Chapter 70

Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Fwoosh!

Hugo stood in a daze as a translucent blue shimmer enveloped his frame.

This wasn’t some trick of the mind brought on by the cooling relief washing over his skin. This was mana of such incredible density and physical form that it was visible to anyone watching.

“What in the world…!”

Sshhh—

Even as a shocked oath escaped his lips, the energy continued its relentless surge through his veins.

The sensation was overwhelming; his mana pathways, which had always felt narrow and restricted, were being stretched wide by a powerful tide of raw power. The energy didn’t just expand the routes; it saturated every muscle fiber and sank deep into the marrow of his bones.

What is happening to me?

Hugo’s hands began to shake.

Even with the incredible clarity and strength flooding his system, he felt a wave of dread before the joy could set in. The transformation was so intense that he feared for a second he might be losing his humanity.

This can’t be an elixir. There is no way.

Back when he ruled the streets as a gang boss, Hugo had never laid eyes on a genuine elixir. Still, he possessed enough worldly wisdom to know that this didn’t match the descriptions of the “elixirs” whispered about in legends.

Purifying mana? Smoothing out the flow? Mending internal scars? This was a miracle on an entirely different scale.

Flash!

“Phew…!”

Hugo exhaled a ragged breath as his frame shuddered from the mana saturation. As he breathed out, a plume of murky, navy-tinted vapor escaped his mouth, carrying a sharp, unpleasant odor.

He knew instinctively what that mist represented.

Was that my actual mana? Have I been circulating something that filthy all these years?

A dry, self-deprecating laugh escaped him. The energy he had once guarded so pridefully now seemed like garbage compared to the vibrant power currently occupying his body.

“How do you feel?”

“…!”

Jumped by the sound of Lucian’s voice, Hugo instinctively reached for his ear. It wasn’t just the abruptness of the remark; Lucian’s tone sounded remarkably more resonant and distinct than it ever had before.

“It’s… it’s bizarre. This… this sensation…”

Struggling for words, Hugo trailed off and began to run his hands over his face.

It wasn’t limited to his hearing. All five senses, especially his vision, had become incredibly sharp. His sense of touch was now particularly acute. He felt as though he could perceive the intent of a blade before it even moved through the air.

“May I… may I attempt to swing a sword?”

“Go ahead.”

In response to Hugo’s shaky request, Lucian offered him his own weapon.

Hugo unsheathed the steel slowly and began to execute a few forms from the mediocre swordsmanship style he had practiced his whole life.

Whoosh!

I can see everything.

His heightened perception allowed him to feel the exact reach of the blade, its momentum, and the tiniest vibrations at its tip.

Is this the view those ‘geniuses’ have had of the world all along?

Swelling with a mix of awe and emotion, Hugo kept the blade in motion.

Slash!

The forms were identical to his old training, but the output was incomparable. Before, he had merely copied the movements like an animal mimicking a human, but now his limbs instinctively found the path of least resistance and maximum power.

By the time Hugo finally lowered the weapon, lost in the rhythm of his own strength, he had cycled through every move he knew.

“Haaa…!”

Clap, clap, clap.

“Impressive. Your forms have gained a significant edge.”

“…!”

Wiping the perspiration from his forehead, Hugo was pulled back to reality by the sound of applause. He realized he had not only unsheathed a weapon in the presence of the master he served but had also spent several minutes dancing around with it.

Mortified by his lack of decorum, Hugo dropped to one knee instantly.

“Young Master, please forgive me! I lost my focus for a moment…!”

“Don’t worry about it. I recognize the feeling. More to the point, what is your verdict on the elixir?”

Hugo remained quiet, searching for the right words.

How was it? It was more than just good; he wanted to scream and ask how such a thing could exist. But beyond that, he was confused by Lucian’s motive for giving such a treasure away so casually.

He mentioned I was the first one.

This was a prize so legendary it made every other “elixir” seem like trash. If sold, it would command the price of a kingdom; if used as a bribe, it could buy the soul of the most stubborn man alive.

Yet Lucian had handed this miracle to Hugo as if it were a common drink. This single vial was worth infinitely more than the status of a knight he had been promised.

“Am I… truly worth this much investment to you?”

The question escaped Hugo’s lips before he could restrain it. It was a heavy, vulnerable query, but Lucian simply gave a nonchalant shrug.

“You’ll be standing at my side for the rest of your days. An investment like this is minor in the long run.”

“….”

Lucian’s casual dismissal of the cost made Hugo’s throat tighten with emotion. It was as if Lucian found the question pointless because the loyalty was already a settled fact.

Yes. I will follow you until I am nothing but a corpse on some distant field.

He had already pledged his life multiple times. To say it again would only hollow out the words. Instead, he made a quiet, ironclad promise to himself. Even if he outlived his usefulness, he would never abandon his master’s side.

“So, give me the details.”

“It’s beyond words. The mana just… whoosh, it floods through every part of me…”

The two fell back into their familiar rapport, acting as if the heavy moment hadn’t occurred—though a profound, invisible change now resided within Hugo.

Several days later, Lucian completed his arrangements to head for the North.

There was no elaborate parade like the one seen during the rebellion. This Northern excursion was more of a private mission for Lucian than an official house deployment. Even so, he sat for a final, private talk with his father, the Grand Duke.

“Travel safely. Do not push your luck. You must have the wisdom to withdraw if the situation becomes untenable,” Grand Duke Sigmund cautioned, his expression rigid.

His eyes betrayed a father’s underlying anxiety, though he maintained the mask of a patriarch worried for his heir.

“They took your birthright, but by that same token, it means they were desperate for it. If you attempt to strip away their claim, they might be driven to the brink.”

“Then they will have to answer to the House of Valdek and the Emperor himself.”

