Chapter 15 - 015＿Kashima Old Style
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015＿Kashima Old Style
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Confronting the Headless Knight, Rodney's throat was parched from tension. Even without a head, its intimidation was on a different level from the Selvanui up to the third layer.
"You must not be overwhelmed by the opponent."
"T-that's true."
With Yulin's words, Rodney somehow regained his composure and closed the distance to the Headless Knight in one go. He swung his White True Steel Sword down from an overhead position, but the Headless Knight deflected it with its shield.
As expected of a knight, the Headless Knight's sword was that of an orthodox knight. Unlike Yulin's Kirisamu-style Great Sword Art or Emilia's Merilis-style Fencing, it was very similar to what seemed to be the Dryut Knight Sword Combat Art, the most common style in the royal knights' order.
The Headless Knight's sword tried to catch Rodney, who had lost his balance from the deflection. Thinking he couldn't fully dodge the sharply extending blade, Rodney activated 'Fortification' but it seemed it wouldn't make it in time. Resigned to death, thinking he would be killed at this rate, but Yulin took the sword blow for him, giving him time to regain his stance.
"Yulin, thanks."
"Please don't let your guard down."
"Yeah."
With Yulin's assistance, Rodney somehow managed to defeat the Headless Knight. He slashed its armor deeply, but he was surprised that even that gave him no real sense of impact.
"Big brother and Yulin are perfectly in sync. I guess that's what you get from dating for years."
"W-we aren't dating!"
"T-that's right!"
"If you deny it that hard, it actually looks suspicious."
Teased by Emilia, Rodney continued defeating the Headless Knights with Yulin's help.
Meanwhile, Emilia seemed to struggle with the first one, but thanks to her innate sword talent, she had no trouble with the second and after. By the third, she was able to defeat them with considerable ease.
"Geniuses really do exist, huh..."
Rodney was an amateur with good equipment and brute strength, but Emilia was a genius with an ordinary weapon.
"I can hardly believe we share the same parents' blood."
"At this rate, I too will likely be overtaken by Emilia-sama soon."
Watching Emilia dodge the Headless Knight's sword with light steps and deliver a counter thrust, she looked to Rodney nothing but a mass of talent.
"Maybe I should have made a sword for Emilia instead of one for myself..."
Regret raced through Rodney's mind at the thought that he had made the wrong choice.
In this fourth layer, True Ore could be mined. The three of them defeated Headless Knights while searching for those spots.
Occasionally, a Headless Knight would be lying in wait inside abandoned houses, so they explored using 'Sharp Senses'.
"True Ore is quite hard to find."
"If it were easy to find, it wouldn't be appreciated."
True Ore is discovered with quite a low probability. At that, it's considered good if one is found every few years. That's how rare True Ore is. The cause is that only the territorial soldiers explore the Abandoned House Labyrinth. If hunters also explored the Abandoned House Labyrinth, the frequency of True Ore discovery would increase accordingly.
Few hunters try to enter the labyrinth in the northernmost Dedel Territory. Partly because it's unknown, but more so because even if you earn money in the labyrinth, there are no entertainment districts like taverns or brothels. Rodney was aware of this too, but increasing entertainment districts would worsen public order. It was a troubling problem.
That day, Rodney could not fight evenly with the Headless Knight. The Headless Knight was so strong that he couldn't win without Yulin's assistance.
"Well, isn't it fine? You have things like 'High Heat Bullet'."
Rodney had a special-type mid-level Root Power. Emilia said that even without fighting in close quarters like this, there were ways to fight. Rodney agreed that was true, but he still felt that if that was all he had, he would remain weak.
"Come on, don't be so depressed. Eat this and cheer up."
Emilia held out the Headless Knight's Life Light Stone. Eating it would allow him to obtain a new Root Power, but it came with considerable pain. He thought it was typical of Emilia to say to cheer up with that. Rodney tossed the Headless Knight's Life Light Stone into his mouth and crunched it.
"Gah..."
The sight of Rodney gasping in pain had already become a familiar one. Lately, Yulin just watched over him. Even Emilia, while watching Rodney writhing in agony, was sipping tea, which Rodney found hard to accept.
"Big brother, what kind of Root Power did you get?"
That was the first thing Emilia said to Rodney after the pain subsided. Rodney wet his throat with tea and glared at Emilia.
