novelraw Chapter 94 : Chapter 94
Chapter 94 : Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Asura (4)
The aftereffects.
The first thing I did was contemplate my own body.
This was the first time I, as a 4th Rank, had manifested the fire of a 5th Rank.
It was something that had never happened even in my past life. Back then, I was an ordinary mage who could only be faithful to my Rank.
My heart tightened slightly, and my blood vessels felt raw.
My entire body ached as if suffering from muscle pain.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you alright?”
As I stood still, Ellen and Kalinos, who had finished off the remaining Asuras, approached.
“I’m better than I thought.”
Pain is relative, so this was rather manageable. It had been worth reaching the 4th Rank.
“You’re bleeding.”
Ellen pointed at my face. Sure enough, when I wiped it with my palm, my hand was soaked in blood.
“It just looks that way. The eyes are one of the most fragile parts of the body.”
When water overflows, it bursts from the weakest point first.
The aftereffects always showed through my eyes first.
“In reality, I’m in better shape than it looks…….”
As I was speaking, I fell backward.
Ellen had tripped me.
She supported my back as I fell and laid me down roughly on the ground.
“Shut up and just rest.”
“Alright.”
I didn't resist.
“You too, Sir Kalinos.”
Ellen then glared at Kalinos.
His legs were trembling so much I wondered how he was even standing. It wasn't just his injuries; he was suffering from Aura exhaustion.
And yet, he remained standing, vigilant of his surroundings. Truly a remarkable mental fortitude.
“I’m fine…….”
“You will probably have a painful fall, Sir.”
“……”
Kalinos quietly lay down on the ground.
Ellen crouched by my and Kalinos’s heads.
“I was surprised, Ellen-nim. You were incredible.”
“……”
Kalinos said quickly.
Contextually, it felt like flattery, but at least he seemed sincere.
“It was like watching the Grand Heir.”
Until now, Kalinos had shown no interest in Ellen.
It was because Ellen was from a branch family and a member of the Intelligence Bureau.
“No, perhaps even more so than the Grand Heir……”
But now, Kalinos’s gaze was intensely fervent.
It was the way one would look at Elaine.
That is, the successor.
Perhaps the words ‘succession struggle’ had come to Kalinos’s mind.
“The Intelligence Bureau needs military strength, too. The next Intelligence Bureau will stand for power. No less than the Knights.”
My eyes widened slightly.
Ellen’s handling of the situation was quite masterful.
‘This wasn’t the skill of someone who’d only been through this once or twice.’
Whenever a controversy arose, Ellen must have gotten out of it like that.
It was a statement she didn't have to take responsibility for. After all, Ellen was a figure who would disappear.
“Wasn’t I incredible?”
“I knew you were incredible from a while ago.”
At Kalinos’s plain sincerity, I let out a low laugh.
Unlike with mages, there is no jealousy in a knight’s sincerity.
“You were incredible too.”
“It’s thanks to you, Harad.”
“No. You would have made it even without me.”
It wasn’t just empty praise.
In my past life.
Kalinos would have searched the darkness with his knights.
On that path, Kalinos would have been valiant for his comrades, and he would have realized that valor was his essence.
That was probably how he became a Sword Master.
But it would not have been enough. That would have been Kalinos's death.
The Gray Asura was not a foe Kalinos could have handled alone.
“What happened?”
Ellen asked disconnectedly.
But no one was mistaken that she was asking about Kalinos's new state.
“……I believe it is the result of rediscovering the beginner's mind I had lost.”
“So you’ve vaguely known your essence for a long time.”
“Yes. I did not do it knowingly, but coincidentally, that was the case.”
Kalinos had pursued valor for a long time.
His essence was valor. No, perhaps his essence had changed to become so.
‘Is it innate, or is it formed through life?’
I did not know the answer.
Aura was an unknown territory to me.
The world calls magic vague, but from my perspective, Aura and divine power were just as vague.
“But why aren’t you getting younger? They say you get younger when you become a Sword Master.”
