C964
“Urgh!”
Burren exhaled heavily as he climbed the sand dune that flowed from the foot of North Grave Mountain.
“What did he do to make the sand so hot?”
Raon had ordered them to climb this sand dune as their first training exercise. It seemed too simple to be anything more than a warm-up, but the sand was so hot it felt like hell on earth.
“It’s not just the heat!”
Martha gritted her teeth, alternating her feet like a desert lizard.
“The real problem is that bastard is suppressing our muscles and blocking our aura so we can’t even run properly!”
Raon had somehow learned to control their muscles and aura, reducing them to the state of ordinary people. As a result, they had no choice but to walk through the scorching sand that swallowed their feet with every step.
“No… I can’t go on!”
Runaan panted heavily, her tongue hanging out like an overheated dog.
“I’m just going to sleep…”
She knelt down and lowered her head, begging to be buried right there.
“You’ll die if you sleep here!”
Martha shouted, trying to shake her awake as she grabbed Runaan by the neck and lifted her up.
“I never knew Zieghart had a place this hot.”
Trevin shook his head, saying there was nothing like this even in the south.
“It’s like we’re in a volcanic terrain. No, it’s worse…”
He bit his lip, claiming this was hotter and more challenging than the volcanic areas he had been through on missions.
“Now that I think about it, was there ever a sand dune like this on North Grave Mountain? This sand looks like it belongs on a beach.”
Burren frowned as he looked at the golden sand with waves of white heat rising from it.
“This sand…”
Mark Goetun pointed to Dorian, whose legs were shaking as they sank into the sand.
“It came from our quartermaster’s sack.”
He swallowed hard, saying Dorian had prepared this sand along with Raon.
“Gulp…”
Dorian quickly shrugged as soon as his name was mentioned.
“Dorian…”
“You again.”
“You useless…”
“So you prepared all those supplies just to torment us!”
“The Palace Master’s spy!”
The swordsmen of the Light Wind division glared at Dorian with disdain.
“I just gave him the sand he asked for! I had no idea he would make it this hot!”
Dorian shook his head vigorously, claiming he never imagined this would happen.
“Besides, I’m a victim too! I’m climbing up here with you, am I not?”
He exhaled heavily, insisting that all he did was lend the sand. He looked more aggrieved than anyone.
“Damn it…”
Martha narrowed her eyes as she looked at Raon standing at the top of the dune.
“Where did that madman get this training method from?”
She kicked the ground, saying she couldn’t understand it. Of course, since the ground was sand, her leg sank even further.
“It must be from the Hall of Self.”
Burren bit his lip as he gripped his arm, reddened from the heat.
“It’s exactly like the trial he said he took in the Hall of Self…”
Raon had recreated the sand mountain climb he experienced in the Hall of Self in reality. His ability to create this massive sand dune and heat the sand was impressive.
“Hehehe…”
Runaan’s eyes were rolling as if she had lost her last grip on sanity.
“C-can’t we just stop and say we can’t do it?”
Krein whispered in a low voice, suggesting they go on a training strike.
“Training strike?”
“Yes! Honestly, this isn’t something we can do with our aura and physical abilities suppressed. Let’s say we’ll do it again tomorrow…”
“Shut up and climb!”
As he said it was time to stop, a chilling voice like the scraping of metal came from behind.
“Do you think ‘we’ll do it again tomorrow’ will work?”
The owner of the sharp voice was the Gambling Monster. He frowned, saying that was absolutely not allowed.
“G-Gambling Monster…?”
Burren swallowed hard as he watched the Gambling Monster shove Krein with his rough hand.
“Are you alright?”
The Gambling Monster was sweating more than the others, perhaps due to the alcohol in his system. His black robe stuck to him from the sweat, making him look even more uncomfortable.
“But why are you here, Head Administrator?”
Martha’s eyes widened, unable to understand.
“Why do you think? That damn brat says I have to participate in training from now on. Says I’m weak…”
The Gambling Monster clenched his fist until it bled, looking at Raon at the top of the sand dune as if his pride had been hurt.
“Did you accept that?”
Mark Goetun let out a surprised sigh. It was surprising that the Gambling Monster had accepted it immediately when he could have refused.
“One sword strike.”
The Gambling Monster exhaled heavily and shook his head.
“We made a bet, and I couldn’t block a single sword strike without aura. He’s become a real monster.”
He bit his lip, saying he couldn’t even block Raon’s sword that wasn’t using aura.
“As a martial artist, I had to accept after making the bet. Of course, I didn’t know it would be this hellish training…”
The Gambling Monster moved with heavy steps, saying he should have taken the sword strike and died.
“He killed the Gambling Monster with a single sword strike without aura?”
