Sword Saint's Reincarnation

Book 3 Chapter 27: Delegation (1)

For a few seconds, the room remained silent. Rylan slowly nodded to himself.

They’re finally here.

Now, it was time for everything to unfold. Through this, he would be able to determine his future path.

“Headmaster?” Alice said again, seemingly snapping Damian out of his daze.

The older man looked at Rylan with a questioning look. Once Rylan nodded, he looked back at the Communication Crystal.

“He’s on his way,” Damian replied. “You’re on the Tower’s bottom floor, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Alright,” she paused for a second. “I just thought I should let you know that there’s a Seventh Circle Mage among the people they sent, and several Sixth Circle Mages. I don’t think we should keep them waiting.”

Damian frowned, but Rylan only nodded.

As expected.

He’d already realized that Mar would send a sizable force, especially because they risked encountering imperial soldiers on the way.

Still, the delegation is even stronger than the imperial group I defeated.

It was a group capable of leveling the entire kingdom, even though he was here, too. Rylan’s expression hardened a bit at the thought.

The Communication Crystal stopped glowing as Damian let out a breath. The man looked at Rylan.

“At least today’s lesson is already almost over. You should go. I agree with Alice that we shouldn’t make them wait.”

Rylan nodded again, then ran his gaze over everyone else.

“Remember what I said and keep trying to make it work,” he said. “I’ll be back after my talk with the delegation.”

“Do you need me to go with you?” Gerard asked in a serious tone.

Rylan smiled at his father.

“Don’t worry about it. Thank you, though.”

“Don’t let them push you around,” Elizabeth said with a furrowed brow, her voice firm. He smiled at her.

“Of course. I’ll be back soon.”

“Do come back to discuss it,” Damian stated as he crossed his arms. “We’ll be able to help you work out the best course of action. We’ve already discussed what they might say, so just keep everything in mind.”

Hayden and Aelfric threw him thumbs-ups, while Sarah bowed slightly. Regis and Lillia nodded at him, and Jasmine looked a bit worried. The soldiers bowed deeply, with Scott bowing further than the rest of them. Taking a breath, Rylan walked in between the groups toward the study’s doors, which opened automatically. After he stepped through the entryway, they closed behind him.

Rylan quickly made his way down the shifting stairways and walls. The further down he went, the clearer the delegation’s mana signatures became, especially after he started circulating both his Aura and mana.

Alice wasn’t mistaken.

He narrowed his eyes. There truly were several people around the same level as the imperial Mages he’d fought, with one of them clearly surpassing everyone he’d seen so far. However, this person’s signature was much fainter than the others’.

He’s good at masking his power.

The only reason he’d been able to perceive it was because of his energy circulations. A bit expectant, Rylan continued to make his way down the Tower.

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Finally, he arrived on the bottom floor. As he descended the last staircase, his gaze focused on the group of people in the middle of the giant room. With her back facing him, closest to the stairway, was Alice. She shifted her weight, clearly nervous. In front of her, a few meters ahead, was a group of five people, with three men and two women. Almost automatically, Rylan looked at the man in the middle.

He's the one.

He was a tall, fit man with greying hair and beard, as well as tan skin. His grey-blue eyes were especially striking, and he was staring straight at Rylan. The man’s mana signature was as tranquil as a still lake, but as Rylan circulated his Aura and mana, he could feel that the man was the Seventh Circle Mage.

Four Sixth Circle Mages.

By all means, it was a powerful force. Alice flinched, then turned around to follow the grey-haired man’s gaze. Once she looked at Rylan, he could see her visibly relax. He couldn’t help but smile at her as he walked closer. Mar’s Mages only stared at him with colorful expressions. The closer he got, the greater the shock in the older man’s eyes became.

Finally, Rylan arrived beside Alice and placed a hand on her shoulder, throwing her a reassuring smile. He looked at the Mages in front of him.

“Welcome to Ceotha,” he said. “It’s an honor to have you here.”

