[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]
Chapter 11
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
I shoved the approaching fist aside, furrowing my brows.
It was Lee Hwa, my eighth sibling.
Even in my past life, she had never been particularly fond of .
As a child, she was wary of
for drawing a sword superior to hers during the Steel Selection Ritual. And after my constitution developed problems, she simply ignored
altogether.
Still, compared to the other siblings who openly bullied , she was relatively decent…
She had a mischievous streak, but as soone chosen by the Sacred Sword, her nature was fundantally good.
So why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
She used to pick small fights with
from a young age, but it had always been more like childish whining. Never before had she suddenly attacked
like this.
“Watch your mouth! I’m a legitimate child, and you’re just a bastard! And I’m older than you by a whole year!”
“What do you an, a whole year? It’s barely a few months.”
I clicked my tongue and ignored her outburst, continuing to walk away.
Or at least, I tried to.
“Hey! Don’t ignore ! I’m not done talking!”
The air trembled.
The attack coming at my back was much faster than the earlier punch.
She’s even using mana?
This was on a completely different level. A regular punch was one thing, but the mont mana was infused, even a child’s fist beca a lethal weapon.
Any thought of handling this peacefully vanished.
Whoosh!
I twisted my body slightly, letting the punch graze past .
The wind that followed was sharp, but as long as it didn’t hit
directly, it didn’t matter.
Without hesitation, I reached out, grabbed her by the collar, and yanked her right up to my face.
“...!”
Her face tensed with fear.
I made sure my tone was sharp and nacing.
“If you wanna whine, go cry to your mother. I’m already busy enough, so don’t cling to
and be a nuisance.”
Flinch!
She trembled like a frightened puppy.
Despite having enough strength to fight back, she was too scared to even resist, her body frozen in place.
Well, I guess no one’s ever treated her this harshly before. She’s been coddled her whole life.
Losing interest, I let go of her collar.
What am I even doing, picking fights with a little kid?
Even if we shared blood, she was still just a ten-year-old brat.
Still shaking, she shouted with a voice filled with frustration.
“It’s… it’s all your fault!”
“What?”
“You… You caused that incident at the Steel Selection Ritual…! Because of that, people always compare
to you, and Mother always scolds ! And now even in training…! Just stay quiet like a proper bastard and stop standing out! You idiot! Moron! I hate you!”
What…?
For a mont, I felt blank.
It sounded like nothing more than a childish tantrum, but for so reason, the words stuck with .
“It’s not fair! I never get to sleep properly, I can’t even have snacks, all I do is train every day…! And you—! You were born with so much talent…! I didn’t want to, but Mother—”
“Hngh…!”
She abruptly covered her mouth, sneaking glances at .
…Well, that just took the tension out of everything.
I let out a deep sigh.
How pathetic.
Lee Hwa I rembered was a formidable swordswoman who had once stood her ground fearlessly against dozens of massive monsters, enduring their attacks with sheer grit.
And yet, looking at her now, she was no different from any other spoiled child her age.
Well, she is only ten. And besides, her nanny was infamous for being overly indulgent.
I looked at her.
She flinched under my gaze for a mont but quickly glared back, determined not to back down.
“Must be nice.”
“What?”
“It must be so easy to just bla others. Bla your siblings, bla your mother, bla talent itself. But like you said, I’m just a bastard. Even complaining is a luxury for soone like .”
“……”
Her lips pressed together tightly.
Even if she was still a child, she was a mber of the Esteed Martial Lee clan. A prodigy, no doubt. She understood exactly what I ant.
“If you’re really part of the Lee clan, stop wasting ti on this nonsense and go swing your sword a few more tis in the training hall. Can’t sleep? Then don’t. Can’t have snacks? Dont. If you can’t keep up, stop eating altogether.”
I stared her down.
She was slightly taller than , thanks to growing up in comfort, eating the best food, and living in the best conditions.
Yet, for so reason, she looked much smaller than
now.
“Who do you think you are, telling
what to do?! You don’t know anything!”
“I do. Because I’m also an Esteed Martial Lee blood. If you really wanted to beat , you should’ve gone all the way. If you weren’t planning to compete, you should’ve at least broken one of my bones with that sneak attack.”
“T-That’s—!”
“Get serious. You can do it, can’t you?”
Her expression went blank.
“If you resent
so much, then find a way to beat . Make
acknowledge you. That’s the way of the Esteed Martial Lee clan as I know it.”
I turned away and walked off.
Behind , she shouted at the top of her lungs.
“F-Fine, then! I’ll outperform you at the Naming Ceremony and completely crush you! You’ll be calling
‘big sister’ and begging for forgiveness!”
At that, I scoffed and shook my head.
---
The results of the Naming Ceremony’s group education were sent out weekly to each child’s guardian.
The nanny stared blankly at the report on the clan intranet, mumbling to herself.
“This… this doesn’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
“I an… this, this is just…”
She fumbled with the mouse, dragging and releasing it repeatedly, then rubbed her eyes before looking at the monitor again.
[Week 14 Academic Report]
[Birth Na: Lee Young]
[Gender: Male]
Mana Arts: 1st
Weapon Arts: 1st
Written Exam: 1st
……
[Overall Rank: 1st]
The nanny couldn’t believe the results in front of her.
Not even once had my ranking dropped—no matter the week, no matter the subject. Even on a bad day, it never slipped below Grade 1.
“Young Master… have you finally put my worries to rest?”
“Nanny…!”
Her expression wavered with emotion.
“There’s nothing this old nanny can do for you… and yet you’ve accomplished so much on your own.”
Her eyes welled up with tears.
She had always known I was extraordinary, but she had never imagined that I would achieve Grade 1 in every single aspect of my education.
