The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 7

…….

“Ugh.”

“Ugh…”

Thud.

The apprentice knights, named Hobs and Pascal, collapsed shortly after facing Aden.

After giving them some advice, Aden dismissed them.

Now, Aden and Lowe stood facing each other, gripping their swords.

“Everyone else was pathetic. I hope you’re different, Lowe.”

“I will meet your expectations.”

Lowe’s face was filled with determination.

Having seen his peers fall, he realized that Aden was no weak opponent.

A moment later, the sparring began.

Clang!

Aden’s sword clashed with Lowe’s.

A tingling numbness ran through Aden’s grip.

Aden smiled.

‘As expected of a Free Knight. Even as a novice, he’s no pushover.’

The weight was there.

Both the power and speed of his sword surpassed those of the previous opponents.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They exchanged a few blows.

When they both stepped back to create some distance, a brief lull ensued.

Lowe’s face showed signs of admiration and surprise.

Although he had seen Aden’s strength and his victories over their peers, he had not expected him to be this skilled.

Aden spoke to Lowe.

“I like how you try to cover your weaknesses.”

Clearly, Lowe was forcibly moving his difficult-to-use right arm through intense training and had trained his left arm rigorously, strengthening it with mana.

‘But that’s all there is to it.’

The sharp and quick swordsmanship of the Free Knight from the future was not there.

Aden adjusted his grip on his sword.

He switched the longsword from his right hand to his left and put his right hand behind his back as if tying it.

“From now on, I’ll fight like this.”

Lowe’s expression twisted.

“Are you mocking me?”

Was he being looked down upon because he was an apprentice knight with a crippled right arm?

However, Lowe’s anger subsided when he saw Aden’s eyes.

He wasn’t looking at him with mocking eyes.

“Stop talking and come at me.”

Just an arrogant gaze looking down on him.

Lowe didn’t like that gaze for some reason.

Haah!

Lowe charged.

His sword aimed at Aden’s shoulder.

In that instant, Aden disappeared from sight.

“…!”

Then, suddenly, Aden’s sword was aiming at Lowe’s side.

Lowe instinctively parried the sword while twisting his body, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Lowe, having created some distance, looked visibly shocked.

“How…?”

Lowe felt a chill down his spine.

It seemed as if Aden had vanished and then appeared beside him to launch an attack.

Aden silently chuckled to himself.

“You must have a hard time using one of your arms.”

Aden continued.

“But you still have two perfectly fine legs.”

The fundamental aspect of all martial arts.

“Footwork.”

The secret behind Aden’s extraordinary movement was footwork.

Although it was a basic skill, often overlooked because it existed to support swordsmanship, it remained an essential foundation.

What Aden had just used was the footwork Lowe would develop and use in the future.

If he were to name it, it would be the “Lowe Footwork.”

The Lowe Footwork made it seem as though you were about to attack directly, only to evade to the side at the last moment, and just when your opponent thought they had countered your surprise attack, you would have already retreated.

Finding it difficult to execute continuous attacks due to one arm?

Then, dodge first and strike at the opportune moment.

If that single strike failed?

Keep dodging and attack again.

Dodge like a fly and sting like a bee.

That was the method favored by Lowe, the agile one-armed knight.

It didn’t match the ideals of knights who pursued elegant and noble swordsmanship, but rather suited the style of a mercenary.

‘Yet, despite that, he was still called a Free Knight. What a funny guy.’

However, the Lowe Footwork had the disadvantage of requiring considerable leg muscle strength.

‘Damn it. My legs are trembling after using it just once.’

Although he had built his body with much effort and money, he was still no match for knights who had trained with swords day and night for years.

For Aden’s current skills, he barely managed to execute the footwork at the cutoff level.

Aden maintained a composed expression, enduring the exhaustion.

It would hurt his pride to show weakness in front of that annoying guy.

Meanwhile, unaware of Aden’s thoughts, Lowe kept pondering Aden’s words.

‘Footwork…’

It was something he had never considered before.

Thump.

Lowe felt his heart race.

He had been fixated on correcting the delay in his swordsmanship connections.

But what Aden showed him was a clue leading to a new path.

Aden had promised to fix his arm.

He still believed those words.

No, after sparring with Aden, he trusted him even more.

But what if he could move like Aden?