“Of course. But nobility does not equate to intelligence. Sometimes, men are so consumed by small-minded greed that they commit ruinous mistakes.”

Lucian grasped his father’s underlying message. If the current leader of the House of Calix was ambitious enough, he wouldn’t care about the consequences from Valdek. In a desperate scenario, he might try to kill Lucian simply to keep Grimaldi’s inheritance secure.

It would be a catastrophically stupid move, but humans were prone to incredible bouts of idiocy.

“Nothing is certain. You must assume their capacity for foolishness is infinite and be prepared to step back if you must. Even if you eventually repay them for their crimes, a life lost cannot be restored.”

“I will remember your words.”

Lucian gave a respectful bow, internalizing the counsel.

As he climbed into his saddle, his companions for the trek looked toward him. There was Hugo and his ten-man unit, the future legend Felicia, and Raymond, who had officially taken his place as a follower. It was a small party, but ideal for moving through the brutal Northern terrain with speed.

“Let’s move out.”

With Lucian’s brief order, the group passed through the inner gates.

Looking back at the shrinking silhouette of the manor, Lucian saw Jordi standing on a high balcony. After watching Lucian with an unreadable expression for a beat, Jordi turned and disappeared back into the building.

I wonder what’s going through his head.

Lucian felt a brief flicker of unease at Jordi’s odd behavior, but he quickly dismissed it. The North was essentially a den of enemies. Unlike before, when his safety was largely guaranteed by his family name, he couldn’t afford to be distracted by minor things.

“The North. It’s been ages since I set foot there,” Raymond noted, cutting through the quiet.

Lucian’s curiosity was piqued. “You’ve been there before?”

“Roughly a decade ago, I spent some time wandering through the North as a hedge knight. I went through hell, but looking back, it wasn’t a terrible experience.”

“Is that so?”

Lucian had crossed many borders on the continent, but the North was new territory for him. He had known many people from there, but they were usually tight-lipped about their origins. Most had left due to tragedy or hardship, so they preferred not to dwell on it.

“That’s helpful. Before we get there, tell me what to expect—the dangers, the social rules, everything.”

“There aren’t many rules. Just be ready for the soul-crushing cold and the fact that their view of nobility is… a bit loose.”

“Loose? I thought Northerners were famously silent unless they were talking to someone they respected.”

Lucian asked, thinking of the grim Northern soldiers of fortune he’d met in the past. Raymond let out a loud laugh.

“That’s how they act when they leave the North. They’re in a strange land, so they have to watch their tongues until they trust someone. But in the North, they’re home—why would they be shy? It’s the visitors who have to tread carefully.”

“…That actually makes a lot of sense.”

Lucian nodded, conceding the point. Did that mean Northerners were talkative in their own backyard? Imagining the stoic mercenaries he once knew as chatterboxes was a difficult mental leap.

“And regarding their view on lords… it’s hard to put into words. Just don’t expect them to treat you like a god just because they know your rank. They won’t bow and scrape like the peasants in the rest of the Empire.”

“Are you suggesting a commoner might insult my lord?” Felicia interjected, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

She looked ready to execute anyone who showed the slightest lack of respect to Lucian.

“It’s not quite like that. It’s more that in the North, the line between a commoner and a noble is… thinner.”

“Thinner? That sounds impossible.”

“It sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. You’ll get it once you see it.”

Raymond dismissed the topic with a wry grin. It seemed he couldn’t explain it any better.

“Just… try not to be too quick to take offense, even if the locals seem a bit blunt with the Young Master. It’s just how they are up there.”

“Now I’m really intrigued. Regardless, I hear you, so don’t stress about it.”

Lucian had been treated like trash during his years as a mercenary. He wasn’t going to lose his temper over a few blunt peasants. If anything, Raymond’s description made him look forward to it. Nobles typically demanded total subservience; a place where that wasn’t the norm sounded fascinating.

I’d like to see that for myself.

As someone who had once lived at the very bottom of the social ladder, it was a culture he found himself anticipating.

“Ugh, this is brutal.”

“I heard the North was freezing until I was sick of it, but this is on another level.”

Two weeks after departing Kelheim, Hugo’s men were shivering and cursing as they crossed into the Northern gate. Even with the heavy furs they had purchased during the trip, the piercing wind cut straight to the bone.

“Ah, this miserable weather hasn’t changed a bit. It’s almost nostalgic.”

“…What is this? How can the temperature drop this much in a single moment?”

Lucian was more shocked by the suddenness of the chill than the cold itself. He expected the North to be icy, but if it were just the geography, it should have cooled down slowly. Instead, the second they crossed a specific line, the air turned violently, unnaturally cold.

“I agree. This doesn’t feel like a natural winter. To have such a drastic shift within a few steps…”

Felicia scowled, scanning the horizon as if looking for the cause of the drop. Her heightened senses clearly found the abnormality unsettling.

“It is a strange chill. Some locals call it an ancient hex. There are so many myths about it that nobody really knows what to believe.”

“I don’t know about hexes, but magic is definitely involved. A climate like this doesn’t happen by accident…”

Clang!

While Lucian’s party debated the weird Northern weather, the sharp ring of clashing steel hit their ears.

“What was that?”

“The sound of a fight.”

Ching!

As if to prove him right, the sound of metal on metal rang out again. The noise grew louder, moving toward Lucian’s position. Moments later, human shouts began to join the sound of battle.

—You pathetic ingrate! You’d turn on your own blood just because you listened to that lying snake?!

—Father, it’s time you went to the grave! I’ll make sure your send-off is a masterpiece!

Lucian’s group watched with wide eyes as the disturbing family drama unfolded in the distance.

What kind of insane family war was this?