N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
C 378
Raon narrowed his eyes at Burren, who was standing there in a daze.
He has gained quite a bit.
'That's right. He seems to have absorbed it well.'
No matter how good the elixir is, it's impossible to absorb all the energy inside it
Natural energy inevitably gathers impurities as it condenses, but Burren seemed to have removed the impurities and absorbed only the pure energy.
His cultivation did not increase significantly, but his body grew larger and his aura increased significantly.
"What the hell did you do to him?"
Burren swallowed his saliva as he looked at Mark Gorton, who was shaking uncontrollably while clutching his ankle.
"I trained."
Raon shrugged.
"T-training? What kind of training did you do to make a man look like this?"
He let out a sigh, saying that the once-sturdy knight had become a wet dog.
"It was a simple training where I threw a dagger and Sir Mark deflected it."
"Simple training? Why is this man so shaken up then?"
"I guess he was too excited about the training."
"That makes sense?"
Burren looked at Mark Gorton with an incredulous expression.
"Hyuk!"
Mark Gorton shook his head so hard that his pupils were invisible, insisting that it wasn't the case.
"See. He's full of energy."
Raon curled his lips as he looked at the sight. Mark Gorton coughed like he had a coughing fit and hugged Burren's leg even tighter.
The conscienceless brat....
Wrath turned to this side with a pale face.
To grind someone to the point of death and say that he is full of energy! Your conscience, which is embedded in your soul, must have already turned round! Like you now!
'What are you saying?'
Originally, conscience is triangular, but it turns round as the corners are worn out when you do bad things! Just like you now!
'A demon king believes in fairy tales....'
It was a strange and strange demon king who brought up a fairy tale story that teaches morality to children, not to mention being a glutton.
"Anyway, the training is not over yet. Sir Mark. Come this way."
Raon beckoned Mark Gorton, twirling the sword between his fingers.
"Give him a break. He'll die!"
Burren frowned as he patted Mark Gorton's back, who was crushed by fear.
"He had enough rest... Hmm?"
Raon gestured to Mark Gorton, then looked at the training grounds.
Since the energy inside was being gathered, it seemed that most of the members had finished their training.
* * *
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It's refreshing!"
Martha let out a loud shout that shook the training grounds as she stretched her arms.
"Hmm..."
Runaan followed, blinking her eyes and yawning.
"Did you all have a good time?"
Dorian laughed while chewing on a cookie he pulled out of his pocket.
"Soung Hwans elixir wasn't just a representative elixir of the Beast Alliance for nothing."
"That's right. I can feel my aura and body changing."
"Supposedly, if you undergo a transformation, your body become a body that can rival the strongest martial artist."
"It feels like I've just undergone a transformation. I feel like I could win against anyone."
The members of the Light Wind squad also came out with brightened expressions and smiled excitedly.
Raon extended his senses of perception and scanned all the Light Wind squad members.
"They've all changed."
Every member of the Light Wind squad had become a different person than when they had entered the training room, even more so than Burren.
Seeing the significant growth in the disciples, a natural smile crept onto Raon's face.
"Ahem."
Gambling Monster, the last one to emerge, approached while clearing his throat. Despite his rough appearance, there was a newfound brightness in his demeanor.
Although his aura had grown like the others after consuming the elixir, his stamina had improved beyond recognition.
"It's been a while since I received an elixir from someone other than gambling. Thank you."
"It's nothing."
Raon smiled and waved it off.
"Compared to what you've done, this is a small favor."
Gambling Monster was practically family to the Light Wind squad. It was not a big deal to provide elixirs to family.
"You'll become great."
"Suddenly?"
"Cough."
Gambling Monster cleared his throat awkwardly and took a step back.
Raon glanced at the unopened farthest training room.
"It seems like squad leader will take a bit longer."
Since acquiring the Artificial energy center, it seemed that Rimmer needed more time than others to completely remove the impurities within his body.
"Hey? What's with this zombie! Why didn't you finish him off!"
Martha frowned as she looked at Mark Gorton, who was holding onto Burren's ankle.
"A zombie? Huh? Sir, Mark!"
Dorian approached Mark Gorton, his mouth agape in surprise.
"Why, why are you like this? What happened?"
"Oh, that, that's..."
