Kyle opened the box with anticipation.

The first thing he saw was a glass bottle filled with a viscous gray liquid. Wondering what it was, he opened it, and a heavy, fishy smell assailed his nose.

“I... ironclad dragon marrow.”

Erika, who had followed him downstairs, explained in a faltering voice. It was an extract made by refining and concentrating the marrow of a rare monster called an ironclad dragon.

“You have to kill at least several dozen ironclad dragons just to make that one bottle.”

Dozens of an already rare monster had to die to barely produce a single bottle. That made it an exceedingly precious elixir.

“Drinking it dramatically increases your bone density, making your bones very difficult to injure. Even if they break or crack, they heal quickly, and they grow stronger each time.”

Kyle exclaimed in admiration at her explanation and shook the bottle.

The next thing to catch his eye was another glass bottle, though much smaller than the one containing the marrow. About the size of an adult’s finger, it held something that looked more like bluish light than liquid.

“What’s this...?”

“Thundergrass dew.”

Erika looked overwhelmed as she spoke.

“It’s the collected essence of thundergrass, which grows deep in the Valley of Myriad Thunders in the south. That’s also...”

“Incredibly rare and expensive, right?”

“Exactly. Drinking thundergrass dew improves your reflexes enormously.”

Next was a sticky, red, jellylike lump that looked like congealed blood. As Kyle poked the squishy thing with a finger, Erika let out a long sigh.

“Good heavens... Even blood-demon tree fruit...?”

Naturally, this too was extraordinarily rare. Blood-demon trees were difficult enough to find, bore fruit only very occasionally, and withered the moment their fruit was picked.

“Eating that fruit makes your muscle fibers tough and elastic. Their density and endurance increase dramatically, and they recover faster too.”

Kyle grinned as he listened to her explain the three elixirs.

‘Grandfather knows what he’s doing.’

An elixir that increased mana was useless to Kyle, whose spiritual root had yet to awaken. What he needed now were elixirs that would help his immature body grow strong.

Ironclad dragon marrow for his bones. Thundergrass dew for his reflexes. Blood-demon tree fruit for his muscles. Together, the three elixirs would make his body far stronger than any five-year-old’s should be, and their strengthening effects would grow as he aged and trained.

‘They’re all precious.’

He had never heard of thundergrass dew, but ironclad dragon marrow and blood-demon tree fruit had existed five hundred years ago too. They had been so expensive and rare, however, that even as the Sword Demon he had only heard of them, never tasted them.

“What’s this?”

There was plenty in the box besides the three elixirs. Tilting his head, Kyle lifted a necklace. Purple light shimmered inside an unfamiliar transparent gem, and as he focused on it, he felt a tingling deep within his body.

“That’s... a lightning spirit.”

Arian sounded surprised.

“As the name suggests, it’s a gem containing the essence of lightning. Simply carrying it increases your affinity for lightning energy. It’s quite a treasure.”

“Lightning energy?”

“It isn’t guaranteed, but carrying an elemental essence when you’re young can sometimes cause a spiritual root of the same element to awaken.”

“Though the chances are low,” Erika added sullenly.

“The head of the house has a lightning spiritual root.”

“Oh, I see. Grandfather wants me to awaken the same kind.”

Kyle grinned and put on the necklace. Five hundred years ago, neither mana cultivation methods nor spiritual roots had existed, so naturally he was deeply interested in the spiritual root he would awaken in five years.

In this era, serious training began with the awakening of one’s spiritual root. Only those with a spiritual root could learn a mana cultivation method, and almost all martial disciplines were founded on the use of mana.

In five hundred years, the world had changed enormously from the one Kyle knew.

‘Back then, you had to brush with death time and again before receiving mana’s blessing.’

And youngsters these days wielded mana without enduring any of that hardship. It was a rather crotchety thought, but this was nothing to lament. On the contrary, learning the swordsmanship of this age filled Kyle’s heart with excitement.

Only an assortment of books remained in the box now. The one on top was titled Basic Swordsmanship Manual. His eyes even happier than when he had seen the elixirs, Kyle picked it up and opened it.

