Revenge of the Iron-Blooded Sword Hound TL

Chapter 4 The Dog of the Baskerville Family (1)

Eight years have passed.

Vikir van Baskerville turned 8 years old and, like other young children of the Baskerville family, was receiving various lessons.

The tutor asked:

"Now, for the final question. How do we categorize the levels of swordsmanship?"

Vikir answered calmly:

"Regardless of sword skill proficiency, a swordsman who doesn't know how to imbue mana into a sword is called a 'Sword Beginner'. One who knows how to imbue mana into the sword tip but can only raise an aura as fragile as gas is called a 'Sword Expert'. When the aura rising from the sword becomes sticky and dense like a liquid, it's called a 'Sword Graduate'. When the aura becomes solid and can change shape according to the caster's will, it's called a 'Sword Master'."

Of course, all these distinctions are made for convenience.

Basically, combat is influenced by numerous factors such as health, terrain, climate, humidity, gravity, experience, mana density in the atmosphere, and so on.

It can be calculated, but by the time you calculate, the result will have already changed.

But the calculations of 8-year-old children are not that complex yet.

When Vikir answered without hesitation, the other children around him raised their hands competitively and chirped:

"If a Beginner and an Expert fight, the Expert wins!"

"If an Expert and a Graduate fight, the Graduate wins!"

"A Master is stronger than a Graduate!"

"And the family head is a Master!"

Vikir silently listened to the words of the children around him.

One of their statements pierced his heart.

'The family head is a Master!'

Hugo le Baskerville, the head of the Baskerville family.

He possesses mana equivalent to the 7th circle for a mage.

But befitting a master swordsman, he converted his mana into aura and used it in his sword, and it's said that his level has reached the Sword Master status that the world looks up to.

The tutor said:

"Good. Lord Hugo, the supreme being of the Baskerville family, is a Sword Master. This is a level that only seven people in this country 'Rock' have reached, and it corresponds to the heads of each of the seven great families."

Of course, Vikir already knew this fact.

He even knew that there were a few more Sword Master-level powerhouses inside and outside the empire.

This is information that no one else knows at this point.

Vikir was deep in thought about something.

The tutor's gaze had been on Vikir for a while.

'He's an extraordinary person.'

A truly overwhelming talent, bordering on violence at this point.

The fact that he stayed submerged in the Styx River for over 7 minutes with the body of a 100-day-old infant remained a small legend in the family.

But is it just his physical abilities that are outstanding?

Though overshadowed by his physical prowess, his intellect was also so brilliant that there was no match among his peers in the family.

One could dare say he had 'the talent to understand a hundred things when taught one'.

'The family head will be pleased again today.'

He planned to report all these facts to Hugo.

Hugo usually doesn't pay much attention to children other than his firstborn and second son.

He used to act like a livestock wholesaler, occasionally dropping by to record the growth and value of the livestock, but in recent years he's shown increased interest in the Infant Tooth Castle.

Of course, it's because of Vikir.

It was extremely unusual for Hugo to come to this Infant Tooth Castle, where children under 10 are raised communally, so the tutors in charge of this place have been feeling quite empowered lately.

'Thank you, young master. I will assist you with all my might.'

Thanks to Vikir, the budget has increased significantly and their position has become much stronger compared to other knights in the family, so everyone was looking at Vikir with favorable eyes.

Of course, Vikir himself didn't care about this at all.

* * *

As the children were returning to their respective rooms scattered throughout the castle after the lesson ended.

Vikir was reflecting on his current state.

'So Hugo is a Master, huh?'

Unfortunately, that's true.

The 'solid aura' that only Masters can manifest was on a completely different level in terms of density and rigidity compared to his own 'sticky liquid' aura, which was at the upper Graduate level in his previous life.

Grind-

His teeth grind involuntarily.

In this life, he will neither live nor die so miserably.

'I'll recover all my strength from my previous life before the coming-of-age ceremony at the very least.'

Currently 8 years old.

Vikir's level had already reached the upper Sword Expert level without anyone knowing.

In his previous life, he had barely achieved this level after turning twenty.

Before his regression, reaching the upper Sword Expert level at such a young age.

In fact, even this would be considered an extraordinary achievement worthy of being called a once-in-a-generation genius by outside standards, but within the Baskerville family, it was average or slightly below average.

