To put it simply, after returning to the clan house, Chesa safely obtained 『Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity (S)』. I had been worried that since I ate a little more than half of each flower, she might only get the lower version, Extreme Poison Resistance (A), but that concern turned out to be unfounded.
It was the result of everything coming together:
The energy sharing from the 『Wings of the Firebird (S-)』 trait.
The digestion rate correction from the Extreme Mana Circulation Body (S).
The Obsidrol Serum Pills created by Osgos.
And auxiliary elixirs made by mixing various A-grade elixirs.
On top of that, far more time had passed than the several decades Inbar Lindros had originally mentioned. The Blazing Hellfire Flower and Thousand-Year Yin Poison Flower had likely accumulated far more energy than he had anticipated.
“Even the stems still have heat and poison energy left in them.”
I’d have to think about what to use those for.
“Master. A letter has arrived.”
While I was handling work, I received the letter Linia handed me and read it.
If it was a letter arriving at this time, its contents were obvious.
─The God of Struggle has delivered an oracle, Aiden Stroke. You possess sufficient qualifications to be called a new member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes. If you are willing to accept, please come to the headquarters of the Church of Struggle along with your reply by July 15th, 987.
─Archbishop of Struggle, Rendalph.
“…It’s finally here.”
In the past, I had thought I would be able to reach level 50 even without the help of elixirs. But to be honest, it had been quite close. Right before consuming the Thousand-Year Yin Poison Flower and the Blazing Hellfire Flower, my level had been exactly 49.
It wasn’t just because growth slowed down as my level increased. The fact that I had become busier recently and my training time had decreased had also played a role.
I shook my head and packed my things before heading to the Holy Nation.
The Church of Struggle disliked unnecessary formalities.
Even the major event of selecting a new member of the Twelve Heroes was simple.
“…Therefore, I hereby appoint you as a new member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes. Aiden Stroke, continue to serve as a role model for martial artists and spread your reputation throughout the continent.”
After the Pope gave a brief congratulatory speech, he handed over the new Seal of Struggle, and that was the end of it. As I exited the hall to the applause of the spectators, I came face to face with a familiar person afterward.
“It’s been a while, Master Stroke.”
“…Sir Julian.”
Just as in the original history, Julian Connelly had also become a new member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes. He had taken the place of the missing Elkoro Dubao. He was currently 30 years old. In the original story, there had been mentions of him becoming one of the Twelve Heroes at a fairly young age, which had become a hot topic among the public.
Of course, the Triple Star Flora had become one of the Twelve Heroes at a much younger age, but it was an open secret that martial artists from the Holy Nation received significant benefits in evaluations.
This time, however, I—who was ten years younger—had taken all the spotlight. Thanks to that, Julian’s actions hadn’t caused much of a stir.
“What happened to the elixir you received last time?”
“You’re asking about that the moment we meet. You’re quite something. Don’t worry, I ate it all as I was supposed to.”
<Julian Connelly>
[Level: 55/64]
When I checked his status window, his level had increased by 1. I’d have to wait and see if he would grow any further from here, but for now, it was a satisfactory result.
“That’s a relief.”
“It’s more than a relief. Listen. Just like you said, the moment I ate that 『Luck Herb (A)』, my swordsmanship—which had been stagnant for so long—finally started improving again.”
“I told you. It would be a big help.”
Julian possessed the trait 『Fortune Bone (S)』, which gave him bones that were unrealistically flexible yet sturdy. Just from the description, it might not seem like much for an S-grade trait, but that wasn’t the case.
In addition to his blessed physical condition, the Fortune Bone had the secondary effect of greatly increasing the speed of movement transitions. Not only did this make the ever-changing swordsmanship unique to 『Sword Demon (S+)』 even more versatile, but it also meant there was no time lag when switching between heart methods and energy according to the situation. Against an opponent of the same level, he could maintain an overwhelming advantage simply by continuously throwing out counters.