For a few seconds, there was no reply. Then, as if catching himself, the grey-haired man blinked and nodded.

“It’s our pleasure, Rylan Flameheart,” he replied. His voice was calm, but deep. “To be frank, I didn’t know what to expect, but… I think you have surpassed my estimates.”

Rylan tilted his head with a confused look.

Can he tell I’m circulating my mana with Mana Cultivation?

The man pointed his index finger at him, dragging him out of his thoughts.

“Your body,” the man continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone your age with such a powerful body. I had wondered how you had managed to reach such heights with Mana Cultivation, to the point of slaying three Sixth Circle imperial Mages, but I now see you have a very solid foundation.”

Alice threw a glance at Rylan, scanning him up and down, almost reflexively. He resisted the urge to glance back at her and smiled at the grey-haired man, taking a step forward and extending his hand for a handshake.

“You already know me, but I’m Rylan Flameheart. May I know your names?”

The man smiled back and shook Rylan’s hand firmly.

“I’m Jonathan Morrow. The people behind me,” he pointed at the rest of the group with his thumb. “Are my trusted team. I’ll let them introduce themselves.”

Rylan looked at the leftmost person, a woman with brown hair and warm caramel eyes. She was also rather tall. She smiled at him and waved.

“I’m Cecilia. It’s an honor to meet the continent’s greatest genius,” she said.

The woman next to her chuckled and also waved at Rylan. She had dark purple hair and matching eyes.

“And I’m Krysta,” the purple-haired woman said with an awkward smile. “Cecilia stole the line I’d been thinking about on the way here, so I don’t really have anything else to say. It’s nice to meet you.”

Rylan laughed and looked at the two remaining men. One was even taller than Jonathan, with short black hair and green eyes, while the other was ordinary-looking and brown-haired.

“I’m Philip, and this is Melvin,” the giant, grizzled man said with a grin. “It’s an honor.”

Melvin immediately frowned and looked at Philip.

“Did you just steal my opportunity to introduce myself to someone like him?” the man asked.

Philip shrugged at him, making him narrow his eyes. Rylan could tell they were inches away from an argument, but judging from the others’ reactions, it seemed to be commonplace. He released Jonathan’s hand, his expression becoming more serious.

“Now, I think we should get to the real conversation,” Rylan said.

Almost immediately, the group matched his seriousness, including Philip and Melvin. Jonathan nodded, then looked at Alice. Catching the cue, she bowed slightly and walked away toward the stairway that led further up the Tower. It was only after she disappeared behind twin doors that Jonathan looked back at Rylan. Now, there was nobody else in the room apart from them.

“I’ll be direct,” Jonathan said. “Your value is unprecedented. It’s been discussed among our leaders, but to me, it’s abundantly obvious that your knowledge of Mana Cultivation transcends ours significantly. I have tried studying it, but even the warriors with the most knowledge of it within our kingdom could never do what you did.”

Rylan nodded. So far, it was exactly as he expected. Since he was now teaching Mana Cultivation to the Academy’s students, it was only obvious that information about it would get out. Given Mar’s standing on the continent, it wouldn’t be surprising if they already knew all about it, especially the delegation.

They went through several allied kingdoms before reaching Ceotha.

It was highly likely that they had sought information in these kingdoms. Considering that many of Ceotha’s noble houses had connections to other kingdoms, it was only natural for the delegation to have heard about Rylan’s lectures.

“Ceotha is Mar’s ally,” Jonathan continued. “But that doesn’t mean you are, too. To be frank, we’re all here to convince you to support us as well. With your help, I’m certain we would be able to put a much better fighting chance against the Empire, as well as help more kingdoms on the continent.”

Rylan nodded.

“Before we speak further about this, I have a question,” Rylan said. “How much does Mar know about the new Emperor’s motivations?”

It was a question that had been on his mind for a while. Why was the Emperor taking on expansionist tendencies?