Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 157

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 157

 

104. That’s Usually How It Is

 

“Ugh.”

 

Other training is fine no matter how much I do, but sparring with Professor Keltas is a bit different.

 

Maybe because I have to give it my all, I don’t get physically exhausted, but I feel slightly mentally drained.

 

Today was the same.

 

As expected of a Hexa-level fighter, just when I thought he was going easy on me, he suddenly raised his skill level to match mine.

 

Thanks to that, aside from landing a few successful attacks today, I got thoroughly beaten by Professor Keltas in ‘swordsmanship.’

 

Still, the important thing is that I managed to land a few attacks.

 

After all, my opponent is a Hexa-level warrior.

 

“I can tell your skills have improved.”

 

Professor Keltas evaluated my swordsmanship as haphazard and combat-focused, lacking any particular ‘form.’

 

But he said that’s exactly what makes it threatening.

 

Swordsmen who’ve been through real combat establish their own ‘path’ from the uniform textbook swordsmanship they learned, and mine was already complete from early on.

 

And there’s one more thing.

 

“It’s really sturdy.”

 

I thought of my sword that had broken three of Professor Keltas’s swords.

 

Arcanium.

 

It’s incredibly hard even without injecting mana into it, so it should be useful in the future.

 

With that, I headed to Bonia Forest to do some other training as well.

 

“Huh?”

 

The fellow I encountered was Altur.

 

“D-Dane?”

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“Well…”

 

I pointed to a spacious empty area for the flustered Altur.

 

“If you’re going to train, do it over there. If you stay here, you might get hit by something during training.”

 

Altur looked flustered.

 

What, didn’t he come here for training?

 

“Do you have something to say?”

 

“It’s not that… Leila gave permission, but I thought I should ask you once more just in case.”

 

I chuckled.

 

“When I’m not here, Leila is the club president. If Leila said to do it, then it’s fine.”

 

“Ah, ahaha…”

 

Anyway, this fellow’s employment at Niruksion Magic Tower has already been decided.

 

His debt has been cleared too, so there’s nothing to worry about with him.

 

But it feels strange seeing this fellow who was so arrogant when I first met him acting like this.

 

As expected, people only change when they go through major hardships.

 

“Dane, welcome back!”

 

“Yeah. Here’s the sword.”

 

“Oh! I have to take a look!”

 

I handed the sword to Leila who had just approached and went to another spot to settle down.

 

“The Imperial Palace should contact us soon…”

 

What’s left is the final exams.

 

And when vacation comes, I’ll go on ascetic training and then head to the Habarosk Mountain Range.

 

So I should focus on final exams first, then go when the Imperial Palace calls.

 

The big matters have been wrapped up too.

 

Hmm, the special mana stone Mk 2 is also complete, so I need to find a seller for it.

 

Anyway, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be bored.

 

“Dane, here.”

 

While I was planning for the future, Leila approached and handed me the sword.

 

“How does it look?”

 

“The weight balance is perfect, and everything else is good too. I’m envious. My sword doesn’t fall short anywhere either though.”

 

Well, that’s because it’s the one and only sword in the world made by the Empire’s greatest master blacksmith with the finest materials.

 

Bulbark told me to say this if anyone asks.

 

“I’ll definitely get a symbol later too.”

 

“Won’t you be able to get one this time? You’re even receiving an imperial commendation.”

 

Leila shook her head.

 

“No. It’s not the Imperial Palace, but our family that needs to acknowledge me. You know what kind of person our father is.”

 

Right.

 

That does seem likely.

 

In the midst of this, I casually asked.

 

“How’s that fellow doing?”

 

“He just comes and trains magic diligently. Really diligently. I wonder if his mana might run out completely. It’s just that we’re used to seeing you, but apparently mages actually get tired very quickly.”

 

“Really?”

 

Altur looked quite exhausted earlier too.

 

And now he seemed to be squeezing out all his strength to arrange codes.

 

“He’ll manage on his own. As long as he doesn’t ruin the atmosphere, just leave him be.”

