"Sugoi!!"
Eris squealed with excitement, her voice cracking from sheer exhilaration.
Like a wild horse freed from its reins, she eagerly ran over to the armored figure that had been cut in two.
She crouched down and reached out a small hand to touch the glowing-hot cut surface, only to pull it back from the heat. She was utterly exhilarated.
Ghislaine, who had remained where she was, stood as if struck by lightning.
As a Sword King, she understood better than anyone how remarkable that strike had been.
In that instant, she had sensed no fluctuation of Touki whatsoever.
"Rudeus... he cut through refined iron to this extent without even using Touki, relying only on magic and a physical swing? This... this is truly unbelievable..."
Ghislaine murmured under her breath, her single eye filled with shock and bewilderment. She felt as though her understanding of the sword, built over decades of training, was being shattered.
Rudeus smiled faintly, concealing his accomplishment and taking no credit.
With a light flick of his right hand, he extinguished the flames on the blade and spun the longsword around his fingertips.
Then he raised his left hand, and surging earth-attribute mana instantly gathered in his palm, restoring the armored figure that had been split in two.
That display of composite magic cast with Voiceless Incantation made the corner of Ghislaine's eye twitch sharply once again.
He turned to Eris, whose face was flushed with excitement, and beckoned her over with a smile.
"All right, that's the end of the demonstration. Now, Eris, please give it a good try yourself~ We'll take it step by step, starting with stage one-casting fire magic."
Hearing Rudeus's instructions, Eris and Ghislaine exchanged a glance.
A fierce fighting spirit blazed in both their eyes.
They stood side by side at one end of the training ground, took deep breaths, and began gathering mana in their palms according to the method I had taught them over the past few days.
A moment later, a miracle happened.
Orange-red flames rose from Eris's and Ghislaine's palms almost simultaneously.
Though the flames were not as fierce as the ones Rudeus had just displayed, they were remarkably steady, dancing stubbornly in the wind.
"I did it... I really did it! I didn't recite any of those long, stinking, stinking-long incantations!"
Eris gazed at the flame in her palm, her eyes shining with excitement like a child given a beloved toy.
Ghislaine stared at the flame in her own palm, disbelief written all over her face.
As a member of the beast race, her mana had always been wild and difficult to control, yet now she too could cast basic magic with Voiceless Incantation.
Watching how smoothly they managed it, Rudeus maintained an inscrutable, approving smile befitting a mentor and nodded in approval.
"Hmm~ Not bad, not bad. It seems you're even quicker to grasp things than I imagined."
Deep inside, however, the little figure in his heart was already rolling on the floor in anguish.
Waaah! Of course it went smoothly! I spared no expense and spent a whole three hundred thousand points in the System Shop a few days ago to make this happen! Two Voiceless Incantation Talent Potions and two Advanced Mana Control Potions, mixed into their afternoon tea every day without anyone noticing... If they still couldn't grasp the basics after that, my points really would have gone down the drain!
Still, looking at Eris's pure smile and the plus signs constantly appearing on the Emotion Points panel, he figured this investment was a case of "a beauty's smile was worth a thousand pieces of gold." No loss there!
"Very good. You've basically passed the first stage of mana resonance. Now we can officially move on to the second stage."
With that, he raised his hand again and opened Magic Pocket.
Two flashes of silver light appeared as he took out two specially made standard-issue longswords and handed them to the two women.
"For the next exercise, use these two special swords inlaid with high-purity red magic stones. The stones will act as a medium, helping you channel the mana in your bodies into the blades more effectively."
Eris eagerly snatched up a longsword, and its hefty weight in her hand prompted her to give it a satisfied flourish.
Ghislaine accepted hers with both hands and respectfully gave me a swordsman's salute.
Then he used wood magic to grow a sturdy wooden post about thirty centimeters in diameter from the ground, firmly rooted beside the heavily armored figure.
Rudeus pointed at the post, looked at Eris, and raised one finger.
"Eris, your test for the second stage is to try knocking down this post using only the gust of air produced by your sword swing."
"Remember, the blade must not touch the post itself. Once you've knocked it down, we can move on to the final stage of fusing magic and swordsmanship."
At this, Eris's excited little face fell instantly. Her brows knitted tightly together as she cried out in protest.
