SSS Class Infinite Regression: Ascension of the Mad Dragon Prince Chapter 54: First Step of Sword Breathing [2]

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"To think an ancient artifact like you would beco so alard," Louis said lightly, smiling. "When I woke up, I slowly understood what I had made... though I’m still not sure if what I saw while training was truly just my madness... That sword contains no souls. It holds Records of people, mories of their Connections."

"...? What? Connections? You? The spoiled grandchild of the Dragon King who values nothing but himself, the selfish child who let my Tisha die?" Niflheim asked.

"You acted so coldly and emotionless before, but I see now that you blad for what happened to her, huh? I agree, it’s my fault she died," Louis nodded. "I did all I could, but that’s never enough..."

"..."

"The frustration of knowing what will happen yet lacking the power to stop it..." Louis muttered, clenching his fists tightly. "There’s nothing more frustrating than that... If I had the power, I would have personally disposed of Soma myself, preventing this entire disaster from ever occurring."

Niflheim listened in silence. Her aura flickered but gradually withdrew back into her form.

"Explain to . What is this sword?"

"This?"

Louis approached the white sword, crafted from ashen frost, resembling glass yet incredibly cold to the touch.

"When I mastered the First Step of the Sword Breathing thod, I was going insane," Louis said, smiling bitterly. "In my madness, I imprinted my mories of those I lost and swore upon my Sword Heart to honor them with everything in my power, and if I ever get the chance again, to save them no matter what."

"You imprinted your very soul and heart into this sword... That’s why you could create one so quickly..." she said. "Yet it is so shallow it could break at any mont... just like you are."

"Maybe..." Louis nodded. "But that’s all there is to it. That’s the truth. I’m being honest with you, there is no deeper aning beyond what you saw doing."

"..."

Niflheim slowly cald. Her aura shrank until it vanished entirely. Her ethereal form settled and remained still.

"You’re truly a madman."

"Tell sothing I don’t know."

"You barely survived achieving the First Step, and now you co asking for the Second Step?"

"Do you want to teach Anastasia or not? I plan to seek her out today."

"And how do you plan to convince her?"

"Well, I’ll tell her that her mother’s sword truly loves her and wants to see her—and that she must learn swordsmanship because this was her mother’s last wish."

"It sounds sowhat convincing, but I feel you’re going to ruin it sohow. You’re terrible at socializing."

"...I believe I’m fairly good."

"Maybe. But Anastasia isn’t easy to fool... Well, I suppose I can speak to her through you. That should work."

"Whatever the case, tell more."

Niflheim sighed, if she had a head, she would have shaken it at Louis’ desperate eagerness for the Second Step Formula.

"I will give you the Formula for the Second Step of the Sword Breathing thod as promised then. Make sure not to die."

She infused a large quantity of information directly into Louis’ mind, helping him grasp the formula for the Second Step.

The path to cultivate the Second Form of Sword Breathing differed greatly from the First.

"What is this insanity? Who in the world has completed this?"

"Many—mostly within the Fantasy Worlds. Earth is... well, weak in comparison."

"Hah..."

Louis smiled bitterly as he reviewed the Formula again.

To reach the Second Step, a swordsman had to complete three requirents.

The first was to maintain the First Step Breathing thod and Stance while slaying a foe. They had to slay fifty foes. These foes could not be mindless beasts; they had to fight back and possess real strength.

The second was to maintain the breathing thod throughout the entire duration of the foe-slaying contest. If he stopped or failed, he would suffer backlash and die, or if he survived, the count would be reset completely.

The final requirent—the third step—was to refine Sword Energy into an extrely thin form, thinner than the tip of a needle.

"I wish there was a Spear or Lance Cultivation thod. Do you know of anything?" Louis asked.

"Your mother possessed that thod," Niflheim explained. "You’ve already grasped pieces of it and are now assembling the clues she left behind for you. Can’t you tell?"

"...What?" Louis was stunned. "W-What do you an my mother...?"

"You’re still lacking in insight, huh?" Niflheim sighed. "Just because you’ve genuinely surprised , I will offer my assistance. Touch my blade."

The prince nodded and touched Niflheim’s icy blade.

FLASH!

He felt several particles of light erge from his body. Each carried an elental energy signature deeply connected to his mother.

These were fragnts of a "Legacy", an Inheritance his mother had left behind, and Louis was only now beginning to piece them together.

From the beginning, when she taught him Dragon Fang Spearmanship, to the passing of the Holy Lance Style from Robert.

And that voice he had heard back then, which transford his ashes into light, turning Despair into Hope.

Slowly, a book made of golden light manifested, though it contained only a third of its total pages.

