Yuri pressed inward.
Since Jared loved playing with distance so much, Yuri decided to erase that gap entirely—no, to pull it even closer, beyond zero.
As they tangled like that, for the first time since their sparring began, wooden swords made contact.
Smack!
Jared’s wooden sword struck Yuri’s thigh.
“That hurts like hell!”
Yuri laughed and swung his sword back at Jared, who barely dodged in time.
Seizing the moment, Yuri spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick using centrifugal force. Jared staggered back from the blow but swung his sword again, catching Yuri’s ankle.
“Ugh!”
“Ow!”
Yuri took the worse of the two hits.
Still, he didn’t care. Limping slightly, he pressed forward, closing the distance on Jared.
Their wooden swords clashed and whirled, each searching for an opening. But in the end, Yuri was the one taking the hits.
“Damn it, guess it’s no use…”
He couldn’t win anyway.
Though he had memories from a past life, Yuri was still a young boy, while Jared was a fully grown knight.
Still, Yuri pushed on.
He took another hit.
“Ugh!”
He countered again.
This time, the blow grazed him.
The pain lingered, but Yuri met Jared’s sword with his own.
Clang!
His hand tingled.
Gripping the sword tightly, Yuri lunged forward.
He kept increasing his speed.
Jared stabbed at his chest. Yuri narrowly dodged and countered.
Yuri’s wooden sword grazed Jared’s side.
His attack landed for the first time.
“That’s it!”
Yuri shouted.
Jared bit his lip.
Though he was clearly dominating, he felt as if he were the one under pressure.
He knew exactly why.
“What’s wrong? Nervous?”
Jared caught sight of the chuckling third prince and took a breath.
Yuri kept advancing.
Even as he was hit and stumbled, he kept moving forward.
“Jared. Is that all you’ve got?”
Their wooden swords met again.
Close combat continued.
Not content with just this, Yuri tried to close the gap by another hand’s length.
Jared felt a wave of discomfort.
This prince was different.
“Show me what you’ve got!”
He pushed himself to the limit—and beyond.
Though he sometimes failed and took damage, the prince never feared it. Every moment, he threw himself into the fight.
A flush of shame rose in Jared.
“Are you going easy on me?”
“No.”
Their swords crossed.
This time, Jared mercilessly targeted an opening. Yuri took a hit to the side and dropped to one knee, swinging his sword in return.
Jared stepped back, then struck Yuri’s arm.
“Ugh!”
Yuri gritted his teeth and refused to drop his sword.
Jared attacked the arm again.
Jared thought the match would end there, but Yuri flattened himself to the ground and struck Jared’s ankle.
As Jared bent his knee, Yuri sprang up to the side and swung his sword again.
Trying to defend and counter at once, Jared blocked with his arm and swung his sword back.
Even he knew it was a sloppy move. In a real fight, he would have lost his arm.
Such mistakes were unforgivable for a knight.
His opponent was a young boy, yet nothing went his way.
Yuri’s reckless brawling annoyed Jared.
“Huff…”
But Yuri showed no sign of tiring and kept charging.
Should he just shove him away with brute force?
As that thought crossed his mind, confusion clouded his mind, and mana instinctively surged up his meridians.
The knights shouted.
“Jared!”
Realizing something was wrong, Jared switched sword stances, but the wooden sword he couldn’t recall grazed Yuri’s forehead.
Yuri’s bangs were sliced off, scattering in the air.
Blood trickled down his forehead.
Jared’s eyes widened.
“Your Highness!”
Red liquid stained one of Yuri’s eyes.
“I’m sorry! It was a mistake, a mistake…”
Just as the flustered Jared dropped his sword and bent to apologize—
Clang!
Yuri swung his wooden sword, and Jared reflexively blocked.
“What’s wrong?”
Yuri smiled brightly and wiped the blood away with his sleeve.
“First time sparring?”
“Your wound…”
“Now it’s getting fun.”
Yuri burst into laughter and charged again.
“No reason to stop now!”
