"Well, then. Let's get on with the next part." Rodin clapped his hands once then nodded to a knight floating in the air far away from them.

The knight bobbed his head before flying off to the distance, returning after a few seconds.

However, this time, he wasn't alone.

After throwing something to the ground in front of them, the knight returned to his previous position.

'What the fuck is that..!?'

The creature got up and began levitating, causing Reivan to get goosebumps from looking at it. It tried to charge at him with a ferocious growl. Fortunately, it kept getting held down by some invisible force.

"This, Rein, is a Nightmare Spawn." Rodin pointed at it. "Well, they all look quite different. Some of them are based on animals, sometimes bugs, and sometimes... they don't particularly look like anything we know of."

It seemed that the last one applied to the Spawn in front of them at the moment, seeing as it definitely wasn't based on anything he — who even had memories of a different world — knew of.

This Nightmare Spawn had a seed-shaped body with pale grey skin, a color similar to Reivan's hair. One of its eye sockets was completely empty, and its one glassy, black eye glared at him, making it apparent that it wanted nothing more than to tear the young prince apart. It had multiple limb-like appendages sprouting out from all over its body, though only one of them seemed like it could be used as an actual arm. The final, most prominent part of it that Reivan could tell was the sharp horn growing out of its head.

"And you're going to fight this, Rein," the king declared.

"...huh?" it took Reivan a few moments before he processed his father's words. "Fight it...? But I've never been taught how to fight though...?"

"That's true." Rodin shrugged. "Don't worry, this one's really weak. Even you can kill it without a problem."

'Really...?' Reivan felt doubtful, so he used [Supreme Insight] on the creature.

Name: N/A Species: Archon Fragment (Dream Weaving Moth) Realm: Mortal Age: 0 Sex: N/A Might: 102 Special Abilities: None Elemental Affinities: None Extra Skills: None

'That's not weak at all!'

He supposed it was weak when compared to everybody else here, but to Reivan — who only had 18 Might — the Nightmare Spawn, or rather, the Archon Fragment, was incredibly dangerous. It was five times stronger than him without his use of abilities.

'Also... it's an Archon Fragment just like Zoro-chan? Though it seems to come from a different Archon.'

It also confirmed that these things had nothing to do with the rat that ruined his life.

"Here." Rodin threw a short sword towards Reivan, which the young boy caught. "You don't have a Soul Armament yet, so use that instead."

"Uh, okay..."

Item:

[Short Sword (Enchanted)] A finely crafted short sword, enchanted to perfection. Its edge is reinforced to prevent dulling, and will cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter.

Also possesses self-repair and self-maintenance enchantments.

'Nice.'

"Judging from that smile on your face, it seems like I don't have to explain what that does?" Rodin smirked. "Well, just do your best. You're in no actual danger, with all of us here and all."

"Okay!" Reivan confidently replied, pounding his chest for emphasis.

Despite being called a "short sword", for a child like him, it wasn't very short at all. He drew the blade from its sheath and inspected the edge.

Satisfied by the way it shined in the light of the blue-green sky, Reivan nodded before he gave it a few practice swings.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The satisfying sound every swing made was music to his ears. It was truly too easy to cut through the air with a razor-edge like this.

"Oh? Your form is surprisingly good for someone holding a sword for the first time." Roland remarked with wide eyes.

"Thanks!" Reivan replied with a calm smile, but he was inwardly slapping himself in the head. He'd unconsciously imitated swordsmen he knew of in his previous life.

As Ken Kagami — even though he couldn't really move around — he had quite a bit of interest in western swordsmanship. He'd watch HEMA tournaments, medieval combat enthusiasts, and all sorts of other things on youtube. So he actually knew a bit about swordsmanship, albeit limited to theoretics.

Another reason to take interest in swords was due to the fact that his past life's name meant "sword" in Japanese.

But he couldn't very well explain that to his family in this life, now could he?

In the end, the best course of action was to do what he always did...

"I learned it from children's books!"

It always worked.

You have used [Essence of Falsehood]

'There you are! My friend!'

In the end, [Essence of Falsehood] was the MVP of his second life, since it allowed him to cover up for his slip-ups like this.

"Oh... that makes sense." Roland nodded slowly with his eyes closed in reminiscence. "Come to think of it, I kinda learned a few things on combat from them too."

"Me too!" Stella raised her hand and chimed in from the side. "I actually learned some basic sword forms from the illustrations on them. I read them so much when I was a kid, I had them memorized before I even began getting combat training!"

'There we go! Now I even have support! I'm way more believable than usual! Muahahah~!'

