Sword Saint's Reincarnation-Chapter 78: The Truth, Again

The next day.

Rylan dashed to the side as the audience’s cheering shook the stadium. Mana coalesced into water, then solidified into ice and flew toward him. Some of the projectiles looked like spikes and spears, while others were simply large blocks of ice.

His vision expanded as his concentration reached its peak. The sheer number of projectiles made them hard to avoid without using Drifting or Wind, but wasn’t that the whole point of going through this? He needed to learn how to improve his spellcasting and how to use magic to face different situations. No, magic wasn’t the only thing he had.

Roland’s experience and memories flashed through his mind. He didn’t question their whispers; instead, he believed in them wholeheartedly. A century’s worth of battles guided his movements.

I’ll have to dodge everything by a hair.

But he could do it.

The first ice block arrived. Without compromising his posture, Rylan sidestepped and tilted his body. The projectile: which was as big as his torso: passed him by, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t achieved anything. It had forced him to move, putting him in the way of the incoming frozen spike. He let out a breath and spun.

Dodging the spike, he took three steps to the left and spun again. Another ice block missed him and crashed against the mana barrier, shattering with a deafening roar. It was as if Rylan was dancing to a song only he could hear. Without doubting his instincts and choices, he continuously avoided the projectiles. However, the opponent had shot them in a way that each one sealed off possible escape routes. In the end, against the very last ice spear, Rylan was forced to cast Magic Shield.

The spear hit the Shield, spinning. Barely a second after the collision, Rylan shifted his body as the ice spear got through his Magic Shield, piercing a hole through it. It grazed his right side, drawing a line of blood.

Very good.

His admiration was toward his opponent, not himself. Each trajectory had been carefully calculated in nothing but a moment and sought to exploit his tendency to physically dodge spells instead of casting Magic Shield. The sheer number of variables involved should have stopped his opponent from even trying it, but he’d had the balls to do it. His name flashed in Rylan’s mind.

Leon.

Such a skilled Mage deserved to be remembered. Rylan had no doubt that the boy would grow to become someone great. Even his current, teenage self presented a considerable challenge. Rylan’s gaze sharpened.

The stadium had been shocked into stunned silence.

Without missing a beat, Rylan started casting as he looked at his opponent. The seventeen-year-old boy looked flustered and stumbled over his words, hindering his own chanting. Sweat flowed down Rylan’s body. His chanting finished earlier than Leon’s.

“Magic Missile.”

The arrow of blue mana pierced through the air, much faster than ever before. It landed on Leon’s left thigh and spun as it drilled a hole into it. Flesh and muscle were forced to give way, blood flowing and falling onto the stone floor. The boy screamed and kneeled. With a breath, Rylan pointed his wand at Leon’s chest.

“Stop!” one of the judges yelled, as he expected they would.

Rylan lowered his wand and ran his hand over his hair. It was soaked with sweat, just like his entire body. His shirt stuck to his torso as he heaved. Despite the exhaustion, his back remained completely straight.

Damn it. This was the hardest one so far.

He put away his wand and ran his hand over the sword’s hilt. The urge to draw it had almost been overwhelming. He eyed the boy he’d just defeated, who was frowning and gritting his teeth while being healed. No matter how he looked at it, Leon had been the greatest Mage he’d faced in this tournament. Fast casting and accurate, powerful spells had been tempered by experience and clarity of mind. It was impressive that he had reached such a level while being so young.

Rylan’s mind went to his next opponent. Jasmine Lamollet. Could he beat her? He didn’t know the answer.

I’m close to my limit.

Even with Roland’s battle experience, his low magical stats and relative lack of good Passive Skills were hindering him, since he had decided to use magic alone for this tournament. It didn’t help that almost all of his Titles were related to swordsmanship. Still, he only smiled.

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Victory and defeat weren’t important. What mattered was his development and growth. And right now, he was growing faster than ever before in this life. He learned everything he could from each battle, from how to react to different spells to how much time he could spend casting before a counterattack. He felt like he had been starving all his life, only to arrive before a banquet.

On top of that, pushing himself to his limits was the best way to awaken Aura. Over and over, he would do so, until he confirmed if Aura existed in this life. Even if it didn’t, he had already decided to reach the peak of magic. He needed to become stronger than Roland had been, even if only to protect his family from whatever came their way.

With heavy steps, Rylan approached his opponent: who had stood up after being healed: and extended his hand.

“Great work. I hope we can fight again,” he said with a smile.

With a complicated expression, Leon shook his hand silently.

Rylan ignored all the cheering and the people screaming out his name, focused only on catching his breath. After the judges announced his victory, he slowly spun in place. The paved arena was ruined; stone tiles had been forcefully ripped out of the ground and scorched, while spikes of earth and ice pierced through their gaps. Holes had been punched into the floor as the spells tore through it.

