Chapter 35 – 1-Star Knight (2)

[Trait: Understanding]

* You will be able to understand swordsmanship better.

An intuitive name, and a simple description.

This was the reward given for reaching level 10 in swordsmanship proficiency.

Right after obtaining that trait.

Henry was able to clearly grasp the value of this reward while exchanging blows with Austin.

‘It’s an absurd ability.’

Although he had received numerous things from the Archmage so far, even Henry could not help but admire this one.

Because an increase in the ‘understanding’ of swordsmanship meant that it would be easier to ‘predict’ the opponent’s attacks.

There were countless types of swordsmanship in the world, and no matter how outstanding a knight was, they could not use a swordsmanship that they had not learned themselves.

Of course, it might be different for a select few who transcended boundaries, but by that point, talking about swordsmanship or whatnot was meaningless.

“Henry, that’s amazing.”

Austin admired briefly.

It was because there was nothing else he could say.

Henry grew every time they clashed swords, and just now, he seemed to have crossed a wall as he even launched a fierce counterattack.

It was to the extent that the relaxed Austin broke out in a cold sweat for a moment.

“I think so too. It was something like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“The sensation that those above me feel. Just like you.”

“In my opinion, well. It’s probably different, though?”

“Different?”

Austin shrugged his shoulders slyly.

“The level is not the problem, the speed at which you go through the process is the problem. What you feel is probably very different from what I felt at that stage, you know?”

“Is that so?”

“It’s in a good sense, and also in a bad sense… not that I’m an instructor. How about we just stop at expressing our impressions for now? It would be too funny for me to vainly try to give advice, wouldn’t it?”

It was true.

Henry nodded in agreement and turned his head.

There stood Rousseau, staring blankly only at Henry with his mouth wide open.

“Instructor…”

“That is not what is important right now, Henry. Wait for a moment. I will be right back.”

“Pardon?”

“Wait! Never leave! I will return soon!”

It was Henry’s first time seeing Rousseau in such a hurry.

Both Henry and Austin stood there in a daze, staring only at the doorway where he had disappeared.

Austin turned toward Henry and spoke.

“He seems to be in a real hurry, doesn’t he?”

“I agree.”

“Then shall we clash swords a bit more? Looking at you makes me feel itchy too. I feel like it will work with just a little more.”

“No, let’s wait until he comes. He said he would be back soon.”

The reason Rousseau left was naturally related to Henry himself.

He did not know exactly what it was, but it was certain that he would bring back something special.

And did about ten minutes pass?

Around the time Henry and Austin’s sweat was starting to cool down, Rousseau returned with an attitude just as urgent as before.

“You were waiting. Well done. Henry?”

“Yes?”

“Take this. These are things that have been waiting to be used by you. I have finally found the reason I kept them in storage for so long!”

“This… Are you saying you are giving this to me?”

Rousseau nodded with a flushed face, and Henry furrowed his brows.

[Lol it’s obviously an elixir]

[Looking at the shape of the root, it looks packed with mana, doesn’t it? Lol]

[Will he?? Receive it?? Indeed??]

The viewers were excitedly sending chats.

Henry thought the same.

These were elixirs.

Items that filled a fairly luxurious box.

From things that looked like plant roots, to mana potions crafted by mages, and even something with a gruesome appearance that resembled a monster’s heart.

No matter how amateurish Henry was, he knew at least the fact that an immense change would occur if he consumed all of this.

“Wow… Instructor, you’ve really gathered a lot, haven’t you? Oh, that potion is something even mages can’t drink because they don’t have it. You must have spent a lot of gold. Actually, at this point, it’s not a matter of gold, but…”

Austin also turned Henry’s guess into a certainty.

He was a member of none other than the Roderick Ducal House.

Just as he had recognized the Osland pure steel at a glance, he also perfectly grasped the value of these elixirs.

“Please accept it, Henry. I beg of you.”

“This is too much.”

“Too much! What do you mean by too much? I am to the point of being sad that I could not gather more. I do not know if you are aware right now, but if you only have these, you can cross over to the next step…”

“May I try eating just one first?”

“…One?”

“Yes.”

Rousseau thought for a moment. Setting down the box he had brought for now, he asked again.

“May I know the reason?”

“Because I am curious. What kind of effect that single elixir would have on me. And also how much time it would take to make up for that amount through training.”

“If that is the reason! I recommend this first. It is probably the most suitable item for you right now.”

“Oh, a Mana Gem! An item created by refining the powder that fell from fairy wings! To think you had such a precious thing!”

Rousseau handed over something like a blue rectangular gem, and Austin chattered away, even more excited himself.

Henry accepted the gem for now.

“Do I just eat it?”

He could not tell just by looking at it, but he could not think of any other way.

Rousseau affirmed.

Pop.

He put it in his mouth.

It had no taste. That was to say, it had no taste at all.

Just the feeling of putting something hard in his mouth.

The next moment.

Henry felt the Mana Gem begin to disperse like a gas. Then, something slowly permeated into Henry’s body.

It was mana.

A very highly concentrated mana at that.

‘It feels like my whole body is filling up with mana.’

A sensation Henry was feeling for the first time. It was a feeling that could not be tasted by simply circulating a small amount of mana.

However.

Henry pulled himself together.

‘This is no time for this.’

[Henry Camilton: Knight Trainee]

[Comparison Standard: 1-Star Knight]

* Total Amount of Mana: 30%

Henry brought up the information window.

The contents showing how much training was required to reach a 1-Star Knight.

‘It doesn’t seem to have been absorbed yet.’

The amount of mana was still appearing as 30 percent.

It seemed he had to wait a little for the elixir to take effect.

And after a moment.

