I reincarnated as the Duke from the North.

Beiye the madam

“And he presented the prize before my feet.” I tried my damnest to lower my voice so it couldn't echo in the beautiful large hall of the cathedral. Mauve Cathedral. A place I never thought I would be able to step foot in was made empty for me and my benefactor's wife. Lit by the bright lightshafts through stained glass from above he listened while I recanted my gory tale of the day her husband saved my life.

“Smiling wide, he gave me a choice.” I continued, moving my hand in a cutting motion on my neck.

“Oh no… the bloody idiot…I am the only woman he treats well?” She whispered to herself. Her harsh language stunned me. Back straight with perfect posture, she had better manners than my old noble clients I had met over the years, however, the swear did not seem unfamiliar on her tongue. Rather, it was like she could finally speak freely in front of me.

I did hear from my men that her mother was like me.

“Please don't fault him, Your Grace. It was a choice I needed. Bloody as it was, I would have cut the bastard's neck a thousand times more if given the same choice again.” I smiled as my fist balled tight. Warm working hands held my hurting hand. Sitting next to me on the pews, primly clothed in a dark, intimidating dress with a frilling white collar around her slim long neck, the Duchess comforted me wordlessly, her eyes calming the anger in me.

“Thank you.”

Shaken, her grace asked, “For what, Bieye? Making you cut a head? That's all my crazy husband's idea.”

I chuckled. “No no…My people. My Girls. You took them. Sheltered them. Fed them. Gave them jobs. Jobs that they can… that they don't need to… “

She took her hand in mine, facing the statue of a constellation where a cardinal imbued the lands above’s holy power into a vial of water. Golden light pulsed from his veins as he struggled with the power.

“I am just following my dear husband's example. Just offering a choice for those who never had one. I just wish I could have done this earlier.” She turned back to me. “Met you earlier.” Eyes back to the imbuement ceremony, a sly grin sprouted from Her Grace's lips. "And to add to that, I needed hard workers. I was impressed by your girl’s handiwork. The new partnership with Alar will bring much more textile business to our lands. I hope you weren't mistaking it for generosity.”

I shook my head. “Of course not. The woman who brought Grandi from a middle-level merchant company to the heights it experiences today would exploit every asset to the best of her ability.”

Her Grace's smile grew larger. “My husband has such an eye for talent.” The passion in her eyes burned like a furnace. Just like him. My heart beat with pride as she stood up to meet the exhausted cardinal carrying a glowing vial.

Her Grace whispered to me. “Beiye. If he trusts you, then I trust you. Listen well.”

“Listen?”

The cardinal walked up the aisle to bow to Her Grace. “I am sorry for the long wait, Your Grace. I was preparing the monthly vial.”

“Cardinal.” She nodded with a stern face. “There is no need to apologise. The show was as beautiful a sight as the night you saved my husband. Every time I see the constellations lending you their mana, I am truly in awe of the power I will soon come to bear.”

The cardinal became stilted, trying to conceal his surprise with a shaky smile.

“Come to have…?”

“Of Course. You came for me, am I correct? To observe your saint?”

Saint?

The duke

To this day, I have yet to learn all the system quirks. How do I get stronger? What quantifies ‘experience’? Throughout my many battles, my growth has been anything but linear. Short bursts are followed by lulls of no progress that had frustrated me to no end. But I did have a hint of the ‘Experience’ I lack. And Lord Thorn was the perfect duelling partner to test my hypothesis.

I couldn’t be careless around the Seventh Circle golden grade. Each attack of his blade can decimate a squad of proficient warriors. As he drove me up the Kirgfeild manor wall, a slash of his fire melted the windows. His blade covered his nose while he guarded the last of my five strikes to his face He countered with a blast of flame. I cartwheeled across the wall as if my hand had suctioned on the wall like a certain spider hero, evading with my clothes singed.

“You are as annoying as your namesake!” I flash-stepped with the wind coating my sword. Wind and fire smashed and mixed. Thorn fell, bracing against my qi-enhanced power and a mana shield protected him as I pushed him to the ground.