If it weren’t for the mana barrier, the audience would’ve been affected.

Nodding to himself, Rylan left the arena while nodding at the crowd. He had already agreed to meet Aelfric and Sarah at the hotel, as a way of trying to keep them from being swallowed up by the people. As he expected, the moment he stepped out of the stadium, waves upon waves of people, young and old, approached him with excited smiles. He grinned. It was a tiresome process, but the feeling wasn’t bad. He had lived his whole life without acknowledgment, after all.

Slowly, he waded through the crowd, intentionally choosing narrow streets to avoid being surrounded. His eyes scanned his environment continuously, as usual. The guards forced the people to disperse, allowing him to finally reach the hotel. At this point, it was more than likely that his location had been compromised, but there was nothing to do about it.

Rylan stepped inside and nodded at the man by the desk, who nodded back with a slight bow. After climbing the stairs, Rylan entered his room with a tired expression. He only had the time to take a single step before he completely froze in place. His gaze shook as his eyes widened. Staring into them were two sets of blue eyes much like his own.

His heart thumped within his chest. He almost took a step back when Regis stood up from the chair he had been sitting on and stepped closer to him. He looked taller than Rylan remembered and donned a short beard, alongside a blue robe with an insignia over his chest. Rylan tried to find the words but didn’t even know where to start. In the meantime, Regis reached him and grabbed his collar with both hands. His brother’s eyes blazed with myriad emotions, but anger was the predominant one.

“…How dare you come here?” he asked in a raspy voice, almost snarling.

Rylan blinked dumbly. Regis opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else, a voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

“Regis. We agreed we’d listen to him first.”

It was a voice he couldn’t forget even if he tried. Stepping out from behind Lillia, who was still staring at Rylan with red eyes, was the person Rylan had missed the most. She was also the one he had seen the least. Brown hair and skin were complemented by hazel eyes that were just as warm as he remembered. Elizabeth gave him a bitter smile and walked closer as Regis stepped back.

Her hand gently cradled his face.

“…You’re taller now,” she said after staring into his eyes for a few seconds.

Rylan closed his eyes. Roland’s training went into overdrive as he tried to calm himself down. No matter what, nervousness only led to bad decisions. He needed to steady himself. Breathing in a deep and rhythmic manner, he opened his eyes after a few seconds. His gaze no longer wavered. He put his hand over his mother’s.

“It’s great to see you, Mom,” he replied tenderly with a smile, then looked at Regis and Lillia. “And it’s great to see you two too.”

Lillia frowned while Regis eyed him up and down.

“…I promised Mom, so get started. What’s your explanation?” Regis snapped. His voice contained absolute distrust.

Aelfric, who had been sitting to the side and fidgeting in place, almost leaped to his feet.

“We’re different!” he said loudly, clenching his fists. “Rylan is!”

Lillia looked at him with much softer eyes, but they were also filled with helplessness and sadness.

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“Aelfric, you need to understand that—” she started.

“No! You have to believe in us!”

“Aelfric,” Rylan called out, still holding Elizabeth’s hand. Aelfric immediately went silent and looked at him. “Don’t worry. Everything will turn out alright. Please, don’t fight with Lillia or Regis.”

Elizabeth, Regis, and Lillia took a step back almost at the same time. Regis blinked.

“I can vouch for young master Rylan,” Sarah suddenly said, bowing as she stood behind Aelfric. “I’m terribly sorry for speaking out of place, my lady, young lords. I know I don’t deserve to be part of this conversation. I’ll accept any punishment, but please allow me to say this: I believe in the young master.”

Lillia looked at Sarah as if she had just been slapped. Regis wasn’t much different.

“You?” Lillia asked incredulously. “Out of all people, you?”

Rylan sighed with a frown. It was only obvious what she meant. Sarah had been the person who despised him the most. Her offering her support like this was almost incomprehensible.

“Did you bring a Scrying Crystal?” Rylan asked in a steady tone.

“Yes,” Elizabeth replied. Regis and Lillia were still staring at Sarah, shellshocked.

She pulled a small blue sphere out of her large gown and gave it to him. Once his siblings turned to him, Sarah started walking to the door before he extended his hand to stop her.

“This is for you too,” he said with a sad smile. She shot him a puzzled look but returned to her previous position. Now, everyone in the room was staring at him. Regis and Lillia eyed him with distrust and seething anger, but in his mother’s eyes, he could see hope.

With a deep breath, he willed the Crystal to display his full Status Window. Once it floated in the air in the shape of a square of light, he spoke.

“I have remembered my past life. I’m a Reincarnator.”