 

“That’s what I plan to do. Still, seeing how he came over all hesitant to ask earlier, he seems okay, right?”

 

Well, if that’s the case.

 

It wouldn’t be bad to leave a fellow with nowhere to go like that.

 

“What are you going to do now?”

 

“I just finished training with Professor Keltas, so I’m debating whether to do magic or summoning arts training.”

 

It would be nice to have a place for assassination training too.

 

There’s actually a good location, but I can’t enter there.

 

Because it’s Bonia Forest, where forest keepers strictly control access.

 

Thinking of the training I did with Mother in Crescent Forest, that place would be perfect, but it’s unfortunate.

 

“Alright, train hard. I’ll go later.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Just as I was about to slowly draw up my mana.

 

“What’s that?”

 

Deep in the forest.

 

Something strange catches my eye.

 

More precisely, I was sensing it with my ki.

 

A strangely unpleasant feeling and…

 

“Please! Please!”

 

…a human voice?

 

Wait.

 

I did hear there are forest keepers in Bonia Forest.

 

Or it could be a magical beast that speaks human language.

 

“Ernest.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Do you hear any sounds from deep in the forest?”

 

“Sounds?”

 

Ernest tilted his head.

 

He looked like he didn’t know what I meant.

 

“I can hear them.”

 

“You can hear sounds?”

 

I got up and approached the forest. The closer I got, the louder the sounds became.

 

“Damn it! Why won’t this work! Cut, please cut!”

 

After a moment of contemplation, I began walking toward the forest.

 

“Huh, Dane? Where are you going?”

 

“To the forest. I heard a sound.”

 

“S-sound? I don’t hear anything… W-wait, I’m coming with you!”

 

The exploration addict is following me, as expected.

 

“Where is Dane going? Isn’t that forest area off-limits?”

 

Leila, who said that, was also following along.

 

“Oh, Teacher! Where are you going!”

 

Dorian followed too.

 

Were these guys bored?

 

“Going to set the forest on fire.”

 

Here with Priscilla and-

 

“…”

 

Even Altur sneakily following along.

 

A total of six Academy students entered Bonia Forest like that.

 

“This place feels really ominous somehow.”

 

“I know, right. Priscilla, how do you feel?”

 

“It’s an unpleasant stickiness.”

 

As we went deeper inside, it finally became strong enough for others besides me to feel it.

 

After going a bit further in, voices could be heard too.

 

“Did you hear that?”

 

“Yeah, that… definitely…”

 

“It said this: ‘Please get cut down!'”

 

“I think it’s from over there?”

 

Our pace quickened.

 

But for some reason, everyone seemed excited.

 

Are these guys exploration addicts too?

 

Anyway.

 

We were able to see it.

 

“What is that thing…?”

 

“The tree is incredibly huge?”

 

“Is what we felt flowing out from there…?”

 

A tree so thick and massive that ten people would need to spread their arms and surround it to barely wrap around it.

 

And the powerful, ominous energy flowing from that tree.

 

And here…

 

“Damn it! Get cut, get cut down!”

 

Even a bearded man chopping at that tree with an axe.

 

“You, what are you guys! How did you get into this forest!”

 

When he spotted us, he jumped in surprise and shouted.

 

But that was only momentary – the moment he stopped chopping, black energy flowed out even stronger, so he frantically continued his axe work.

 

“Damn it, damn it! The whole forest is going to wither and die…”

 

I don’t know what it is, but I understand one thing.

 

That tree needs to be cut down.

 

If it’s not cut, something terrible could happen.

 

“If we mess this up, this entire area will become a wasteland…”

 

Maybe because of that terrible thing, even our training ground might become unusable.

 

“He’s a forest keeper, right?”

 

“Probably? If someone’s in the forest, usually?”

 

Look how carefree these guys are.

 

“It looks like that thing needs to be cut down.”

 

Priscilla said that while looking at me.

 

“Dane could do it, right?”

 

The other guys did the same.

