Episode 17
And so, the upheaval caused by Butler Cox that had shaken the Kazaar Count’s household came to an end.
Fortunately, there was no major fallout.
That was because Chris had swiftly cut Cox’s throat.
‘The young master made a wise choice.’
‘If he hadn’t acted then, the Kazaar household would have been in serious trouble.’
Everyone assumed Chris had killed Cox to cover up the scandal for the family’s sake.
Though Chris’s true thoughts were different, on the surface it looked that way, and people praised him for his wise judgment.
‘He’s completely changed.’
‘He’s not the reckless troublemaker he used to be.’
Watching Chris train tirelessly in the courtyard, the Ma-in were astonished.
As soon as he caught that rat Cox, Chris shed his wild act and threw himself into rigorous training.
The intensity was staggering.
Despite the obvious exhaustion, he ran with a proud, cold expression, unyielding and focused—a perfect embodiment of a Ma-in.
Of course, Chris’s inner thoughts were quite different.
‘Damn this stamina training. It’s killing me. Why can’t stamina be improved by talent? I’ll endure it all for the glory and wealth I’ll enjoy as the Demon King. The Demon King’s glory! Glory!’
Still, the Ma-in fully acknowledged the change in Chris.
He was no longer a reckless brat.
He was now the respectable young master of the Kazaar household.
And a scene soon unfolded to prove it.
The Kazaar Count himself appeared at the training grounds.
To personally instruct Christian!
‘The Count himself is teaching him?’
‘I heard even Lord Tern hasn’t received direct lessons yet.’
It was surprising that Tern hadn’t been taught directly by the Count.
The Kazaar Count considered Tern’s basics lacking and had him train with the Black Swamp Knights.
He only pointed out Tern’s shortcomings occasionally, but now he was stepping in to personally train Christian.
‘Probably because he’s late in his progress.’
‘He’s woken up, but he’s far behind.’
The Ma-in looked on with concern.
‘Can the young master really endure the Count’s training?’
‘Even the senior knights dread the Count’s harsh regimen.’
The Count had said he hadn’t started training Tern because he wasn’t yet ready to endure it.
His lessons were notoriously merciless.
The Ma-in doubted that the once wayward Christian could withstand it.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Father.”
Chris followed the Kazaar Count to a secret training hall prepared within the mansion.
Unaware of the harsh future awaiting him, Chris’s carefree expression made the Ma-in shake their heads.
‘I wonder how long he’ll last.’
‘If he breaks under the pressure and gives up training, reverting to his old reckless self, that would be terrible.’
Everyone worried for Christian as he began the Count’s training.
But what the Ma-in didn’t know was what was unfolding inside that secret training hall.
The Kazaar Count was left speechless.
He was in a state of endless shock.
“Is this the correct way?”
A fierce sword technique unfolded.
It wasn’t the muddy sword style that entangles the opponent’s feet.
It was the scythe sword technique that harvests the enemy’s neck when they’re cornered.
Like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, it struck with lethal precision, the main offensive technique of the Black Swamp Knights.
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“Binding with mud, breaking down with curses, then reaping the neck with the scythe. Simple enough.”
Simple?
If anyone else had said that, the Kazaar Count would have exploded in anger at their arrogance.
In reality, mastering the seamless combo of restraint, curse, and attack required perfect skill.
But the Count couldn’t bring himself to scold Chris.
Because Chris was actually pulling it off just as simply as he said.
Training beasts were summoned and charged.
Chris blocked and parried their attacks with light movements of the muddy sword style, while casting dark magic.
A first-rank basic curse called ‘Shadow Vines.’
The shadows wrapped around the beasts’ feet like vines.
It wasn’t a strong bind.
A quick stomp could break free.
But Chris never missed that brief opening.
Every time the enemy faltered, the scythe sword technique sliced through their necks.
“……”
The Kazaar Count fell silent.
‘Since when could he cast dark magic so naturally?’
Of course, wielding sword and dark magic simultaneously required immense control—already at least second-rank level.
Not just control—
‘The scythe sword technique… I only taught him today.’
Then what was that movement?
Though still rough, the essence was there.
Targeting the opponent’s weak points to deliver fatal blows.
There were so many surprises that the Count didn’t know what to be most amazed by.
And while the Count was still stunned, Chris showed an even more shocking display.
“Must it always be done this way?”
“What?”
“I think there might be a more efficient method.”
Chris smiled slyly.
“Look, here comes a suitable opponent. Watch this.”
A new training monster was summoned within the magic circle.
A second-rank demon beast called ‘Human Mushroom.’
Just as swordsmen, mages, and Ma-in are ranked by levels, so are demon beasts.
They’re classified by ‘Ma’ ranks, with the same number indicating similar strength to a certain rank of Ma-in.
So this ‘Human Mushroom’ was overwhelmingly stronger than first-rank Ma-in Chris.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but that’s a second-rank demon beast. Don’t let your guard down.”
“I’m not careless. I just match my opponent’s strength exactly. Why would I be careless? Just watch.”
Thud, thud—the Human Mushroom charged.
True to its name, it had a mushroom-like body with stalk-like limbs.
Those limbs were as solid as logs.
Chris launched an attack as before.
A probing strike with the muddy sword style.
A swift charge, yet perfectly measured.
The Kazaar Count secretly admired it again.
‘But this won’t be as easy as with the previous beasts. The Human Mushroom’s limbs are tough enough to ignore the muddy sword’s restraint.’
