Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 258

Chapter 258

“Remarkable.”

Arthur was genuinely surprised as he unfolded Wolfgang’s certificate that Zeke had brought.

Even Arthur hadn’t expected Zeke to receive Wolfgang Valdek’s acknowledgment so quickly.

Having known Wolfgang since childhood, Arthur was well aware that despite his outwardly generous appearance, he was actually quite narrow-minded.

He must have given an impossible test, yet Zeke passed it in just two weeks and proudly brought the certificate before him.

Arthur put down the certificate and said to Zeke.

“Congratulations. Zeke, you now qualify to become a senior knight.”

A Draker family senior knight gains powerful authority.

From the command authority to mobilize Draker’s forces stationed across the continent, to immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed within the Central Continent – numerous benefits and privileges are granted.

But among the many senior knight privileges, Zeke wanted just one.

‘The right to establish a knightly order.’

As a senior knight, Zeke could now officially register his Black Sword Knights as a formal order.

This would allow the Black Sword Knights to be recognized as an official Draker knightly order rather than just a private military group.

For Zeke, who was in opposition to Abel’s faction, having a larger force would be increasingly advantageous.

Arthur spoke to Zeke.

“I’ll prepare for the appointment ceremony to be held in a few days, so stay in Atlas until it’s over. Ah, and.”

He handed an envelope to Zeke.

“What is this?”

“Draker senior knights are given the opportunity to learn one special technique. Well, you’ve already learned Duke’s Wind technique, but it doesn’t hurt to learn more. This is a list of those who want to teach you their special technique, look it over and choose one.”

Zeke opened the envelope Arthur handed him and examined it.

Surprisingly, it contained details of over ten prestigious knights, along with their lineage of adapted techniques and characteristics of their true mountain techniques.

Arthur smirked as he watched.

“Actually, there were twice as many applicants, but I filtered them down.”

Special techniques were secret skills that referred to adapted forms containing the insights of knights ranked Red or higher.

Such secret skills weren’t something everyone could learn just by being taught.

Without sufficient talent and effort, one couldn’t properly master them no matter how much they were taught. Because of this, knights who had reached a certain level were desperate for talented individuals.

As such, everyone was interested in Zeke Draker, seeing him as a once-in-a-millennium talent who could not only learn true mountain techniques but develop them further.

As Zeke was looking through the names of renowned knights from across the continent, he spotted one unusual name.

‘Who is this person?’

Luther Gemben.

Someone who made it onto the list proudly despite not bearing the Draker name.

Zeke felt like he had heard the name Luther Gemben somewhere before.

He soon found his name in his past life memories.

‘Could it be the Mage Slayer?’

In his past life, when the Draker family fell to Abel’s hands during the Continental War, quite a few knights defected from the family, centered around Helen.

And after the defection, the Draker rebels who were holding out in Troy scattered again after the death of Helen, the Steel Knight.

At that time, one of the former rebels conducted guerrilla warfare and hunted down Imperial troops until the end of the war ,that was the one known as the ‘Mage Slayer’.

The Mage Slayer mainly targeted the Empire’s magic battalions, and the number of high-ranking mages who died by his hands alone numbered in the hundreds.

The damage was so severe that the Imperial army devoted all their efforts to catching him, but in the end he was caught by Imperial Black Knights and met his end, being publicly executed in the ruins of Atlas Square.

His identity was revealed at the same time, he was Luther Gemben, a knight of the Draker family.

Since he hadn’t been particularly renowned before, some speculated that he must have been a Black Knight hiding his true abilities.

Seeing Luther Gemben’s name on the list, Zeke thought that speculation might be correct.

‘How he managed to break through strict security and kill high-ranking mages was never revealed.’

Zeke became interested in the person called Luther Gemben.

Though the list contained many excellent special techniques, Zeke wasn’t particularly tempted. He had already created the Black Sword technique, so developing that further was more important.

Going forward, he would need to fight against Narak and face stronger mages, so he needed to learn combat methods suitable for that.

Zeke put down the list and looked at Arthur as he spoke.

“I would like to receive Sir Luther Gemben’s special technique.”

Arthur’s eyebrows twitched at Zeke’s choice.

“Once this is decided, it cannot be changed. Are you sure you want to choose Sir Luther Gemben?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Arthur made a peculiar expression at Zeke’s words.

He had included Luther Gemben’s name just in case, but hadn’t expected Zeke to actually choose him.

‘Zeke Draker and Luther Gemben. How very interesting.’

He stood up and said.

“After the appointment ceremony, there will be instructions regarding the special technique transfer procedure. You’ll receive contact from the person in charge, just follow their directions.”

“Understood, Head of Family.”

Just as Zeke stood up to bow and was about to leave the office.

“Zeke, have you ever heard about the Grand Duke of the North?”

Zeke was taken aback by Arthur’s sudden question.

‘Why is he suddenly asking about the Grand Duke of the North?’

Zeke nodded with the most composed expression he could manage.

“I’ve previously heard about Himonas from Sir Golin. Though I don’t know much in detail, just what I briefly heard.”

At his answer, Arthur spread out a large map on the desk and pointed to the region where Himonas was located.

“The ruler of Himonas was long called the King of the North. That ruler changed last year.”

He tapped his finger on the name Himonas.

“A girl around your age ascended to the position of Grand Duke of the North. I’ve been watching to see how she would survive among the greedy northern lords, and something very interesting happened.”

There’s a saying that nothing happens in this continent that the head of the Draker family doesn’t know about.

And that range included the Northern Continent as well.

Arthur made an interested expression as he looked at Himonas and the surrounding northern territories.

“How do you think the new Grand Duke dealt with the northern lords who had lived several times longer than her?”

In fact, Zeke already knew the answer.

