“One of them doesn’t have a title?”
Among the two books, both looked very old, but the one without a title was relatively new, with only a little burn mark on it.
It was clear that it was not a legacy of the player.
Eurius checked the titles of the two books with the help function.
[Severing Sword – A secret technique that cuts the space and blocks everything with the sword. The swordsmanship of Emperor Sharnos]
[Circle Vibration Technique – A method that applies vibration to the circle and temporarily smooths the flow of force along the circle. It also has the effect of increasing force aptitude as the proficiency increases.]
“The swordsmanship of the First Emperor?”
Eurius’s eyes sparkled at the first book.
The First Emperor was known to have performed miraculous feats with his sword, such as splitting mountains and parting seas.
His swordsmanship was finally in his hands.
“Learn!”
Ding.
[You do not qualify (S-rank Sword Fusion required).]
[You do not qualify (Hidden information).]
“As expected…”
He sighed.
Things didn’t always go as he wanted.
If the emperor’s swordsmanship was so easy to learn, wouldn’t all the great lords have learned it by now?
He decided to learn what he could and reached for the second book.
“Learn.”
[You have learned Circle Vibration Technique.]
[The related trait ‘Quad Core’ is slightly enhanced.]
Eurius briefly circulated his force in the circle and nodded.
‘This is like a minor copy of Core.’
Core was a secret technique that greatly increased force aptitude by controlling force when creating a circle, and it was only for those with outstanding talent.
On the other hand, Circle Vibration Technique was a method that could increase force aptitude little by little regardless of talent, as long as it was practiced diligently.
In other words, it was a secret technique that was good for training many knights rather than prepared geniuses. Perhaps Gladius’s knights were trained in this way.
‘I can see how the great lord could raise so many master-level knights.’
It was a good thing to get a secret technique that could strengthen his knight order, but Eurius looked slightly disappointed.
‘This is less rewarding than I expected for all the trouble I went through.’
Most of the legacies he had obtained so far had brought him great benefits that could be called fate. But compared to defeating someone who was as powerful as a great lord, the reward was too small.
But there was still a third book. It was certain that it was not a legacy, but it must have contained important information to be placed here.
Eurius began to turn the cover of the book without even a title.
Fallen.
“…!?”
But from the first page, he was greeted by a title that was completely different from his expectation.
[XXX year X month X day – The first prince was born. Will this prince be qualified as a player?
.
.
.
The first prince turned six years old. According to the test results, he had more talent for sword than the current emperor, but he did not meet the conditions. The bloodline of the imperial family is too thin.]
‘Is this the diary of the great lord?’
He thought it would be a swordsmanship or magic passed down by the great lord’s family because it was placed with secret techniques, but it seemed not.
Anyway, he was curious about the rest of the content. What did he mean by qualification and bloodline of the imperial family?
[The second prince showed more ‘player factor’ than the first prince. But it is regrettable that he has no talent for martial arts.
.
.
.
But it seems that the emperor prefers the first prince. But according to my ancestor’s will, I have to support whoever has a better bloodline. The current emperor is a really outstanding person regardless of bloodline, but too many royals died because of blood cleansing. It’s unfortunate.]
‘Player factor? Superiority?’
Eurius read up to here and suddenly got a new notification.
Ding.
[Information on ‘player factor’ has been opened.]
[Achievement has increased significantly. Current achievement completion rate 40%]
[Player factor – A criterion that determines awakening as a player contained in blood. This value limits the skills or traits you can learn.]
‘Player factor?’
Eurius looked incredulous. Was there such a condition to become a player?
‘Well… Objectively speaking, Leon is better than me.’
His talent before regression was not very impressive.
On the other hand, Leonhart showed an incomparable genius from his childhood, as he saw from his stats.
Eurius quickly checked his own stats.
[Eurius von Sharnos]
Player factor (1%)
“…”
He stared at the diary of the great lord with a dumbfounded expression.According to the help function and the diary, he had no chance of becoming a player.
There was one more thing that bothered him.
He reached for the first book with the emperor’s swordsmanship again.
“Learn!”
