Sword Saint's Reincarnation

As Rylan walked toward the group of Mages, he glanced at the System message floating in front of him.

[Your mastery over Aura and mana has grown. The two forces were never meant to be apart. A new possibility continues to bloom further.]

Never meant to be apart, huh?

It was something he’d guessed the moment he acquired his Aspect and the ability to channel Aether, but it was another thing entirely to see the System itself say it. If anything, it was a hint, a reward of sorts for achieving what he already had. The System was confirming that his path wasn’t wrong. He smiled and dismissed the message. The System window disappeared into nothingness. He continued to walk.

With every step, he could see the Mages fighting their urge to step backward. However, the man at the forefront stood still, gulping. Rylan scanned him. He was of average height and build, with an unremarkable appearance, but he was in the Fifth Circle.

I saw him back during the feast.

He had been standing by the side of the man who had spoken up. Finally, Rylan arrived in front of the group. The average-looking man gulped again. A moment later, he abruptly bowed.

“I’m sorry,” the man said. “We knew that this Boss was special, and we were trying to steal it, even though you had already told us during the feast to stay away.”

The rest of the Mages’ reactions ranged from flinching to nearly jumping in place and staring at the man. One of them, a blond man of average height, had an especially piercing gaze.

Rylan tilted his head.

“I didn’t expect you to admit it outright,” he replied.

“You saved our lives. If you hadn’t arrived, we would have all died at the hands of the Boss. This is the least I could do,” the man said, still bowing.

He raised his body after a second and looked behind Rylan with a pained expression. Rylan didn’t need to turn around to know that he was looking at the three corpses of his allies.

“Three of us did die,” the man continued, his voice shaking. “And it was my fault.”

“No,” one of the Mages suddenly said, making Rylan look at her. She was a green-haired woman with blue eyes, and she had clenched her fists. She was staring right at the blond man with the piercing eyes. “It wasn’t yours.”

The blond man turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow.

“I seem to recall all of us agreeing to do this,” he said slowly.

She gritted her teeth. Before she could reply, the average-looking man raised his hand, palm facing forward, making her stop and look at him.

“He’s right. In the end, we all decided to come here,” he said. “Even if some of us were more determined than the others.”

“He insisted that we take on the Boss, even though we already knew that the enemies deep into the Dungeon were stronger than we expected,” she replied sharply. “Even if we didn’t meet many of them.”

Rylan looked at her. Her eyebrows were trembling, as was her lower lip.

She’s just looking for someone to blame. Was she close to one of the people who died?

In the end, she had also agreed to come and try to steal the Boss. He shook his head.

“In the end, you guys only slipped past us because we had to deal with all of the monsters,” Rylan said, making everyone stop talking and look at him. “If we had come across you, we would have just forced you out. Well, all that you achieved was the deaths of three people. That’s punishment enough.”

The average-looking man looked at the ground, as did the woman. The blond man, however, only narrowed his eyes. Rylan smiled coldly at him.

“We’re done here, so I don’t really care if you stay and fight as many monsters as you want. Just know that, if you go against me again, there will be consequences,” he continued in a sharp tone.

There was no need to blow this out of proportion. The group hadn’t managed to achieve anything and had even lost three members. They hadn’t harmed him or his family in any way. Just warning them was enough. Of course, if there was a next time, he wouldn’t be so merciful.

And maybe doing things Roland’s way isn’t for the best.

Rylan scanned the entire group before promptly turning to look at his family and Mar’s Mages, and smiling.

“Come on, we’re out of here,” he said. “But first, let me check the Equipment rewards.”

He walked over to the two pieces of Equipment floating in the air above the Boss’s corpse, glowing slightly. A ring and a robe. Once he was close enough, Rylan first grabbed the ring. Its information appeared in front of him.

[Equipment

Shaded Heart (Epic): under the darkness of the Shades and the careful light of the Lantern Warden, this heart bloomed in shadow, carrying its promise. It thrives in the kind of environment that birthed it.

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* Increases all stats by 6% when within darkness or shade.

* Increases magical stats by a further 7% when within darkness or shade.

* Increases the effectiveness of all darkness magic cast by the wearer.]

Rylan nodded to himself. It was a circumstantial piece of Equipment, but one that worked well, especially given that it was only a ring. If he could get it to trigger consistently, it would benefit him quite a bit. The conditions seemed a bit loose, too, since it wasn’t clear what exactly was classified as ‘shade.’ Next, he looked at the robe.

[Equipment

Robe of Silence (Rare): within the Shaded Catacombs, its weaker creatures were forced to learn how to move in silence to avoid being devoured. Their fear manifested as a survival instinct, allowing them to thrive and live another day within the Dungeon’s domains.

* Reduces the wearer’s presence.

* Reduces the sounds created by the wearer’s footsteps.

* Slightly reduces the mana signature of all magic cast by the wearer.]

Rylan tilted his head.

Not bad, but since it’s only a Rare Equipment, the effects must be lackluster.

In the end, the Equipment rewards for this Dungeon hadn’t been significant, but the Levels had been worth it.

Can’t win them all. I’m sure the others will find use for them.

Rylan grabbed the two pieces of Equipment and started walking back to his group, who were all staring at him.

“Nothing that useful, but still pretty good,” he said loudly. “We’ll talk about it on the way. Now, let’s go.”

