“What? Why?”
Eugene, who had just finished forming a contract with the wind spirit Sylph, stared at Taeje, who was looking at him blankly.
“What… what did you do?”
Seeing this sight for the first time, Taeje looked confused.
“A contract with a spirit.”
“A spirit?”
Taeje tilted his head.
Since this was a different world, it was natural for Taeje, who didn’t know what a spirit was, to not understand when it was simply called a spirit.
“Is that little bird thing a spirit?”
“Yes, that’s right… Wait, you can see the spirit?”
Eugene’s eyes widened slightly at Taeje’s words.
Normally, spirits could only be seen by summoners or contractors.
Of course, if Eugene, the spirit’s master, told the spirit to show itself, others could see it, but otherwise, even a 10-circle mage couldn’t see spirits.
‘Is it because he’s a divine beast…?’
There was only one possibility.
Since Taeje was a divine beast of Mount Kunlun, he had to be able to see spirits.
Rustle.
“What are you doing?”
Taeje jumped over to the table and tilted his head as he watched Eugene pack items into a bag.
“You should get ready too… Though, I guess you don’t have anything to prepare.”
“Ready?”
“We’re moving.”
“Huh???”
Taeje furrowed his brows and showed clear displeasure at Eugene’s words.
He had just gotten used to this house and could finally sleep comfortably, and now they were suddenly moving?
“I can’t sleep well in unfamiliar places.”
Eugene squinted his eyes and stared sternly at Taeje.
‘Is he really a divine beast…?’
He had his doubts.
How could a divine beast behave so unlike one?
“If you want to go back, you need to move.”
“Where are we going?!”
“To the academy.”
“The academy??”
Taeje tilted his head at Eugene’s words.
What was an academy out of nowhere?
“Just think of it as a martial arts hall for teaching children in the Central Plains.”
“Oh~.”
Taeje nodded at Eugene’s explanation.
In the Central Plains, each sect had its own martial arts hall.
Children who entered there learned martial arts and became part of that sect.
“So let’s get ready to move.”
In the end, Taeje hung his head and approached Eugene, who was slinging his bag over his shoulder.
There wasn’t much to pack anyway, just a few tattered clothes, some jerky, cheese, and bread.
Flutter.
The only clean thing was the outer garment he was wearing, which had the Bedia family’s logo prominently displayed on the chest, proving he was a member of the Bedia family.
***
The Ruikalon Empire, backed by two massive mountain ranges.
The Caldeide Kingdom, the Bevel Kingdom, and the Lukail Kingdom.
These three places combined to form the Ruikalon Empire.
“Do we really have to walk like this? They have carriages here too.”
Taeje looked up at Eugene, munching on jerky.
“We don’t have money for a carriage.”
Eugene and Taeje were walking towards the Landbard Academy in the Ruikalon Empire.
If someone saw them, they would call them crazy.
Even though the Bedia family’s territory was in the Lukail Kingdom, it took a week by carriage to get from the Bedia family to the Ruikalon Empire.
“And we’re walking there now?”
“We’ll eat jerky and use light-footed martial arts to get there.”
“You’re completely crazy… With your current level of light-footed martial arts, you can’t even match the speed of a horse. How long do you think it’ll take to get there at that speed?!”
Moreover, maintaining horse-like speed with light-footed martial arts was physically exhausting.
“If worse comes to worst, I can ride on you.”
…
Taeje sighed as he looked at Eugene, who was speaking nonsense without a care.
“By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about since last time.”
“……”
“Doesn’t your Heaven’s Killing God Technique also include swordsmanship?”
“That’s right.”
“How does a mage plan to use a sword?”
Taeje pinpointed the exact issue.
Martial arts used by warriors are broadly divided into two categories: Qi Arts (氣) and Sword Arts (劍法).
Of course, aside from Qi Arts and Sword Arts, there are many martial arts such as Saber Arts (刀法), Poison Arts (功), and Sound Arts (功), but the main categories are Qi Arts and Sword Arts.
However, Eugene is the child of a mage family in this world.
Therefore, he shouldn’t be able to use a sword, so how is he planning to use swordsmanship?
“If you don’t use swordsmanship in martial arts, its power will be halved…”
“I know that.”
“Knowing that, why are you so relaxed… do you have a solution?”
Taeje tilted his head and looked at the unconcerned Eugene with sparkling eyes.
Somehow, it made sense.
He wondered why Eugene was so relaxed despite the fact that the power of the divine art would be halved, and it turned out he had a solution.
“Hmph.”
“What is that solution?”
“Well…”
“Are you going to lie and say you’re a knight?!”
“Would I do that, you idiot?!”
“Then what is it?”
“The Bedia family is originally a family of magic swordsmen.”
“Magic swordsmen?”
Taeje tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
Originally, the Bedia family was a family of magic swordsmen who used both magic and swordsmanship.
This was because Keron Bedia, who founded the Bedia family, used both swordsmanship and magic.
Thanks to this, the Bedia family was originally a family of magic swordsmen.
However, as time passed, Keron’s children showed more talent in magic than swordsmanship, and eventually, in the current era, the Bedia family had become a family of mages.
They focused on magic, where they had talent, rather than swordsmanship, where they didn’t.
“Are there still magic swordsmen in this world?”
“There are.”
However, magic swordsmen are not well-regarded.
“Why?”
“Because neither their swordsmanship nor their magic is particularly powerful.”
All the magic swordsmen in Seifran today are not well-regarded.
