As we walked through the forest thick with dense trees, a slightly open clearing came into view.
Estriel stopped and glanced around lightly before muttering.
“This should be good enough.”
He placed his hand on the scabbard at his waist.
Immediately after, something flashed, and the trees around us were sliced clean from the base.
“…Huh?”
Linia widened her eyes at the trees collapsing in pieces, her face blank as if possessed by a ghost.
I was also very surprised, but I clearly grasped what Estriel had just done.
Just now, he had swung a wire-like weapon called Strong Wire widely, cutting down a large number of trees.
It was the skill befitting a 60-level powerhouse who had transcended humanity.
And this was probably an intentional performance.
By showing overwhelming power, he intended to instill in me strong awe and faith toward the Alsigima Style.
Though I had already grasped the situation, I deliberately put on a shocked expression and asked.
“Wh-what the hell just happened?”
“Don’t be so surprised, Aiden. I just made a training ground myself since there wasn’t a suitable spot.”
“Spiro, you…”
I looked at him with trembling lips.
It was acting so natural that even I couldn’t believe it.
“From now on, I’ll teach you the Alsigima secret arts. But before that, you need to at least formally take me as your master. Ah, no need to feel burdened. Despite appearances, I’m quite old. I’ve lived at least as long as your grandfather?”
I looked at Estriel, who said that, with shaking eyes, then soon bowed my head politely.
“I will take you as my master. Will you accept me as a disciple of the Alsigima Style?”
Estriel’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
He seemed taken aback by the overly natural shift in attitude.
“Y-you adapt pretty fast. Ah, even if you use formal speech, don’t call me master—just call me by name. Our school is quite unique, with all members in a horizontal relationship.”
“Got it, Spiro.”
19 days until the duel.
I became a disciple of the Alsigima Style.
***
After initiation, the first thing Estriel did was check my blood flow and energy veins.
Examining my physical condition, he made a slightly surprised expression.
“Looking at it, you’ve already learned another heart method. This is the Brandish Harmony Heart Method, right? Breathing that’s not antagonistic to Reverse Veins is extremely rare, but you managed to find it.”
Estriel only mentioned the harmony heart method and didn’t seem to notice that I had learned the Stroke Heart Method.
It was natural, since I had holed up in my room for two days and erased all traces of operating intense energy.
I asked him.
“Is there a problem with the harmony heart method?”
“No. On the contrary, it’s good. It’s a heart method with pretty good compatibility with the Alsigima Heart Method. Perfect for auxiliary use, you could say.”
I knew the true value of the harmony heart method and used it as my main one, but most martial artists, like Estriel right in front of me, treated it strictly as an auxiliary heart method.
In fact, it has decent compatibility with Reverse Veins, but that’s only compared to other heart methods.
It’s hard to master it to the extreme like Julian Connelly did.
In my case, since I acquired the Reverse Veins trait postnatally through the A-grade trait selection, I’m an exception to the end.
In game terms, it’s like a cheat play.
After that, I began learning the Alsigima breathing technique from Estriel.
“The common breathing techniques on the continent emphasize prolonging abdominal breathing. But the Alsigima breathing requires breathing as quickly and as many times as possible in a short time. I’ll demonstrate.”
Estriel took a slight breath and began the Alsigima-style breathing.
“sususususususuooo—”
It was fast and quiet.
If I had to compare, it was like the hiss of a snake.
Unlike when using the Stroke Heart Method, my body didn’t overheat and turn bright red.
My body was just twitching slightly.
So faintly that you couldn’t notice unless observing closely.
According to the settings in the main story of Reca Chronicles, that bizarre breathing has the function of amplifying the vibrational nature of the energy possessed by Reverse Veins owners to the extreme.
Estriel, finishing the Alsigima breathing, said.
“Try following.”
“Got it.”
I sat cross-legged and tried to imitate Estriel’s breathing as closely as possible.
Naturally, I didn’t do it well from the start, and repeated trial and error countless times.
A week passed since then.
“suuoo, suuo—”
“You’ve got the frame of the breathing down decently. You’re learning faster than I thought?”
Estriel, saying that, placed his hand on my shoulder and infused mana into my body.
It was similar to when Linfred had guided my energy flow while teaching the Stroke Heart Method.
The difference was that there was no pain at all.
It wasn’t just because Estriel’s mana control was far superior to Linfred’s.
The process of circulating energy felt natural, as if the energy veins formed in my body were returning to their original form.
[Acquired Alsigima Heart Method (A).]
[Alsigima Heart Method (A) is at ‘Initiation’ stage. Effects are minimal.]
[The newly created energy intertwines with Brandish Harmony Heart Method (C).]
[The energy of harmony has firmly taken root in the body. Brandish Harmony Heart Method’s grade has risen to (C+).]
Seeing the system messages, I was greatly encouraged.
Learning the Alsigima Heart Method meant that the foundation to acquire the extreme cheat technique derived from it, Resonance Shatter Art, was now in place.
I looked at Estriel with expectation.
Receiving my gaze, he smiled faintly and opened his mouth.
“…Hm. You seem somewhat accustomed to the Alsigima breathing now, so shall I teach you our school’s meridian?”
“It’s called Resonance Shatter Art, right? Just what kind of meridian is it?”
“The continent’s strongest assassination technique.”
Estriel declared firmly.
Having watched him in action in the original novel, I knew there wasn’t a shred of exaggeration in those words.
No, if anything, that description fell short.
To explain it simply, Resonance Shatter Art is an attack that shatters the opponent’s energy entirely and penetrates through.
Depending on preparation, it’s a fearsome meridian that can instantly kill even those far above in skill.
“To properly master Resonance Shatter Art, you must be able to handle the ‘vibrational energy’ created through the Alsigima Heart Method as delicately as your own hands and feet. For example…”
Pashushushuk!
