Chapter 128 : Chapter 128
Chapter 128
“What do you mean by that? Helping me get past the wall......”
“I mean exactly what I said. I’m going to help you get over that wall so you can leap up to the next stage.”
Was it because he saw the confidence in my smile? Kalmond swallowed hard, and his gaze settled.
Kalmond was one of the very few people who knew my true level of strength. He had fought me himself, and he was the one who had witnessed from closest range the moment I stepped forward and defeated our enemies. He must have understood at once what I meant.
Just as expected, he nodded as though prepared to do anything.
“If it is your teaching, Master, I will accept whatever it may be.”
To put it simply, I intended to raise his Aura to the next level.
At Level 41, his fundamentals and applied techniques were already excellent. What he lacked was simply the amount of Aura he possessed. If he could release stronger Aura, the number of foes who could stand against him would decrease.
Was that really possible?
Absolutely.
I had mastered a Mana Mental Cultivation Method through self-study. And mana and Aura were powers built on similar principles. If I passed on the cultivation method I had learned, raising his stage would be easy.
Of course, I would also have to carry out a somewhat troublesome process of increasing the amount of Aura he possessed.
“But before that, let me ask one thing. Why are you trying so hard to become stronger? Is it for the company’s sake?”
“No. I have a personal goal.”
“What kind of goal?”
When someone tried to become stronger, the purpose they set for themselves mattered quite a lot. I had learned that from Arthas. According to him, that was what let you swing your sword one more time.
With a resolute expression, Kalmond answered.
“A long time ago...... back when I was with the Scorpion Gang. It’s embarrassing to say, but I was once badly beaten by a man whose identity I never learned.”
Hold on. This story sounds strangely familiar......
“At the Arkain Merchant Company warehouse, I encountered a masked intruder. I was so badly wounded then that I nearly lost my life. He was an Aura User too. My goal is to find him somehow and take revenge. Though I am still lacking for now.”
So he still had not forgotten me.
Kalmond had kept in his heart the clash we had once had when I raided the Arkain Merchant Company warehouse.
Well, if a man forgot the person who stabbed a sword through his chest and brought him to death’s door, he could hardly be called a martial artist. If it were me, I would have bolted upright in bed in the middle of the night too.
How am I supposed to explain this away?
“Hmm. I don’t know the full circumstances, so I can’t say what kind of man he was, but perhaps he had some kind of reason?”
“Pardon?”
“No, hahahaha. I was only saying it. Come on, let’s train. Sit down quietly.”
It seemed revealing my true identity would be impossible for a while yet. I never imagined he would be sharpening the blade of revenge like this.
Of course, even if he dimly came to realize who I was, Kalmond did not seem like the sort who would become terribly angry.
He already had both loyalty and Favorability toward me, and at the time I had my own circumstances as well. He might simply dismiss it as a minor incident.
“Breathe in slowly and focus your mind. I’m going to pass on an Aura Mental Cultivation Method to you now.”
At the words Aura Mental Cultivation Method, Kalmond flinched.
An Aura Mental Cultivation Method was, literally, a method for handling Aura. It included breathing, meditation, and various physical and mental disciplines. Since I had already mastered a Mana Mental Cultivation Method, I could pass on a Lower-Compatible Version like an Aura Mental Cultivation Method without any problem.
“Empty your mind completely and focus on the movement of the Aura I’m about to pour out. It may hurt. Endure it.”
He gave no answer. That itself was proof that he was fully concentrated.
I placed a hand on his back, then poured out Aura. After that, I examined the Aura Circuit inside his body. Just like mana, Aura also had circuits.
Narrow, tangled, and complicated. There was no choice but for the efficiency of his Aura to be terribly low.
He had definitely learned Aura through self-study. Even if not, it was obvious that he had not studied it for long.
First, I attempted to make contact with the Aura gathered in his dantian.
Vmmmm!
His Aura and mine reacted together, and an interaction began. The price of that was excruciating pain.
“......Urk.”
A groan slipped from Kalmond’s mouth. He seemed to be in such agony that his veins stood out, yet he endured it well. Because of that, I was able to move on to the next step.
I drew my Aura up more strongly.
Vmmmmmm!
Now my Aura had gained the upper hand over the Aura circulating through his body. I bound his Aura at the dantian, then used only my own Aura to renew his Aura Circuit.
If I could gather Aura at the heart, I would be able to let him release a far more powerful Aura Sword, but that was beyond my current level. Optimizing his Aura Circuit was the limit of what I could do.
I could try it, of course, but if I did, I had no idea what would happen to Kalmond’s life.
Only now do I think I understand why Mages gathered test subjects for experiments.
“This is when it really, truly begins. No matter what happens to your body, endure it. Do not resist, no matter what.”
To repair the Aura Circuit, a stronger power was needed. So I sent pure mana into him and rebuilt his circuits to resemble the ones inside my own body as closely as possible.
Throughout that process, Kalmond suffered pain so intense that he coughed up blood.
But he endured it well. That was proof that he trusted me completely.
There was surely also his desire to become stronger, but it also meant he was prepared to throw away his life for my sake.
After a long time passed, I successfully finished renewing the Aura Circuit running from Kalmond’s dantian through all four limbs.
Kalmond’s expression looked far lighter.
“That’s done now. How do you feel?”
