Next day, early morning.
In the courtyard next to the Frenzel mansion's pavilion, Riezel stood with a wooden sword, ready for an attack, his eyes were tightly shut.
Maintaining his posture unchanged, the hand holding the sword showed no sign of trembling. His entire body stood still, resembling a swordsman statue.
"Huu..."
"Haa..."
Despite his stillness, Riezel softly breathed, sometimes inhaling a large amount of air and then exhaling it. His breathing rhythm became peculiar, fluctuating between fast and slow, loud and nearly inaudible. The volume of his inhalations and exhalations varied.
One moment, he took in an abundant amount of air, and after a while, the air he exhaled was meager. In the previous moment, he didn't inhale much, but when he exhaled, a considerable amount of air was expelled.
Riezel continued this unique breathing pattern, creating an odd rhythm.
As time passed, subtle fluctuations of magical energy emanated from his body, like invisible steam rising, swirling around him.
After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and finally moved.
*Swish—!*
The sharp sound of cutting through the air echoed.
Riezel swiftly swung his sword, as if an opponent appeared before him, launching an attack.
His speed was astonishing to the point that the sound of the wooden sword slicing through the air was exceptionally clear. His wrist and arm moved flexibly, carrying an indescribable power, repeatedly striking at an imaginary enemy before him.
Upon closer inspection, his sword movements not only lacked hesitation but were also remarkably fluid, flowing as if he were dancing gracefully and seemed pleasing to the eye.
However, the surrounding atmosphere around Riezel's body was chaotic. Each swing from his wooden sword seemed as if a steel sword was wielded, giving a sense that it could cut through anything. Its power was overwhelming, making his momentum grow stronger.
Simultaneously, the magical energy swirling around his body slowly seeped into his muscles, as if being absorbed by his entire body.
In this way, while practicing his swordsmanship, Riezel accumulated momentum over time. After a while, an astonishing oppressive aura emanated from him, causing passing servants to feel a shiver down their spines and even alarming some guards.
It wasn't until about half an hour later that he finally stopped.
"Huff..."
A breath of stale air escaped his mouth, forming a small vortex that swept all around.
Riezel's entire body became damp, soaked in sweat, though his breathing remained untroubled, his muscles trembled slightly as if reaching a limit or experiencing pleasure.
Feeling the condition of his body, he couldn't help but reveal a satisfied expression.
"Sure enough, my theory was right..." Riezel muttered to himself. "With the abundant magical energy of this body, once I practice swordsmanship, activate the magical energy in my damaged 'Gate', and use it to strengthen my body, progress becomes amazingly fast."
On this day, he officially began practicing this world's swordsmanship.
Just now, his peculiar breath was the breathing style ingrained in his practiced swordsmanship. Coordinating with the swordsmanship recorded in the book, he smoothly activated the magical energy inside him and began absorbing it into his body.
Fortunately, the effect was satisfactory.
Although only half an hour of practice had passed, Riezel could already feel the changes in his body.
'Let's update my status.'
Deep in thought, Riezel couldn't help but retrieve a bottle of Loki's blood from the Dimensional Magic Cube's storage space.
Riezel pulled open the bottle, poured out a drop of Loki's blood, and dabbed it on his forehead.
This was the effect of the 'Self Redemption' skill, a way to autonomously update status.
Since he couldn't touch his own back and modify the status on his back, he could only trigger the effect of 'Self Redemption' in this way, letting the skill handle the updating of his status independently.
In this situation, Loki's blood seeped into Riezel's forehead, disappearing from view.
At this moment, if someone were to remove his clothes and look at his back, they would see a shimmering light curtain.
Sacred text floated out of the light curtain as if assembling something, undergoing changes, interweaving, colliding, and covering each other.
When the sacred text returned to his back and the light curtain disappeared, his mind was suddenly filled with a series of mental images.
Accepting these mental images, he read his new status.
...
Riezel Brynhart
Level 5
STR: I0 → G284
END: I0 → G257
DEX: I0 → F312
AGI: I0 → F331
MAG: I0 → F305
Lightweight: G
Swordsman: G
Mage: H
Battle Adept: I
...
'Is this the status updated by 'Self Redemption'?' Riezel curiously observed the status in his mind and secretly nodded. 'Total basic ability proficiency has increased by over 1400. For my current level, achieving this level of growth speed is quite impressive.'
