Chapter 50: Knight of the Sun (2)

Yuren was the heir to the great Reynald Helios, the Knight of the Sun and leader of the Great Five Heroes. He was a prodigy who, at just ten years old, had surpassed his master in swordsmanship. People had given him countless titles and epithets, such as the successor to the swordsmanship blessed by the Seven Gods, the reincarnation of the Knight of the Sun, and the reincarnation of Reynald.

From a young age, Yuren had been the center of attention across the entire continent. And as if to meet the expectations placed on him, he demonstrated skills so extraordinary that it was hard to believe he was just a child. People praised him as the genius who would restore the Helios name, a once-great family that had been in decline for over five hundred years.

But people often said genius often walked hand in hand with tragedy. When Yuren was twelve, his younger sister, Yurina Helios, died in an accident. The official cause was a fall. It had happened atop the sacred mountain where generations of House Helios’s family head had been laid to rest.

The tragedy shook Yuren to the core. Overcome with grief, he dropped the sword he had never once let go of and shut himself away from the world, refusing to take part in any external activities.

Three years passed like that. Gossip mongers delighted in spreading doom, saying the last light of the Helios House had gone out and that the sun had finally set. It was then that Yuren suddenly broke his silence. He reappeared at none other than the annual Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament and, at just the age of fifteen, took second place.

It was a stunning comeback, a declaration to the world that the flame was still burning. From there, his rise was relentless. At eighteen, he entered the Hero Academy as the top-ranked cadet in his year. From that moment onward, he never relinquished the first place in the cadet rankings. The title “Successor of the Knight of the Sun” became more than just lineage; it became a fact.

Now, that very same genius, that elite among elites, the prodigy of swordsmanship, was bowing his head to a bottom-ranked cadet, pleading, “Please teach me swordsmanship!”

I wondered what people would think if they saw this, probably that they were dreaming. Honestly, that was exactly how I had felt when he bowed before me, a peer in the same year, over a single bout without mana.

I mean, I was planning to offer to help anyway, but for him to be the one asking me, and like this? It amused me.

“You want me to teach you swordsmanship?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’ll compensate you however you want.”

“Well, I’m not really asking for anything in return. But are you sure?”

“What do you mean?”

“If word gets out that the cadet at the top of the class is learning swordsmanship from the one at the bottom, the whole academy will flip out.”

Yuren’s answer was firm, without hesitation. “I don’t care.”

That passion for the sword! It was strong even in our past lives, but wow, it’s even more intense at this age, I thought, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I don’t mind teaching you. But keep it to yourself, yeah?” I said.

If people found out about this, his reputation would undoubtedly take a hit. I couldn’t let myself be the reason my one and only friend got dragged through the mud.

Yuren’s face lit up like a wanderer in the desert who had just found an oasis. “Thanks, Dale. So, where do we start?”

“Hmm.” I thought for a moment, then glanced toward the center of the training room. “First, show me how you normally practice. Like when you’re training by yourself.”

“Like I usually do?”

“Yeah. You can use mana too.”

“Got it.” Yuren moved to the center of the training hall, gripping his sword with both hands and taking a deep breath.

Mana surged through his body. Golden aura radiantly flared up along his sword, befitting a move from the heir to the Knight of the Sun. However, something felt off. I tilted my head as I watched the golden aura shimmer around his sword, wondering whether it was always this dull.

In my memory, Yuren’s aura had been much more vivid, dazzling, like a pure, brilliant gold. Right now, his aura looked almost murky, like it had been watered down.

Maybe it changed later on, I thought.

This wasn’t something to dwell on. It wasn’t uncommon for the color of someone’s aura to shift as one advanced in skill. Besides, aura color didn’t affect the sword itself.

I chuckled as I watched Yuren focus with his sword drawn.It had been a while since I saw this. Back then, I used to love watching Yuren train while just standing there, staring, captivated by his form. His movements were so graceful that it felt like I were watching art.

“I’ll begin,” Yuren said.

His sword moved in a sweeping arc, carving through the air with elegant precision. Each strike was sharp, clean, and deliberate—a testament to how relentlessly he had trained over the years. The golden aura trailing behind him painted the air in shimmering lines, and I found my hands unconsciously clenching into fists.

That’s Yuren’s swordsmanship.

A sword that could mesmerize anyone watching it. It was so graceful it sent shivers down the spine and so noble it ached the heart. It was the sword of my dearest friend. Sure, compared to what I had seen in our past lives, he still had a long way to go. But I could tell. Only I could tell. That the swordsman standing before me would one day shine even brighter than Reynald Helios, the man hailed as the Knight of the Sun five hundred years ago.

“Haaah!” With a short burst of breath, Yuren’s aura exploded outward from his sword.

The entire training room shook with a thunderous roar. Golden aura swirled through the air like a storm, and I stared, wide-eyed.

Seriously, this guy’s mana pool is insane, I thought.

I had heard earlier that when Yuren first awakened his soul stigmata, his mana reserves were already off the charts. Moreover, he had probably been chugging every mana-enhancing elixir since he was a kid.

