Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 381

Ultimately, when someone developed the active control of Mana Reinforcement to the point where they could enhance the weapon they’re holding, then they could be considered Master class.

This brought us back to the original question, as it meant that enhancing weapons with mana was indeed a condition.

As if aware of Ellen’s and my curiosity, Tana clenched her fist.

“There are few Masters who specialize in close combat, but they do exist. Among them, those who can be considered Master class know how to do this.”

She extended her mana-infused palm into the air.

Kurung!

The brief, flickering blue mana from her palm gave the impression that anything hit by it would be shattered to pieces.

“Ultimately, this is also about using internal mana not just for defense, but emitting it briefly as an outward explosion, which is no different from the extreme form of Mana Manipulation. Of course, they take it a step further by using mana itself as a projectile. From this point, the paths diverge entirely.”

From her explanation, those who achieved Master class in close-quarters combat would have also surpassed the stage of using Mana Manipulation solely for defense.

The training methods for a martial artist and a Swordmaster differed. In other words, training to enhance the weapon you were holding with mana and pursuing the extreme of Mana Manipulation through martial arts were different genres altogether.

Ellen tilted her head in curiosity. “So, have you trained in both, teacher?”

Tana had demonstrated both the use of an Aura Blade and a technique shown by masters of martial arts. Her face flushed slightly at the question of whether she had trained in both paths.

“Um... no, not really... I’ve only trained with the sword. Of course, I’m familiar with other weapons like spears and bows, but my knowledge of martial arts is relatively shallow.”

“Then how did you do that just now?”

“...”

Her face turned red, and her lips trembled slightly.

“Well... um. When you reach a certain extreme, you gain some understanding of other fields... to some extent...”

She was struggling to say that, as a Grandmaster, she naturally knew how to perform actions even in fields she wasn’t familiar with.

Come to think of it, Tana had mentioned she wasn’t used to teaching others. So, while she was at the Temple acting as a supervisor, teaching others in a setting like this was probably very unfamiliar to her.

The knights of Shanapell were undoubtedly strong enough to handle themselves, so it was quite amusing to see her struggle with teaching us, who were far from her level of greatness.

“You truly are great,” Ellen said sincerely.

“...”

Watching Sabioleen Tana’s face turn as red as it could get from Ellen’s honest admiration was quite entertaining.

“It’s amusing to hear words I used to hear from teachers at the Temple now coming from students like you...” she said with a wry smile, then let out a deep sigh.

“What I want to tell you is that you’ve become accustomed to using Mana Reinforcement for enhancing defense, so it’s time to move to the next stage. Whether you’re a martial artist or using weapons, it’s common to train and improve the autonomy of Mana Manipulation.”

Until now, we had been manipulating mana into Mana Reinforcement, primarily to enhance physical strength and durability. Now, though, we needed to learn how to use mana itself offensively.

We needed to learn how to turn the mana armor that protected our bodies into a spear. As we pursued this to the extreme, we would eventually reach the level of enveloping weapons with mana. Once we reached that level, we could then be given the title of Master.

“If you were confronted with a Swordmaster right now, you wouldn’t be able to face them. Very few people awaken to Mana Reinforcement, and even fewer reach Master class, so that moment won’t come to you anytime soon.”

Even though we were special, we wouldn’t become Swordmasters in a matter of days. That was why Tana had initially told Ellen that she would teach her not how to become a Swordmaster, but how to face one.

“No ordinary person can face a Swordmaster, even those who have trained considerably in weapons skills, or even those who know Mana Reinforcement. The same goes for mages. Most attack spells would be blocked by a mana shield, and in the time it takes to cast large-scale offensive spells, the Swordmaster would either close the distance and kill the opposing mage or escape to a distance where the magic can’t reach them.”

A Swordmaster was practically a tactical weapon, so no matter how extraordinary our talents were, we couldn’t face a Swordmaster.

“So there’s only one best method.”

She paused.

“Ambush them.”

She was teaching us something that seemed more suited for assassins.