After about six days back in the main world, he had already raised his three favored basic abilities, 'DEX', 'AGI', and 'MAG' to F-rank, and also raised 'STR' and 'END' to G-rank. This growth rate was considered cheating compared to adventurers who struggled for years at Level 5 to see significant improvements.
Of course, his current growth speed was mediocre compared to his past self, but he was no longer a rookie; he was a genuine first-class adventurer now.
With higher levels, the growth of status slowed down, which was to be expected. Additionally, he could no longer enter the dungeon and hunt monsters daily in this world.
However, the fact that he managed to raise the total basic ability proficiency by over 1400 in just six days through self-practice was something that would envy any adventurer.
'If there were a special swordsmanship to practice, my growth speed should increase further...' Riezel thought inwardly with a hint of regret. 'Unfortunately, for now, I can only choose a superior advanced swordsmanship to practice.'
His chosen swordsmanship that came from Yuri's library had a simple name—Breaking Steel Sword Style.
Practicing this swordsmanship not only had a more efficient growth rate than ordinary advanced swordsmanship but, in the later stages, it would allow magical energy to cover the weapon, significantly enhancing its performance.
Breaking Steel Sword Style's effects, such as cutting through steel, breaking enemy weapons, and even destroying enemy body armor, could be considered a kind of magic attribute or magic effect.
For that reason, it was quite close to the domain of special swordsmanship.
While Breaking Steel Sword Style was an advanced swordsmanship, it was the most powerful in its class, closely approaching special swordsmanship. If its effects on body refining, magical energy absorption, and growth promotion were not slightly weaker than special swordsmanship, it could easily have entered the domain of special swordsmanship.
Nevertheless, this was the best and strongest swordsmanship that Riezel could find in Yuri's library. So, when he saw it, he chose it without hesitation.
Though he regretted being unable to practice genuine special swordsmanship, Breaking Steel Sword Style was an advanced swordsmanship closely resembling special swordsmanship, which satisfied him just as well.
'I'll practice this swordsmanship in my free time and try to develop the 'Break Steel' technique soon.'
While making that decision, Riezel picked up his wooden sword and resumed practicing. But this time, he was not practicing Breaking Steel Sword Style; he was practicing Holy Dragon Sword Style.
'This swordsmanship may not bring effective growth to my status, but it innately possesses powerful sword techniques. Studying and honing it can still improve my combat skills.'
Riezel found it challenging to let go of Holy Dragon Sword Style. After all, it was the first swordsmanship he encountered, and it held a unique place in his heart. He was reluctant to completely abandon it.
'After this, let's spend an hour each day practicing Holy Dragon Sword Style.' Riezel decided.
And so, he alternated between practicing two swordsmanship while improving his own status and combat skills, spending a considerable amount of time near the pavilion in the courtyard.
It wasn't until around noon that his routine was unexpectedly interrupted by a carriage entering the Frenzel residence.
Glancing at the carriage, Riezel noticed Yuri and Marilyn stepping out of it.
"Oh, did they go out?" Riezel paused, slightly taken aback. He had been practicing swordsmanship here since early morning and hadn't seen Yuri and Marilyn leave.
Yuri noticed his figure and waved at him. Returning the gesture with a wave, Riezel put down his wooden sword and walked over to her.
"Good morning." Yuri greeted. "Are you practicing swordsmanship?"
"Yeah..." Riezel nodded. "Where did you go?"
"The royal palace... I had some matters to take care of." Yuri replied casually.
As for the specifics of the matters, she didn't elaborate, and he didn't press further either.
"You didn't happen to go out last night, stayed up all night, and just came back now, did you?" Riezel remarked in astonishment as he observed the faint signs of weariness on her face.
"...Did you notice?" Yuri chuckled before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. If solving things only requires a bit of fatigue, then it's definitely a win for me."
Her words carried a sense of mysteriousness.
Riezel silently watched her face, refraining from further conversation. No wonder he didn't notice her departure at all; she had already departed since last night, after all.
"By the way..." Yuri lifted her gaze to his eyes. "Prepare yourself. We're probably leaving the royal capital tomorrow and returning to my territory."
"Tomorrow? Got it." Riezel nodded.
Yuri smiled at him and, accompanied by the silent Marilyn, immediately headed back inside the mansion.
After watching the two enter the mansion, Riezel turned back and resumed his swordsmanship practice near the pavilion.
