Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Meaning of Mectera
‘Captain.’
‘What now.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘To stop hitting you?’
‘That's a given.’
‘What is it.’
‘About the Star-Breaking Style. The one you learned.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Isn't the Sword Net also composed of mana amplified by that?’
‘That's right.’
‘Then why can't I feel it? Shouldn't a mana flow like that naturally be detected?’
‘If the enemy can detect it, is it a detection method? It's an advertisement.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘It's because I do it at a 1-star level. I spread the lowly amplified mana. So that it isn't caught by most senses.’
‘…And you can detect with that faint thing, Captain?’
‘It's iffy at first, but you get a feel for it as you keep doing it.’
‘…….’
***
The sun cannot hide.
The moonlight is ultimately the sun's.
When night comes, and the sun's body is not visible, its presence cannot be hidden.
‘Exa, the Star-Breaking Style is like the sun.’
It was something my master had once said.
I, Simurtr, understood those words as well as my master did.
‘Because our mana is like that.’
The mana of the Star breaker was like the sun.
It cannot be hidden. It was said that its presence disappears upon reaching the extreme, but that was a state even my master had not reached.
‘It means it can't be hidden. It's obvious just by existing.’
It meant possessing an overwhelming presence that drew all the aggro on the battlefield.
That was why Exa of my past life stood at the forefront of the battlefield, and why the casualties on our side in his battlefields were particularly low.
When he took to the battlefield, the low-ranking, dull-witted Doom Species were drawn to Exa. And the high-ranking ones were mad for achievements.
‘It's quiet now because my attainment is still low.’
If I wished, I could inflate my presence right now. It was not a difficult task. That was the purpose of the Star-Breaking Style in the first place.
Simurtr doubled the radius of his Sword Net.
It cost a lot of mana, and his detection ability lowered… its efficiency dropped to an all-time low, but it couldn't be helped. It was a city district with too many places to hide.
‘How nice it would have been if it were open ground.’
Simurtr operated the Star-Breaking Style.
He brought out the mana that had completed its 3-star rotation into the open air. He fiddled with it as he walked down the main street.
“How do you do that?”
“If you do it a lot.”
As I did so, a reaction was caught.
Someone perceived the mana of the Star breaker and reacted without realizing it.
Tuk, the unconscious emergence of mana was caught by the Sword Net.
“Found you.”
Simurtr retrieved the materialized mana from the air. Preserving mana was a habit that had formed since inheriting the Star breaker. Now, I had to be even more frugal with it.
“How did you do that?”
“Why do you keep asking things.”
“It's the first time I've seen something like that.”
Deban was surprised by Simurtr in many ways. Not only did he easily kill the deployed swordsmen, but such an unbelievable feat.
The retrieval of materialized mana. It would be one thing if it was mana being operated within the body, but the feat of retrieving sword ki that had already been created was something he had seen for the first time in his life.
Even our Head of the Sword can't do that.
“You just do the process in reverse.”
“Is that possible?”
“Should I teach you?”
“Yes.”
“After I see what you can do.”
Looking at a sign with roughly scrawled letters, I jumped up to the third floor. Standing on the railing, I could see a man lying on a sofa beyond the window.
He was probably waiting for the test to end after eliminating a participant.
The swordsman had also just perceived Simurtr's presence. As he was operating his mana, the presence of the Star-Breaking Style could not be hidden.
“What the…!”
Before the swordsman could even get up, Simurtr's sword shot out. The white sword ki that was suddenly released pierced his neck.
“Is it over now?”
“Yes. I'm the last one.”
“What should we do?”
“Honestly, I'd like to learn a thing or two… but I'm too conscious of others' eyes.”
Deban looked at the sky. There was still an hour left, but the thought of the Head of the Senate of Elders' anger made him reluctant.
“I'll see you later.”
While thinking of an excuse to tell the Head of the 3rd Sword.
Deban slit his own throat.
***
Although I was confident I would kill them all, I had actually only cut down seven. I did not touch Deban, nor Jahar's and Ael's opponents.
‘Because it's a Selection Ceremony.’
It was a place for the direct descendants.
I had no intention of interfering to that extent. The reason Simurtr had decided to interfere was regarding Medeoban's arbitrary decision.
