We live in the Foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Beginning of Guidance
“Well then, now that Elnea-kun has received the Spirit Current Sword, I’d like to spar with you again.”
“Huh? But I’m not used to using this sword yet?”
On the contrary, I could barely feel the weight of the twin swords in both hands, and I hadn’t even drawn them from their sheaths yet.
What on earth is Lord Reed trying to see in me by having me spar in this state?
And can I even wield these heavy twin swords in the first place?
“Ara ara, don’t worry. Everyone is clumsy with swords at first, so there’s no need to be embarrassed, you know? For me, it took over ten years to overcome the weight of the Spirit Current Sword and be able to wield it freely.”
No, I’ve never heard that story before!
Or rather, it takes ten years to even be able to wield it properly!?
No, no, as an immortal, I have plenty of time, so ten years for the basics… that’s still too long!!
“Hahahaha, Elnea-sama has become confused.”
“Laira, it’s alright. I was just a little flustered by Lord Reed’s story.”
*Huuu*, I took deep breaths, calming my mind and body.
“Even for Lady Faruna’s Four Star Guardians, it took ten years. Then I… But no matter how harsh the path, it won’t begin if I don’t take the first step!”
In that case, please. With that, I drew my twin swords.
The blades had no special adornments or designs. If I hadn’t noticed the faded Spirit Tree gem embedded in the pommel, they would have looked like ordinary straight swords at first glance.
I gripped the swords, one in my right hand and one in my left.
A heavy sense of weight settled in both hands.
But then, I felt a slight strangeness.
“Huh? Is it just my imagination…? The weight of the swords themselves feels as heavy as they look…?”
However, I was clearly feeling a weight beyond that, not just in my arms but throughout my entire body.
“Elnea-sama, what do you mean?”
I carefully analyzed and conveyed the strangeness, which Laira, who wasn’t holding the twin swords, couldn’t understand.
“How should I put it? Yes, it feels like I’m bound by an invisible weight through sorcery… It’s not a physical weight, but a feeling of being restricted by weight?”
At my words, Lord Reed rejoiced with a childlike smile.
“To understand that from the start. As expected of a messenger of the Dragon God. For me, I only trained in Spirit Arts deep in the forest, and at first, I didn’t even realize that!”
Aria continued, “You have already accumulated much experience and have deeply connected with Spirit Veins and Spirit Trees. Unlike the clumsy Lord Reed, you will master the basics in less than ten years. And when you master the basics, the Dragon Sword Dance will reach heights no one has ever reached before.”
“Who are you calling clumsy?” Lord Reed began to lecture the Spirit Tree Spirit.
Aria added while pacifying Lord Reed, “While holding the Spirit Current Sword, you can exert your full strength as you always have. And, using the Spirit Current Sword, learn about the Spirit Vein.”
“My full strength as I always have? Does that mean I should refine my Dragon Energy, use Dragon Arts, and also use Spirit Tree arts?”
But we are currently…
“Ara, ara ara ara? It’s alright. After all, that Spirit Current Sword absorbs the arts and powers of anything it touches?”
“Eh!”
“See, isn’t the gem in the pommel empty? Even if you try to use an art, it will be sucked in there, so you can release your power as much as you like.”
“But that means…”
Even if I try to use an art, my power will be absorbed by the faded Spirit Tree gem. Even if I manage to activate the art, that art will also be absorbed.
Even so, is it really okay to end the training where we’ve been prohibited from using Dragon Arts and the like?
Lord Reed answered my question.
“It is alright. You must not misunderstand the spirit of things. The reason you have been living in an environment where you restrict your power is to search for a new path that doesn’t rely on arts or power, right?”
“Yes. If we seek power, we may be engulfed by a greater wave of power. That’s why we are aiming for a future that is not the path of pursuing power.”
Nevertheless, my desire to elevate the Dragon Sword Dance to greater heights stems from wanting to offer the best dedication to the Dragon God and the Goddess. And to protect my family in times of need.
Lord Reed, who listened to my thoughts, genuinely rejoiced, saying, “That’s a wonderful goal.”
