Tell me, what is enlightenment?

Allen remained silent after hearing Paul's reply, simply rubbing the hilt of his sword repeatedly.

Paul, however, had the look of someone observing a troubled youth, squinting and gently saying to Allen:

"And I think, if Philip were faced with this question, he'd make the same choice as me."

This statement pulled Allen out of his somewhat touched mood. He glanced at Paul, then realized why the other man hadn't gotten angry when he asked the question, but instead explained it softly.

So he was building up to this for so long, and the last line was waiting here?

You can't project your own feelings onto others, Paul. You're a competent father, but that doesn't mean everyone else is.

The fundamental reason I'm not close to Philip is because I'm a transmigrator, not some kind of psychological trauma from growing up alone like you think. I'd already adapted to that in my previous life, so let's skip the whole 'regaining family affection in another world' thing.

Paul scratched his head, seeing Allen's rather indifferent expression. He thought he had done his best to assist Philip, but it seemed Allen wasn't receptive.

In the distance, Lokkishi noticed Allen's departure. During a pause in Sylphy's magic casting, she tilted her head and looked at Allen with an inquiring expression.

Allen smiled, signaling that everything was fine.

"Hey! Sylphy, where are you looking?! Your fireball burned my hair!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry! My mind wandered!"

He turned his gaze to the flustered Sylphy, his eyes gentle.

"Teacher? Teacher?"

"Oh... sorry, Rudy, my mind wandered..."

At this moment, Paul's hesitant voice continued to reach his ears.

"...Allen, Philip can't help himself, you should know that. This is a tradition of the Boreas Family. If you had grown up by his side since childhood, you would definitely understand his character."

Allen smiled and glanced at Paul.

As expected of Brother Paul, who values family; he'd certainly put in a good word for Philip... However, Philip's ambition to wield power in the Royal Capital has never extinguished. In the original story, during the home tutoring period, after seeing Rudy's remarkable magical talent, he even considered using his daughter as leverage to entice Rudy into a marriage of convenience. Unless he willingly lets go of his obsession with power one day, before that, he won't focus his mind on so-called family affection.

And this isn't just his problem; the entire Boreas Family's pursuit of desire is ingrained in their very instincts.

Sauros's deep-rooted sense of responsibility as the lord of the territory, after the Great Transfer, disregarded the future generations' thoughts, willing to spend all his family's wealth to rebuild the territory.

Alice's obsession with becoming stronger to protect Rudy; after her first night, she left Rudy a letter and went to train arduously in the illiterate Sacred Land, even going years without contact.

And me.

The veins on Allen's hand bulged as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

This pursuit of power, stemming from my bloodline and deep within, is completely different from before I transmigrated.

Allen turned his head to Paul.

"I have a question about swordsmanship I'd like to ask you, Uncle."

Paul seemed a bit slow to grasp Allen's logic. How did the conversation about life and death suddenly turn into asking about swordsmanship?

He blinked.

"Huh? Uh, is it still Sword God Style? If it's Sword God Style, I don't have anything better to teach you..."

"No, it's Water God Style."

Paul's face stiffened. He pointed his index finger at his own face, speaking in astonishment.

"Water God Style? Me? Do I look like Letta to you? Your Water God Style mastery is clearly much higher than mine, alright?"

Allen shook his head.

"I need the sparks that arise from the clash of vastly different fighting styles to ignite my inspiration for Enlightenment. You also know that creating a Self-created Arcanum requires constantly building one's own fighting methods and theories..."

The underlying logic for getting stronger in the Jobless worldview relies on talent and comprehension. Whether it's Orsted, the Dragon God's son born in Rome, or Rudy, who possesses the Laplace Factor, any master has at least one of these traits boosted. I've already gained Dragon Saint Battle Qi in terms of talent, so naturally, I should use this boost to constantly pursue Enlightenment, refine and build my own combat theories. I can't be like Ghislaine, who fought purely by instinct during her adventurer days, lingered as a Swordmaster for many years, and only after realizing the need to refine her combat theories did she take a step into Sword King.

Speaking of Enlightenment... it suddenly reminds me of that scoundrel Kino. He truly achieved Enlightenment overnight after sleeping with his wife. In just a year or two, as a Sword King, he hammered his Sword God father-in-law until his Dao heart shattered. Before his death, the latter was even so brain-dead as to spar with Alice using Water God Style. He truly was out of his mind.

