Sword Saint's Reincarnation

Inside his family’s carriage, Rylan smiled at his siblings as they ate. Lillia glanced at him and furrowed her brow, then swallowed.

“Why are you looking at us like that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Rylan shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing,” he replied. “I’m just glad everyone is fine after the Shaded Catacombs.”

It had been a day since they had departed from Durn. Thankfully, nothing of note had happened. The journey had remained peaceful.

“I mean, you were there,” Regis said after swallowing a bite. “Mar’s Mages were, too. We would have been fine either way. But… I admit I wasn’t really prepared for a Dungeon at the level of the Fifth Circle.”

“Every enemy in there surpassed your abilities,” Gerard replied in a severe tone. “Once you become more powerful, they’ll be manageable. It’ll just take some time to get there. The Boss was abnormally powerful, but the other enemies were within expectations.”

Regis nodded at him and looked back at Rylan.

“We’ll have to fight again, right?” he asked.

Rylan nodded with a grin.

“Yeah,” he replied. Regis winced. “But from what Krysta told me, the next few Dungeons in our way are at the level of the Fourth Circle or below. You guys will be able to fight better and get more experience.”

Lillia sighed deeply.

“I don’t like it, but I know it’s necessary. Still, it’s unfair how quickly you became stronger,” she said. “A year ago, you were only at the First Circle. Now, you’ve surpassed us even in the number of Circles, since you’re in the Fourth Circle.”

Regis nodded begrudgingly, making Rylan smile.

“It’s because of my past life’s memories and my changes to my Mana Core, but I also fought and Leveled up a lot after remembering my past life. That’s what you guys are missing, so I’ll help you with that. Once you’ve Leveled up properly, it’ll be easier to form your Fourth Circle,” Rylan replied. “And I’ll help you guys every step of the way.”

Lillia blinked, then slowly smiled.

“…It’s still a bit weird to speak to you like this,” Regis said as he stared at Rylan. He smiled. “But it doesn’t feel bad.”

Next to him, Aelfric also smiled widely. Rylan looked at his younger brother with a grin.

I’m glad I managed to help him through the withdrawals.

Above anything, Rylan was glad he could spend time with his family like this, just like it had been before he fell to his addiction, so many years ago. He looked at his parents, who were sitting next to him. Both of them were smiling, with Elizabeth smiling even wider than Aelfric, her eyes a bit moist. He could tell she treasured this moment even more than he did.

She’s the one who was forced to be away from our family for so long, just because of Gael.

He looked back at his siblings. Regis and Lillia had started talking in hushed tones about what kind of enemies they expected to face in the next Dungeon, while Aelfric was only smiling at them.

“I swear,” Rylan started saying, making everyone look at him. Regis and Lillia stopped their conversation. “That I’ll never let anyone take this away from me. From us. We’ll always be together, even if I have to fight against the entire world to keep it that way. I don’t care if it’s against the Empire or whatever other nations there are across the sea. I’ll never give up on all of you.”

For a few seconds, silence reigned.

“Son,” Gerard replied. Rylan looked at him. His father was smiling, but he could see the determination and strength in the man’s eyes. “That should have been my line, but you’ve already become stronger than me. Just know that your oath is mine, too, and that I’ll never give up on you again. We put you aside for too long, troubled as you were. I don’t want this family ever to break apart again. We’ll fight with you, and we’ll support you.”

Rylan couldn’t help but smile at his father as Elizabeth put her arm around his shoulders. She smiled at him, her eyes wet.

Unlawfully taken from NovelFire, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“We know, dear,” she said. “We know.”

For a few seconds, Rylan only basked in that atmosphere.

I won’t let anyone take this away from me.

It was the one thing he could never lose. It didn’t matter if he would need to fight to his dying breath.

Taking a deep breath, Rylan stood up and smiled at everyone.

“I have to go on top of the carriage, now. Gotta keep watching out for possible enemies with Krysta,” he said. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful,” Aelfric said. “Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Rylan chuckled at his younger brother.

“Yeah, don’t worry.”

With one last wave at his family, Rylan opened the Skycarriage’s door, walked out, and closed it as he climbed on top of the vehicle. On top of the carriage, he looked at Krysta, who was sitting down. She turned to look back at him and smiled.

“Hello,” she said. “Ready to continue our watch?”

