The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 20
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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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Chapter 20
The day after the banquet.
At dawn.
As the mana fireworks announcing the start of the Hunting Festival exploded, a total of twenty-seven mages entered the forest.
“It has begun.”
Meanwhile, on the top floor of Benheim Mage Tower, in an observation room completely isolated from the outside, two people were seated.
Stern, the head of Benheim, and Kaiden, the head of Rucen.
Before them floated a sphere carved from a massive crystal. On the surface of the crystal sphere, the forest where the Hunting Festival was unfolding was vividly reflected through magic.
“This year there are unusually many talented children.”
Unlike the previous Hunting Festival, the lineup of mages participating in this festival was quite impressive.
A total of three direct descendants approaching the 3rd tier. Even the level of this year’s Benheim branch family members was quite excellent.
“Haha.”
Kaiden responded with laughter to Stern’s words.
“That’s because my daughter is participating.”
Kaiden manipulated the crystal to zoom in on one spot.
“It seems Petra has already encountered a magical beast.”
Within the crystal, red-haired Petra Rucen was moving gracefully like she was dancing.
Rucen’s unique magic formula, Sword Creation magic. True to its name, seven magically created swords floated behind Petra’s back, rushing toward the magical beast.
Kaiden smiled with satisfaction.
“Rucen’s unique magic formula is extremely practical and efficient. In terms of pure killing power, no other magic can match it.”
“Indeed, she is your daughter. An excellent level.”
Stern’s words were not empty flattery.
Reaching the 3rd tier before coming of age was tantamount to joining the ranks of geniuses.
It wasn’t simply the beginning of the 3rd tier either.
Crack!
The red swords pierced through the magical beast’s skin and brutally tore through its organs.
Petra’s combat power, slaughtering the magical beast with just a few gestures, undoubtedly rivaled the highest level of the 3rd tier.
“Petra can even create seven swords. She might soon break through the wall of the 4th tier.”
“It’s like seeing you in your youth.”
“She’ll be even more outstanding. I barely crossed the threshold of the 3rd tier at that time. I could only manage to create five swords at most.”
Unlike general magic, unique magic formulas have a somewhat different way of distinguishing tiers.
For example, Rucen’s unique magic distinguishes tiers by the number of swords that can be created.
Petra Rucen, who could create as many as seven swords at an age not even past coming of age, could truly be called an unprecedented genius in the family.
“However, I wonder if she’s being too reckless. The forest is an unknown space. Going so deep already might be dangerous.”
“She’s a vessel to lead the family. Shouldn’t she possess that level of boldness?”
“That’s not wrong.”
Kaiden smiled with a bitter expression as he watched his daughter Petra Rucen. What was contained in his gaze wasn’t simply paternal love, but something stickier and darker desire.
Stern perceived his unsettling gaze but quietly turned his eyes away.
“Looking closely, it seems Duke Benheim’s eldest son has also encountered a magical beast.”
Kaiden turned the crystal sphere’s view.
In the image, Arnaud von Benheim was facing off against a wolf-type magical beast.
―Growl!
The magical beast charged. However, its claws couldn’t touch a single hair on Arno’s head.
Vines rising from the ground had restrained the magical beast’s limbs.
Then Arno raised his hand. Runic characters began to bloom above his right hand. The rune Hagalaz (ᚺ). Its effect was collapse.
Crack! The ground caved in, and the magical beast fell into the pit, struggling.
Kaiden, who had been silently watching, nodded his head.
“As expected of Benheim’s heir. Very stable mana manipulation.”
Arnaud von Benheim, reflected beyond the mirror, skillfully used runic magic to subdue the magical beast.
Three runes formed a semicircle surrounding the magical beast, and characters containing different powers wreaked overwhelming destruction.
Stern watched Arno’s performance with a satisfied smile.
“Excellent, but he still has a long way to go.”
The greatest advantage of Benheim’s unique magic formula, runic magic, was its overwhelming versatility.
And expandability.
Arno’s magic operation was stable, but he had a strong tendency to push through with force.
“Above all, if he’s a mage of Benheim, he should also know about the true utilization of runic characters.”
“Haha. Early education already?”
“Well, Arno is still young, so experience will solve that problem.”
Arno’s talent was certain.
If he continued to grow well without being broken, he could become a great mage who would lead Benheim in the future.
“I agree. He is Benheim’s heir after all. But Duke Benheim, talent ultimately flows through blood. There are walls that cannot be overcome by experience alone. If you keep bringing impurities into the family like this, you’ll eventually hit a wall.”
