Chapter 56 - < Think of It as Me >

'Shouldn't I stop them?'

Arian was no swordswoman, but she knew just how powerful sword force was. Could they really call it playing when they were swinging a technique that could effortlessly grind people—no, castle walls—to pieces at each other?

"..."

By any ordinary standard, this could hardly be called playing. As Aslan's wife and Kyle's mother, she ought to stop them, no questions asked. Yet Arian simply could not bring herself to say a word.

Father and son wore identical smiles. Even as they swung that terrifying sword force at each other, neither face showed the slightest concern that a mistaken response might get one of them killed. Instead, they were thoroughly enjoying the chilling thrill of a contest as precarious as walking on thin ice.

"Oh, honestly..."

In the end, all Arian could do was heave a deep sigh. Father and son had met for a single day four years ago before parting. They had shared no bond before that, nor had they built one afterward. Only today were they finally forging a real connection and making memories together.

Viewed that way, their seemingly insane "play" was rather touching. Her husband and her son—the two men Arian loved most in the world—were coming to understand, acknowledge, and accept each other through their swords... Or so she tried to tell herself, however forced the reasoning.

"Ahahaha!"

Unlike Arian, who fretted over the possibility of a stray blade hurting one of them, Kaya kept giggling in her arms, finding the whole thing wonderfully entertaining for reasons Arian could not fathom.

"Whew..."

Their murderous playtime came to an end. Kyle let out a long breath, lowering his sword first and stepping back.

"Are you stopping?"

Aslan, who still maintained his sword force, looked deeply disappointed.

Kyle could keep playing if he wanted. This was his first time using the Primordial Unity Sword Scripture this way, but its mana efficiency exceeded even his expectations. If his mana ran out despite that, he could wring more out of Jorm in his middle energy center.

["I've been working hard too, you know."]

Jorm grumbled between pants. He had yet to grow completely accustomed to the Primordial Unity Sword Scripture, and now he was also having to handle the mana Kyle was circulating so violently.

'Good work.'

Credit ought to be given where it was due.

"I think going any further would be dangerous for both of us."

Kyle answered with a regretful smack of his lips. Dangerous for both of them. Aslan's eyelashes trembled at those words.

"Son, tell me honestly."

"What?"

"Could you see every move I made?"

"Yes."

Aslan had asked for the truth, so Kyle gave him an honest answer.

"Haha..."

Aslan could only laugh in disbelief. He had sensed four years ago that Kyle could read the course of his blade... But to think his son had seen through it even now, when he was swinging in earnest. He shook his head with a hollow laugh.

"So I wasn't imagining that feeling..."

Throughout their exchanges, he had kept sensing something strangely off, but inwardly dismissed it as impossible. Their clashes had been fairly even, after all.

Though being evenly matched was absurd enough in itself. He had wielded a sword for over twenty years... only to find himself on equal footing with his fifteen-year-old son.

"When you say it's dangerous for both of us, do you mean I'm the one in danger?"

"No. We'd both be in danger."

"Why? You read my sword."

"I can't read every move you make, Father. Rather than reading... it's something I do by feel."

Kyle glanced down at Fenris and shrugged.

"Following that feeling, I could put you in danger. But if I did, you'd also instinctively... evade the danger and swing back. Once we reached that point, we'd both be at risk. I wouldn't be able to read your sword accurately anymore, either."

"..."

"And once we went that far, it wouldn't be playing anymore. Do you want to kill your son, Father?"

"Don't say that."

Aslan's expression turned grave.

"Even if you swung your sword to kill me, mine would never move to kill you."

"I don't want to kill you either."

Kyle grinned and tucked Fenris into his belt.

"Family shouldn't try to kill each other. Right?"

"That's... true."

"Did you enjoy playing with me, Father?"

"I did."

Aslan's stern expression melted away. Speaking in a trembling voice, he reached out tentatively and took a firm hold of Kyle's shoulder.

"I've learned far too late... how much fun it is to play with my son."

"Then we can play often from now on. I enjoy playing with you too."

