A Blademaster can only be killed by another Blademaster.
It was an old adage, the kind of common sense even children knew.
Had I spent too long in this mansion, breathing in the stench of corpses? Or perhaps I had simply gone too long without speaking to another soul. Either way, a blade was now speaking to me. I probably needed to find the nearest temple and have a priest examine my head.
The symptom wasn't unheard of. I'd read about it in books—soldiers who survived too many wars, or men who endured unspeakable horrors, often experienced the same thing. And the shock I had suffered was greater, not less, than theirs.
I stared with hollow eyes at the Valerius family treasure.
The voice rang out again.
It was a heavy, commanding voice, like the roar of a lion.
「Eat me, heir of Valerius.」
「Then you will gain what you desire.」
Could it be that my father had heard hallucinations like this before madness finally claimed him?
I kept my mouth shut, staring blankly at the sword. Then, another layer was added to the illusion. Behind the sword, the shimmering, transparent outline of a man took shape—an old man with the same heroic features as the one in the portrait. His face was a roadmap of wrinkles, yet his gaze was as sharp as a freshly honed blade.
Watching the vivid apparition, I heard myself speak.
“How could you possibly know what I desire?”
A moment of silence passed before the reply came.
「To become a Blademaster. To become strong enough to kill a Blademaster.」
“……”
「I guarantee it. Without my help, you can never kill that man. The one who came here a year ago… he was a creature beyond anything your generation could produce.」
The phantom beside the sword continued, his voice laced with contempt.
「That man was the kind of Blademaster forged only in an age of war. No matter how much a green whelp like you trains, you will never have your revenge. So I will help you.」
“How?”
「Eat me. Then you will understand everything.」
Again, the incomprehensible command.
The thought of conversing with a hallucination only I could see was laughable. Yet I couldn't dismiss it. Something deep inside me screamed that I mustn't. The phantom exuded an oppressive weight, an aura of power that felt unnervingly real.
And so, once again, I asked a foolish question.
“Why would you help me?”
This time, the reply was immediate.
「Because you are my descendant. Because you inherited the steel blood.」
“……”
「That Blademaster is not only your enemy. He dared to spill the blood of my descendant. Therefore, I will use you to pass judgment upon him. In the name of Valerius.」
The phantom’s eyes shone with a cold, metallic light, like the glint of a sword.
「You heard his words. You know the truth now. The old stories your naive father told you were real. They were not the empty boasts of lesser nobles, but history. Valerius was once greater than any of them.」
For some reason, in that moment, I was utterly captivated by his gaze. I gave a strange reply.
“How do I eat you?”
Perhaps I, too, was already mad. Just like my father.
The things the phantom of the sword said were bizarre.
Everything he claimed was impossible to believe.
「The Valerius family line is a mixture of human and dwarf blood. That trait came from me, a half-dwarf. It is why people say the Valerius family has blood of steel.」
Dwarf blood.
The idea was absurd. No one in our family had ever displayed dwarven traits: not the short stature, the bones as thick as rock, the luxuriant beards that sprouted after the age of seven, nor the skin that could withstand fire.
Neither my father nor I had any such features. Even the portraits of the past family heads showed nothing of the sort.
「Though the physical traits faded, I possessed one unique ability. By consuming blades—swords, specifically—I could absorb the memories and power held within them. All my descendants inherited this skill. It is the secret to how the Valerius family produced Swordmasters for generations.」
「The method is simple enough. Heat the blade until it glows red, then break it apart with your teeth and swallow it as you would a hard loaf of bread. It will seep into your stomach and merge with your steel blood.」
His next words were even more ridiculous.
Chew and swallow a sword? The act alone would shatter my teeth and shred my palate. If the shards lodged in my throat, I would die a horrible death. Even if I managed to swallow it, my insides would be torn to ribbons.
Furthermore, no book had ever recorded dwarves having such an ability. They were friends to steel and fire, that much was known, but never had it been written that their bodies held such a strange power.
As the thoughts raced through my mind, the phantom spoke again.
「You do not believe me. I suppose to your generation, which has forgotten everything, my words must sound like madness.」
It was as if he had peered directly into my mind.
「If you cannot believe, then do not. I will not force you.」
“……”
「But you know the truth, don't you? Whatever you attempt on your own, you will never reach your goal.」
The phantom’s eyes bored into me.
「For the past year, you bought a fencing manual and practiced alone in the yard. And you tasted nothing but despair. Your body is frail, your bones pitifully thin, your frame small. You lack the insight to even grasp the basic principles of swordsmanship. You are a mediocrity who will never reach the rank of Blade-Adept, let alone Blademaster.」
“……”
「The calluses on your hands are monuments to wasted effort. You threw away an entire year, and in that time, the Blademaster you hate has only grown stronger. He was born with a talent you can never possess.」
The phantom’s voice was a blade, stabbing me with every word.
I couldn't deny any of it. It was all true.
「So, if you refuse to believe, then continue as you are. Waste your life in useless effort, cursing your own weakness, while you watch from the shadows as that man carves his name into history.」
That was the final blow. Hearing those words, I reached out and snatched the sword from the wall.
Even on second glance, it was far too sharp for a blade that was supposedly over five hundred years old.
A mere graze would be enough to peel flesh from bone.
Gripping the hilt carefully, I walked out into the yard.
The phantom asked,
「Where are you taking me?」
“To the fire.”
「The fire?」
I answered his question without looking back.
“You said it had to be heated before I could eat it, didn't you?”
Better to die trying than to live like this.