And the 『Luck Herb (A)』 he had consumed was an elixir that increased the responsiveness between bones and energy.
Originally, combining those two elements would require pouring in effort over a long period of time. But realistically, there was little chance Julian would actually do that. So I decided to roughly bridge that gap with the power of an elixir.
Thirty years old was still young. If he had a change of heart even now and reached max level by Part 3 or 4, he would become an excellent asset… but considering this man’s idle personality, that was probably a vain hope. I’d be satisfied if he just reached around level 58, nothing more, nothing less.
That day, I spent some time building rapport with Julian before returning.
At only twenty years old, Aiden had ascended as a new member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes.
Although the appointment ceremony had passed quite plainly because the conclusion had already been reached internally within the Church of Struggle, this event caused a huge stir among the people of the continent.
“Isn’t this all thanks to the halo of his great-uncle?”
“Don’t say such nonsense. The God of Struggle is not so lenient. If he truly lacked the qualifications, he wouldn’t have been officially selected.”
“I’d like to cross swords with him at least once.”
First, there were those who purely sent admiration and congratulations. Ascending to the Twelve Heroes at such a young age was an astonishing event. However, since it wasn’t unprecedented, it was generally accepted.
Of course, not everyone felt that way.
Fundamentally, the title of Continent’s Twelve Heroes was a powerful calling card that worked anywhere.
Inevitably, complex interests were at play in obtaining this position.
“You’re saying I’m worse than that brat?”
“…The one who should have become a new member of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes this time was Ruben from our family. It seems the selectors from the Church of Struggle have all gone blind.”
Forces that had donated large sums to the Church of Struggle or had been laying groundwork to obtain the position of Twelve Heroes expressed their dissatisfaction in private. Similarly, when Flora became one of the Twelve Heroes in her twenties, there had been the special circumstance of her being a saint, but Aiden had no such thing.
Gaining fame also meant being exposed to more schemes and plots. In the future, it would be necessary to establish countermeasures for this as well.
‘In the original history, Julian—who had no real backing—ended up in this kind of situation… This time, it seems I’ve drawn all the aggro instead.’
Aiden shook his head.
Envoys offering congratulations from the Quentaltin Clan, the Lacroux family, the Wiblet Empire, the Dearside School, the Lapis Clan of the Magic Kingdom… and many others visited Elanore.
I welcomed them grandly.
Since Elanore was the front yard of our clan, it had received considerable direct and indirect investment, and as a result, it was now greatly prosperous. The envoys all returned satisfied with the festival-like reception.
It was a very intentional performance.
After seeing this impressive network and prestige, the chaff would at least be intimidated and fall away. Of course, there were still those who wouldn’t even bat an eye at this level, which was annoying.
For example, if it was the ‘Ariaga family,’ which was famous for its extreme tendencies, it wouldn’t be strange for them to send assassins in the middle of the night to test my skills.
…Well, I could think about that later.
“Professor. The schedule has been set.”
“So the time has finally come.”
Blake muttered with deeply sunken eyes.
The research on the secret technique to counter the Dearside School’s swordsmanship, the 『Spear Saint School Defensive Arts Primer (A)』, had finally gotten on track. And now he had also obtained an opportunity to test it.
“Let’s go.”
“Understood.”
Our destination this time was the southern Citre Kingdom, the country where the headquarters of the Variant Sword branch of the Dearside School was located.
Unlike the prestigious Straight Sword branch, which was famous across the entire continent, the Variant Sword branch had been keeping a low profile ever since Regenshauer disappeared. However, since they were a school that had recently produced a continent’s greatest-level powerhouse, no one underestimated their potential just because they had stopped being active.
When we arrived at their headquarters, martial artists with tiger-like auras greeted us at the entrance. Among them stood an old man who looked to be around two meters tall. He looked at us and asked,
“I am Vicente Catala, head of the Variant Sword branch of the Dearside School. And you are?”
