Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Send gift!

A message visible only to me popped up.

⟬«System» You’ve gifted the [Job Advancement Package] (Battle) - [The Strength of an Aura Master] and [Blessing of Rapid Growth] to Prinz Rodeline.⟭

⟬«System» An aura can only be awakened when the user’s body has been hardened like steel and has attained expertise in at least one weapon mastery. [The Strength of an Aura Master] item contains [Aura Awakening Quest], [Physical Training], and [Weapons Training] to assist with the awakening.⟭

This was quite different from my divine power quest. Unlike magic or divine power where awakening the power within was the first step, awakening an aura would come at the end of my brother’s swordsmanship mastery.

⟬«System» Prinz Rodeline has attained [Strong Body Lv.1] by effect of [Physical Training].⟭

⟬«System» Prinz Rodeline has attained [Wooden Sword Mastery Lv.1] by effect of [Weapons Training]. Weapon Mastery automatically transitions when primary weapon is changed.⟭

⟬«System» A pre-quest to awaken Prinz Rodeline’s aura has been initiated.⟭

⟬«Quest» So You Wanna be an Aura Master? Do You Have the Skills to Be a Sword Master?

Achieve Strong Body Lv.50 (1/50)

Achieve Weapons Mastery Lv.50 (1/50)

- Current registered primary weapon: wooden sword, no sub-weapon found.⟭

⟬«System» [Blessing of Rapid Growth] has been applied to Prinz Rodeline. Double experience points gained.⟭

“Huh?”

Prinz could feel a shiver go down his spine. There weren’t any drastic changes like with the skeleton, but he did seem to feel something had shifted.

“I just invested 11 million cash in you. You better work hard.”

“What?”

“Don’t go around getting beat up.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

I got up after seeing that there was nothing more to do there.

“Allie, where are you headed?” Prinz asked.

“I just thought of a brilliant alchemy idea. I’m going to go cook it up.”

“What? You’re going to go cook in the kitchens? But I thought you just said alchemy.”

“I’m going to go make some energy-replenishing supplements. I just thought of a delicious recipe to make it taste like pasta and steak. I have to go now before I forget!”

“Oh, okay. That sounds delicious.”

“I’ll give you a sample to try once I’m done,” I said. “You just stay here and rest.”

“N-no, it’s okay. I should go back to the young master. I hope the sword lesson isn’t over yet. I want to try something out...”

Looks like he’s going to make it worth my while. Hopefully, all that cash I spent doesn’t go to waste.

“Okay then. I’ll see you later.”

“See you later, Allie.”

✠

A week had passed since Romdeo beat the living daylights out of Prinz. And some things had changed drastically. The first to realize these changes was Romdeo.

“Y-you lowlife!” He was huffing with exertion. Red in the face and sweating, he shouted, “How are you dodging all of this!”

“Uh, I don’t think I changed much... Maybe the young master is a little tired today?”

“Urgh! Don’t just stand there all casually and reply!” The count’s son looked close to passing out.

The new sword instructor had decided to stick to his practical teaching methods but promised to take extra safety precautions. They continued to spar with wooden swords during the training sessions.

Romdeo was no longer able to feel the exhilaration of being the ultimate swordsman. For some reason, the sword instructor always singled out Prinz to be Romdeo’s sparring partner. The enraged Romdeo lunged at Prinz and swung his blade down.

Prinz gently lifted his own blade to block the blow. But the results were quite unexpected.

Romdeo’s wooden sword went flying across the air as pain seared through his wrist.

“Ahhhck!”

“Young master!”

“You, you imbecile! You dare attack me? H-how dare you?! How could you...!”

“I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen... I didn’t expect you to bounce back like that on your own.”

“W-what did you just say?! You call that an excuse?!” Romdeo became even more infuriated at Prinz’s explanation.

But Prinz was telling nothing but the truth. As it were, an unseen message had popped up a minute ago.

⟬«System» Congratulations! You’ve attained [Strong Body Lv.5] Lousy attacks from small-fry are automatically parried.⟭

⟬«System» Congratulations! You’ve attained [Wooden Sword Mastery Lv.4] You are now able to stamp out shoddy swordsmen like the count’s delinquent son with ease.⟭

Is it just me, or does my body feel different? Even Prinz began to notice the changes.

“Now, now, let’s wrap it up for today!” The blonde sword instructor, who had a jaunty bob haircut and a long, thin mustache, approached the two boys to share some pointers on that day’s lesson.

But the thing was, the target of his feedback was not Romdeo. “Prinz, my boy! Your skills are just getting better by the day! The only thing you need to work on is bending your knees slightly when parrying and using your entire arm instead of your wrist!”

“Thank you for your guidance, sir.”

“Nonsense! It has been my pleasure watching you grow!”

Romdeo lashed out when he saw what was happening. “Look here, Viscount Carmel! Whose instructor are you?!”

