Chapter 16 - My Boyfriend Has Talent, Doesn't He?

A crack had appeared in the wooden sword that had looked perfectly sound just moments ago. Cracking a mere wooden sword with the Dragon Bone Sword would hardly be difficult, but it was another matter when the one holding that wooden sword was a dragon.

"Shouldn't you change swords?"

"No need. Let's keep going until this one breaks."

The sword was damaged, but the test wasn't over. Though the wooden sword looked ready to snap at any moment, Rokan showed no sign of stopping. Quite the opposite.

"From now on, I'll use my sword too."

"What?"

He'd said he wouldn't attack at first, but apparently he'd changed his mind. Rokan adjusted his grip on the cracked wooden sword and shifted his stance.

"Don't worry. You won't die."

Rokan looked as relaxed as if he'd stepped out for a stroll. Before I could answer, he leisurely closed the distance and aimed at my upper body. Luckily, he wasn't moving very fast, so I thought I could block him. I was wrong. The wooden sword changed course in an instant and struck my ankle.

"Aagh!"

I winced as pain shot through it.

"What a fuss."

Rokan smiled kindly, but the attacks that followed were anything but gentle. His wooden sword abruptly changed direction and struck my right shoulder, the impact making me lose my grip on my sword for an instant. In a real fight, that would have settled it.

I quickly snatched up my fallen sword and tried to steady myself. Calm down. Stay calm. All I had to do was break that wooden sword. But the moment I thought I should break it as quickly as possible, I shook my head.

'That'll only backfire.'

What mattered in wielding a dragon's power was the will to dominate. I couldn't swing my sword with nothing but the thought of breaking his. To use that power properly, I had to draw it out with the conviction that I could dominate anything.

Ignoring the pain, I began closing the distance instead of retreating. I focused not on breaking his sword, but on subduing and dominating my opponent. I boldly drove my sword toward Rokan's heart with all my strength.

Rokan moved at an unbelievable speed to block it, but my blade had already pierced his wooden sword. The instant it did, the sword in his hand shattered into pieces too small to recognize.

"That's it."

Aiming at his heart could have been dangerous, but Rokan only smiled. He swept aside the fragments of the shattered sword with his foot, then gave my shoulder a light, approving pat.

"Now that I've seen your talent, it's time we had a more serious talk."

No sooner had he spoken than the scenery changed again. One moment we'd been in the field; in the blink of an eye, we were back in the study.

"Sit."

As soon as I sat down, Rokan served tea. Its rich aroma was unfamiliar, but pleasant. I savored the scent and took an awkward sip.

"Is it to your taste?"

"Yes."

I didn't know what kind of tea it was, but I liked it well enough.

"Judging your swordsmanship alone, you were decidedly below par. I could read every move, and your form when you swung was terrible. Frankly, I'd be hard-pressed to name a single thing you did well."

I didn't feel wronged or angry. Without the Dragon Bone Sword, I really was just another unremarkable D-rank hunter.

"But that isn't a problem for you, at least. Becoming a Swordmaster isn't your goal, after all."

Rokan took a sip of tea before continuing.

"You can wield the power of our kind better than any other human."

"... What?"

"Swordmasters, even an emperor who united the continent—I haven't seen a human with as much talent as you in thousands of years."

I could hardly believe it. Sia had told me before that I had talent, so I'd known that much, but... was it really to that extent? Me, a mere D-rank hunter?

I couldn't hide my delight at Rokan's lavish praise. I already wanted to boast to Sia that her grandfather had complimented me like this, and that as long as I worked hard, everything would be fine.

But what he said next went far beyond anything I'd expected.

"Ironically, it's precisely because of that talent that you and my Shasha have no choice but to live apart." "What?"

His unexpected words left me reeling. So the reason Sia and I had to stay apart wasn't just her immense power... it was also this talent I hadn't even known I possessed?

"Could you perhaps... tell me more?"

"I can't tell you now. When the time comes, I will."

Rokan was so firm that I couldn't bring myself to beg him. All I could do was nod, my face stiff.

"It's far too dangerous for you to know right now, so don't be too disappointed."

"I'm not disappointed at all. I was just curious."

"It's written all over your face."

I'd worried things might turn awkward, but thankfully Rokan's joke restored the mood. As a slight smile touched my lips, he returned to the subject.

"Let's get back to your talent. Minjun, where do you think the power of our kind comes from?"

The source of a dragon's power? I'd only recently learned dragons actually existed. How was I supposed to know? Still, if I had to guess...