Knights were included in a lot of Aizen's children's books after all. And knights fought with swords! In this instance, he probably didn't even need his ability to sound credible.

"Hoh. Children's books..." Rodin muttered with a smile. "I should work on getting more budget for those..."

The ear-piercing shriek of wrath from the nightmare spawn in front of them broke the king out of his musings. It was then that he remembered what they were here for.

"Right. Let's begin." Rodin unceremoniously picked Reivan up by the scruff and threw him at the abomination.

'Eh?'

"Ah!?" Reivan yelled in alarm at his father's unexpected actions.

"Did you have to throw him out like that?" Roland asked his father in exasperation.

"It's tradition. My father also did this to me." Rodin nodded.

"Just because your father traumatized you, doesn't mean you should do it to your kids too..." the elder prince muttered, resentment in his voice. But he didn't say anything else. He knew there was someone else who'd seek justice for his brother.

"Rodin?" Vianna's lips formed a strained smile as her hand tightly grasped her husband's shoulder. They were around her husband's retainers, so she wouldn't act like she usually would. The king had to maintain dignity after all. However, she still had to voice her displeasure at what he had just done.

"Y-yes, my dear wife?" Rodin cleared his throat nervously, not allowing the fact that his shoulder was freezing over under his armor to show on his face.

"We'll talk later, okay?"

"...yes." the king's shoulders slumped. He wished his brother-in-law was here to side with him, but the warbeast man was currently busy interacting with the visitors that secretly came from the eastern continent of Kuka-Arichi. "Please go easy on me. I'll apologize as much as you want."

In the end, he could do nothing but ask for forgiveness.

Despite the abruptness of the situation, Reivan was able to regain his bearings.

While he was still mid-air, that is.

'I swear to god, payback's coming, Father!'

Thinking about all the stamina pills he'd hand over to his mother, Reivan pointed his sword forward as he shot across the air. He planned to use the momentum of his father's throw to his advantage.

'It's probably going to charge at me using its horn, huh.'

In the end, he was right.

The nightmare spawn cried in an eerily soul-shaking voice, before gliding forward, pointing the sharp protrusion on its head at him.

'I fucking knew it! Don't underestimate the fantasy knowledge of someone who read novels for most of his life!'

[Beast Gate] has been activated. All Physical stats are increased by +100% Might: 18 --> 36 (Temporary)

Reivan watched the eldritch abomination get closer and closer. Its glassy eye was filled with malice as evil intentions swirled in its mind.

'Now!'

Just before they collided, Reivan used [Formless Will] to force the horn's trajectory off, making it miss its mark completely. As the creature passed by, he slashed the side of its body, severing multiple appendages.

'Let's go!'

Inwardly cheering at the success of his plan, Reivan finally ran out of momentum as he skidded to a halt. He brandished his blade, ready for the nightmare spawn's retaliation.

Although it looked like he'd come out ahead, he'd actually bumped against the creature, breaking his shoulder in the process. He only appeared fine since he used [Effect Reproduction] to reproduce the Beast King Ichor's healing effect.

[Drug Memorization] Sub-Skill #1:

[Effect Reproduction] Can reproduce the effect of any drug that this unit has [Memorized].

Can also increase or decrease the potency of its effects.

'Tsk. [Formless Will]'s really shitty when used against other living things...'

He'd meant to move the creature more, but fell short, causing him to be injured from the miscalculation.

The archon fragment gave an unearthly cry of agony while dark-green blood soaked the ground underneath it. As the soil sizzled, the monster's obsidian eye glared at Reivan in anger before it shone an ominous blue-green color.

'That doesn't look good...'

His premonition was immediately confirmed when the world around him began to shake fiercely, causing him to wobble in place.

"Ugh..." Reivan groaned as he tried to steady himself by stabbing the sword into the ground.

When it saw the state Reivan was in, the creature let out an odd snicker before it pointed all of its remaining arms at the unsteadied boy. The tips of its pale white limbs glowed with blue-green light as it started waving them from side to side.

[Indomitable Willpower] has nullified a mind-control attempt!

If the creature had brows, they would probably be furrowed in confusion. It looked left and right at its limbs blankly, as if it was contemplating life itself.

'This little bitch tried to mind-control me!' his eyes widened in surprise, then in rage. 'You fucking dare!? You're just a mob!'

Reivan also realized that the world wasn't shaking, rather, his vision was. This was made especially clear when his family looked like they had no trouble at all staying upright, despite the intensity of the quakes.

'I didn't wanna do this since I haven't practiced using anything bigger than a marble, but desperate times call for desperate measures!'