However, this time, he practiced with even more determination and effort.
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Yuri's instructions about leaving the royal capital were given swiftly.
Under the orders of this young lady, the entire mansion's servants and guards sprang into action, making preparations for tomorrow's journey.
Accompanying her on this trip would be Riezel and Marilyn, while Ain and Ian serve as her attendants. Additionally, a fully manned knightly order of one hundred would act as her bodyguard, escorting her back to the Frenzel territory.
It was only today that Riezel laid eyes on the Frenzel family's knightly order.
Nobles had the privilege of forming a knightly order, a fact Riezel was well aware of.
While they couldn't match the kingdom's knightly orders, which could number in the thousands, the higher the noble rank, the larger the knightly order under their command.
A baron had one hundred men.
A viscount had three hundred men.
A count had five hundred men.
A marquis had seven hundred men.
A duke had one thousand men.
This was a privilege granted by the kingdom, giving nobles a certain degree of military authority.
Yuri was a marquis, and not just any marquis at that.
As a Chief Court Magician and a Strategic-Class Magician, she enjoyed several privileges. The kingdom allowed her to expand her knightly order by an additional one hundred, granting her a force of up to eight hundred knights.
Under her command, these eight hundred knights were divided into eight squads. One squad remained by her side as a bodyguard, while the remaining seven guarded the Frenzel territory, ensuring its safety.
In other words, wherever she went, she was accompanied by at least one hundred knights as bodyguards, showcasing both grandeur and considerable combat power.
These knights differed from the mansion's guards who patrolled, stood watch, and maintained order. They were genuine soldiers with powerful combat skills.
Ain and Ian were responsible for supervising and training these knights, so Riezel had not encountered them before today nor had he met anyone from the Frenzel family's knightly order.
Today marked the summoning of this knightly order back to the residence. They stood in formation around the mansion, awaiting the signal to depart, their appearance was neat.
Riezel took a rough estimate and observed the strength of this knightly order.
'Calculating with the lowest latent basic abilities, these knights are probably between Level 3 and Level 4...' Riezel thought to himself.
This was a hundred second-class adventurers!
Even considering Loki Familia, excluding the strength of executives, they were probably no match for this knightly order, right?
Furthermore, there were at least seven hundred of these knights left within the Frenzel territory.
Adding Sword Masters like Marilyn, Ain, and Ian, all equivalent to Level 5 adventurers with the lowest latent basic abilities, the Frenzel family's combat power was strong enough to leave Riezel speechless.
He might not lose to any one of these people, but facing so many alone would be troublesome. Not to mention, within the Frenzel family, there was also Yuri, a Strategic-Class Magician.
This was someone whose magic could burn down a city or a small country in a single strike akin to a nuclear weapon.
With such attack power, even Riveria, renowned as Orario's strongest mage, was far surpassed.
In other words, Yuri, as a Strategic-Class Magician, was definitely stronger than Level 6 Riveria by a significant margin.
At least, Riezel didn't believe that Riveria, even at Level 7, could unleash magic that could destroy a city or even a small country in a single strike.
Therefore, conservatively estimating, Yuri's attack power should surpass Level 7. With such attack power, if she successfully released her magic, Riezel would probably be dead even if he had ten lives.
Of course, the usage requirements for strategic-class magic were strict; it wasn't easy to release.
However, with eight hundred knights equivalent to second-class adventurers guarding, plus numerous Sword Master attendants, Riezel didn't have confidence in breaking through this defense before Yuri cast her strategic-class magic on him.
This showed how powerful her combat power was.
'Now that I think about it, a Strategic-Class Magician already has attack power surpassing Level 7. What about the power of a Sword Saint, hailed as invincible in combat?' Riezel couldn't help but wonder.
As far as he knew, there were three ways for a swordsman to achieve the title of Sword Saint.
First, acquire a Sword Master Medal, attain the status of Sword Master, challenge other Sword Masters, and upon consecutively defeating a thousand of them, one would receive a kingdom commendation, be awarded a Sword Saint Medal, and ascend to the rank of Sword Saint.
Second, acquire a Sword Master Medal, achieve the status of a Sword Master, challenge a Sword Saint, and upon defeating them, one would similarly receive a kingdom commendation, be awarded a Sword Saint Medal, and be recognized as a Sword Saint.