 

“Probably?”

 

“It looks pretty big though, is it possible?”

 

“Come on, it’s Dane.”

 

These guys now talk like I can do anything.

 

Well, I’ve been doing that so far, so it makes sense they’d think that.

 

Can’t be helped.

 

I approached the man chopping with the axe.

 

“Can I help you with something?”

 

The man reacted irritably.

 

“Get out of the way right now! What are you guys? Get out of here immediately! You’ll all die if you mess this up! No wait, instead of this, since you’re here, go out and tell the Academy!”

 

His urgent voice continued.

 

“If we mess this up, everything around here will wither and die! This is a ‘Tree of Death’ from the Demon Realm!”

 

I don’t really know what that is.

 

But I understand it’s dangerous.

 

At least to this man.

 

Anyway, so-

 

“Will cutting this down solve the problem?”

 

“But does it look like it’s working right now! I’ve been chopping with this axe for two hours straight! Instead of useless talk…”

 

Perfect timing.

 

I have a new sword, you see.

 

Shing.

 

“What are you doing right now…”

 

“Step back. You’ll get hurt.”

 

Whatever it is, cutting down this tree seems important.

 

In that case…

 

Woom woom woom woom!

 

As I drew up my mana, the sword began to vibrate slowly, absorbing that mana.

 

And-

 

“What, what is that sword?”

 

The green light that was already shining brightly in the dark forest became even more intense and vivid.

 

It looks good.

 

Though it seems like it’d be completely unusable at night.

 

“Wow, Dane! It has that function too?”

 

“It’s a magic sword. It even has a fluorescent function.”

 

“If you performed sword dance with that at night, it would be incredible.”

 

Anyway.

 

While the man instinctively stepped back, I approached the tree and took my stance on the opposite side from where the man had been chopping.

 

“Hup.”

 

I swung the sword horizontally-

 

Slice.

 

And cut through the tree.

 

Did I really cut it?

 

The feeling is really strange.

 

But that feeling was only momentary.

 

Creak.

 

The edge of the tree slowly began to split, and the tree started to tilt.

 

“It’s, it’s falling!”

 

The man’s exclamation and friends’ cheers could be heard.

 

“As expected of Dane!”

 

“That’s incredible. He cut through that?”

 

“It’s Dane. Not really surprising.”

 

Why do I get the feeling that doing well won’t earn me praise anymore?

 

Thud!

 

In the midst of this, the tree finally fell, raising a huge cloud of dust.

 

This actually works.

 

“Not surprising anymore, right?”

 

“Leila seems really indifferent to whatever Dane does lately.”

 

“She’s been like that since I first met her when she was seven years old.”

 

Of course, I didn’t cut it with just the sword alone, but by infusing the sword with mana, which allowed me to cut down that massive tree.

 

But normally, no matter how much mana you infuse, you can’t cut a tree of that size in one strike.

 

So…

 

The ‘sharpness’ manifested by the combination of Arcanium and my mana is tremendous.

 

It actually felt like cutting through straw rather than forcing my way through.

 

“Not bad.”

 

I let out a simple impression and looked at the black energy writhing from the exposed stump.

 

“You, you’ve crossed the line…”

 

I looked at the man with his mouth agape and asked.

 

“But what’s this situation all about?”

 

“…Don’t you usually ask that before causing trouble, student?”

 

I tilted my head and answered while looking at the large tree that had fallen and was still in the dust.

 

“Usually, yes.”

 

Usually, that is.

 

* * *

 

“Done.”

 

Priscilla, like the talented priest she is, easily dispelled the black energy writhing from the stump and tree cross-section.

 

“If you hadn’t cut it, there would have been no way.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. Trying to kill it by shining divine power from the outside instead of exposing the inside like this would have been incredibly difficult.”

 

Priscilla said while withdrawing her divine power.

 

“Definitely seems to be a ‘Tree of Death.’ How the hell did this damned plant get here?”

 

According to Priscilla, this is really a tree from the Demon Realm.

