Brixton sighed and looked at the small silhouette moving away from the training ground. He'd had so many shocks in a single day that his old heart had almost given out. An unprecedented monster had appeared in the Ashborne Family.
This was both a good and a bad thing.
On the good side, the leader of this generation was born into the Ashborne Family. If he led the next generation, he could make the Ashborne Family invincible. On the bad side, his hatred for his family would lead him down a bad path.
'To guide such a monster...'
Brixton was excited at first. To meet such a genius and take him as a pupil was not an opportunity offered to everyone. After his death, his will would be carried by someone who would be stronger than anyone else, there was no greater honor.
But this boy was more than a genius.
It was not Brixton who chose Cain.
On the contrary, Cain had chosen Brixton.
'If you want to get ahead, appeal to the interests of others, not their mercy. He saw the hunger for fame in my heart and forged a bond with me that I could not break.'
A wild smile appeared on his face as he combed his white hair. He couldn't believe that by the end of the day he had failed to understand the motives of a little boy.
'It's too late now.'
By the time he realized everything, he was on a path he couldn't turn back from.
"Because I taught him, I..."
He clasped his hands behind his back, turned around and walked away from the training ground. For some reason he was bored as he walked. Brixton was a veteran over fifty years old. His strength was not the only reason he survived on the battlefield. His instincts and quick wit were the things that kept him alive.
'If he's that skilled, it shouldn't be a problem...'
He turned his head to the setting sun.
The sun looked redder than ever.
---
After leaving the training ground, Cain went to his mansion. After a short shower, he retired to his room and called Anna. After carefully closing the doors, a Mana Field three meters wide and high appeared around Anna.
"From now on we change our plan of action."
"Excuse me?"
Cain's eyes sharpened and a strange glow appeared around his body.
Anna's eyes opened wide, she looked stunned.
"Is this the Way of the Sword? But how?"
Anna was the only one who had witnessed Cain grow up. No one knew better than her what this boy was like. He hid the most evil thoughts beneath his sweet expression. Even as a child, he could inside read what he looked at.
Thanks to his innate superior physique and battle intelligence, he was already capable of killing a Sword Expert. The only thing he lacked was Mana, mainly to prevent others from discovering him.
One or more people were trying to kill Cain, and Cain was aware of this, so he tried to keep himself in the background. Learning Mana without being adequately prepared was like saying 'Come and kill me!
Anna couldn't help feeling scared.
"Won't the attacks be more relentless? Before, they didn't know your ability, so they attacked you as if you were an ordinary young master. If they find out the level of your skill..."
Cain didn't have a faction behind him like Vladimir or Valentine. He was on his own and there was no one to protect him. So he didn't have a mother like Evelyn or an unwavering support like the side families.
As soon as he showed up, the other side would do anything to kill him.
Cain's learning Mana meant that he was surrounded by a unique Aura. Although this aura was faint until the middle stages of the Swordsman level, it was possible for Swordsmen to recognize it.
If this information was passed on through spies, Cain's wings would be clipped or killed before he had a chance to advance.
"I know what I'm doing."
Cain glanced sideways at Anna as he changed.
"Release your aura and let Chris know."
Anna stared blankly.
"We're going to get Constantine's loyalty."
---
The moon was beginning to take its place in the sky. Outside, it was difficult to see anyone except the guards lurking in the shadows. Nevertheless, a handsome young man and accompanied by a very conspicuous woman and another boy half his size, had arrived in front of the main building.
Chris looked expressionlessly at Cain and Anna, but it took him a few seconds to look away again. His eyes showed that he could not make sense of the situation. What excuse could they have had for coming to the main building in the evening?
When he asked, he got only one answer from Cain.
'Just do your duty.'
Chris sighed again when he remembered those words and tried to enter the door of the main building. It was an attempt because a small hand blocked him.
"You stay outside."
He had no choice. Any incident Cain caused in the main building would lead to Chris being ridiculed by his colleagues. So he obeyed Cain and waited outside the door without going inside.
Cain and Anna walked up the elegant yet gloomy staircase to the room at the end of the corridor. It was their first time in this building, but they walked as if they knew where they had to go.
Their instincts told them that behind this door lay a great beast. Their breathing could be heard all the way from here and it sounded like the breathing of a giant monster.
Cain was about to knock on the door and go inside when a large, broad hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Cain shuddered, summoned all his strength and aimed for the throat of the person behind him.
But his attack was stopped in its tracks.
For the first time Cain saw the face of his enemy. It was the face of a man who was sickeningly white, yet elegant. He had blue eyes that looked like a bottomless ocean and golden hair that resembled a lion's mane.
"You must not go in there, Young Master. No one can bear the consequences."
It was Constantine.
Cain breathed a sigh of relief. There were only a few people who could have come without being discovered by Anna or himself. He hadn't even noticed Costantine coming, as close as his breath, when he had felt the tiny hint of killing intent in the body of the assassin tens of meters away from him.
"Follow me without making a sound, Young Master."
Constantine went upstairs with his hands tied behind his back. He opened the door to an office labeled 'Colonel Constantine' and ushered Cain in.