The swordsmanship of Aslan, the man known as the Sword Maniac, was remarkable and highly refined. Even Kyle had to get serious to play against that sword.

So could he win? Kyle briefly considered the question that occurred to him. If they competed purely in swordsmanship, he could win. But if they fought using the sword arts of this age, he would have to try it to find out.

'Father said he attained his sword four years ago and grasped a clue to the Ultimate Realm.'

Kyle stared at Aslan, who was still overcome with emotion, and asked a question.

"Father, you didn't use the Ultimate Realm while we were playing just now?"

"Of course not. If I had, it wouldn't have been playing anymore."

"What happens when you use it?"

At Kyle's bright-eyed question, Aslan looked troubled and hesitated.

"I'd like to show you, but... I can't fully control the Ultimate Realm yet."

"Do you really need that much control just to show me a sword move?"

"Next time... I'll show you next time."

"Father. You're not lying about reaching the Ultimate Realm because you're embarrassed you wasted twelve years getting nowhere, are you?"

"I am not!"

Aslan looked so genuinely wronged that Kyle stopped pressing him.

'He probably wants to look more impressive when he shows me.'

Having tried to understand Aslan's feelings that way, Kyle picked up the leather pouch he had tossed to one side.

"Mom, Father. These are for you."

Kyle took out the two necklaces he had brought from the Floor of Asceticism and handed them over. With their brilliantly sparkling diamonds, they were clearly a matching pair intended for a married couple.

"Oh my..."

Arian covered her mouth, overwhelmed. Beautiful as the necklace was, what truly made her heart ache with emotion was that her son had returned after four years with gifts for his parents. Apart from things like letters, this was the very first gift she had ever received from him.

"Oh..."

Aslan, too, was speechless as he held his necklace. While his entire body trembled with emotion, Arian set Kaya down for a moment and swept Kyle into her arms.

"You've grown up so much, you're even bringing presents for Mom and Dad... You don't take after your father at all in that respect."

At Arian's sidelong glare, Aslan guiltily averted his eyes.

"Even when we were courting, your father only ever gave me things like daggers, claiming they were for self-defense. He married me without a penny to his name, and instead of making it up to me afterward, he shut himself away for twelve years, saying he needed secluded training. Honestly, my son is a hundred times better. A hundred times."

"..."

Unable to argue, Aslan sniffled. Not because Arian's scolding upset him, but because his son's gift had moved him to the verge of tears.

"Me too."

Kaya spoke up, looking up at them with a finger in her mouth. This little lady could not possibly let it slide that the big brother she had met for the first time today had given shiny presents only to Mom and Dad.

"Gimme something shiny too."

Kyle was thrown into a degree of bewilderment he had experienced only a handful of times across both his lives.

'Damn that Fragment. He could have told me beforehand that I had a little sister.'

Then he would have brought Kaya a present too. Should he give her the bracelet he had brought for Aunt Erika? Or the belt for Piggy? No matter how he looked at it, he could not give Kaya the sword intended for Lucia. Between the belt and the bracelet, the bracelet would surely be better.

'Sorry, Aunt Erika.'

He would get her something else later. Having settled on that, Kyle opened the pouch.

'No... this won't do.'

The Ice and Snow Bracelet meant for Erika was filled with a cool chill. He could not bring himself to take it out, fearing it might harm Kaya.

"My little princess! Big Brother will give you a pretty present next time. Can you be patient for today?"

Arian picked Kaya up and tried to soothe her, but tears welled in Kaya's eyes at being the only one without a gift. Alarmed, Aslan put both hands above his head to make bunny ears.

"H-hop! Hop!"

Should Kyle stand beside him and imitate a rabbit too? Just as he considered surrendering his dignity for his only little sister, a brilliant idea flashed through his mind. He immediately spoke to Jorm in his middle energy center.

'Jorm.'

["Yes, Master."]

'Come out and do something adorable. With a cute face.'

Kyle did not wait for an answer. At his will, Jorm was dragged out of his coiled resting place in the middle energy center.

