Swordmeister of Rome

Sian recounted to his family where he had been and what he had gone through.

"I thought you just loved to travel."

"Haha…"

Sian smiled bitterly. He had been away from home two times in five years, although it wasn't intended. However, it wasn't only Sian who had changed during those five years.

"Anyway, congratulations on becoming a Grand Bander."

Sian spoke to Rian. He was now a Grand Bander at only thirty-four years old, which was considered quite young. Considering that Stiel had become a Grand Bander at the age of thirty, this was a huge feat.

Rian smiled.

"Yeah… I worked hard and became a Grand Bander last year. I thought about you when I reached the level."

Sian smiled.

'That's fortunate.'

Sian was glad to think that other than that weird superhuman, there was no one who could threaten his family anymore. Rian then asked Sian, "Oh, have you met my children yet?"

"Huh?"

Sian was dumbfounded for a second, then brightened up.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

Sian was excited. His family had been short of children for generations and Rian just said that he had children. That meant there was more than one.

"Let me see them!"

"Yes, yes."

Rian then told his wives to bring the children and they all went separate ways.

"Wow… my nephews and nieces?"

"Do you like babies?" Stiel asked, curious.

"Aren't they cute?"

"Haha. Maybe you might make a good father."

Sian, however, denied it.

"No, I just like looking at them."

"…"

They waited for a while longer, then Sian asked Rian after seeing that his wives weren't returning.

"Why aren't they coming back?"

He thought there was probably one or two, and became curious as all three of Rian's wives weren't returning. Rian spoke embarrassingly.

"Uh… there's more than just a few."

"…Huh?"

Sian was surprised. His family had a lack of children for generations. They barely had one or two at maximum. Even then, one of the two usually died at an early age. It wasn't because they lacked wives. Their family had the power to have many wives if that solved the problem.

It was the first time that two children within the family had grown up normally. But it seemed Rian had much more.

"How many children do you have?"

"Hmm... Kora-duum has two."

"…"

"Veronica only gave birth to one."

"…"

"But Kukraxa had quite a few."

"…how many?"

"Five."

"You have a total of five?"

"No, Kukraxa gave birth to five."

"Uh… haha…"

Sian was dumbfounded as Stiel laughed. Suddenly, kids began running in and started talking to Sian. Stiel glanced at all of them and spoke.

"They are all cute."

"Look at Rian. Didn't you know that daughters are born with their father's looks? They need to thank their father later on."

"Right."

Rian was handsome and his three wives were also very beautiful, so it was normal for their babies to be very cute. An interesting point was that Kukuraxa's children were larger than the other children.

"They must have been born with the Targan race's traits. They grow quickly. I think they become adults at age ten."

"Oh…"

"You're right," Rian answered Stiel's comment while Sian seemed impressed.

"They will all become powerful warriors."

'But none will become like Sian.'

That was what Stiel was looking forward to. The Roman family had given birth to a legend named Sian. If Rian was the father of eight children, there might be a chance of another legend, but it didn't seem to be the case. Besides, not all eight would want to become warriors.

"I respect what path they choose to take."

Sian nodded.

'Yes, my nephews and nieces. You can live in peace without fighting, your uncle will protect this land.'

Sian thought and decided to train beginning tomorrow.

The training ground within Chrotia was a training ground dedicated to the Roman family. Rian and Count Roman were out for work, so it was only Stiel and Sian on the training grounds.

Sian asked Stiel, "Are you going to train too?"

"Yeah. I'm curious as to what you will do. Can I be like you if I copy what you do? Hehe."

"You know it's pointless."

It was pointless to copy what others did at Stiel or Sian's level. It was only important to keep continuing what they had been doing. However, Stiel really was interested in what Sian did to train.

'What kind of training brought him to that state anyway?'

Stiel was now at the stage where Sian had been. She realized how much power he had been holding back when he fought in the Lagran Region. If she were to fight her old self, she was sure she would finish it within a minute.

That was why she was so interested. She wanted to know how Sian got to the same level as herself at only the age of seventeen.

"Well… I just knew what I needed to do back then to become stronger. But I got more options when I got to a new level and thought about applying it to my training."

"What is it?"

Stiel asked back but Sian answered casually, "It's nothing much. I just can fully control what's happening within me. With slight limitations."

"Huh… so, an Alpha can do that?"

Stiel was surprised, but Sian wasn't impressed. It was because it didn't mean much when he fought.

"It doesn't help when fighting."

"Oh."

"But I think I can apply it to my training. I got a hint from the story of Lukra who lives in the Mountain of Extreme."

Lukra, or beings who became powerful as they overcame the threat of death. Sian could not go to the mountain as the path was blocked by Dragona or Chrona. But if he could control himself, he didn't need to go to the Mountain of Extreme.

Stiel couldn't understand. "Is that something only you can do? Can other Alphas do that?"

Sian answered, "I guess they can."

"Then I don't get it."

"What?"

"Didn't we hear that the Lukras went out to hunt Alphas as the mountain was useless to them?"

Sian nodded. "Yes."

"Couldn't they just change their bodies to put themselves in danger, just like what you are trying to do?"

"You can't do that. You can't voluntarily put yourself in danger. Your instincts will stop you."

"…"

"Besides, you know yourself that you will not do it to the point that you will kill yourself. You can't call that a death threat."

"But what about you?"

Sian smiled.

"I have other blood than just the Lukra's."

"Oh…"

"I won't be putting myself in that threat, but it will still help my training. I tried it when we were on the way and it really was effective."

Stiel then remembered what Sian was doing when they were on the way. She figured it was weird as Sian lost his balance from time to time, but it seemed he had been testing it out.

"So, that's what you were doing."

"Yeah, I did it lightly as we were moving, but I'll do it for real this time. However, it will take time."

Sian then began changing his body.

"Hm… I wish we could send a message to Mister Sian about this good news."

Lagaope was saying that it was good news, but his face looked grim. Conrad spoke from behind,

"You will get killed if you send the message."

Lagaope nodded, "Right. But what should I do? Hm… we'll think about it for a while. Besides, he needs a break."

There was no way to go across the land at this time anyway. They needed the Ciculus and Akra at their former levels to collect enough energy to travel.

Lagaope began to think of what he needed to do.