Chapter 13: The Assassin’s Sword Style (3)

This fine morning.

Sien, who had officially started learning the ‘Kraken Stance’ since yesterday, extended her hand. At her fingertips, the surge of mana pulsed and soon became the 1st Circle Telekinesis spell, 『Invisible Hand』, which shot forward.

In front of the grand equestrian statue symbolizing the Pale Rider of Death, rising high above the plaza’s fountain—towards the spouting streams of water.

But the water streams slipped right through the magical hand, trickling away uselessly between her fingers.

To think she couldn’t even grasp a single jet of water from the fountain, even as she was learning the legendary stance of the Kraken, the great sea beast. The thought made her laugh unconsciously.

“What do you think is the biggest difference between aura and mana?”

Laila, who stood beside Sien, asked her.

“Um, well… Knights use aura, and mages use mana. Aura strengthens the body, and mana lets you use magic.”

“That’s correct.”

Sien answered in a perfectly innocent voice. It was such a childlike reply, Laila smiled softly.

“Aura lets an ordinary human transcend the limits of the body and makes the impossible possible.”

Knights could demonstrate superhuman feats through the power of aura—things no ordinary body could achieve.

“The will to overcome and go beyond the limits of the flesh, no matter the pain or trials—that is the essence of aura.”

“The will to transcend the body…”

Only humans could wield it—the human ode to their own flesh, blood, and bone. The will of the bone.

Only humans could use the power of aura.

Beings who lived undying lives, like Elves, Dragons, Liches, and Vampires, could never use aura. For them, ironically, their ‘immortal body’ was never something to overcome. It was a blessing from the gods, a gift to be celebrated.

But mana was different.

“Then what do you think mana is?”

Laila asked with a gentle smile. At the same time, the gushing jets of the fountain before her froze in place. Then, as if they’d stopped, the streams began to rise, gliding like snakes, and circled around Sien and Laila like hula hoops.

“…The will to overcome nature?”

“That’s correct.”

Laila nodded, flicking her finger in satisfaction. Instantly, the water streams swirling around them rapidly froze solid, then shattered into countless pieces right there. Shards of white, translucent frost danced in the air like rain.

“In nature, water flows from high to low. When the weather warms, ice melts. This is the ‘nature itself’ that we must overcome with mana.”

Knights transcend the limits of the flesh through aura.

Mages transcend the laws of nature through mana.

Two forms of will—one to go beyond humanity, one to master nature. That is the essence of aura and mana.

“Now, try again. Think about what you must overcome, and focus your will.”

“…Alright.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand—that’s not why she couldn’t grasp the water stream. What Laila explained, Sien herself could understand better than almost anyone on the continent.

If it were the usual Sien, she would’ve dismissed it all with a passing thought. But the words Luna had said in the library yesterday were still swirling in Sien’s mind, stirring it pure white.

What do we measure the realm of a Master by?

—Did I really ‘perfectly’ master three sword styles of the Nightwalker Family’s Ahom Sword Style?

What is perfection in the first place?

There’s no way to prove such a thing in this world. It’s just something people call and acknowledge as such.

What you thought was the end may not be the end. Even Sien herself wasn’t an exception. Her mind spun, confused, but at the same time, that very confusion felt strangely exhilarating.

That exhilaration made her see everything she’d taken for granted in a new light.

The most basic common sense—even the difference between aura and mana—was no exception.

Until now, she’d thought the reason she couldn’t grasp the water stream was that her body’s mana nerves weren’t yet developed enough to capture the flow of water with such precision.

Her mind understood it perfectly, but her body couldn’t follow—so she’d thought.

—But what if I never truly understood it with my mind from the start?

That’s why Sien, focusing her consciousness, reached out her arm. Letting go of the arrogance that she already knew everything, she mulled over each word of Laila’s anew.

Twitch.

The fountain’s water stream, which had been shooting upwards, suddenly stopped in midair. But only for a moment. It literally twitched and stopped for just an instant. The fountain that wrapped around the Apocalyptic Four Horsemen, the Pale Rider, resumed spouting water as if nothing had happened.

“I did it…”

Even so, Sien beamed and shouted in delight.

“I did it, Mother!”

The Invisible Hand.

The lowest-level spell, learned first by every novice mage regardless of their school or the Tower, which allowed one to exert physical force through sheer will.

But grasping the flowing stream of water with that simple magic was never a simple feat, even if only for a split second.

“…I can’t believe you managed it so quickly.”

Even Laila, who hadn’t expected it at all, stared in astonishment, her pupils blinking in disbelief.

Yet she did the impossible, simply by changing her perspective.

“…Maybe I’m dumber than I thought?”

She remembered the old saying, “If your mind is dull, your body suffers.”

Up until now, she’d believed she understood everything with her head, and that her body just hadn’t caught up. She thought she’d need at least a month of training to grasp the flowing water. No matter what she did now, her body wouldn’t follow, so nothing anyone said would help.

She was wrong.

The moment she returned to the basics, she surpassed even her own predictions as a Grandmaster.

“I really did it, just like you said, Mother!”

“Amazing. I thought it’d take at least a couple of months, no matter how quick you were.”

Sien grinned broadly. Laila smiled too. And the moment Sien saw that mature smile, she couldn’t contain her delight and blushed bright red like a little child.

Well, she was a little child, after all.

After training that day, when they returned home, an unexpected pair awaited Sien and Laila.

“Wow, Sien! It’s Sien!”

“Our cute little niece is here!”

