30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?!-Chapter 239: The Knight Dislikes the Chaos (2)

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Thud!

"...Who needs to be a knight when you can make a living like this?"

Using just his palm, Ihan found that nailing was exceptionally effective.

While he could always drive nails with his fist, doing so without using any skills usually resulted in sore skin or injuries.

But now, he hammered nails purely with his hand without any discomfort, and a chair was neatly assembled.

Clack.

"This was hastily made, so why did it turn out so sturdy?"

The wooden chair, crafted without any tools and merely shaped by the edge of his hand, was rough but solid.

Why would one need hammers and saws in woodworking? His fists served as hammers, and his hand edges as saw blades—it seemed he had just proven this point confidently.

"It seems I’m finally understanding what it means to control intent."

"...Do aura users always have to appear so silently, is that what satisfies you?"

"Heh, it’s natural to enjoy a bit of mischievous fun as you get older."

Felicia, who had suddenly appeared behind him, chuckled mischievously and sat on the chair he had made.

"This is quite good."

Pleased with the chair, she nodded several times before fixing her gaze on Ihan's upper body.

"So, tell me, do you understand what it means to handle intent now?"

"Honestly, I still haven't quite grasped it."

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"You're sincere."

"But still..."

Creak!

"—Why you insisted on training with the mind and not the body, I think I’m starting to understand."

Ihan's hand edge split a thick log in two.

Just like an axe.

***

At first, he was very confused.

How exactly does one train with the mind? He had no clue.

But he didn't overcomplicate his thoughts.

"Just try it, what’s there to lose?"

Ihan was never one to dwell on theories; he was more of a hands-on person who learned through action.

Thus, he followed Felicia's advice straightforwardly.

Train with the mind, that is, through imagination?

So he did.

Mental training. He imagined performing high-load exercises like squats with a barbell.

But during these imaginations,

"Ah, this isn’t right."

He delved deeper, striving for more detail not because Felicia had asked for it, but because compromise wasn't in his nature.

Being meticulous was part of his life philosophy—even if it was a fool's errand, he’d give his all.

So, like a finicky designer, he focused intensely on details, which involved,

The posture and muscle tremors when exercising. The weight he was lifting. How much he sweated and got injured during workouts. Calculating recovery time after intense training sessions.

He would spend all day delving into these details, immersing himself in training.

...though he felt a bit foolish afterward.

Perhaps a bit like the emptiness one feels after an imaginary romance?

However, the clear difference between imaginary romance and mental training was,

"What? When did I sweat this much?"

...that it had real effects.

Discovering himself drenched in sweat akin to that in his imaginations, Ihan was initially puzzled, wondering if it was a coincidence.

Drip, drip...

"...Here we go again."

When a coincidence repeats itself, it ceases to be one.

As this phenomenon continued every time he completed his mental training sessions, Ihan realized the effectiveness of this method. After various experiments, he learned that the key to successful mental training was extreme detail and concentration.

Lacking in detail or focus could mean no sweat and only feelings of foolishness.

...Eventually, Ihan incorporated this mental training into his daily life.

Initially, he tried to integrate it during meals or walks, a challenging process, but soon he could effortlessly visualize basic swordsmanship or jabs during a casual walk.

...Though he often stumbled or rolled down hills during these exercises, fortunately, no one saw these falls—

"Puahaha! It's not just any foolery!"

"I've heard a blow to the back of the head can cause amnesia?"

"...Why am I here?"

"..."

"Ahem."

"Hmm."

A certain instructor was there, but Ihan trusted that he wouldn’t dare speak of it anywhere, lest he wanted to experimentally prove whether induced amnesia was possible.

After such trials and errors over several days, Ihan’s physique had...

"—While I’ve definitely lost some muscle mass, it feels like only the unnecessary muscles are gone."

After being reconstructed by the fairy, Ihan had considered his body perfect.

From bones to muscles, tendons, and ligaments, everything was as good as new and perfectly balanced.

However, through mental training, Ihan realized that his body could still reach greater perfection.

"Not only have my bones become stronger, but my senses have also improved? It’s not beyond my control, though; I can manage it precisely as I wish."

This phenomenon was astonishing, and Felicia nodded as if it was to be expected.

"It's the result of honing martial arts through intent. Your willpower has sculpted your body to create the ideal form you envision."

"...Didn’t you say you’d forgotten all the theoretical stuff?"

"Our conversations have sparked some memories."

"..."

"Really..."

Ihan didn’t press further, asking instead for a detailed explanation of the phenomena occurring in his body, to which Felicia grumbled,

"You treat me too casually..."

Despite her complaints, she continued to explain.

"Well, you know that the human body has its limits in training. Even those born under a lucky star eventually reach a growth limit. But if you master willpower, that changes."

