WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 40

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Adorable Little Rascal

Kyle laid it all out for Julius, every detail of what had happened at the Great Archive, nothing held back or softened. Julius watched him with wide eyes throughout, and when the last word fell, he let out a long, slow breath.

"Well."

Not quite a sigh, not quite wonder. Some strange blend of both. He didn't speak right away, just looked at Kyle for a long moment.

"Here I was wondering what on earth you'd been buried in the Great Archive for this past year, hardly ever showing up to the Sword Hall. And it turns out you've been doing something as outrageous as forging your own cultivation method?"

Julius had heard reports on what Kyle was reading down there. Focused on tier-three cultivation texts rather than sword forms, which was puzzling enough. He hadn't imagined the boy was trying to create a cultivation method from scratch.

"It's not that impressive, really. I just thought I could do it, so..."

"Not impressive? Creating a cultivation method from nothing?" Julius shook his head. "Even drawing from existing ones for reference, synthesizing them into a single unified system is the work of a grandmaster. That's what it takes."

He shook his head with a short, humorless laugh.

"I'd told myself there was nothing left about your talent that could surprise me. And yet here you are. You impossible little treasure."

"Ahem."

"Reckless and dangerous, as ideas go. But I won't stop you. Your spirit root is something this world has never seen before, so your judgment on this probably outpaces mine. And that Dokkaebi of the Sword Tower, the Fragment, has agreed to lend you its strength as well."

The Fragment's existence had left Julius just as stunned as Kyle's abilities had.

"Ordinarily, accessing the Cultivation Floors at your age is completely out of the question. The minimum requirement is completing the Form Realm and getting a foothold in the Will Realm."

The four stages of martial cultivation in the current era.

First, the Beginning Realm. The spirit root is awakened, a cultivation technique is learned, the Circuits within the body are activated, and mana is circulated to form a small inner world. Aura can be shaped here, though imperfect.

Next, the Form Realm. Mana that can now be skillfully wielded is shaped according to the spirit root's nature and expelled as Sword Qi. Alastor pure-bloods average entry around age thirteen.

The Will Realm begins where the Form Realm ends, at the threshold where one starts striking the middle dantian. Beyond Form, it is no longer just mana activated by the spirit root's influence. The practitioner's own will enters the equation. It is the step from Sword Qi toward Sword Force, but the middle dantian must be fully opened before entry into the Will Realm is considered genuine.

And last, the Peak Realm. Completion of the lower and middle dantians, and the opening of the upper energy center. But so many who complete the Will Realm never manage to reach the Peak Realm. From here, those who ascend have truly begun to leave the frame of the human behind.

"You already have your middle dantian open, granted. But claiming you've genuinely completed the Will Realm would be..."

Kyle didn't bother explaining. He pulled out a wooden sword.

He'd been planning to save this for when he was more satisfied with it, to catch Julius off guard at the right moment. But the way things had gone, waiting was no longer an option.

Whoosh!

The Primordial Chaos Art cycling through his body poured mana over the wooden sword. Julius's mouth opened slightly. He watched the violet aura coiling around Kyle's blade.

No unstable flicker to it. It looked like fire, but without the blazing heat. The light held many different elements blended together, and yet not one of them dominated. A strange, particular balance.

It read like a world in harmony, if anything. But the colors burning through it were all knife-edged and sharp. Not quiet. Wild and destructive. And yet entirely stable, which meant Kyle had his mana under absolute control.

Sword Qi. The mark of full entry into the Form Realm. That alone wasn't surprising. The boy's middle dantian was already open. But the quality of what Kyle had just shown was far beyond what Julius had anticipated.

'Highly refined?'

He caught himself and shook his head at the thought. Highly refined didn't even begin to cover it. Kyle's Sword Qi wasn't just advanced for his stage. By any measure, it was flawless. That was the assessment of Julius Alastor, Thunder Emperor, one of the Ten Peaks.

"I wanted to show you later."

Kyle muttered it as he drew the Sword Qi back in. The moment he did, a tingling swept across his skin and something strange stirred in his chest.

