Silver wisps of moonlight weaved between Kazen's fingertips, as he observed with his hands held in front of him while controlling his moonlight.

Kazen had been wondering since he had first been exposed to the concept of moonlight. What exactly was moonlight? And did it really differ from the mana he was used to?

As Kazen then ignited the moonlight around his hands, it exploded, causing sparkles of silver light to fall.

It isn't that different.

And now, he had undergone his first Awakening and obtained the Authority of Control. As he manipulated the moonlight, he could tell that although it was a different kind of energy from mana, it seemed to be able to have the same capabilities as mana did back in Alethea. However, moonlight felt less...berserk, as compared to mana.

But other than that, what really made the two energies different?

Under the Moon of Zania's crimson light, there was silence as Kazen was lost in thought.

Or at least, it was silent, until Lyla's voice suddenly rang out in the somber atmosphere.

"Kazennn!? What in the world was that?! Why would you reject the Four Goddess's blessings!?"

A figure with blue hair ran up to the pedestal, and focused on Kazen with shining eyes.

"Did the other Goddesses take back their blessings because of something you said?! Or wait...perhaps you did try to absorb their Authorities, but you were rejected somehow...because you're a Reincarnator! Or were you granted an Authority even stronger than one that combined all their Authorities?!"

Kazen was barraged with Lyla's questions, as she walked around excitedly and observed his body, trying to figure out any clues about what kind of Authority he might have gotten.

A futile effort, probably, since he was sure just observing the body wouldn't easily give any hints. But he didn't stop the excited Lyla from trying to deduce what she could anyway.

The others in the area had finally reached the center of the dome, and stood beneath the base of the pedestal with the exception of Lyla.

"Lyla! I tried to hold it in, but are you really bent on tarnishing the dignity of our household? Get down from there!"

Hearing this, Lyla tried to ignore him, but then eventually conceded as her face slightly darkened, and got down from the pedestal. At the same time, Richards spoke, "That...was something I hadn't expected to see...you really are something else. I won't ask about what Authority you've been blessed with...but I just want to confirm one thing with you. You didn't get a combined Authority from the four goddesses, right?"

Hearing his question, Kazen nodded. The moment he heard Lyla's exclamations, he already knew that the audience here had already seen his rejection of the Authority granted by the Four Goddesses. He had only been in this world for a day, and was still very unaware of its taboos and customs.

And so, he chose to take the safest route available to him. He wouldn't give an indication that he had rejected the Goddesses.

"They did offer me an Authority together, but when I tried absorbing it...they mentioned that my soul did not hold the capability to hold the Authority. And so...Goddess Serena chose to bless me with one of her own Authorities that would suit me."

If the fact that these people in the Forsaken Continent could access Alethea was true, he was certain that they would already know about the fact that Reincarnators had weaker souls even when compared to ordinary people in Alethea.

And he was also sure that they were most likely already sure of his identity. After all, they hadn't interrogated him more deeply about his origins, and had simply let it be. In the first place, he hadn't thought about hiding his identity anyway, and it would have been easy enough to verify if he had left the Enchanter's Hall in Galina towards Mount Oris by gathering witness's statements.

Hearing Kazen's words, Richards still had his doubts. What kind of normal authority would have caused such a commotion, with all the surrounding moonlight surging towards him so frenziedly? However, he didn't want to ask this, and simply nodded.

"Very well...I won't ask you any further about that. However, I am curious about how well you can handle yourself in a fight now.”

Then, Richards turned around to face the door as he told Kazen, “After all, the other reason why I came here was to test your capability."

* * *

It was already night time when they entered the training hall. Kazen still wasn't used to the fact that the 'night' in the Forsaken Continent was actually just a tiny bit brighter as compared to the 'day', when one of the four Moons were present.

It made no sense to Kazen. There was clearly plenty of light being reflected by the four Moons from somewhere, so under the absence of the moon, shouldn't the world be darker than it currently was? Regardless, it wasn't as if the whole world was bright like the day in Alethea.

The group entered the training hall which had an open roof, as Kazen glanced around in curiosity. There was nobody around the training hall, which Kazen presumed was thanks to the King, who had left earlier to settle some matters of his own.

The way he treated Kazen had noticeably changed after the Awakening Ceremony, as he didn't speak to him with as much disregard as before.

Entering the training hall, he noticed that the sides were filled with weapons, and the ground was filled with hard soil. In the center of the training hall was a gigantic circle of about 60 meters in radius, and he noticed that the soil within the circle alone had recently been evened out. This was in stark contrast to the surrounding soil outside, which was filled with holes and signs of damage from skills used by the members of the Royal Police that trained here.