And then he asked, “So, let me ask again? What is the spirit behind your purpose of restricting your power?”
“Not the superficial talk of not using power, but the spirit hidden behind that action… Ah, I see!”
I wasn’t taking the content of our training lightly.
But I had overlooked the deep yet simple “spirit” of why we chose such an option.
However, Lord Reed’s question made us realize the reason behind the training we had imposed on ourselves.
“By binding ourselves under the guise of a trial, we were trying to suppress the easy use of power and arts… Ah, so that’s why it’s okay to give it my all from now on? Because no matter how much I try to give it my all, this twin sword will absorb it.”
“Elnea-sama, that’s exactly right!”
Laira rejoiced as if it were her own matter. So, leaving the emotion of joy to Laira, I tightened my grip on the twin swords anew and put on a determined spirit.
“Come on, you can attack me anytime?”
Lord Reed didn’t seem to be the one to initiate.
In that case!
I leaped with all my might and swung the heavy Spirit Current Sword with a thud.
“Uwaaah!”
With a pathetic swordsmanship, I barely managed to swing the sword in my right hand.
However, I couldn’t achieve the speed I had envisioned, and the point of the sword didn’t reach the intended target. Moreover, I could barely withstand the weight of the sword, resulting in a pathetic slash that swayed limply at the tip.
If old Sleigsta had seen that swordsmanship, he would have sighed deeply and scolded me. It was that pathetic, just like swinging a stick for the first time in the Moss Garden.
“Kuh, then!”
If I can refine my Dragon Energy, and use Dragon Arts without holding back, I won’t hold back!
If the twin swords are heavy, I’ll strengthen my body with Dragon Energy. So I infused my body with Dragon Energy.
However, no matter how much I strengthened my body, the heavy feeling from the twin swords in both hands remained unchanged.
As I suspected, this wasn’t physical weight, but some kind of restriction or curse that caused the heaviness.
As I was analyzing this, a change occurred within my body.
The Dragon Energy I had refined for Spatial Jump and body strengthening was completely absorbed.
What’s more, even the Dragon Energy I inherently possessed as Dragon Power was absorbed by the gem, causing me to stagger.
“Could it be that this sword mercilessly absorbs power when I use it?”
“Ara ara ara? Because the sword can’t distinguish, can it? So, once it starts absorbing power or arts, it will absorb all the power the gem senses. This is also a training exercise to control it, so please do your best.”
With that, Lord Reed supported me as I stumbled.
Although it’s a sparring match, he worries about me like this before even competing, which suggests he might not have intended to assess my swordsmanship or physical ability from the start, knowing I’d fall into this situation.
Perhaps he’s just observing my actions and how I think?
“Elnea-sama!”
Laira hurried over, supporting me.
“Thank you, Laira. And thank you, Lord Reed. I’ve made a pathetic display right off the bat.”
But I can’t end it here!
If my actions and thoughts are being observed, I have to show an attitude of not giving up, no matter the difficulty.
My Dragon Energy was rapidly depleting, and I felt like I might lose consciousness in a weakened state.
However, if my Dragon Energy runs out, I’ll just replenish it, that’s my thinking!
Supported by Laira, I concentrated my consciousness and felt for the Dragon Vein.
Carefully, yet quickly, I drew the necessary amount from the Dragon Vein.
However, was this also an exercise of power? As I drew it, the gem kept absorbing my Dragon Energy!
“Hmph, is the absorption rate of this gem inexhaustible!?”
“I won’t lose!” I increased the amount I was drawing, and only then did my replenishment exceed the absorption.
But this was a dangerous overuse of the Dragon Vein. I didn’t want to be in this state normally, and even now, if I let my guard down, I felt like I could be swept away and drown in the flow of the Dragon Vein.
Nevertheless, I, who didn’t want this sparring match to end, utilized the Dragon Vein.
“Lord Reed, please again!”
I released myself from Laira’s support and re-gripped the twin swords.
The twin swords still felt oppressively heavy.
Why do I feel these twin swords are heavy?