 

Just like how demons from the Demon Realm crossed over and settled in the past, several species of plants from there also came over, and this seems to be one of them.

 

“I heard they were almost extinct these days, but apparently not.”

 

“Is it dangerous?”

 

“Extremely dangerous. Especially at this size. It’s only because I annihilated the energy, but if left alone, it would have turned all the soil into something like the Demon Realm.”

 

Priscilla frowned as if the mere thought was irritating.

 

“This student is right. If it weren’t for you, not only the forest but all the surrounding soil would have been completely ruined.”

 

But there’s still something unresolved.

 

“But who are you?”

 

Who is this person?

 

“…I’m the forest keeper of the forest right in front of your playground. Name’s Cassare.”

 

Right, a forest keeper.

 

“But are you students? No, are you a student? How on earth did you cut down this massive tree in one strike…”

 

Well, you see.

 

“This is Dane.”

 

Ernest stepped forward slightly.

 

“Dane?”

 

“Yes, Dane Sogress.”

 

“Ah, the Sogress County? Then I understand.”

 

He nodded and brought up an unexpected name.

 

“A few years ago, two female students had a big fight in this forest.”

 

No way.

 

“Their names were Arabella and Claire… I heard those two were from the Sogress County.”

 

…As expected.

 

“They fought so fiercely that I couldn’t even tell them to leave.”

 

Typical of our sisters.

 

“Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, I’m alive. Phew. If it had been just a few more minutes, I would have been a dead man.”

 

Cassare expressed his gratitude, and Ernest asked out of curiosity.

 

“But how did this tree end up like this?”

 

“Ah. It grew like this overnight. That’s the nature of such plants.”

 

It grew like this overnight?

 

“It grows rapidly throughout the night and eventually sucks up all the life force around it and explodes. That’s why it’s scary.”

 

How brutal.

 

If we hadn’t known, we might have been within its sphere of influence too.

 

“If it weren’t for you, the entire Academy would probably have been put on alert. It already seems noisy these days.”

 

I couldn’t bring myself to say that was thanks to us, so I changed the subject.

 

“Anyway, it’s fortunate. That nothing happened.”

 

“Right. Thanks to you cutting it down in one stroke. Phew, anyway, I’m alive. I’m alive.”

 

Cassare then said to me.

 

“As you can see, I’m just a forest keeper so I don’t have much to give, but if you come visit later, I’ll make you delicious stew.”

 

That sounds good too.

 

“Oh, and take this if you need it. Since it wasn’t reported to the Academy, you can use it if you need to.”

 

I wondered what he was talking about, but he was pointing to the tree we had just felled.

 

“We could probably take it, right? We could chop it up and store it separately in subspace.”

 

“The tree?”

 

When I questioned Priscilla’s words, she nodded as if it were obvious.

 

“It’s incredibly good timber. Once you remove the demonic energy, it becomes top-grade material. Ships with keels made from this timber, and everything made from this timber is treated as premium goods.”

 

What?

 

This is an unexpected harvest.

 

I wonder if Bulbark would be happy if I gave him some?

 

“Right. You take it. It would be even better if you gave me a little piece. I’ve been doing wood carving as a hobby lately.”

 

“Well, sure.”

 

But I think there’s something even better.

 

“Oh. Then can I ask you one favor?”

 

“A favor? What is it? Like I said, I make incredible stew.”

 

Maybe if it were tart.

 

I’m more interested in something other than stew.

 

“This forest looks pretty good.”

 

“Looks good?”

 

Cassare asked back, probably finding it strange that I suddenly called the forest good.

 

“Yes. It looks good. Perfect for training.”

 

The forest is dense with little sunlight penetrating, appropriately spaced trees, and various herbs, poisonous plants, and other vegetation visible just in the immediate vicinity.

 

“…Training?”

 

Assassination training location.

 

Trap training location.

 

Alchemy training location.

 

And other training locations.

 

“Yes. I thought it would be fun to play here.”

 

It seems like I’ve found a decent playground.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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