"Why the training grounds in that state?"
"Did it get bombed or something?"
The Light Wind squad members were baffled, looking at Mark Gorton, who was sobbing like a zombie, and the ruined training grounds.
"All of this is because of that kid Raon..."
Burren gathered all of the Light Wind squad members and explained the situation.
"Hey! Crazy guy! Training is good, but you should give them some rest!"
"Yeah! Mark looks like a dried-up rag!"
"He is not even a real demon! Let's be reasonable!"
"We're not all monsters like the vice-squad leader!"
Martha, Dorian, and the Light Wind squad members protected Mark Gorton while frowning. It seemed like they had developed a bond while saving someone falling off a cliff.
"Then, do you want to take his place?"
Raon pointed his raindrops-covered finger at the Light Wind squad members one by one.
"This is a very simple exercise. All you have to do is block this dagger."
"Alright! I'll do it!"
"I'm in!"
"I'll do it too! If it's for Mark, I can handle this much!"
"It won't be like before!"
Burren and Martha clenched their fists, and Dorian bit his lip. The other Light Wind squad members also shouted enthusiastically.
"At this rate, I think we can handle anything."
"After taking the Elixir, this kind of training is nothing."
"We'll show him our changed selves."
After five days and nights of training, their bodies had changed, and the amount and quality of their aura had increased. Now, they felt like they could withstand even Raon's brutal training.
"I like your confidence."
Raon nodded at the fiery eyes of the Light Wind squad.
"Follow me."
He climbed up the wall of the training grounds to go to the cliff where he had previously trained.
"Hup!"
Mark Gorton waved his hands at the Light Wind squad.
"No, you can't. Right now, Raon-nim is..."
"It's okay. We've also Gorton stronger."
"It's too much to be like Mark-nim for five days, but we can last for a day."
"Wait here. We'll flatten the vice-squad leader's nose and come back."
The Light Wind squad members, whose confidence was soaring after absorbing the elixir, did not listen to him and ran towards the wall of the training grounds.
"Oh no..."
Mark Gorton clutched his chest as he watched the backs of the Light Wind squad.
'No! They can't win!'
If they had eaten the elixir and turned from caterpillars to butterflies, Raon's swordsmanship had turned from a caterpillar to a hornet, a deadly hornet that could kill a person with a single sting. It was a fight that was impossible to win from the start.
"No! Raon-nim's swordsmanship is..."
When he tried to stop them somehow, Raon turned around and put his black sword to his lips in a gesture to silence him.
"Gurgh!"
When he saw the sword, the memory of being beaten for five days came back to him and his stomach churned. His mouth was open, but no words came out.
Mark Gorton watched the Light Wind squad leave the training grounds with confident steps and trembled his lips.
"I, I think I came to the wrong place..."
* * *
Raon smiled at the Light Wind squad members standing in front of the cliff.
"The training method is the same as before. If even one of you reaches the top of the cliff, you win. You'll have a full day of rest from tonight to tomorrow."
"You're not going to stop training on your own again, are you?"
Martha bared her teeth like an angry dog. It seemed that she was still not over what had happened before.
"Of course. I'll keep going until you give up."
Raon nodded calmly.
"If we pass, Mark Gorton-nim will also rest with us, right?"
Burren included Mark Gorton's well-being in this training because he felt sorry for him, who was staggering like a zombie.
"I'll admit that too."
"Good."
"Let's do it!"
"I can do it now!"
The Light Wind squad members lightly bumped their fists together to strengthen their resolve.
"Then get ready."
Raon waved his hand lightly and jumped up the cliff. He quickly reached the top of the cliff like a bird soaring.
"Wait a minute! He didn't block our aura..."
"Shut up."
When Burren tried to call out to Raon, Martha slapped his shoulder.
"Why, why are you doing this!"
"Raon forgot, right? There's no need to tell him."
Martha smiled coldly as she looked up at Raon.
"That guy always says that the one who gets tricked is at fault. This is an opportunity to repay him for all the things he's done to us."
“That’s right! It’s not cheating because the vice-squad leader forgot.”
Krein clenched his fists with shining eyes, as if he was excited.
“Let’s go like this. If he says anything later, we can just say that it’s the fault of the one who forgot, as 1st team Capfain said.”
