Resolution

After waiting around for a few hours, Paul was relieved to see Lynette and Rosaria appear wearing thick winter clothes and rucksacks. They wouldn't be accompanying him to the Sword Sanctum, so he at least wanted to say thanks before they traveled East to the Ranoa Magic Academy.

"Hey, I just-"

"Thirty-eight days..."

Before Paul could finish thanking the two taciturn girls for shadowing him for nearly six months, Lynette promptly interjected, her expression equal parts pouty and judgmental as she appended, "That's the amount of time we could have saved if you weren't such a horndog..."

Blinking in surprise, Paul was tempted to ask what the petite cat girl was talking about, but he was well aware of what she meant. On average, he and Reida would go at it for around six hours a day. When the conditions outside were poor, making travel inconvenient, they wouldn't even bother to leave their room...

Scratching the back of his head, Paul attempted to excuse his actions by saying, "It helps me increase my Mana capacity..."

Snorting through her nose, Lynette left Paul feeling at a loss for words as she stepped forward to give him a hug. Before he could do the same, she separated from him and said, "Hurry up and summon my...sister..."

Though she was about to say brother, Lynette corrected herself at the last moment. As for Paul, his expression softened a bit as he recalled one of his few conversations with the charming yet aloof cat girl. She told him that if he managed to summon her sister, she would let him touch her tail and legs as much as he wanted. It was a strange thing to say, but as she gradually matured into a beautiful and supple woman, Paul had started to understand why she mentioned those particular aspects of her body. Her long, slender, and remarkably toned legs, often veiled in black tights, had become increasingly alluring...

Noticing Paul's eyes stray towards her currently covered legs, Lynette's black tail flicked like a whip as she said, "No..." in her characteristically apathetic tone.

Resisting the urge to say he wasn't going to do anything, Paul shifted his attention to the ever-stoic Rosaria and said, "Good luck on your journey. And thanks for keeping watch over me all this time. I mean it..."

Returning a cut nod, Rosaria stated, "Don't go getting yourself killed..." before grabbing the straps of her backpack, turning around, and adding, "See you around...Master..."

With nothing else to say, Rosaria shifted her attention to the sun lingering overhead before immediately setting off. Lynette eventually followed suit, but only after forcing Paul to pet her head for a full five minutes. Then, at the very end, she planted a small kiss on his cheek before running off as fast as her long and beautiful legs could carry her...

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Alone for the first time in what felt like years, Paul couldn't help feeling a little melancholic as he set his sights on the inhospitable wasteland that eventually transitioned into a seemingly endless stretch of snow and ice.

The Holy Land of the Sword was situated at the Nothwesternmost tip of the Central Continent. It was one of the most barren and isolated regions in the entire world, and, for those exact reasons, the First Generation Sword God had chosen it as the place for his home, the Sword Sanctum.

One of the first tests for people wishing to study at the Sword Sanctum was crossing nearly 600kms of barren wasteland and icy tundra without any rations. The only things you were supposed to eat were the monsters and creatures you hunted along the way. If you couldn't do at least that much, the current Sword God, Gal Farion, would either turn you away or cut you down.

Fortunately for Paul, one of the effects of his Dendro Vision was stamina regeneration. Ever since he had obtained it, he only needed to sleep for a few hours each night. More importantly, he could press forwards for days on end without any rest whosoever, so the 600kms wasn't as daunting to him as it was for others. Combine that with the fact he had recently shed around 55kgs of additional people and baggage, and Paul was feeling as light as a feather...

Smacking himself in his somewhat tender and frozen cheeks, Paul's expression became serious as he psyched himself up and said, "Let's fuckin' do this...!" in a resolute tone.

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Using a standing mirror that she had requisitioned from a local tailor, Reida's complexion became increasingly pale as she scrutinized her naked figure from numerous angles. The usually clear definition of her abdominal muscles had faded in the weeks since her separation from Paul, and, though it was very faint, she had the distinct impression her belly was beginning to inflate.

Though she had initially tried to convince herself she was imagining things, Reida had been waking up feeling a bit nauseous as of late. Her breasts had been feeling increasingly tender, and if she squeezed them hard enough, a bit of clear discharge would come out. These were some pretty tell-tale signs, so, even though she didn't want to admit it, Reida knew the truth; she was pregnant. There was also only a single person the child could belong to...

Exhaling a sigh, Reida carefully laid on her bed before staring up at the ceiling with a listless look on her face. Counting miscarriages, this was her tenth pregnancy, so she was pretty familiar with the symptoms. All the signs pointed to her being between three and four months pregnant. It had only been twenty-seven days since her separation from Paul, so she must have gotten pregnant somewhere around the halfway point of their journey. She just hadn't noticed it because she spent most of the day riding on Paul's back and nearly a quarter of it being gouged by his dick...

"That damn brat went and did it..."

Despite the relative harshness of her words, a faint smile marred Reida's face as she covered her eyes with her forearm. She didn't actually mind that Paul had knocked her up. If she did, she wouldn't have taught Paul a few 'tricks' that would increase the chances of conception when teaching him how to pleasure a woman properly.