Even if his arm never healed, he might still manage to live as a knight.

Lowe shivered with realization.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and start again.”

Aden urged Lowe, looking at him.

Only then did Lowe snap back to reality and adjust his grip on his sword.

“Yes!”

Lowe’s eyes blazed with motivation and fervor.

—

Aden summoned two or three apprentice knights in order of their weakness every day at noon.

Their reactions were always the same when called.

-Although the last guy lost to the Young Master, I’m stronger than the ones who lost before.

-The Platinum Coin will be mine!

They came to Aden brimming with confidence.

“Young Master! Let’s begin the sparring!”

They were no different from the other apprentice knights.

The sparring, which began with such confidence, always ended in the same pattern.

Thunk!

Aden’s practice sword would be at their throats.

They would lose, their faces filled with disbelief, shock, and confusion.

“How… again?”

Bazan, who had lost to Aden previously, was once again defeated with the same expression as the others.

Aden ignored Bazan and checked his own condition.

‘Is it because I’m young? My growth is faster than I expected.’

Adding sparring with Lowe and the apprentice knights to his routine, in addition to his usual scarecrow training and consuming poisonous herbs, had accelerated his physical development.

It had only been barely two weeks.

Although eighteen wasn’t exactly young, Aden was mentally around thirty-six years old in his past life.

While the system’s achievement effects allowed him to wield absurd strength, physical development was hard to expect at that age.

But now, his young body was developing rapidly, making the progress more noticeable.

‘The apprentice knights were too weak. Was it because I sparred with Lowe?’

Since that day, Aden taught Lowe footwork every morning and sparred with him until he was completely exhausted.

Borrowing an apprentice knight was easy, just as Aden expected.

Since Lowe actively wanted it, the Duke readily agreed.

It was certainly more effective than a scarecrow.

Although Lowe’s weak durability made him collapse quickly, the experience was worth it.

‘The satisfaction of thoroughly crushing that annoying guy… No, that’s not it.’

Aden shook his head to clear his straying thoughts.

After sparring with all the apprentice knights once, Aden found that they were all weaker than him.

While they might have greater physical strength and stamina, Aden had more experience, skill, and technique in swordsmanship.

And now he had the stamina equivalent to an apprentice knight.

‘It’s time to move on to the next step.’

After the apprentice knights, the next target was the knights.

—

Aden was on his way to the training grounds where the knights practiced.

He encountered a few apprentice knights who greeted him.

“Young Master, hello!”

“I heard you defeated Bazan again! Amazing!”

“Ah, Aden! Are you heading to the training grounds? I’ll accompany you!”

The previous discomfort the apprentice knights had towards Aden was nowhere to be seen.

“Young Master, following your advice has made my training easier! Thank you!”

“Really?”

Having lost to Aden once, they submitted to him, and each time, Aden would casually throw out advice to the apprentice knights.

Following his advice, they quickly saw improvement and felt genuinely impressed by Aden.

Upon arriving at the training grounds, Aden was about to call out knights in order of their weakness, similar to the apprentice knights.

But someone approached him first.

It was his younger brother, Carl.

Carl glared at Aden and spoke.

“Let’s spar, brother.”

—

A commotion broke out in the training grounds where the knights practiced.

Unexpectedly, a spar between the Duke’s eldest and second sons, Aden and Carl, was announced.

Not only the knights and apprentice knights but also a few servants gathered to watch the brothers’ spar.

As Aden stood facing Carl in the training grounds, he thought.

‘This is a bit unexpected.’

He didn’t know why Carl requested a spar first.

But Aden had no reason to refuse.

Although Carl was not the weakest among the knights, he was still in the lower ranks due to his young age, making him a suitable opponent.

Carl glared at Aden and spoke as if in anger.

“Don’t treat me like those apprentice knights, brother.”

Carl’s tone conveyed that being compared to an apprentice knight was an insult.

He was right.

The Bazan that Aden defeated was merely an apprentice knight, a trainee knight.

Carl, standing before him now, was a knight.

A single word made a significant difference.

Knights were skilled practitioners who had mastered the basics of mana enhancement.

They couldn’t be compared to apprentice knights who had just started learning mana.

Aden spoke calmly to Carl.

“That’s for me to decide. You wanted this spar, so let’s start.”

