Chapter 26. Turning Point (2)

Superior swordsmanship and third-rate swordsmanship.

And the criterion that divided them from the standard-issue swordsmanship, which could be called a middle ground between the superior and the third-rate, was simpler than I thought.

‘A secret method to quickly raise the level of aura.’

It was whether this secret method existed or not.

Naturally, the Mediale Kingdom Swordsmanship or the Ingens Empire Swordsmanship did not have such a secret method.

All they did was refine the basics and create connecting movements depending on whether they were offense-focused or defense-focused.

This was the limit of standard-issue swordsmanship.

‘From what I’d heard, third-rate swordsmanship didn't even seem to manage that. It was like you couldn't even tell what it was centered on.’

For that reason, just containing such a secret method was enough to be called a superior swordsmanship.

And the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> contained this secret method.

This was why Roden was certain that the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> was a superior swordsmanship.

‘To think there was a method like this.’

The secret method proposed by the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> was to sing a ‘song’ for the aura after the day's training was over.

A song for the aura.

At first glance, it was a rather absurd story.

In fact, the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> also wrote down the reason this song was effective in an absurd manner.

[Contrary to popular belief, aura is a very lively being, like a snake that can be charmed by a flute, so it dances when a knight sings.

And at this time, the knight can gain tremendous power from the aura.]

Thus, the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> recommended singing this song once a day after training.

And below that, the lyrics of the song were written along with a musical score.

‘Did the people of the Broom family really believe such nonsense and sing every day?’

Roden couldn't help but feel dizzy reading this passage of the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual>.

In the first place, explaining aura as something emotional was itself nonsensical.

Because aura was just a type of refined energy.

And training was the process of refining and absorbing the rather coarse and crude energy called mana in its natural state.

In the end, not a single thing in the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual>’s explanation was correct.

Aura was not a snake, nor was it lively.

But even so,

‘The <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> is a superior swordsmanship manual. And I have to learn this song.’

Roden judged so.

The reason was none other than this.

Because although the explanation was wrong, the effect of the song written in the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> was certain.

‘Because this isn't just a song, but a type of magic.’

In truth, Roden too was very surprised after checking the song in the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual>.

Because he never thought he would encounter a magic formula in a swordsmanship manual.

Of course, the magic formula written here was different in many ways from the magic formulas used by mages in the modern era.

If he had to classify it, it was closer to the primitive spells used in ancient times.

And if it weren't for Roden, even a high-ranking mage would not have been able to recognize it easily.

Roden recognized that this song was magic because he had read a research paper related to primitive magic that had been shoved into a corner of the Penitudo mage tower's library.

‘Certainly, ancient spells are a very minor research topic even within the mage tower, where every eccentric imaginable is gathered. Almost no one is interested in it, you could say.’

But it wasn't that only things that attracted the interest of the majority were useful.

Rather, there were also things that were valuable because only a few knew about them.

In that regard, Roden too felt a considerable interest in this magic formula.

This was because the formula was designed more meticulously than he thought, to allow magic to be cast with aura instead of mana.

Above all,

‘Why didn't I think of this?’

Roden received a great shock from this part.

Since the raw material for both mana and aura was the same natural state mana, it was in a way natural that magic could also be cast with aura.

‘But my thoughts didn't reach this point…. Why?’

Fortunately, Roden was able to realize the reason quickly.

The reason Roden had not thought of manifesting magic with aura until now was as follows.

‘Because there was no reason to do so.’

A mage was a being who had already refined mana and formed something called a circle.

So there was no reason to bother researching a way to manifest magic with aura.

Moreover, magic manifested with aura was not more effective than magic manifested with mana.

Compared to mana, its effect was less than a quarter.

To quantify it for easy understanding, it showed roughly 10% of the power.

‘So who would want to manifest magic with aura.’

Perhaps anyone who researched it would have quit quickly.

And this was the same for knights as well.

As a knight, there was no reason to use magic with aura.

Because it was much more efficient to manifest the aura through the medium of a sword.

Just as a mage refines natural state mana into mana to manifest magic more easily in the first place,

a knight must have also refined natural state mana into aura to imbue it into a sword more easily.

Moreover,

‘I heard that among the knights who have learned superior swordsmanship, there are cases where they use something called a secret technique to manifest aura like magic.’

So, as a knight, there was no particular reason to want to use magic.

Unless it was a case like the Broom family, using magic without even knowing it was magic.

But unlike ordinary mages or knights, this was a very meaningful discovery for Roden.

Because a way had appeared for him to somehow use the magic he had researched his entire past life in this body with a mana affinity converging on 0.