“……”
Naturally, the glares from the collateral branch members who were interfered with were sharp. Half of them were eliminated by the swordsmen, but the rest had Simurtr barge in during their battles.
‘The decision was probably made in the second test.’
Simurtr did not mind such glares.
If the reason for this change in the Selection Ceremony was truly himself, Medeoban would not abandon those collateral branch members.
“…The results will be announced later.”
It was customary to announce the results as soon as the Selection Ceremony concluded.
But Medeoban announced their dismissal.
“The direct descendants… and the adopted son shall remain.”
Medeoban said with a thoroughly flushed face.
The siblings, who were about to move, stayed in their places. The same went for Simurtr.
They just watched as the other participants left with sighs.
The siblings kept stealing glances at Simurtr while being mindful of the family elder.
This was because after winning a narrow victory against the swordsman, they had watched Simurtr's atrocities on the screen outside.
‘Why did you do that.’
When their eyes met, Ael mouthed the words.
Even after the collateral branch members had left, Medeoban did not speak for a long time.
Because someone had thoroughly messed up the Selection Ceremony.
“Jahar.”
After some time had passed, Medeoban finally opened his mouth. It was when Semenu's shadow had started to stealthily shift its position toward Simurtr.
“Yes.”
Jahar had a tense face.
Though he was his grandfather, he was the former Sword Master. As is common with nobles, the greater the family's prestige, the more twisted the family relationships become.
The one responsible for the family cherishes their family in a different sense. They hope for the members to bring glory to the family, not use the family's prestige for their protection.
“It is not an easy feat to defeat an active-duty swordsman at the age of selection. It is a splendid achievement. You would not be out of place even if you went outside immediately.”
“Thank you.”
From that perspective, Jahar deserved a passing grade. Not to mention his effort, he was born with talent befitting the Mectera bloodline.
“Ael.”
“Yes.”
“Not bad. If effort is added, you will soon be able to join us.”
“Thank you.”
The same went for Ael. Unlike Jahar who prioritized his own abilities, her range of thought was wide. She knew how to use her surroundings and tried to use everything she had.
If she could just fix the flaw of prioritizing her interests, she was qualified to represent Mectera alongside Jahar.
“There is no reason to notify the direct descendants later. Jahar, Ael. I grant you the authority to use the repository.”
The main house's repository.
Gaining authority over it meant that a direct descendant had been acknowledged not for their bloodline, but for their sword.
‘Well. You can only take one thing, but it's symbolic.’
A true Mectera.
That is how the main house describes a direct descendant who passes the Selection Ceremony.
Soon, Medeoban turned his gaze.
“Simurtr.”
“Yes.”
Simurtr did not avoid Medeoban's eyes.
“You possess talent superior to the two before you. That achievement at the age of 16. It is certainly a talent unheard of in the history of the main house. Even the hero Exa Mectera did not show such an achievement at that age.”
‘What is this about.’
“However, there is no place for you in the main house. I will provide appropriate support. I will give you the promised elixir, and I will give you enough money to settle down even in the imperial capital. Discard the name of the main house.”
‘I knew it.’
It was as expected. Simurtr barely held back the corner of his mouth from turning up.
He didn't know the exact reason, but it was probably for Mectera's sake. Medeoban was a person who prioritized Mectera above all else.
“I refuse.”
Simurtr lightly ignored that perverted belief.
***
Suddenly, I remembered the days of my past life.
The moment I was expelled from the Ducal House of Mectera.
Exa, who had been adopted, was not even given the qualification to participate in the Selection Ceremony.
“What is the problem?”
Of course, my inner self was completely different from back then.
This time I had the ability, and I had no intention of becoming the successor. But I had to stay in the main house.
“You do not fit. You know that.”
“What does not fit Mectera is everything but the sword. Was what I used not the sword?”
Simurtr held up the sword he had not yet sheathed. He pretended to swing it casually, but its tip was clearly aimed at Medeoban.
“I passed the first test first.”
“It was a test of no great significance.”
“Then you should have removed it.”
“What did you say?”
Anger filled Medeoban's face.
He was undoubtedly a precious talent. But it was right not to eat what one could not digest.
He had promised support in consideration of him being an adopted son. Yet, such an impudent attitude.