“Blake Shaw. I don’t have any particular affiliation right now, but I’m indebted to the Clan Master of Blispiel here as his guest.”
“I see. So you’re the brat who recently became one of the Twelve Heroes.”
Despite his age, the rugged old man looked at me with interest. Calling someone who was one of the Twelve Heroes a “brat” was a strange way of speaking, but the person in front of me had the right to say it.
After all, he was the master who had taught the Thousand-Man Slayer.
<Vicente Catala>
[Level: 57/60]
[Stamina: 13] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 18]
[Mana: 16] [Mind: 08] [Senses: 17]
[Divinity: 04]
[Traits: Sword Demon (S+), Heavenly Martial Body (A), Mana Eye (B) + 3 others]
[Skills: Dearside Dual Heart Method · Extreme (S+), Dearside Variant Swordsmanship · Extreme (S), Vicente Thunderclap Grappling Arts (A), High-Speed Slash (B) + 6 others]
[Description: 77 years old, human race. Master of Regenshauer Schnifelt and head of the Variant Sword branch of the Dearside School.]
Vicente narrowed his eyes.
His gaze lingered on the sword “Ure” hanging at my waist.
After a moment, he turned to look at the Professor.
“So, Professor, you said you wanted to spar with one of our school’s powerhouses?”
“That’s right. I’ve made quite a bit of progress recently in my research on how to deal with you people. But I can’t exactly start by testing it against the Thousand-Man Slayer or the Sword Saint, now can I?”
“Hmm…”
Vicente stared at the Professor with a stiff expression.
Suddenly, he let out a small chuckle.
“…A warrior of your caliber wouldn’t lie. It seems you’ve been properly sharpening your blade ever since losing to that guy a long time ago.”
“That’s what it means to be a martial artist, isn’t it?”
“A respectable mindset. However, even if you were to find that elusive guy and challenge him to a rematch, I can confidently say that victory will never be yours.”
At those words, Blake neither got angry nor tried to refute him. He simply asked calmly,
“Why do you think that?”
“Because the martial art of the Dearside School is already a completed discipline.”
“What?”
Blake’s brow twitched slightly. Vicente looked the Professor straight in the eye and continued,
“Whether it’s the Straight Sword branch or our Variant Sword branch, we haven’t seen any significant development for over 150 years. No matter what changes we tried to make to that damn heart method or swordsmanship, it would quickly prove inefficient and we’d end up right back where we started.”
“That’s not exactly something to brag about. Living while being satisfied with the present—if anything, that’s something the head of a school should be ashamed of.”
“But the story changes if that stagnant swordsmanship still reigns as the strongest on the continent.”
“I haven’t been doing nothing either. I’ve spent my entire life trying to combine the strengths of other schools’ martial arts with the Dearside swordsmanship. But in the end, I couldn’t find a single place where it needed improvement. As time passed, my reverence for the founder who designed this swordsmanship only grew stronger.”
With those words, Vicente fell silent.
When I looked at the Professor, he had already regained his composure at some point.
“…Interesting. So what do you plan to do if the new technique I’ve researched ends up breaking your ‘Ladyroot’ and ‘Surgeon Pass’?”
“Hah. I’ll even get down on my knees and apologize. It’s perfect timing—my body’s been feeling stiff lately.”
Shing!
Without anyone needing to say who was first, Blake and Vicente drew their swords and stepped forward. Before I knew it, the Variant Sword School disciples had surrounded the two of them. The entrance to the headquarters had turned into something resembling a circular dueling arena.
“I’ll personally prove right here that it’s not the Thousand-Man Slayer, but the Dearside School itself that is invincible!”
Zzzzt! The technique ‘Ladyroot’—three spheres of light began rotating around Vicente.
“Interesting! Come at me!”
Blake activated his Attribute Mixed Heart Method in response and raised his sword.
With my arms crossed, I watched the scene. Although the duel had already been agreed upon through prior mediation, this was quite an interesting situation.