Usually, children of the Baskerville family reach the upper Sword Expert level around 20 and knock on the door of Graduate around 30.

When they can imbue 'liquid aura' into their sword tip, they start rising to executive positions from there, and if they can't, they remain in low-ranking positions.

Even the elites of the Baskerville family, said to be geniuses among geniuses, reach the threshold of upper Sword Expert around the age of twenty.

But Vikir was already at that level at the age of 8.

At an age when he hadn't even felt mana in his previous life.

This was a level that even the super-elites within the family couldn't dare approach.

As Vikir was feeling a new sense of emotion.

"Hey."

A voice called from behind.

Turning his head to see what it was, he saw three children from the 9-year-old class.

Highbro le Baskerville, Middlebro le Baskerville, Lowbro le Baskerville.

The surname 'le' given to direct male descendants, and 'la' given to female descendants.

So these three here are direct descendants of the Baskerville family.

With very clear bloodlines.

Very clichédly, the eldest, Highbro at the front, started picking a fight with Vikir.

"'Van' trash, where are you going?"

"Where are you going?"

"Where are you going?"

The one in front leads, and the two behind echo.

It was truly a nine-year-old's way of picking a fight.

Well, anyway, the Baskerville family is thoroughly meritocratic, so once they get a bit older, this kind of thing won't happen.

However, the reason Vikir was keeping a close eye on these triplets was different.

'...Hugo Baskerville's trident.'

Those guys will grow into quite troublesome enemies in just 10 years.

In fact, before his regression, these three were the hunting dogs who relentlessly chased Vikir as he broke through the encirclement and stabbed him with their swords.

'Come to think of it, these guys bullied me a lot since childhood.'

Because they kept stealing his meals, Vikir's growth rate during his childhood was quite slow.

They also committed many atrocities like tripping him or swinging blind swords during various evaluations.

Because of that, he started limping slightly, which almost got him killed many times during various missions.

...Flash!

A chilling bloodlust leaked from Vikir's eyes.

Knowing this or not, the triplets who had just turned 9 surrounded Vikir while giggling.

"Hey trash, I heard you stayed submerged in the Styx River for 7 minutes? And that you strangled two venomous snakes to death in your cradle? Stop boasting so much. How dare an 8-year-old lie like that!"

"Lie like that!"

"Lie like that!"

Highbro, the most vicious of the three, stepped forward.

"Can you do this?"

At the same time, a small sphere faintly glowed above his palm.

The young children of the Baskerville family have extraordinary mana sensitivity and control from an early age.

They are already able to concentrate mana and gather it into a round shape.

It seemed they couldn't imbue it into a sword yet, but even this level of skill would be enough to be hailed as a genius in the outside world.

Of course, even within the Baskerville family, it was enough to receive praise for having quite a talent.

"This is what talent looks like. Come on, you try it too! Let's see how big of a mana lump you can make."

"Let's see!"

"Let's see!"

The triplets continued to urge Vikir.

"..."

Vikir looked at the fluffy mana lump Lowbro had created.

A mana sphere about the size of a child's fist. Yes, at that age, even that much is considered good.

But Vikir had already done that much when he was just 8 months old.

When he strangled two venomous snakes to death in his cradle.

With 8 years of mana proficiency after regression added to the 30 years before regression, where would his level be now?

Vikir looked around once.

In this 'Infant Tooth Castle' where only young children reside, there's not much need to worry about prying eyes.

The few guardian knights or tutors are all out in the outer castle now.

...Flash!

Vikir manifested his power.

Vikir raised his palm high and gathered mana.

Seeing this, the triplets' expressions turned to shock.

"...!"

"...!"

"...!"

Nothing had been created above Vikir's palm.

The triplets looked blank for a moment before starting to laugh loudly.

"Ahahahaha, you fool! Don't tell me you still can't sense mana at that age?"

"Can't sense mana?"

"Can't sense mana?"

They were so busy mocking him that they almost shed tears.

...However.

At the same time, in a watchtower not far from the Infant Tooth Castle.

A guardian knight on guard duty was bewildered by an unexpected anomaly visible outside the window.

"Wh-What? Why are there two suns above the Infant Tooth Castle?"