The Count thought to himself.
‘Maybe it’s good if he gets seriously beaten this time.’
Chris was talented but arrogant.
A harsh defeat might humble him.
But that never happened.
The moment the muddy sword touched the beast’s leg, a completely unexpected scene unfolded.
Screech!
Chris’s sword sliced through the Human Mushroom’s leg.
The sturdy, log-like limb was cleanly severed.
“!!”
The Kazaar Count jumped up in surprise.
“No, how?”
As often said, the muddy sword style is primarily a restraining technique.
Chris’s strike had been a light leg cut.
So what was that power?
Had he concentrated his magical energy?
If he could wield the Black Sword, a magic blade usable only by third-rank Ma-in and above, it would be possible.
But no.
Chris couldn’t use the Black Sword yet.
Then?
‘He combined the muddy sword style with the scythe technique!!!’
The Kazaar Count thought it was absurd even as he realized it.
Combining two sword techniques?
But the strike Chris just executed contained the essence of both—the restraint of the muddy sword and the lethal strike of the scythe.
“How did you do that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just modified the movement so that when the muddy sword touches the opponent, it delivers a sudden burst of power.”
“…Explain that again?”
“Hmm, it’s complicated to put into words. Watch.”
Chris pointed to his foot.
“First, I widened my stance a bit compared to the muddy sword style and shifted my weight onto my right back foot. That lets me unleash a sudden burst of power.”
“…Wouldn’t that throw off your balance?”
“I compensated for the imbalance by adjusting the sword’s counterweight.”
“……”
“My upper body movement mostly followed the muddy sword style, but I contracted my upper arm muscles more and twisted my wrist slightly like a scythe.”
“……”
“And also…”
Chris went on to explain the details of his technique.
The Kazaar Count remained silent for a long time.
He didn’t know how to respond.
When he tried it himself, he realized it was truly possible to maintain the muddy sword’s form while unleashing the scythe’s explosive power in an instant!
‘…Insane.’
The Count unconsciously swallowed a curse.
‘This is a completely new sword technique.’
It was neither muddy sword nor scythe.
It was something new.
‘He created a new sword style on the spot?’
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a full-fledged sword style yet.
It was just a single move, unstable in many ways, needing refinement before it could be called a proper technique.
If anything, it was more like an improvised application than a new style.
Still, it was an incredible feat.
The Kazaar Count, unable to believe it, deliberately downplayed Chris’s accomplishment.
“The power has definitely increased, but wouldn’t handling your magical energy like that make it hard to use curses simultaneously?”
“Is that so?”
“Right. You might not know this, but mud magic specializes in curses. It requires a very specific way of channeling mana. The scythe doesn’t—it demands focused mana control.”
Chris tilted his head in confusion.
Swish.
As the scythe moved through the air, a black, billowing cloud formed in his other hand.
“It actually works together?”
“…”
“Is it supposed to be this difficult?”
Count Kazar fell silent.
He thought of a word he’d probably used too many times today.
“Crazy.”
Even though he was his son, he found him irritating.
Time passed.
About two weeks, give or take.
Chris divided his day into three parts.
First was physical training.
His least favorite time.
“Damn it, running is so exhausting!”
And it wasn’t just running.
Push-ups, sit-ups—basic conditioning was the absolute worst for Chris.
“If only I’d been born a black mage specializing in destructive or curse magic! Then I wouldn’t have to waste time building stamina!”
But since dark mages fall under the combat magic category, physical training was non-negotiable.
He couldn’t help but resent that he’d been born into the bloodline of a dark mage, a combat magic user.
The second part of his day was training with Count Kazar.
“Well, training with him isn’t all bad.”
What made it bearable was watching the count’s shocked expressions every time Chris did something unexpected.
Despite his cold, composed exterior, Kazar’s looks of surprise were surprisingly varied.
“My skills are improving fast, too.”
Chris focused on the mana flowing inside him.
It circulated swiftly.
He’d leveled up.
“If I had to rank it—upper tier, maybe? Though it’s meaningless at just first rank.”
But no, even within the first rank, there were strict divisions.
“Lower is just barely reaching the level.
Middle means you’ve mastered it.
Upper means you’ve perfected it and are starting to reach for the next step.”
In other words, Chris had already reached the very top of the first rank!
And he’d done it in less than a month.
“No need to get cocky. There’s still a long way to go. But hey, tonight I’m taking a break and eating something good! No alcohol for me yet… so steak and strawberry juice it is! The happy life of a silver spoon noble!”
The last part of his day was pure rest.
“To last the long haul, you’ve got to rest before burning out.”
By nature, Chris was lazy and couldn’t train nonstop day and night.
So he made a schedule: train hard during the day, rest at night.
The Mage Empire, despite being a land of mages, forbade drinking until age fifteen, so he comforted himself with delicious food and snacks to end the day.
“When I turn eighteen and can drink, I’ll try every kind of alcohol there is.”
Just as he was heading back to the mansion, lost in those thoughts, an unexpected voice called out to him.
“Long time no see.”
“!!”
Chris flinched.
Out of the darkness appeared a beautiful woman with a cold aura.
Black hair, blue eyes.
Her mana had suppressed aging, making her look like she was in her late twenties.
It was Melin, the deputy commander of the Black Swamp Knights!
Chris immediately understood why she was here.
“The time we agreed on is almost here.”
A month ago, they had arranged to spar without any mana restrictions.
The duel was fast approaching.