Is she serious?
I stared intently at Ellen.
“What.”
“Are you asking in earnest?”
“Am I not allowed to ask?”
Even though it was the Aura she used, Ellen seemed to know less than I did.
“Were you not taught?”
“There was no one to teach me.”
“Ah.”
Elaine’s master was Mores Palaz.
That great old knight rarely explained the realm of a Sword Master to Elaine.
He had explained once that it was because it could create preconceptions. That realm had to be realized purely, through one’s own strength.
“The body of a Sword Master returns to its prime.”
In truth, rather than returning to their prime, it becomes stronger and sturdier.
Because their prime begins from that moment.
“They do get younger in the process. However, the change is not drastic. It happens gradually.”
Kalinos, who was middle-aged, would become younger.
“The change won't be dramatic. He'll just end up looking reasonably young for his age. Unless the amount of Aura is immense, it's rare to become noticeably younger.”
1st Knights Commander Toremot looked to be in his 30s.
“Sir Palaz looked like he was in his 20s.”
“I understand his amount of Aura is famous.”
When it came to the amount of Aura, Mores Palaz was a knight beyond compare.
As I explained, I tilted my head.
‘What about Grand Duke Aratus?’
He had the appearance of someone who could be Elaine's father, no matter who looked at him.
Thinking about it carefully, it didn't make sense.
‘He must have a tremendous amount of Aura.’
Even without Innate Strength, the Serzilas were of that bloodline.
Their amount of Aura was as great as their martial prowess.
In my past life, Elaine looked like she was in her twenties even at the age of forty.
‘Why? On purpose? Is such a thing possible?’
I had never heard of such a thing.
It’s not like it was magic.
Grand Duke Aratus was hiding more.
Just as I was thinking that, Ellen’s eyes sparkled toward Kalinos.
“The quality of your Aura has changed. Are there any other changes?”
“……I’m not sure.”
Kalinos still seemed bewildered.
It was because he had never imagined he would so abruptly reach a state that every knight yearns for.
“This might be a buzzkill, but you’d be better off not expecting anything more special.”
“Why?”
“The existence of a Sword Master is special in and of itself. Anything more is greed.”
Of course, there are occasionally such special individuals.
Superhumans who have awakened an Aura that shakes the world.
“Special among the special. Auras of that quality are bound to be rare. You should be satisfied with your Aura being enhanced.”
“This alone is more than I deserve.”
Kalinos seemed satisfied with just his own achievement.
“Tell me more.”
Ellen’s curiosity shone.
“I don’t know much either. To use magic as an analogy, think of the quality as the Origin.”
“You must be special then?”
“I’d be even more special among them. The quality is probably the same. Only those who are born with a rare spoon, like me, would possess such an Aura.”
Of course, I don’t know if they are born holding the spoon like mages, or if they create their spoon as they live.
I stared intently at Ellen.
The Elaine of my past life was uniquely special.
That was why Elaine had the right to be arrogant.
No, she had to be arrogant. The Aura she would later awaken was of that nature.
“Harad, you’re quite knowledgeable about Aura as well.”
“I agree.”
“……It’s that you two know far too little.”
This was why people considered magic to be more difficult.
Because knights often achieve greatness without knowing anything.
I let out a hollow laugh and raised myself up.
“I told you to lie down.”
“If I rest any longer, the Gray Asura’s heart will grow cold.”
I hadn’t burned the Gray Asura’s heart.
* * *
The Gray Asura was a mage.
There was no way it was the only one.
It was a particularly strong individual among the Asuras.
That meant the other Asuras were also mages.
‘Not just a particularly strong individual, but a mage who must have been strong when he was alive.’
There are occasional cases of mages degenerating into a state similar to a Magical Beast. It’s described as being devoured by one's Origin.
Jesult of the Ivory Tower, whom I once encountered at the Watchtower of Fire, was an example.
“Then why are you surprised?”