He firmly planted his feet on the ground as he raised his sword and held it like a spear. He pulled his right hand back, and like a bow, threw his blade forward like a javelin.

The nightmare spawn's lips formed a mocking sneer while it slowly glided to its right, as if showing Reivan just how foolish he was.

"No!" the young prince cried out as his face twisted in frustration, causing the creature's smile to widen even more. It even began waving around a few of its arms, taunting him with a dance.

'Laugh, motherfucker. Just laugh!'

Reivan's expression suddenly changed to a smirk as his eyes filled with derision. The creature stopped dancing as well, sensing something odd.

But it was too late.

The sword that it expected to miss completely, suddenly accelerated — pointed in its direction. As if getting sucked in, the blade plunged into the monster's stomach, sending its acidic blood flying everywhere.

A high-pitched howl of anguish erupted from the archon fragment's maw, making Reivan wince momentarily.

However, despite the initial strain, the creature's throes of torment were music to his ears.

'Who's laughing now!?'

It seemed that it no longer had the necessary focus to maintain attacking Reivan's mind, since he felt the dizziness vanish.

"You're noisy." Reivan voiced with arrogance as his chest puffed out. "Be quiet."

The monster's cries abruptly stopped, but it wasn't due to the boy's commands.

It was simply because it experienced pain that took its breath away.

Using [Formless Will], Reivan continued to twist the sword lodged into the abomination's body, churning up the creature's insides.

But when he saw that the monster was about to use one of its hands to grab hold of the blade, he decisively chose to retrieve it. The blade flew across the air and landed on the young prince's outstretched hands.

"Disgusting." his lips curled in revulsion before he swung the sword as hard as he could — while also [Formless Will] — to shake off all the blood. He then rested the sword's flat on his shoulder, tapping it for good measure as he made a challenging gesture towards the wounded monstrosity.

'I probably look super cool, right now. Holy shit.'

While wishing Kyouka could see him right now, Reivan raised his chin and looked down on the monster. While doing his best to infuse arrogance in his voice, spoke in a booming voice.

"You're so ugly."

You have used [Taunt]! The Archon Fragment is enraged!

'Well, it's already flipping mad. Might as well take this extra skill out for a spin.'

"Oh my god! My son is so cool!♥" Vianna squealed in delight. Her eyes were firmly glued to her beloved son's form. "Go get 'em, Rein! Yay!"

"Haha! Yay!" Stella, seeing her idol getting excited, also jumped in and cheered for her little brother-in-law.

While the women of the royal family were having an overall great time, the men, on the other hand, had troubled expressions fixed on their faces.

Roland sidled up to his father's side and then lightly nudged him before whispering, "Father. Wasn't he supposed to lose...?"

The first combat experience for every person born to the royal family would always be against something he or she couldn't win against. Nothing strong enough to completely crush the royal, but just enough to make it look like they could win.

Before the portal to the Outlands came along, the royals would be made to fight a number of beasts or something of similar difficulty. Now, the weakest nightmare spawns were used.

They were perfect for the job. Not too strong, not too stupid, and not too rare. It even had a number of abilities that would very likely catch a greenhorn by surprise, causing their swift defeat.

Even when they took Reivan's race and special abilities into consideration, they still believed he wouldn't be able to triumph. Not giving him the special armor and artifact that royals usually got when they went through this trial-by-fire, was enough of a handicap.

With that, the king and the crown prince thought that Reivan would stand no chance of winning.

After all, even if he did have lots of powers, what was power if you didn't know how to use it? It would be about as useful as a shiny object. Nice to look at, great to have, but was of no actual use.

Reivan was but a ten-year-old boy. He couldn't possibly be that good at using his powers.

But the scene they'd just witnessed proved otherwise.

"..." Rodin couldn't think of anything to say at the moment. He thought back to the purpose of this part of the coming of age ceremony.

It was meant to teach humility and prevent arrogance from sprouting.

'There would always be a mountain beyond that mountain in the distance, and a sky above the sky we look up to.'

This was the thought that the past kings of Aizen wanted to instill into their young descendants, who were just about to receive combat training.

But now?

"It's ruined." Rodin closed his eyes and sighed in resignation.

'Oh! It's really feisty!'

Reivan's lips couldn't help but curl into an amused grin, as he dodged yet another one of the monster's frenzied strikes.

Even if it was stronger than him, it wouldn't matter if it never hit him.

As for speed? The gap wasn't large enough that he couldn't evade with the help of [Formless Will] adjusting the abomination's trajectory.

