Chapter 199 — Beyond the Barrier
[20th June]
Today marked the semi-finals of the Capital Tournament.
Only four contestants remained.
Four geniuses.
Four monsters of the younger generation.
The first match ended almost as quickly as it began.
Raviel stood opposite a noble contestant who had witnessed everything that happened during the previous rounds.
He had seen Fenlor's defeat.
He had seen Rey nearly cripple himself.
And he had no intention of sharing their fate.
Barely a minute after the battle began, he surrendered.
Some spectators mocked him.
Others looked down on him.
Yet the young noble showed neither shame nor regret.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Pride was worthless if it got him crippled.
The crowd could laugh all they wanted.
At the end of the day, he would still walk away on his own two legs.
Thus, Raviel advanced to the finals without even breaking a sweat.
The second match, however...
It was an entirely different story.
Gravion.
Ben.
The two big dark horses of the tournament.
Both possessed mysterious fighting styles.
Both had attracted the attention of numerous noble houses.
And both had already proven they belonged among the strongest of their generation.
The moment the match began, neither rushed to use their true weapons.
Instead, they closed the distance.
Fist met fist.
Elbow met forearm.
The arena echoed with explosive impacts as both contestants tested each other's strength.
Their movements became faster.
Sharper.
More precise.
Soon, ordinary spectators could barely follow their exchanges.
The two figures blurred across the arena like shadows.
More than fifty blows were exchanged.
And both arrived at the same conclusion.
Their physical abilities were nearly equal.
"You're stronger than you look!" Ben shouted with a grin.
Gravion smirked.
"I could say the same. Someone your size shouldn't be this fast."
The testing phase ended.
Both drew their weapons.
Ben's massive greatsword.
Gravion's spear.
The real battle finally began.
Sparks erupted throughout the arena.
Metal clashed against metal repeatedly.
The force of their strikes sent visible shockwaves across the platform.
At first glance, Ben's greatsword looked heavier.
But the moment their weapons collided, he realised the truth.
Gravion's spear was far heavier.
Far denser.
Every clash pushed him back slightly.
Every exchange increased the pressure.
Gradually, the momentum shifted.
Gravion's attacks became stronger.
Sharper.
More unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Ben found himself forced into defence.
The spectators held their breath.
No one could confidently predict the winner.
Ben still possessed his trump card.
Everyone knew it.
And eventually...
He used it.
After accumulating several injuries, Ben finally removed the heavy weights attached to his body.
The effect was immediate.
His speed exploded.
The arena gasped.
He became noticeably faster than before.
Yet Gravion showed no concern.
As if adapting in real time, he gradually matched the increased pace.
Minute after minute, the gap disappeared.
Ben's expression slowly changed.
His attacks became more fluid.
Each strike flowed seamlessly into the next.
His swordsmanship gained momentum.
A relentless torrent of attacks.
But Gravion responded as though he had already seen every move beforehand.
It felt as if Ben were fighting against someone reading from a script.
The atmosphere in the stadium became increasingly tense.
Silence spread through the audience.
Everyone waited for the deciding moment.
Then it came.
For the first time, exhaustion appeared on Ben's face.
His stamina had always been one of his greatest strengths.
Yet even he was beginning to slow down.
Still, he refused to surrender.
Finding a brief opening, he grabbed the shaft of Gravion's spear.
With a roar, he lifted him completely off the ground.
The audience erupted.
Ben spun his body.
Then hurled Gravion skyward.
The entire stadium rose from its seats.
Ben gathered all his remaining strength.
Preparing one final strike.
Above him, Gravion also understood.
The battle would end here.
The spear wielder descended.
Ben's greatsword rose.
Both attacks collided.
BOOM!
A deafening impact shook the arena.
Then—
~CRACK~
Ben's greatsword shattered.
The spear pierced through the opening.
A tremendous force slammed into Ben's side.
His body flew across the arena.
Crossed the boundary.
And crashed onto the stadium floor.
Silence.
Then thunderous applause exploded throughout the Capital.
The second finalist had been decided.
Gravion advanced.
The final battle was set.
Gravion.
Raviel.
The two brightest stars of the younger generation.
Meanwhile...
Far away from the tournament grounds.
Rey watched the conclusion from inside the Valemont residence.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"As expected."
