Chapter 3

David, who was peeking from behind the wall, saw Bulande's several children mocking William. He had wanted to go stop them, but seeing William actively propose a duel, David thought it a good chance to observe William and verify his guess, so he drew back the foot he had just stepped out.

Among the boys, someone happened to be carrying a wooden sword, saving William the trouble of fetching one.

William walked outside the courtyard and stood in the middle of the road at a distance from Bulande. The village road was wide because the houses on either side were not densely packed and everyone's homes had large yards.

Bulande took the wooden sword from that boy's hand, looked at William with a somewhat tense expression, and his hands gripping the sword trembled slightly.

In contrast, William appeared calm and relaxed; seeing Bulande's nervousness, he almost wanted to laugh.

He thought, 'As expected of a child—even with awakened magical talent, facing a peer like me who has no magic and no combat experience, he's still afraid.'

William picked up the wooden sword with one hand and said, 'All right, you make the first move.'

'William, I'll make you regret this!'

Feeling William's contempt, Bulande flew into a rage, raising his wooden sword with both hands and charging at William.

The wooden sword swung down from above toward William's head; he had intended to block Bulande's wooden sword with one hand, but upon seeing its speed and force, he immediately changed his mind, darted to the side, and evaded the slash Bulande delivered.

Bulande swung his sword wildly without any form, while William moved his feet swiftly, shifting his stance backward, dodging Bulande's attacks again and again.

"What a fast sword—doesn't look like the work of a child who just awakened magic. Truly worthy of a hero‑level magical talent."

William was shocked; in his previous life his relationship with Bulande and the others had been poor, so he knew little of their abilities. He hadn't expected Bulande to be far stronger than imagined—had he not died in the Goblin raid a year later, he would surely have become a formidable adventurer.

Compared with William, Bulande was even more astonished.

"How is that possible? After I awakened my magic I still only had half a month of combat training—how did William manage to dodge?"

Bulande's father is the village chief of Bigen Village; compared with other families his household is somewhat wealthier. Though his speed and strength were now bolstered by magic, he couldn't even brush a strand of William's clothing, which left him utterly astonished.

What he didn't know is that beyond physical fitness and magical power, agility and combat experience are also decisive factors.

In his previous life William's magical aptitude was null, his magical reserves were minuscule, so most of his effort went into physical conditioning and martial skill training.

Martial skills are combat techniques that consume very little magic but demand extremely high physical conditioning and fighting technique; they are among the primary skills of warrior‑type classes compared with magic‑focused mage classes.

Therefore, the present William, even though his physical condition is inferior to Bulande's and he cannot use any magic, still holds a slight edge purely through combat experience and technique.

"But dragging this out won't work; under magical enhancement Bulande's stamina wanes slower than mine, so I must settle the outcome quickly. I wonder if the martial skill from my previous life still works."

William thought this, timed the moment Bulande's sword swung through empty air, then suddenly stepped back a large stride, bent his right leg ninety degrees into a bow‑step, snapped his left leg straight back like a bowstring, placed both sword‑holding hands at his waist, and lowered his body to knee height.

David, watching from behind the wall, exclaimed in surprise, "What is this!"

William said, "Martial skill 【Two‑Stage Thrust】."

【Two‑Stage Thrust】 is a type of low‑level martial skill,

The user thrusts forward rapidly for one strike, then instantly teleports to the target's rear to deliver a second thrust; it was also one of the martial skills William had mastered well in his previous life.

However, since his magic had not yet awakened, William did not believe he could successfully execute the skill; he merely intended to use its combat technique to strike the exposed abdomen of Bulande and knock him down.

William's form flew like an arrow released from a bow, thrusting toward Bulande in an instant; just as he thought he would strike Bulande's abdomen, the scene before his eyes flickered, he vanished from his spot, and in the next instant reappeared behind Bulande, still holding his sword and lunging at him.

Only this time the thrust hit not Bulande's abdomen but his lower back.

William quickly retracted the force of his wooden sword, but because he was still in the thrusting posture, part of his forward momentum transferred through the sword onto Bulande's waist and back.

