Chapter 54: First Step of Sword Breathing [2]

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“To think an ancient artifact like you would become so alarmed,” Louis said lightly, smiling. “When I woke up, I slowly understood what I had made… though I’m still not sure if what I saw while training was truly just my madness… That sword contains no souls. It holds Records of people, Memories of their Connections.”

“…? What? Connections? You? The spoiled grandchild of the Dragon King who values nothing but himself, the selfish child who let my Tisha die?” Niflheim asked.

“You acted so coldly and emotionless before, but I see now that you blamed me for what happened to her, huh? I agree, it’s my fault she died,” Louis nodded. “I did all I could, but that’s never enough…”

“…”

“The frustration of knowing what will happen yet lacking the power to stop it…” Louis muttered, clenching his fists tightly. “There’s nothing more frustrating than that… If I had the power, I would have personally disposed of Soma myself, preventing this entire disaster from ever occurring.”

Niflheim listened in silence. Her aura flickered but gradually withdrew back into her form.

“Explain to me. What is this sword?”

“This?”

Louis approached the white sword, crafted from ashen frost, resembling glass yet incredibly cold to the touch.

“When I mastered the First Step of the Sword Breathing Method, I was going insane,” Louis said, smiling bitterly. “In my madness, I imprinted my Memories of those I lost and swore upon my Sword Heart to honor them with everything in my power, and if I ever get the chance again, to save them no matter what.”

“You imprinted your very soul and heart into this sword… That’s why you could create one so quickly…” she said. “Yet it is so shallow it could break at any moment… just like you are.”

“Maybe…” Louis nodded. “But that’s all there is to it. That’s the truth. I’m being honest with you, there is no deeper meaning beyond what you saw me doing.”

“…”

Niflheim slowly calmed. Her aura shrank until it vanished entirely. Her ethereal form settled and remained still.

“You’re truly a madman.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“You barely survived achieving the First Step, and now you come asking for the Second Step?”

“Do you want me to teach Anastasia or not? I plan to seek her out today.”

“And how do you plan to convince her?”

“Well, I’ll tell her that her mother’s sword truly loves her and wants to see her—and that she must learn swordsmanship because this was her mother’s last wish.”

“It sounds somewhat convincing, but I feel you’re going to ruin it somehow. You’re terrible at socializing.”

“…I believe I’m fairly good.”

“Maybe. But Anastasia isn’t easy to fool… Well, I suppose I can speak to her through you. That should work.”

“Whatever the case, tell me more.”

Niflheim sighed, if she had a head, she would have shaken it at Louis’ desperate eagerness for the Second Step Formula.

“I will give you the Formula for the Second Step of the Sword Breathing Method as promised then. Make sure not to die.”

She infused a large quantity of information directly into Louis’ mind, helping him grasp the formula for the Second Step.

The path to cultivate the Second Form of Sword Breathing differed greatly from the First.

“What is this insanity? Who in the world has completed this?”

“Many—mostly within the Fantasy Worlds. Earth is… well, weak in comparison.”

“Hah…”

Louis smiled bitterly as he reviewed the Formula again.

To reach the Second Step, a swordsman had to complete three requirements.

The first was to maintain the First Step Breathing Method and Stance while slaying a foe. They had to slay fifty foes. These foes could not be mindless beasts; they had to fight back and possess real strength.

The second was to maintain the breathing method throughout the entire duration of the foe-slaying contest. If he stopped or failed, he would suffer backlash and die, or if he survived, the count would be reset completely.

The final requirement—the third step—was to refine Sword Energy into an extremely thin form, thinner than the tip of a needle.

“I wish there was a Spear or Lance Cultivation Method. Do you know of anything?” Louis asked.

“Your mother possessed that method,” Niflheim explained. “You’ve already grasped pieces of it and are now assembling the clues she left behind for you. Can’t you tell?”

“…What?” Louis was stunned. “W-What do you mean my mother…?”

“You’re still lacking in insight, huh?” Niflheim sighed. “Just because you’ve genuinely surprised me, I will offer my assistance. Touch my blade.”

The prince nodded and touched Niflheim’s icy blade.

FLASH!

He felt several particles of light emerge from his body. Each carried an elemental energy signature deeply connected to his mother.

These were fragments of a “Legacy”, an Inheritance his mother had left behind, and Louis was only now beginning to piece them together.

From the beginning, when she taught him Dragon Fang Spearmanship, to the passing of the Holy Lance Style from Robert.

And that voice he had heard back then, which transformed his ashes into light, turning Despair into Hope.

Slowly, a book made of golden light manifested, though it contained only a third of its total pages.

