Chapter 3 - Training
If mana is flowing water, then Aura is like a blazing fire.
In other words, the more mana one has, the more difficult it becomes to use Aura.
But I, in my time as a Sword Master, possessed more mana than anyone.
Thanks to that, most of the Aura I used was extinguished upon colliding with my mana, and I was only able to actually wield about a tenth of it.
Just one-tenth.
And with that, I became the number one swordsman.
A future where I could use my Aura to its fullest was something even I couldn't dare to imagine.
"To think that would become a reality."
After my father left the room, I remained alone and inspected my body several times over.
But even after searching every single blood vessel, I couldn't find a single drop of mana.
This body was as if it had received the blessing of the Sword God himself.
"Hmm…"
However, it was too early to rejoice.
Even if I had obtained a body optimized for the sword, this world was not ready to accept it.
"I can train by myself without any issue, but the important thing is that I can't engage in actual combat."
My swinging a sword and training my Aura wasn't for sport or a hobby.
It wasn't to simply show my effort, but to become strong as a result.
To become strong and protect my people, my things.
But how would it look to the people living in a world where swordsmanship has disappeared?
To them, swordsmanship is an unknown they have never seen, and Aura is an abnormal power they have never felt.
Since humans are creatures that inherently fear and ostracize what they do not know.
Swordsmanship would most likely not be welcomed.
"It would be a relief if it just wasn't welcomed."
The important thing was that the disappearance of swordsmanship was intentional.
Moreover, the very persons who planned it were brazenly alive and even held great power.
"They will try to find me and kill me."
That would be the only outcome after using swordsmanship.
"…For now."
Therefore, there is only one thing for me to do right now.
"Shall I start with some exercise?"
To become strong.
Secretly, so that it doesn't reach the ears of Aslan, Mel, and Sacnil.
And overwhelmingly, so that I can face all three of them at once.
"This body has no muscle, absolutely none."
The beginning of that is to build up the body.
***
"Hoo… haah…"
A week has already passed since I reincarnated as Lael.
During that time, all I did was eat, exercise, sleep, eat, exercise, sleep, and that was it.
Swordsmanship training or whatever, I first had to build enough muscle to even hold a sword.
"Hwaaah… I'm gonna die!"
And so, I had just finished today's workout.
All that was left to do was a short rest, then a meal, and then sleep. …What should I say, for something happening right after the incredible event of reincarnation, it was a rather boring week.
"I'm tired."
After finishing dinner and returning to my room, I sat on the floor in a formal posture for a moment.
As I closed my eyes, a strong wave of drowsiness washed over me, but I fought it off and focused my mind.
'Is it because I'm still young? The muscle growth is quite significant.'
I always ended my day like this, inspecting my body.
Because for a swordsman, nothing is more important than a healthy body.
I check for any abnormalities or excessive strain to prevent injuries and protect my body.
'If I keep this up, it won't be long before I can make my Aura bloom.'
Usually, there was no problem in making Aura bloom as long as one had the muscle mass of an average adult male, but that wasn't the case for me right now.
I had just passed my 15th birthday, and I had less muscle than my peers.
If I rashly tried to create Aura in this body, my life could be in danger.
'Right, let's not be too hasty.'
There's plenty of time anyway.
As long as those Archmage bastards don't know of my existence, they won't make the first move.
I plan to build my strength steadily, within a range that doesn't overexert me.
'At least a year, I will focus only on training my body during that time.'
After organizing my thoughts, I opened my eyes again.
I rushed straight to my bed and fell asleep as if I had fainted. The next day, and the day after that, I dedicated myself solely to building up my body.
"Honey."
Elia Peron.
The lady of the Peron household, and Lael's mother.
She called out to her husband, who was rising from the dining table.
"What is it?"
Lian sat back down and met her eyes.
He observed Elia's expression and asked carefully.
"Is something worrying you?"
"It's about Lael."
"..."
"..."
As the name Lael came from her mouth, Lian immediately understood why she had called him over.
It was about a month ago that Lael, their son, had begun to change.
"Could he have injured his head?"
It was the mother, Elia, who first broke the silence.
In truth, the two had noticed Lael's change from the very first day.
Even though Lael was still young, they had spent 15 years with him already.
As parents, it would have been stranger not to notice their son's change.
"…I don't think that's it."
"Then what is it? Hah… even if he hasn't changed for the worse, we can't just keep pretending not to know like this."
Elia was so frustrated with this situation.
As she said, it wasn't that Lael had changed in a bad way.
No, if anything, it was a change for the better.
The child who barely moved and never smiled was now exercising every day and laughed a lot more.
But what was important to the two of them now was the fact that Lael had changed, whether for better or worse.
As if he had become a different person.
Recently, she had often felt that her son was a stranger.
"If only magic worked on him, then we could have at least tried something…"
"Honey!"
At Elia's sigh-filled mumble, Lian loudly chided her.
Elia then covered her face with both hands and spoke as if about to cry.
"But, as parents… the fact that we can't do anything for our only son, it's just too… hic… I just… I just want our son…"
"..."
"Sob… I'm sorry, honey… even though we promised not to have such regrets… I didn't mean to."
Lian quietly got up and wrapped his arms around his wife as she swallowed her tears.
After some time had passed and Lian confirmed that Elia had calmed down, he sat down again.
He forced a smile and said to Elia.