“In the second test, everyone except me received 1 point.”
The same went for the test just before. Simurtr had subdued 7 of the 10 swordsmen deployed.
“It was all done with the sword. Do I still not fit?”
“……”
“Then please tell me. What should I have done? Was the Phantasmal Realm not enough?
Should I have killed them all in reality as well?”
At the clearly challenging words, Medeoban looked at Simurtr. Unlike the content of his words, he was calm.
An uninformed person seeing this would mistake him for someone who was genuinely asking because he did not know.
“You are an adopted son.”
“I know.”
“The blood of Mectera does not flow in you. The foreign mana you hold also does not symbolize Mectera.”
“Surely you are not talking about bloodline?”
“That is so. If you were to become the Sword Master, Mectera would begin with a new bloodline. It would lose the tradition of the Black Sword. That could no longer be called Mectera.”
“Since when did the name Mectera mean bloodline.”
“I know. Originally, Mectera is a prestigious name given to the best swordsman of the era. It is not of bloodline.”
The roles have been reversed. After a long time, the public has come to understand it the other way around, but Mectera does not mean bloodline.
Even if one bloodline has firmly held that position for a thousand years, it could change at any time.
“How can you, who knows this, say such a thing.”
Survival of the fittest.
If Mectera was to continue its traditional lineage, then the superior one must survive.
If Mectera's black had been pushed aside, then it should be culled.
“Throughout its thousand-year history, Mectera has had countless adopted sons.”
“I know.”
Because Exa was one of them.
“Many challenged for the position of Sword Master. But none succeeded. For the past thousand years. The position of Sword Master has belonged solely to the main bloodline.”
From some point on, that fact became the pride of the current Mectera bloodline.
That no matter what talent came along, it could not surpass the current Mectera bloodline.
“I thought so, and have lived so. That if there was one who could ably surpass it, I would gladly serve them as Sword Master.”
It was true.
Medeoban had tried everything he could to fix the flaw of Exa in his past life.
He had sincerely hoped for Exa to challenge for the position of Sword Master.
“Why are you like this now, when you were like that before?”
“It has been quite some time. Since the end of the Doom War.”
The act of expelling an adopted son not because he was lacking, but because he was exceptionally outstanding.
It was indeed an act that someone who had been the Sword Master of Mectera should not do. It would have been unimaginable in the past.
“This old man's injury? It is not a problem to show concern for. It does not need to be treated. I have already retired.”
The Doom War.
On that battlefield that spanned the entire continent, Medeoban was in charge of protecting the main house.
Those 10 years. In that time, Medeoban suffered a fatal injury.
“But the Sword Master is different.”
Such an injury was by no means a problem.
Medeoban had experienced the fear of his bloodline being severed.
“I did not know it would be so futile.”
As soon as the war ended.
His son and the current Sword Master, Gerehk, lost his life. He did not recover even after pouring in the precious elixir.
“It's called a final radiance. Gerehk left the main house on the last day of the month. But it was short. He was found at just the west gate.”
Inevitably. Medeoban made the weak Orde the Sword Master.
“I have seen nobles whose line was cut off. It was laughable to blame the war when they themselves were weak.”
Because there was no other way to continue the bloodline other than with that youngest son.
“Not on the battlefield, but in the main house. Who would have known that the current Sword Master would crumble so fleetingly.”
At that time.
Medeoban felt a vague sense of anxiety.
“I always thought the Sword Master belonged to the main bloodline. The main bloodline came to be perceived as Mectera itself. I had thought it natural for my son, my grandson, to inherit the position of Sword Master.”
But the son who inherited the position of Sword Master died.
What if even Orde had not been there?
Mectera would have been recorded in history as more ridiculous than any other noble.
“That inevitability is the achievement built up by our ancestors. A thousand years. That distant time cannot be fathomed.”
Medeoban became afraid that that distant time would become futile, that the destiny of the bloodline recognized as Mectera at the end of a thousand years would crumble in his generation.
“Why are you talking about ancestors.”
Because his son, the former Sword Master, died, he realized that the position of Sword Master was not inherently his bloodline's.
“Be honest.”
“……”
“Aren't you just scared? Of having Mectera taken away.”