Chapter 9

My name is Reinhardt Stronoff, the third son of a lower noble knight family.

At a young age, I decided to become a knight, blinded by the glamour and honor of the title. Being third in line to the family head, I had little choice but to pursue knighthood, a title reserved for noble children or exceptionally talented peasants.

Sadly, the job wasn't simple. It required years of dedicated training and even basic mastery of mana. Unfortunately, I lacked talent and didn't unlock my aura until I was 32, 14 years late. I wasted no time and began slaying monsters all over the land, a task that soon led to a meeting with the second son of the Duke my house served. It was a terrible meeting.

"Please help me slay the rebels," he requested. A large village, home to many peasant knights, had recently stopped paying their taxes, and not meeting the basic requirements to become a second tier knight I jumped at the chance to become something more than a masterless knight.

I thought it would be simple with 200 troops at my back, all given to me by the Duke's second son, and even two knights who, although not exceptionally talented, were quite experienced.

But things changed when I arrived.

Dilapidated buildings.

Men and women too weak from hunger to move.

Children working to barely scrape by.

It was horrible. Despite this, one of the knights demanded that these starving people pay their taxes in food, weapons, and men.

"We can't, sir knights," a young man said in tears. His father, the previous village chief, had died from starvation after constantly giving his food rations to the children. The knights showed no care and walked away toward the troops we had brought along.

"Sack it," the knights ordered. Without much thought, I stepped forward to stop them. My mind was a mess as the ideals of a knight shattered before my eyes, particularly by a Duke's knight.

"Move," one spoke, but I didn't. We entered into conflict, our blades clashing in a light show of purple, green, and blue as our mana-enhanced weapons and physiques shone. Unfortunately, I was at a disadvantage as the 200 troops proved adept at assisting the knights who worked together to defeat me.

The first fatal injury came when I was blindsided by an officer who drove a spear through my back. This proved beneficial as one of the knights, seeing this as an opening, tried to finish me in one strike. Pushing through the pain, I surged forward, decapitating the knight before he could react.

"Bastard!" the other knight yelled, wasting no time attacking along with the soldiers.

Standing there surrounded, I fought and struggled against the horde of enemies, taking dozens of injuries. As my blade slowed, it took on a weight never before seen. The purple mana around my body shot out, covering the area in a weird field that made the soldiers and even the knights sluggish.

"Impossible! The Gravity element!" The last surviving knight screamed, shocked at seeing my aura. The word "gravity" made me slightly surprised, and I chuckled quietly.

No wonder I could not advance to a two-star knight. I was working with an element that required genius-level talent. It's too bad you can't know your element until you reach the second tier, but judging by how there are still 70 soldiers and one knight left, I'm not making it out of here.

'Then so be it,' I thought, raising my blade to point it upwards as I began to pull the field of gravity mana into my blade. It hummed with power, growing heavier and heavier, and began to glow a neon purple, which darkened with every passing moment, eventually becoming pitch black.

"ARE YOU MAD TO USE SUCH A TECHNIQUE HERE?" The knight screamed, but I could not hear him. My mind was occupied by the fact that I was slowly being killed by a technique I had only heard stories about.

'Osmium's blade.' That was the name of the technique I was unable to see as everything went dark.

"Huh?" Waking up, I was confused. I was in a coffin, surrounded by wilted and dead flowers. The message carved at the top of the coffin surprised my sluggish mind.

[To the Savior of a No-Name Village]

"So I did it, huh," I thought. With little effort, I activated my mana, enhancing my physical abilities to new heights, and broke free from the surprisingly deep grave to emerge in a field. The only thing sticking out was a headstone among the lush green field stretching into the distance.

[One of the Few Heroes Among Tyrants]

That's all the tombstone read. Looking down at my body, covered in stark black armor and draped in a light blue cloak, I saw my most beloved sword strapped to my back in a lovely blue scabbard that matched the cloak.

"Nice clothes, but what happened after I died?" This was an important question. Seeing my hand now without a gauntlet, I was silent as I gazed at the white bone.

"I guess it's time to rest." I was tired. Seeing how old my headstone was, it was far past my time.

I wanted to rest.

"HUH?" Suddenly, when I went to sit near the tombstone, something weird appeared in my vision. Seeing that I could read it, I did. The words on it piqued my interest.

"Someone wishes to become my Lord? How interesting. Maybe I can rest another day. Let's see what he is made of."

With that final thought, I stood straight, unyielding as a beam of light shone down from the high heavens.

Let's see who dares to become the master of me, Reinhardt Stronoff, the Gravity Sword.

- - - - - 

Appearing in a grassy field that seemed to stretch on forever, I was immediately put on high alert by the skeleton in pitch-black armor standing a few dozen meters away. It held a contemplative pose, its soul flames ablaze as it looked me up and down, not even reacting when I readied my axe and activated weakness detection.

"Ugh," I groaned, wincing at the sight of the deep red that covered the knight, quickly understanding the difference between us.

'I'm no match,' I thought, but I didn't retreat. Instead, I stepped forward, my heart beating furiously as I told myself I would not die. Still, my steps trembled with fear.