“…Alright. Do as you wish, Young Master. To think you’d actually keep your word and stay at Grade 1 this whole ti…”
“If I can’t even manage this, how do you expect
to survive in this viper’s nest of a household?”
“A viper’s nest…? Young Master, where on earth did you hear sothing like that? I swear, you always say the strangest things.”
At that, I simply grinned.
BANG!
The door suddenly burst open, and my aunt barged in.
“Hey, kid! You’re here! Let’s go train!”
“…I literally just finished training.”
“Which is why we should go! Training your magic arts will help shake off your fatigue!”
More like increase my fatigue—especially if I was training with her.
The nanny looked at
with a sympathetic expression but said nothing.
…Co on, nanny. Even if you promised not to interfere, this is when you’re supposed to say sothing.
“Alright, let’s go. I have sothing to show you anyway.”
“Huh?”
I stood up.
My aunt, who had been tilting her head in curiosity, suddenly froze in shock.
“Y-You! D-Don’t tell —!”
“Shall we?”
I smirked and stepped forward.
There was no tension in my movents, just an easy, natural fluidity. And within that movent, mana flowed smoothly through my body, unhindered, balanced.
“You’ve reached First Star!”
My aunt’s face lit up in sheer delight.
* * *
The Naming Ceremony’s group training was of a high level.
Just because I had consistently received a first-class ranking in every session didn’t an the training itself was easy.
It was simply favorable for .
Comprehensive physical training, survival skills, magic techniques, weaponry, navigation, history...
My physique had already been honed through years of rigorous training, and I had mastered various academic subjects in my past life.
Even in disciplines where I expected the instructors to struggle to keep up—such as weaponry and magic techniques—I had retained knowledge from the training grounds’ armory, and thanks to the relentless training with my aunt over the past few months, save for when I slept, I hadn’t found any of it particularly difficult.
With my grades secured, I decided to use my training ti differently.
‘And it paid off quite well. No, imnsely well.’
Just then, I sensed a foreign flow of magic seeping into my mana pathways.
It was my aunt’s magic. She had placed her hand on my back, deliberately stimulating my mana.
At that mont, my own magic instinctively resisted hers.
In the process, neither my mana path circuits nor my mana core beca unbalanced—they maintained perfect harmony.
“Perfect…! You’ve really reached it!”
My aunt, still resting her hand on my back, blinked in astonishnt, unsure whether she should be shocked or overjoyed.
“Does it feel awkward to control your mana? How did you grasp it so quickly? I thought it would take at least another year!”
“I realized it during training.”
“Training? They teach that kind of thing there?”
It was during a particular exercise where they threw us into a machine that unleashed a barrage of lower-tier magic spells.
Unlike my eighth sibling, who had been practically drowning in magic-enhancing elixirs, my mana reserves were naturally lower.
So, I had no choice but to block the attacks by manually controlling my mana with precision.
When I failed to control it properly and my mana core or circuits threatened to fall out of balance, I instinctively stopped calculating and overthinking.
Instead, I focused solely on protecting myself, using my mana as naturally as possible.
“That was when I understood why you never bothered teaching
any shortcuts, Aunt.”
“Huh? Uh, huh?”
Lee Gyeongha blinked, montarily confused by what her nephew was saying.
‘Shortcuts? Are there even shortcuts for this?’
But when she saw the unwavering trust in his eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to admit the truth.
“There was never any need to force the balance between the mana core and the mana path circuits in the first place. I just had to leave them alone. Mana flows like water—it moves naturally. In the end, our bodies are nothing more than vessels that hold mana. Trying to separate those vessels was a foolish mistake.”
As her nephew spoke, Lee Gyeongha felt a deep, growing shock.
‘Let mana flow freely…?’
It was a concept that deviated slightly from modern magic theory.
Most conventional teachings revolved around the strict control of mana.
As a result, the idea of letting mana flow naturally had never even been considered, let alone understood.
Like everyone else, Lee Gyeongha had always attempted to forcibly synchronize her mana core and mana pathways, ensuring they worked together to wield magic.
‘Our bodies are vessels… vessels…’
Yes, they were nothing more than containers.
Mana existed in the world, and humans rely stored it within themselves.
Ah.
Lee Gyeongha let out a quiet gasp.
“A-Ah, kiddo. I think… I can do it too.”
“…Excuse ?”
"It's done. That whole thing about being too used to my mana core to control it properly… I think I can do it now. Just like you, kid… Though it’ll probably take
a long ti."
My aunt started rambling incoherently.
‘Did she realize sothing?’
The mont the vacant look in her eyes sparked with understanding, she suddenly shot up from her seat.
"Thank you! You lucky little thing! I take it back—you're no cunning brat, you're my little blessing!"
Without warning, she pulled
into a tight hug.
Crack!
A rather ominous sound echoed from my bones.
“Ugh! Gah! A-Auntie! My ribs! My ribs!”
“I’m going to train twice as hard! No, three tis harder than before!”
“If you train any harder, I might actually die…!”
“No way, you’ll be able to keep up.”
Finally, Lee Gyeongha loosened her grip, releasing her beloved nephew.
She couldn’t hide the grin creeping up her face.
“Let’s move on to Second Star.”
“…Huh? Already?”
“For you, reaching Second Star won’t be a challenge. And once you do…”
She hesitated.
She was never good with words.
So, the only thing she managed to say was—
“The Naming Ceremony will be a piece of cake!”
[TL/N: Aunt’s magic arts are divided into stage of stars. In the manhwa it’s ntioned that normally it went from IronBody Stage -> Qi Manipulation Stage -> Qi Energy stage. But aunt mana arts are different. It helps in showing more abilities. Chapter 8 of manhwa.]
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Lucky]
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