Ever since her sudden and unexpected period, a small yet growing part of Reida had wanted Paul to impregnate her. Not just because he was so much more capable and kinder than the fathers of her other children, but because she would feel even guiltier about killing him if he was unable to leave a legacy behind.

Though there was a roughly 30% chance the child would die in her womb or during its first year of life, Reida believed in the potency of the Greyrat genes. Her greatest concern was finding a way to carry the child to term without too many people noticing. The simplest method was to disappear for a year or two, but then the King would ask her where she had been. If it became known she had given birth to Paul's son, the First Prince would either take it hostage or kill it outright.

While thinking of solutions, the image of Ningguang abruptly surfaced within Reida's mind. She had only met the peculiar white-haired girl a few times, but Reida would be lying if she said the otherwordly beauty didn't leave an impression.

Reida's intuition and senses were so sharp that she could detect even minute changes in a person's intent and emotional state. When she met with Ningguang, however, it was like observing the surface of a lake on a moonlight night. It was astonishingly calm and serene on the surface but impossible to see through...

While the First Prince and his faction were eager to either obtain or kill Zhongli, the person Reida viewed as the greatest threat was Ningguang. She couldn't be certain, but she suspected that Ningguang was the true mastermind behind the sudden and rather drastic changes in the Milbots Region. Her disappearance prior to the Royal Inquisition's arrival all but confirmed this.

Believing she could buy herself some time by reporting to the King that she was in pursuit of the 'perpetrator' of the suspected rebellion, Reida sat up and began penning a letter. She really was going to try and hunt down Ningguang, not to kill her, but to warn her to keep Paul away from the Asura Kingdom. As for her and Paul's child, she would try and leave it in the care of House Notos.

As far as Reida could tell, Paul and his parents were remarkably close. If they knew the child belonged to Paul, Reida was pretty sure they would take it in. If they refused, well, she would just have to think about that when the time came. If she were the type of woman to plan ahead, she wouldn't be carrying the child of someone thirty-seven years her junior...

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After nearly a month of walking, camping out in the wilderness, and hunting to survive, Paul found himself at the foot of a mountain that appeared to have had its upper half cleaved away. A set of stairs that could better be described as a ladder led up its side, but the thing that stood out the most, at least to Paul, was how distinctly Japanese the architecture was.

Like the stairs leading up to a Japanese Shrine, several large torii gates lined the path. There were even a few snow-covered statues resembling creatures like tanuki and foxes littered about, hidden among a forest of aromatic evergreen trees.

Further emphasizing the possibility that the first generation Sword God had been Isekai'd from Japan, a group of people wearing insulated black bodysuits and white gi approached the moment he reached the first step. One was a young man with a strange, mushroom-shaped hairstyle, while the other was an even younger woman with long black hair fastened into a loose ponytail.

Upon reaching Paul, the duo cupped their hands in a manner reminiscent of a Karateka as the young woman said, "Well met, brother. My name is Linus, and this is my good friend, Jordan. You've done well to make it this far at such a tender age. Come, we've been tasked with showing you the facilities and where you'll be staying."

Blinking in surprise, Paul asked, "You knew I was coming?"

Answering in place of his companion, the red-headed Jordan explained, "Our Master, the great Sword God Gal Farion, often ventures out into the Holy Land to observe prospective recruits. He returned a few hours ago and told us that a young boy would be arriving before sunset."

"Ah...I see..."

Though he was a little creeped out by the possibility Gal had been spying on him, it wasn't too difficult to believe. Given how long he and Reida had been traveling together, Paul imagined that someone had informed Gal of his arrival. The real question was whether or not Gal would give him crap for being a practitioner of the Water God Style...

After following the duo to a distinctly Japanese-style compound, Paul was asked to take off his shoes and turn over most of his equipment to a middle-aged woman wearing a black leather jacket with a thick fur lining. Paul recognized this as the jacket bestowed exclusively to Sword Kings, so he didn't even think to protest when she turned over his rucksack and confiscated his money. Such things were considered unnecessary within the Sword Sanctuary, so everything but his journal, a small portrait of his mother, and his Vision were confiscated.

Once most of his possessions had been stripped away, clothing included, Paul was issued three insulated bodysuits and a stack of seven gi. Within the Sword Sanctuary, only those Ranked Saint and higher had the right to wear apparel that distinguished themselves from others. Everyone else, regardless of their age or status in the outside world, was forced to wear the same outfit and live under the same conditions. If you wanted better conditions, you needed to prove yourself. Any attempts to curry favor or use your status to compel others would result in expulsion and, in many cases, death.

As annoying as these conditions sounded, Paul was looking forward to his time within the Sword Sanctum. He still needed to find a way to get Barbara and the others out, but they had already prepared themselves for the possibility he might not be able to. If that happened, he promised they would be the ones to accompany him on his journey to the Begaritt Continent. Until then, Paul's main focus was increasing his strength and reaching Sword Saint before the age of 15...the same age Gal Farion was when he became a Saint...

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