"Why fear? Will your god not protect you? Or are you so spineless that the mere thought of getting cut is enough to make you run away?" From the helmetless skeleton came a mocking voice that seemed to look down on me.

"Of course, I fear. What do you expect? I only picked up this axe a week ago and have only fought two serious battles." The mocking tone angered me, but after taking a breath, I answered as calmly as possible. My response seemed to surprise the skeleton—or at least I assumed so. It's hard to tell without facial muscles.

"For a newbie, you hold your weapon well; that's something, though your performance was poor. Know this," the death knight said as it finally drew its blade. Its eyes glowed brighter, the soul flame now a pale blue teetering on the edge of burning white.

"You are unable to die, but bravery comes in many forms. True bravery is seeing the dawn and still facing the enemy, uncertain if you will see the sunset. For now, I will just test your blade." With these words, the death knight took its first step forward, its blade drawn as its body emanated a light purple energy.

'No time like the present.' I charged forward, axe raised, but when I blinked, I found myself back in my previous position. The death knight's boisterous laughter rang in my ears.

"Foolish," was all the death knight said as it walked toward me, giving me just enough time to understand that I had just died and been revived by the system. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough time to think of a plan, as the knight, as if teleporting, appeared before me again. Before I could react, I found myself back where I started.

"How boring," the knight's harsh words echoed, but I understood as I focused harder, trying to predict the death knight's moves. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. I died ten more times, the death knight's voice mocking me each time as he made my death swift and clean, with no pain.

TING

Finally, on my sixteenth death, I managed to block one attack from the death knight. Sadly, I then found a massive gauntlet planted into my jaw, instantly destroying my head as I appeared back in place.

'This can't continue,' I thought, my grip on the axe tightening slightly. Instead of charging forward, I opened my status and noticed that my Axemanship proficiency had increased by 2%. This realization made me look at the knight in a new light, as the uncertainty in my body was replaced by an intense greed I never knew existed.

'Maybe I can save the glove for later,' I thought, raising my axe again and charging forward. I died a few more times, occasionally blocking an attack from the death knight. My proficiency teetered on the edge until, on my 25th death, it finally reached 99%.

"You're getting better," the death knight said, beginning its march forward for the 26th time. I soon followed suit, gripping my axe tightly as I moved forward, ready to respond to any of the knight's movements.

TING

Noticing the knight's hand twitch, I quickly raised my axe, barely deflecting the knight's blade. But I didn't celebrate; instead, I braced for the follow-up attack, which came in the form of a kick. It would have landed cleanly if I hadn't jumped back in time. Though the kick still hurt, leaving a big bruise, it didn't do much more damage.

'Damn, that hurts,' I thought, just before a cool sensation washed over my mind, erasing the pain, extinguishing the excitement, and clearing the uncertainty. It was as if everything was becoming clear, but as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone, replaced by a notification from the system:

[Novice Axemanship has become Apprentice Axemanship]

'Nice,' I thought, happy, but I didn't celebrate. With this new ability came a new perspective; everything, from the way the knight held his blade to the way he walked, took on new meaning—a new danger.

"You're different. You seem to have become better, more efficient... Good, maybe I can step it up a bit." The knight's words broke me out of my thoughts. He had noticed my change as well, and his words slightly worrying as I raised my axe ready for his attack.

Sadly, I was not ready for what came next. Like a dark shadow, the skeleton vanished, and as I prepared to defend, I suddenly found I couldn't raise my arms, but when I looked down I found them missing. Before the pain could register, I felt a cold breeze as my head went flying. Once again, I appeared back in place, my confusion immense.

"Hmm maybe that was a bit much, I will avoid using gravity mana from now on" Once again the knight spoke but not bothering to explain he attacked once more though this time I was able to see the attack coming and deflected it begining a new battle as with my improved skill I faced the knight in a much more even manner.

'Even is an exaggeration' I thought barely deflecting the attack that came for my neck, while taking several steps back barely avoiding the blade of the knight who brought the blade back down 3 times quicker.

'That bastard is probably using 1/20th of his power or something,' I thought, attempting an attack. But as usual, my axe didn't connect, and everything went black as I appeared back in place.

"99 deaths and still going nice work maybe your better than expected" The knight said praising me but his words threw me through a loop as I found it weird he was keeping count.

'He seems to care, at least,' was my last thought as I continued my battle with the death knight, who kept his power steady. Time blurred as, with every death, my energy was reset, my exhaustion erased, and my mind reenergized.

"200 deaths," the knight spoke, but I didn't slow down and kept attacking. My axe skill hadn't even reached 40% proficiency, but I didn't feel the slightest bit impatient as I continued battling the knight. His blade grew a bit heavier, a bit faster, but I kept lasting longer and longer.

"Enough." At some point, the death knight stopped his attack, seemingly satisfied with my efforts. Although I never came close to hurting him, my attacks were continuous and constant, never once wavering.

"I have seen your blade. In the future, I shall test your mind," was all he said as I suddenly found myself back inside the farmhouse, thrown off by the abrupt end to the combat.

[You have received 1x Companion Token]

'Time for sleep.' Time didn't seem to have moved; I still had a couple of hours before we had to get up, so with little thought, I went to sleep.