“That madman came back even crazier.”
“Handsome Raon…?”
Burren, Martha, and Runaan swallowed hard as they watched the Gambling Monster climb the sand dune, his robe clinging to his back from the sweat.
“If he’s making the Gambling Monster do this, he won’t be lenient on us.”
“Let’s go. We have no choice but to push on.”
“Yes. If we stop, he’ll just come up with even worse training…”
The swordsmen climbed the sand dune with waves of heat rising from it, their eyes squeezed shut. At the same time, the same thought crossed everyone’s minds.
‘Why did you leave the Hall of Self so quickly?!’
Just stay there for at least another month!
* * *
Swoosh. Raon pulled his hand out of the sand and smiled excitedly.
‘It’s working better than I thought.’
To recreate the sand mountain he experienced in the Hall of Self, he used the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to heat the sand. Thanks to reaching the 10-star level, he could easily control the heat.
‘Their expressions are great.’
Raon grinned as he looked at the swordsmen who looked like they had aged years, their faces contorted.
‘Training has to be painful to be effective.’
In truth, the swordsmen of the Light Wind division had the ability to avoid the heat with their footwork or withstand it with their aura, no matter how hot the sand became. However, if they avoided or blocked in that way, it wouldn’t be training. That’s why he personally suppressed their aura and physical abilities.
He had created the same situation he experienced in the Hall of Self, which was why the swordsmen were climbing the sand dune with faces that looked like they wanted to die.
“Are you really an angel?”
Wrath let out a sigh of exasperation.
“Using what you suffered on your subordinates! I can only say you’ve gone mad.”
He frowned, asking how Raon had become so twisted.
‘This training isn’t for my own benefit.’
Raon shook his head with a calm expression.
‘I’m doing this because I want them to grow like I did.’
“Damn it! At least lower your curved lips when you lie!”
Wrath wrinkled his nose, saying he wanted to show Raon a mirror.
‘Oh, really?’
Raon lowered his chin and used his finger to push down his curved lips.
‘To be honest, I did want to see them struggle like this. They’ve been coasting through most of the training lately.’
Since everyone in the Light Wind division had reached the Master level, they had been going through most of the training easily and with a nonchalant attitude. He couldn’t keep making them spar or do concentration-enhancing training every day just because they were getting arrogant, so he had been wondering what to do. Thanks to the Hall of Self, he found the perfect method.
‘I just didn’t expect them to struggle so much with the heat.’
Zieghart’s swordsmen, born and raised in cold regions, seemed more vulnerable to the heat.
‘Once they get used to the heat, should I throw them into a sea chilled by the Glacier?’
It might not be a bad idea to throw them into the sea with a freezing chill once they’ve gotten used to the heat.
‘Maybe they’ll develop resistance to both water and fire attributes like I did.’
“No matter how much I think about it, you chose the wrong place to be born!”
Wrath frowned, saying Raon would surely have become an evil god if he had been born in the Devildom or the celestial realm.
‘Thanks for the compliment.’
Raon smiled and moved his hand when he felt someone coming down from the top of North Grave Mountain. Turning his head, he saw Alice running down the rocky slope, dripping with sweat.
“I was wondering why it was so noisy, and it turns out it was you guys.”
Alice let out a laugh, saying she could hear the shouts even from the top of North Grave Mountain.
“The top? You climbed up there?”
Raon’s eyes widened. He knew Alice had been working on her body lately, but he didn’t expect her to climb all the way to the top.
“That must have been dangerous.”
The top of North Grave Mountain is a land of extreme cold covered in perpetual snow, impossible to reach with just two legs. It was surprising that Alice, without aura and with a damaged body, had climbed all the way to the top.
“You underestimate your aunt too much. As the aunt of the Sword Emperor, I should be able to do at least this.”
Alice shook her head, saying she had gotten healthier from climbing the mountain every day.
“Indeed…”
Raon nodded as he examined Alice’s body.
“You’ve changed a lot. It’s amazing.”
She was completely different from when he had brought her injured to Zieghart. It was evident that she had been training her body as much as possible with a systematic and nutritious regimen, despite her limitations.
“It’s the Dragon Heart you gave me.”
Alice placed her right hand on her left chest.
“I didn’t want to waste a single drop of mana.”
She smiled brightly, saying she didn’t want to show a shameful side of herself to him.
“But I find you even more amazing.”
Alice twisted her lips as she met his eyes.
“Everyone said you wouldn’t achieve special growth in the Hall of Self, but looking at you now, it seems you came out having gained a lot.”
She was sure he had made great progress, even without hearing any news.
“Could it be that you regained your aura?”
“No, I can feel it.”
Alice shook her head, saying it was just a feeling.