Bulande arched his whole body forward like a bow and flew more than a meter away, crashing heavily onto the ground with a "bang."

Fine dust rose slightly; the several boys present stared in astonishment at the scene of Bulande being knocked away by William, all wearing expressions of disbelief.

William was also a bit panicked, fearing that Bulande might have been seriously injured by his strike; he was still bewildered—how could he, without magic, have performed the martial skill?

"No, just now a genuine spark of magic burst within me, which is why I could use the skill."

William suppressed his shock for the moment, stepped forward to check Bulande's condition, and asked, "Bulande, are you alright?"

"Pah, pah."

Bulande scrambled up from the ground, spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva; although he had a mouthful of dirt from the fall, his lumbar and spine appeared uninjured.

Bulande said, "How could I be hurt? I lost only because I was careless. Don't think you're really stronger than me!"

William, seeing Bulande was unscathed, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Good that you're fine. You must keep the promise you lost, and don't disturb my training any more."

Bulande, clearly unconvinced, replied, "I didn't lose. Wait for me; once I master using magic I'll challenge you again! Let's go."

Speaking so, Bulande waved to the other boys and left in anger.

The boys, seeing this, hurriedly followed Bulande.

William stood where he was, sighed, and muttered to himself, "Sigh, fine. At least I can train in peace now. But what exactly was that just now? How could I have magic when I haven't awakened yet?"

He followed the sense of where the magic had surged inside him and found it wasn't the typical spot where a human's magic appears after awakening.

That's odd.

William kept probing deeper, and suddenly a massive, evil‑sensing magic surfaced in his perception; this magic felt uniquely familiar to William, as he had only ever sensed such a huge, evil‑tinged magic in one person's body.

The Lustful Demon King Kusala·Perse.

The magic inside him must be the same that she infused when she kissed him before killing him.

Before his death in the previous life, Kusala's words to him resurfaced in his mind.

"If I gave you another chance, would you kill me?"

"This is a secret between the two of us; don't tell anyone or you'll die. Also, I'll come looking for you."

William understood; the reason for his Rebirth was that Kusala had been behind it!

What purpose could she possibly have for doing this? To her, I should be an inconsequential being, right?

Yet at this moment William cared more about Kusala's final two sentences.

"So I really can't speak of the Rebirth? And what does she mean when she says she'll come looking for me?"

As William was pondering, a voice called him back, pulling him into reality.

"William! I'm calling you, William!"

William saw his father standing in the courtyard calling him, and he quickly replied, "Father, what's wrong?"

David's expression was stern, his face pale, and he said harshly, "William, we need to talk. Now, come with me inside immediately."

Having lived two lives, this was the first time William had ever seen his father like this, and he hurriedly ran to follow his father inside.

David did not choose to sit at the dining table in the living room, but went upstairs into William's bedroom; when William also came in, he said, "Close the door."

William closed the bedroom door, saw his father sitting at the bedside, arms crossed over his chest and looking at him with a serious expression, then stepped forward to stand in front of his father, waiting for his father to speak.

David asked, "You used a martial technique when you duelled Bulande today, right?"

William thought, "So that's why—did father sense the Demon King's lingering power inside me?"

William knew he couldn't hide it from his father, so he nodded and admitted, "I did use the martial technique, but at the time I didn't even expect I could use it."

David continued, "Then, where did you learn this martial technique?"

William fell silent; he wasn't sure whether mentioning Rebirth would cause death as Kusaara said, but he couldn't think of any excuse to fool his father.

The father and son stared at each other in silence for a long time.

David was the first to break the silence, saying, "Do you know that if you hadn't used a wooden sword in today's duel, you could have been seriously injured, even killed Bulande?"

William lowered his head and said, "I know, but I didn't intend to hurt Bulande; I truly didn't expect I could successfully execute the martial technique..."

"Enough!" David rebuked, "William, you now swear to me that you will never again strike at your companions; otherwise, from today onward you may not engage in any training."

"But they were the ones who first caused trouble for me," William said.

David said, "I don't want to hear any excuses. Either swear you will never again strike at a companion, or completely abandon cultivation. William, choose for yourself."