Chapter 16

[16] My Oppa’s Definitely Talented, Right?

The wooden sword, which had looked perfectly fine until a moment ago, now had a crack in it.

Cracking a mere wooden sword with the Dragonbone Sword might not be difficult, but when the one holding that wooden sword was a dragon, it was an entirely different story.

“Shouldn’t you replace your sword?”

“There’s no need. Let’s keep going until it breaks.”

The damage was one thing, but the test wasn’t over yet.

The wooden sword looked as though it might snap at any moment, but Rokan showed no intention of stopping.

Instead—

“From now on, I’ll use my sword too.”

“Pardon?”

He had initially said he wouldn’t attack, but apparently he had changed his mind. Adjusting his grip on the cracked wooden sword, Rokan shifted his stance.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”

He looked as relaxed as if he were out for a stroll around the neighborhood.

Before I could respond, he casually closed the distance and aimed for my upper body.

Fortunately, he wasn’t moving particularly fast, so I thought I could block it.

I was wrong.

The wooden sword abruptly changed course and struck my ankle.

“Agh!”

A sharp jolt of pain shot through me, making me grimace.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

Rokan smiled kindly, but his follow-up attack was vicious enough to make that expression seem completely out of place.

The wooden sword changed direction sharply and struck my right shoulder. The impact made me lose my grip on my sword.

Had this been a real fight, it would have been over right there.

Quickly retrieving my fallen weapon, I repeated to myself:

Stay calm. Stay calm.

All I had to do was break that wooden sword, and it would be over.

But the moment I thought I should destroy it as quickly as possible, I shook my head.

‘That would only make things worse.’

What mattered when drawing on a dragon’s power was the will to dominate.

I couldn’t swing my sword merely thinking about breaking his weapon.

To use a dragon’s power properly, I had to draw it out with the intent to dominate anything and everything.

Ignoring the pain, I began closing the distance instead of retreating.

Rather than thinking about breaking his sword, I focused on forcing my opponent into submission and dominating him.

Boldly aiming for Rokan’s heart, I drove my sword forward with all my strength.

Rokan moved at an unbelievable speed to block it, but my blade had already pierced his wooden sword.

The instant it was pierced, the wooden sword shattered into pieces so small that its original shape was unrecognizable.

“That will do.”

Since I had aimed for his heart, the situation could have been dangerous. Yet Rokan simply smiled.

He swept the shattered fragments aside with his foot, then lightly patted my shoulder as though praising a job well done.

“Now that I’ve confirmed your talent, it’s time for a more in-depth conversation.”

The scenery changed the moment he finished speaking.

We had been standing in a field just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, we were back in his study.

“Sit.”

As soon as I sat down, Rokan served tea.

It had a strong aroma I had never encountered before, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Taking in the fragrance, I somewhat awkwardly took a sip.

“Is it to your liking?”

I didn’t know what kind of tea it was, but it suited my taste quite well.

“Looking purely at your swordsmanship, it was decidedly subpar. Your movements were completely predictable, and your form was atrocious. To be honest, I would struggle to name a single good point.”

I felt neither wronged nor angry.

Without the Dragonbone Sword, I really was nothing more than an ordinary D-rank hunter of the sort you could find anywhere.

“But that, at least, isn’t a problem for you. Becoming a Swordmaster isn’t your goal.”

Rokan took a sip of tea before continuing.

“You will be able to wield the power of our kind better than any other human.”

“…Pardon?”

“Whether a Swordmaster or an emperor who united an entire continent, I have not seen a human with as much talent as you in thousands of years.”

I could hardly believe it.

Sia had told me before that I had talent, so I knew that much…

But it was to this extent?

Me, a mere D-rank hunter?

I couldn’t hide my delight at Rokan’s glowing praise.

I already wanted to boast to Sia about what her grandfather had said and tell her that, as long as I kept working hard, everything would be fine.

But his next words went far beyond anything I had expected.

“Ironically, that very talent is also why you and our Shasha have no choice but to remain apart.”

“Pardon?”

The unexpected revelation hit me like a blow to the back of the head.

Then…

The reason I had to stay apart from Sia wasn’t just her immense power…

It was also because of this talent I hadn’t even known I possessed?

“Could you perhaps… explain in more detail?”

“I cannot tell you now. When the time comes, I will.”

Rokan was so firm that I couldn’t even bring myself to plead for an explanation.

All I could do was nod stiffly.

“It would be far too dangerous for you to know right now, so don’t feel too hurt.”

“I’m not hurt at all. I was simply curious.”

“Your disappointment is written all over your face.”

I had worried that the atmosphere might grow awkward, but thankfully, Rokan’s joke put us at ease again.

As a faint smile returned to my lips, he went back to the matter at hand.

“Let’s return to your talent. Minjun, where do you think the power of our kind comes from?”

The source of a dragon’s power?

I had only recently learned that dragons actually existed in this world. How was I supposed to know?