[You do not qualify (S-rank Sword Fusion required).]
[You do not qualify (Required condition: Player factor 50%).]
“…”
He looked at the book with a frustrated expression.
It was an absurd condition.
He opened the help function again in desperation.
[How to increase player factor: It is determined only by the factor in your blood when you are born. There is no way to increase it.]
‘So what do you want me to do?’
If this was true, he would never be able to collect more than a certain level of legacy, even if he died and came back to life.
‘But I actually died and came back to life?’
But his reversal of time and awakening as a player seemed more than just luck.
Eurius shook off his disappointment and continued to flip through the diary of the great lord.
[At this rate, the player’s bloodline will surely be cut off. It’s a pity that the emperor’s swordsmanship will disappear. So I decided to resume my research. After all, it’s the heart of a martial artist, and the emperor was also human. Can’t I reproduce his secret technique without the help of player factor?]
Eurius nodded here.
It had been two hundred years since the players disappeared from the continent.
Perhaps the thinning of the imperial blood was largely due to time.
‘And the great lord must have succeeded in the end, right?’
The fact that he confirmed that Yellow Dragon Sword was excellent was proof.
The diary continued even after that.
It was the result of his research over decades, shedding blood and sweat.
[It was hard, but I finally succeeded in interpreting the first chapter after ten years. However, the second chapter seemed to be beyond the realm of humans. Could it be that the players, including the First Emperor, were not human but something like messengers of God?]
The content of the Grand Duke’s struggle for the interpretation of the Secret Art soon shifted to Eurius.
[That bastard, the First Prince, completely fooled me. He was a snake more cunning than the Emperor. But he didn’t seem to have any talent as a player, was he just a natural genius?
.
.
.
If… If the First Prince surpasses me, whether it’s because of his player aptitude or his own talent, then I should rightfully hand over the Secret Art to him. But can I get any compensation for the decades of hard work that I have shed blood and sweat for?]
‘He felt something like inferiority towards me because of that.’
He couldn’t help but make a bitter expression.
After all, he had spent his whole life researching and somehow producing results without any player factors, but someone who would snatch it away from him appeared.
[I will leave for the capital tonight. It could be a scheme of the First Prince and the Emperor. But if they can’t defeat me in a way that I can acknowledge, they won’t get anything.]
That was the end of the Grand Duke’s handwriting.
But there was more than half of the book left.
‘Then?’
Eurius turned to the next page with a throbbing heart.
Ding.
[You have found an incomplete Secret Art of a non-player.]
[If it is related to the legacy left by a player, you can immediately acquire it.]
“Acquire!”
Eurius shouted out loud without realizing it.
[You have acquired the Severing Sword (Incomplete).]
“As expected!”
What the Grand Duke left for him at the end was bigger than he thought.
No matter how powerful a legacy was, if it couldn’t be used right away, wasn’t it just a piece of paper?
Even though what he got was incomplete, it would have an extraordinary power considering the divine might that the Grand Duke showed at the end.
‘I feel a little sorry for him. He tried to fulfill his mission in his own way.’
[Severing Sword – Video data is available. Do you want to see it?]
Whirring.
He wasn’t surprised anymore.
The scenery he saw changed in an instant and he was standing in front of a wide lake.
[Severing Sword Chapter 1 – Spatial Domination]
Kwaaang!
“…!?”
As soon as the scenery changed, a violent shockwave shook where he had been standing.
It had no effect on him, but waves rose on the lake due to its aftermath and trees on the lakeside were uprooted.
He was startled for a moment, but Eurius moved his gaze to the ones who caused this phenomenon.
‘One is the Emperor and one is an Easterner?’
The ones who created that incredible aftermath were two young men.
One of them was the Emperor he had seen so far.
The trajectory of his golden sword filled the air.
‘This is the swordsmanship that the Grand Duke showed at the end.’
The shape was slightly different, but even though he cut through empty space, the Easterner had to dodge or block his attacks with his hands and feet.Sometimes he found a gap and counterattacked the Emperor.
Every time their fist and sword collided, there was a loud noise and the lakeside that had been fine turned into a mess in an instant.