“It was different from the usual cases.”
Someone devoured by their Origin looks like a mage devoured by their Origin to anyone who sees them.
That’s because their Origin and magic could be felt.
But the Asuras were different.
I hadn’t felt any Origin from them.
I had naturally perceived them as Magical Beasts.
“Wasn’t it just the Gray Asura that was special?”
“No. The Origin was suddenly felt, right after it consumed the Crimson Flames.”
It was as if the fire had restored its Origin.
“The other Asuras might have recovered too if they had consumed enough fire.”
The Asuras were so identical in appearance that I had mistaken them for a single species.
“Which means they all ended up that way for the same reason.”
Also, their Origins would have all been similar.
“Recovery means removing the cause. If there’s a hole in the body, it’s like plugging that hole.”
The Gray Asura recovered by eating fire.
It regained the Origin necessary for magic, and the reason to manifest it.
“Do you mean it became an Asura because of fire?”
“To be precise, because of the lack of fire?”
I answered as if asking a question.
Because I wasn’t certain either.
‘It became a creature like a Magical Beast because of a lack of fire, and it recovered upon eating fire.’
It was called fire, but wasn't it more accurately an Origin or magic?
A mage who needs another’s Origin or magic.
Even for the regressed me, this was a first.
‘I’ll know if I eat it.’
By absorbing the heart, I would come to know about the Origin.
The Gray Asura’s Origin was crushed and mangled, but if I absorbed it, I would be able to learn its original form.
I hadn’t felt it from the hearts of the other Asuras.
Like the heart of a low-Rank Magical Beast, it felt like a sprouting seed of an Origin.
It was likely because, unlike the Gray Asura, they had consumed less fire.
That creature was a special individual.
It must have consumed a lot of fire even before eating the Crimson Flames.
The Fire Crows would have been just a small part of it.
The Gray Asura had become as huge as a giant.
But the heart of the dead creature was the same size as that of a normal person.
“Are you going to eat it yourself?”
“Do you not like it?”
“Well, that’s up to you.”
Though she said that, Ellen’s reluctance was palpable.
It was a welcome sentiment, but even I couldn’t help it this time.
The reason it became an Asura and returned to being a mage was fire.
The Asura’s heart was still beating faintly. When I placed it on my palm, it was quite cold.
‘Even though it recovered by eating fire.’
This must have meant it had warmed up.
When an Asura ate fire, its body brightened.
And it becomes warm.
The reason it became an Asura must have been the opposite.
‘Because it became cold and dark? No. It became cold and dark because there was no fire.’
That was how this mage became an Asura.
Having died from a lack of fire, it desired fire.
But no matter how much it ate, it would not have been able to return to being human.
There were certainly cases where a mage devoured by their Origin miraculously recovered, but it wasn't a complete recovery.
It was more like just regaining their sanity.
The blood remaining on the heart dripped down my hand.
It was then that a light burst forth from my chest.
As I drooled without realizing it, scratching at my itchy chest from my heart's urging to hurry up and eat.
“The orb?”
There was only one thing in my chest pocket.
When I took it out, it was indeed the orb. The one I had once received from the Moon Rabbit was emitting a soft light.
That silver light was aimed at the Asura's heart.
‘It seems right to give it to the orb.’
It was obvious that the Asura's heart would replenish the orb's magic.
“I don’t want to.”
I said it without thinking.
It wasn't my will.
The sun wanted to eat this heart.
It is difficult to break that will. My hand holding the heart was approaching my mouth.
Addiction is that kind of thing…….
“I don’t want you to, either.”
It was then.
Slap! Suddenly, my left and right hands came together as if clapping. The Asura’s heart and the orb, held in each hand, collided.
The heart and the orb.
Ellen, who had folded my hands over them, grinned slyly.
“How audacious of you.”
“Did you dislike it?”
“I liked it.”
Kalinos, who had been watching while lying down, smiled with satisfaction.
For some reason, it felt like that was exactly what he should do.