CRACKLE!

Violet light streamed from Kyle's fingertips and swelled, until a snake large enough to swallow a person with ease manifested in the middle of the cultivation room.

Murky violet scales covered its long, sleek body. Its face, however, had taken on the cutest possible form, as its master had ordered.

"..."

Jorm gave Kyle a brief, resentful look, then slowly slithered toward Kaya.

"Wow!"

Kaya squealed. Despite his enormous body, his simply shaped, picture-book snake's head fortunately seemed cute to her. Arian stared at Jorm with wide eyes, keeping hold of Kaya as the girl tried to wriggle out of her arms.

"K-Kyle? What is that?"

"It's Jorm."

"Jorm... Jorm? The infant lightning spirit you contracted with?"

"Yes. Well... he grew a little after eating various things in the Floor of Asceticism."

"That's hardly a little... N-no, his size isn't the issue..."

With a trembling hand, Arian stroked Jorm's head. She could feel him against her palm. This was not something she perceived through mana; Jorm unmistakably had a physical body. That was why Kaya could see him despite not having awakened her spiritual root.

'How can a spirit change like this?'

Arian was an accomplished spirit practitioner, but she had never heard of a spirit gaining a fully physical body. Spirits were, ultimately, life-forms made of mana. The denser the mana composing their bodies, the more distinct their forms became, but taking on a physical body like this was impossible.

'The feel of these scales... I can sense mana beneath them, but it isn't lightning mana. What in the world...?'

Was this not closer to a monster than a spirit?

"Kaya too! Kaya wants to touch!"

Kaya squirmed in the astonished Arian's arms. When Arian carefully set her down, she toddled toward Jorm with both arms raised.

Having passed through adolescence, Jorm was no longer an infant spirit and now possessed a dignity befitting his growth. Even so, Kyle's commands remained absolute. Making the most adorable face he could, Jorm gently brought his head closer to Kaya.

"Wow...!"

Kaya stroked his head once, startled, then stroked it again. After a few more pats on that smooth head, she giggled and hugged his neck.

"A snake! A snake!"

Fortunately, Kaya stopped asking for a gift. Instead, she clung to Jorm's body and eventually climbed right onto his head.

"Let's go!"

As instructed, Jorm squirmed forward with Kaya riding on his head. Go where? The same question arose in both Kyle's and Jorm's minds, but for now Jorm slithered in the direction Kaya pointed.

"I saw that Uncle Roel and Uncle Seros were back. Has Grandmother woken up?"

Leading the way atop Jorm, Kaya went out of the cultivation room. Kyle asked as he followed with his parents.

"No..."

Arian sighed.

"They wandered the world for eleven years, but it seems they couldn't find a way to cure her illness."

So that was it after all. Kyle let out a sigh of his own.

"Aunt Erika!"

Three people had arrived in Rose Manor's garden outside the cultivation room. Sitting atop Jorm's head, Kaya squealed and waved both hands.

"Wh-what is that snake?!"

Erika drew her sword in alarm, and Kyle hurried forward to block her path.

"He's the spirit I've contracted with."

"A s-spirit? That? You're telling me that's a spirit?"

"You're surprised by a spirit, but not by the nephew you haven't seen in four years?"

Kyle grinned at Erika. After standing there openmouthed, she belatedly composed herself and planted a hand on her hip in a show of dignity.

"It's been a while, Nephew. You look far too healthy for someone who's just spent four years in that dreadful place. Tell your aunt the truth. You spent those four years somewhere other than the Mudflats, didn't you?"

"Once you get used to it, it's a reasonably livable place."

"Livable? Your face might look fine, but you've lost your mind, haven't you?"

"I'm perfectly sane. That's why I remembered to bring presents."

Kyle took the Ice and Snow Bracelet out of the leather pouch and handed it to Erika.

"What... what is this?"

"What else? A present. I got it in there to thank you for seeing me off four years ago."

"In... in there? You could get things like this?"

