Chapter 80: A Reward Beyond His Expectations 2

He explained how he had learned Machete Mastery.

Then how Delimiter had reacted.

Sword Mastery.

Dagger Mastery.

Machete Mastery.

The three had merged.

"And that resulted in Blade Mastery, blue rank."

Selene nodded slowly.

"Makes sense."

Elaria agreed.

"Three sufficiently similar specializations can indeed form a broader understanding. Although a direct fusion by skill remains extremely unusual."

Adam continued:

"Then I learned Ranged Weapon Mastery."

He paused.

"And Delimiter reacted again. Much more strongly."

Vespera put down her cup.

Adam listed:

"Blade Mastery. Blunt Weapon Mastery. Heavy Weapon Mastery. Ranged Weapon Mastery." "

He clasped his hands together.

"They’ve merged."

Selene froze.

This time, her enthusiasm vanished completely.

Isadora looked up sharply.

Vespera didn’t move.

Elaria stared at Adam.

Shiora slowly put down her fork.

Lyriana frowned.

Elena looked around at the others.

"Why are you all making such faces?"

Adam continued:

"I’ve gained a new skill."

He took a breath.

"Weapon Mastery."

The silence grew even heavier.

Adam added:

"Orange Rank. Unique Grade."

No one spoke again.

Adam looked around.

"Okay... this reaction is more worrying than I thought."

Selene was the first to speak.

" "Repeat the name."

"Weapon Mastery."

"Exactly?"

"Yes."

Isadora turned to Vespera.

"Are you thinking the same thing as me?"

"Yes."

Elaria murmured,

"It can’t be..."

Adam frowned.

"You know about this skill?"

Vespera replied slowly,

"Not personally."

She looked at Adam.

"But its name appears in several extremely ancient records."

Selene added,

"Only once."

Adam sat up straight.

"Only one person possessed it?"

Isadora nodded.

"In all of recorded history."

Adam felt his attention intensify.

"Who?"

A short silence followed.

Then Vespera replied:

"The one the oldest chronicles call the First Hero."

Adam remained motionless.

"The first hero..."

Lyriana nodded slowly.

"His true name has been lost to most records. Some civilizations give him different names."

Elaria added:

"But the oldest documents agree on several things."

She raised a finger.

"He wielded virtually every weapon he encountered."

A second.

"He could use the weapons of peoples whose culture he didn’t even know."

A third.

"And he was able to activate military artifacts that their own creators believed were unusable by outsiders."

Adam remained silent.

This sounded exactly like the description of his skill.

Then Vespera uttered the name that immediately changed the atmosphere.

"He participated in the sealing of Nocthar."

Adam stopped smiling.

"Nocthar?"

Isadora nodded slowly.

"Yes."

The subject was no longer a mere historical anecdote.

Nocthar.

The entity whose name had been almost entirely erased.

The existence linked to their investigation.

At the Labyrinth of the Dark Dawn.

At the Vanished Shadow.

Adam asked:

"What exactly do the records say?"

Vespera replied:

"Very little is certain. The documents are fragmentary, and several were deliberately destroyed."

She thought for a moment.

"But according to the most credible accounts, the First Hero fought alongside several prominent figures of that era against Nocthar."

Isadora continued:

"They couldn’t destroy him."

Lyriana finished:

"So they sealed him away." "

Adam watched their expressions.

"And the hero?"

Silence.

Then Selene replied:

"He died during the sealing."

Adam remained motionless.

Elaria added more calmly:

"According to some records, his sacrifice was an essential part of the process."

Vespera folded her arms.

"His existence would have served to stabilize part of the seal."

Adam immediately thought of the quest connected to Nocthar.

This probably couldn’t be a mere coincidence.

He had just acquired the same unique skill as the only person known to have participated in the sealing of this entity.

Shiora observed Adam.

"Your expression just changed."

"I know."

"You also think the coincidence is too significant."

"Yes."

Isadora immediately interjected:

"But we won’t draw any conclusions until we have more information."

Adam nodded.

"Okay."

Vespera asked:

"What exactly are the functions of your skill?"

Adam recited what he had read.

"I can properly use any weapon as soon as I pick it up."

Selene froze.

Adam continued:

"I instinctively understand its structure, balance, weight, range, and how it works."

Elaria put down her quill.

"Even mechanical weapons?"

"Yes."

"Magical?"

"Yes."

"Runic?"

"Yes."

Vespera immediately asked:

"Hybrid?"

"Also."

Elaria and Vespera exchanged a glance.

Adam continued:

"The skill also accelerates my learning of new weapons and facilitates the transfer of experience between them."

Selene smiled slowly.

"Your training just got a lot more interesting."

Adam looked at her.

"I knew you’d say that eventually."

But he wasn’t finished.

"And it also allows me to transform almost any usable offensive object into a functional weapon based on its properties."

Selene remained silent.

Then her smile turned unsettling.

Adam immediately raised a finger.

"No."

"I didn’t say anything."

"Your face is enough."

Shiora chuckled.

But Elaria was focused on something else.

"You said the skill allows you to understand how ancient weapons work?"

"Yes. At least their basic use."

Vespera leaned slightly forward.

"Even if no one currently knows how to use them?" "

Adam nodded.

"According to the description, yes. If I handle them, I should at least understand how they’re supposed to work."

Silence returned.

But this time, it was different.

The women all seemed to be thinking about something.

Adam noticed.

"Why do I get the feeling you’re all thinking the exact same thing?"

