Chapter 254

“Feels light… no pain… not even suffocating…!”

Bibi couldn’t close her mouth as she looked down at her changed body.

Her hair color had changed, horns had grown, her skin had improved slightly… Apart from a very slight change towards a cuter appearance overall, there didn’t seem to be any external changes to Bibi.

But inside her body had changed so much it was practically brand new… Well, since humans can’t see through bodies anyway, there’s no way she could know that.

“That is the feeling of a healthy body. Bibi.”

“To think I’ve been missing out on this refreshing feeling for half my life…”

Uh-oh! That’s dangerous talk! Can’t go into details but definitely dangerous!

Cough. Anyway, the seal within Bibi’s body has been successfully released and her physical form has been renewed.

A human-like body but closer to dragon physiology with an overwhelming amount of magical power compared to humans.

And those horns.

The organs resembling dragon horns made Bibi look like something other than human.

Well, among beastmen there were some with similar horns, but none had just horns without other animal features.

And these horns have various functions!

Like antennae to hear the words of the Goddess of Life, absorbing surrounding mana to replenish the Dragon Priestess’ magic, helping efficiently control the Dragon Priestess’ magical power.

Just giving decorative horns seemed too plain so adding all these functions made them quite amazing!

“Bibi, can you feel the magical power within your body?”

“What? Yes! It’s hard to believe such tremendous power resides within me…”

“That’s because the magical power was sealed within your body. A regular human body couldn’t handle this much power. Pushing this much mana into an ordinary human body would probably have shattered it completely.”

At my words, Bibi’s face paled slightly imagining her female body exploding into pieces.

“Don’t worry, such things won’t happen to a Dragon Priestess. Your body has transformed to handle large amounts of magical power.”

“R-really?”

Sighing in relief, Bibi brushed her hand across her chest area. Her ever-changing expressions are quite entertaining to watch.

“With such abundant magical power, you can do various things using it. So as your teacher, I shall teach you what you can do with magical power. Follow diligently.”

“Yes, yes! I’ll put in effort!”

Thus began my teaching Bibi how to use magical power.

—

“Thank you for healing Bibi.”

“It was merely doing what needed to be done. No need for thanks.”

I couldn’t just ignore a child with the potential to become a Dragon Priestess! Of course not!

Now there will be another Dragon Priestess besides me! Sort of like subcontracting work!

“So then, next is Arthur. Your turn now…”

I carefully observed Arthur. A well-trained body for his age. Has he been receiving education to become the next emperor?

Well, that alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Have you ever wielded weapons?”

“Weapons… I’ve learned some swordsmanship for self-defense.”

“Sword? Not spear?”

What about the Unyielding Flag? If you’re going to use that as a weapon, normally one would learn spear techniques…

“Spear…?”

“The weapon of Knight Lucius – do you know what it was?”

At my question, Arthur thought for a moment before answering.

“He used a spear with a flag attached. Though he rarely engaged in direct combat, he wielded the spear during emergencies.”

“And yet you learned swordsmanship knowing that?”

“Well, the spear is… too long to carry around for self-defense, isn’t it?”

Looking at the sword hanging at his waist, Arthur made a good point. Carrying a spear for self-defense would be quite impractical.

Though better as a war weapon compared to swords, its length makes carrying inconvenient.

Still! Usually people try to use the same weapon as the figure they admire, right?!

Which I didn’t say out loud. After all, the emperor shouldn’t need to wield a spear in battle personally.

A defensive sword should be sufficient.

“Hmm. Well, can’t be helped.”

Since he already knows basic swordsmanship, we just need to refine it further.

Ah, right. Should I make him a weapon too? Since he knows swordsmanship, one suitable for that.

And teach him how to control and use the considerable amount of magical power dormant within his body. Like how martial artists strengthen their bodies with inner energy.

Arthur’s goal is to reclaim the throne stolen by his uncle, so let’s cram all necessary abilities into him! Right!

Swordsmanship, skills to captivate others’ hearts, knowledge required for command, and since he’ll likely be at a disadvantage, methods of stealth and erasing traces as well.

Hmm… This training might get pretty harsh. Can Arthur handle it?

Let’s ask first.