Walking along the sides of the hall, they eventually reached the point which was directly positioned in line with the center of the circle, and Richards finally turned around having lead them here.

He then grinned, "Well, we're here! Like I said, we'll be having a little battle just to see how good you are presently, then we can decide what kind of assignments you'll be capable of in Alethea. But first..."

Then, Richards picked up a spear from the wooden rack right behind him, and twirled it, displaying excellent spearmanship.

"Pick your weapon."

And so, Kazen glanced at the rack of weapons beside their group, as he considered his options.

The first point he noted that compared to traditional training weapons that were made of wood, all the weapons here seemed to have metal blades, which basically meant they were real weapons.

He was sure that a Lieutenant Colonel like Richards would be more than capable of protecting himself and evaluating Kazen even while using real weapons, but he still chose to ask anyway, “Lieutenant Colonel? I’m just asking, if I do end up injuring you during the spar, you won’t hold me accountable right?”

“Pfft…”

Hazef let out a short chuckle before stopping himself, but Richards had already noticed.

Richards called out to him, “Hazef.”

Hearing that, Hazef immediately forced on a serious expression and answered, “Yes, Sir.”

“You’ll be assigned to cleaning duty for two weeks once you enter the Guild in Alethea .”

“…Yes, Sir.”

Only after hearing this did Kazen remember that Hazef had mentioned he was a Pioneer candidate yesterday, and it seemed like he would also be entering Alethea in the near future.

After condemning Hazef to cleaning duty, Richards turned to Kazen and smiled, “Although it’s not very likely for me to be injured in this spar, even if I do, I won’t hold you accountable. You have my word.”

This caused Kazen’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as he felt a bit of reluctance on being looked down on. However, the only way he would be able to get past this would by proving himself, and he knew this.

Thus, he started focusing on his choice of weapon properly.

In Alethea, he’d been using a whip made using Flameboar hide, which held both earth and flame properties which helped his fighting style. However, although it suited him, he didn’t like it.

When he’d first gotten around to being able to fight, he’d trained in battle against the beasts at the boundary of the Demonic Lands. However, he didn’t like the fact that the whip didn’t have a feeling of ‘weight’ to it, even if he did increase its density by siphoning the earth.

And so, he hadn’t gotten used to it. Since his fighting experience was limited anyway, he thought it wouldn’t matter even if he were to now choose a different weapon.

He needed a weapon that was long, and yet, would complement his fighting style.

And that was when his eyes caught side of an odachi that lay beside the main weapons rack, as it was hung up horizontally on the wall. And this immediately appealed to Kazen.

With a handle of about 12 centimetres, and a narrow steel blade that was slightly more than 90 centimetres in length, it just felt right as he laid eyes upon it.

He walked up to it, and attempted to carry it.

And it drooped down, as Kazen’s arms dropped under its weight. He then realized that he was currently in a body that had been inactive for close to two-thousand years. Even after the baptism of his first Awakening, the odachi was still not easy for him to hold.

However, that was when he didn’t use any moonlight.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The earth beneath his feet started to disintegrate, as Kazen extracted the ‘Density’ of the earth, and channelled it throughout the rest of his body with the help of his moonlight core.

And the odachi finally started to lighten up. He swung it a few times, then realized it would help if the weapon was even lighter. Closing his eyes, he focused on the Density within his body, and controlled it to be more concentrated in his arms.

Instantly, the weight of the odachi in his right arm felt lighter, while the rest of his body felt as if it had lost some muscle.

After keeping his eyes closed and focusing on distributing the Density around his body for a while, he finally opened them.

“I’m ready.”

Hearing this, Richards nodded, as he made his way to the center of the circle in the training hall, followed by Kazen.

And moments later, both of them stood, facing one another with at least 20 meters of space between them.

…

As they faced each other, Richards spoke, as he positioned his spear in front of him.

“Make your move.”

Kazen channelled even more Density into his body, as the earth beneath him continued disintegrating.

The speed of his moonlight being consumed in the process of converting the earth to Density increased, and he focused the additional Density into his leg muscles, making them stronger. He bent forward, getting into position, “Then…”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Kazen pushed off, shooting towards Richards as he stabbed his sword forward. Richards sidestepped his attack, as he knocked it up with his spear, “Too predictable.”

The sword shook, and Kazen immediately shot back from Richards, in fear of retaliation. However, Richards simply continued standing in position, watching him.

Kazen inwardly clicked his tongue, then shot forward once more, this time slashing his sword down. Richards parried it, knocking the sword sideways as sparks flew from the collision.

Or at least, it seemed like it, because the sparks seemed to disappear immediately after they had appeared.

Kazen ducked and twisted his body, slashing his weapons towards Richards once more, which was parried once again. Kazen absorbed the heat from the sparks, as his body became slightly more flexible, although it wasn’t by much since there were only so little sparks he could absorb.