“......My body truly feels light. I feel as though I could take flight this very moment.”
“Move.”
Following my command, Kalmond sprang to his feet and drew his daggers. The two daggers, each carrying a keen edge, flashed through the air. Soon Aura burst forth, and his blades tore through empty space with far greater force than before.
After releasing his strength for quite some time, Kalmond slowly brought his movements to a stop and sheathed the daggers.
Then he knelt before me.
“Thank you for granting me enlightenment, Master.”
“This much should be done for someone who risks his life working for me. Think of it as the compensation you naturally deserve. That makes things easier for both of us.”
“I never had a proper master and learned Daggersmanship alone in the back alleys. Yet only now do I feel as though I have met a true teacher.”
“Just don’t start serving me as your teacher.”
Those words carried many meanings. I wanted him to become my companion in life. I had no desire to be bound in the stale relationship of master and disciple.
“So your Aura definitely rose. Does it feel as though you’ve crossed the wall?”
“I have definitely crossed it. I can hardly contain the power flowing out of my whole body.”
“That doesn’t mean you can neglect your training. In the end, you still have to increase the amount of Aura in your dantian. I’ll teach you the breathing method, so keep refining it whenever you have the time.”
“Yes, Master.”
After passing on the essence of the Aura Mental Cultivation Method to him, I rested a while, then brought up something I needed to ask. There was a matter I had instructed him to look into before I left for the Royal Capital.
“Did you ever get to meet Young Master Prah?”
“The truth is, I wasn’t able to meet him even once.”
“Is it true that rumor saying he shut himself up inside the mansion and has not gone out at all?”
“It is. I sent letters several times and even went to visit, but I was never able to see the Young Master.”
Ignoring a request for an audience from the Vice Master of Metis Trading Company was no easy matter, whoever else it might be. After all, we had been sending regular Sponsorship Funds.
“Not even a proxy came out?”
“No. They only said that he would not be receiving visitors for the time being.”
“That’s suspicious.”
I recalled that he was absorbed in Necromancy and Dark Magic.
Basically, both Necromancy and Dark Magic required sacrifices. Necromancy could be made to work, to some extent, with corpses alone. Dark Magic was different. It required living sacrifices.
If so, then I had expected that rumors or incidents of some kind would soon begin to arise around here. Because Diablo’s Chalice had fallen into his hands.
If he wanted to conduct some kind of experiment, now would be the right time.
So I asked,
“Have there been any ominous rumors around the village lately, or any strange stories going around? People disappearing, graves being dug up, things like that?”
“Well...... Ah! Come to think of it, the mood in the village has been grim lately because kidnappers have been on the loose. I hear it is mostly children who have been disappearing.”
“And the graves?”
“I’m not sure about that. I’ll look into it.”
It smelled suspicious. Adeline had relatively good public order. The count next door might be overstepping his station and running wild, but not to the point where crime should be breaking out like this.
“Is there no more detailed information about the kidnappers?”
“It’s only something I’ve heard through rumors. I haven’t investigated it specifically. Since I washed my hands of the underworld, information doesn’t come in as easily as it used to.”
Well, Kalmond was in a position where he had to run a company now. It was very possible he had simply heard it and thought, So something like that happened?
“Use every line we have and investigate that incident.”
“Understood. But is that matter connected somehow to Young Master Prah?”
“I still can’t know yet. Now we have to find out.”
Kalmond lowered his head slightly in obedience.
“I’m going now. Take care of yourself.”
“Travel safely, Master.”
I patted his shoulder once and left Metis. It felt as though some of the burden in my heart had been lightened.
Kalmond’s Favorability rose by two points, from 90 to 92.
Considering how difficult it was to raise it once it passed 90, that could only be called a dramatic change.
“This is fun.”
Now that I knew how to raise the Favorability of my companions, life itself felt more enjoyable.
And so I walked the night road alone.
***
The next day, before leaving the Adeline territory, I made a few preparations.
First of all, I put off visiting my fief, Tordan — now to be called Medici — until later. The region was rugged, yes, but more importantly, it lay in the opposite direction from the road to the Royal Capital, so it was not efficient.
I was curious what kind of place it was, but for the time being, I decided to delegate internal administration there to its local administrator.
So now I was waiting in the drawing room for that administrator to arrive.
When the appointed time came, the door opened, and an old man in neat clothes entered. He carried a cane in one hand and looked to be of considerable age.
“I greet my new lord. I am Noer, the Village Chief of Tordan Village.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Village Chief. I’m Dilen.”
“Please speak comfortably.”
I had no particular intention of doing that. It was not because the Village Chief was old, but because recognizing a person’s position to some extent was the shortest path to a healthy relationship.
“I cannot treat lightly the Village Chief who represents an entire village. I heard that you’ve been managing Tordan for a very long time.”
“It is the place where I was born and raised. Is it not only natural to care for one’s own home?”
“That’s reassuring.”
“The feeling is mine as well. I’m very happy that I will be serving such a benevolent lord.”
To be honest, it wasn’t really a fief large enough to justify being called a lord. It would be more comfortable to think of it as something like a district chief. No, what district chief — more like a neighborhood head.
“For now, please sit. It must have been tiring to come all this way.”
I guided the Village Chief to the sofa. He hesitated a little, and only after I urged him again did he finally sit down.