Fenris, embedded at the center of the Sword Hall, was trying to connect with him on its own. Kyle refused it. That arrogant bastard had bitten its own owner. Neglect was exactly the discipline it deserved.

"Why later?"

"Because I'm not satisfied with it yet. I know I can do better than this."

No posturing in that answer. The Sword Qi he'd achieved in his past life was comparable in quality, but his goal this time was to surpass everything he'd ever done before.

"Once the cultivation method is finished and I can circulate mana exactly as I intend, I think I can produce Sword Force too. I'd have to try to know for sure."

A precaution, that last part. He didn't want Julius toppling over. Kyle was more than confident he could produce Sword Force. The only reason he couldn't right now was that the middle dantian's core wasn't functioning properly. Once enough mana filled the lower dantian that it stopped twisting the body with hunger, Sword Force was within reach, incomplete cultivation method or not.

"My, my..."

Julius looked at the child in front of him and felt something beyond admiration crawl in. A year ago on his birthday, the boy had declared he would surpass him. That declaration no longer felt precocious or endearing. Only a year had passed, and his grandson's sword was closing the distance between them at a pace that was genuinely unsettling.

Something complicated settled over Julius. Affection for a grandson growing at a pace that defied belief. And a cold shiver at the thought of a rival who would someday, without question, come challenge him. He smiled again and rose from the black iron throne.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"You said it yourself. We're going to collect Aslan Antares, that bastard."

Julius strode over and set his hand on Kyle's head, ruffling his hair.

"I'd intended to stay out of it. Out of respect for Arian's pride, and because I gave that marriage my silent blessing. But hearing that you, of all people, someone who loves training and the sword the way you do, has been hesitating over worry for your mother, I can't leave it alone any longer."

Julius was a swordsman. He admired great swordsmen. Someone single-mindedly devoted to the sword? He had no reason not to like them.

But Aslan was no longer simply a swordsman. He was a swordsman, Julius's son-in-law, Arian's husband, and Kyle's father. Julius had never once thought of himself as a particularly good father, but even so, he couldn't go on ignoring someone who had left his family behind for twelve years.

Especially when it was getting in his grandson's way.

Julius smiled at Kyle, but his eyes were very cold.

Fifteen years ago, after his wife fell into a sleep without end from an accident in a Secret Realm, Julius spent two years wandering the world himself, searching for a cure.

He'd wanted to keep going until he found one. But Julius was the Family Head of Alastor before he was a husband, and the throne in Gladiheim could not sit empty forever. After two years on the road, he came back to the Sword Tower.

Thirteen years had passed since then. Julius had barely left the tower in all that time. Today, he walked out.

He hadn't even reached the gates before the commotion started. Descendants who had been inside came spilling out one after another.

"M-My lord, where are you going?"

Karthan was the first to arrive, face flustered, and he stopped short when he saw Kyle standing at Julius's side. The rest reacted the same way, but Arian let out a startled yelp and came rushing over to the two of them.

"K-Kyle? Father? The two of you, why? Where are you going?"

"Grandfather's buying me a present."

Kyle answered before Julius could. Julius gave a single nod, going along with the lie without a moment's hesitation.

"A present? Is there anything in the Sword Tower or Gladiheim that we don't already have? And even if there were, you certainly don't need to go yourself, my lord..."

"I want to pick it out myself."

Julius said it quietly, cutting Karthan off.

"He deserves it, this remarkable grandson of mine. And I wanted some fresh air."

The Family Head, thirteen years inside the Sword Tower, saying something like that, what could they do? Karthan opened and closed his mouth and had no choice but to yield.

"At least take an escort, my lord."

Jerard, who handled Gladiheim's administrative affairs, bowed his head and spoke, but Julius's expression didn't change.

"Why would I need an escort? It's unnecessary. Stand down."

"But..."

"Who in this world could escort me?"

When Julius's voice went cold, Jerard bowed without another word and retreated. Arian, who had been standing there staring, sidled quietly up to Julius.

"Why are you leaving me behind?"