Estriel drew the dagger from his waist and showered the firewood lying beside him with blade lights.
The firewood, being sliced at invisible speeds, soon turned into a cat-shaped statue.
“That’s almost sculptor level.”
“Thanks for the praise.”
Estriel smiled and responded to my tossed joke.
“If I had operated a rigid-natured heart method, no matter how skilled my swordsmanship, this firewood would have been smashed without form. The core of the Alsigima Style is delicacy. If you can handle vibrational energy at my current level, you could instantly kill even a knight division commander-level expert with a pebble picked up off the street.”
Knight division commander class is about 30~40 level experts on the character sheet.
For Estriel, opponents of that level could be crushed barehanded, not just with a pebble, so he had actually underestimated himself just now.
Linia whispered to me.
“Young master, just what does your master do? Even if I don’t know, a powerhouse of that level should be famous across the continent…”
It was a very small voice, but it was loud enough for Estriel’s superhuman senses to hear clearly.
He looked our way with a strange expression.
“Come to think of it, even though we’ve formed a master-disciple bond, we haven’t really shared personal details. I work in the Circulation Church. I’m not that famous due to circumstances, so don’t pry.”
“Y-you heard that?”
The Circulation Church mainly judges (mostly through assassination) those who violate the laws of reincarnation through research.
They also exterminate undead and officiate funerals, deeply intertwined with people’s daily lives.
Of course, like all religious folk, they can’t live without money, so they take secular requests and perform assassination missions.
Because of that, they are a group that receives both respect and fear from ordinary people.
By revealing his affiliation and calling Resonance Shatter Art an assassination technique, he had essentially openly admitted to being an assassin.
If Linia, an outsider, weren’t here, he might have even told me his real name.
After consulting with Linia, I decided not to mention this topic in front of Estriel anymore.
“Take this.”
Suddenly, Estriel held something out to me.
It was a ripe, luscious apple and a pocket knife.
Ah, this is the one that comes out here.
Peeling an apple as smoothly as possible while operating vibrational energy at high intensity.
It’s one of the training methods for Resonance Shatter Art mentioned in the Reca Chronicles setting book.
It’s a bit ridiculous, but it’s an extremely effective training method for practicing energy operation.
I furrowed my brows and gripped the knife.
And I draw up the ‘vibrational energy.’
First attempt.
…The apple tore to shreds.
***
Another week passed, and my apple-peeling skill had become quite refined.
Improving from shredding the apple to only eating away about 10% of the core was tremendous progress.
I also gained some side income.
[Sense has increased by 1.]
Just looking at Estriel’s stat distribution shows it, but the sense stat is deeply related not only to mana but also to the skill of delicately handling the body and tools.
Repeatedly circulating energy while peeling apples was the perfect way to train sense.
I didn’t forget to occasionally make time to diligently polish the basics I learned at the Stroke mansion’s training grounds.
[Northern Basic Swordsmanship (D) has transcended the ‘Mastery’ stage. Promoted to Northern Advanced Swordsmanship (C).]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
<Aiden Stroke>
[Level: 7/35]
[Stamina: 05] [Strength: 05] [Agility: 04] [Mana: 10] [Mind: 05] [Sense: 07]
[Divinity: 00]
[Traits: Swordsmanship Genius (A), Reverse Veins (A), Magic Genius (B), Spirit Affinity·Weak (C)]
[Skills: Alsigima Heart Method (A), Stroke Swordsmanship (B), Stroke Heart Method (B), Northern Advanced Swordsmanship (C), Brandish Harmony Heart Method (C+)]
[Description: 14 years old, human race. A notorious wastrel across the entire duchy, but there are rumors he’s changed recently.]
“Smooth sailing.”
Resonance Shatter Art hasn’t appeared in the skills section of the sheet yet, but since the Alsigima Style’s secret arts were designed for Reverse Veins from the start, it doesn’t require much time to acquire.
At this rate, I should be able to acquire it steadily before the duel with Julio.
Of course, even considering that, the speed of my growth was beyond imagination, and even Estriel honestly expressed surprise.
“You have quite the talent, Aiden. You might even surpass me in swordsmanship someday.”
Estriel’s title trait Ghost (S+) can be said to be close to a thief in TRPG-style role distribution.
In total, comparing is humiliating, but limited to the sword, Swordsmanship Genius (A) is the superior trait.
It’s also a growth-promotion type trait that can rise to (S+) later.
“It’s not just talent.”
It doesn’t seem to be simply due to talent.
The energy veins and mana in your body are activated to an abnormally high degree.
Could it be because of that tea you usually drink?”
“…You noticed that?”
Surprisingly, he figured out the effects of the Yin-Yang Herb just from observation.
Since it had been mentioned once, there was no point in hiding it, so I honestly told him about the Processed Yin-Yang Tea.
At that, Estriel showed strong interest.
“Can I have just a drop of that elixir?”
“Sure.”
I handed him the flask containing the tea.
Estriel, tasting a bit of the contents, stiffened his expression for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
“…This is an elixir that would be treated as a national treasure even in a small kingdom. Where on earth did you get something like this?”
“That’s…”
“If it’s hard to say, no need to tell me. More importantly, you’re the second son of the Stroke Family, right?”
“You knew about me.”
“The bad reputation of the grand duke’s wastrel is widespread throughout Rykrol. When I first heard the name Aiden, I had a hunch, and I was quite surprised to realize it’s the same person. And surprised again because you’re completely different from the rumors.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he said to me.
“I have something to show you. Want to come along for a bit? That half-elf girl can come too.”
“Sure.”
I nodded.
The place Estriel eventually took us to was a dilapidated cabin deep in the forest.
“This is…”
I couldn’t help but be shocked by the sight inside the cabin.