"Ugh."
Sitting quietly and pondering won't change reality.
Just as one must take action to seize victory, Veris, who knew well that nothing would change if he merely groaned in agony, made a decision.
[ Warning! The difficulty of acquiring skills increases when deleting skills. ]
As he hovered his hand over the delete button for the Heavenly Sword Technique in the system window, a warning sound immediately followed.
However, Veris pressed the button without hesitation. No matter how he thought about it, a debuff of 80% on his stats was simply unbearable.
[ Vision Swordsmanship: Heavenly Sword Technique will be deleted. The difficulty of acquiring the skill increases. ]
Ignoring the notification sound, Veris closed the system window with his rough fingers and sank deeply into the sofa.
He had also contemplated deleting the skill he acquired alongside the
Heavenly Sword Technique, Passive Mastery. Unfortunately, since it was a UR grade skill, deletion was impossible, so Veris ultimately had to give up the family's Vision Swordsmanship, a damn ON/OFF type active skill, the Heavenly Sword Technique.
"Damn passive."
In fact, the concept of skills in this world was not something that could be understood by common sense. It was only because Veris possessed the blessing of the 'system' that he was aware of it.
Thus, the problem arose that he couldn't even grasp a clue on how to acquire passive skills in the future. He could only hope that by raising his stats, a passive skill might eventually manifest someday.
"What should I tell my father?"
His father, who had poured all his support into the family and into him. Surely, he must have noticed his son's extraordinary talent, but how could he tell such a father that he had discarded the family's Vision Swordsmanship?
He felt a headache coming on. Although it was a quiet day in the mansion due to the holiday, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he wasn't in the mood to relax.
"Let's just train."
Ultimately, what Veris chose was sword training.
He didn't have a specific goal in mind. He simply moved to the training ground to calm his agitated heart.
Creeeak.
As he opened the door to the training ground, a familiar sight he had seen for the past few years came into view. It was a personal training ground set up in a sunny corner of the mansion.
The training ground, created for his son who had not yet reached adulthood, was strictly off-limits to anyone except for Arwen, the dedicated maid, by the Count's orders. It was a place that Veris could use entirely for himself.
Hoo-whoom—
He picked up a practice sword displayed on the wall of the training ground and swung it carelessly.
The sound of slicing through the air was sharp, which was unexpected for the blunt sword's appearance, but the tip of the sword wobbled like a reed.
Knowing that this was due to his unstable mind, he didn't feel particularly good about it, but Veris tried to ignore it.
"Damn this other world. It feels like things are too easy for some reason."
His stats were undoubtedly far beyond the average person. Right now, there wasn't a single person in Count Vitelbach's territory who surpassed Veris in stats.
Recently, he had also been able to view the stats of his father, Count Verden. The result showed that his father's combat power was 97. It was higher than Veris's current stats, but at this rate of growth, he would catch up soon.
[ Sufficient swordsmanship training increases combat experience by 1! ] [ Sufficient swordsmanship training increases combat experience by 3! ]
"Damn it."
Clang!
Frustrated by the lower-than-usual amount of experience gained, Veris ultimately threw down the sword.
It was clear that he was unable to concentrate, which had diminished the quality of his training. But what could he do? No matter how hard he tried to focus, he just couldn't.
In the end, it hadn't been long since he arrived at the training ground, and Veris had no choice but to leave again. His mood was unsettled, and today felt like a day for a change of pace.
* * *
"W-What…?"
The apprentice priestess Cecilia was on the verge of losing her mind at the fierce battle unfolding before her eyes.
Not long ago, an unbelievable story had reached the Holy Kingdom's papacy.
In the Empire bordering the Holy Kingdom, there had been sightings of a demon. This demon, which supposedly devoured human limbs, had astonishingly taken bandits as its prey.
Upon hearing the news, the Holy Kingdom acted immediately. They informed the Empire of the rumors and mobilized the Holy Knights.
Naturally, the Empire's royal family strongly opposed the idea of sending the
Holy Knights into their territory, but ultimately, they could not stop the Holy Kingdom. It seemed they understood that it was not easy to stand against the fanatics united under the will of the gods.
As a result, the Holy Knights were currently searching for the demon in the eastern part of the Empire.
The initial phase of the search was peaceful. True to the Empire's territory, bandits had not been seen for some time, and the citizens they encountered all wore cheerful faces.