Whoosh!

She casually swung a wooden sword she was holding.

"—This becomes possible."

What seemed a playful swing resulted in...

Swoosh!

...an effect far too serious to be considered a joke.

"See? This is what training with intent can achieve."

"..."

Ihan blinked as he witnessed what she had sliced.

Good grief...

‘Could a wooden sword split clouds in half?’

...Realizing she wasn’t just any monster, but a grand monster, was a moment of enlightenment.

***

"Willpower is like a guide on the journey to transcendence. That's something my mother often said."

Iliad handed over a cup of tea.

After tasting the honey Ihan had gifted, he had exclaimed with wide eyes that such a precious thing should be savored in tea. Thus, they found themselves sharing a tea time.

As they sipped, the already rich floral aroma filled their mouths with a mystical flavor, prompting Iliad to mention willpower.

"Yes?"

"Ha, my mother isn't great at explaining things theoretically, so I thought I'd recite something she used to say."

"That's kind, but...why only now?"

When Ihan expressed a slight annoyance that Iliad had waited until now to share, Iliad simply smiled brightly.

"Isn't it better to learn and experience things for yourself? According to Arno, that's advice you often give to cadets, right?"

"...You've got me there."

Ihan often taught his students that experiencing something firsthand is far more effective than hearing about it hundreds of times, and he couldn’t argue against his own teachings, especially since hearing explanations after experiencing bodily changes during the past days made those explanations resonate more deeply.

"To elaborate on behalf of my mother, willpower can be seen as a path to breaking human limits. Take, for instance, 'muscles.'"

"Muscles?"

"Yes, as you know, the human body has its irrationalities. Skip a day of exercise, and muscles shrink, and fat appears."

"That's true."

Ihan knew this all too well. Two years ago, after eliminating a troublesome band of sorcerers and slave traders, he suffered severe injuries that forced him to pause his training for over a week.

The frustration he felt when he saw his muscles diminish and fat accumulate after just a week was immense.

"Muscles don’t really give you a good return on effort."

"Yes, that's it. But when you can freely control your willpower, the narrative changes."

"..."

"Mother used to say that the more you train with will, the closer you get to your 'ideal.' That's the first step in breaking human limits."

"So you’re saying my muscles won't fade if that’s my intent?"

"If that's the mental image you cultivate, then yes."

"And what about the Sword Sage’s mental image? Oh, is that a family secret?"

"Ha! Not really. Who could follow or stop her even if they knew?" Iliad laughed heartily and willingly shared the Sword Sage’s 'ideal.'

"Mother aspired to wield 'invincible swordsmanship.' She practiced daily, whether in reality or in her imagination, never missing a day."

"Every day?"

"Yes, from the age of five when she first picked up a sword, for about 85 years."

"..."

Ihan didn’t bother asking if that was even possible. Though it sounded insane, almost maddening, and seemingly impossible, if it concerned an aura user...

"It makes perfect sense." You shouldn’t try to understand them from a regular person’s perspective. Even if they seemed mad, aura users are beyond comprehension. They just do what they can do.

Because they do the impossible, they’re called 'superhumans.'

"Based on that ideal, mother always imagined performing the most powerful sword techniques she could. Of course, this ideal swordsmanship wasn’t perfected overnight. It evolved gradually over decades through countless crises and battles until it was about 50% complete, at which point people began to call her 'Sword Sage.'"

"That’s incredible."

It was an awe-inspiring tale. She had simply practiced the swordsmanship she thought ideal, and one day, found herself at the pinnacle.

"Aura users truly have incredible talents..."

"—Indeed. She was once called 'the least talented swordsman,' 'the disgrace of the Offen family,' and 'incompetent.'"

"...?"

"Ah, haven’t you heard? It’s quite a well-known story in the kingdom..."

Swiftly, Iliad showed a book titled [The Foolish Knight], which, despite its mocking title, was not the end of the series.

"The second part, [The Knight of Defeat], and the third, [The Knight of Victory], are personally quite entertaining. The fourth, [The Glory of the Knight], and the fifth, [The Love of the Knight], are honestly a bit embarrassing—it’s somewhat shameful trying to portray my parents’ love story..."

"..."

"By the way, there are ten parts in total. If you're curious, I'll give them to you."

"Wait, the author’s name says 'Iliad,' am I mistaken?"

"No, you’re quite right."

"...A namesake?"

"Not at all, ha!"

... It wasn’t until the next day, through his students, that Ihan learned Iliad de Offen was one of the ten fairy tale writers chosen by the continent, and his [Knight Series] had sold over '100 million copies' across the southern, western, eastern, and central continents—a bestseller.