The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority Chapter 71

Swordmaster (1)

The opening of the Dragon Sword Hall was postponed by two weeks.

Given the major incident of the Heavenly Sword Lord's youngest daughter being kidnapped, it was inevitable that a large-scale investigation covering the entire Heavenly Sword Palace would begin.

However, it was more of a formality; in reality, it was a purge operation to expel supporters of Theo's faction.

There was a major reshuffling of personnel across all institutions within the Heavenly Sword Palace, and the Dragon Sword Hall was no exception.

Theo's faction had been that large.

Most likely, these two weeks were to allow enough time to assign new instructors to the Dragon Sword Hall and to complete the transition.

'From my perspective, it actually worked out well.'

For Ian, it was a stroke of luck.

'Because I gained plenty of time to practice aura cultivation.'

Inside Vladiark, there was truly a mountain of aura waiting to be absorbed.

He desperately needed time to train alone, and with the opening of the Dragon Sword Hall delayed, he was able to claim that time.

'If I devote as much time as possible to training during these two weeks, and pull all-nighters every other day...'

By the time the Hall opens, he might be able to reach the entry-stage of Swordmaster.

'However...'

The spots left vacant by Theo's faction would naturally be filled by Aris's faction.

'Just thinking about Aris's growing influence is giving me a headache already.'

Ian rubbed his forehead.

'If Aris's faction takes control of the Dragon Sword Hall...'

In effect, it would be as if Ian was lying squarely in Aris's palm.

'Aris will want to dig up all the abilities I'm hiding.'

She had already shown an intense interest in Ian.

What exactly she wanted, he still wasn't sure, but...

'I'm sure it's nothing good.'

Aris was certainly a villain.

Regardless of her motives, ultimately, her head would be filled only with thoughts of exploiting Ian.

'I need to get stronger as quickly as possible.'

So that whenever Aris reaches out her claws, he can easily brush her off.

'Time is gold. Let's start right away.'

Thus began two weeks of intensive training.

In the morning, he taught swordsmanship to Sophia.

― Whoosh! Snap! Whoosh! Snap!

"I definitely think I grow the fastest when I learn from you, young master!"

"That's true now, but eventually, practicing on your own will be more important. You need to find your own style."

"Yes!"

In the afternoon, Sophia trained on her own to build stamina.

"Huff, huff! One! Two!"

Ian focused on aura training.

"......"

One day, then two, three, four, five days like this.

With no one disturbing Ian and Sophia, peaceful days passed by...

"A letter from the Heavenly Sword Lord, for me...?"

A letter had arrived from the Heavenly Sword Lord.

"Yes, the Lord sent a letter directly addressed to you, young master Ian. It is handwritten, so please handle it carefully."

"A h-handwritten letter...?"

A genuine handwritten letter.

Who in the entire Heavenly Sword Palace could claim to have received such a letter written by the Lord himself?

"Hmmm..."

Ian fiddled with the envelope, looking baffled.

He could hardly imagine the Lord, who always seemed to overlook everything with the radiant energy of the sun, quietly sitting at a desk and writing with a pen.

"Uh, well, thank you."

That day, Ian postponed his afternoon training for a bit and decided to check the letter first.

'Even the Lord's handwriting is impressive.'

Meticulously aligned sentences.

Strokes drawn with confidence and boldness.

The calligraphy was both neat and dynamic.

'But...'

The lines were rather dense.

The pale apricot-colored letter paper now almost looked black.

'He must have had a lot to say.'

The letter was long.

But, to summarize, the contents were simple.

― Thank you for saving my youngest daughter, Yuria.

― I wish I could speak to you in person, but since I absolutely cannot leave my post, I must settle for this letter.

― The expedition is likely to take longer than expected. I'm curious how you've been doing.

― I've prepared a gift. I hope you'll like it.

Up to here, it was fine.

The passage carried the Lord's goodwill and warmth.

But then...

From the next part on...

― My eldest daughter, Aris, seems to have taken quite a liking to you.

― I reflected much of Aris's opinion when preparing this gift.

― Aris may be like a big sister to you, but to me, both of you are still children.