Rylan smiled at her and nodded, then moved to stand next to her, sharpening his senses to keep track of his entire surroundings. Both his mana and Aura circulated within him.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said after some time passed and after making sure there were no enemies nearby. “How do you guys hide your Circles? Back in Durn, people couldn’t notice that you were in the Sixth Circle. Even if they couldn’t sense your exact number of Circles, they should still be able to tell that you had a lot more mana than they did.”

“Oh, it’s just a little trick,” she replied with a smile as she looked at him. “It’s certainly influenced by skill, but you should be able to pick it up easily, given your level. It just revolves around keeping your mana as contained inside your Mana Core as possible.”

Rylan rubbed his chin in thought.

“Can you teach it to me?” he asked.

She smiled brightly, nodding.

“Of course!”

He smiled back at her.

“First, consider the mana in your entire body, what’s usually in it because of your Mana Core,” she continued, gesturing to her abdomen. “It should be easier for you since you already know Mana Cultivation. Then, try to pull all of it inside your Core without letting go of it, in a way that doesn’t decrease your total mana levels but still concentrates it all in a single point, which would be your Core.”

Rylan tilted his head.

So, it’s like a reverse mana circulation?

Instead of circulating his mana throughout his entire body to strengthen it, he would be doing the opposite.

I can see why it wouldn’t matter to a Mage, but it might actually be a little detrimental to me, since it would slow down my Mana Cultivation’s circulation by just a bit.

Still, because of his mastery, he would be able to make his mana explode out of the Mana Core and circulate throughout him almost instantly. He also didn’t need to keep this method active all the time. Instead, he could use it only when he wanted to hide his strength from prying eyes.

Seems like a good skill to pick up.

It likely wouldn’t be considered a Skill by the System, but it sounded useful anyway.

Speaking of Skills, I really need to start getting more Passive Skills again.

It would be something to consider once he got to Mar.

As he talked with Krysta, Rylan started to try to follow her instructions.

***

Lucius looked at the messenger kneeling in front of him with a frown.

He sat in a small throne behind a white marble desk. Bookshelves lined the walls of his large study, as well as scarlet banners emblazoned with the image of a golden hawk. A red carpet covered the floor perpendicular to the door, creating a path from the doorway to the marble desk. Golden spheres of pure mana floated around near the concave ceiling, around the chandelier burning with magical golden flames. Behind the throne, two large windows added the finishing touch to the back wall.

“I see,” Lucius said in a firm tone to the kneeling man, making him lower his head even further. “You’re dismissed.”

The messenger bowed until his forehead touched the floor, then hurriedly stood up and walked out of the study. Once the door shut behind him, Lucius let out a deep breath.

“…How annoying,” he said to himself.

The messenger’s words had been simple. A total of thirty-two soldiers, including five Commanders at the Sixth Circle, had left their posts simultaneously and departed from their territory after gathering in the same spot. Apart from the Commanders, all other soldiers were in the Fifth Circle. It was a sizable force capable of leveling most kingdoms on the continent, and one that surpassed the assassination squad sent to kill Rylan Flameheart.

Did they really think I wouldn’t notice?

No, they likely knew he would. They just didn’t care. The soldiers had departed, apparently en route to intercept Rylan’s entourage. Ironically, their purpose seemed to be the same as that of the assassination squad. Lucius frowned and sighed again, standing up.

It wasn’t any news to him that many within the Empire disagreed with him and his orders. Still, he hadn’t expected so many powerful soldiers to set off with the sole purpose of killing Rylan Flameheart.

I understand them.

From their perspective, it was likely that Rylan was the one who could become the Empire’s greatest enemy. As such, it stood to reason that he needed to die. It was a perspective marred from lack of knowledge about the truth of the world. They didn’t know about the Knights in the eastern continent.

Lucius looked through the window.

“I don’t have your charisma or leadership, old friend,” he said to himself.

Tiberius had been the most well-regarded Emperor in many generations. Still, thinking about that was pointless. What mattered was the way things truly were. He was now the Emperor, and he needed to lead the Empire and the continent into survival. Even now, their enemies continuously grew stronger.

You might have left to kill Rylan Flameheart, but this only ends one way.

Not only could Rylan use Mana Cultivation, but he had also likely awakened Aura and a powerful Aspect. Lucius fully believed that he would be the one to come out on top. However, he also knew that Rylan was traveling with his family, and that was something that could be exploited, even if he was with Mar’s Mages. Lucius’ scarlet eyes began to glow blue.

He didn’t plan to sit idly by.