Roland grabbed the book and opened it. Initially, he didn't think too much of it, but after reading some of its contents, his expression turned increasingly serious. "This sword technique… This is the famed Seven Scorching Sword Style that turned the Firecrown Household into one of the few major cultivation households in the entire Star Wind Kingdom!" He lifted his head and looked at Fredrinn with an incredulous face. "Where did you find this?"
Sensing the gravity in Roland's tone, Fredrinn immediately told him about how he discovered the book.
"To think that a valuable sword technique was actually treated with such disrespect." Roland sighed while shaking his head. The Seven Scorching Sword Style was believed to have been lost almost a century ago. It was also the start of the decline of the Firecrown Household. The cultivation family that was once hailed as the strongest in the kingdom was now barely considered a major household.
"You did great in finding this sword technique. With this, our Firecrown Household can finally make a comeback! Tell me. You should have guessed the value of this technique when you first saw it."
Fredrinn nodded. "That's right. I also brought it here for that reason."
"Oh? Which means you want something in return for bringing this sword technique to me." Roland let out a smile.
Fredrinn smiled back in response. 'Roland is indeed clever.' He thought.
"What do you want? As long as it's within my reach, I can give it to you." Roland already planned to reward his son, but he wanted to hear what Fredrinn wanted from him.
Fredrinn clenched his fists while keeping a calm look. He felt a bit nervous. This was his first time negotiating with Roland. Although he was Fredrinn Firecrown's father, he still couldn't bring himself to fully accept his current identity. "I would like to study the Seven Scorching Sword Style." He muttered while looking straight at Roland's eyes.
Roland was taken aback. This was the first time that Fredrinn stared at him with such a deep look. "You want to learn the Seven Scorching Sword Style?" He was also surprised by his son's desire to study the famed sword technique.
Fredrinn was known to be a lazy guy. He detested the idea of training and forcing him to read books was a tough task. He only managed to reach the 10th layer of Body Strengthening because of the huge amount of elixirs invested in him. Now that he expressed the desire to learn a sword technique, how could Roland not be surprised?
"Please, father! I will work hard on my training from now on! I will also stay in my room for the duration of my training to prevent others from knowing that the Seven Scorching Sword Style has been found. If you are still worried, you can let your subordinates guard the perimeter of my room." Fredrinn was prepared to do anything to learn this transcendent-rank sword technique. A technique of such level would make waves in the gaming community. To his knowledge, only the top five players possessed them.
Roland leaned on his chair and took a deep breath. He didn't expect his son to say these things.
Fredrinn patiently waited for his response. 'I should have secretly learned the technique before giving it to him.' He thought to himself.
While he was regretting his decision, Roland tossed the book to him. "Fine. I'll give you one month to learn the sword technique, but you have to return it after a month has passed. To prevent the book from being stolen, I will have my most trusted subordinates keep an eye on your room."
Fredrinn's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that Roland would actually agree. This should mean that he still held some hope for his son. "Thank you, father! I won't disappoint your trust!" He stood up and bowed.
"Alright. You may leave." Roland waved his hand.
Fredrinn left the office and hurriedly headed to his room.
Meanwhile, Roland stood by the window to take a look at the scenery. "Hold on… He said that he found the book in the library, then how come he did not trigger the alarm arrays when brought it out with him?"
Thinking about this, Roland grabbed a communication crystal.
"Lord Roland, is there anything I can help you with?" An aged voice echoed from within the crystal.
"Ardul, please head to the library and check if there's something wrong with our alarm arrays." Roland didn't know how Fredrinn managed to bring out the Seven Scorching Sword Style without triggering the alarm arrays. The only thing he could think of was that there was something wrong with the arrays.
"Yes, my lord. I will head there immediately."
"Thank you." Roland disconnected the call after that. He then went back to his seat and resumed his unfinished work, but he found it hard to concentrate because of what had happened.
***
"Luckily, Roland agreed to lend me this book. He even gave me a month to study it." Fredrinn smiled. Normally, each person could only study the techniques in the library for a maximum of five days every month. Roland was definitely giving him special treatment for allowing him to study the Seven Scorching Sword Style for one month.
"Alright. Let's begin."
In the game, players only needed to wait for some time to learn a technique or skill. Some players would even pay to speed up this process. However, Fredrinn's situation was different now. He could use his Fate Points to learn the technique, but he refused to take a shortcut. Other than experimenting the changes in his sword talent and fire affinity, he also wanted to experience the process of learning.
"Qi is all around us and to harness their power, we need to absorb them into our spirit roots and release them into a unique pattern. According to the pattern we draw, a specific spell will be released. Just like this…" Fredrinn took in some Qi from his surroundings and drew a unique symbol in the air. After he drew the final stroke, the symbol disappeared and a ball of flame appeared on top of his palm.
"I now have one star affinity with fire so I can cast this basic technique faster. Furthermore, the strength of this fireball is also three times stronger than those produced by people with no fire affinity."
The reason why Fredrinn was ruminating on this was because the unique pattern of the first movement of the Seven Scorching Sword Style was an advanced version of the symbol. If the basic fireball technique requires a fire symbol, then the first movement of the Seven Scorching Sword Style requires the user to create a miniature sun. Ordinary cultivators would have a hard time drawing this pattern and even geniuses would need plenty of time to fully grasp the concept of creating it.
"It looks like I have underestimated this sword technique…" Fredrinn smiled bitterly.