“It may not be at your level, but I’ll definitely succeed too.”
She licked her lips, saying she would devour all the mana in the Dragon Heart.
“Your physical condition has improved quite a bit, so I guess you’ll start cultivating soon.”
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Alice’s arms, now full of muscle.
“Yes. I’m planning to start cultivating this weekend.”
Alice nodded, saying she had already made plans.
“Who will be your guardian?”
“Uncle Saint. Although I haven’t asked him yet.”
She seemed to have decided on Federick as her guardian without even asking his opinion.
“That guardian role…”
Raon lowered his chin slightly as he looked at Alice.
“I’ll do it.”
“You?”
Alice’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t considered the possibility.
“Yes. Right now, you don’t have even a hint of aura, so during cultivation, the Dragon Heart’s mana could backfire or go out of control. I think it would be best if I helped you.”
Alice was showing impatience, wanting to regain all her power in one go. To prepare for any eventuality, it seemed best that he act as the guardian himself.
“No, that would be too much. You’ve already helped me so much, I can’t ask you to be my guardian too…”
Alice shook her head, saying she couldn’t accept so much help.
“Especially ‘that matter’ – I should have finished it, not passed it on to you. I’m so sorry.”
She bit her lip deeply, saying she should have killed Sif with her own hands.
“Aunt…”
He couldn’t imagine how a mother felt saying she should have killed her own son.
“Don’t say that. You’ve done so much more for me.”
Raon shook his head with a smile. He meant it. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was alive now thanks to Alice.
“No, I…”
“I’ll visit you on the weekend.”
Raon nodded after saying he would see her later.
“Sigh, alright.”
Alice nodded heavily as if she had no choice.
“Huff.”
“No… it’s over…”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
“We did it! We crossed hell!”
While he was talking to Alice, the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace had pushed through the intense heat and finally reached the top of the sand dune.
“How about that! We even surpassed the hell you created!”
Martha grinned, showing her teeth as she said suppressing their muscles and aura was useless.
“Yes. This is no different from our daily training.”
Burren nodded, lightly brushing the sand off his clothes as if he wanted to show off.
“It was easy!”
“This heat is nothing but a sauna!”
“Do you have anything tougher?”
“Do you want us to play in the Hall of Self?”
The other swordsmen started to boast as if they were filled with a sense of accomplishment to the tips of their hair. However, not everyone was full of energy.
“Ugh…”
“A-alcohol. Please, alcohol…”
Runaan was swaying on the ground like a slime, while the Gambling Monster started digging in the ground with both hands, looking for alcohol.
“You arrived 30 minutes earlier than I expected!”
Raon looked up at the sky and briefly stuck out his tongue.
“Good job, everyone.”
Honestly, he thought it would take 30 minutes more, but the swordsmen of the Light Wind division had surpassed the sand dune faster than expected, as if they were full of determination.
“Hah!”
“You underestimated your aunt too much!”
“Yes, this was as easy as eating cold rice.”
“The Light Wind division even won the war against the Black Tower!”
The swordsmen started boasting as if they felt full of a sense of accomplishment.
“Oh, really? Then you can do more, right?”
Raon twisted his lips into a smile and moved his chin towards the bottom of the dune.
“What?”
“Uh…”
“Can’t be…?”
“What are they waiting for? If they climbed up, they have to go down.”
He smiled at the bewildered swordsmen, telling them to go down the sand dune they had just climbed.
“R-right now!?”
“This place again!?”
“You want us to go down this sinking path now!?”
The swordsmen asked again, their jaws trembling as if their ears had deceived them.
“If you’re not going to go down, should I roll you down?”
Raon licked his lips as he emitted a chilling aura.
“Urgh!”
“This is driving me crazy…”
“I want to die…”
“The bastards who said it was easy before and that they could do more! You’re dead when we go down!”
The swordsmen threw themselves onto the hot sand, shouting curses.
“…Can I do it too?”
Unlike the other swordsmen, Alice looked at Raon as if she wanted to go first.
“Of course.”
Raon nodded with a smile.
“Thank you.”
She nodded and followed the swordsmen of the Light Wind division as they went down the sand dune. Despite having no aura and having limited physical abilities, she moved faster than the others with pure willpower alone.
“It seems the time has come.”
Raon smiled deeply as he watched Alice’s upright back.
“To release the Red Shark of Zieghart back into the sea.”
* * *
On the morning of the day he had promised Alice, Raon left the annex building and headed towards the Head of House’s training ground.
“You’ve arrived.”
Federick patted Raon’s shoulder, welcoming him.
“I was worried if I could do it right, but with you here, I’m relieved.”
He nodded, thanking Raon for taking time out of his busy schedule.
“It should be me who thanks you.”