From the very beginning, he had predicted Gravion's victory.
The man's fortune was absurd.
At this point, even the tournament championship seemed destined to fall into his hands.
But that wasn't Rey's concern.
The moment the match ended, he stood up.
His focus shifted elsewhere.
Toward something far more important.
His own growth.
Walking into the underground training area, Rey stretched his body before beginning the stances of the Scaled Drift Art.
His goal remained unchanged.
Reach the First Stage.
Complete the Foundation Phase.
The first set began.
Then the second, then the third.
His movements flowed smoothly as he utilised the enhanced circulation method he had developed through the Twentieth Set.
Time passed rapidly.
Within twenty minutes, he had already completed fifteen sets.
Confidence surged within him.
His movements became increasingly natural.
His body entered a rhythm.
Sweat soaked his clothes.
His muscles burned.
Yet he never stopped.
Eventually, he reached his previous limit.
The Twentieth Set.
The barrier that had halted him before.
Rey inhaled deeply.
Then continued.
One stance.
Another.
Until finally—
The Twentieth Set was completed.
A strange sensation spread throughout his body.
Unlike before.
This time, exhaustion never arrived.
Instead, a warm current emerged from deep within him.
A new energy.
A feeling of growth and progress flowed through his limbs.
Through his muscles and bones.
Pushing him forward.
Without hesitation, Rey continued.
Twenty-First Set.
Completed.
Twenty-Second.
Twenty-Third.
His circulation became smoother than ever.
The reason was obvious.
His abilities were continuously enhancing his mastery over mana control.
Every movement became more refined.
Every cycle became more efficient.
Time slipped by.
Before he realised it—
The Thirty-Second Set was complete.
Yet the technique itself barely changed.
The stances remained almost identical.
The mana pathways only altered slightly.
At first, Rey never understood why such repetitive foundation training was necessary.
But now he finally saw the answer.
The mana wasn't simply circulating.
It was reshaping him.
Strengthening him.
Adapting his body to accommodate the future technique.
Every circulation tempered his muscles.
Every cycle reinforced his bones.
Every movement subtly transformed his physique.
His body felt lighter.
Stronger.
More stable.
And that wasn't the only benefit.
His core was progressing as well.
For the first time in a long while, visible growth appeared.
When he had asked Aiden about it, the spirit explained that basic mana circulation could improve any core over time.
However...
The Darksyth Core was anything but ordinary.
Aiden suspected its rank far exceeded anything Rey currently possessed.
Because of that, ordinary circulation techniques could only provide minimal progress.
To truly advance it, Rey would eventually require a high-tier Mana Art.
Even so...
Progress was progress.
And Rey was more than satisfied.
A panel appeared before him.
[Core: Darksyth Core [F+] {2.1%}]
Looking at the number, Rey smiled.
It wasn't much.
But unlike before...
The percentage was finally moving.
And when the day came for his core to evolve—
He had a feeling the rewards would be far greater than anyone could imagine.
Rey continued pushing forward.
Only when he approached the doorstep of the Fortieth Set did he finally feel his energy beginning to collapse.
He inhaled deeply.
Then stepped into the Fortieth Set.
One stance after another.
Each movement placed increasing tension on his muscles.
His body screamed in protest.
He could clearly feel his limit approaching.
The stress on his muscles, bones, and mana veins had already exceeded what his body could comfortably endure.
But Rey refused to stop now.
Not after reaching this far.
He continued performing the stances.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Enduring the pressure.
Little by little, he reached the final sequence of the set.
By then, his skin had turned completely red.
Sweat poured from his body as though he had been drenched in water.
His eyes were bloodshot.
His legs trembled violently beneath him.
Still, he forced himself to complete the final stance.
Then—
A cracking sound burst from within his body.
Rey's expression twisted.
He felt his bones compressing under immense pressure.
A thin stream of blood dripped from his nose.
His vision blurred instantly.
The world began spinning.
His body swayed.
And the next moment, his footing gave out completely.
Rey collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
Blood spread beneath his nose as his chest rose and fell heavily.
Aiden and Victor appeared above him.
Both sighed at the sight.
His mana veins had been pushed to exhaustion after such a long period of circulation.
His muscles were overloaded.
His blood pressure had risen to a dangerous level, causing the vessels in his nose to rupture.