Besides, it seemed he could find a way if he delved deep into research.

A way to increase the power of magic manifested with aura.

However, now was not the time to think about such things.

It was time to first confirm the effect of the magic written in the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual>.

“Ahem.”

After clearing his throat once, Roden began to sing as written in the musical score.

-In the dancing starlight

The wind shines

Following the waves of the Milky Way

If I entrust my body

As if time has stopped

You come to me

And he was surprised.

The reason was none other than this.

Because his singing skill was better than he thought.

‘Why does this sound good?’

Roden was quite fond of singing.

But he didn't enjoy singing it himself.

Not only was his skill not very good, but he also didn't have the time to build up his singing skill due to his research.

For that reason, Roden preferred listening to songs rather than singing them.

So on his days off after finishing important research, he would secretly sneak out of the mage tower to watch the performances of nearby minstrels.

Moreover, after the mages of the mage tower found out that Roden liked songs, they would often give him magic orbs containing the songs of famous minstrels as gifts.

So, it could be said that Roden's ear for listening was not bad.

Sometimes he even referred to himself as ‘Topbaekgwi’.

It was a term that meant 'an ear that only listens to songs in the tower all day'.

And when listening with this Topbaekgwi's ear, his own singing skill was quite decent.

To be precise, it was that the talent of Ernst, the original owner of this body, was not bad.

‘Come to think of it, he had a talent for horse riding too.... Ernst was a much more versatile guy than I thought.’

It was hard to believe that even with such talents, he had lived his days soaked in alcohol.

Anyway, after briefly admiring his own skill, Roden continued to sing.

-The breath of a snow-capped mountain

A passion that cannot be cooled

Suddenly surging in

The waves of starlight

We shall continue to dance

At the boundary of the universe

As the song continued, the exquisite connection of lyrics and pitch created a formula.

And the natural state mana reacted to it.

A much larger amount of mana than usual gathered around Roden.

The amount easily exceeded twice the usual.

Moreover, the mana churned around Roden as if it were really dancing.

Slosh, slosh.

Slosh, slosh.

Of course, the mana was not really dancing.

The space was small and the amount of mana was large, so its gathering just looked that way.

But Roden felt he understood why the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> described aura as a very lively being.

‘So they just wrote down what they saw.’

And so, Roden closely observed the natural state mana that had gathered around him.

And a moment later.

He nodded his head.

Because he could understand the principle of how it increased the aura absorption rate.

‘As the mana gathers densely in one place, it naturally changes into a state that is easier to refine into aura.’

But one shouldn't misunderstand that the secret method of the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual> did not directly refine mana into aura.

The song written in this book was a much simpler magic than that.

Just increasing the amount of mana gathering in the surroundings than usual.

But natural state mana was something whose properties changed, even if slightly, just by gathering and gaining density.

It became a form that was much easier to refine into mana or aura.

In fact, the basic principle of the Mana Breathing Method generally used by mages to gather mana was similar to this.

The first goal was to make a lot of natural state mana gather in the surroundings.

Because that alone made it easier to refine into mana.

‘However, the fact that a knightly family has been refining aura with this method for a long time is surprising.’

It was even more surprising after learning that this method was effective.

Because it was fascinating how on earth they could have found such a method.

Without even properly knowing the principle.

‘It's probably the same way ancient people used primitive magic in the name of spells.’

In fact, it wasn't just magic.

More often than one would think, in ancient times, people found and used effective methods

without knowing the principles.

For example, when they first started attaching feathers to arrows.

Without understanding aerodynamics, they simply believed that if the spirit of a bird dwelled within, the arrow would fly farther and more accurately.

Adding bone powder to molten iron was similar.

They did it because they believed that if the wild nature of a beast melted into the iron, the weapon would become stronger and harder.

But this was the principle of increasing the strength of iron due to carbon.

‘Sometimes, coincidence accomplishes more amazing things than magic.’

The people of the Broom family were probably the same.

One day, they must have sung a song and experienced more aura being absorbed.

‘Interesting.’

Roden once again checked the natural state mana gathered around him.

Slosh, slosh.

Slosh, slosh.

If he slept soundly like this, it was clear that a much larger amount of aura than usual would be absorbed tomorrow.

‘Then I should check it. It’s bedtime anyway.’

Roden decided to end his day here and go to bed, partly to confirm the song's effect.

“…….”

And around Roden, who fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, the aura continued to dance.

***

And the next day.

Roden, who woke up early in the morning for his personal training, was able to confirm it.

That his thoughts were not wrong.

Moreover,

‘The effect is much better than I thought…….’

12%.

That was the aura absorption rate Roden confirmed.