“Let’s climb up in one fell swoop and reach the top!”
“I want to see the vice-squad leader’s surprised face.”
“That means we’re guaranteed a good night’s sleep.”
The Light Wind squad members also naturally curled their lips at the thought of teasing Raon.
“Okay.”
Burren nodded at everyone.
“Let’s go!”
At his shout, the Light Wind squad members simultaneously started climbing the cliff.
They didn’t use footwork, but they used their aura to climb the cliff at an alarming speed.
“If this keeps up, it’ll be over soon… Ack!”
Krein, who was following closely behind Burren and climbing up, was hit in the forehead with something and his body tilted.
“Aaaaaaargh!”
He screamed like a pig being slaughtered and fell to the ground.
“Krein?”
“What, what is it! What just happened!”
“It looks like the vice-squad leader threw a dagger!”
“No, but why did he start with him!”
The Light Wind squad members swallowed their saliva as they watched Krein fall down.
“Ack!”
As Burren slowed down and climbed the cliff with tension, a Light Wind squad member next to him was hit in the side with a dagger and fell down.
Phew! Pow!
Along with rough impact sounds, the Light Wind squad members who were spread out above and below the cliff fell down like chestnuts from a chestnut tree.
“Aaaaaaargh!”
“What is this!”
“I couldn’t see it!”
“Aaaaaaargh!”
The members screamed and sank into the dark ground as they were shot down by invisible daggers.
“Hey.”
Martha stuck to Burren’s side with a grimace like a demon.
“Did you see it?”
“I, I didn’t see it properly.”
Burren shook his head. It was literally just a flash, but the person next to him was gone. It was pure fear.
“Focus your mind and look up. The dagger appears in the darkness. You can’t let your guard down for a second.”
As he said that, he raised his aura to the maximum and spread out his senses.
*Fiiiing!*
A dagger appeared with a very thin sound, like a thread shaking, and hit Dorian’s cheekbone on the right, who was looking around cautiously.
“Quiteak!”
Dorian screamed like a duck being squeezed and fell off the cliff.
“Raon, you devil! Aaaaaaargh… Kyaak!”
He was hit by another dagger while falling, and he fainted and collapsed.
“Kuk…”
Burren trembled his lips as he watched Dorian, who was falling limply.
‘What is this.'
Raon's technique was not only stealthy, but also as fast as a beam of light. It seemed that it would be impossible to dodge even if it was not in a situation where it was attached to the cliff.
*Pew-pew-pew!*
With a series of clear impact sounds, all of the Light Wind squad members had fallen. The only ones left were Burren and Martha, who had stopped at the middle of the cliff.
"Anyway, only one person needs to go up."
Martha bit her lip and looked up.
"I'll be a shield. In the meantime, you use footwork and climb up."
"But..."
"You can't last long anyway."
She ran up the cliff, saying that she would block the dagger.
"Martha..."
"Shut up and come quickly."
"Okay!"
Burren thought that Martha had changed a lot as he followed her.
*Clack!*
When they were almost at the top of the cliff, Martha's footsteps stopped.
"Get out of the way!"
Burren heard her shout and moved to the right.
*Kwaang!*
Martha swung her fist, pouring all of her Titan's aura into it, to block Raon's dagger.
However, it seemed that she was too late and was pushed off the cliff.
"Idiot! Go up!"
She disappeared into the darkness, yelling as if to tell him to hurry up.
"Damn it!"
Burren did not look at Martha falling and used footwork at full power.
Just as he was about to reach the top of the cliff, a blood-red dagger rushed down over his head.
"I've been waiting!"
He had been keeping his guard up after seeing Martha being hit.
*Screech!*
He gritted his teeth and raised his hand. He thought of his hand as a sword and unleashed the ultimate technique of the Sakpung Sword.
As a result, the body and aura that had grown after absorbing the elixir created a harmonious flow and released a powerful sword strike. It was the Sakpung Sword's technique, Baekryangsakju.
*Kwaang!*
The Sakpung Sword unleashed with his hand and Raon's dagger collided head-on.
"This will do... Huh?"
Although he responded properly, unlike Martha, his hand was pushed back. The dagger that Raon had fired contained an unimaginable amount of power. The technique that he had unleashed with all his might crumbled like dry leaves, and the blade of the dagger came into view.
