NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48 - Brudhild 5
As the stone door slowly opened, a silvery radiance spilled forth.
“Woah…”
“It’s, it’s true… the rumors were true, the whole interior is skull diamond…”
Sophie exclaimed in awe, while Eloah murmured in disbelief.
The interior was simply bare – merely sword racks lining each of the thirteen walls.
However, the material composing the chamber’s walls and ceiling was skull diamond, the costliest gem in the continent.
Emitting its distinctive bone-white luster, the eternally unchanging skull diamond mined in minuscule quantities from Skeletonia’s lands welcomed its visitors after 100 years.
Unable to comprehend it, Eloah sent Doyun a telepathic message.
[But how could even the Sword Saint, a lone individual, create such a vault? This vault alone seems worth a royal palace… no, an imperial palace!]
[I had it built for him.]
[Pardon!?]
[I owed that Buske quite a debt.]
Hecleus and Buske had aided Enoch in researching Războlnic Willow Style each iteration. Without those twin geniuses of martial arts and swordsmanship, the 18th iteration Enoch who had vanquished the Demon Lord could not have existed.
Hence, Enoch had always strived to provide them with whatever he could.
Particularly Buske, who had abruptly become obsessed with sword collecting in his later years despite previously shunning wealth or desires.
Doyun had been overjoyed to see Buske developing a hobby, mobilizing all his financial and social resources to fulfill his friend’s request.
[Even if one had infinite wealth, not even an emperor could construct this gallery. It was a collaborative effort between the dragon and dwarven kings themselves.]
Even 100 years ago and to this day, no nation in the alliance could refine skull diamond.
With its aberrant property of deflecting most incoming forces and mana back to nothingness, skull diamond had been the exclusive domain of dragons and dwarves.
The two races who had maintained a special bond with Enoch had readily agreed to his request, and thus the continent’s most precious gift had been born.
[You mentioned still possessing around 100,000 gold coins in assets earlier. Those were…]
[The remainder after constructing this vault. And what I earned afterward.]
[…So I spent my childhood in unfathomable opulence, it seems…]
Brudhild entered the gallery first, followed by Doyun.
Brudhild sent Doyun a telepathic message.
[Three racks are empty.]
[Those were the swords your father carried on his person.]
Now likely petrified from his tactical retreat, buried alongside your father’s grave, Doyun left unsaid.
Doyun headed for the ninth rack.
There hung Jupiter, the ninth sword in the Sword Saint’s collection.
Doyun activated [Seventh Sense] to display the item details.
[Jupiter]
The 9th sword in the Sword Saint’s collection.
Jupiter is a collaborative piece between the dwarven realm’s foremost smelting master and blade-forging master.
The innovative aerosol material devised by the dwarven smelting master contains countless microscopic pores, making it the lightest feasible solid structure with 98% empty volume.
This structure boasts astonishing mana conductivity and strength while offering virtually no air resistance, making it the most ideal composition for a sword. If the air within the aerosol could be removed, it may become lighter than air itself.
The synergy between adamantium’s innate properties and the aerosol structure not only achieves supreme mana conductivity akin to flowing river currents, but also resonates the wielder’s mana within the aerosol’s hollow spaces to further amplify it.
And the dwarven blade-forging master’s painstaking efforts resulted in Jupiter – a sword embodying every swordsman’s dream.
Doyun unsheathed Jupiter from the rack, admiring its beautiful blade with satisfaction.
‘Indeed, the grip alone feels different.’
The blade’s weight was scarcely perceptible, its unrealistically light sensation akin to switching from a heavy dumbbell to a featherweight cellphone.
Moreover, the grip adhered so snugly that for the first time, he felt he was truly holding a masterpiece sword befitting its reputation.
Along with the welling exhilaration, his hand instinctively tightened around the hilt.
[As expected, you chose that sword.]
Brudhild smiled politely as she sent him a message.
[Yes. It maximizes the fundamental virtues a sword should possess.]
The other swords in the collection, while lacking nothing to be called divine armaments imbued with unique abilities,
This ninth sword had simply maximized the sword’s intrinsic performance without any special traits – the embodiment of every swordsman’s dream.
[And it’s most similar to the cherished sword you used in your past life, Uncle.]
[So you knew.]
Indeed, 100 years ago, the cherished sword Enoch had used was modeled after this Jupiter.
Having borrowed and used Buske’s Jupiter in a previous iteration, Enoch had been unable to forget its feel, later commissioning a similar blade from the dwarven and dragon kings.
Three treasures crafted from skull diamond through draconic and dwarven royal collaboration.
The Sword Saint’s Sword Collection Gallery. The Void Ring Nebula. And the last had been Enoch’s cherished sword itself.
