Rylan’s biggest priority was keeping the troll from aiming for the soldiers. Using the Falling Snow Steps, he kept circling the troll and attacking, without committing too much to any blow.

It’s fast, but only when compared to the other troll.

It couldn’t catch up to his speed when using the Steps. The creature crouched and buried its left hand in the ground, filling it with earth. Rylan blinked, jumping to the right as the troll’s left arm tensed up. The monster flung the mass of earth towards him with a roar. It dispersed as it flew, which made avoiding it more difficult. It was clear that the troll’s intent hadn’t been to kill him with that attack.

It's smarter than the other troll, too. Is there some kind of racial variation?

The monster roared, shaking the air. Immediately afterward, it swiped at him with its right arm. He narrowed his eyes.

Falling Snow Steps: Floating.

He jumped over the swipe, pushing his feet against the troll’s arm and moving backward as a result. While he was in mid-air, the troll stepped forward, narrowing the distance between them in a single step. Its arms reached out to Rylan. It was a grab. If it succeeded, this battle would be over. Rylan didn’t have enough strength to free himself from the monster’s grip.

He twisted his body. Just as the claws were about to dig into him and hold him in place, his feet pushed against the lower part of the troll’s hand, shifting his position and increasing the speed of his fall. With another twist, he landed on his feet. He immediately shot forward, grabbing the hilt with both hands. His entire body supported him as he put his full weight into the attack. He slid between the troll’s legs and spun. Once again, his sword cut the back of the troll’s knees. It roared, turning around, only to be met with a thrust to its belly. The blade pierced its skin and muscles, but didn’t go in too deeply. Rylan clicked his tongue.

The troll tried to throw more earth at Rylan, but he exploited their difference in size and speed to avoid the attack by moving between the creature’s legs. His attacks went on unceasingly. He gave the troll no breathing room; it was the bare minimum to defeat an enemy of this size with his current body. Sweat covered his body, but his breathing was stable. He didn’t lose his sense of balance for even a second. The number of wounds on the troll’s lower body quickly increased. Rylan was completely aware of the drain on his mana pool.

Because of its hide, this battle is being extended. My current self can only pierce cleanly through its defense with a Sword Art.

His mana kept circulating, empowering his body, decreasing by the second. He needed to end this. His attacks sped up. The troll’s injuries became deeper. Whenever he could, Rylan attacked the same spots repeatedly, especially the back of the knees. This allowed him to deepen the existing wounds. Stab after stab, the injuries became more serious as he kept aiming for them, creating new injuries on top of them.

It was as if he were dancing. He spun, dashed, ducked, and jumped as needed, not allowing a single attack to hit him. His body wasn’t strong enough to withstand the blows of a creature of this size. His sword was now covered in scarlet, but the troll still held on. Its legs didn’t give out.

It happened at that moment. The troll crouched and clawed at Rylan diagonally. In spite of its size, it meant that it was easy to dodge.

Wrong choice.

He lightly sidestepped, avoiding the swipe completely. The arm stopped in place, then started to move again while the other attempted to grab him. However, because of the difference in size, the movements were clumsy. The troll’s head was too close to the ground. It was the kind of opportunity that he couldn’t miss.

His Mana Core and heart throbbed at the same time as he lowered his center of gravity. His muscles tensed up powerfully, ready to spring to action in an instant. The atmosphere shifted. Air entered Rylan’s lungs sharply.

Stormcaller Sword Style, First Movement: Thunderbolt.

His figure shimmered. The wind made the leaves on the ground drift in the air. He thrust at the troll’s throat; his sword reached its destination in less than a second. Empowered by the vast majority of his mana, the blade pierced through the enemy’s hide cleanly, digging into the middle of its throat all the way to the back of its neck. The troll slid backward, gurgling. The atmosphere shook as the remaining mana within him burned brightly. He grabbed the hilt, which was now covered in blood, with both hands. In a single movement, Rylan pulled the sword out and to the side, dealing major damage to the carotid artery and slicing through everything in the edge’s way. Air and blood gushed out of the wound as pieces of slashed skin and muscle fell.

Rylan felt the strain in his body, but this still wasn’t over. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his strength and slashed the wound he had created as powerfully as he could, widening it and cutting as many blood vessels as possible. The troll dropped to the ground, toppled over, unable to even snarl or roar. Soon, it stopped breathing. A single message appeared in front of him.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

[You have reached Level 17.]

Letting out a breath, he wiped his sword, cleaning the blade with his shirt before sheathing it. He turned around, looking at the soldiers and Sarah. All of them, even Scott, looked shocked. Daniel mumbled.

“…Holy shit.”

Scott stepped forward with shining eyes.

“Master! What was that last attack? I’ve never seen a sword move so fast!”

Rylan grinned.

“It’s something that you might be able to achieve after a lot of training. Don’t worry about it for now.”

He heard one of the soldiers speak to the others.

“How the fuck can he fight like that? Wasn’t he a wastrel? I know he’s helping us, but—”

Jack turned to him with a frown and replied.

