CHAPTER 111: ONE MONTH

One month had passed while Lucen was in the middle of making his play. He and his Father had stayed in Caelhart for more than they had anticipated.

Since there were only a few monster attacks happening at the moment, Vardon decided to stay until Lucen finished his play.

He could not leave his son alone in the Capital, especially now that his fame had become greater. The many snakes in the Capital would try and take a bite out of Lucen the second Vardon leaves his side.

The nobles of Caelhart had already begun circling. Invitations to feasts, subtle inquiries about his play, veiled offers of patronage, Lucen received them all, yet he could see the hidden fangs behind their smiles.

During this one month, Lucen didn’t just focus on making the play, but he did many other things.

He continued to train the same as before, but unlike before, even with Training Adept, he did not get any notification of any stat increase; still, he continued to hone his body alongside Sir Thalos and his men.

He met with the children of the other Dukes. He visited Evander Judicar one day and talked about the different deities. Of course, Evander had extensive knowledge about Thalara, the Goddess of Justice and Judgment, but he also knew a lot about the other deities worshipped in Norvaegard and even those from different kingdoms.

Lucen’s knowledge had expanded, as there was a lot of information that was not known from his past life knowledge in the game, as well as the books he had in Ironhold.

"How about you, Sir Lucen, do you have a deity that you believe in?" Evander suddenly asked.

"I believe in all of them," Lucen replied flatly.

"Oh, sorry, I think you misunderstood the question. I also believe in all the deities, but I worship and truly follow Goddess Thalara’s teachings. So my question should have been, which among the deities is your main patron?"

"... If that’s the question, then I don’t have one."

Evander was quite surprised by that answer, since this was the first time he had heard someone say he did not have a main patron deity.

"Do you not worship the God of War Varkun as your main patron like most of the North?"

"I guess if there was a deity that I would frequent more than others, it would be him, but truthfully, I believe in them equally. Since they govern different aspects of our lives, worshipping them all equally felt like the best answer."

"I see..."

After that, the two had more conversations about the different deities and their worshippers. Lucen learned that the more famous deities, like the five deities worshipped in Norvaegard, had large main temples.

Some of them even have entire countries worshipping a singular deity. The powerful deities have worshippers who they give power to; those are the holy knights, the saints, and the pope.

Their conversation lasted the entire day, when Lucen went back home, it was already evening.

***

The next person he visited was the daughter of Duchess Seraphina, the enigmatic Mireya Aeromont.

They played Territory War the entire time he was there. In the beginning, it was simply a one-sided match were Lucen would win without much trouble, but as they continued to play, Mireya’s improvement was incredible.

Still, she suffered the same problem as Robert, where her moves were like a computer. Always using the best move she can spot, but that left her easily deceived by feints.

While the two of them were playing, Lucen and she started talking about many things. The breadth of knowledge Mireya had was beyond even Robert Duskwell. She had read so many books at the age of twelve that she was pretty much like a walking encyclopedia.

Despite focusing more on Purple Tower magic like illusions, she, like Robert, also knew quite a few spells from the different schools of magic. Of course, her compatibility with other magic was not as good as illusions, but she was still better than most in using those spells.

While playing, she once again told Lucen to make a new game. Lucen told her that he would think about it.

When Lucen was about to leave, she stopped him and pestered him to play one more game. Lucen agreed and played another game, but she did the same thing when he tried to leave again.

Lucen then decided to lose on purpose in one game, but she did not accept the victory. Lucen even made it look like a normal game, using his usual moves, but made a few mistakes here and there that were supposed to be unnoticeable.

"Why did you let me win? We need to play one more game, and this time you need to do your best."

"Okay, but this is really the last time."

That time, Lucen won in an overwhelming manner, which made Mireya ask for another match. This time, Lucen firmly rejected her and left the Aeromont manor. It took a lot of effort to leave since Mireya actually followed him back home.

Duchess Seraphina later came to the manor to take her child back. Mireya did not want to go back and wanted to play Territory War with Lucen more. She was being so stubborn that Seraphina needed to knock her out unconscious to bring her home.

"Thank you for keeping my daughter company... I know she might seem like quite the handful, but I hope you understand. You are the first person her age who was able to talk to her properly. When she talks to people her age, she needs to hold back her opinions, since she is sure that they wouldn’t be able to understand her."

Seraphina looked at her daughter, whom she had used a spell to make float beside her, and sighed.

"That’s why she likes playing with you. Not only do you beat her, but you’re able to talk to her without her needing to hold back her opinions."

"... I see... Thank you for telling me that, Duchess Seraphina. Please tell Mireya, I will play with her again if I have the time."

"Thank you, Young Thornehart." And with that, Seraphina, alongside her unconscious daughter, went home.

The last of the Duke heirs he visited was Elyra Runescar. The second he arrived at their place, he was greeted by Duke Kaelvar himself.

"You finally came, Lucen! Now it’s time for you to have a sparring match with my daughter."

Lucen was then pushed to the Runescars’ personal arena, which they had made for sparring. Elyra was already there waiting for him, with a blunt sword at hand. Kaelvar then asked Lucen.

"So what kind of sword do you want to use. We have all sizes in the rack over there." Kaelvar pointed at the nearby rack that indeed had every size of sword, and they were all unsharpened.

