Chapter 21

Chapter 21

‘Zeke, that bastard. He has a vicious side, despite how he looks, does he not?’

The one grumbling and cursing Zeke under his breath was none other than Peter.

He had been forced into an oath because of Zeke’s threats, so of course he could not possibly be pleased.

‘To think I am in a position where I have to be loyal to Zeke instead of the Lord Tower Master. Ha, unbelievable!’

It was absurd that he had to be controlled by the youngest son, but there was nothing he could do.

If he wanted to protect his Circle, he could never betray Zeke.

‘Now that it has come to this, I have to survive somehow. I absolutely will not end up a broken man like Alex.’

All that had changed was that his master had shifted from the Tower Master to Zeke.

As long as he listened to Zeke, his Circle would not collapse.

In a way, it was simple.

‘I will survive and become the Family Head, just to show them. When that time comes, Zeke, you will not be able to look down on me the way you do now.’

For now, Zeke had forced him into a contract and was throwing his weight around, but when that time came, would he still be able to treat him so carelessly?

Even if the oath remained in effect.

‘At the very least, we may be able to develop into a mutually beneficial relationship.’

He did not like that he was now in a position where he could never betray Zeke for the rest of his life, but since he had sworn the oath, there was no helping it.

He had no choice but to forget what had already happened.

As Peter walked through the Training Ground with that thought in mind, his gaze suddenly shifted.

That was because someone had caught his eye.

‘Is that Zeke? What is he doing over there?’

In the Training Ground, Zeke was choosing a training wooden sword.

‘Raker Van, Luna, and even her fiancé, Theo Baldor, are there.’

After Zeke, Theo was choosing a wooden sword as well.

It seemed the two of them were about to spar.

‘Ha. Sparring with wooden swords in a magical family. How ridiculous.’

A snicker escaped him, but realistically, if they wanted to test their strength against each other, that was the only way.

Unlike Theo, Zeke had no Circle.

Not that he was incapable of using magic, of course.

‘Theo does not know. He does not know that Zeke can use magic.’

Not only could Zeke use it, but he could even block others from using magic.

No one knew that except Peter, who had experienced it himself.

‘Come to think of it, did Zeke have some knowledge of swordsmanship too?’

Peter tilted his head and watched the sparring match between the two from a distance.

Inwardly, he prayed fervently for one person to win.

***

‘Will he be all right? I have never seen the Young Master swing a wooden sword before.’

With this sudden sparring match arranged, Raker could not help but worry.

As he had said, he had never once seen Zeke swing a wooden sword.

To an onlooker, it was something to laugh at.

‘But why did he deliberately step forward and ask for a sparring match……?’

He did not know what Young Master Theo was thinking, but in Raker’s eyes, it looked as though Zeke had deliberately provoked him.

‘If he guided him into sparring, that must mean he is confident enough to do so, does it not?’

That was why Raker was quietly watching their sparring match, but it would be a lie to say he was not anxious.

Even at a glance, there was a difference in their build.

‘There is more than a head’s difference between them…… Will he truly be all right?’

Even if both of them were beginners with no understanding of swordsmanship, it was a match between a twenty-year-old and a fifteen-year-old.

There was bound to be a difference in their basic strength.

Moreover, Young Master Theo’s body was unusually large for a mage.

‘No matter how much Young Master Zeke has trained, it will be difficult for him to defeat Young Master Theo.’

One did not need to compare them at length to know the answer.

It was obvious at a glance which of the two had the advantage.

‘I should watch the situation and intervene midway if I have to. An enraged Young Master Theo will not show any mercy with his hands.’

Thinking that he would help Zeke if necessary, Raker watched the two of them with worried eyes.

***

‘You ridiculous little brat. I will teach you a lesson while I have the chance.’

Theo faced his opponent and ground his teeth.

If he became engaged to Luna, Zeke would become his future brother-in-law, but Theo had no intention of going easy on him.

To begin with, Luna had wanted him to crush the boy.

Even now, was she not sending him fervent encouragement with her eyes?

-Theo. Please make sure you destroy that damned brat.

-Do not worry. I will use this chance to teach him proper manners toward his elders.

Answering her with his eyes, Theo looked at his opponent.

His opponent was shorter than him and had a slender build.

The boy claimed to have trained in swordsmanship, but there was no reason to fear him.

Was he not merely a fifteen-year-old brat?