Paul tilted his head, looking at the pensive Allen, a rather interested expression appearing on his face.

"...Is that so."

As soon as he finished speaking, he drew his sword, looking at Allen excitedly.

"Enlightenment, you say, requires constant hammering, doesn't it? What a coincidence, let me witness your Self-created Arcanum. How about it?"

You're so easy to read, Brother Paul.

"Although I can achieve Enlightenment without being hammered, since the master is a 'feeling' person, perhaps 'hammering' will be more effective, just like yesterday morning..."

As Allen spoke, he slowly drew the blade from his waist.

After Allen and Paul distanced themselves in the courtyard, Zenith, Rudy, and the others immediately stopped their magic detection of Sylphy and formed a circle around the two to watch.

Lokkishi felt the tense atmosphere between the two with a bit of a daze, covering her mouth with her hand and secretly asking Rudy beside her.

"This morning, when you two were talking about your fight with Allen, I didn't quite grasp it, but he can actually spar with Master Paul? I remember Master Paul is at an advanced level in Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style... Allen, he..."

Rudy looked at the two, his young face showing a solemn expression.

"Although I don't want to say anything that diminishes Father's prestige, Allen is indeed very strong, truly very strong. You must have heard a lot during the summary meeting this morning, right?"

Lokkishi nodded, her blue hair swaying.

"Honestly, I took this match pretty seriously. Uh…"

Rudy glanced at Lokkishi as he spoke, then continued.

"So, over the past two months, I thoroughly investigated Allen, creating detailed, targeted strategies based on almost all of his demonstrated abilities. But even then, he still beat me twice in the match. Both times were because he used sword techniques I'd never seen before, which meant I had no preparation for them and lost."

Lokkishi recalled the high-speed slashes Allen used two months ago to dismember the monster and nodded.

"...He certainly can use sword techniques completely unbefitting his age. And even after all my years as an adventurer, it's the first time I've seen a swordsman use that specific move of his."

Rudy nodded.

"The first loss was due to a North God Style throwing technique. I'd never seen him use it, so I didn't control the distance between us properly. Before I knew it, he was close enough to throw and cut me down."

"Oh, I heard you two talking about that this morning. What about the second time?"

"The second time involved Water God Style and Sword God Style techniques. Damn it, how much is this guy hiding? Every style has techniques I've never seen. The second time, I used a large-scale mixed magic to trap him, preventing his high-speed movement. He first used a Water God Style Self-created Arcanum to block all my magic, then used it as a 'launchpad' beneath his feet to escape the mud."

"But even then, I had anticipated he might escape, so I used geothermal mud and ice created by ice spears to create a large-scale 'dense fog' mixed magic to obscure his senses..."

By this point, Lokkishi was sweating. She had never even heard of this mixed magic called 'dense fog.' She couldn't help but sigh inwardly, Is this the world of a genius?

"Yet, I thought I was fully prepared, but something still went wrong. I didn't account for Allen's Soundless Katana. The moment I cast the ice spear magic, the dense fog was dispelled by the ice spears, revealing my position. He used the prepared 'launchpad' as his point of leverage, seizing that fleeting opportunity, and so I lost again."

Lokkishi asked, puzzled.

"Oh? You didn't consider that he might use Soundless Katana when you were preparing?"

Rudy looked at Allen, who was warming up in the yard, stretching and practicing various sword stances. He shook his head.

"I did consider it, but I didn't expect him to be so fast, almost faster than Father Paul. You see, he's not very good at Sword God Style, so he's been asking Father for guidance these past two months. And on the morning of that match, I was still sure he hadn't grasped the Soundless Katana."

Lokkishi raised an eyebrow.

"Then how could he..."

Rudy rubbed his face, feeling a bit deflated. He genuinely felt that even with his Silent Casting magic, and Lokkishi's constant praise, he couldn't compare to Allen's genius.

"That's the problem, Teacher! He really hadn't mastered the essence of Sword God Style before I left. But afterwards, I heard Father say that on that morning, Father, on a whim, instructed Allen on how to swing and how to grasp the 'feeling' of casting Soundless Katana. And then, after just one experimental swing..."

Rudy turned to Lokkishi.

"He learned it."

The book title has been changed, which is amusing.

Mainly, it wasn't attracting enough readers, so this is a last-ditch effort to push it before the smart recommendations end.