“W-What is the meaning of this?!” Louis was naturally shocked. “Mother… left this for me?”

“Indeed,” Niflheim confirmed. “You should have pieced things together by now. That’s how you were able to combine techniques or create light despite having no affinity for it. But I suppose you lacked the knowledge to recognize what you were doing.”

“I guess I did,” Louis said as the grimoire approached him. He held it tightly, feeling its divine holy power pulse through his hands. “This is…”

Louis read the grimoire’s first pages in silence. Each page shimmered with radiant holy light. The entire book was composed of this shimmering ethereal substance, deeply tied to his mother’s divine power.

“There’s only one method here…” he said. “And it is called Holy Dragon Spirit Soul Vein Technique…”

“Soul Vein?” Niflheim was surprised. “That’s the Technique of Yggdrasil’s Light Dragons, masters of Soul Cultivation. I see. It makes sense your mother adopted their methods and then evolved them into her own personal Cultivation Method, which she is now passing to you.”

“Wait—my mother wasn’t a Light Dragon?” Louis asked.

“She was born a ’Heaven Dragon’, daughter of the Dragon King, born as an Ice Dragon, and his wife, an Ice Titan. Why was she born a Heaven Dragon? It is said your mother was a Soul from Another World. When Souls from Another World reincarnate, they gain a Talent within their Souls.

Your mother’s Soul Talent—or ’Unique Skill’—was related to her Desire for Heaven. Or so I’ve heard.”

“…?!” Louis was shocked. This was the first time he had ever heard that his mother was a reincarnated soul. “So she’s the same as my grandfather too? And… the same as…”

Louis fell silent.

His grandfather the Dragon King was also reincarnated.

His daughter had turned out to be reincarnated.

And now he himself had reincarnated, or halfway.

Unlike them, Louis was an already developed soul. When William tried to “transmigrate” into his body, both souls merged.

Because Louis possessed a far stronger character and emotions than William, his ego became dominant, but William remained an ever-present part of him now.

“Surprised by such a revelation, young dragon? It wasn’t just your grandfather; your grandmother was also reincarnated. It is said that reincarnated souls draw one another through Fate’s Attraction Force. Perhaps you’re already quite close to someone else who is reincarnated.”

“…? Mirai?”

Louis’ eyes widened. Based on the Sinners Academy game lore, Mirai was technically the reincarnation of two powerful entities.

“Is she? Well, perhaps.”

“Hm…”

The prince read the grimoire and learned about his mother’s techniques and her cultivation style. It involved absorbing the Essence of Heaven and combining it directly with Mana to create Heavenly Divine Essence.

This was, of course, ridiculously difficult for Louis right now. Yet it was not as though he had never done it before, that powerful beam that destroyed one arm of the Abyssal Mother had carried such power.

“Back then I temporarily created Divine Light… Perhaps it is related to that,” Louis said, rubbing his chin as he considered the grimoire’s contents. “Next is creating twelve different streams of such energy and guiding them inside the soul, rapidly transforming it. And lastly, all Twelve Veins converge with the Soul, constantly pumping energy, strengthening the soul tremendously. That was one of my goals this entire time.”

One of the things Louis desired most was a way to make his Soul stronger. Whenever he died, he arrived in a strange Limbo between dimensions and spoke with the Entity within his Soul.

Yet he was always helpless, unable to stop the creature from forcing him to regress over and over, granting him no agency.

Louis was merely being used. In that Limbo, where only the power of the bare soul mattered, he wanted to fight back and uncover the truth behind his Regression and the Entity’s true nature.

“And how do you even plan to create such powerful energy? Can you even do that?” Niflheim asked while examining the grimoire herself. “Huh, how interesting…”

“I can already draw Heavenly Essence from the skies,” Louis said. “My Heavenly Channels are all open as well. The only thing I need to do is merge it and refine it with Mana.”

“Yes, but Heavenly Divine Essence contains divinity, you know? Without divine power you cannot do it,” Niflheim pointed out.

“Then how was I able to imitate some of my mother’s techniques and even fire that beam?” Louis asked. “Sheer luck? If what you say is true, then it wouldn’t be possible.”

“…”

“Fantasy Hearts and the Spiral of Madness within them are technically equivalent to Divinities, but twisted,” Louis explained. “They are a power that seems to break any other power system from the Fantasy Worlds. So this makes me wonder, if I refine the energy through my Spiral, it could work… However, the Entity within the Spiral is what worries me. I wouldn’t want to awaken that creature…”

“You have a creature inside your Spiral?” Niflheim asked. “Huh. It seems that no matter what you do, you’re always screwed.”

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