“Oho, my apologies young master. I couldn’t help myself with such raw talent in front of me. Not to mention his positive attitude!” In spite of allowing ruthless beatings to occur in the past, sword instructor Viscount Carmel was surprisingly affectionate toward Prinz.

See, the truth was, the viscount had a reason for being so aloof and distant during previous lessons. Just a week ago, Viscount Carmel was annoyed and frustrated beyond measure. He’d been assigned to instruct Romdeo Gilette, the worst of the worst, just because of his lower status as the vassal of a distant branch of the noble family.

He couldn’t have cared less about the lessons at the time, which ultimately resulted in the awful accident with Prinz. But he no longer sulked at his misfortune, for he had discovered a true diamond in the rough through that incident.

It’s about time that I raised an aura user! Viscount Carmel wanted to make it up to Prinz for his blunder. He whispered to Prinz out of earshot from Romdeo. “Prinz, my boy, feel free to visit me anytime you have any questions while practicing. You know where my quarters are, yes?”

“Lord viscount, how could I, a mere servant, trouble you like that?”

“Heavens, please! I shall have none of that. Please, call me master when it’s just the two of us.” He had to call dibs on such raw talent before some sneaky swordsman could claim him as their own.

The tip of Prinz’s ears reddened at the viscount’s kindness and he politely replied, “T-thank you. You are too kind.”

“These aren’t just empty words I speak.”

He may not look it now, but Viscount Carmel was quite a prominent fighter in his prime, back in the days when the Gilette Family was still renowned for their master swordsmanship. Viscount Carmel had made a name for himself as a genius pretty boy in the elite 1st Division of the Gilette Dungeon Expedition Team. It was a great honor to be instructed by such a distinguished individual.

Maybe I could become a knight as well. As Prinz daydreamed, he imagined himself swearing the oath of the sword and being appointed knighthood at Serentra’s official Knight Academy. Somehow, he felt one step closer to achieving his dream.

✠

“Allie!”

“Oh, you’re here.”

I stopped mid-swing as I beat a piece of steak into a paste. Recently, I’ve been occupied with creating vitamins and supplements using alchemy. The process of adding the taste of steak, pasta, smoked salmon, blueberry muffins, and so on to highly concentrated pills was going smoothly.

The first samples of my experiments always went to Prinz. Just like how they’re always gulping down power-boosting elixirs and energy-enhancing pills in martial arts-themed stories, taking all the alchemic tonics you could was essential to growing stronger in this world. Even the talentless punk Romdeo was drinking potions instead of water. I wasn’t about to let Prinz go by without any sort of power boost.

Good thing the dungeon farm is producing so many herbs. I also took a couple of tonics for myself. After all, I needed to look out for my own body too. I held out my latest test product to Prinz.

As Prinz scarfed it down like a rice ball, he exclaimed in wonder, “Whoa! This tastes amazing!”

“Really?”

It was supposed to taste like tuna kimbap. I guess Korean food is pretty compatible with the palates of this world. I waited for Prinz to finish gulping down the rest of the supplement before handing him another one the size of my fist.

“Prinz, do you want to give this one a try?”

“Sure!”

The unknowing Prinz took a big bite. And froze almost as soon as he started chewing.

“Urgh, blergh!” Prinz threw up.

“Hmm... Was it that bad?”

“Oh! I-I’m sorry, Allie! You spent so much time making it! I’m really sorry!”

“It’s fine. It was a success.”

My brother stared at me for a moment in confusion. “What?”

I gave a wicked smile. “I made that for the bully,” I explained with delight. “It’s custom-made! Bird poop flavor! It’s a huge success! You threw up after just one bite!”

I noticed my brother wasn’t laughing along with me.

“Prinz?”

Prinz had a reproachful look on his face as he stared straight at me. “How could you feed me such a thing... You went too far.”

“Oh, come on, Prinz. Are you mad? It’s still really good for you.”

He said nothing.

“Prinz? Hello. Prinz?”

But he still would not respond. He turned away from me. Uh-oh. Looks like he’s pretty angry this time.

“C’mon, it was just a joke. Are you really mad?”

He didn’t respond.

“Prinz?” It looks like this apology is going to need a little more sincerity. “Oh, I know! I’ll give you half of my chocolate milk for the next week! C’mon, don’t be mad! Please?”

“What?” He quickly glanced back at me. His eyes widened as if he was going to say something.

I shrunk back in surprise. My old habits of what I used to do with my other brother before I transmigrated had jumped out. I was a little worried that Prinz might get suspicious of me for the strange behavior. Nothing good could come of that. I kept calm and acted like nothing was wrong.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh, um, I thought I remembered something.”

“What?” I asked, suddenly confused.

His response to the question I had thrown at him to avoid confrontation was a bit odd.

“No, it’s nothing,” he said dismissively.

I decided to let it go since it didn’t look like he was going to pursue the matter any further.

“Are you still mad?”

“I was never angry, to begin with. I was just messing around with you.”

His cheery smile eased my mind. We soon forgot all about this minor mishap and chatted away.