That sword with the same aerosol structure as Jupiter had been composed entirely of skull diamond.
But regaining that blade seemed unlikely – it had been the sword plunged into the Demon Lord’s heart, likely still within the Demon Lord’s Domain by now.
‘Still, this Jupiter is an immensely formidable masterpiece in its own right.’
Though regrettable, it was already in the past. Doyun was grateful just to wield this Jupiter.
‘The fourth sword is tempting too, but…’
Doyun glanced at a section of the wall before averting his gaze. Any further would be greed.
However, Brudhild, who had been observing Doyun, met his eyes with a polite smile.
[As I expected, you won’t take the fourth sword.]
[Hmph, hmph! What are you watching so intently for? It’s embarrassing.]
Just as countless times 100 years ago, Brudhild marveled at her uncle’s magnanimity.
In fact, even if Doyun had requested the entire gallery, she would have gladly handed it over with a smile.
From the perspective of being the orthodox successor who had learned Buske’s Style, Doyun was her celestial zenith, just as he had been for her father.
No, there was no need to even go that far. By the mere fact of treading and living upon this continent, she owed Doyun an immense debt.
For Enoch Războlnic had been the benefactor of all denizens in this world, having vanquished the Demon Lord and saved their realm.
Yet the very uncle himself harbored no sense of entitlement whatsoever.
‘Once I feel she has sufficiently learned Manifest Sword, then at that time…’
As recompense for his teachings, she would gift him the fourth sword, Brudhild decided.
Meanwhile, clearly embarrassed at having his intentions seen through, Doyun fidgeted about the gallery avoiding eye contact.
After confirming that Sophie was engrossed touring the collection, he picked up a sword and tossed it to Brudhild.
[Here.]
[Ah…!]
Brudhild reflexively caught the suddenly thrown blade.
[Your current sword isn’t bad, but stuck using only your father’s collection all this time must have been limiting.]
[There were such circumstances, but…]
[Your swordsmanship resembles your father’s, so that one should suit you well.]
The sword Doyun had handed Brudhild was the sixth in the collection.
The sixth sword had been one Buske used in his youth, imbued with ice attributes.
Due to Buske’s distinct swordsmanship style and mana quality, ice-attribute swords had complemented him well – and his disciple Brudhild was no different, despite lacking blood relation. Quite an oddity.
After examining the sword briefly, Brudhild spoke,
[…I shall refrain from using this sword for now.]
[Oh? Why is that?]
[This collection does not belong to me.]
At her unexpected words, Doyun looked at her, silently urging her to continue.
[I have yet to even open the gallery doors, so how can I presume ownership of its contents? Unless Father had left a will stating otherwise, he never uttered such words.]
[Hmm…]
[Rather, the one closest to Father and the sole person capable of opening these doors, Uncle, would have a greater claim to being the true owner.]
Recalling her late father, Brudhild forced a pained smile.
Doyun idly scratched the hilt of the Jupiter sword on his hip.
[Your words aren’t wrong.]
Doyun nodded in affirmation.
[Then would you accept it if your father had indeed left a will?]
[Pardon?]
[A fact unknown to anyone else in this world.]
Even Buske himself had been unaware Enoch knew of this – in the 16th iteration, not the 18th.
The sole time Buske, who had lost his beloved disciple to the Demon Lord’s forces in that cycle, had drowned his sorrows in drink, weeping as he poured out this tale spanning all iterations.
[Your father, who had no interest beyond the path of the sword, became so obsessed with this sword collection. The reason he would never relinquish a single blade to anyone, not even me. Do you know why that was?]
As Doyun spoke, Brudhild froze.
Her trembling pupils fixed on Doyun.
[In his twilight years, your father’s aspiration was no longer the path of the sword. That had long ceased to be his priority.]
[What your father fervently dreamed of in his final days was witnessing you, his disciple, surpass him in a moment of sublime transcendence.]
[That was why he had arranged for such a lock mechanism on this gallery.]
[He had hoped that one day, you would be able to open these doors. And when that dream of transcendence was realized, all thirteen swords would be yours then.]
[They were meant as gifts for his disciple.]
Upon hearing this previously unknown truth about her father, Brudhild’s pupils quivered incessantly as her eyes grew moist.
[Brudhild. Son of my dearest friend.]
Doyun briefly surveyed the gallery once more.
Then, calmly watching a teardrop trail down Brudhild’s cheek, he relayed his departed friend’s parting wish to his son.
The tears splattering and freezing on the sword’s surface sounded like raindrops.
Brudhild Buske, the Sword Saint’s disciple and hero of Skeletonia.
Clutching her father’s legacy, she wept silently.