Lord Reed said it was because my foundation was not in place.
Then, what is that foundation?
The foundation of the Dragon Sword Dance?
Lord Reed also said he used these twin swords when he was training.
But Lord Reed is not a practitioner of the Dragon Sword Dance, is he?
Therefore, it shouldn’t mean the foundation of the Dragon Sword Dance.
Then, is it the foundation of Dragon Arts?
Lord Reed is from the Mimicho Race, so it’s not the foundation of Dragon Arts either. Furthermore, Lord Reed originally accumulated training in Spirit Arts, but from the fact that he said it took him ten years to properly wield these twin swords, I don’t think it means the foundation of some kind of art, do you?
Then, what on earth is it the foundation of? I thought. I returned to the basics.
The name of these twin swords is the Spirit Current Sword, right?
And Aria, the Spirit Tree Spirit, told me to learn the Spirit Vein with this Spirit Current Sword.
In other words…?
There must be some relationship between the Spirit Current Sword and the Spirit Vein, and I’m not noticing it.
Is that why Lord Reed said my foundation wasn’t in place? Then, what am I not noticing?
Not noticing, overlooking, not even being aware of. It’s very difficult to notice “something” that doesn’t even come to mind.
In fact, despite being able to think this far, I couldn’t grasp even a clue to the answer.
“Perhaps it’s better to move my body than to think right now?”
My hands, which had drawn the twin swords, had stopped moving, my mind too preoccupied with thought.
“Lord Reed, once more, please!”
Saying that, I took a step forward and swung the heavy Spirit Current Sword with all my might.
It’s okay to be pathetic, it’s okay to be unsightly. For now, I just want to swing the Spirit Current Sword as much as possible and spar with Lord Reed!
“Haa!”
The Spirit Current Sword, swung down from an upper stance, was easily deflected by Lord Reed’s slender sword.
I lost my balance and couldn’t follow up with the next attack.
Lord Reed, as if willing to indulge my pathetic state, didn’t swing a finishing blow.
He waited for me to regain my posture and met my pathetic swordplay.
“Haa! Yah!”
I swung the Spirit Current Sword countless times, and Lord Reed received every single one head-on.
No matter how hard I swung, Lord Reed elegantly parried it with his slender sword.
“Haa, haa… This sword is so thin, it looks like it could break with the slightest impact, yet it withstands all my attacks…”
I felt the weight of the Spirit Current Sword not just with my hands, but with my entire body. Since this weight wasn’t the actual weight of the Spirit Current Sword, the impact from the super-heavy weight wasn’t actually generated, and therefore, it didn’t have the power to destroy the opponent’s weapon.
Still, if a blade about the length of a medium sword and a long sword was swung with all my might, it should have some power, right? Yet, Lord Reed’s slender sword not only didn’t break, but it didn’t even bend.
And then, it suddenly occurred to me.
I had been in a similar situation before, hadn’t I?
My intended attack somehow only played into the opponent’s scheme.
My sword is heavier and more powerful, so a slender sword shouldn’t be able to receive it head-on, yet it’s easily handled.
That’s right!
It’s similar to when I sparred with Lady Faruna during the Wedding Ceremony at the Wyvern Hunting Ground!
No matter how much we attacked, it was useless against Lady Faruna. Moreover, everyone else besides me didn’t even realize they were being made to attack comfortably.
Isn’t it possible that I’m currently just swinging the Spirit Current Sword according to Lord Reed’s intentions!?
That’s why my attacks are being easily deflected by Lord Reed’s slender sword!
Come to think of it, it’s not that strange.
After all, Lord Reed is Lady Faruna’s disciple.
*Fuu*, I calmed myself down again.
As expected, just swinging my sword aimlessly like this is meaningless.
Unless I wield the sword in a way that shows the meaning of the Spirit Current Sword from outside Lord Reed’s intentions, this sparring match will be pointless.
“Ara, ara ara ara? You seem to be growing fast after all?”
“I will strive not to disappoint Lord Reed’s expectations!”
I re-gripped the Spirit Current Sword.
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