“Arthur, are you prepared to do whatever it takes to reclaim the throne?”

“Yes.”

Arthur answered immediately.

Being prepared to do anything sounds quite irresponsible.

If he truly means it… I have my own thoughts.

“For that purpose, are you ready to accept any sacrifices?”

“Yes.”

Arthur answered without hesitation. Does this show how deeply his thirst for vengeance has poisoned his heart?

It made me feel a bit sorry for him.

Still, that’s that. This is this.

“I see. If your resolve is this firm…”

I smiled faintly and said,

“You can endure training so grueling you’ll wish to die, right?”

“Ye..s?”

Looking at Arthur’s bewildered face, I continued,

“Even if you sustain serious injuries, even if your breathing stops and your heart ceases… With Dragon Priestess Bibi here, we can heal you easily enough.”

Though I can do it too. But Bibi needs practice as well.

So…

“Even if you receive fatal wounds multiple times, it’s fine. We’ll push you hard.”

As I spoke, Arthur’s face grew increasingly pale.

—

Thus, I took Arthur and Bibi as disciples and taught them various things.

Arthur learned direct combat methods – swordsmanship, stealth, rhetoric, and ways to enhance his body with magical power.

Though the methods used were somewhat extreme, somehow we managed to stuff everything into his body successfully! So it’s all good!

The fact that Arthur crossed over to the Underworld’s river a few times during the process was minor.

Especially learning to use magical power proved challenging.

Elves, with their high magical affinity, could quickly grasp and control the mana within their bodies with just a little guidance, but Arthur struggled with this.

It took about three years of stimulating and making him sense the mana within his body, then learning to move it.

Of course, we didn’t spend all that time only on this. We taught many other things as well.

His swordsmanship became quite remarkable for a human, and we packed so much knowledge into him that he could rival many scholars.

He truly is quite talented, probably due to being imperial material from the start.

To such Arthur, I presented a gift.

“What is this…”

“You’ll see, it’s a sword.”

A sword with a pitch-black blade.

A sword dark enough to swallow all light, like the deepest night sky.

As the blackness suggests, it’s made using Adamantium.

Not pure Adamantium though. An alloy, appropriately mixed.

The hilt and blade part use Mithril which conducts mana well. More precisely, the central axis supporting the sword uses Mithril to connect the blade and hilt.

Using this Mithril part, when you infuse sufficient mana into the hilt…

Whoosh.

“Woah!”

“A sword capable of creating a pure mana blade.”

A shining mana blade emanating from the pitch-black blade.

I casually swung the sword with the glowing mana blade.

Slice!

The sound of cutting through something soft echoed.

“The cutting power of the mana blade is excellent. It can slice through even large rocks like butter.”

Though its sharpness looks dangerous.

Well, it should be fine.

“And… if you infuse slightly excessive mana.”

The sword rapidly absorbs the mana I pour in, like watering a dry desert.

As the sword reaches its limit after absorbing the mana…

BOOM!

The mana blade loses its form and starts wobbling.

Like water bursting through a collapsed dam.

The massive amount of mana gathers into a single beam and shoots toward the sky where the sword points.

“This way… you can fire a powerful beam.”

The pillar of light pierces through the clouds above, revealing the blue sky beyond the cloudy heavens.

When wielding a sword, having a beam-firing ultimate technique is essential from ancient times!

“There are other features too, like accelerating mana recovery, wounds inflicted by this sword cannot be healed by ordinary means, and the sheath has a healing magic for the owner.”

“My goodness…”

“Only the Sword of the Hero from legends could match this sword.”

Quite a lot of effort went into making it!

“The name of this sword is Dainsleif. A cursed sword that grants the owner’s wish in exchange for taking away what they hold most precious.”

Though it’s a lie. I haven’t placed such magic on it. Just testing Arthur.

“If you’re truly prepared to sacrifice anything to achieve your dream… draw the sword. If so, this sword will become your strength.”

I returned Dainsleif to its sheath and handed it to Arthur. After hesitating for a while, Arthur grabbed the hilt.

Swish.

The faint metallic sound. The pitch-black blade that seems to devour all light.

Arthur, who drew the sword, kept staring at it as if entranced.

[!– Slider main container –]