"Because this isn't a trip to buy your present."

"But Kyle is my son...?"

"He's also my grandson. I'm saying I want to personally pick out a gift, and you're still being dense about it. Will you keep this up?"

Arian blinked several times at that, then let out a quiet laugh. She poked Julius's arm with her elbow, giggling.

"I had no idea father had become this much of a doting grandfather. Couldn't have been a little more like this when we were children?"

"Stop talking nonsense and step back."

Julius answered in a flat, humorless tone and walked on. Kyle gave a small bow to the cluster of relatives who had come running out, gave Arian a special little wave, and followed after Julius.

"Kyle! Make sure you ask grandfather to buy you lots of things!"

Arian's voice followed him from behind.

"You're quite good at lying, grandfather."

"I didn't lie."

Passing through the Sword Garden, Julius replied with a blank expression to Kyle's snickering.

"It's true that we're going to get you the present you want. Strictly speaking, what I said that could be called a lie is that we're not paying for it with money."

"What about the fresh air?"

"Coming out after all this time, I do find the wind rather refreshing. The air in the Sword Tower is something else entirely."

Julius answered and glanced sidelong at Kyle.

"Looking to see me squirm as I admit to a lie, are you. You wicked little thing."

"Not at all. I'm just saying, that's how it is."

"If I ended up lying, that's no failing of mine. It's entirely your fault."

"You seem to have changed, a little, or, well, quite a lot, because of me. Does that bother you?"

"Another wicked question."

Julius grumbled softly and said nothing to answer it.

"Lennon."

Instead, he called a different name. From somewhere in the open air around them, a quiet voice responded.

"Yes, my lord."

"Prepare the sky carriage. The fastest one."

"Understood."

One of the Funeral Knights who shadowed Julius in secret. Kyle was genuinely impressed. There was no way he could have detected them at his current level.

"Do Funeral Knights have to learn concealment arts?"

"Not necessarily. The Funeral Knights are Gladiheim's finest, so skill with the sword is what counts. Lennon happens to come from the Secret Shadow Corps, so his concealment is exceptional on top of that."

The Secret Shadow Corps was Gladiheim's intelligence unit.

"Have you ever ridden a sky carriage?"

"No. When we came here I flew with my mother. But I know what they are. Carriages pulled by flying horses."

"Not lacking in general knowledge, at least. I had my quiet concerns, after six years shut up in the Sword Tower."

"Don't worry about just me. Worry about the other uncles and aunts and cousins too."

"The ones worth worrying about, I would have seen to already. And the ones who weren't, if they'd come to me with any warmth at all, I'd have grown fond of them regardless."

"But you're so cold and imposing, grandfather. How could anyone come to you with warmth?"

"You managed it."

"That's because I have a naturally good way with people."

"What to do with this shameless, adorable little rascal."

Julius clicked his tongue and muttered it.

"I'm not in a position to be close with all of my descendants. It's too late for that now, besides. If I were to suddenly round up my children and grandchildren for no reason and suggest we share a meal, Karthan would quietly go looking for a physician, convinced I'd lost my mind."

"Oh, surely not."

"I know Karthan and the others far better than you do. Decades of that kind of relationship, there's no easy way out of it now."

"But you worked things out with Aunt Erika."

"That's because Erika is young, has no interest in the Family Head position, and came to me first."

Kyle understood what that meant. Roel and Seros above Erika, and the other uncles and aunts above them, were all grown and established. Each of them held significant positions in Gladiheim and commanded their own influence. If Julius suddenly approached them, the political balance inside the tower would shift immediately.

His mother had renounced her claim to the succession as well.

Julius glanced down at Kyle, who had gone quiet in thought, and gave a small, amused exhale.

"Why are you so intent on fixing this cold family of yours?"

"Families are better off close. That's all."

He'd never had actual blood family in his past life, either.

"If that's what you want, go around doing the smoothing-over yourself. The way you did with Erika and me. The way you did with Barkas and Bruno."

"No intention of doing it yourself, grandfather?"