‘She eliminated them all.’

Arthur spoke before Zeke could answer.

“She invited all the northern lords to her castle and held a banquet. The rough and foolish lords eagerly rushed there, intending to tear apart the young Grand Duke. They wanted to take this opportunity to seize Himonas and become the King of the North themselves. But the result was exactly the opposite.”

Arthur Draker spoke with an expression like a child who had received a new toy.

“The Grand Duke of the North killed all the northern lords. She didn’t use any schemes either. She challenged the lords to one-on-one duels and took their heads in fair combat. Very cleanly, at that.”

Her image vividly appeared in Zeke’s mind.

He had always stood behind her.

Behind the fierce wolf-like Grand Duke of the North who charged toward enemies, Zeke had constantly swung his sword to prevent enemies from approaching.

Zeke silently recited her name in his mind.

‘Alicia.’

At the same time, Arthur also mentioned the Grand Duke’s name.

“Alicia Himonas. Zeke, remember this name well. That young wolf will one day grow as mighty as Fenrir, the Wolf King who raised the Hero King.”

Zeke deliberately buried Alicia’s name in his heart as he nodded.

“Understood, Head of Family.”

Only after that did he bow to Arthur and leave the office.

Zeke returned to the mansion while suppressing the memories of his past life that kept surfacing.

Upon arriving at the mansion, there were familiar faces he hadn’t seen in a while.

It was Andrei and Aul.

They had said they would visit the mansion often to learn swordsmanship from Duke, and today seemed to be one of those days.

Aul offered his hand to Zeke with a welcoming expression.

“Sir Zeke. It’s been a while.”

“It has been a while, Sir Aul.”

Andrei, who was standing beside him, bowed his head to Zeke and said.

“I heard from Duke. That you passed the senior knight test. Congratulations, Sir Zeke.”

Andrei immediately raised his manner of speech and took a respectful attitude as Zeke became his senior.

“Sir Andrei. Thank you. Please speak comfortably as before. I still have much to learn. By the way, where has Master gone?”

Aul answered Zeke’s question.

“He went out to see the Sword King.”

“You mean Lord Bernas?”

Andrei nodded his head.

“I heard they’ve had exchanges from before. Did you not know?”

Zeke shook his head.

“Master never specifically mentioned anything about Lord Bernas.”

Just as he was about to wrap up the conversation since Duke wasn’t there either, Zeke remembered the sword he took from Hook when he saw the Eastern-style curved sword Aul was wearing.

“Lord Aul. There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

When Aul nodded as if telling him to speak, Zeke pulled out the Eastern Empire-style sword he took from Hook.

“Have you ever seen a sword like this before?”

Aul took the sword Zeke handed over and examined it from various angles.

Then he soon nodded.

“This is a magic sword from the East.”

“Yes. Originally, an evil spirit was sealed within it.”

Zeke drew the sword and summoned the sealing chains.

CHWARAARAK!

Black chains immediately shot out from the sword.

Andrei, who was standing nearby, looked at the chains with curiosity.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a magic sword since magic defense training.”

Magic artifacts themselves were rare, and Draker knights had a strange aversion to magic, so they rarely encountered magic swords.

Moreover, unless it was a unique item like the Red Dragon Sword that Abel used, Aura-enhanced swords were much more powerful, making them expensive but not very useful.

Rather than strengthening a sword with magic, it was more efficient to have several sturdy swords or wear good armor.

Aul showed a slightly surprised expression when he saw the black chains that shot out from the sword.

A man more wooden than wood itself – the fact that Aul Draker, the Wooden Sword, showed this much change in expression meant he was truly surprised.

“This is a very precious magic sword, where did you get it?”

“I got it while eliminating pirates.”

Aul nodded at the mention of pirates.

“Unlike the curved sword I use, this sword was made in the Muruk Empire style.”

“Is it different from your sword, Lord Aul?”

Aul drew his sword to show it while speaking.

“This curved sword was made in the era before the current Muruk Empire. In our terms, it would be around the Hero King era.”

“That’s amazing. Is this curved sword also a magic sword? The blade hasn’t deteriorated at all for such an old sword.”

“Ancient Eastern curved swords are treated as precious weapons because their blades never dull no matter how much time passes and they have excellent durability. I also obtained this sword by chance.”

“So this magic sword was made differently from your curved sword, Lord Aul.”

“In my opinion… this isn’t an ordinary sword, but rather one that successors used in sealing rituals.”

“You mean the successors from the Eastern continent?”

“Yes. I heard that successors seal evil spirits in swords and control their power to use it. I’ve heard that sometimes some of these swords appear at Dorta auctions, and it seems pirates attacked one of them.”

Since Hook was a great pirate, it wouldn’t be strange if he targeted ships headed for the Dorta auction house.

Looking at the sealing chains extending from the sword, Zeke said.

“So these chains serve the role of sealing the spirit.”

“That’s highly likely.”

“Do you know anything about these chains?”

After thinking for a while, Aul spoke.

“When I was stationed in the Dorta Principality before, I heard a similar story from an Eastern successor I had exchanges with.”

He continued speaking while looking at the sword.

“Among Eastern magical weapons, there are specially crafted ones that contain power meant to capture things that can’t be seen or touched.”

Zeke recalled how the chains from the sword had captured Jini.

‘I guess when I sealed Arataso in the Cloud Iron Sword with soul sealing technique, it was a similar principle.’

Zeke thought that the soul sealing technique left behind by Terakan Draker might have come from the Eastern continent.

Then Aul, who had briefly paused speaking, continued.

“To create such weapons, you need to go through quite complex procedures, and among them, there’s something that’s absolutely necessary.”

“What is that?”

Aul closed his mouth for a moment, then slowly opened it.

“They said you need the power of a dragon.”

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