― There's barely more than a ten-year age difference between you two.

― Considering the slow aging and long lifespan of the Hisperion, that barely counts as an age gap.

― If you two meet often, you'll find you have much in common, so please try to get close and be friends.

"......."

Somehow, the Lord seemed to wish for Ian to become close with Aris.

"...... No way......."

No matter how much the Lord wished for it, some things were simply out of the question.

'...... There's no way I'm getting tangled up with that crazy woman.'

Ian would sooner run away from Heavenly Sword Palace with Yuria than get mixed up with Aris.

If he ever got close to Aris, he'd end up as a mindless slave within two years, at best.

Be it brainwashing, dark magic, or some other sinister sorcery...

"Ugh."

Ian shuddered at the sudden wave of dread.

'Enough with that horrific thought. Let's check the gifts.'

There were three boxes accompanying the letter.

One thin and flat.

One long and slender.

And one about the size of an arm.

Ian carefully unwrapped the flat, broad box first.

"Oh...!"

The moment he saw what was inside, he couldn't help exclaiming in awe.

"Amazing!"

The first gift from the Lord was a secret manual for aura training.

A breathing technique deeply imbued with the power and mystery of thunder.

It was Sky Thunder, Deep as the Clouds (穹雷雷雲深).

'Exactly what I needed, as if he read my mind!'

Until now, the Heavenly Dawn Technique alone had sufficed, but after becoming a Swordmaster, a new cultivation method was necessary.

'If I keep building aura solely with the Heavenly Dawn Technique, it'll be obvious.'

When projecting Swordmaster's enhanced energy using Heavenly Dawn Technique, it had a distinctive sun-like golden hue.

If Ian wanted to conceal the fact that he was secretly mastering the Hisperion's secret technique, it was about time to adopt a different method—and just in time, he received the perfect one as a present.

'This technique is nearly on par with Heavenly Dawn Technique.'

Of course, in terms of speed or efficiency of cultivation, it couldn't match Heavenly Dawn Technique.

Heavenly Dawn Technique was one of the world's premier cultivation methods.

'But Sky Thunder, Deep as the Clouds also has its unique advantages!'

Objectively, its speed alone placed it among the top echelon of breathing techniques, and above all, it had a trait that Heavenly Dawn Technique did not.

'The greatest advantage: it allows the accumulation of thunder-type aura.'

Thunder attribute.

Aura of thunder and lightning.

Thunder attribute aura had the drawback of being unruly and unpredictable, making it hard to control, but if mastered, nothing surpassed it.

There's no power as quick or fierce as lightning.

'The first gift is already incredible...'

Ian, brimming with anticipation, unwrapped the second gift.

This time it was the long, slender box.

"Ah. This!"

The second gift was Dellen's longsword, Flostilla.

'They're giving... this to me?'

Ordinarily, when the chosen sword from the sword spirit ceremony's user died, the blade was returned to the inner vault.

Occasionally, in special cases, it was passed down to a child, or personally reclaimed for use by the Lord.

If the designated user had committed treason, it might be given as a reward to one who performed great service.

'Not bad.'

Flostilla was a sword Ian had used frequently in his past life.

It found its way into his hands once again.

'In the end, perhaps swords have as much fate as people do.'

Everything comes full circle, returning to its master.

'So, then, the last gift...?'

The arm-sized box.

"Wow..."

Upon unwrapping it, he found a bracelet containing subspace storage magic.

'They're going this far for me?'

Subspace artifacts were extremely rare, and correspondingly, extremely valuable.

Even the cheapest would cost tens of thousands of gold.

'The subspace runestones required for making such artifacts were phenomenally rare.'

For the average person, it was more than a lifetime's earnings, even working nonstop.

'With this, I can carry dozens of swords at once.'

For someone with Ian's gift for wielding a wide variety of swords, such a subspace artifact was especially useful.

'If I collect a bunch of swords like Flostilla and store them in this bracelet, I'd be able to overwhelm most enemies just by unleashing their sword spirits in sequence.'

And that had been one of Ian's principal fighting methods in his previous life too.