"You could at least worry about me a little more."
"Beyond that pain is a powerful Root Power. Even I want it, but isn't it unfair that only you get it?"
"That's a separate issue."
"I'm frustrated, so no."
He couldn't agree with Emilia's attitude, but the Root Power he obtained canceled out that dissatisfaction.
"I got 'Haki', Yulin."
"Congratulations, Rodney-sama."
"Lucky... I want 'Haki' too."
Since Emilia used the normal acquisition method, she would probably learn 'Sharp Air', the inferior version of 'Haki'.
After some time, just in case, he orally ingested another Life Light Stone. In the midst of the agony, Rodney felt a strange sensation. It was as if he had been thrown into zero gravity. Of course, even in zero gravity, pain is still pain.
"T-this is..."
"Rodney-sama, is something the matter?"
"The Headless Knight only has 'Sharp Air' as its Root Power, so there shouldn't be any Root Power to obtain other than 'Haki'. You're just acting to make me jealous, right?"
"You... do you really think I'm that kind of guy?"
"Yes."
"..."
Even as siblings, Rodney sighed, thinking there should be some manners. But he decided to look on the bright side that they had such a close sibling relationship.
"Unfortunately, I can't meet Emilia's expectations."
"What do you mean?"
"I got a Root Power just now too."
"Why!? How can you learn a Root Power? Doesn't the Headless Knight only have 'Sharp Air'? Hey, Yulin, right?"
"I only know of 'Sharp Air' as well. What kind of Root Power did you obtain?"
This time, besides the usual pain of oral ingestion, Rodney experienced an indescribable strange sensation. Perhaps because of that, he obtained a Root Power he had never even heard of. The Root Power gradually settled into his body, feeling like it was becoming his flesh and blood, and his heart trembled.
"Hey, tell me quickly! What kind of Root Power is it!?"
Emilia clung to him pleadingly, which Rodney found slightly gratifying.
"What I obtained is 'Kashima Old Style'."
"Kashima Old Style? What's that?"
"That is a Root Power I've never heard of. Is it a special type?"
"In a sense, this Kashima Old Style might be special. But Kashima Old Style doesn't fit into any of the Root Powers I know."
"Stop being mysterious and tell me, big brother."
Kashima Old Style was a school of martial arts. It was a comprehensive martial art centered on swordsmanship and jujitsu, including iaijutsu, naginatajutsu, tantojutsu, bojutsu, spearmanship, and stick techniques. Rodney explained this to the two.
"Wha..."
The two were speechless and didn't move for a while.
Rodney gripped his White True Steel Sword and went out to the backyard. The two followed.
He put the White True Steel Sword at his waist and lowered his stance.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know."
Emilia asked Yulin, but of course Yulin didn't know. After those words, a gust of wind blew.
At that moment when sandstorm arose, Rodney's sword was drawn from its scabbard. It was like the wind. The White True Steel Sword, drawn at a speed too fast for the eyes, passed through a large rock and returned to the scabbard.
"That just now was..."
"No way... big brother...?"
The two felt that sword stroke rivaled a seasoned warrior. It was the iaijutsu of Kashima Old Style.
A single line appeared on the rock, and the upper part slid off.
"Ooh! Big brother, you're good!"
"Is this Kashima Old Style... it was a wonderful sword stroke, Rodney-sama."
"It's not enough yet. It's far from the image."
The Root Power 'Kashima Old Style' also required training. It was the same as other Root Powers. By obtaining 'Kashima Old Style', he gained talent that rivaled Yulin and Emilia. The glimpse of that was the iaijutsu just now.
"Finally... finally for me too..."
He was on the verge of reaching what he had never reached no matter how hard he tried. If he tried harder, he would surely reach.
"I'll grasp it... I'll definitely... grasp it!"
Rodney's whole body trembled with elation.
"Big brother, a celebration!"
Compared to before, the dinner table at the Forvas House had become more luxurious. This was for the sake of health and body building. Even so, they didn't intend to overeat, so sweets like Galim Syrup rarely appeared. The soft Zaraitteko was served every day now, but since excessive sugar intake could cause illness, even Rodney, the lord and producer of the territory, didn't eat much Galim Syrup. In Rodney's view, Galim Syrup was something to sell or give away.
Emilia, thinking that she might get a large amount of Galim Syrup, emphasized the celebration.
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