Amidst the flowing silence, Henry was able to confirm the effect of the Mana Gem with his own two eyes.

* Total Amount of Mana: 47%

A growth of a whopping 17 percent.

‘With just one?’

It was to the extent of being shocking.

He knew it was a precious elixir.

But in the past.

When he could not feel mana, Viscount Camilton had once handed Henry something similar to this.

‘At that time, I couldn’t see any effect.’

That was why he had not expected much. The reason he had hinted at a refusal at first was also because of that.

To Henry, whose expression had turned serious, Rousseau spoke as if he had expected it.

“Your insides will boil. Sit down and settle yourself for now. It is a massive amount of mana, but it is impossible to absorb all of it. What you can absorb will probably be only a part of it. So…”

“Instructor.”

“You are speaking?”

Rousseau’s eyes widened.

So did Austin.

What kind of things were these elixirs?

Once they entered the body, they violently fluctuated and made people suffer.

They were things that could only be properly absorbed by enduring that pain and striving.

Due to the process requiring extreme concentration, wasn’t it normal to break out in a cold sweat from pain, let alone speak!

Yet he spoke?

“I think I have absorbed all of it.”

“You are speaking again? You absorbed all of it?”

“Are you serious? Really? You absorbed all of it?”

To the point that even Austin poured out such questions.

Originally, he seemed to restrain himself a bit because Rousseau was near, but now the atmosphere was such that he could not care about things like that.

“I absorbed it completely. It seems to have increased by about half compared to the amount of mana I originally possessed.”

“It increased by half?”

Rousseau could not even close his open mouth now.

Because it was a phenomenon that did not make sense.

Rousseau was estimating Henry’s amount of mana, even if only roughly.

If that half had increased with just this one Mana Gem?

In the first place, it should be normal for children of prestigious noble families to pour in such elixirs from a young age.

But such cases were rare. Naturally, it was because it was an extremely inefficient action.

“T-That cannot be. No matter if it is you, Henry, that makes no sense. A human who can absorb all of that is absolutely, in this world… in this world…”

Rousseau could see it.

Henry’s mana, which rose sharply as if to prove it.

The blue waves shimmering over his body were clearly in a state that had increased overwhelmingly compared to before.

And as far as Rousseau knew, the mana condensed in the Mana Gem was indeed exactly that much.

“…Wow, this fellow Henry. You were really a genius, huh? Not only is your sense of swordsmanship good, but what should I call this? A physical genius? A genius of mana absorption?”

Austin let out an admiration.

Although he spoke humorously, it was one hundred percent sincere.

Rousseau felt the same way as well.

“Henry.”

“Yes.”

“I must use the authority of the chief instructor for the first time. As of this moment, you do not have to attend any classes. It seems that what you need right now is not the classes conducted at the academy.”

“Thank you. May I also ask the same for Austin?”

“If Austin wishes.”

“Of course I wish to! Thank you! I can finally skip classes officially!”

Austin was also just thinking that the class of Class C was meaningless.

Rousseau nodded in satisfaction and used his second authority on Henry again.

“I also strongly advise you. What you need most right now, Henry, is to increase the absolute amount of your mana. Set up a schedule that focuses on that training more than any other.”

“It seems there is something you want, Instructor.”

“If you request it like that, Henry, it cannot be helped. As the chief instructor, I cannot pass off the training schedule of the trainee in my charge to another instructor.”

Glance.

Rousseau spoke while scanning Henry’s reaction.

“But Henry, as you also know, a training schedule once written and submitted by an instructor must be implemented. Unless it is an extremely rare exception.”

“Then I will make it.”

“…As expected, that would be better, wouldn’t it? Since it is our academy’s principle to guarantee autonomy to trainees above a certain level.”

Originally, he was not someone who spoke this much.

But wasn’t it human nature to become talkative when there was something they wanted?

Henry also knew that feeling, but he had no intention of accepting a forced schedule.

That did not mean he had no intention of giving Rousseau what he wanted, either.

“I will gratefully accept the gifts you gave me. Although I was worried that they might not have any effect on me…”

“Well thought!”

“…Thank you.”

“Let us try eating them one by one calmly first, Henry. I feel a bit sorry for Austin, but I trust he will understand.”

“There are plenty at my house too. You do not need to worry, and I have decided to respect Instructor Rousseau just for letting me out of classes.”

“That is a relief.”

Rousseau nodded solemnly, and the moment he looked at Henry, he smiled again like a child full of excitement.

Rousseau did not even care about the schedule or anything anymore.

Training?

Because a model student who could take care of such things on his own was none other than Henry Camilton.

Rousseau’s own role was sufficient just by preparing those conditions and providing the resources like this.

“It would be good if you could absorb them like the Mana Gem, but just in case, I will tell you the coping methods first. First of all, in the case of this Heart of Ashkandi…”

The treasures and the ways to utilize those treasures poured out.

Rousseau’s know-how was indeed something worth listening to.

But when he shoved the next item into his mouth again.

“…I have absorbed all of it.”

Henry was able to obtain the certainty that it did not apply to him.

Whatever it was, this must have also been the Archmage’s doing.

Did he eat about three or four of them in front of the two astonished people?

The amount of mana in the information window soared endlessly, and filling the requirement was a matter of a single moment.

* Total Amount of Mana: 100%

One hundred percent.

It meant that he had exactly met the standard of a 1-Star Knight.

However.

[You have reached the level limit!]

[The amount of mana will not increase further.]

[To increase the limit, you must achieve ‘1-Star Knight.’]

A restriction was placed.

There was only one condition he had not met for a 1-Star Knight.

It was only filling the remaining talents of the ‘Level 2 Talent Bead’.

BJ Swordmaster