Powering up with gear, based on his gift for quickly grasping the nature of swords.

This was also why, in his previous life, Ian, who had barely reached late-stage Swordmaster, could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with many Grandmasters.

'The gifts supposedly reflect much of Aris's opinion.'

There's no way Aris could know about Ian's past life.

Most likely...

She saw Ian using Flostilla with such mastery, and thought to gift him that legendary sword and subspace bracelet.

'Does she think I have an ability to freely wield any sword?'

And so, she gave him equipment that would allow him to exploit that ability to the fullest.

It made perfect sense.

After all, there was someone in the Heavenly Sword Palace with a similar talent to Ian's.

'Sword Fiend Silence Doomraven.'

A member of Hisperion's guest retainers, a quirky mercenary at the Grandmaster rank.

This man could wield any sword with incredible proficiency, as if he had used it for thirty years, even the first time touching it.

'But he can only handle magic swords and demon swords so freely.'

Whereas Ian had no such limits.

Ian was already gifted to nearly superhuman levels, and thanks to experience from his past life, had a wealth of know-how.

With so much experience taming different swords, he had now reached a state where after a few swings, he instinctively knew how to use even a sword he'd never seen before.

'If that's how Aris saw me, then she wasn't wrong.'

In truth, Ian could wield any sword with ease—even new ones.

Of course, he was even confident in unlocking their sword spirits.

'This is crazy. Insane, even.'

A top-tier aura cultivation method, a legendary sword, and an artifact valuable enough to buy a castle.

'Even though I did help save Yuria...'

Honestly, even just one of these would have been more than enough reward.

'Is this just an investment, then?'

The Lord wants Ian as his closest aide.

He must be trying to win Ian's favor with these generous gifts.

'If that was his aim...'

He's partially succeeded.

Ian still couldn't swear undying loyalty to the Lord, but if circumstances called for him to raise his sword for the Lord, he could now do so with little hesitation.

'Alright then. Time to put these away and get back to training.'

Maybe it was the mood from receiving such extravagant gifts, but...

Training went especially well that day.

The next day...

"Uuu... I'm hungry from all the blood they took..."

As soon as the infirmary at the Heavenly Sword Palace reopened, Ian took Sophia for a medical checkup.

"Meat... I need to eat meat."

"Again? We already had some yesterday. Today, let's think about nutrition—a salad with eggs or fish..."

"Meat... I can't remember the taste of meat."

"Like I said, we ate it yesterday."

"I can't remember the taste of meat! This is a serious problem!!!"

"... Alright. Fine, let's eat meat. Pork okay?"

"Pork! That's the best! Yayyyy!"

That day, they went home and enjoyed a feast, taking the day off.

The next morning, the Master Alchemist of the Heavenly Sword Palace's Workshop came to visit.

"Young master Ian. Here are the Elder Vampiric Sense you ordered last time."

He could have sent an underling.

But the Workshop Master visited in person and greeted Ian with a deep bow.

Is this court etiquette? Or maneuvering? Or politics, perhaps?

The Workshop Master seemed eager to grow closer to Ian.

'Doesn't seem like he'd gain much from befriending me, though.'

Still, he didn't seem like a bad person, so Ian shared a cup of tea with him.

"I never imagined I would receive the Elder Vampiric Sense so soon. The materials I provided were all substitute-quality, so I thought it would take longer to cultivate."

"We have many useful artifacts in the Workshop. We also use relics from the Luminari. However, with a limited number of devices, we always process the most important orders first. This time, we used a cultivation accelerator. We only have one in the entire Workshop."

The Workshop Master subtly emphasized that he had paid special attention to Ian's order.

But what Ian picked up on was not that roundabout suggestion.

'So there are Luminari among the Workshop staff here.'

Using and handling the relics of powerful ancient magical civilizations was a racial specialty of the Luminari, and someday Ian would need to project that as well.

'Last time, I couldn't project Kelbian's forehead jewel because I didn't have enough aura.'

Once he becomes a Swordmaster, it wouldn't be a bad idea to seek out the Luminari in the Workshop and attempt projection.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

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