*Pah-ah-ahk!*
Burren, who was hit on the forehead with the dagger, started to fall from the edge of the cliff, which was just within reach.
'Martha wasn't weak....'
The power contained in that dagger was ridiculous!
"Damn ittt..."
As Burren spat out curses, Raon's face suddenly popped out from the top. He smiled and waved his hand.
"Thanks for your hard work."
"That damn bastard... gurk!"
Burren lost consciousness due to anger at Raon rather than pain.
"Runaan didn't come up, so that's it."
Raon went down the cliff after knocking down all of the Light Wind squad members.
"It hurts... so damn much..."
"What kind of technique did he use that we can't even see his Flying Dagger?"
"That's not the problem. Even if we see it, it's too fast to block."
"Blocking doesn't help anyway. What kind of crazy technique is this?"
The Light Wind squad seemed exhausted and frustrated with Raon's impeccable technique.
Raon passed through the Light Wind squad and approached Runaan, who hadn't climbed the cliff.
"Why didn't you come up?"
"Because you didn't block our auras."
Runaan grinned as if she were saying it was obvious.
Groan!
Wrath sighed as he looked at Runaan.
As expected of the Ice Cream Girl! That's the answer befitting the King of Essence's subordinate! It's different from the likes of you novices!
"That's right."
Raon chuckled and nodded.
"Alright, honest people deserve a reward. Runaan, you can take a break. The other squad members, start climbing the cliff again!"
"Aaaah!"
"This is frustrating!"
"We should have waited!"
Regretting that they simply climbed up, the squad members screamed while pounding the ground.
When Raon was about to climb the cliff again, Krein approached him and bowed.
"Vi-vice-squad leader. You didn't block our auras."
Krein scratched his forehead where a bump had formed from the collision with Raon's dagger, chuckling mockingly.
"Yeah."
Raon gave a look that clearly said, "So what?"
"Ugh..."
With clenched fists and a sneer on his face, Krein yelled at Raon.
"You demon! This is discrimination! And stop hitting me first... Urgh!"
He cried out, not with a scream but from the pain of the dagger striking his forehead, before collapsing.
At that moment, everyone had the same thought.
They should have stayed in the training grounds longer...
The next day at noon, Raon returned to the fifth training grounds with the Light Wind squad members who had failed to climb the cliff. Their faces were as pale as if they had suffered a massive defeat.
"Ar-Are you alright?"
Mark Gorton, who had been guarding the training grounds, looked at the Light Wind squad members, who were covered in bruises, with trembling lips.
"Mark Gorton."
Raon grabbed Mark Gorton's shoulders firmly.
"Unfortunately, the Light Wind squad has lost. We'll need more training."
"Ugh..."
With a gentle gesture, Mark Gorton dropped to his knees as if possessed by a ghost, his expression as if he were about to be devoured.
"Hey I'm not going to eat you."
After he smiled and laughed, he went up to the platform.
"Ugh..."
"Curses..."
"Darn it!"
The Light Wind squad members lined up in front of the platform, their confidence that had soared to the sky now plummeting, hunching their shoulders in defeat.
"As we all agreed, tonight's training is an overnight session. Our goal is to turn Light Wind squad into Light Wind Division within this year. So, we must prepare our best..."
As Raon spoke about the new goal, the door to the cultivation room, which had remained closed until the end, was forcefully opened.
Kwaaaang!
Beyond the swinging door, Rimmer walked out. The wind seemed to escape from his flowing red hair, and sparks seemed to fly.
"I've already applied for promotion to Light Wind Division." Rimmer said with a sly smile, pointing at himself.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah!"
"What's going on with our lazy leader?"
Everyone was surprised because Rimmer had prepared first.
"When is the test?"
"We have to take it twice, and the first one is coming up soon."
He narrowed his eyes as if recalling the date.
"How long has it been since I entered the cultivation room?"
"It's been 6 days."
"6 days?"
Rimmer flicked his finger and then raised his head. A refreshing smile appeared on his face.
"Then, it's tomorrow?"
"..."
Everyone's gaze, fixed on Rimmer, seemed to lose focus.
That bastrad elf again?