His fierce momentum left Jared no choice but to fight back.
The wooden swords of the bleeding prince and the embarrassed knight clashed repeatedly.
“More!”
Yuri shouted, swinging his sword wide.
“Show me what you’ve got!”
Something unknown began to rise in Jared’s chest.
He’d never felt this way fighting a knight far stronger than himself.
“Damn it!”
For the first time, Jared cursed under his breath and met Yuri’s attack head-on.
The clang of wooden swords echoed loudly across the sparring ground.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Their intensity soared, growing more fierce.
Their swords collided violently once more.
Crack!
Yuri’s wooden sword shattered, its fragments spinning through the air before clattering to the ground.
Their eyes met.
No words were needed.
The sparring was over.
“It’s finished.”
Jared couldn’t find the words, so Yuri smirked and extended his hand.
“Learned a thing or two, Jared.”
“N-no, not at all.”
Only then did Jared regain his composure and reach out.
“Thank you for the match.”
Standing there, holding Yuri’s hand, Jared studied the young third prince’s youthful face.
There was a fierce determination he’d never seen before.
Had he ever been so driven for something?
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you holding hands?”
Yuri frowned.
“You’re bleeding, and you’re just standing there?”
“S-sorry! Sorry!”
Jared snapped out of it and hurriedly moved.
“Don’t dawdle…”
Yuri immediately collapsed onto the ground.
The knights applauded him, but Yuri paid no mind and focused on steadying his breath.
“…”
A man watched the scene unfold.
“Ah, Captain. When did you arrive?”
“Just now.”
Captain Saned of the Royal Guard silently stared at Yuri lying on the ground, then picked up something.
A broken piece of wooden sword.
He glanced back and forth between it and Yuri.
After sparring with Jared, Yuri kept him close.
“My shift just ended…”
“So?”
“Just saying.”
“Follow me.”
“But I have training…”
“Looks like you’ve finally got your head straight. Who helped you with that? You owe me.”
“…”
Jared sighed at Yuri’s words.
“Understood.”
“Good.”
After their match, Jared threw himself into training. Yuri thought he still had a long way to go, but he was definitely different from before.
This was enough for now.
The real transformation would come gradually.
“I was going to bring more people, but I’ve decided to trust you, Jared.”
“Are you planning something dangerous?”
“Whether it’s dangerous or not depends on you.”
“If it’s dangerous for Your Highness, I refuse.”
“There’s no room for refusal. Follow me.”
“No.”
“Just one more person, okay?”
“Who…?”
“Look, someone’s passing by.”
Yuri called out to a man walking in the distance.
“Hey!”
The man spotted Yuri, flinched, and tried to ignore him.
“Fernando!”
After repeated calls, he sighed deeply and approached.
A slender man who looked far from a fighter.
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“I need your help.”
“I’m busy…”
“I’ll clear your debts.”
Fernando’s eyes widened at Yuri’s words.
“Really?”
“Have you ever seen me lie?”
“Quite a bit…”
“Not at the gambling table.”
“Outside of that, no.”
“Trustworthy, huh?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’ve never seen you when I didn’t have cards in my hand.”
Fernando was a magician who advised Fiore and had lost heavily to Yuri at the gambling tables.
“I’m serious. I’ll wipe your debts clean.”
“If that’s the case…”
“Is that enough?”
“Shouldn’t we put it in writing first?”
“What?”
“Better to trust ink than tongues.”
“Trust me.”
Yuri snapped, pointing at himself.
“I’m Yuri Briol.”
“Yeah, well…”
Fernando’s indifferent response made Yuri angry.
Is that all the weight the prince’s name carries?
“Jared.”
“Yes?”
“You vouch for me. You’ll testify to what I say.”
“Understood.”
“Is that enough?”
“Hmm…”
Fernando stroked his chin, studying Jared’s face.
“What are you looking at?”
“Your fortune.”
“…”
“Not a bad one. Sir Jared, right?”
“Yes.”
“Got it. By the way, what are you planning to do, Your Highness?”
