MTLNOVEL Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Tell Me, What Is Epiphany?
Allen lowered his head and said nothing after hearing Paul's answer, just rubbing the hilt of his sword repeatedly.
Paul looked at Allen, whose expression resembled that of a troubled teenager. He narrowed his eyes and spoke softly:
"And I think if this question were put in front of Philip, he would make the same choice as me."
This sentence pulled Allen out of his somewhat touched mood. He glanced at Paul and then realized why he had asked this question, and why Paul wasn't angry but instead had explained things to him in a soft tone.
So it turns out, after all this time… the final line was leading to this?
You can't judge others by yourself, Paul. You're a competent father—but that doesn't mean everyone is.
The fundamental reason Philip and I aren't close is because I'm a time traveler—not because of some psychological trauma from growing up alone. I've already adapted in my previous life. Regaining 'family affection' in another world? Forget it.
Paul noticed Allen's indifferent expression and scratched his head. He thought he had helped Philip as much as possible, but clearly, Allen didn't appreciate it.
In the distance, Loki noticed Allen stepping away. While Sylphy was casting a spell, Loki tilted her head and looked at Allen questioningly.
Allen smiled and signaled that it was nothing.
"Hey! Sylphy, where are you looking? That fireball burned my hair!"
"Sorry! I got distracted!"
He turned his gaze to the flustered Sylphy, his eyes soft.
"Teacher? Teacher?"
"Ah… Sorry, Rudy, I was distracted…"
Meanwhile, Paul's hesitant voice continued.
"Allen, Philip is also helpless. You should know—this is the tradition of the Boreas family. If you had grown up with him, you'd surely understand his character."
Allen glanced at Paul with a slight smile.
Brother Paul, who values family so deeply, really speaks in Philip's defense… But Philip's ambition to be involved in the capital's power struggle has never been extinguished. In the original story, once he saw Rudy's immense talent in magic, he was even willing to use his daughter as a bargaining chip to bring Rudy into the family. Unless he can one day willingly let go of that obsession with power, he'll never truly care about so-called 'family affection'.
And this isn't just his problem. The pursuit of desire runs in the veins of the entire Boreas bloodline.
Sauros bore a deep responsibility for his territory—after the Great Teleportation, he ignored his descendants' opinions and poured the family's fortune into rebuilding.
Alice trained obsessively to become stronger, to protect Rudy. She even left a letter on her first night and traveled to the Holy Land of Swords without making contact for years.
And me.
Allen's veins bulged as he gripped the handle of his sword tightly.
This drive comes from the pursuit of power embedded in my blood and soul—something that didn't exist before I time-traveled.
He turned to Paul.
"I have a swordsmanship question to ask, Uncle."
Paul looked confused by the sudden change of topic.
"Huh? Swordsmanship now? We were just talking about—what? Still the Sword God Style? I've got nothing new to teach you there."
"No. Water God Style."
Paul froze, pointing to himself.
"Water God Style? Me? Do I look like Leda? Your mastery of Water God Style is obviously better than mine!"
Allen shook his head.
"I need sparks—the clash of different styles to inspire new insight. You know that self-created techniques require continuous refinement of your own fighting methods and theory."
In the world of Mushoku Tensei, the core logic is talent and understanding. Whether it's Orsted, born with Dragon God blood, or Rudy with the Laplace Factor—every master has at least one of those advantages. I already have the Dragon Saint's battle spirit. Next, I'll use my cheat to keep pushing for enlightenment and build a complete combat theory.
I can't be like Ghislaine, who relied on intuition for years during her adventurer days and only later realized the need to develop theory before stepping into Sword King rank.
Speaking of epiphany… That bastard Chino really did have an epiphany after sleeping with his wife. Within a year or two, he broke his father-in-law, the Sword God, while only a Sword King himself. Before dying, the old man even had to fight with Water God Style. Talk about absurd.
Paul tilted his head at Allen, who was lost in thought, and spoke with a spark in his eye.
"Is that so."
With a grin, he drew his sword.
"Enlightenment needs to be beaten out, right? Let me see this 'self-created technique' of yours. How about it?"
"You really get it, Brother Paul."
"Even if I can get enlightened without a fight—since the master's style is 'feeling-based', maybe some beating will help, just like yesterday morning."
Allen slowly drew the blade from his waist.
Soon, Allen and Paul stood apart in the training yard. Rudy and the others paused their test with Sylphy and formed a circle to watch.
Loki, sensing the tense air, leaned over and asked Rudy in a low voice.
"I heard about your duel with Allen this morning. He can actually fight Master Paul? I thought Master Paul had reached advanced levels in Sword God, Water God, and North God Styles. Allen…"
Rudy looked at the two warming up and replied solemnly:
"Although I don't want to praise my father… Allen is really strong. You heard about this morning's summary meeting, right?"
Loki nodded, her blue hair swaying.
"To be honest, I care about this match too. Uh…"
Rudy glanced at her and continued.
"So I've been investigating Allen thoroughly for two months. I made specific strategies for all his known abilities. Even so, he beat me twice—because he used sword skills I had never seen before, which threw off my preparation."
Loki recalled the high-speed slash Allen used to carve up a monster two months ago.
"He really uses sword techniques inconsistent with his age. I've never seen anything like them, even in my years as an adventurer."
Rudy nodded.
"The first time, he used Northern God-style throwing. I'd never seen him do that, so I didn't control the distance well, and he got close enough to land a kill."
"I heard that part. What about the second time?"
"That one was a combo of Water and Sword God styles. Damn, how many hidden moves does this guy have? I tried to trap him with large-scale mixed magic so he couldn't move. But he used a self-created Water God move to block all the magic, then used it underfoot as a jump platform to escape."
"Still, I'd anticipated he'd escape, so I set up thick fog using geothermal quagmire and ice blocks to blind his senses."
Loki was sweating now. She'd never heard of this mixed spell before.
"I thought I had everything covered—but I overlooked his Silent Sword. The ice spear dispersed the fog and exposed my position. He used that jump platform and closed the distance instantly. That's how I lost."
"Wait—you didn't consider he knew Silent Sword?"
"I did. But I didn't think he'd learn it so fast. You don't understand—he wasn't even good at Sword God Style. For two months, he kept asking my dad for advice. On the morning of our duel, he still hadn't grasped Silent Sword…"
"Then what?"
"He asked my dad to show him once. Just once. He swung once to test it—then he learned it."
Rudy looked grim.