This was what Chapter 1 of the Secret Art looked like. He had seen this swordsmanship through the Grand Duke and also when he obtained the Yellow Dragon Sword.
‘Was it called domination?’
Now that he had obtained Divine Sword Union, he vaguely understood its principle.
A technique that dominates a distance with one’s own authority!
Their clash was nothing different from that, except for its scale.
Eurius nodded his head here.
‘Then Chapter 1 is just a matter of my proficiency, it’s no different from learning it already. The important thing is from Chapter 2.’
Speaking of which, even the Grand Duke wrote in his handwriting that interpreting from Chapter 2 was difficult. What would be in Chapter 2?
[Severing Sword Chapter 2 – Spatial Severance]
Soon, the clash between the Emperor and the Easterner entered a temporary lull, but they didn’t have any reckless collisions like before.
But Eurius brightened his eyes here.
‘They are looking for each other’s gaps. It seems like they are waiting for the timing to use their Secret Art.’
“Is this your technique? Then take this too!”
As he expected, the Emperor widened the distance and swung his sword down with a playful smile.
“…”
The Easterner silently took a defensive stance at first.
But as soon as the Emperor’s attack touched his body!
“…!?”
The Easterner made a puzzled expression and quickly twisted his body to get out of the range that the Emperor was aiming for.
Chwak!
A thin line of blood was drawn on his arm and blood spurted out.
He suffered a minor injury, but it was nothing short of amazing reflexes.
“Huh?”
But Eurius let out a snort.
The Easterner’s skill was amazing, but what the Emperor’s sword did was too absurd.
“Did he really cut the sea with a single sword as they said?”
Surprisingly, the Emperor’s sword split the lake behind him in half. It was something that made no sense logically.
[He was also an outstanding warrior, but even if he cut a stream, the water would only scatter for a moment and then fill up again. But the Emperor seemed to have erected an invisible wall in the middle of the lake, and momentarily divided the water precisely into two. Where his sword passed, the bottom of the lake, which looked hundreds of meters deep, was exposed.]
Eurius groaned continuously and focused more on the scene in front of him.
‘If such an impossible thing is possible in Chapter 2, then what about Chapter 3?’
Zzzz!
He waited, but suddenly the surrounding image began to distort.
[The viewing is limited because it is an incomplete Secret Art.]
Whirring.
“Phew…”
Eurius returned to the basement and sighed. He realized anew that the path he had to take was still long.
‘But to view Chapter 3, I need more player factors. How do I solve that?’
If it was something that he could never raise as mentioned in the help, then there was no way in the system at least.
Even before that, he had no idea how to learn Chapter 2 of the Severing Sword that he got this time.
He pondered for a moment, but Eurius soon got up.
There was no use in worrying about something that had no answer.
‘The Grand Duke also somehow restored up to Chapter 2. There must be a way if I practice.’
He started to climb up the stairs of the basement again.
The Grand Duke was one of his biggest enemies, but he left him a lot at the end.
‘Did he say he kept his promise?’
He owed a big debt to the Grand Duke this time.
He thought about it as he arrived at his office again.
“You’re back. Did you get what you wanted?”
“More than enough.”
Victor was still waiting for him at the entrance even though quite some time had passed.
He answered with a bright face and opened his mouth.
“But what are you going to do from now on?”
“…”
Victor seemed to think for a moment.
The Grand Duke was already dead.
Because he was accused of plotting a rebellion, he couldn’t choose a suitable successor and inherit his title.
Maybe his territory would be torn apart instead of succession. What should the Grand Duke’s loyalists do in this situation?
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know.”
“That’s a really honest answer.”
Eurius snorted with a smile and finally brought up the main point.
It was time for him to keep his promise to the Grand Duke.
“Then I’ll give you an immediate task.”
“What do you mean?”
The Grand Duke told him to hand over his legacy, but he never said that they should join Eurius’s side.
Rather, wouldn’t they be enemies?
But Eurius changed his expression from a smiling one to a serious one and opened his mouth again.
“Prepare for the defense of the fortress first. If they come fast, some scary enemies might attack this castle tonight.”