Raon bowed, saying he was grateful for always taking care of his aunt.
“Well, then. Go on in.”
Federick patted Raon’s head as if he was proud of him, then pointed to the inner cultivation room where Alice was waiting.
“Yes, then.”
Raon greeted Federick again and entered the cultivation room where Alice was waiting. Being the Head of House’s training ground, even the cultivation room was twice as large. It looked like several people could cultivate simultaneously.
“You’re here?”
Alice, who had been leaning against the wall, raised her hand. Her pale expression suggested she was nervous.
“How is your physical condition?”
“Top-notch. I’ve been adjusting my condition for today.”
She nodded, saying her body was ready.
“And what about your mind?”
“That’s a bit…”
Alice slightly bit her lip.
“I’m worried.”
She let out a heavy sigh, saying she wasn’t sure if she could do it right.
“If I fail, it’s all over.”
“You don’t need to worry about failing, but even if you do, it’s fine. We can just get another Dragon Heart.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking. It’s fine even if you fail several times.”
He meant it. Considering not a single dragon appeared during the war with the Black Tower, they had clearly crossed a bridge that couldn’t be undone with them. He planned to kill and make dragons extinct every time they appeared from now on. So it didn’t matter if Alice failed. They could just give her what they had and get a new Dragon Heart.
“You’re going to make dragons extinct?”
Wrath let out an incredulous laugh.
“You’re really crazy…”
He shook his head, saying even demon kings don’t think about making dragons extinct.
“Hahaha!”
Alice burst into laughter as if she couldn’t believe it either.
“Hearing you say that makes me think I absolutely can’t fail. I’ll definitely succeed.”
She smiled as if some of the burden had been lifted from her mind and sat down in the center of the cultivation room.
“Ugh.”
Alice exhaled slowly and then took the rainbow-colored Dragon Heart out of her subdimensional space pouch and placed it on her lap. It was the item he had given her previously.
“Then I’ll begin.”
Alice looked at him for a moment and nodded slightly.
“Yes. Take your time.”
“I never thought you’d become so reliable.”
He said his nephew was truly the best, then closed his eyes and began operating his aura cultivation method. Woong! The light of the Dragon Heart began to spin and was slowly absorbed by the tips of Alice’s fingers.
Given her firm resolve, it seemed Alice wouldn’t open her eyes until she had absorbed all the mana contained in the Dragon Heart.
‘This is going to be a long battle.’
Raon nodded calmly as he felt the determination emanating from Alice.
‘While nothing is happening, should I check the content I forgot?’
“Stupid! What else did you forget?!”
Wrath shook his head, muttering that Raon was stupid.
‘Well, wasn’t I looking because of you?’
“Because of me? I’m not afraid of anything!”
‘Then I guess it’s alright to look.’
Raon smiled and called up the reward message he hadn’t checked before.
[You have achieved profound growth in the Hall of Self.]
[You have experienced 101 deaths.]
[All skills…]
[New Trait…]
“Eh? Was it this?”
Wrath’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility of a reward.
“Damn it! I shouldn’t have mentioned it!”
He slapped his mouth with his chubby hand as if he regretted his words.
‘I didn’t look at it last time.’
Raon smiled as he checked the message, but then he narrowed his eyes.
‘Hmm, that’s…’
Behind the message, he could see Dragon Heart mana escaping from Alice’s shoulder.
‘As expected, she can’t absorb it all.’
It seemed that in her current state, with an imperfect body, significant mental trauma, and having lost all her aura, Alice couldn’t perfectly absorb the Dragon Heart’s mana.
‘There’s no avoiding it… No, wait.’
Raon narrowed his eyes again as he lowered the reward message.
‘What if I don’t just protect, but help with that part?’
It certainly wouldn’t be easy. Helping someone else’s cultivation, especially someone without aura, was a dangerous act that could cause great harm to himself. But with his growth from the Hall of Self, he felt he could redirect the overflowing Dragon Heart mana back to Alice.
‘Aunt…’
As he watched Alice struggle with her cultivation, memories of their time together came flooding back. Their first encounter when he woke up on the pirate ship, catching the Blue Dragon together, her flying to save his life during a mission, and her face crying in anguish when she was betrayed by her son, Sif.
Remembering their time together, filled with joy, anger, sadness, and pleasure, his heart began to burn.
‘I hope this can be a gift for Aunt, who has been through such a difficult time.’
Raon placed his hand on Alice’s back and operated the Fire Ring to give her a gift after all her hardships. He purified the scattered Dragon Heart mana with the Fire Ring and then reconnected it to his mana circuit. Whoosh!
A warmer light than the sun that had given him immense power bloomed around Raon as he supported Alice’s back.
-
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