Seeing that he had no choice but to do this spar, Lucen decided to do it properly. Elyra was a second mantle aura user, and her skill with the sword should be quite formidable. Lucen, who would be unable to rely on gun kata to lessen the gap in skill, needed to once more rely on Acting Adept to help him get past the gap in skill.

As he was looking at the rack, he noticed a familiar blade that most weebs would spot the moment they laid eyes on it.

Seeing that a katana was available, Lucen already had a character in mind to use. He was the character most fans consider to be the best swordsman in anime without any powers. Lucen picked up the katana, making Kaelvar look at him curiously.

"Huh, interesting choice. That’s a sword not commonly found near our kingdom. Are you taking this seriously? I know that sword looks nice and all, but to use a sword that you aren’t used to isn’t good sparring etiquette."

"Don’t worry, Sir, I know about this sword. I chose this one because I’m taking this seriously." Lucen strapped the scabbard to his side as he spoke.

"If you say so," Kaelvar answered while shrugging his shoulders.

After he was done choosing his sword, Lucen stood in front of Elyra, who was wielding a two-handed sword. She did not say a word to him and instead got into a fighting stance. Lucen also used Acting Adept and got into his own fighting stance.

Lucen’s upper body leans slightly forward, shoulders relaxed but ready to snap into motion. This makes him appear almost casual, but it’s a deceptive guard; he’s coiled like a spring.

He held the handle of the sword at his hip as well as the scabbard, but he did not draw the sword. It was an unusual stance that both Kaelvar and Elyra saw for the first time, but it was also an obvious stance that they could already guess what Lucen was planning to do.

He was basically telling them that he would attack or defend by suddenly drawing out his sword from the scabbard.

’Well, that is a good surprise attack technique. Still... Lucen’s demeanor suddenly changed the moment he got into a fighting stance. I guess he really does know how to use that sword.’ Kaelvar thought to himself with a vicious grin on his face.

Elyra moved first. With no hesitation, her aura surged around her body as she lunged in, her two-handed blade arcing in a powerful horizontal slash meant to overwhelm Lucen’s guard.

But Lucen did not meet her with brute force.

The instant her blade came close, his body blurred; it was the technique most weebs tried imitating at one point in their lives, the Battōjutsu draw.

His katana flashed out of the scabbard in a single lightning stroke, intercepting her strike at just the right angle. Metal screamed as the two weapons clashed, sparks scattering in the air.

Kaelvar’s grin widened. "Fast."

Elyra pressed forward, her sword whipping down in a diagonal cut, then thrusting forward with sharp precision. Each strike was backed with her second mantle aura, a storm of pressure that would have overwhelmed an ordinary swordsman.

Unfortunately, Lucen wasn’t acting like an ordinary swordsman.

Every time her blade struck, his movements flowed like water, his footwork sliding diagonally, his hips twisting, his katana cutting sharp, minimalist arcs that met her blows just enough to divert them.

He didn’t block with strength. He redirected, slipped past, and answered with slashes so fast they cut the air with a whistle.

’To this, this was the child, I and many others said had no talent with the sword. This style of his is something new. It’s like no other sword style found here in Norvaegard. Either he had some hidden teacher, which I should know about, or he created that sword style himself. The former seems more likely, but I have a feeling it’s the latter.’ Kaelvar assessed as he looked at each movement Lucen made.

Elyra’s beautiful blue eyes narrowed. ’His stance is loose... no wasted strength... yet I can’t find a single opening.’

The back and forth between the two continued for a few more minutes, but after a while, their breathing became heavy. Despite Lucen overwhelming Elyra in skill with the use of Acting Adept, the power and speed of a second mantle aura user, especially one as gifted as Elyra, was hard.

The reason he was able to keep up was simply because his basic stats were better by a large margin than Elyra’s. If he had only reached the first mantle, he would have already won.

Elyra, who had fought Lucen for a while now, also understood that Lucen already had an awakened aura, but it was just that an awakened aura without a single mantle. But even with just that, he was able to keep up with her and even overwhelm her in terms of skill.

This was the first time someone close to her age was able to push her this far. She had a ferocious-looking grin on her face, similar to what her father shows when he gets excited.

Elyra then changed her stance, lifting her two-handed heavy sword up high to the sky. Her aura mantle envelops her and her weapon.

"This is so much fun, Lucen!" For the first time since the meeting, Elyra spoke.

She was now gearing up for a finishing move. Lucen understood that this was going to be the last strike. He wanted to respond in kind and also use the ultimate technique of the style he was using.

Lucen inhaled sharply, his focus narrowing to a single point. His right hand gripped the katana’s hilt, his thumb pressing against the tsuba.

His body coiled like a spring, the world slowing to a heartbeat. His left foot was forward, and he used his aura to strengthen his entire body. He even wanted to use RELEASE, but decided not to since that was his secret ace in the hole.

The two without any signal attacked at the same time, but before they could fully unleash their respective techniques, Kaelvar appeared in between them and caught their swords.

He stopped Elyra’s heavy great sword with a finger and caught Lucen’s katana with a pinch.

"Let’s end the spar here. If I had let that clash land, one of you would be bedridden or dead. Still, that was an incredible match." Kaelvar spoke with a light tone and a grin on his face.

With that, the first sparring match between Lucen and Elyra ended with a draw.