Unlike those who devote time to a single skill, magic swordsmen divide their time between two skills, resulting in mediocre swordsmanship and magic.
Because of this, early on, there were magic swordsmen who rashly tried to use both swordsmanship and magic, but they all remained at the same level over time.
“That’s why no one wants to become a magic swordsman now. If they want to become a mage, they form a circle, and if they want to become a knight, they create an aura.”
“Aha…”
“As a result, the strongest magic swordsman to this day is our ancestor, Keron Bedia. He held the positions of Archmage, Sage, and Grand Sword Master simultaneously.”
Of course, the reason why current magic swordsmen rashly try to use both swordsmanship and magic is partly because of Keron Bedia.
Since he achieved tremendous feats as a magic swordsman, everyone wanted to become one.
“What is a Grand Sword Master?”
‘…You should have entered a beast’s body here to gain some memories…’
Eugene sighed.
Unlike him, who knew Seifran’s history and knowledge thanks to the body’s memories, Taeje knew nothing about this place, so Eugene had to explain everything.
“So, what is a Grand Sword Master?”
“The ranks of knights are broadly divided into six levels.”
1-star Knight.
2-star Sword Runner.
3-star Sword User.
4-star Sword Expert.
5-star Sword Master.
6-star Grand Sword Master.
Moreover, from 3-star, knights have more detailed grades, as do mages from the 3rd Circle onward.
For knights, the grades were divided into levels 1, 2, and 3.
For mages, the ranks were divided into levels 1, 2, and 3 within each circle.
“Of course, as the grade increases, so does the strength. For example, if there are two 3-star knights and 3-circle mages, one would be 3-star grade 1. The other would be 3-star grade 3. “
That’s how it was.
“Are those 5-star and 6-star guys strong?”
“Neither I nor the owner of this body has seen them directly, but according to rumors, a single Sword Master can destroy an entire territory in less than a day… In this world’s time, it takes less than 15 minutes.”
As Eugene shared the information he knew with Taeje, he inwardly wished to meet a Sword Master and a Grand Sword Master.
If the rumors were true, a Sword Master would be at the pinnacle or even beyond.
Moreover, a Grand Sword Master, being a step above a Sword Master, would be at the level of Transformation or Transcendence.
***
Thus, Eugene and Taeje traveled for several days.
“Mo… I’m thirsty…”
Taeje, with a gaunt face, drooped over Eugene’s shoulder.
‘This… crazy guy…’
Taeje cursed Eugene inwardly.
He never expected they would actually travel the entire distance using light-footed martial arts.
But they had indeed traveled from the Bedia territory to the Ruikalon Empire entirely by light-footed martial arts.
He thought they would eventually ride a carriage from some estate, but they continued to travel for days using light-footed martial arts.
“I told you we didn’t have money, didn’t I?”
Eugene smirked at Taeje and looked up at the enormous gate in front of them.
-Landbard Academy-
‘The entrance is like a palace…’
The entrance was extraordinary.
As if boasting that their academy was the best, the entrance was as grand as that of a castle.
Not only the entrance but also the buildings inside were of various shapes and enormous sizes.
‘Is this Landbard…?’
Eugene shrugged his shoulders and approached the person holding a paper at the entrance.
Today was the day of admission, so many new students were gathering at the entrance.
Murmur.
‘There are a variety of people.’
Eugene observed the people forming a line at the entrance of the academy.
As previously mentioned, Landbard Academy trained both knights and mages, so knights and mages were lined up together.
“Do other academies teach only either mages or knights?”
“Hmm… some do, some don’t.”
Eugene answered Taeje’s question on his shoulder.
The academies in Seifran were generally divided into knight academies and mage academies, unlike Landbard, which trained both.
In fact, Landbard Academy originally started as a magic school.
This was because the founder of Landbard was a mage.
However, 500 years ago,
Cade Jeseph, the head of Landbard Academy and a 9-circle mage at the time, considered the diversity of the academy and eventually recruited Ruin Gallein, a Sword Master, as the headmaster, transforming Landbard Academy.
From then on, Landbard solidified its identity as an integrated academy rather than just a magic academy.
Of course, in the beginning, everyone hesitated to enroll in Landbard and ridiculed it.
“Why?”
“I told you, the existence of magic swordsmen is perceived negatively by people.”
“But Landbard Academy isn’t a place that trains magic swordsmen.”
“Still, in people’s eyes, Landbard just looked like a mixed breed.”
Because of this, Landbard Academy had only 20 enrollees in the first 10 years after its establishment.
However, all 20 graduates of Landbard Academy achieved great feats that left their names in history, gradually attracting people’s interest to the academy.
At first, people criticized it as an academy that was neither here nor there, but as time passed, people enrolled out of curiosity, and when those who enrolled gained great power, people eventually recognized the academy’s education, leading to its current state.
“Next.”
While Eugene was explaining various things to Taeje, the person holding the enrollment list at the entrance called for the next in line.
‘One more person in front of me, then it’s my turn.’
Swish.
“Name?”
“Are you speaking to me informally?”
‘Hmm?’
Eugene, who had been looking around, alternated his gaze between the person in front of him and the person holding the list.
“I am Arid Sabe, the second son of Marquis Sabe. Are you speaking to me informally?”
Eugene looked at the knight in front of him, who was squaring his shoulders.
Anyone with the surname Sabe was a noble.
Moreover, they were nobles from the Caldeide Kingdom, known as the kingdom of knights.
Because of this, his pride was sky-high, and he was offended that the person holding the list spoke to him informally.
Cliche Novel 