Chapter 701: Mind-Body Connection Realm [2]

"What do you mean you’re not sure I’m going to like it? From the looks of things, I really won’t like it."

I already didn’t like it. Just the look on Noel’s face made me not want to do whatever he was trying to suggest.

"...It’s not that bad."

"It’s that bad?"

Noel’s brows furrowed.

"I said it isn’t..."

"Sure."

Though he tried to make it seem like it wasn’t, I knew my brother all too well. Even after a lot of years had passed, I could see when he was lying.

Still, it wasn’t like I wasn’t willing to hear it.

"Tell me what this method is. I’ll consider it after hearing you."

"It’s not much," Noel answered, trying to keep his tone light while he started to explain. "Normally, the body grows stronger over time as the mana channels gradually adapt to the flow of mana being used, kind of like building muscle. It’s a slow and steady process. That’s why it’s taking so long for you. Your body is just not there yet."

"And...?"

"The key is to get your body to adapt to said mana. Usually, this can only be arranged with time and maturity, but well... There’s another faster and shorter way to—"

"Stop dragging the explanation out. What is it?"

"Overload your body with mana and then use my blood to repair it. Repeat it until your mana channels grow significantly stronger than before. Then, it—"

"Alright, I’ve heard enough."

I cut Noel off before he could finish his words. I pretty much understand what he was trying to imply.

"I refuse."

"But..."

"Yes, I understand that we don’t have much time, but I still won’t do it."

I was well aware of the state that Noel was in. He was in no state to offer up some of his blood to me. Furthermore, he was also planning on killing the Emperor.

Chances were that he was going to fail whatever he was planning on doing if he were to offer up his blood to me.

...And not only that.

’I’m tired of breaking down and subjecting myself to an endless amount of pain in order to grow stronger. I know that I’ll eventually reach tier 7. It might take several more months, but I’d rather take my time than force it.’

At the very least, I wasn’t going to become stronger like this.

Not unless I had no choice.

I had a choice.

"....."

Feeling the gentle rustling of the grass beneath me and the silence that took over, I looked at Noel, who stood on the opposite end, his clothes fluttering alongside the wind as the two of us stared at each other.

He stood like that, his face calm until he lowered his head and smiled.

"You really did change."

He looked somewhat relieved as he looked at me.

Taking a step back, he raised both hands.

"Alright. If this is the path you want to take, I won’t stop you. If you do ever change your mind, I’ll be waiting. I may not have my heart anymore, but there’s still plenty of blood left in me."

"...I’m good."

I didn’t think I’d ever take him up on the offer.

"Never say never."

"Alright, stop it."

Noel smiled again.

At the same time, his head lowered as he seemed to notice something.

"You picked up the sword again?"

"Hm? Sword?"

Looking down at my hip, I glanced at the sword that was resting on the hilt. Oh, right... I had kept it with me because I was so used to having it with me as Lazarus.

"No, not really."

"That’s rather surprising. You were quite strong with the sword. I did try to get you a body that was suitable for the sword, but I failed in that aspect. I even tried to improve his talent, and got him obsessed with the sword, but..."

Noel stopped there.

Especially given how I was looking at him.

"What is it?"

He cocked his head slightly.

"You’re giving me a weird look."

It was as if he didn’t notice anything wrong with his words at all.

’Right, it’s about time that I asked him. I’ve always wondered about this.’

"Regarding Julien... Are you the father?"

"Julien?"

Noel blinked, the gears in his mind slowly turning, until my words clicked, and he burst out laughing.

"Of course not. I had been preparing for quite some time, but I only took over once Aldric passed away. His body wasn’t exactly the strongest."

"...Oh."

I felt a lot more relieved upon hearing his words.

But only for a moment.

"Not that I wouldn’t have done it if I had the choice."

"What...?"

Noel looked at me, his smile seeming extremely thin.

"In my current state, there’s no way I can do anything that you’re imagining. But if I had to do it, I would’ve done it. In fact, I would’ve probably been able to accomplish much more. However, Julien was the most suitable body for emotive magic. His talent was good enough to serve as a good body."

"....Oh."

I swallowed quietly, feeling the current Noel to be completely different from the warm Noel that had been speaking to me just a few moments prior.

"If I had to take a guess, then the reason why Julien’s mother joined—"

"But of course. I made it so that she would go there. Why else would you think someone like her could become a seat?"