“An expedition.”
“Sounds good. Where to?”
“The dungeon.”
“Huh?”
“To the dungeon.”
Saying that, Yuri pulled the hood over his head.
“First, we escape the palace.”
Yuri walked through a dark tunnel with Jared and Fernando.
The torch flickered wildly, casting light ahead.
“How did you know about this place?”
“By chance.”
The tunnel was a secret passage leading outside the palace. Built for royal escape in emergencies, few knew of its existence before the war.
This was Yuri’s second time walking this path, counting his past life.
“Where does it lead?”
“To Sword Mountain.”
“Sword Mountain?”
Sword Mountain was a wild hill outside the palace, said to be where Briol’s founder trained with a sword.
Originally grand and imposing, it was said to have been worn down by countless sword strikes, shrinking over time.
Of course, like most legends, it was probably an exaggerated rumor.
But the fact remained: someone had trained with a sword in that place.
In a past life, the empire that destroyed Briol had discovered a dungeon within Sword Mountain.
“Why are we going there again?”
“Just shut up and follow me. Before I cancel your debt forgiveness.”
“Alright, you’re way too bossy. Even Sir Jared must have a hard time keeping up with you.”
“Yeah, well…”
Eventually, they reached the end of the cavern.
A massive iron door, seemingly untouched for ages, was firmly locked.
The padlock was enormous and rusted over; even with a key, it didn’t look like it would budge.
“Jared.”
“Yes?”
“But what if the palace guards show up?”
At Yuri’s nod, Jared scratched his head and raised his sword.
A vivid blue aura flared up.
This was the true power of the Mana Method.
A sword infused with mana could slice through solid iron like it was tofu.
Kaang!
A sharp crack echoed.
But the padlock didn’t break.
Driven by determination, Jared kept striking the lock.
Hernando scratched the back of his head.
“That’s a padlock even the palace guards couldn’t break.”
“Sturdy.”
“Would be nice if we had the key.”
“We do.”
“Where?”
“With me.”
“Huh?”
Yuri pulled an old key from her pocket.
“Here it is.”
Jared and Hernando exchanged looks of disbelief.
“Why did you make us do all that?”
When Jared asked, Yuri just shrugged.
“Just curious if the sword could break it.”
“Where did you get that key?”
“None of your business.”
The key had been tucked away in a corner of the palace library, its true purpose unknown even to King Fiorezo.
They’d found it while digging through records before the royal family’s downfall, but by then, it was too late—and the price had been steep.
A bitter memory.
Yuri held the key close to the lock, and it clicked open.
She pocketed both the key and the padlock.
Hernando’s eyes went wide.
“An artifact?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You should’ve recognized it.”
“Well, Jared couldn’t break it no matter how hard he tried…”
He looked envious, but Yuri had no intention of handing it over.
“If you just let me borrow it for a moment—”
“No chance.”
“I’ll inspect it and give it right back.”
“Shut up.”
“Your Highness?”
Ignoring Hernando, Yuri moved forward.
Soon, stairs appeared, leading through the cave to the outside.
Under the blue sky, Sword Mountain stretched before them.
Sharp leaves covering the slopes caught the sunlight, scattering it and blurring the view.
Yuri smiled.
“They say Briol’s founder attained enlightenment here on Sword Mountain.”
“Sounds made up to me.”
Hernando crossed his arms, and Jared shot him a warning glance.
“You shouldn’t say that in front of the prince…”
“So what? Do you believe it? Here’s my take: originally, the mountain was called Sword Mountain because of the many sharp Tigris trees. The story about the founder training here was probably just added later to glorify the royal family. That’s what I think. Pretty logical, right?”
Yuri was indifferent.
“Don’t know. How would I know?”
“Not interested, huh?”
“One thing’s for sure. The founder really did train with a sword here.”
“How do you know that?”
“There’s always a way.”
“So, are you planning to train here too?”
“No.”
Yuri pointed at Sword Mountain and declared,
“Now, we’re going to raid the founder’s dungeon.”