"Huh? Rudeus, are you kidding me? Knock down a post that thick with the air from a sword swing? How could anyone possibly do that? How can a sword have any power if it doesn't hit anything?"
Rather than rush to answer the young lady's doubts, Rudeus turned his gaze to the dark-skinned, mature beauty standing silently nearby.
"Ghislaine, please demonstrate for our young lady~ Show her where a swordsman's limits lie."
"Yes, Teacher Rudeus."
Ghislaine answered in a low voice.
She walked slowly forward and stopped a full ten meters away from the post.
Ghislaine gripped the sword hilt in both hands, and in an instant she grew completely still, as though she had become a lifeless statue.
The wind seemed to stop blowing at that moment.
The pair of canine ears atop her head twitched slightly, catching some subtle moment in the void.
The next second, a storm erupted!
"Hah-!"
A low, sharp cry burst from Ghislaine's mouth, accompanied by a bolt of silver lightning almost too fast for the naked eye to follow!
Ghislaine swung her sword fiercely forward in an instant. The blade broke the sound barrier, producing a white shock wave out of thin air in front of it!
"Ssshk-!"
A piercing rush of air tore through the silence like ripping silk. A violent blast became a translucent blade of wind visible to the naked eye, crossed the ten-meter distance in an instant, and slammed into the post.
"Crack! Boom!"
The stout post did not even have a chance to sway before the terrifying vacuum sword qi blasted it apart at the middle. Wooden fragments flew everywhere as its upper half fell limply onto the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Uh... no technique, just stats, Rudeus couldn't help thinking.
A post cut down in one strike from over ten meters away! This was the essence of the Sword God Style: a vacuum tear brought about by speed in its purest form.
Eris's eyes went completely round, and her mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
She looked at the post's miserable remains, then at Ghislaine, who slowly lowered her sword without a change of expression. Her eyes were full of disbelief and longing.
"See that, Eris? That's an extension of power."
Rudeus clapped his hands, rousing Eris from her shock, and gave her an unscrupulous yet kindly smile.
"Now then, you two can stay here and practice hard under the blazing sun. Remember, focus on feeling the mana flow through your blades."
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can come find me in the lounge over there at any time."
With that, Rudeus turned around, leaving them with a carefree view of his back.
Before long, Eris's spirited cries rang out behind him, along with the whoosh of her repeated, determined sword swings;
Ghislaine, meanwhile, said nothing. Her eyes tightly shut, she concentrated fully on trying to coat the blade with her wild mana, bit by bit, through the longsword inlaid with a red magic stone.
My two outstanding disciples were sweating in their pursuit of greater strength. As their master, I naturally had a more important duty to fulfill-enjoying life, for instance.
He pushed open the doors to the luxurious lounge, and a blast of cool air carrying the scents of fine incense and chilled fruit washed over him.
A soft Persian carpet covered the floor, and the furnishings were extravagantly luxurious.
Two maids who had been waiting for some time immediately came forward to greet him.
"Young Master Rudeus, thank you for your hard work."
Their voices were cloyingly sweet, with a tenderness that seemed to melt his bones.
As soon as Rudeus entered, they came up on either side of him, gently supporting his arms with their soft, warm bodies as they carefully guided him to the large, comfortable leather couch in the center of the room.
Come to think of it, Philip's tastes in certain respects really did appeal to people.
These two maids attending him personally were not ordinary humans.
They were beast-eared girls.
Of course, their beast ears were definitely not their most eye-catching feature.
Rather, it was...
"Ah... heaven can't be any better than this."
He slumped comfortably onto the couch, sinking deep into it and letting the fatigue of the past several days melt away completely.
The rabbit-eared maid gave a shy little giggle and took small steps to the side, where she picked up a crystal fruit platter filled with chilled purple grapes.
She knelt gracefully beside my couch, picked up a plump, juicy grape still covered in glistening droplets with her fair, slender fingers, carefully peeled it, and held it to Rudeus's lips with a blush on her face.
He obediently opened his mouth and took in the cool, sweet fruit.
He bit down gently, and rich, sweet juice burst into his mouth. The chill rushed straight to his head, leaving him refreshed and invigorated.
...I really can't help it.