In This World's Power, I Am Saint-level

The night was cool as water, moonlight pouring down like liquid silver and covering the silent rear courtyard of the inn.

Cui Ciyou stood quietly, his gaze slowly shifting from the enormous boulder before him, split neatly in two with a cut as smooth as a mirror, to the broken iron sword in his hand.

The evening breeze stirred the tips of his black hair, and his eyes beneath the moonlight were deep and complicated.

The power of that strike had exceeded his expectations, forcing him to thoroughly reexamine his understanding of both himself and this world.

Countless fragments of memories from the "original work" surfaced and assembled in Cui Ciyou's mind.

Cross-referencing them with his own experiences over the past few days, he gradually pieced together a relatively complete power system.

This was a world of swords and magic.

The hierarchy of magic was strict, spanning from Beginner-level to God-level, with vastly different degrees of power.

Once someone mastered magic of a certain rank, they could call themselves a mage of that rank.

For example, Rudeus, the protagonist of the original work, had been directly recognized by Roxy as a "Water Saint-level Mage" at the age of five after mastering the Water Saint-level spell, Lightning Cumulonimbus.

Powerful mages could alter local weather and terrain through their own strength alone.

Swordsmen, meanwhile, were another force in this world.

They fought by training their bodies, honing their swordsmanship, and wielding a form of life energy known as aura.

Aura was the foundation of warriors. It could strengthen the body and coat weapons, making them indestructible.

The swordsmanship of this world was mainly divided into three major schools.

The first was the Sword God Style.

A school that carried the word "attack" to its absolute extreme.

Its core belief was that offense was the best defense, pursuing victory and defeat in a single exchange.

Its sole ultimate technique, Sword of Light, was the ultimate slash, one that abandoned all defense and retreat.

The strongest practitioner of this school bore the title of "Sword God," one of the Seven Great Powers and the acknowledged strongest human swordsman.

He had not established a dojo in any nation and currently occupied the Sword Sanctum.

The second was the Water God Style.

Entirely opposite to the Sword God Style, this was a school focused on defense and counterattacks.

The essence of its swordsmanship lay in "redirecting force" and "parrying to counterattack," seeking to neutralize an enemy's attacks at the smallest cost, uncover an opening, and deliver a fatal blow.

Because of its steady style, the Water God Style was highly sought after by nobles and knights across the nations, and its main dojo was established in the royal capital, Ars.

The third was the North God Style.

A school that would stop at nothing in its extreme pursuit of "victory."

Rather than swordsmanship, it was more accurately a comprehensive art of combat encompassing military strategy, deceit, and even psychological warfare.

For victory, they could use any weapon, poison their enemies, launch ambushes, or exploit hostages.

Because of its exceptional practicality and flexibility, the North God Style was extremely popular among adventurers and had the largest number of practitioners.

Carl and Dak, father and son, practiced the North God Style, whose main dojo was located in the Dragon King Kingdom.

Together, these three major schools formed the hierarchy of swordsmen.

From Beginner-level, Intermediate-level, and Advanced-level, to Saint-level, King-level, and Emperor-level.

In the end, the strongest practitioner of each school would respectively be crowned the "Sword God," "Water God," and "North God."

Cui Ciyou compared his own strength against this clearly defined system.

The ranks of swordsmen do not have clear skill standards like those of mages. They depend more on personal swordsmanship and actual combat performance, he silently analyzed.

For example, Paul Greyrat in the original work was proficient in all three sword styles, each at the Advanced level, and was considered to possess combat ability comparable to a Saint-level swordsman. He could also split boulders...

Cui Ciyou's gaze fell once more upon the evenly severed boulder.

Even without the slightest aura enhancement, I accomplished the same thing through the strength and speed of this body alone.

Does that mean my raw strength has already reached the threshold of a Saint-level swordsman?

The conclusion made his heart burn. Yet the cold broken sword in his hand quickly calmed him down again.

But there is an equally enormous flaw.

Without aura enhancement, the ordinary weapon in his hand was merely a fragile piece of mundane iron.

It could not withstand the terrifying force Cui Ciyou unleashed, much less confront an enemy who also knew how to reinforce their weapon with aura.

That strike had split the boulder, but it had also shattered this iron sword. That was the best proof.

So my current strength is in a very peculiar position...

He began examining himself, and a clear status panel emerged in his mind:

"Anti-Magic Field": An absolute field centered on himself with a radius of three meters, expandable to five meters at full power. Within this range, all forms of mana and aura were forcibly nullified. This was his most powerful trump card, but it also consumed an unknown form of "Mental Power" at an extreme rate, carrying risks of duration limits and overload.

"Mental Power": A suspected third kind of power independent of mana and aura. It was the energy source supporting the Anti-Magic Field and extraordinary Perception. This Perception could form a black-and-white, obstacle-ignoring 3D image of the surrounding environment spanning more than ten meters in his mind. Mental Power could grow at an extremely slow rate through consumption and recovery.

"Saint-level" Body: Strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and recovery far beyond human limits. Without aura enhancement, he could fight magical beasts barehanded and split massive boulders with a single slash. Yet this advantage also meant that ordinary weapons could not withstand his strength.

Greatest Flaw: Unable to generate or use any mana or aura from this world.

Mana-and-Aura Insulator...

That phrase involuntarily brought another figure from "Earth" into Cui Ciyou's mind—the summoned black-haired girl, Nanahoshi Shizuka.

...just like Nanahoshi Shizuka.

A thought flashed through Cui Ciyou's mind like lightning, making his entire body tremble.

Could it be that all of us outsiders are rejected by this world's own energy cycle?

He furrowed his brow as deeper questions surged into his heart.

But... why do I possess abilities like the Anti-Magic Field and Mental Power, while she seemingly does not?

Could it be because... I transmigrated, while she was summoned? Is there some fundamental difference between the two?

Or perhaps... the essence of my anti-magic is not this world's rejection of me, but rather... some higher form of... devouring or control over mana and aura?

It is only because I am still too weak to truly understand and wield its real form?

Those questions circled in his mind like a deep whirlpool, profound and without answers.

After a long while, Cui Ciyou slowly exhaled and forcibly suppressed those chaotic thoughts.

He knew this was not the time to dwell on them.

No matter where this power came from, it was truly in his hands now.

"Right now, I should not be fixating on the 'source' of my power."

Cui Ciyou's gaze became clear and resolute once more, filled with longing for the future.

"Instead, I should think about how to use it, master it, and obtain... even greater power!"