At a glance, they were twin siblings about the same age as Sien. The way they beamed with innocent joy at the sight of her, they looked every bit the children they were. But appearances weren’t everything.

“You came back earlier than I thought, Hansel, Gretel.”

『Witch Hunter Hansel and Gretel Nightwalker.』

Among the Nightwalker Family, they were among the few who had perfectly mastered more than two sword styles—Highmasters.

“Yeah, sis. The mission in the Empire ended safely.”

“Hansel, you should show proper respect before our elder sister!”

“Ah, sorry.”

At Gretel’s scolding, Hansel lowered his head with a respectful gesture.

“To our head, the beloved Mother of Assassins—”

“Enough with the pointless formality, Hansel.”

“Geez! Sis, you’re too soft on him.”

Gretel puffed her cheeks and grumbled in protest.

“Hansel-uncle, Gretel-aunt.”

When Sien greeted them politely, the twin siblings smiled as if they couldn’t help but adore her.

“We’ve watched you since your baptism, and you’ve grown so much.”

“I saw you earlier. Big sis was teaching Sien the Ninth Form.”

“Could it be the Kraken Stance?”

“Yeah! I saw her use ‘Invisible Hand’ to grasp a stream of water!”

“Amazing! Truly amazing, Sien!”

“As expected of Sien, this much is basic for her!”

“You fool, Gretel, how could that be basic?!”

“No, for Sien it really is basic! You’re the fool, Hansel!”

At Gretel’s words, Hansel exclaimed in shock. For Sien to grasp water with mana, even Highmasters like them found it remarkable enough to argue about.

After all, the beginning and end of the Ninth Form was the finesse to wield the Invisible Hand.

“It’s thanks to Mother’s teaching.”

“You might be the only family member who survived Laila’s instruction.”

Gretel said with a meaningful smile.

She wasn’t wrong. For nearly a year since her baptism, Sien’s training under Laila had been nothing short of brutal. Though the past few days had been gentler by comparison.

“You should be proud, Sien. You’re the hope of our family.”

Family.

Though not a drop of blood tied the Nightwalker Family together, their bond was stronger than any blood relation.

To the assassins of the Nightwalker Family, there were only two kinds of people in the world:

Family, and those who were not family.

At those words, Sien unconsciously closed her mouth, recalling the future that would come for these twins, and the equally tragic end that awaited herself.

In the end, Sien did not become their hope.

“Why the long face, Sien? You don’t look happy.”

“It’s because you’re putting too much pressure on her, you dummy!”

“Oh, really? Sorry…”

At Hansel’s comment, Gretel laughed sheepishly and trailed off.

“Sien.”

Hansel, leaving his sister behind, spoke up.

“Hansel-uncle.”

“I want to give you something.”

He took something out of his breast pocket. It was wrapped carefully in black silk.

“A present for our niece.”

“A present…?”

“Yeah. It’s a little late, but your tenth birthday just passed.”

Gretel smiled proudly, and Sien blinked in surprise at the unexpected words.

“Hurry, open it! You’ll be shocked!”

With a bashful smile, Sien opened the silk wrapping.

“…!”

What lay within the folds of black silk was a single blade.

A jet-black hilt of polished ebony, and above it, a pale, cold gleam shining from the blade.

The blade itself was darker and deeper than even the black hilt.

A pitch-black dagger.

The moment she saw it, Sien held her breath. There was no doubt—this was no ordinary dagger.

“How do you like it? Do you like it?”

“It’s a beautiful dagger.”

“Isn’t it? Gorgeous, right?”

Gretel continued with a self-satisfied grin.

“This isn’t made from ordinary materials, you know.”

Of course, Sien already knew. No, it was impossible for her not to recognize what that deep, blue-black gleam signified.

“Then what is it made from?”

Yet she feigned innocence and asked calmly.

“Dark Mithril.”

The most precious and powerful metal in the world, Mithril. And within even the Mithril mines, only a tiny amount of this black-silver could ever be mined.

To give such a dangerous weapon to a ten-year-old child as a birthday gift—Sien couldn’t help but laugh.

But that was the way of their family. Even Sien herself was no exception.

“Does this weapon have a name?”

“It’s had a few names. It’s a notorious assassin’s tool.”

Gretel shrugged as she answered.

“One tasteless noble collector once called it something grand like ‘Death That Cannot Be Escaped.’ An assassin who killed a noble and stole it just called it the Black Blade—hm, what else?”

“When it took down three of the Seven Kings of the Archipelago, it was called 『Kingslayer』. Ah, by the way, I was the one using it then.”

Hansel grinned as he spoke.

“But now it’s yours, so you should give it a name.”

“Kingslayer…”

“Do you like that name?”

“Yes, I think it’s a splendid name.”

“Knew you had good taste, our niece.”

“Ugh, I think that name is kind of old-fashioned.”

Hansel chuckled with satisfaction, while Gretel pouted in disapproval.

Kingslayer, the blade that kills kings.

In the future, this dagger would bring about the downfall of an empire’s ruler. In that sense, there could be no more fitting name for this blade.

“Well, let’s end the chat here.”

At last, Laila, who had been silent, spoke up.

“I was just about to have dinner with Sien. Will you join us?”

“Yes! I want to eat!”

Hansel and Gretel, the twin siblings, nodded innocently. Just like Sien, they looked every bit the children they were.

Several months later.

Sien’s growth, after putting aside her title as the greatest Grand Assassin of the era and returning to the mindset of a beginner, was astonishing.