Isadora was the first.

"Because you probably are."

Selene rested her elbows on the table.

"My family owns several ancient weapons."

Elaria nodded slowly.

"Mine too."

Shiora added,

"The Crimsonhorn royal hoard contains at least five weapons whose complete mechanism no one has understood for centuries."

Vespera folded her arms.

"The dragons have many more."

Adam immediately turned his head toward her.

"Many more?"

"We accumulate objects over a very long period."

"Obviously."

Isadora was already thinking.

"Valoria’s hoard also contains several military artifacts recovered from ruins." "

Lyriana added:

"My mother still has some weapons from the ancient elven civilization. Some of them predate the current archives."

Adam looked around the table.

"Wait..."

He understood.

"You all want to bring these weapons here."

Selene replied immediately:

"Yes."

Elaria:

"Of course."

Shiora:

"Starting today."

Vespera:

"I’ll contact my family."

Isadora:

"I’ll have the forbidden reserves of the ducal treasury opened."

Lyriana had already taken out a small communication crystal.

"I’ll speak to Mother."

Adam’s mouth fell open.

"You really just decided that in less than ten seconds."

Shiora smiled.

"You should be used to it by now."

Adam ran a hand over his face.

"How many weapons are we talking about exactly?"

No one answered immediately.

The silence worried her even more.

Selene began:

"A few."

Adam stared at her.

"How many?"

"It depends on what you define ’a few.’"

"Selene."

Elaria interjected:

"We’ll have to make a selection anyway. Some weapons are too dangerous to move."

Vespera nodded.

"And some require specific storage conditions."

Shiora added:

"Some are probably also too valuable to travel in a regular caravan."

Adam looked at the six older women in the group.

"Are you seriously planning an international operation to get me to handle old weapons?"

Isadora replied calmly:

"Weapons that no one has managed to use for sometimes thousands of years." "

She paused.

"So, yes."

Adam couldn’t think of a reply.

Elena, who had followed the entire conversation with fascination, looked at Adam.

"Do you realize what this means?"

"That Selene is going to turn my next training session into a nightmare?"

Selene smiled.

"Yes, she did."

Elena shook her head.

"If your skill actually works on these weapons, you could unlock the secrets of technologies everyone thought were lost."

Elaria immediately corrected her:

"Understand their use. Not necessarily their design."

Adam nodded.

"The skill doesn’t automatically tell me how they were made."

Vespera replied:

"But knowing how a weapon is supposed to work gives you a tremendous amount of information."

Elaria nodded.

"Exactly."

Her gaze took on that particular intensity Adam was beginning to recognize.

" The same expression she had when she discovered a new magical circuit.

"If we possess an artifact whose controls no one understands, simply knowing how it works could allow us to work backward."

Adam smiled.

"Reverse engineering."

Elaria immediately turned her head.

"What?"

Adam almost regretted speaking.

"In my old world, we called that reverse engineering."

He picked up a spoon.

"You observe a finished object. You analyze its components and its behavior. Then you try to reconstruct the logic used to create it."

Elaria slowly put down her fork.

Vespera did too.

Adam looked at them.

"No."

Elaria asked:

"No what?"

"I recognize your expressions."

Vespera replied:

"It’s an extremely logical method."

"I know."

Elaria had already started taking notes.

Adam sighed.

"There you have it."

Shiora smiled.

"Perhaps another new industry was born over breakfast."

Adam pointed at her.

"You, especially, don’t add anything."

"I haven’t said anything yet." "

"Exactly. That worries me more."

Laughter returned around the table.

Gradually, the conversation shifted from awards to future projects.

Isadora explained that the underground chambers intended for the Runic Calculator would be inspected that day.

Elaria wanted to begin the first binary cell tests as soon as several materials had been delivered.

Vespera wanted to compare the runes of the Memory Crystal with the detection circuits she had prepared for the games.

Shiora was to oversee the launch of the first Reversi demonstration tables.

Selene reminded Adam that his training would now include ranged weapons.

Adam looked at her immediately.

"The next one?"

"Yes."

"Aren’t you even waiting to test my new skill?"

"That’s exactly it. This is the test."

"Obviously."

Lyriana explained that she would increase surveillance of trade routes and of those asking too many questions about Valoria’s new orders.

Elena was to join the knights to examine several proposals for the military use of the future Rune Calculator.

Then Isadora returned to the Bridal Chamber.

"We’ll install it after breakfast."

Adam looked up.

"Today?"

"Why wait?"

He looked at Shiora.

"You’ve infected it."

Shiora placed a hand on her heart.

"I prefer to say I’ve improved its efficiency."

Isadora didn’t even deny it.

Adam shook his head in amusement.

Breakfast continued for a while longer.

Between research plans.

The old weapons to be brought in.

The new measures against the Holy Empire.

The Bridal Chamber.

And the discovery of Weapon Mastery.

Adam felt as though his day had already been filled before he’d even finished his first cup.

He looked around.

Isadora was discussing the future entrance to the Bridal Chamber with Elaria.

Lyriana was already writing to Astraea.

Vespera was mentally compiling a list of draconic artifacts.

Selene was clearly brainstorming new ways to make him suffer during his training.

Shiora was probably calculating the market value of something she wasn’t yet allowed to sell.

And Elena watched all this chaos with an amused smile.

Adam took one last sip.

Then he murmured,

"Maybe I should have stayed the night."

Selene heard him.

"Too late."

Adam sighed.

The day had barely begun.