"W-What is the aning of this?!" Louis was naturally shocked. "Mother... left this for ?"

"Indeed," Niflheim confird. "You should have pieced things together by now. That’s how you were able to combine techniques or create light despite having no affinity for it. But I suppose you lacked the knowledge to recognize what you were doing."

"I guess I did," Louis said as the grimoire approached him. He held it tightly, feeling its divine holy power pulse through his hands. "This is..."

Louis read the grimoire’s first pages in silence. Each page shimred with radiant holy light. The entire book was composed of this shimring ethereal substance, deeply tied to his mother’s divine power.

"There’s only one thod here..." he said. "And it is called Holy Dragon Spirit Soul Vein Technique..."

"Soul Vein?" Niflheim was surprised. "That’s the Technique of Yggdrasil’s Light Dragons, masters of Soul Cultivation. I see. It makes sense your mother adopted their thods and then evolved them into her own personal Cultivation thod, which she is now passing to you."

"Wait—my mother wasn’t a Light Dragon?" Louis asked.

"She was born a ’Heaven Dragon’, daughter of the Dragon King, born as an Ice Dragon, and his wife, an Ice Titan. Why was she born a Heaven Dragon? It is said your mother was a Soul from Another World. When Souls from Another World reincarnate, they gain a Talent within their Souls.

Your mother’s Soul Talent—or ’Unique Skill’—was related to her Desire for Heaven. Or so I’ve heard."

"...?!" Louis was shocked. This was the first ti he had ever heard that his mother was a reincarnated soul. "So she’s the sa as my grandfather too? And... the sa as..."

Louis fell silent.

His grandfather the Dragon King was also reincarnated.

His daughter had turned out to be reincarnated.

And now he himself had reincarnated, or halfway.

Unlike them, Louis was an already developed soul. When William tried to "transmigrate" into his body, both souls rged.

Because Louis possessed a far stronger character and emotions than William, his ego beca dominant, but William remained an ever-present part of him now.

"Surprised by such a revelation, young dragon? It wasn’t just your grandfather; your grandmother was also reincarnated. It is said that reincarnated souls draw one another through Fate’s Attraction Force. Perhaps you’re already quite close to soone else who is reincarnated."

"...? Mirai?"

Louis’ eyes widened. Based on the Sinners Academy ga lore, Mirai was technically the reincarnation of two powerful entities.

"Is she? Well, perhaps."

"Hm..."

The prince read the grimoire and learned about his mother’s techniques and her cultivation style. It involved absorbing the Essence of Heaven and combining it directly with Mana to create Heavenly Divine Essence.

This was, of course, ridiculously difficult for Louis right now. Yet it was not as though he had never done it before, that powerful beam that destroyed one arm of the Abyssal Mother had carried such power.

"Back then I temporarily created Divine Light... Perhaps it is related to that," Louis said, rubbing his chin as he considered the grimoire’s contents. "Next is creating twelve different streams of such energy and guiding them inside the soul, rapidly transforming it. And lastly, all Twelve Veins converge with the Soul, constantly pumping energy, strengthening the soul trendously. That was one of my goals this entire ti."

One of the things Louis desired most was a way to make his Soul stronger. Whenever he died, he arrived in a strange Limbo between dinsions and spoke with the Entity within his Soul.

Yet he was always helpless, unable to stop the creature from forcing him to regress over and over, granting him no agency.

Louis was rely being used. In that Limbo, where only the power of the bare soul mattered, he wanted to fight back and uncover the truth behind his Regression and the Entity’s true nature.

"And how do you even plan to create such powerful energy? Can you even do that?" Niflheim asked while examining the grimoire herself. "Huh, how interesting..."

"I can already draw Heavenly Essence from the skies," Louis said. "My Heavenly Channels are all open as well. The only thing I need to do is rge it and refine it with Mana."

"Yes, but Heavenly Divine Essence contains divinity, you know? Without divine power you cannot do it," Niflheim pointed out.

"Then how was I able to imitate so of my mother’s techniques and even fire that beam?" Louis asked. "Sheer luck? If what you say is true, then it wouldn’t be possible."

"..."

"Fantasy Hearts and the Spiral of Madness within them are technically equivalent to Divinities, but twisted," Louis explained. "They are a power that seems to break any other power system from the Fantasy Worlds. So this makes wonder, if I refine the energy through my Spiral, it could work... However, the Entity within the Spiral is what worries . I wouldn’t want to awaken that creature..."

"You have a creature inside your Spiral?" Niflheim asked. "Huh. It seems that no matter what you do, you’re always screwed."

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