“Sorry, Your Grace!” My greatsword shifted to my right, and a powerful right elbow hit me on the cheek, blurring my vision for a second. “Having to fight off a rude intruder makes me a bit eager.” I caught his boot before it concaved my stomach and yet I was pushed back by a blast of fire from his sole.

I smiled while taking a two-handed stance. I grunted, dragging my blade along the cobbled ground for a slash upward. Mana, mixed with the wind, flew towards the enemy. Left hand outstretched, a mana shield two persons high and wide formed in front of Thorn. I launched more crescent slashes of wind, trying to break the mana shield of the seventh circle. It withstood. I threw more, slashed faster, fiercer, and harder. Thorn was tired but his shield stood strong.

Lord Thorn's blade exploded in bright orange flame. He stuck from afar, with a flame almost solid. Still linked to his long sword, the flame reached for me. I blocked against the flame whip, enduring the sonic boom. Thorn whipped again. I hit it away, block from below, and deflect from my left, right, above. As fast as sound, the whip attacked all angles. My blade was barely fast enough to meet the flame so I leaned forward to dodge. My right foot broke the ground as I burst forward with all my speed.

A blast engulfed my vision as it flew towards me. Too large to sidestep. Too high to fly away in time. Still carried by my momentum, I ran into the barreling fire. I reach deep within. Feeling the circles around my heart revving at full speed. I tried to resonate with an element that had eluded me. I held my hand out and only sparks ignited.

My greatsword's sword rose up, and the wind became a visible storm around my blade.

With a loud grunt, I sliced down.

Fire, parted by my gale slash, rushed at my side. I squinted, the light of the blast almost blinded me as it destroyed the manor behind me. I huffed, sweat on my brow, watching a bright orange sword light its owner through the flowing dust. The Wolfburn walked to me ready for more.

Does he feel it can beat me now?

He could.

Why didn't it work?

Why can’t I just use it?

A slap to my chest echoed in the castle. I hit my chest again, trying to beat away the fear.

It's ok, Tarion. I tried. Let's win now.

“Gave me a strange pill and in a few minutes, our positions were reversed. Cockyness has killed many a warrior. It killed one you know well.”

I summoned my allocation window. Standing up, cracking and stretching my body, I resorted my extra 100 points to my senses.

“Ah… You want me to kill you that badly?”

The thorn's blade glowed brighter. “You are just like him… Same brashness. Same ego. Same foolishness.”

Thorn thrusted. Fire shot from the tip of his hot blade flew for my head. A gloved hand whacked the fireball away into the sky.

“He was a beast on the battlefield. Rampaged through hordes of the shaved like a dagger through parchment. But like a beast, he had not the sense to give in.”

Thorn vanished from view but my senses ‘saw’ him clearly behind my back. The smell of sweat. The heat produced by mana transforming into fire. Feet crunching the stone below. The rustle of his surcoat. Clinking of chainmail.

The whistle of his blade cutting the air.

I saw all.

My right shoulder moved first, and my back followed. Thorn’s blade whistles by. My core imbued with qi forced me back with a burst of energy and my back, coated with mana armour, slammed into Thorn's chest and arm. I heard the Lord gasp as my back blew the air out of him.

My right boot slid backwards between his legs as I gripped my greatsword for a wide swing.

Soldiers jumped away with mana shields as Thorn crashed into the side of the castle's walls.

With two hands on my greatsword in a Woman’s stance, Thorn blew the bricks off him. A blue shield shone around him.

Panting with worry on his face, a large crack in the mana shield by the lord’s chest slowly mended. I shook my head, feeling a scowl on my lips

"I was going to make your last moments less embarrassing for you.”

My sword quietly hummed with mana.

"'He gave the great duke a challenge.' the bards would have sung."

My eyes were warmed with qi and colour was sucked from the world

My voice was almost a growl. “You should not have brought up my father. "