Kazen then continued his offense, and at every turn, Richards easily deflected or parried his attacks even while holding an easygoing expression. Kazen’s body became more and more flexible as he absorbed the sparks from every collision of weapons, and right when Kazen was slashing his weapon one more time, his eyes flashed.

He stomped forward even as he slashed, and converted the Density in his legs back to earth, as a pillar of earth suddenly short forth from the ground in front of Kazen’s foot, towards Richards’s torso.

Richards realized he couldn’t avoid the attack, so he released some of his aura, and…the pillar of earth was suddenly shredded to pieces as greenish-red light flashed, and he blocked Kazen’s attack at the same time that the earth pillar was shredded.

* * *

“…What exactly did he do? How’d he do that?! He has an offense-oriented Authority?”

Lyla was fascinated. She hadn’t been exposed to too much fighting in her life, so she was fascinated as she watched the spar that currently took place.

Aileen replied to her, even as she continued watching the battle, “…That’s because he holds the Authority of ‘Sharpness’. He can basically turn most items, and even his moonlight into a sharp nature that can cut through most things. Ah, what I said isn’t exactly a secret. I’m sure you’d have been able to buy this information off the Antessian black market, so just take this as a free service I’m providing you.”

Their swords continued to clash, and Hazef added to the conversation,

“…Well, most Awakened in the army have offense-oriented Authorities to begin with anyway. However…Lieutenant Colonel’s one in particular stands out amongst the rest, since his Authority was granted by combining the blessings of Goddesses Sylvia and Zania. There’s no way an A-Ranked Awakened like him could have a weak Authority after all.”

By now, Kazen had already attempted to attack him tens of times, and all of them had failed. Then, Kazen suddenly jumped back, and Richards spoke to Kazen.

Hazef couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed with this spar, after having seen such a ruckus take place during the Awakening ceremony for Kazen. He had thought he’d stand out somehow, but his combat capabilities actually seemed…somewhat insufficient.

And right as he had that thought, Kazen suddenly shot forward, and the ground exploded.

* * *

Almost there.

Having clashed with Richards so many times, Kazen had already made at least a single round around Richards. Even as he did so, he’d been leaving traces of pure moonlight on the ground that he had stepped on.

With the help of his Authority, even without activating his shard, he felt like he could make his moonlight linger in place for a short while by controlling it through his will. And he had plans to make use of this advantage.

Now, with the final clash, he finally had enough moonlight scattered.

And he hopped back.

Seeing this, Richards looked at him with unreadable eyes and spoke, “…You’re finally going to try something new? Don’t think I haven’t been noticing the traces of moonlight you’ve been leaving around.”

The moment Kazen heard this, he realized he had to act right now, in the case that Richards had some way of forcefully erasing the traces of moonlight he’d left. He immediately shot forward, and activated the Shard he held in his soul the moment he reached within a meter of Richards.

His perception suddenly increased, and he could feel every bit of moonlight in the area surrounding him within a meter. He felt as if he could control it, and use it to convert the properties of the earth even without channelling it through his body as a medium.

He ignited all the moonlight he’d scattered, similar to what he’d done when he was playing around with moonlight right after his Awakening ceremony, and the ground exploded. A cloud of soil and dust suddenly permeated the surroundings around Kazen and Richards.

However, Kazen already had a mental image of Richards’s position, and he forcefully drained the Density of the earth from patches of the soil surrounding them, as the earth in those parts disintegrated.

The drained Density was collected and compressed in various parts of the ground around Richards, hardening the soil in those areas. Then Kazen forcefully converted that Density back into earth as tens of pillars suddenly shot out of the surrounding ground towards Richards’s torso at the same time, with their locations obscured by the dust cloud.

At the same time, Kazen forcefully drained the earth right beneath his feet, converting all of it to Density as he channelled most of it to his arms and his sword.

He was left with very little moonlight remaining, but using half of what was left…he drained the earth right beneath Richards’s feet of its density, in an attempt to throw him off balance by disintegrating the earth there.

And he prepared to swing his sword.

Then, a flurry of greenish-red moonlight suddenly exploded from Richards’s position once again, as all the earthen pillars were destroyed and the dust cloud had been forcefully cleared slightly. Then, Richards’s moonlight continued on to shred apart Kazen’s sword, which was made of steel, up until there was only a broken sword left.

As Kazen was feeling despondent at the loss, his heart jumped.

From within the dissipating dust cloud, a spearhead suddenly shot towards Kazen.

At that moment, time seemed to have slowed down for Kazen. The dust cloud finally cleared a bit more, and he could see Richards’s golden eyes focused on him. And he also noticed that Richards…hadn’t lost balance.