Victor immediately got to work.
He stabilised Rey's internal condition and stopped the bleeding.
The damage wasn't fatal.
Just severe overexertion.
His muscles, however, would continue to ache intensely once he woke up.
That pain couldn't simply be erased.
After finishing their work, both spirits disappeared again.
Leaving Rey lying there like a corpse, drenched in sweat.
Aboveground, none of the servants came to check on him.
Everyone in the mansion already knew one thing:
Young Master Rey hated being disturbed while training.
So the underground room remained silent.
Hours passed.
Evening arrived.
And eventually, Rey opened his eyes.
For a while, he simply stared at the ceiling in silence.
His whole body was crying out in pain, and he wished he could just lie down for the entire night.
Even after waking up, he still couldn't fully believe what he had achieved.
He opened his status panel immediately and moved straight to the Technique and Art tab.
A glowing line greeted him.
Scaled Drift Art {Stage 0 - Foundation} [40%]
The moment he saw it, a grin spread across his face.
He covered his eyes with one hand and laughed quietly.
"I actually did it..."
"It feels unreal..."
He checked the percentage again just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"Are you planning to stare at that screen all night?"
Aiden's sudden voice startled him.
Rey nearly jumped.
"Aiden! You almost gave me a heart attack."
He sat up while wiping the dried blood from his face.
His body was mostly fine now, though soreness still lingered in his muscles.
"I didn't forget anything," Rey replied. "I'm just surprised. This technique was stuck at twenty percent for so long, and now it suddenly doubled in one day. It feels like a miracle."
Aiden snorted.
"Miracle? You idiot."
"The reason it progressed so quickly is that this technique requires extremely high mana control and manipulation. Your current control level is already way below."
He pointed directly at Rey.
"What helped you was the ability, Eternal Darkness Body. That enhanced your mana control and allowed you to push the technique this far."
Aiden folded his arms.
"Without us, you probably wouldn't even complete the foundation stage within a year."
Rey's triumphant mood instantly deflated.
"...Oh."
He gave a blank stare before slowly standing up.
The moment he put weight on his legs, his body wobbled.
"What the—"
He leaned against the wall for support, as even this caused him pain in his muscles.
Victor casually appeared beside him like a passing notification.
"Oh, right. Your leg bone suffered a minor fracture before you passed out. I fixed it, but it still needs a little time to stabilise properly."
Then he disappeared again as if saying the most normal thing in the world.
Rey stared at the empty air.
"...Sometimes I wonder whether my life became more dangerous after meeting you people."
He sighed heavily and cleaned up the underground room using his elemental skill.
The bloodstains were burned away.
His ruined clothes were replaced by Zero.
Afterwards, he went upstairs, took a long bath, and finally came down for dinner.
He ate heavily.
Much heavier than usual.
After exhausting his body like that, hunger hit him like a beast.
Once finished, he returned upstairs under the excuse of resting and once again instructed the servants not to disturb him.
Of course, he wasn't planning to sleep.
Tonight, he intended to return to the forest again.
The mysterious signal Victor had sensed still hadn't been found.
If he couldn't locate it within the next few days, he would eventually have to leave for the Royal Capital and return months later.
But Rey doubted the thing would disappear so easily.
The area he had been searching was frequently explored by hunters and martial artists.
If it were something ordinary, someone should have already discovered it by now.
That alone made the mystery even more suspicious.
The moment the timing felt right, Rey slipped out through the window again.
His black cloak fluttered behind him as he leapt across the rooftops toward the city walls.
Below him, the Capital was alive with celebration.
The entire city was discussing tomorrow's final battle.
Gravion versus Raviel.
The match that would decide the strongest martial genius of the kingdom.
Most people favoured Raviel.
His dominance throughout the tournament had been overwhelming.
But Gravion's odds were far from low.
He remained an enigma.
A box of mysteries that still hadn't revealed its full strength.
Whether that hidden strength would be enough to overthrow the kingdom's favoured genius—
That question filled everyone's minds tonight.
Meanwhile, Rey had already reached the city wall.
He glanced back at the illuminated Capital one last time.
Then he jumped into the darkness beyond the walls.
Straight toward the forest.
Straight toward the unknown secret tied to his bloodline.
Whether it would become an opportunity or a disaster...
Only time would tell.