On top of that, he was a half-wit with neither Aura nor a Circle.

‘Even if he trained, he must have only been flailing around in the air.’

Theo himself was not in much of a different position, but he was still better.

He had already gone through his coming-of-age ceremony at eighteen, and his body was sturdy and imposing in a way unbecoming of a mage.

If he had not been born into a magical family, he might have become an Aura User.

‘And he dares look down on me? You chose the wrong day.’

Thinking that he would use the excuse of a sparring match to beat him thoroughly, Theo picked up a training wooden sword.

Even if it was made for training, it was still a hard wooden stick.

If it struck someone, it would leave bruises and make their bones ache.

‘I have even cast Strength, which increases physical power, so I will never be pushed back in strength.’

On top of that, he had secretly cast Haste, which made his movements more agile.

Although he was a beginner who had never held a sword before, his movements would certainly not look like those of a beginner.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes. Please begin first. I will yield the first move to you.”

SNAP-

It felt as though something connected to his forehead had snapped.

‘This bastard has tested my patience long enough!’

Theo forced down the rage boiling inside him, twisted the corner of his mouth, and stepped forward.

“Then I will not decline.”

He carefully narrowed the distance, then abruptly rushed in and swung his wooden sword downward.

His target was the other boy’s head.

‘It is over!’

The wooden sword was about to touch Zeke’s head, and yet Zeke showed no sign of dodging. The outcome was decided.

Soon, he would scream, collapse, and cry like a child.

But that expectation melted away like snow the moment the wooden sword cut through empty air.

‘What?!’

Zeke’s head vanished like an illusion.

His movement was as though Theo had seen a ghost.

In the instant Theo’s eyes widened—

THWACK-!

“Guh!”

A sharp pain struck his side.

“F*ck!”

The nature he had been suppressing burst out along with a curse, and he slashed at his opponent’s waist.

But this attack, too, struck nothing.

When his attack failed, what came back was his opponent’s stinging punishment.

THWACK-!

“Ugh!”

A prickling pain rang through his shoulder.

THWACK-!

His forearm hurt as though it might break.

THWACK-!

This time, he was struck in the pelvis.

His brow, which had no room left to furrow any further, showed just how much pain he was in.

“Uaaaaah!”

With a furious shout, he swung his wooden sword wildly.

The movements were clumsy and without technique, but at this range, at least one strike should have landed.

And yet—

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Somehow, he could not even graze the edge of Zeke’s clothes.

At this point, Theo’s face filled with bewilderment rather than pain.

‘What, what is this? Why can I not hit him?’

His opponent was right in front of him.

He was close enough to reach if Theo only stretched out his arm.

And yet his wooden sword was cutting through nothing but innocent air.

Zeke was predicting the direction of his wooden sword and evading it like a ghost.

As though deliberately provoking him, he was smiling leisurely all the while.

THWACK! THWACK!

“Ghk!”

He dodged everything he needed to dodge, and even attacked with ease.

Those were absolutely not the movements of a beginner.

THWACK, THWACK, THWACK, THWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACK!

“F*ck, fuuuuuck!”

Unable to suppress his anger at being beaten like a dog, Theo eventually had no choice but to chant a spell.

‘Mana Skin(Mana Skin)!’

It was a 2nd-Circle spell that strengthened the skin and protected it from external impacts.

At the very least, if he had this, he should be able to lessen the pain from the wooden sword.

‘Good. Now, if I endure it while taking the hits……!’

But Theo did not know.

THWACK-!

“Kgh!”

That magic did not work on his opponent at all.

***

‘W-what in the world is this……?’

As Raker watched the sparring match, he could not close his open mouth.

His prediction that Theo would have the advantage had been completely wrong.

Zeke was beating him one-sidedly.

‘What is going on? I heard he definitely had not learned Aura…….’

Not only was he seeing through the path of Theo’s sword with excellent dynamic visual acuity, but he was even evading it with ease.

Those were not movements an ordinary person could imitate.

‘It is almost as if he is using Aura.’

Predicting and evading like that at close range was impossible.

It was something that required explosive power and agility.

At his age, for that to be possible, it had to be Aura.

‘But I do not feel anything like Aura being used…….’

Then what if he was not using Aura?

Raker swallowed hard.

If that were the case, it meant Zeke was not talented in magic, but was instead a genius born with the talent to become an Aura Master.