“No matter how skilled a Master is, they can’t maintain Mana Reinforcement at all times, and there will always be moments when they’re vulnerable. They can’t always be aware of their surroundings,” Tana explained.

An ambush... It might seem dishonorable, but for us, there was no better method. It was such a realistic statement that it left us feeling a bit stunned.

“Remember, among the many Masters throughout history, more have been assassinated than have died honorably in battle.”

Sabioleen Tana’s advice was more crucial than I had anticipated. Rather than killing these Masters in a fair fight or on the battlefield, it was more common to trap them, ambush them, or kill them while they slept, and history showed that this was indeed true.

“What if we have to face them head-on?” Ellen asked.

“If it’s possible, run away,” Tana replied seriously.

“What if we can’t run away?”

It seemed like a philosophical question, but it was a necessary conversation. If we couldn’t run away, did that mean we had to face them head-on?

“If you can’t run away, then surrender. Relying on the enemy’s mercy offers a higher chance of survival than trying to fight back.”

Fighting someone like a Swordmaster was essentially worse than surrendering. Her expression was serious, and she wasn’t mocking us at all.

She was genuinely talking about what we should do if a Master Class appeared before us with the intent to kill.

If an ambush wasn’t possible, a head-on confrontation was out of the question. If fleeing wasn’t on the cards, then it was better to surrender.

“What if that person absolutely will not spare me?” I asked.

From the start, she was telling us not to fight a Master.

Ambush, flee, surrender. When all options were gone and there was no choice but a direct confrontation, what could we do?

“Going forward, I’ll teach you that. But remember, I’m not teaching you this so you can fall into the arrogance of thinking you can defeat someone who has reached Master class.”

Tana was utterly serious.

“You can’t kill an elephant with a toothpick.”

It was an obvious statement.

“Remember, I’m teaching you this so you can poke the elephant’s eye with the toothpick and run away. Of course, even that won’t be easy.”

She was going to give us the tools we needed to survive as long as we could in the unlikely event that we had to go up against such an opponent.

We never knew when such a fight might present itself, who might target us, or when and where they might do so. That was why she wanted to teach us how to handle situations or opponents that were too strong for us to manage.

Swordmasters, Archmages, demons, monsters, and armies.

She was not teaching us how to beat them, but how to handle such situations when we did encounter them.

***

If we encountered a Swordmaster, Tana assessed our chances as nearly zero, and even suggested that surrender might be a better option. However, how could we survive a situation in which a direct confrontation was inevitable?

“First, use obstacles. A Swordmaster’s senses surpass those of an ordinary human, but ultimately, the sense a human relies on the most is sight. Try to obscure their vision, either by throwing dirt or hurling large objects at them.

She had just started, but the advice already sounded a bit underhanded.

“Use noise. The next sense after sight is hearing. When vision is blocked, hearing becomes the most activated sense. Thus, escaping to a noisy place is also an option.”

She was basically saying to throw dirt and create a commotion.

For advice from a Grandmaster, it seemed so practical that imagining myself doing such things felt a bit... sad.

“In an enclosed space, if possible, setting fire to something is best. Fire provides both visual obstruction with smoke and noise. Also, everyone needs to breathe. You can hold your breath for a long time, but not forever. While heat may not pose a threat to a Swordmaster, inhaling smoke is dangerous even for them.”

She was teaching us not how to confront, but how to escape.

I knew it was the right advice, but being treated as the hope of humanity while being taught how to throw dirt, cause chaos, and set fires...

“...”

“...”

Ellen and I both wore expressions of utter confusion.

Tana had punched Ellen when she found an opening, but in a real fight, Ellen would have been dead.

“Don’t try to meet their sword with yours. Don’t even try to deflect their blows. Avoid every sword strike.”

Just avoiding the situation altogether was easy to say, but was it possible?

“Also, don’t try to attack. You won’t be able to handle the mana imbued in the sword, and the moment your weapon touches the enemy’s body, it will be the same as if it had clashed with their sword.”