The holy trinity of natural talent, full family backing, and relentless self-training with mana breathing techniques—that was how, at barely twenty years old, Yuren had surpassed not just his peers but even most of the professors in sheer mana output. It was only natural that someone like him would end up with such an absurd amount of mana.

Roughly five more minutes passed like that, and then the silver brilliance that had so gracefully cut through the air faded away.

Yuren looked at me. “Whew! I tried to do it like you said. How was it?”

“It was excellent.”

There was no denying it, Yuren truly deserved the title of a swordsmanship prodigy. His skill was every bit as impressive as the rumors claimed.

“Excellent? I couldn’t even land a single proper counterattack on you,” Yuren replied.

“Well, that’s because…”

No matter how talented Yuren was, there was no comparing him to someone like me, who had honed their blade over hundreds, even thousands of years. It was like comparing a toddler who was just learning to walk with a fully grown adult.

Of course, from the perspective of Yuren, who had no idea who I truly was, I probably looked like some kind of Sword God. And that worked just fine for me. Just as a professor’s credentials could change how their words are perceived, the more Yuren thought of me as incredible, the easier it would be for me to teach him.

Maybe I should lean into that a little more, I thought.

Smirking, I turned to him. “All right, let’s go one more round.”

“Got it.”

“This time, let’s use mana.”

“Mana?” Yuren stiffened. He glanced at me nervously before asking, “I mean, I hate to say it, but…”

“You’re wondering if the mana difference between us is too huge?” I replied.

“Y-yeah. Sorry!”

“No need to apologize. Mana affects swordsmanship just like anything else.”

I had felt it myself when I went through the Incarnation state. Mana and swordsmanship weren’t separate, but intertwined. Yuren had once claimed that if he could reach the pinnacle of the sword, he could perform miracles with pure technique, without relying on mana.

But on that point, Yuren, you’re wrong. It’s obvious, really, I said in my mind.

In truth, without mana, one couldn’t even reach that pinnacle. Telling someone to reach the peak of swordsmanship without mana was like telling someone to fly without wings. Of course, mana alone wasn’t enough to get one there, either. No matter how long one trained in pure swordsmanship—days, months, or years—they still wouldn’t be able to reach that level without mana.

Yuren nodded and raised his sword toward me. “If you’re that sure about it, fine.”

Golden aura flickered to life along the sword, and I stood across from him and drew my own sword. Then, a chorus of ringing steel filled the air as golden and gray auras collided.

“Ughh!” Every time Yuren’s sword met mine, pain shot through my palms, skin tearing away with the force of each blow.

“Damn! I really shouldn’t be using mana,” Yuren said.

“Quit whining and fight properly, will you?” I surged forward, drawing up all the mana in my body and charging him head-on.

The entire training room shook like it had been hit by an earthquake.

At first, Yuren pressed me hard, overwhelming me with his immense mana. But soon enough, the tide turned, and he began to falter. Wide-eyed and breathless, Yuren looked down at the golden aura enveloping his sword in disbelief.

He said, “Ugh! What… What is this?”

Even just by comparing the aura gathered on our swords, anyone could tell that the difference in mana between us was clear as day. I knew what Yuren was probably thinking right now: My sword’s faster and stronger. There’s no way I should be losing!

And yet, he was the one being pushed back, not me.

“That’s enough for today,” I said.

“But I can still go on!”

“I said that’s enough.”

“Tch!”

“Don’t be in such a rush. Swordsmanship isn’t something you master overnight, right?” I said firmly.

He replied, “Well, yeah, but…”

I sheathed my sword, taking care to hide the way I swallowed dryly. I had been trying to play it cool in front of him, but honestly, I wasn’t doing much better than he was. If that duel had lasted even another minute, hell, even thirty more seconds, I would’ve been the one getting overpowered.

Goddamn! This guy’s a freaking monster. I just wanted to look cool, but that almost blew up in my face, I thought.

Yuren’s voice came out low, almost desperate. “Tell me. How can I… fight with my sword like you do?”

“How can you fight like me, huh.”

I never thought I would hear something like that coming from Yuren Helios. I rummaged through my past life’s memories, searching for a suitably vague but wise-sounding answer. It wasn’t like I could tell him to just train for a couple thousand years.

Before long, I found something suitable. Ah, that one might work.

Smiling faintly, I said, “Don’t think about where you want the sword to go, think about where it wants to go.”

He just looked at me. “Don’t think about where I want the sword to go… Think about where it wants to go?”

“Yep.”

“What does that even mean? A sword’s not alive. How am I supposed to know what it wants?”

Hell if I know, kid. Hurts your head, doesn’t it? Now you know what it feels like! I replied in my mind.

Watching Yuren fall deep into serious contemplation, I couldn’t help but snicker. It felt like I had pulled off a small, harmless little act of revenge, and I was pretty pleased with myself.

Nevertheless, I said, “There’s no need to figure it out right this sec—”

Suddenly, a soft exclamation escaped Yuren’s lips. “Ah!”

He trembled and clenched his fists as though an enlightenment had struck him. “Ah, yeah! That’s what you meant! I get it now!”

“You do?”

Wait, seriously? How the hell do you know what it means? Even I don’t know what it means.

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