouted as blood splattered out of his many wounds. His weapons fell to the ground, and he yelled in pain. I didn't waste the chance, my sword flashed across his neck, and his head rolled on the ground.
[You've defeated an enemy far above your level. You've earned experience points.]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[Ding! You have used a tremendous amount of Qi to perform a technique. Your bones have weakened greatly! However, due to leveling up, the weakness has vanished! Your bones have grown stronger!]
[The Weak Bone Syndrome has vanished.]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've reached Level 12!]
[The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree's proficiency has crossed 6%, rising to 6.67%. You've been enlightened about one technique.]
[....!]
There were some other prompt boxes, but I couldn't view them right now. I postponed them for later.
Aura exploded out of me as I went through another ascension. The ascension of creating a core could be considered the zeroth ascension, while this was the first ascension. I had really leveled up six times in one go.
My chronic illness was cured too. This was a gift in the disguise of a threat.
"Haah."
Although killing a man wasn't the most pleasant thing, he had tried to take my life, I felt no regret. At least so far. The adrenaline in my body was still rushing. I doubted I'd regret it later either; this was not an innocent fight from the ring. He was genuinely after my life. Rather, I grew pleased with the Experience Points I got.
Just seconds later, the door burst open, "Young master, what's going on here?!"
Lights lit up around the room as butlers, maids, and guards rushed inside. Gasps filled the room until my parents walked in.
I panted hard, looking at them. This body's mother leaped at me, hugging me tightly, while the Count looked at the dead body in shock.
"This…" the Count was stunned. "You used Aura?"
Was Aura and Qi the same, or just close enough? Whatever the case, my technique indeed let out an explosion of Qi, so he's not wrong. I nodded.
"Incredible," he crossed his arms and put a fist to his face, acting like he didn't feel anything observing, but I could see his grin. His joy of seeing his once useless son use Aura was greater than the fear of an assassin coming into his home.
I couldn't really blame him. Qi felt… delicious to use.