Carl’s expression soured at Aden’s relaxed demeanor.

Just like with the apprentice knights, Aden and Carl stood in the center

of the training grounds facing each other.

The knights gathered around to watch the spar.

It looked much like when Aden had first faced the apprentice knight Bazan two months ago.

But there was a slight difference.

“Young Master! Good luck!”

“Go, Aden!”

Most of the apprentice knights had gathered to cheer for Aden.

They fervently wished for his victory.

The apprentice knights harbored some resentment towards Carl.

‘He mocked us for losing, calling us weaker than puppies.’

‘Always bragging about our lack of perseverance!’

‘He should taste defeat too!’

Their united support stemmed from a shared spite.

“Hey, Lowe. What are you doing? Join us in cheering!”

“No need. It’s unnecessary.”

“What?”

Seeing his colleague nudging him, Lowe replied as if it was obvious.

“Aden will win anyway.”

Lowe simply watched Aden with a trusting smile.

Carl’s face twisted at the sight of the apprentice knights.

Seeing this, Aden finally understood something.

‘Is he wary of me?’

Aden was the eldest son of the Duke.

By default, the inheritance rights would go to the eldest son unless something unusual happened.

Even if the original Aden Remes lived recklessly, losing his inheritance rights would have been difficult.

But now, apprentice knights, a kind of support group, began to form around Aden.

Even if it was a weak support group, it was still a form of support.

It wasn’t strange for Carl, who held the inheritance rights, to be wary of this.

Perhaps he wanted to stop this momentum by defeating Aden in front of the apprentice knights.

‘Childish.’

Like a child growling because someone looked at his tasty snack.

Even though Aden had no such intentions.

A senior knight scolded the apprentice knights.

“You lot! If you’re not training, keep quiet!”

The commotion settled down, and the spar began.

Whoosh!

Carl kicked off the ground, closing the distance in an instant.

He drew mana from the core in his chest, maximizing his strength.

‘I’ll end this quickly!’

He had to defeat Aden decisively to make the apprentice knights submit.

They were getting too full of themselves.

‘Brother Aden, you should have remained a scoundrel.’

Brother was a scoundrel who lived recklessly, worse than a bug.

He, on the other hand, was the perfect successor to the Duke’s family.

That was the unchanging truth.

But after Brother Aden recovered from his illness, he changed.

He started wielding a sword.

Gathered ominous poisons.

And subdued the apprentice knights, holding them in his insignificant grasp.

So, he had to trample him and make it clear.

That he was the true successor of the Duke’s family.

Carl’s sword slashed towards Aden.

Swoosh!

It was a blow aimed to knock Aden’s sword away.

Clang.

But Carl’s strike was blocked.

“Huh?”

Aden had easily parried the attack with his sword.

He hadn’t deflected it but withstood it.

‘How?’

The strike had at least several times the strength of an apprentice knight’s blow.

But he withstood it?

“If a knight’s sword is only this much, you should return to being an apprentice knight, Carl.”

Carl heard Aden’s calm voice.

Clang!

Aden pushed Carl’s sword away.

Then, Aden swung his sword.

At an incredibly fast speed.

“…!”

Startled, Carl reflexively raised his sword to defend.

Clang!

When he blocked Aden’s sword, his arms went numb, and his eyes widened.

‘What is this…?’

It was a strength that Aden’s body, especially with his physical build, couldn’t produce.

‘Could it be…?’

Carl quickly looked at Aden’s body.

Then he noticed something he hadn’t focused on earlier.

A faint aura of mana shimmered around Aden’s body, visible to Carl’s mana sensitivity.

The aura of a proficient user of mana enhancement.

A power achievable only after years of intense training.

But that power was emanating from his brother, who had trained for barely three months!

‘No, it’s not just that.’

Hum.

Aden’s sword trembled slightly, producing a strange sound.

Carl’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

“The state of sword resonance?”

Sword resonance, also known as Sword Howling.

A phenomenon where the wielder begins to infuse their weapon with mana, beyond just body enhancement.

Sword resonance itself wasn’t extraordinary; most veteran knights could achieve it.

The issue was that it was happening in his brother’s hands.

“What are you standing there for?”

Aden spoke indifferently to Carl, then smiled slyly.

“If you don’t come, I’ll go to you.”