Still, if I had to venture a guess…

“Isn’t it the desire to dominate?”

I answered based on a mixture of guesswork and my experience wielding the Dragonbone Sword.

“Domination is not an incorrect answer, but something more fundamental is will. The desire to dominate is itself a form of will.”

“Will…”

“Then in what form do you think a dragon’s will manifests?”

Could something as abstract as will take shape?

My mind couldn’t quite grasp it, but my mouth instinctively supplied the answer.

“Dragon Speech.”

“Yes, exactly. Even a hatchling less than ten years old can imitate Dragon Speech, although it cannot yet use it properly.”

The more I heard, the more fascinating the world of dragons seemed.

Even a young hatchling, practically a newborn by dragon standards, could use Dragon Speech.

“If you wish to be recognized as a dragon, you must at least know how to use Dragon Speech.”

I already knew that my ultimate goal was to fully wield a dragon’s power.

But I had never expected Dragon Speech to come up right at the beginning.

I had assumed that would come after I had undergone a fair amount of training.

“Because it is the foundation.”

Unlike me, left dazed by that unexpected answer, Rokan continued as though he had read my thoughts.

I didn’t know much about it, but common sense told me that using Dragon Speech with a human body couldn’t possibly be easy.

I already felt my nerves tightening.

Could I really use Dragon Speech as a human?

Could I cast a spell like teleportation through will alone, without an incantation or complex calculations?

And I wasn’t even a mage. I was a swordsman.

“Don’t rush yourself. We can start with the basics and proceed step by step. Your first goal will be to borrow that sword’s power and use Dragon Speech, however imperfectly.”

“What do you mean by imperfectly?”

“To succeed in using it even once.”

Even if I couldn’t use Dragon Speech at will, a single success after dozens—or even hundreds—of attempts would count.

“After that, you will practice using Dragon Speech without borrowing the sword’s power. One success in thousands of attempts will suffice. Even if all you produce is a gentle breeze, that will be enough.”

Rokan added that I only needed to find the right feeling once.

After that, I would learn to use Dragon Speech fully with the sword’s power, then finally without it.

That was the curriculum Rokan had devised specifically for me.

“I have lived for nearly ten thousand years, but even I have never taught a human to use Dragon Speech. It will be far from easy, but I’m pleased to have found an interesting pastime in my twilight years.”

He called it a pastime, but the scale seemed far too grand for that word.

“For you, however, this is something you must stake your entire life on, is it not?”

“It is.”

“So I will not treat teaching you as a mere pastime either. Not for your sake, but for mine—and above all, for our Shasha.”

Despite how he phrased it, I could feel the warmth in every word.

To be honest, my first impression of him had been a little frightening. Now, however, I could truly see him as a grandfather who sincerely wished for his granddaughter and her boyfriend to be happy.

“Oh, right. Our Shasha asked me to call her.”

“Should I excuse myself?”

“No. You’re my grandson-in-law. You should come too.”

The words “grandson-in-law” made something ache deep in my chest.

Before her reincarnation, Sia had lost her entire family in a Gate Break when she was in high school, so there had been no one to call me their son-in-law.

And even now, I hadn’t expected it.

I intended to marry Sia, but we hadn’t had a wedding yet. More than that, I wasn’t even a fellow dragon.

By calling me his grandson-in-law, wasn’t he officially acknowledging our relationship?

Holding back the tears that threatened to spill, I bent at the waist in a deep, ninety-degree bow.

“Thank you so much.”

“Thank me? I should be thanking you. When you think about it, you’re the reason I was able to see my granddaughter here at all.”

Rokan waved a hand, insisting that he was the one who owed me.

In any case…

Since he had a phone, I naturally assumed he would call her on it. But instead of making the call right away, he headed toward a vast cavern.

It was the same place I had first seen upon regaining consciousness.

Not much time had passed since then, so little had changed.

Except for one thing.

“Was that here before?”

A huge screen had been mounted on one wall.

That hadn’t been there last time.

“I had it installed. Originally, I intended to use it for watching films, but I realized I could use it for video calls with Shasha too, so I had it put in earlier than planned.”

He was going to use that enormous screen for video calls?

While I was marveling at the sheer scale of it, Rokan called Sia.

A moment later, her image appeared on the giant screen, apparently connected to his phone.

[Grandpa! Minjun!]

As though she had been waiting for this very moment, Sia waved eagerly at us.

Seeing her on such a huge screen instead of a tiny phone display felt strange.

With delight, bewilderment, and fascination all mingling inside me, I waved back.

[How was he? My Oppa’s definitely talented, right? Isn’t he?]

Sia looked at Rokan with bright, expectant eyes.

She must have been terribly disappointed that she couldn’t be there with us, because she seemed eager to hear everything that had happened as quickly as possible.

“About your boyfriend…”

Rokan began.

Sia went completely still and swallowed.

With a small chuckle, he continued.

“The boy is far more talented than you think.”