"The desire to dominate?"

My answer was part guesswork, part experience with the Dragon Bone Sword.

"Dominion isn't wrong, but something even more important is the will. The desire to dominate is itself a kind of will."

"The will..."

"Then what form do you think a dragon's will takes when it manifests?"

Could something as abstract as will actually manifest? My mind couldn't grasp it, but the answer came instinctively to my lips.

"Dragon speech."

"Yes, exactly. Every dragon can at least imitate dragon speech, even a hatchling not yet ten years old, though it can't use it properly."

The more I heard, the more astonishing the world of dragons seemed. Even a young hatchling, practically a newborn by dragon standards, could use dragon speech.

"If you're to be recognized as a dragon, you'll need to be able to use at least dragon speech."

I already knew my ultimate goal was to master a dragon's power completely. But I hadn't imagined dragon speech would come up right at the start. I'd thought I'd learn it after I'd had some training.

"Because it's the foundation."

While I sat stunned by his unexpected answer, Rokan continued as though he'd read my mind. I didn't know much about it, but surely using dragon speech in a human body couldn't be easy. I already felt sick with worry. Could I really use dragon speech as a human? Could I cast spells like Teleport through sheer will, without chanting or complex calculations? It might be different if I were a mage, but I was a swordsman.

"Don't rush. We'll start with the basics and take it step by step. Your first goal will be to use dragon speech, however imperfectly, by borrowing that sword's power."

"However imperfectly...?"

"Succeed in using dragon speech just once."

Even if I couldn't use it at will, it would count as success if I managed it once after dozens—no, hundreds—of attempts.

"After that, you'll train to use dragon speech without borrowing the sword's power. Once in thousands of attempts will do. Even if all you manage with it is a gentle breeze, that's fine."

Rokan added that I only needed to find my mark once. Then I would learn to use dragon speech fully with the sword's power, and finally to use it without the sword. That was the curriculum he'd devised just for me.

"I've lived for just under ten thousand years, but this is my first time teaching a human to use dragon speech. It certainly won't be easy, but I'm pleased to have found an interesting pastime in my old age."

He called it a pastime, but it hardly seemed small enough to deserve the word.

"For you, though, this is something you'll have to stake your entire life on, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"So I won't treat teaching you as a pastime, either. Not for your sake, but for mine—and most of all, for my Shasha's."

Despite what he said, I could feel the warmth behind every word. He'd honestly frightened me a little when we first met, but now I could see he was a grandfather who sincerely wanted his granddaughter and her boyfriend to be happy.

"Oh, right. Shasha asked me to get in touch."

"Should I give you two some privacy?"

"No. You're my granddaughter's future husband. Come along."

The word "son-in-law" sent a pang through my chest. Before her rebirth, Sia had lost her entire family to a gate break when she was in high school, so there had been no one to call me their son-in-law. And even now, we weren't married yet. Though I intended to marry her, we hadn't held a wedding, and I wasn't even a dragon like her. I'd never expected to hear him call me that. Surely it meant he'd officially accepted our relationship.

Holding back the tears that threatened to spill over, I bowed deeply at the waist.

"Thank you so much."

"What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you. When you think about it, you're the reason I was able to meet my granddaughter here."

Rokan waved away my thanks, saying he was the one who owed me. Anyway...

Since he had a phone, I'd naturally expected him to call Sia on it. Instead, Rokan headed for the enormous cavern. It was the place I'd first seen when I woke after losing consciousness. Not much time had passed, so it looked much the same. Except for one thing.

"Was that always here?"

A huge screen was mounted on one wall. That definitely hadn't been there before.

"I had it installed. I originally planned to use it for watching movies, but then I thought it would work for video calls with Shasha too, so I had it put in earlier than planned."

He was going to use a screen that big for video calls? While I marveled at the sheer scale of it, Rokan called Sia. A moment later, her image appeared on the huge screen, apparently linked to his phone.

["Grandpa! Minjun Oppa!"]

Sia waved at us happily, as though she'd been waiting for this very moment. Seeing her on that enormous screen instead of a tiny phone display felt strange. Delighted, dazed, and fascinated all at once, I waved back.

["How did my boyfriend do? He's got talent, doesn't he? Doesn't he?"]

Sia looked at Rokan with shining eyes. She seemed disappointed she couldn't be there beside us and eager to hear everything that had happened as soon as possible.

"Your boyfriend..."

Rokan began to speak. Sia swallowed hard without moving a muscle. He gave a little chuckle and said,

"He's far more talented than you think."