Erika's jaw dropped. She, too, had once entered the Floor of Asceticism, but had lasted only a month. For half even of that time, her lifeline had snapped, leaving her holed up in the room, living on tasteless bread.

"They gave it to me for working hard. Next time, you should go in and bring me a present."

"Uh... oh... ohhh, th-thank you..."

Stammering, Erika accepted the Ice and Snow Bracelet. She flinched at the cool chill seeping into her, but Kyle had already turned his gaze from her to Bruno.

"Piggy, what's with that face?"

Bruno was glaring at Kyle with his lips pressed tightly together. When he made no move to speak, Kyle chuckled and tapped Fenris at his waist.

"You don't have to say a word. I know exactly what you're thinking. You were stunned by my skill at the training ground earlier, weren't you? You thought you'd gotten a lot stronger over the past four years, but next to me, you feel a little pathetic, right?"

"You son of a—"

Hit right where it hurt, Bruno began to mutter a curse, then realized Kaya was watching and hastily clamped his mouth shut. When their eyes met, Kaya beamed and waved.

"Uncle Bruno!"

"Why Uncle? You should call me Big Brother."

"No, you're Uncle. You look like an uncle."

Kyle burst out laughing at her reply, while Bruno's face crumpled. In terms of family relationships, he was her older cousin, but his face did make "Uncle" seem more fitting than "Big Brother."

"Kaya says she learned some swordsmanship from you. Sounds like you played nicely with her."

"I never taught her swordsmanship. She kept pestering me, so I swung my sword in front of her a few times. That's all."

Bruno spoke while keeping an eye on Kaya.

"The Floor of Asceticism... If I go in there, can I get as strong as you?"

"Not as strong as me."

"..."

"Here, take this."

As Bruno cursed him with his eyes rather than his mouth, Kyle held out the Earth Dragon Belt.

"You're giving this... to me?"

"You came to see me off four years ago too."

"..."

"Uncle Varkas hasn't disowned you, has he?"

"He hasn't. Though you might disown... stop being friends with me."

"Didn't you work hard these past four years?"

"I did."

"I'll check later. Hurry up and take it. My hand hurts."

Bruno hesitantly accepted the Earth Dragon Belt.

"Lucia."

Kyle turned to her with a smile.

He had seen her at the training ground earlier, but it struck him anew how long four years truly was.

The fourteen-year-old Lucia was now eighteen. Her silver hair was still in the same neat bob, but she had grown considerably taller and now stood slightly above Erika.

Kyle was taller still. Looking down at Lucia, he gave an awkward smile.

"About the wooden sword you gave me. I tried to use it carefully without breaking it, but it broke at the very end."

"It was an ordinary wooden sword."

Lucia answered with a faint smile.

"Far too plain, humble, and commonplace a sword for your hands, Lord Kyle."

"It served me pretty well for something like that."

"That was because of your exceptional skill, Lord Kyle."

"That's true."

Kyle nodded without disputing it.

"Anyway, that wooden sword helped me a lot, so I wanted to give you a present too."

"There is no need. Your safe return is gift enough for me, Lord Kyle."

Lucia answered calmly, but Kyle shook his head.

"Do you remember what I said back then?"

"I do. You told me to try to love the sword, and myself as I wield it. You said you wanted to see how my sword changed as a result."

"Did you love them?"

"I'm still not sure. You said... you wished to see my changed sword, Lord Kyle. That you would accept it as a gift, but I don't think my sword has changed yet. I tried, but..."

"It's all right if you don't think it's changed yet. If you're loved by the sword, you'll eventually come to love both the sword and yourself."

Kyle took Blood Fang, scabbard and all, from the side opposite Fenris.

"This sword is called Blood Fang."

"..."

"You gave me a wooden sword, so I wanted to give you a sword too. As for the gift you owe me—show it to me with Blood Fang next time."

Kyle held Blood Fang out to Lucia.

"Think of this sword as me, and love it."

"Pardon...?"

"Hmm... That came out a little strange. Love this sword I gave you as a sword... Anyway, do your best."

He pushed Blood Fang into Lucia's hesitant hands.