Kaiden’s smile contained subtle mockery.
“Is that so? I think somewhat differently from you.”
Stern shrugged his shoulders and conspicuously manipulated the crystal sphere to turn the view.
The image showed Benheim’s youngest daughter Renia and the outer mage Reagan.
“So, that’s the protagonist of those rumors. The lowborn that Duke Benheim even fed elixirs to.”
Kaiden’s voice was mixed with undisguisable contempt.
However, Stern only gave a faint smile instead of answering.
Several minutes passed like that.
―Slash.
“….”
A cold silence flowed through the observation room.
“That young man is really….”
Kaiden Rucen watched the unbelievable scene unfolding beyond the mirror with narrowed eyes.
Crack!
The giant magical beast’s front paw struck down.
Reagan rolled his body to dodge the attack and used the rune character Kenaz.
It wasn’t simply shooting out flames. He grasped the sparks and scattered them all at once as if sowing seeds.
―Whoosh!
While Kenaz’s flames blocked the magical beast’s vision, Reagan drew his sword from his waist, severed both limbs of the beast, then thrust his sword into its gaping maw.
The magical beast made of illusion died instantly and scattered into particles of light.
It wasn’t even a simple magical beast. It was an intermediate-level magical beast. It should have been set to require at least three 2nd-3rd tier mages to handle, yet that beast was dismantled like livestock dragged to a slaughterhouse.
“Ha.”
Stern let out a hollow laugh.
Even he was seeing Reagan fight directly for the first time.
“Indeed, it’s no wonder my son lost.”
If comparing magical firepower alone, Arno was far superior. However, Reagan was utilizing rune magic in the right places at the right times, drawing maximum results with minimum investment.
Though he had many disadvantages having just recently reached the 3rd tier, Reagan was experienced enough to easily overcome even that.
Contrary to the evaluation he had given Arno earlier, Reagan possessed the know-how accumulated through experience.
“…Duke Benheim, where did you find such a fellow?”
Kaiden frowned as if he couldn’t understand.
It was already the third one.
One intermediate. Two lower-level.
Considering that the average number of kills per person in the Hunting Festival was one to two beasts, this was an absurd speed.
“Is that young man really of commoner origin?”
“I had him investigated. He’s an orphan with no family.”
“Isn’t he using both magic and aura together?”
“I was surprised too.”
“What exactly is he? He’s neither a knight nor a mage.”
“Since he entered Benheim, it would be appropriate to classify him as a mage.”
Stern watched Reagan’s performance in the image with a bitter smile.
“Well, here the term magic swordsman might be fitting.”
It was truly an accurate assessment.
* * *
“Hup!”
I cast magic while simultaneously swinging my sword.
Until now, I had to control my strength because my opponent was Brock, but there was no need for that in the Hunting Festival. I could swing my sword imbued with aura to my heart’s content.
Slash.
The aura-wrapped sword drew an arc and precisely pierced through the illusion beast’s core.
There was no need to swing the sword multiple times. It was ultimately a fake made of magic. The core was clearly visible to my eyes.
“Ridiculous.”
As I was putting the severed illusion beast’s core into my pocket, Renia let out a hollow laugh and puffed out her cheeks.
“You’re really absurd.”
“What is?”
“I couldn’t even get involved.”
As she said, during the hunting of three beasts so far, there was almost no occasion for Renia to step forward.
“Isn’t that good? You don’t need to get your hands dirty.”
“That’s nice and all, but I need to earn some points too. You know the points are distributed according to contribution.”
“Then from the next beast onward, you restrain it first. I’ll finish it off.”
“No, I’ll finish it off. Reagan, you restrain it.”
I let out a chuckle at Renia’s words.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing, there was a similar incident in the past.”
“…A similar incident?”
Renia tilted her head.
“You don’t need to know.”
Really, it was better not to know.
* * *
After that, I hunted magical beasts together with Renia.
Even though they were illusion beasts, they seemed to have paid attention to completeness, as they perfectly reflected the ecology of real magical beasts.
“Renia, there are footprints here.”
“Oh, really. How did you know?”
“Magical beasts usually travel along paths like this. They prefer humid places.”
“Reagan, have you ever hunted magical beasts before?”
“In the past. A few times.”
In truth, it was closer to a few hundred times.
When the Archmage King began to truly set the continent ablaze, magical beasts poured out due to the rampaging ley lines.