Noel retained his smile, and I felt my breath pause.

’Right. I had been wondering that too. How is it possible for Julien’s mother to be this strong, yet her sons aren’t nearly as talented? While it’s true that I’ve become strong, that’s mainly because of the weird system. I used to struggle a lot before that.’

"In that case, is she on our—"

"Oh, no."

Noel cut me off.

"She’s definitely not on our side, but it doesn’t matter. I prefer it to be this way. It’ll make things easier further down the line when she’ll be of use."

"I... see."

There were a lot of things that I wanted to say or ask at the moment. However, staring at the current Noel, I couldn’t find it in me to ask any more.

I knew that Noel had changed.

I knew that I couldn’t expect Noel to be the same innocent child that he used to be.

With everything that he had gone through, this was to be expected.

’Yeah, it’s expected...’

But even though I knew and understood.

I couldn’t help but feel sad.

This was my fault. It was without a doubt my fault.

But when was something not my fault?

Covering my face with both hands, I plopped down against the grass and stared at the distant sky above.

’I’m tired.’

So, so tired.

***

Verdant Empire.

Swoosh! Swoosh—!

A silver streak flashed through the air, too fast for the eye to follow. Moments later, several large chunks of armor clattered to the ground.

Clank! Clank!

Placing his sword back to his hilt, Leon’s gray eyes stared at the dummies on the floor. His brows furrowed slightly at the sight.

’Still not fast enough.’

He needed to be faster.

"Not bad."

A deep voice suddenly echoed, snapping Leon out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see a large, burly figure approaching. The man wore heavy armor emblazoned with a massive lion at the center, his long white hair and thick beard making him look rather valiant.

"Knight Commander."

Leon immediately lowered his head to greet the man.

He was Albert. J. Konnedy, the Knight Commander who served the Emperor, and one of the four Monarchs of the Verdant Empire.

"Looking at what you’ve performed, you seem to be just one step away from reaching the sword assimilation realm. That’s pretty good. In fact, that’s extremely impressive when considering your age."

"...Thank you."

Sword mastery was divided into five tiers: Foundation, Sword Resonance, One Heart One Sword, Sword Assimilation, and Sword Sovereignty.

Unlike with [Mind] and [Elemental] paths, the [Body] path had different means of growth. While the Tiers were the same, what truly separated one [Body] user from another was the degree of mastery in their respective weapon. Be it fist, or anything else.

In Leon’s case, having reached the sixth tier, he was considered extremely powerful.

However, if he were to face someone of the same tier, but had reached the Sword Assimilation, he’d without a doubt lose.

Sword Assimilation was the state where the sword and the wielder were in near-perfect sync. Movements were instinctual, and reaction time was nearly instant.

Leon craved to reach such mastery.

But...

"I’m still far off from reaching the sword assimilation mastery."

"That’s only understandable. I was at least two tiers higher than you before I reached it."

Albert laughed, patting Leon with his large hand. Feeling the power behind the gentle tap, Leon’s face twitched, but he didn’t let it show.

The Knight Commander had helped him quite a lot recently.

He was the main reason why Leon had been able to see massive improvements in his skills. So long as he kept going down this path, Leon was confident in becoming even stronger.

’I’m sure he’s also getting stronger now.’

Thinking about ’him’, Leon couldn’t help but bitterly smile. There was a time when the two of them used to be on the same level. He was just a tiny bit weaker than Julien, but Leon could still keep up with Julien.

But ever since the trip to the Mirror Dimension, Leon realized that Julien had changed a lot.

The gap between the two of them had expanded more than ever.

That was why Leon didn’t decide to stick with Julien even though he could’ve. Everything he had told Julien was just an excuse.

He just... needed some time to himself and improve.

’I’m sure the others are also the same.’

Raising his head and looking up at the Knight Commander, Leon sighed and lowered his head.

"Please teach me again."

"..."

Sensing the silence coming from the Knight Commander, Leon raised his head to see him smiling at him.

Eventually, with a laugh, he answered.

"I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to teach you."

Leon smiled back and raised his sword.

"I’m coming."

"Good, come."

CLANK!

Sparks flew in all directions.

***

End of Volume [5]

Relatively shorter volume.

I wanted to go through the powersystem at the end of the volume since I neglected it quite a bit. Either way, this is the end of the fifth volume, which will lead up to the sixth one, which will be a rather chaotic one.