However.
"Filthy heretics! How the hell did you find this place!"
"Heretics? Aren't you the filthy ones? You demon worshippers!"
Surprisingly, the demon sightings that had been rumored for years were not false. Look at the group blocking the Holy Knights with bloodshot eyes.
They were all exuding a sinister aura, and anyone with clear sight would immediately recognize them as demon worshippers.
In fact, the reason the Holy Knights' search had not taken long was simply that they were marching toward the origin of the sightings, Count Vitelbach's territory, when the demon worshippers, who had been hiding, charged at them like a swarm of bees.
Thus, a fierce battle ensued, and that was the situation currently unfolding. "End the filthy god's reign!"
"Retreat!"
Boom!
One demon worshipper, wrapped in black mana, charged recklessly without caring for his own safety.
And a massive explosion occurred.
Even a single Holy Knight, renowned for their exceptional combat power, found it difficult to block an attack that disregarded life.
The situation had already tilted overwhelmingly in favor of the demon worshippers. Many Holy Knights had already fallen in battle due to reckless attacks that disregarded their lives.
"R-Run…"
Crack!
"No…!"
Cecilia, engulfed by the terror of the battlefield, shed tears. Even though her comrades' lights of life were fading before her eyes, her arms and legs wouldn't move easily due to the fear that had already surpassed her limits.
"You filthy dog of the unholy god. What brings you to this place?"
"Grrr."
There were hardly five Holy Knights left out of nearly thirty. As the tide of battle began to overwhelmingly shift, a figure that seemed to be the leader of the demon worshippers appeared before them.
A man, towering in height compared to ordinary people, clad from head to toe in a black robe.
The black mana of a sinister aura enveloped his entire body. Unlike the other demon worshippers, he exuded a clearly visible danger. Cecilia felt her body stiffening just from his presence.
"Oh, this girl seems to be in decent condition?"
As his sticky gaze fell upon her, Cecilia's whole body began to tremble.
She had never expected to encounter such a powerful enemy. She had thought that there would be nothing special beyond healing the lightly injured Holy Knights…
Whoosh!
And then the battle continued. Not long after, the last Holy Knight fell, a sword plunged into his chest, taking his last breath.
In the end, the only ones left in this horrific scene were the demon worshippers and Cecilia.
"S-Someone help me!"
"Ha ha, who would help you? A Holy Knight who's already dead?"
Cecilia screamed in terror, but there was no one to help her.
From the start, they had come as a reconnaissance team, not a hunting party, so they had brought only a minimal number of personnel. Naturally, there would be no reinforcements to help them.
"Please… save this little lamb. Do not cast away those crushed by the wicked horde at the gates of heaven. Do not turn your back on the children stained by darkness."
"Ha ha ha!"
"You've lost your mind."
Cecilia, already smeared with tears and snot, knelt down and began to pray with her hands clasped.
Naturally, the demon worshippers could only burst into laughter at the sight.
The gods do not save them. Was there anyone here who didn't know that fact?
"What? Not a bandit?"
But suddenly, a youthful voice rang out. A figure descended before them, pondering how to deal with this naive young priestess.
He wore a black robe similar to that of their leader. A short sword hung at his waist, and the peculiarity of his appearance began to create a strange tension in the air.
It was a battlefield that anyone would agree was best avoided. Yet here he was, intruding into the situation.
"What's going on here?"
With a small stature and a youthful voice, although his face was covered, it was clear that the owner of the voice was an ungrown boy.
Realizing this, the tension in the demon worshippers eased, and they all wore sinister smiles.
"Run away! They are heretics who follow demons. They are not something a young brother can handle!"
Cecilia, who had just been praying with tears in her eyes, suddenly shouted in surprise.
She had eyes and ears, and she knew that the figure in the robe was a boy, so how could she ask him for help?
She could only hope that this wicked group would not harm the brave boy. Her only power was to heal the injured.
"Heretics?"
"Filthy apostates, that's what you are. Do you have any complaints? Kid."
"Do you give experience points?"
"Experience points? What are you talking about?"
"I've only been picking off bandits for a while, so it's not very nutritious."
Swish—
The boy drew his sword. It was a blunt sword without any special features.
However, the leader of the demon worshippers frowned slightly at the strange confidence emanating from him.
There's a saying to be cautious of women, the elderly, and children. It was a man who suddenly recalled that saying.