Now that I’ve returned to the past, I could be said to be the person who has hunted the most magical beasts on the entire continent.
“Renia, I found one. It’s a low-grade magical beast.”
“Okay. I’ll freeze its feet.”
―Paaaat.
Renia cast rune magic.
Ice extending from the earth momentarily stopped the defenseless magical beast’s movement, and without missing that opportunity, my sword strike deeply slashed its neck.
Following that, the rune magic Renia fired accurately pierced through the magical beast’s core.
“That makes eight now.”
I threw the shattered core to Renia.
“This is unbelievable.”
While hunting down the magical beasts, Renia kept expressing her amazement.
“When I participated in the Hunting Festival last year, I could only catch five at most. But this year we’ve already caught eight. And it’s still just the first day…”
“….”
“Reagan, you’re really amazing. I think I understand why father even gave you an elixir. At this rate, we could beat not only that Petra girl, but even my brother. It’s all thanks to you.”
Renia chattered excitedly, but I couldn’t smile back.
From some point on, a strange sense of unease had been enveloping my entire body.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look good.”
“Be quiet for a moment.”
I raised my hand to stop Renia’s words. While she made a puzzled expression, I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest.
I heard nothing. Even when I put my ear to the ground, it was the same.
“…I can’t hear any bird sounds.”
“Birds?”
“Right. No sound of wind blowing either. No insects chirping. No sounds of wild animals moving around. The forest is completely dead.”
At my words, Renia also tried listening to the surrounding sounds, but frowned as if she couldn’t tell.
“Is that strange?”
“It’s clearly strange. Illusions are just illusions after all. Insects and birds wouldn’t have fled in fear of illusions that pose no threat to them. This is a phenomenon that only occurs when a real predator appears.”
Come to think of it, even before my regression, assessing situations was always my job.
Renia always relied on my senses.
– Mr. Reagan’s senses are more accurate than when I use detection magic.
“Certainly.”
Before my regression, survival instincts carved deep into my bones from crossing countless lines of death were sending me a warning.
I approached the spot where the illusory magical beast we had just defeated had disappeared.
Normally, illusions scatter into particles of light and leave nothing behind.
But in that spot, there were grass blades that had died and turned black, as if swept by some withering disease.
When I picked them up with my fingers, they crumbled into ash with a rustling sound.
It was unmistakably the remnants of black magic.
“So they’ve laid their schemes even here.”
They certainly have some nerve.
It was at that moment when I clicked my tongue and stood up.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
A sharp scream echoed from another part of the forest.
I glared in the direction the scream had come from.
“Renia, get ready.”
“Re, ready? Ready for what?”
“Because the games are over.”
From now on was the real Hunting Festival.
* * *
Arnaud von Benheim had been smoothly hunting magical beasts.
His kill count was already three.
At this rate, he thought first place was a sure thing.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
However, that hope was short-lived.
Arno was startled by the sudden scream.
“What’s that.”
Had some other idiot gotten scared of a mere magical beast and run away?
Nine times out of ten, it would be a branch family member.
It had to be a branch family member.
Arno, who had been thinking it was no big deal, soon let out a scream when he saw the disheveled woman who emerged through the bushes.
“Gh, ghost!”
Startled, Arno took a defensive stance, then soon realized that the woman who had burst out of the bushes was someone familiar.
“You’re… from Rucen…”
The daughter of Rucen’s head, brought by Kaiden Rucen.
Her name was definitely Petra Rucen, wasn’t it.
“Ah, Arno.”
Petra also recognized Arno and blinked several times, then shook her head vigorously.
“Th-this isn’t the time for this. Arno, you need to run away right now.”
“Run? What’s with the sudden talk of running?”
“A demon beast appeared!”
At Petra’s urgent voice, Arno tilted his head.
A demon beast? Isn’t that supposed to appear anyway.
The Hunting Festival itself is a festival for hunting demon beasts.
“What kind of nonsense is that. And what’s with that state of yours. Did you fall while coming here?”
“No, it’s really dangerous!”
Petra stamped her feet as if frustrated, then opened her mouth.
More precisely, she tried to open it.
Thud.
A vibration that seemed to shake the ground.
Before they knew it, a beast the size of a house had approached behind Petra.
“Huh?”
Arno looked up.
A wolf-shaped beast with two heads.
Its glossy gray fur and two pairs of fierce eyes glowed red.
“…A demon beast?”
Not an illusion, but a real demon beast was right before his eyes.
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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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