Third, gain worldwide recognition for possessing the strength of Sword Saint, obtain a recommendation from another Sword Saint, and if the royal family acknowledges and believes that one genuinely qualifies as a Sword Saint, one can be officially awarded the title of Sword Saint in a public ceremony.
Those were the three ways to become a Sword Saint, each requiring strength as proof. It was undoubtedly much more challenging than becoming a Tactical-Class or Strategic-Class Magician by being able to cast magic at the corresponding class.
The path to becoming a Sword Saint was a road paved with pure strength, and every Sword Saint was a genuine powerhouse.
In this way, the fame and popularity of a Sword Saint were unquestionable, even magicians who held themselves in high regard dared not underestimate such figures.
The status of a Sword Saint might be slightly less than a Strategic-Class Magician's, but it far surpassed that of a Tactical-Class Magician.
Calculating it all like this, Riezel started to form speculation.
'Sword Saint... Even the worst should be around Level 7, right?' Riezel could only estimate; he hadn't seen a Sword Saint in action, so he wasn't sure about the specific strength of characters at this level.
However, to be recognized as a Sword Saint, one had to defeat a thousand Sword Masters, and consecutively at that. If one were only a Level 6, who had a strength of just above Sword Masters, it would be an impossible feat.
Therefore, a Sword Saint should be able to match up against at least a Level 7 adventurer at the lowest, according to Riezel's speculation.
'It seems that whether it's a Sword Saint or a Strategic-Class Magician, I still have a long way to go, huh...' Riezel finally felt the pressure.
In this world, he was positioned as a Sword Master and a Tactical-Class Magician. While an average Sword Master might not be his opponent, he could only be considered an outstanding swordsman among them, falling short if compared to Sword Saint.
He was comparable to a Tactical-Class Magician in terms of magic, not lagging too far behind.
Such him could be called a powerhouse, but definitely not the top powerhouse in high-end combat power.
Unfortunately, he couldn't slack off and took it slow since he also had a seemingly mysterious organization targeting him. With an organization backed up by at least a country, even if they didn't have a Strategic-Class Magician, they probably had one or two Sword Saints.
'I need to work harder...'
Riezel was already considering finding an opportunity for his second dimensional travel.
On the day of his return, he had 23 units of dimensional energy left. The Dimensional Magic Cube absorbed one unit of energy per day. Now, around six days had passed, so he had gained a total of 30 units of energy, enough for a random dimensional travel.
'This world lacks dungeons, and there aren't many enemies to defeat. Even though practicing swordsmanship hasn't halted my growth, if I want to grow faster, I should go to other worlds.'
Even if he ended up in a peaceful world, he could use the different time ratio to train for a while in other worlds.
'Alright, I'll take some time off and then dive into another dimensional travel...' Riezel made a decision.
And so, as everyone in the Frenzel residence was busy preparing for the journey, the news quickly spread, reaching many who were interested in Yuri.
Among them were also some with malicious intentions.
===
"What? She plans to return to her family territory?"
Archie, who was making hidden arrangements at home, quickly stood up upon hearing the news from his subordinate.
He was anxious.
'No, in a few days, father will choose his heir. If she isn't in the royal capital at that time, what am I going to do?'
Archie paced back and forth, unable to sit still, and in the end, left the house. He got into a carriage heading toward the Frenzel residence as quickly as possible.
However, apart from him, another person had an extreme reaction to Yuri's plan to leave the royal capital and return to her territory.
"Hurry! Issue the orders! Carry out the plan as scheduled!"
A somewhat frail-looking young man yelled at his steward, his face filled with urgency.
"Yes, Young Master."
In front of the young man, the steward hastily responded while bowing his head before hurrying downstairs.
The young man remained alone in the room, sitting on the sofa, murmuring absentmindedly.
"I won't give up... I won't give up... I won't give up..."
His voice faintly revealed a hint of distortion.
As for the other nobles and even the royal family, they silently monitored the situation without making any specific arrangements. Particularly, the royal family seemed to completely ignore Yuri's impending departure. When someone brought it up, they would change the topic.
No one knew that just last night, Yuri had visited the royal palace, met with the king, and talked for the entire night. As a result, today, all the princes and princesses were scolded by the king and confined within the palace.
Riezel was unaware of this, unaware that trouble was on his way, and unaware that he would soon be at the center of attention for the first time in this world.
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