Thus, the matter involving the butler Cox that had turned the Count Kazar’s household upside down was resolved.
Fortunately, it did not cause a big disturbance.
It was because Christian had quickly taken care of Cox.
‘The young master made a wise decision.’
‘If he hadn’t struck Cox then, the Count’s household would have been in a difficult position.’
Everyone thought Christian had acted in the best interest of the Count’s family by dealing with Cox.
Although Christian’s true intentions were different, outwardly, it seemed that way, and people admired him for his wise judgment.
‘He has completely changed.’
‘He’s not the wastrel he used to be.’
People were surprised to see Christian, who was now actively participating in physical training at the training ground.
As soon as he caught the rat, Cox, Christian had put aside his reckless imitation and started focusing on training.
The intensity of his training was immense.
Despite the obvious difficulty, he ran laps with a proud and cold expression that seemed like the very embodiment of discipline.
Of course, Christian thought to himself.
‘Damn this physical training. It’s killing me. Why can’t strength be trained through talent! For the wealth and glory I will enjoy as a Demon King. The glory! The glory!’
Nevertheless, the Servants fully recognized the changed Christian.
He was no longer the wastrel.
He was now a legitimate young master of the Count Kazar’s household.
A scene proving this fact unfolded.
Count Kazar appeared at the training ground.
To teach Christian!
‘The Count himself teaching him.’
‘Even Lord Theren hasn’t received direct teaching yet, as far as I know.’
It was unexpected that Theren hadn’t received teaching from Count Kazar yet.
Count Kazar had been making Theren undergo training with the Black Marsh Knights, citing his lack of basics.
For Theren, he only occasionally pointed out what was lacking, but he had come out to teach Christian directly.
‘It must be because he’s late.’
‘He’s caught up, but he was far behind before.’
The Servants looked on with pity.
‘Really, can the young master withstand the Count’s teaching?’
‘Even the senior members of the knights find the Count’s training difficuls.’
The reason Count Kazar hadn’t started teaching his chosen heir Theren was that he wasn’t yet up to enduring the training.
Count Kazar’s teaching was notoriously ruthless.
The Servants thought there was no way the previously debauched Christian could endure it.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Father.”
Christian followed Count Kazar to a secret training ground specially arranged in the mansion.
Unaware of the harsh future that awaited him, Christian’s naturally innocent face made the Servants shake their heads.
‘Really, I wonder how long he can last.’
‘It’d be terrible if he gave up training due to its harshness and returned to his former wastrel ways.’
Thus, everyone worried about Christian undergoing training under Count Kazar.
But what the Servants didn’t know was what was happening in the secret training ground.
Count Kazar couldn’t close his mouth, caught in continuous astonishment.
* * *
“Am I doing this right?”
A ferocious flurry of swordplay was displayed.
It wasn’t the Mud Sword Technique that blocked the opponent’s feet.
It was the Black Scythe Sword Technique, a method for taking the necks of foes cornered in desperation.
Like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, it was a deadly sword technique meant to inflict fatal wounds, a main attack technique of the Black Marsh Knights.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Bind their feet with mud, bring them down with curses, and reap their necks with a scythe. It’s simple.”
Simple?
Had someone else said that, Count Kazar would have erupted in anger at their arrogance.
Actually implementing that strategy required perfectly mastering the interplay of checking, cursing, and attacking.
But Count Kazar couldn’t get angry.
Christian was actually making it look ‘simple,’ just as he had said.
-Kyaaak!
Summoned creatures for training rushed in.
Christian used the light movements of the Mud Sword Technique to block their attacks, check their movements, and cast dark magic.
It was a 1-star basic curse called “Shadow Vines” in dark magic.
The shadows wrapped around the feet like vines.
It wasn’t a strong bind.
A strong kick could easily break free from this weak bond.
However, Christian didn’t miss the brief opportunity.
Whenever their movements faltered, the Black Scythe Sword Technique reaped the necks of the creatures.
“…….”
Count Kazar was silent.
‘When did he become so natural at casting dark magic?’
It was evident, but wielding a sword while casting dark magic required immense control. By control alone, his skills were already beyond 2-stars.
Not just control?
‘The Black Scythe Technique… I only taught it to him today.’
But what was that movement?
Of course, it was still raw.
Yet, the essence was precisely alive.
Targeting the opponent’s vulnerabilities to inflict fatal wounds.
There were too many astonishing aspects to determine what was most surprising.
Even as Count Kazar had not yet recovered from his shock, Christian showed an even more startling method.
“Do we have to do it this way?”
“What?”
“I think there might be a more efficient method.”
Christian grinned.
“Look, an appropriate opponent is coming. Just watch.”
A new training creature was summoned from the magic circle.
A 2-demon-level ‘Human Mushroom’.
Just as swordsmen, magicians, and Servants are classified into levels of achievement, creatures were also classified into demonic levels.
The stages of demon levels correspond, where a demon of the same number has similar power to a Servant of the same level.
Thus, the newly summoned ‘Human Mushroom’ was stronger than 1-star Christian.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but that’s a 2-demon-level creature. Don’t let your guard down.”
“I’m not being careless. I just need to match the opponent’s strength, why would I be careless? Anyway, just watch.”
Thud thud, the Human Mushroom approached.
As its name suggests, the Human Mushroom had a mushroom’s trunk with stems extending like limbs.
Its limb-like stems were as sturdy as logs.
Christian launched an attack as before.
A checking attack. It was the Mud Sword Technique.
A swift charge but a perfect check, Count Kazar secretly admired again.
‘But it won’t be as easy as with the previous creatures. The limbs of the 2-demon-level Human Mushroom are sturdy enough to ignore the checks of the Mud Sword Technique.’
Count Kazar thought to himself.
