Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 94 (Part 2)

Harrison Richmond lacked any real talent for swordsmanship. As a child, his aura potential score was a mere 7 points, the worst in the history of the Richmond marquis lineage.

And his swordsmanship skills weren’t much better. He would stumble over complex movements and often mix up the sequences.

His grandfather was a renowned master, a great swordsman, while his father, a 6th-tier knight, was regarded as a future master.

Yet, Harrison alone was woefully untalented. His skills were so dismal that it was questionable whether he even shared the same bloodline.

Of course, Harrison was undeniably a true heir of the Richmond family. Though his skills were lacking, his appearance was a spitting image of his father’s, making their relationship unmistakable.

Without talent in swordsmanship, Harrison turned his interests elsewhere. He sought artifacts that could make him stronger without requiring hard work.

He was especially fascinated by relics from the fallen kingdom of Bolas, which had been destroyed around 2,000 years ago.

The most famous artifacts of the Bolas Kingdom were the Twelve Guardian Statues. Each contained a spirit or guardian beast, though the exact workings were shrouded in mystery.

The Bolas Kingdom bestowed these 12 statues to loyal noble families, hoping they would protect the kingdom for generations.

Yet, the kingdom fell within just five years of creating the statues.

After learning of the Twelve Guardian Statues, Harrison dedicated himself to finding them. Not by moving himself, but by using his wealth and influence to command others.

Since starting this search at the age of 9, he had spent 15 years in pursuit.

In that time, he had secured 4 statues—well, to be exact, he had found 3 and was on the brink of finding the 4th.

“I thought I had it in my hands.”

He had learned about the 4th statue by chance.

Two years ago, during a monster subjugation, a drunken mercenary boasted about his past feats, mentioning a peculiar statue. The mercenary had said he took a sword while a fellow from his mercenary group took the statue, treating it as nothing more than a trinket.

But this incident had happened 20 years ago.

It took Harrison a long time to trace the details of the events.

After two years of persistent investigation, he finally discovered just ten days ago that some of the former mercenaries involved were living within his own territory.

“And now it’s gone. Damn.”

He had almost secured the 4th statue, only to lose it after slipping. The sudden fall felt strange, but he hadn’t suspected any interference.

The problem was that the statue had disappeared after the fall.

He had informed the guards that he’d dropped a valuable item, but he wasn’t confident they would find it.

“They’d better find it, after deploying a hundred guards. If not, I’ll have to dismiss them all.”

As he fell, he had dropped the statue. By the time he got back up and searched the area, it was nowhere to be found. The darkness of the night had made it impossible to conduct a proper search.

“Damn it.”

He cursed in frustration, glancing at the three small statues, each the size of a child’s fist, lined up beside his bed.

“And how do I use these?”

According to records, the statues contained guardian spirits. If true, they should allow him to control these spirits.

Yet, he still hadn’t figured out how to use them.

“Should I call another mage?”

He had consulted mages numerous times, believing they would know how to use the artifacts. He had even asked the court mage dozens of times.

But no one had been able to discern the method for using the guardian statues. Not even a mage from the Four Great Towers, who had studied it for a month before giving up.

“Idiots. A bunch of mages who can’t even figure out an artifact’s usage.”

The guardian statues weren’t the only artifacts Harrison possessed.

He also had a cloak embedded with invisibility magic and a belt that allowed him to instantly kill a mercenary by releasing a hidden blade.

The belt’s enchantment was called Hide Knife, which released an invisible blade.

He owned several other artifacts too, all acquired at great expense.

The Richmond marquis family was one of the highest-ranking nobles in the Lennox Kingdom, controlling three major merchant guilds. Money was never an issue for purchasing artifacts.

“Maybe I should contact the Maven Kingdom. They might know something.”

The guardian statues weren’t completely unknown. Of the twelve statues, some had known owners, and a few were even reportedly in use.

If he could establish contact, perhaps he could learn how to use them.

“Not that they’d give up the secret easily.”

Of the twelve known owners, only five were identified. Among those, only two were actively using the statues. The other three, like Harrison, didn’t know how to unlock their powers.

“They probably tried asking those two but got turned down. Or were asked for an outrageous price.”

Even though it was frustrating, Harrison saw a potential opportunity.

One of the two using the statues was from the Rotten Marquis family in the Maven Kingdom, and Harrison’s grandfather had been invited there for an upcoming territory battle.

“A territory war, huh? Maybe I can get some help and learn the secret.”

Of course, it was Harrison’s grandfather, not him, who would be helping with the territory war.

But his grandfather was aware of the statues’ existence. If Harrison asked for his help, he would likely oblige.

“I’ll just have to rely on Grandpa. Just on Grandpa.”

—

To deceive others, you must deceive even those close to you. Especially children, who might easily let something slip, must be treated as potential risks.

As soon as Rodin returned home, he went back to bed. He woke up at dawn and went about his day as usual.

Dawn always began with training. That was why he had bought a house with a spacious yard.

After an hour of exercise, Bianca appeared, rubbing her eyes.

“Big Brother Rodin, are you training?”

“I just finished.”

“Are you heading to the training room now?”

“Yeah, I’m going to run through one cycle.”

Bianca didn’t train at dawn. She preferred to train around 8 PM, as that was when her focus was best.

“Ugh.”

“Why are you up so early? Usually, you barely wake up in time for breakfast.”

“I don’t know. I just woke up.”

“Then take it easy, or go visit Margaret if you’re bored.”

“Ugh. I’ll just study instead.”

Bianca retreated to her room.

Lately, Bianca had been finding joy in studying. She tried to act like she wasn’t interested, but Rodin had noticed her slipping away to study whenever she had a chance.

With Bianca back in her room, Rodin headed down to the underground training chamber.

“Hmm. So that’s what it is.”

Rodin examined the statue he had obtained the previous night, a knowing smile spreading across his face.

He didn’t even need to infuse it with magic to understand what it was. He had seen illustrations of similar statues in books from the Special Forces Training Library.

“A relic of the Bolas Kingdom. It’s supposed to contain spirits and guardian beasts? Well, not exactly.”

When he had first read about the statues in the library’s advanced section, Rodin believed they held spirits or guardian beasts. He hadn’t thought to question it deeply—it was written in the books, after all.

But upon reading a damaged text in the lakeside library’s advanced section, he realized it was a misconception. It was, in fact, a deliberate myth spread by the Bolas Kingdom.

Hyung_Otaku2

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