‘I suppose there is no need for me to step in.’

Of the dozens of attacks, Zeke had not allowed even one to hit him.

At the same time, he was landing dozens of attacks on his opponent.

In short, he was evading every attack while landing every attack of his own.

The outcome was already as good as decided.

Could anyone fail to see that from Theo, whose entire body was turning black and blue?

In a way, he even looked pitiful.

‘It is over. There is no reason for me to step…….’

That was when it happened.

SWISH-

Theo disgracefully threw his wooden sword.

Zeke dodged even that with ease, but it did not end there.

HUMMM-

Theo’s hand was rippling with Mana.

As if he no longer cared about the sparring match or anything else, he was preparing magic.

And not just any magic, but the highest level he could produce: a 4th-Circle spell.

“Young Master Zeke!”

“F*ck, dieeee!”

At the very moment Theo was drawing out blazing flames, Raker stepped in and kicked him in the abdomen.

“Kuhak!”

Because the attack carried Aura, Theo was sent flying dozens of meters and crashed into the stone wall of the Training Ground.

“Kyaak! What do you think you are doing?”

“That is what I would like to ask!”

When Raker glared at her and snapped back, Luna stared at him with venomous eyes.

Then, as though worried about her fiancé, she ran toward the collapsed stone wall.

“Are you all right, Young Master?”

“I am fine. More importantly, thank you for stepping in. If it had not been for Sir Raker, I would have been helplessly struck by his magic.”

‘It did not look that way at all to me.’

Those words rose all the way to Raker’s throat, but he ultimately swallowed them and turned to look at Theo.

Right now, he was more concerned about Theo’s condition.

If Theo had been injured in the slightest, Raker’s career would end here as well.

“Do not worry. What Sir Raker is thinking will not happen.”

“Pardon?”

“He was the one who ignored the rules first and tried to use magic, was he not?”

Watching Zeke reassure him as if he had read his mind, Raker could not help but be surprised once again.

‘Truly, he is a peculiar Young Master in many ways. Perhaps that is why I find myself even more concerned about him.’

He could no longer remember how many times he had been surprised because of Young Master Zeke.

“Grrrgh, you…….”

Meanwhile, Theo rose from the rubble and glared at Zeke.

Seeing that he had no major injuries, he seemed to have protected his body with magic in that split second.

“How dare you…… toy with me?”

“Me?”

“Did you not hide your skills to humiliate me?”

“And what of it?”

“What…?”

“Young Master Theo was the one who looked down on me and agreed to the sparring match, and Young Master Theo was also the one who promised not to use magic. Regardless of the result, was this not a fair sparring match? Is that not so, Sir Raker?”

“Ah, yes. That is correct.”

“Y-you……!”

Even though Raker, who was practically the witness to the sparring match, acknowledged it, Theo could not smooth out his crumpled expression.

It seemed that even after being beaten like that, his anger had not subsided.

“I will make sure to repay you for today’s humiliation! Let us go!”

“Just you wait, Zeke!”

Watching the two of them retreat despite their threats, Zeke inwardly snorted.

‘He still has his pride, pathetic as it is. To think someone like that is the Second Young Master of House Baldor.’

Theo’s back as he left with Luna’s support somehow looked even pitiful.

***

At the same time Zeke was sparring with Theo, Gerard was meeting Dalfred.

“Master. Congratulations on becoming a 9th-Circle Mage.”

“Hoho, I appreciate it, even if they are empty words.”

“Empty words? I mean it sincerely.”

“If you brought nothing with you, what could it be but empty words?”

Dalfred opened his palm as if making a joke.

“If you truly wished to congratulate me, should you not have brought a gift?”

“Ah…… I apologize. I came in a hurry, so I did not think to prepare a gift…….”

“Huhut! You rascal, taking me so seriously. It was a joke, a joke! You have been my disciple for decades, and yet you still cannot tell the difference? Hoho!”

Ordinarily, Gerard might have awkwardly scratched the back of his head, but his gaze remained serious from beginning to end.

It was as though he had no room to accept a joke.

Dalfred belatedly realized this and deliberately put on a grave expression.

“Tell me the main point. What matter brings you to this old man?”

“There is something I must discuss with you. Please accept this first.”

Instead of a gift, Gerard brought out something else.

It was a Butterfly Brooch.