We were not even supposed to try to attack. Even if we believed we had caught them off guard and tried to stab them in the neck, the recoil from the blow would snap our wrists or send us flying backward.

In the end, her advice was to focus on escaping and not trying to confront them.

“That’s what to do in a typical situation.”

However, Tana seemed to have more to say about the matter.

“The reason I sent Cliffman and Ludwig away is that this information wouldn’t be useful to them. Of course, it was also to keep the fact that you two possess holy relics a secret.”

Ellen and I shared something in common: we possessed relics in the form of swords.

“As you’ve experienced, Ellen, your Lament was repelled when it clashed with an Aura Blade.”

“Yes.”

“If it were an ordinary sword, it would have shattered just from hitting the flat of the Aura Blade, not even the edge. An Aura Blade is already a powerful weapon, and an enchantment incomparable to any enchantment of magical origin. Unless a sword is made of extremely hard material or has strong magical protection, it cannot withstand a direct confrontation with an Aura Blade.”

“... I see.”

It wasn’t just about the sharpness of the blade. Depending on the skill of the wielder of the Aura Blade, they could cause a powerful recoil by exploding the mana imbued in the sword the moment swords clashed. An ordinary sword would shatter just by hitting the flat of an Aura Blade, not even the edge.

Tana looked at me, then at Ellen. “Lament and Tiamata are holy relics. They won’t break or chip even when up against an Aura Blade. And even if they are torn from your grip, they’re soul-bound, so you can always resummon them. This means you have unlocked the basic condition to face the unfair ability of an Aura Blade: the ability to keep hold of your weapon.”

No ordinary person could think of even engaging in a sword fight with a Master unless they had a powerful magical weapon.

“However, that’s only to say you might withstand it. The moment you try to cross blades with them, the rebounding of the blade could create an opening, and then it would be over.”

After saying that to Ellen, Tana turned to me.

“Reinhart, your situation might be a little different.”

“Different how?”

“This is assuming you can use Tiamata’s Divine Power. If you envelop your sword with Divine Power, it will offer significant protection to both Tiamata and you from the rebounding effect of an Aura Blade.”

While the sword would not be encased in mana, if both sword and wielder were enhanced with Divine Power, that could lessen the destructive impact of an Aura Blade.

I hadn’t faced an Aura Blade, but I understood what Tana was saying.

Leverier Lanche had not been a Swordmaster, but I had managed to withstand a few exchanges with him, standing up against his monstrous attacks, which had been similarly enhanced with Divine Power.

Leverier Lanche wasn’t a Swordmaster, but I never believed him to be inferior to them. After all, a typical Swordmaster wasn’t a monster who could survive being stabbed in the heart.

While I had significant external help in dealing with him, The Divine Power inherent within Tiamata had also proved decisive.

Because of that, I could deal with an Aura Blade, to some extent.

“Assuming you can use Divine Power, you can withstand the clash of an Aura Blade. And Ellen...”

“Yes?”

“With Lament, you can pierce a Swordmaster’s mana shield. Of course, a thrust would be most likely.”

Lament had a passive trait: its edge was as sharp as an Aura Blade.

Ellen couldn’t control it freely like Sabioleen Tana’s Aura Blade, which was both offensive and defensive, but it possessed overwhelming sharpness and cutting power.

“If you are faced with such a situation, if the two of you are together, your chances of survival are higher.”

Tiamata could endure but not kill, and Lament could kill but not endure.

While I held out, Ellen would strike.

Without the two of us together, there was no way we could go up against a Master.

“If you’re not together, Reinhart, endure the enemy’s attacks as much as possible, obscure their vision, then create a situation in which they can’t follow you and escape.

“Ellen, the same goes for you. An opponent solely focused on you won’t show any openings. If you clumsily try to catch them off guard, you’ll be the one caught. So watch the enemy’s sword carefully, dodge, and instead of inflicting a fatal wound, inflict minor injuries or make the enemy realize your sword is a threat. This will startle your opponent, giving you time to escape.”

Tana’s conclusion was that, if we weren’t together, we shouldn’t even think about facing a Swordmaster.