"I've given you quite a lot of gifts and gone out of my way for you up to now. You're old enough that it's time you started bringing gifts back to me."

"You said my very existence was a gift."

"More gifts are always better, you adorable little rascal."

Julius laughed quietly and ruffled Kyle's hair.

The two of them passed through the Sword Garden and descended to Blade, the upper district of Gladiheim.

The sky carriage was already waiting there, an imposing thing. The knights and collateral family members who resided in Blade had all come out and stood at attention behind it, a full formation assembled to welcome a Family Head who had left the Sword Tower for the first time in thirteen years.

"Making such a fuss just because I came out after a while."

Julius clicked his tongue but raised a hand toward the gathered knights and collateral members. At his side, Kyle felt the weight of countless eyes. Six years in the Sword Tower, and this was his first time coming down this far.

To live in the upper district of Gladiheim meant being of the highest standing in the castle, second only to the pure-bloods. These people were seeing the prodigy who had been the talk of the Sword Tower for the very first time today, in the flesh.

"I will drive personally, my lord."

A man in black uniform bowed at the front of the carriage. The voice from before. Lennon, the Funeral Knight who had come from the Secret Shadow Corps.

Kyle followed Julius into the carriage, and Lennon's voice came immediately through.

"Shall I take you to the nearest Warp Gate, my lord?"

"Yes."

Julius answered and turned his gaze to the window outside. Every knight and noble had lowered their heads slightly, seeing the carriage off.

"Do you know where Aslan lives?"

"Yes. I heard he lives somewhere in the Kingdom of Valian."

"Where exactly in Valian?"

"I don't know that. I was planning to ask you. I didn't expect you to actually come with me in person."

"Bold of you, at least."

Julius gave a quiet, dry laugh and rested his chin on his hand.

The sky carriage rose into the air.

The sky carriage was fast, but inside, there was almost no sense of movement at all.

On the way to the Warp Gate, Kyle and Julius talked without stopping. If Julius had shown any sign of being bothered, Kyle would have left him alone. Julius showed no such sign.

"Aslan is strong."

The subject was natural. Aslan Antares, Kyle's father.

"He first showed up at Gladiheim thirteen years ago. He was twenty-five at the time, and already on the verge of completing the Will Realm."

Aslan had turned up at Gladiheim out of nowhere and pounded on the gates, screaming that he wanted to fight the Alastor Family Head.

"I was on edge in those days, for all sorts of reasons. Two years of wandering the world without a single answer to show for it. A challenger picking exactly that moment to show up wasn't going to strike me as endearing. I even started thinking the Alastor name must look like a joke to him. I very nearly just killed the man on the spot."

"I almost wasn't born."

"Good thing I didn't kill Aslan then."

Julius smiled.

"I'd raised my hand to end it, but I found myself thinking it would be a waste to cut down a sword like his. So I held back. Aslan got furious. Screamed that I must not have considered him worth killing. That kind of thing."

"..."

Kyle's opinion of Aslan, which had been sitting at rock bottom since the whole bastard revelation, climbed the faintest bit.

"He was being so loud about it I knocked him out and threw him out of the Sword Tower. The man refused to leave. Just set up camp in the Sword Garden on his own and declared he was going to sharpen his sword until the day he could fight me again. That spirit appealed to me, so I gave him a house in the upper district and let him stay."

"Did you fight him again after that?"

"We fought twice more while he was in Gladiheim that year. His sword got sharper each time. We had two matches and I was looking forward to the third, and then, out of nowhere, he came walking up with Arian and announced they were getting married."

"..."

"I was furious enough to cut him down right there. But Arian was screaming so much I just gave them my blessing instead. The two of them left the Sword Tower, and then you were born."

Julius's expression shifted into something complicated.

"Looking at you now, I find myself wondering if I should have made them stay in the Sword Tower from the start."

"That's already done. What can you do about it now?"

Kyle cleared his throat and answered. If he'd been born and raised in the Sword Tower, every undignified thing he'd ever done as an infant would have been on full display for every relative in the building.

Thank god for that. He thought it and meant every word.

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