‘It might not be bad for him to be thoroughly defeated this time.’
Christian was excellent but arrogant.
A significant defeat might give him a chance to shed his arrogance.
However, that did not happen.
The moment the Mud Sword Technique touched the creature’s legs.
A completely unexpected scene unfolded.
Shriek!
Christian’s sword sliced through the legs of the Human Mushroom.
The tough, log-like legs of the powerful creature were cleanly cut off.
“!!”
Count Kazar was startled and stood up.
“How did you do that?”
As repeatedly mentioned, the Mud Sword Technique was primarily a checking sword method.
The attack Christian just performed was supposed to be a light leg-slicing.
But what about that power?
Concentrated magic?
It would be possible if he could handle the Black Sword, a magic-infused blade usable from 3-star onward.
But no.
Christian was not yet capable of wielding the Black Sword.
Then?
‘He combined the Mud Sword Technique with the Black Scythe!!!’
Count Kazar thought it was an absurd idea to come up with.
Combining two sword techniques?
But surely, the strike Christian just performed contained both the essence of checking with the Mud Technique and inflicting fatal wounds with the Black Scythe.
“How did you do it?”
“Well, it’s nothing special. I just adjusted the movement so that when the Mud Sword Technique touches the opponent, it can momentarily exert a strong force.”
“…So how exactly?”
“Uh, it’s complicated to explain in words. Just watch.”
Christian pointed to his feet.
“I slightly widened the stride compared to the Mud Technique and shifted my weight to the right rear foot. This allows for a burst of force momentarily.”
“…But wouldn’t that throw off your balance?”
“As much as I’ve disrupted the balance, I’ve adjusted it by handling the weight of the sword.”
“……”
“The overall movement of the upper body follows the Mud Technique almost exactly, but I’ve contracted the upper arm muscles more, and I’ve twisted the wrist slightly more like a scythe.”
“……”
“And also…”
Christian detailed precisely how he had done it.
Count Kazar remained silent for a long time.
He had no idea how to respond.
When he tried following his son’s explanation, it actually was possible to maintain the movements of the Mud Technique while instantaneously unleashing the explosive power of the scythe!
‘…Insane.’
Count Kazar involuntarily swallowed a curse.
‘It’s entirely a new sword technique.’
This was neither purely Mud nor Scythe.
It was something new.
‘He created a new sword technique on the spot?’
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a complete technique yet.
It was merely a movement, and there were many unstable aspects that needed refinement to truly be called a ‘sword technique.’
Strictly speaking, rather than a new sword technique, it was closer to an ‘improvised application.’
Still, it was an incredible feat.
Count Kazar found it hard to believe and unconsciously downplayed Christian’s achievement.
“It has become quite powerful, but isn’t it difficult to use curses along with that kind of magic manipulation?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. You might not realize, but the Mud Technique is specialized to be used with curses. The Scythe is not; it requires concentration of magic.”
Christian scratched his head.
Swoosh.
While performing the scythe motion, a black cloud of magic formed in his other hand.
“It works together, though?”
“……”
“Is it usually difficult?”
Count Kazar clamped his mouth shut.
He thought of a word he had considered several times today.
‘Insane.’
Though he was his son, Christian was frustratingly good.
* * *
Time passed.
About a fortnight?
Christian divided his day into three parts.
The first was physical training time.
His least favorite time.
‘Damn, running is too hard!’
It wasn’t just running.
Push-ups, sit-ups, and other basic physical training were what Christian disliked the most.
‘If only I had been born a Dark Magus Family specializing in destruction or curse magic, I wouldn’t need to build up physical strength like this!’
But as a Dark Magus Family, which falls under the category of magic combat, physical training was essential.
He resented being reborn to the lineage of Dark Magus Family that was affiliated with combat magic.
The second time was spent with Count Kazar.
‘Still, training with Count Kazar is kind of fun.’
What was fun was the shocked expressions of Count Kazar whenever he did something new.
Despite his stoic appearance, Count Kazar had a very expressive face when surprised.
‘My skills are also improving quickly.’
Christian moved the magic within his body.
The magic circulated rapidly.
He had reached a higher level.
‘If I were to rank it, would it be upper level? It’s pointless to discuss since it’s just 1-star.’
No, it wasn’t.
Even within 1-star, there were distinctions between lower, middle, and upper.
‘Lower’ is just reaching that level.
‘Middle’ is when it’s fully mature.
‘Upper’ is when one has perfected that level and is beginning to look towards the next step—meaning Christian was already at the end of 1-star!
All this, less than a month after reaching 1-star.
‘No need to get cocky. There’s a long way to go. But tonight, let’s relax and eat something good! Can’t drink alcohol yet… Beef, strawberry juice! The happy life of a silver-spoon lord!’
The last part of Christian’s divided day was pure relaxation time.
‘To last long, it’s important to take breaks before burning out.’
He was naturally lazy, unable to cling to training day and night.
So he set up a schedule to train hard during the day and rest at night.
In the Magic Empire, a nation of demons and mages, drinking wasn’t allowed until 18, so indulging in tasty food and snacks was his way of ending the day.
‘When I turn eighteen, the legal drinking age, I’ll try all sorts of alcohol.’
With that thought, he was returning to the mansion when an unexpected figure called out to him.
“It’s been a while.”
“!!”
Christian flinched.
Out of the darkness, a beautiful woman with a cold demeanor appeared. She had black hair and blue eyes, her appearance seemingly in her late twenties thanks to magic that slowed aging.
It was Melin, the vice-captain of the Black Marsh Knights!
Christian realized why Melin had appeared.
‘The time we agreed upon is almost here.’
A month ago, they had arranged to duel without any restrictions on magic use.
The time for that duel was approaching.