Cain looked at Anna.
"I want you to wait here, and remove your aura..."
Anna said sadly, "Can I come in?" but Cain just smiled and hugged her. He put his head on her chest and smiled bitterly.
"You're the only one I can trust, Anna; I need you to make sure no one disturbs us while we talk. There is no one more trustworthy for this job than you, please understand."
Anna's head dropped, but when she saw Cain's pure smile she nodded. She decided not to probe any further.
"Alright, Young Master."
He entered through the door Constantine had opened.
The only thing unusual about it, apart from a couple of bookcases that reached up to the four-meter-high ceiling and a rather long desk, was that the desks and bookcases were all filled with files. There was so much paperwork that just looking at it gave Cain a headache.
Constantine closed and locked the door behind him. Sitting down in the armchair at the desk, he welcomed Cain into one of the armchairs.
"Would you like something to drink, Young Master?"
"No, thank you."
Cain sat confidently in the armchair and smiled as he crossed his legs. Constantine, meanwhile, poured himself a glass of wine. There was an unnatural calm and gentleness about the atmosphere.
"Many years ago, your brothers, like you, came here and said they wanted to talk to me." After taking a sip of his wine, he continued softly, "Young Master Daniel, Young Master Vladimir, Young Master Valentine, Young Lady Hazel, Young Lady Scarlet and now you."
Cain did not interrupt him. Constantine in charge of an entire castle and big brigade. As a senior administrator, he relied more on his intelligence than his strength. If he couldn't see through people's masks, he would have been used and discarded by someone else long ago.
"The Dark Sword Castle is a rather strange formation. Even though it is the most advanced academy for training the next generation, our educational funding is known for being the lowest of all educational academies. Yet we are still the best training academy. Why do you think?"
There were nine major educational institutions among the Sword Islands. The Dark Sword Castle was the most advanced educational institution that trained the next generation of Dark Knights. It trained the selected youths of the matrilineal and subsidiary families.
The other educational institution, the Cadet School in the Red Sword Castle, was established to create the most advanced military leaders for the ducal army. Anyone who managed to pass the annual Cadet School exams in the Duchy territory could enter the Cadet School, regardless of their identity.
Apart from the Cadet School, the Twin Sword Brigade of the Twin Sword Castle trained specialized spies. The spies trained here were sent to regions all over the alliance. However, since the training was incredibly difficult, the graduation rate was the lowest here.
The Black Assassins of Shadow Sword Island, who lived in the shadows, were the most terrifying. It was a training academy that only orphans and those with no ties to anywhere could enter. Assassins who graduated from here were immediately put to work and completed a series of missions with their partners.
Jade Sword Castle was home to the Medical School, the source of the family's doctors and specialists. Jade Sword Castle's Medical School was the most advanced medical school in the Duchy. Most of the family's priests came from here.
Castle of the Enchanted Sword was the only place for wizards and researchers who wanted to specialize in wizardry. The Ashborne Magic Research Center was located here. It was from this research center that the family trained the youth in magic, warfare and Mana techniques. The Magic Research Center alone spent more money than all the Sword Islands combined.
"Each Sword Castle has its own academy. We, the Dark Knights, are the identity of the Ashborne Family, but do you know why the Dark Sword Castle, which trains the Dark Knights, receives the least support? How do we succeed despite this?"
Cain closed his eyes and thought for a few seconds.
"The Dark Knight system has already established itself at the top of its field. With a good training system, it is impossible not to be the best. Even though knights consume fewer resources than mages, the Dark Sword Academy trains up to two hundred Dark Knights every generation. That's why only the talented ones can become Dark Knights..."
Constantine smiled. It only took a few seconds for Cain to find the answer as a result of his information flow.
"Is it about the trainers?"
"Yes."
Constantine took a sip of his wine and leaned back chair.
"Every instructor at Dark Sword Castle is a member of the Dark Sword Brigade who has spent years on the battlefield. And because each of them is a Black Knight, they train the next generation with an eye for what not to do on the battlefield."
It looked like an ordinary master-apprentice relationship, but the instructors were training without caring who the other person was. In short, there was unconditional equality in training. Whether it was Cain or the heir of a high-ranking side family did not change the attitude of the trainers.
Cain frowned.
Constantine wanted to imply something else to him.
"Are you implying that you will remain neutral?"
Behind the gibberish lay the message Constantine wanted to send. In any other academy, he might have the support of the headmaster, but this was the Dark Sword Castle. The academy that provided the best education even in the face of impossibilities.
They treated everyone equally, so they couldn't take anyone's side.
In a strictly hierarchical region like Ashborne, it was too dangerous not to take sides. It could lead to the death of the weak. But taking sides was a greater danger. Not only the weak were expendable, but also the strong.
It was not the role of the Dark Sword Brigade to participate in the successors' war for the throne. They were soldiers, not politicians. But everyone wanted to drag them into the war for the throne and gain military power. Constantine had to think not only of himself but of the little lives under his command.
Cain closed his eyes without saying anything.