“After everything he’s shown us, hasn’t it become obvious that the lord trained as hard as a human can for a long time while in hiding? He must have had his reasons to pretend to be a good-for-nothing.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow with a confused expression. She was the one who knew Rylan the most. She was perfectly aware that he hadn’t trained at all. He had almost run out of excuses to tell her.

Next time, I should have her stay at the estate. I won’t be able to explain anything moving forward.

Then, Jack took a step forward and bowed, speaking.

“Incredible work, my lord.”

Rylan could identify the excitement in his voice. He walked closer to the soldiers as he spoke.

“It’s a level that can be reached. It’s good to be cautious, but don’t hesitate too much, Jack.”

“Yes!”

Even though Jack was the most talented out of the soldiers, he was only decisive when in battle. He needed to stop doubting himself when training. On that note, Scott was better. The man fully trusted and believed in Rylan’s abilities, accepting his words and trying his hardest unconditionally. If Jack could learn from Scott, he would improve much faster. Rylan understood why Scott was the second-in-command. He turned to the others.

“All of you did well. Your performance will improve with enough experience and training. Good work, everyone.”

The soldiers smiled, tapping one another on the shoulder. The twins shared a fist bump, while Scott and Jack shook hands, grinning. Rylan stretched his body.

“Now, let’s stay here for a bit. I’m tired.”

Using a single Sword Art was still taxing on his body; he needed rest. At the same time, he hadn’t forgotten that he would need to deal with Evenon when he returned to the city. Returning in his current state would be the same as needlessly putting himself in danger. There was no harm in staying behind for an hour or so to recover. At the very least, he needed to recover his mana enough to use a Sword Art and the Falling Snow Steps, in case things went south.

Rylan leaned on a nearby tree, closing his eyes as he spoke.

“Keep an eye out for other enemies. If anything looks out of place, yell.”

Jack replied.

“Yes, sir!”

Rylan let his focus turn inwards, leaving a sliver of his awareness concentrated on the outside world. He absorbed the mana around him, recovering as fast as he could.

The size of my mana pool has expanded due to the Level ups.

Since his Class was still Mage, his Wisdom and Intelligence rose automatically with every Level up. Wisdom, in particular, affected his mana reserves, while Intelligence was related to the magnitude of his mana circulation. Of course, to a normal Mage, Intelligence determined the power of their spells.

Since the two stats increased every time he Leveled up, his Free Points were better spent strengthening his body, which was still lacking. Ideally, it would be best to train his body to its limits and only then spend his Free Points, but his current circumstances didn’t allow for that. At the very least, he had managed to improve his condition after training with the soldiers for the past month. He was definitely making progress.

Leveling up still grants me the biggest immediate power boost.

Undertaking quests with the soldiers wasn’t done only for their sake; it was also the fastest way to develop his personal power. He only needed to keep it up. The biggest obstacle to the smooth development of his strength was, naturally, Evenon. The man wouldn’t be willing to let Rylan go, since he was his greatest customer, and Rylan still needed to take back the staff.

Now that the City Guard was making moves because of the information he’d given them, evidence of Evenon’s crimes would surface eventually. The man knew how to cover his tracks well, which was why it was taking so long, but Rylan was familiar with nearly every one of his illegal businesses. He could provide accurate information and slowly tighten the noose around Evenon’s neck. The City Guard wasn’t composed of a bunch of fools. They knew what to do with the information he’d given them, especially since they had been trying to build a case against Evenon for years. He frowned.

However, Evenon won’t take this lying down.

Even though he had been mostly focused on his training, Sarah had still brought him some news about what was going on in the city. Evenon’s organization had already started causing trouble in different parts of Cantavega, dividing the City Guard’s attention and efforts. He knew that there was no way that this was Evenon’s only way to retaliate. Most of Evenon’s plans were kept under the surface.

If I were him, what would I do?

There were two things Evenon needed to worry about. The first was minimizing the damage of the investigation on his businesses, and the second was to find out who had given the City Guard information. It was almost certain that Evenon would want to talk to him about this when he returned to the town. To succeed, Rylan needed to know what to say not to get caught. He thought about it with his eyes closed, in silence.

The soldiers surrounded the tree Rylan was leaning against, each surveying a different direction, with swords in hand. Time passed by slowly. None of the soldiers sat down or became careless. Rylan could hear the distant chirping of birds, which had stopped during the fights against the trolls.

By the end of the second hour, he opened his eyes, having recovered about 80% of his mana. This would do. He stopped leaning against the tree and spoke.

“I’m done. Let’s go.”

The soldiers stretched their bodies, gathered up, and looked at him with questioning gazes. A few let out deep breaths. Jack spoke.

“Are you sure, my lord? There would be no problem if you rested more. A troll is a worthy foe.”

Rylan waved his hand.

“Yes, I’m sure. Let’s go back to the city.”

Scott replied readily.

“You all heard the master.”

Scratching the back of their heads, the soldiers followed Rylan, setting out. There was no need to explain that he had been recovering his mana; it would only result in questions about why his mana had been spent when he fought physically.

The party started making their way back to Cantavega.