I would stake my life on this madness.
“Keugh, kuk!”
To put it plainly, the experience of chewing and swallowing a heated blade was horrific. The result? The fact that I am recounting this at all is proof that I survived.
“Chew… ugh, kuk.”
It felt as if my palate was being flayed and scorched, my throat ripped to shreds, and my stomach filled with molten steel. And yet, astonishingly, it was only pain. There were no wounds.
My mouth was intact. No matter how much I coughed, not a single drop of blood came up from my throat.
As I marveled at this strange phenomenon, the phantom of the sword spoke.
No—the fact that his words had proven true meant he was no mere phantom. Now that I had eaten the sword, I knew his name. I had to call him by it.
「Now you believe. My words were true. I am no hallucination born from your weakness.」
Gareth Valerius.
Founder of the Valerius family.
“Yes, Founder.”
「Founder? Hah. Don't be ridiculous. There's no need to call me that.」
“Then what should I call you?”
Gareth replied with indifference.
「Call me Master. It is what all my descendants called me when I taught them.」
The title was set.
“Yes, Master.”
I let out a long breath. For some reason, it felt hot. I wiped my lips and drank cool water, but the sensation didn't fade. My stomach still burned. Rubbing my belly, I asked Gareth,
“Master, I don't feel any change.”
「No change?」
Gareth frowned. I nodded honestly.
“Yes. I can see your form more clearly and hear your voice better, but other than that…”
「Strange. Hold still.」
Gareth reached toward my chest. His transparent hand swept over the area around my heart a few times before he clicked his tongue in disapproval.
「Over the generations, my blood has thinned. The ability was inherited, but it has weakened.」
“Weakened? How so?”
「Normally, by feeding you my sword—my most beloved blade from my life—I could have elevated you directly to the realm of a Blademaster. But you are different.」
Gareth’s expression soured.
「The power in your bloodline is a pale imitation of mine. You swallowed my blade, but you have failed to digest it.」
“……”
「To absorb the essence within my sword, you must first raise your own power to a much higher level. Damnation. Not only is your body useless, but your blood is wretched as well. Cursed descendant.」
He goaded me, but I had no retort. He was right. I was useless.
「Then it cannot be helped.」
Thankfully, my family’s founder—my Master—did not abandon me. With a sigh, he told me of another way.
「You will have to eat blades suited to your level.」
“Blades suited to me?”
「Yes.」
Gareth floated in the air, his arms crossed as he looked down at me.
「Is there a weapon shop nearby? I don’t need new weapons. I need swords that have seen long use.」
I left the estate for the first time in a long while.
Carriages no longer traveled to this ruined village, so I had to walk the rough path myself. Pushing through the overgrown forest trail, I eventually reached the nearest town. In its center, merchants hawked their wares.
“Fresh fruit, come and get your fresh fruit!”
I walked past the fruit seller and into a narrow alley. A wave of heat washed over me from its mouth—the heat of a forge. The air smelled of hammered iron. But that was not our destination.
「The older the weapon, the better. Take me to where the old swords are. I will choose one.」
I walked to the place Gareth had requested.
Past the forge, deeper into the maze of alleys. Soon, a foul stench announced the arrival of the slums. Filthy children played amidst heaps of refuse, their hopeless eyes filled with a quiet despair. Here, trash piled up like hills.
I heard the squeak of rats. The inhabitants were a mix of beggars, vermin, and insects.
“Please, sir, just one coin.”
“I’ll do anything for a piece of bread. Anything you want?”
I shook off the beggars clutching at my legs and pushed deeper. I came upon a mountain of garbage: discarded clothes, broken glass, ruined furniture. And, protruding from the filth, a dried human hand. The trash here included the corpses of those no one would ever come looking for.
「A place necromancers would adore.」
I began to climb the trash heap as Gareth spoke. The feeling of soft flesh beneath my boot soles sickened me. The stench of rot was even stronger here than in my own mansion. As I neared the top, my shoe struck something metal with a dull clang.
“There should be plenty of discarded blades here,” I said. “The slum children gather whatever they find and pile it up. Some weapons get washed in by the rain. Most of it is junk, but there’s no better place nearby to find old swords.”
「Good.」
Gareth drifted over to the spot I had indicated.
「I, too, once fed on swords in places thick with the smell of blood. Battlefields. I devoured them all—the blades still clutched in the hands of dead soldiers, the swords half-buried in the mud. This place is quieter, but the feeling is much the same.」
His transparent hand swept over a tangle of rusted metal.
Then—「Found one.」
“Already?”
「Yes. Pull it out.」
“Which one…?”
「The one I am pointing to.」
I frowned, following the line of his gesture. I glanced back at Gareth’s eyes. They were fixed, certain. They seemed to say: You see correctly. That is the one.
…But that’s not a sword, is it?
I reached into the heap and pulled out the object he had chosen. In the weak sunlight, the dull metal gave off a faint gleam.
Gareth said,
「Once you eat it, you will know my choice was correct. Treasure it.」
“……”
「It will make you, pitiful as you are, a little more of a swordsman.」
I was still puzzled.
Because what I held in my hand was far too slender to be called a sword.
It wasn't a blade so much as… a needle.
「Designation: Gareth’s Beloved Sword」
「The sword often wielded by Gareth Valerius, founder of the Valerius family.」
「Though centuries old, it has not rusted and still retains its edge.」
「The Valerius family treasure.」
「Ingestion effect」
「Your connection with the soul of Gareth Valerius has deepened.」
「Currently digesting」