Despite its title, it was incomparable to the manuals in ordinary circulation. It covered the fundamentals of swordsmanship using the body alone, without mana. In other words, it described the basics in such detail that even a young child could understand them.

“Wow...!”

Kyle leafed through the manual, his eyes sparkling like a child who had been given a toy. Of course, everything in it was a fundamental the Sword Demon had practiced as naturally as breathing five hundred years ago. Still, seeing it presented this way was a fresh and delightful experience.

Beneath the swordsmanship manual were various other books. The house’s history, which Arian had taught him before. Noble etiquette. The continent’s history. Its current political situation... They were children’s books on subjects like those.

“Instructors will be visiting Rose Manor to teach you from now on, Master Kyle.”

“Honestly, Father. I could teach him myself.”

Arian grumbled softly, but she did not look displeased. She was delighted that her usually cold father had taken such a keen interest in his grandson’s education that he had even sent textbooks.

‘Well, I can teach him spirit arts.’

That depended on whether Kyle wanted to learn, but Arian was certain her son would take an interest in spirit arts. He possessed an immense thirst for knowledge.

Without a spiritual root, he could not yet learn a mana cultivation method, but spirit arts required no spiritual root. Training in them could even influence the spiritual root he would eventually awaken, while also greatly helping him accumulate mana. If she explained those benefits, Kyle would have no reason to stubbornly refuse.

“This is unbelievable...”

After the knight who had delivered the gifts and message withdrew, Erika murmured in a daze.

“Ironclad dragon marrow, thundergrass dew, blood-demon tree fruit... And a thunder crystal necklace on top of all that...?”

As befitted its reputation as the continent’s foremost martial house, House Alastor possessed enormous wealth. But being a pureblood did not mean one could freely spend that fortune. All of its assets were used with the head of the house’s permission.

Access to the second-floor library, the Floor of Trials, the various elixirs—one had to be worthy to enjoy such things.

Purebloods were noble and special, but they had to prove themselves to receive special privileges. That too was a family precept the Alastors had upheld for centuries. House Alastor was not so lax as to grant privileges to someone lacking talent, merit, and effort merely because they were a pureblood.

Among Julius’s children and grandchildren, Erika included, not one had received as many elixirs at five as Kyle just had. How much could even a talented five-year-old distinguish himself?

Support like this was granted only after one’s spiritual root awakened, serious training began, and one proved worthy. Yet Kyle was receiving such wholehearted support at just five years old.

It left Erika unsettled. A little jealousy toward her young nephew threatened to rear its head, along with a sense of urgency that she could not go on like this.

She completely abandoned her plans to spend the day chatting and drinking tea with Arian. Clenching her fists, she addressed her sister.

“Arian, I’m going to head back now.”

“Oh? Won’t you stay for a meal?”

“No. I’ll come visit again, so come over to my manor sometimes too, all right?”

At thirteen, Erika was Julius’s youngest daughter and his only child who had yet to reach adulthood. Becoming head of the house was too distant a prospect to dream of, but she still did not want to fall behind a nephew eight years her junior.

She turned to face Kyle. Angling herself so Arian could not see, she quietly raised a finger to her lips, telling him to keep silent about how she had picked on him yesterday and that morning.

“Goodbye, Aunt Erika.”

He had threatened to tell his mother, but that had only been teasing. Kyle was not petty enough to actually tattle.

She might be impudent, but she did not seem bad at heart. She certainly seemed to get along well with Arian.

“Don’t dislike Erika, dear.”

After Erika left, Arian stroked Kyle’s hair.

“Things are complicated for her in all sorts of ways. Mother... fell asleep when Erika was little. And I left the family when I married, so I didn’t get to spend much time playing with her.”

This was the first mention of the woman who was Kyle’s grandmother.

He had wondered about her. She had not attended yesterday’s meal with the purebloods.

He had refrained from asking because he assumed there must be a reason for her absence—something taboo that he should not inquire about carelessly. But now that Arian had brought her up, he could not help cautiously asking.

“Fell asleep?”

He wondered whether she meant that his grandmother had died, but Arian answered with a melancholy expression.

“I mean that literally. Mother has been asleep for ten years. She had an accident in a hidden realm.”

Forcing a smile, Arian hugged him.