"Let's not think only of the worst-case scenario. The fact that magic doesn't work on Lael also means that this current change isn't a magical phenomenon."
In fact, if one were to pick the worst reason for a person to change suddenly, it would definitely be the effect of curse-type magic.
That's because it's fundamentally accompanied by strong malice, and even if cured, there's a high probability of aftereffects remaining.
But magic doesn't work on Lael.
Not only does healing magic not work, but conversely, curse magic doesn't work either.
Magic that involves physical phenomena affects him, but he is practically invincible to magic that involves mental or spiritual phenomena.
"That's true. …I'm sorry, I must have been emotional and wasn't thinking straight."
At Elia's apology, Lian shook his head.
Even though he said this, he was still a parent, and his son's change made him just as anxious.
"Still, we don't know for sure, so let's do our best within what we can do."
"Okay."
"It's probably nothing. In fact, compared to his pessimistic past, it's true that he's better now."
"I think so too."
Only then did Elia also show a small smile. She soon got up, lightly dabbing at the corners of her eyes as she spoke.
"Oh, my brother will be here soon, I should get ready."
"You go on ahead. I'll stop by the study for a moment and follow you shortly."
"Don't be late, okay?"
"Of course."
"Oh, what do I do… my eyes are going to be swollen…"
Elia, who had already created an ice pack with magic, dabbed at her eyes with it and quickly went out the door.
At that sight, Lian let out a chuckle.
"…She wasn't always such a delicate person."
He briefly recalled his wife's past, then hardened his expression and headed for the study.
The real reason he was heading to the study was because of Lael.
To be precise, there was something he was looking for.
To find out whether a certain hypothesis about the reason for Lael's change was true or not.
Lian entered the study, muttering in a very small voice.
"Surely… it's not reincarnation, is it?"
***
A month has already passed since I reincarnated.
oday, as always, I was resting after finishing my workout.
Knock knock—
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Soon after, my mother's voice came from beyond the door.
"Lael, may I come in?"
"Yes, come in."
My mother carefully opened the door and came in.
'What is it?'
The current time is 4 PM.
This was the first time my mother had come to my room at this hour.
"What's the matter?"
When I asked, my mother smiled brightly and opened her mouth.
"Elbat will be here at 5 o'clock."
"Elbat, you mean…"
It's a name I've never heard before.
No, that was true until a moment ago, but not anymore.
Because the moment I heard the name, a memory from the past surfaced in my mind.
'Elbat Siruan. So he's my maternal uncle.'
My memory of him wasn't that clear, but at least one thing came to mind for sure.
Elbat was one of the few people who looked at me, a person with no mana, with the same eyes as everyone else.
'Maybe that's why, it seems I quite liked him too.'
As I thought of the name Elbat, I felt a sense of welcome for some reason.
"What's wrong?"
Just then, my mother asked with an anxious look in her eyes.
It seems my expression was too stiff because I was lost in thought.
"I'm just happy. I was just thinking, 'I wonder when Uncle Elbat will visit again~'."
"Were you? You should have said so earlier, I would have called him sooner."
"No, it's fine. Uncle must be busy too."
I seemed to recall him complaining vaguely about being busy with work at the imperial castle.
At that, my mother let out a relieved laugh and turned around.
"Well then, I'll call you when the table is ready, so take your time and get ready."
"Mother."
She was about to step out the door but stopped for a moment at my call.
"Yes?"
I looked into my mother's turning eyes, hesitated for a moment, then held back the words I was about to say.
"…It's nothing. I'll be getting ready."
"Alright. If you have any worries, you can tell me anytime."
"Yes, I will."
After she left the room, I sat quietly on the edge of the bed.
And I recalled my mother's eyes from a moment ago.
Anyone could see that they were clearly tear-stained.
"…Is it because of me?"
During the past month, I recalled various memories from the past, and thanks to that, there was one thing I came to know.
"…I really have changed too much."
The past Lael and the current me were different, far too different.
No, perhaps the fundamental nature is the same.
It's just that because the environments we grew up in were different, there was a difference in the personalities we showed.
"I thought that since I changed for the better, my parents would be happy about it."
It seems it wasn't a problem that could be solved that way.
"Hmm…"
Actually, there was a perfect solution to resolve my parents' anxiety.
To tell them the truth that I had reincarnated.
Of course, saying 'reincarnated' might make it seem like I've become a different person, so it would be better to change my words slightly and say that memories of a past life have returned.
Whatever the case, it would also put my mind at ease, so it's killing two birds with one stone.
The only problem is…
"It would be troublesome if it were to reach someone else's ears."
It's not that I don't trust my parents.
But since so many kinds of magic exist in this world, secrets could be leaked against one's will in any number of ways.
"…Well, let's think about this later."
It wasn't a problem that needed to be solved right away.
For now, I need to focus on the meeting with this uncle named Elbat.
In a way, this is the first time since reincarnating that I'll be meeting an outsider from outside the mansion.
If it goes well, I might be able to obtain new memories or information.
"And above all, he might know something about Ragna."
The sword I cherished most in my past life, Ragna.
There's no way that sword, which was called a divine object, could have been destroyed.
So Ragna was probably hidden somewhere by those Archmage bastards.
Since Elbat works at the imperial castle, isn't it possible he might have a point of contact with the current emperor, Aslan?
"…Or if not, then that's a shame."
Even as I said that, I continued to prepare to meet my uncle, holding onto a small hope.