Melvin and Philip traded a glance before nodding, while Krysta and Cecilia stared at the group of Mages for a bit with narrowed eyes. Rylan looked at his family. His siblings were trading looks between him and the Mages, and Sarah and Elizabeth were smiling at him. Elliot was staring at him, myriad emotions in his eyes. Rylan walked around everyone and out of the Boss room. After a second, his group followed him, leaving behind the group of Mages.

***

Rylan stepped out of the Gate, immediately looking around. As expected, everyone else came out of it almost at the same time. He let out a sigh of relief.

“So, Rylan’s getting the ring,” Aelfric said from behind him.

Rylan looked over his shoulder.

“And the robe’s going to the kids if they need to hide. Because of their size, they can all fit inside at the same time,” he replied.

Sarah smiled widely at him and nodded, as did Gerard and Elizabeth. The kids only stared at him before Rylan looked ahead once more.

As agreed, Layla and her group were waiting for him outside. She smiled at him.

“I admit that I got a bit nervous when you said you only wanted our help once you were done with the Dungeon, but it seems like everything went well,” she said.

Rylan nodded with a serious expression. In the end, he had decided not to take her group into the Dungeon, since they would see too much of his abilities. Instead, they had agreed to help him around Durn and provide extra protection for the kids if necessary.

“Things turned out alright, but there’s something I’d like you to do,” he replied. “Inside, we met a group of seven Mages who were trying to steal the Boss. There were also three dead ones. I’d like you to tell me when they leave the Dungeon. I’ll pay you extra.”

Her eyes widened. He described their appearances, making her expression change in real time. By the time he was done, she was frowning.

“Those fucking idiots,” she said, cursing under her breath. “I should have expected it. They never really believed the stories about you.”

Rylan nodded, walked up to her, and placed one hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll be counting on you.”

She blinked and smiled at him.

“Well, I can’t disappoint someone like you. I promise we’ll keep them under close watch. Odds are, they’ll go to Miguel after they leave the Dungeon. I’ll try to obtain more information.”

He smiled back at her and nodded, then walked past her, followed closely by his group.

“I’m proud of you, Rylan,” Elizabeth said once they were some distance away from Layla’s group. “There was a lot you could have done back then, but I’m glad you didn’t do anything.”

Rylan looked over his shoulder and smiled. Meanwhile, Philip glanced at him.

“…I still think you should have punished them in some way,” the man said after a second. “They defied your orders and tried to steal your Boss. Letting them just walk away is just setting a precedent.”

Rylan shook his head.

“Three of them were already dead,” he replied. “And it didn’t seem like anyone had been forced into it. If I were going to punish them, I’d need to punish all of them. I didn’t see the need to harm seven people who had already lost three allies.”

“And if it happens again because of it?”

Rylan’s gaze became colder.

“That’s another matter. They wouldn’t be able to just walk away. If they had also tried to do anything to you guys, I would have attacked them right there.”

Philip nodded with a grin, and Melvin’s expression was similar. Elizabeth only sighed deeply, shaking her head. Rylan looked at Elliot. The boy’s eyes were practically shining. He smiled awkwardly at him.

The group continued to walk back toward the town.

“Let’s rest here for the night,” Rylan said after some time. “Tomorrow, we’ll resume our trip. The sooner we get to Mar, the better.”

The others nodded.

“In the end, we didn’t fight much,” Aelfric said. “You had to take on all the monsters.”

“Thank the gods,” Regis mumbled under his breath, earning him a stare from Lillia.

Rylan smiled.

“There will be more opportunities,” he replied. “Both during our trip and when we get to Mar. One way or another, you guys need to become stronger. I’ll help with that as much as I can. My Profession will probably help, too.”

“Oh?” Cecilia uttered in a surprised tone. “Your Profession is related to other people’s growth?”

Rylan nodded.

“I picked the ‘Master’ Profession. Among other things, it increases the learning speed of the people I teach. If I guide them about fighting, they’ll improve faster.”

“Master?” Melvin asked. “I’ve never heard of that one, and we have a pretty good database back in our kingdom. If it’s related to teaching others, someone in Mar should have been able to choose it. We have plenty of professors and guides.”

Rylan shrugged.

“Don’t ask me about it. It was just the best one I was offered, and one that fit my objectives.”

Of course, he knew that he had only been offered the Master Profession because of his degree of experience and mastery, given that he’d lived for over a century, if one added Roland’s life to his. However, there was no merit in making Mar’s Mages even more suspicious than they likely already were. He also had no plans of telling them about his past life.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Krysta said. “If it’s like that, then maybe it’ll work out. We’ll come across a few Dungeons on our way. I think it would be worthwhile to stop by, but we can’t linger for too long. The Empire might come at any point.”

Rylan nodded, his expression turning serious. He had already guessed that Lucius had chosen not to do anything about him yet, but it was entirely possible that there would be people who disagreed and sent Mages after him. On top of that, there were other factions on the continent that might try to use him for their own purposes. He knew very little about the inner workings of the Empire’s political situation, and even less about its secret organizations. There was no way to predict who might target him. In the end, reaching Mar should still be the first priority. Under Catherina’s protection, things would get much easier.

I’ll just have to deal with things as they come.

He had developed his personal strength solely for the purpose of keeping his loved ones safe. If they were targeted by anyone, he wouldn’t be merciful.

Rylan led his family back to their lodgings. Tomorrow, they would leave Durn.