“The accident left your grandmother with an unknown illness, and she’s sleeping on the Sword Tower’s tenth floor. Your uncles Roel and Seros have left home to search for a cure.”

Two of the relatives he had seen yesterday had been missing from the dining room as well. Those must have been the two.

‘Hidden realms...’

Rarely appearing rifts in space. Even five hundred years ago, hidden realms had been places fraught with accidents and trouble. Territorial wars had even been fought to monopolize one.

“Now then, my boy! Let’s have something to eat before you take your elixirs.”

Forcing her smile back into place, Arian carried Kyle toward the dining room.

* * *

After their meal at Rose Manor, Kyle began taking the elixirs under Arian’s supervision.

The ironclad dragon marrow tasted appalling. It was like chewing and swallowing rotten fish guts. Still, Kyle gulped it down with a grimace.

His stomach grew heavy, and his joints began to itch. The itching soon turned to pain. His heart pounded and his bones ached, as though an invisible force were squeezing every bone in his body.

“Kyle, are you all right?”

Arian’s voice was worried, but despite the cold sweat dripping from him, he gave her a composed smile.

Next came the thundergrass dew. Kyle secretly had high hopes for it. Improved reflexes? Neither in his past life nor in this one had he ever found his reflexes particularly lacking, but he was curious what would happen if they improved further.

He opened the bottle and immediately sucked the light inside it through his lips. A tingling entered his mouth and spread through his entire body.

It was especially intense from the back of his neck up into his head, alternating between cold and heat. His vision swayed dizzily, then became clear again.

Panting, Kyle tried moving. He had not immediately felt the effects of the ironclad dragon marrow, but the thundergrass dew’s effects were instantly apparent.

His movements were different from before. No, to be precise, the movements themselves were the same. The process before the movement had become faster. It felt as though his body moved the instant he thought of moving. He removed the lightning spirit necklace from his neck and tossed it up.

He threw it, lowered his arm, then raised it again and caught it. The necklace had barely fallen at all. Everything had felt natural and easy. He could move faster if he put his mind to it, and as he grew stronger, he would be able to move faster still.

“Wow...”

With a quiet murmur of admiration, Kyle picked up the last elixir, the blood-demon tree fruit. The sticky, squishy lump of jelly looked utterly unappetizing, but he stuffed it into his mouth without hesitation.

Surprisingly, it did not taste bad. It was sweet, with a slightly fishy aftertaste.

“Urgh...!”

Only its taste was tolerable. The pain was far worse than what the previous two elixirs had caused. He could feel every muscle fiber in his body twisting and writhing. It was as though they were being twisted, released, stretched, torn apart strand by strand, and joined together again.

‘Crazy old bastard. You gave this to a kid to fucking eat?’

An ordinary five-year-old would have screamed, cried, and made a tremendous fuss. Kyle endured the pain, pouring with cold sweat. No, crying and making a fuss would not have been the half of it. An ordinary child would have passed out from the pain.

But Kyle was no ordinary child, and he could not disgrace himself by bawling. Arian fidgeted helplessly as her son gritted his teeth and endured. She had never eaten blood-demon tree fruit and had no idea how painful it was. But seeing the contorted face of a son who almost never showed pain tore at her heart.

“Whew... Hah...”

Fortunately, the pain did not last long. Gasping for breath, Kyle straightened from his curled-up position. Like the thundergrass dew, the blood-demon tree fruit had an immediately noticeable effect.

His entire body felt light and brimming with strength. Before, a few swings of his wooden sword had exhausted him. Now he felt as though he could swing it all day. He looked down at his body for a moment, then suddenly wrapped his arms around Arian’s legs.

“Kyle? What are you suddenly... Oh? Ohhh?”

Arian cried out in surprise as her feet lifted off the ground. A five-year-old had picked up a fully grown woman.

Even Kyle himself found it absurd. There had been many kinds of elixirs five hundred years ago, and the Sword Demon had taken quite a few. But he had never taken any at such a young age.

“You’re a little heavy, Mom.”

His giggling remark earned him a rap on the head from Arian.

“I should go thank Grandfather.”

Kyle rubbed the spot where she had struck him as he spoke.

For his young body, these were the best gifts he could possibly have received.