To top it all off, the creature was continuously bleeding out of the hole that Reivan's sword bored into its body.

If things continued this way, the creature would bleed out and die, assuming it followed conventional rules of biological anatomy.

'But that wouldn't be any fun!'

Reivan intended to finish it off himself. He was just softening it up for the kill.

"Woah, there." the young prince smirked as he dodged and rolled to the right, evading the nightmare spawn's head butt. It crashed to the ground with a thud, making Reivan inwardly shiver at how painful that must've been.

However, nobody must've told it that, since it didn't seem fazed at all.

The monster rose up once more while dark-green blood poured out of its stomach. As crushed pieces of its broken horn fell to the ground, it glared at its surroundings, looking for the target of its fury. Once it found Reivan, it shrieked with a high-pitched voice before charging again.

'Damn, I can't tell if it's just dumb or if this is the effect of the taunt.'

Reivan avoided the simple attack for the umpteenth time, but he winced when he felt a surge of pain in his foot. He finished his roll and jumped to his feet before turning around to face the creature with his sword raised.

'Shit, it's learning...'

The thing had extended all of its remaining appendages as it charged, just to increase its chances of making contact with him.

"Hrah hrah hrah... fool...!" the creature spoke in a mind-rattling rasp, as it cackled.

"Ugh..." Reivan groaned as he heard the sound of sizzling coming from below. When he looked down, he saw dirty green blood splattered on his foot.

'This bastard can talk...!? Also, it's smarter than it looks. It actually used its own blood as a weapon.'

In any case, it seemed he couldn't continue with his previous modus operandi. But Reivan didn't mind.

'Guess it's now or never.'

The creature would most likely die any second now. At least, that was what he understood from [Supreme Insight]'s passive skill.

Reivan changed his grip on the sword, holding it like a spear as he did earlier. He pulled back his right arm and threw it with all the force he could muster.

"Stupid hooman! that... no work again!" it yelled. The creature's obsidian eye gazed at the sword intently, apparently with the desire to catch it.

But its intentions didn't matter to the young prince as he started racing forward on all fours. The wind rushed past his face as he prepared his next move.

For only a moment, the creature glanced at the incoming boy, but quickly returned its attention to the sword, paying him no mind. The dangerous weapon was way up in the air. As for the boy? He had nothing.

Reivan smirked as his eyes gleamed with golden light.

It was a familiar feeling. Just like those times in the forest, where he was just allowed to run around and do as he pleased. Reivan's heart beat faster and faster from the exhilaration of just... letting go.

Letting the beast within, go.

You have entered [Beast Gate]'s berserk state.

'This doesn't feel bad...?' he mused inwardly. Despite apparently being berserk, he didn't feel particularly unable to control his body. 'But well, that can wait for later.'

He found it a little strange, but he didn't have time to think about it.

Reivan was still quite far away from the monster, but the sword was just about to hit it...

When it suddenly stopped.

"?" The nightmare spawn grunted in what seemed like confusion as it watched the sword levitating in mid-air, but then began to cackle. "Hooman... power run out? Hrah hrah hrah!"

Just as it reached out to grab hold of the handle, it flew to the side to escape beyond its grasp.

"Hrm...?" The creature let out a baffled growl as it tried to seize the sword again, but failed after it did the same thing. This repeated a few more times, until it seemed to realize something.

'It's too late, moron.'

Reivan smiled widely, his fangs revealed. The foolish monster had let itself get lured into showing him its back and letting him get so close.

From Zoro-chan's stomach, Reivan took out ten ordinary knives that he'd nicked from the kitchen. Using [Formless Will] all of them turned into blurs as they shot toward the abomination's exposed rear.

The knives smoothly plunged into the nightmare spawn's flesh.

Releasing a roar of anger and agony, the creature whirled around with a face twisted in malice.

But that too was a mistake.

The enchanted short sword, as if waiting for the moment to strike, tore through the air to skewer the foolish freak from the back.

If only that was the end of its suffering.

Reivan leaped forward, his arms outstretched and a ferocious smile on his face.

Your intense urge for combat has activated [Intent]! [Intent] has changed into [Battle Intent]! Savage energy flows through your veins!

-20% Resource Consumption.

+20% Resource Regeneration. Your eyes glow in anticipation of a challenge!

+50% Might. Bones of ste—

'Geez, these always show up when I don't have time to read them!'

Reivan mentally waved off the semi-transparent screen before his body collided with the monster. As his feet wrapped around the thing's body, holding him in place, the warbeast pup cocked back his left arm.

Before punching the nightmare spawn's glassy eye, shattering it into countless pieces.