Kazen’s concentration peaked, and his eyes…traced the trajectory of the spear, and using the flexibility of his body thanks to the sparks he’d absorbed, he bent his body in an unnatural angle, then tried to swing his sword…or at least what was left of it in a desperate attempt.

As he swung his sword, Kazen noticed that Richards’s eyes…were finally showing a hint of surprise.

Richards immediately twisted the base of the spear he was holding, as he used the handle of the spear to hit Kazen, causing his attack to fail and made him fall to the floor as he let out a groan.

And the last of Kazen’s moonlight dissipated, as all the Density and Flexibility drained from his body. At the same time, his body expelled bits of earth and flame as they escaped through his pores, which seemed to temporarily widen.

Then, a spear was suddenly pointed at Kazen’s chest, as Richards’s voice echoed through the hall.

“…You’ve lost.”

* * *

Kazen picked up a vase in the corner of his room that seemed to have been recently placed there by Kayleen. He wanted to throw it on the ground in frustration, before he hesitated and slowly put it back.

“…I’m still too weak.”

What went wrong? How could he have done better in the fight?

Kazen was frustrated, not only at the fact that he hadn’t even managed to leave a single injury on Richards, but also at his own combat capabilities.

“…Simply using earth and fire is insufficient.”

He had already noticed this problem when he’d first come up with his style of combat, but now its weaknesses were proving to be glaring to Kazen.

“…If I knew how to, I could’ve used the wind around me somehow. I could have…”

However, he couldn’t think of any other elements he could have used. Earth and air would be always around him, but the lack of fire had proven to be a serious limitation. He realized he’d have to expand on his means of combat in the future, but for now, he decided to calm his emotions first and focus on what he could improve.

He slowly calmed down, and replayed the battle that had occurred in his mind over and over again. He finally started to realize a few issues and areas that he could have done differently.

“Why did I create simple wooden pillars, rather than using sharpened pillars? And I could’ve aimed them at different parts of his body…rather than aiming all of them at his torso. I could have aimed one or two of them at his feet…”

He reflected, and reflected more.

And in his room, he strove to improve himself as he sat in place.

* * *

In his temporary office in the Kiroshi Castle, Richards was filling out a form explaining how he’d destroyed a weapon during a spar, as his mind wandered.

Although Richards’s expression was calm, there were tumultuous waves in his heart as he thought back on the spar he’d had with the Reincarnator, Kazen.

The first surprise was the density of his moonlight. Kazen had only undergone his very first Awakening Ceremony in the Forsaken Continent, and the density and purity of moonlight was already at the standard of a D-Ranked Awakened.

And even putting that aside, although Kazen’s swordsmanship and combat techniques were currently still somewhat lacking, what Richards was still most shocked over was Kazen’s battle instincts.

Isn’t he supposed to be an amateur in battle? Then how…

When he’d first started his training in the army, he remembered having slain the bloodbeasts of the Ancient Forest in one of his expeditions. He had raked up five kills in his first expedition alone, and this had brought him boundless pride.

However, this pride had been shattered when he’d first started his training to fight against other Awakened.

“Why are you looking away from the weapon?! How do you expect to counter an attack you don’t see?! We’re going to continue this training till you finally start facing your enemy’s attacks properly.”

He had only fought against beasts till then, and had been exposed to the reality that fighting against actual, intelligent humans who wielded weapons required more bravery than fighting savage, bloodthirsty beasts, contrary to what he’d expected.

And when he thought back on the final exchange with Kazen, he remembered the moment he had shot forth his spear. Even though he didn’t have any intention of actually attacking Kazen and finishing the attack, he had at least thought that Kazen would have been stunned in place.

However, Kazen had looked straight ahead at the attack that was coming at him, and had even responded immediately. This was still something that Richards couldn’t accept.

Hazef and Aileen seemed to have noticed this as well, and were also surprised. However, there was one aspect of the battle that they hadn’t noticed yet.

Although he hadn’t entered Alethea before, he had heard that those who had done so would have trouble in the first few days adjusting to their newfound body, which generally started off weaker than what they were like in the Forsaken Continent.

This meant a reduction in combat capabilities, and they would have to spend some time acclimatizing to their bodies before they would start fighting. Only those who had an exceptional battle sense would only require three full days to fully adjust to their bodies before they could start hunting.

But Kazen…

It was supposedly his ‘first time’ back in his current body, given the fact that his consciousness had lived in Alethea his entire life.

Even then, hadn’t shown any signs of disharmony in his body when he’d fought, and only his physical strength seemed to have been affected which was clear since he couldn’t initially lift the odachi he wielded.

And it was only his second day back in the Forsaken Continent.