'Reisir has already lost too many precious people.'
Although the original work mainly mentioned his parents, the Demon Realm did not swallow only three people, including him and his parents.
It was a massive Demon Realm, large enough to engulf an entire territory whole.
Thus, all those who worked at the Lord's Castle, whom Reisir would have considered close, and furthermore, all the residents of the territory died.
After so many sacrifices, they were finally able to drive the Monster to the brink of death.
Thus, the one who pierced the exhausted creature's heart with a spear after it collapsed was...
The young boy who managed to survive until the very end under everyone's protection, 'Reisir Daudabiner'.
The Demon Realm was barely destroyed.
However, the altered topography and objects, as well as the newly grown plants, remained intact.
That is why Reisir said in the previous chapter that 'the Imperial Family took back the territory for investigation.'
'Just like that, he lost not only people, but also the land his family had governed for generations...'
That territory, after all, belonged to the Daudabiner family.
It would have been different if they had merely dispatched an investigation team, but extracting the territory's resources at will and profiting from them was another matter entirely.
So the Imperial Family nitpicked, claiming the Lord and Lady had conducted some strange experiment, and that was why such a thing happened.
They did this even while knowing it was not a disaster that could be caused by human power.
To justify reclaiming the territory, they tarnished the honor of the dead.
'Thus, he even lost his family's honor...'
In noble families, when both parents die and a child is left alone, it is common for people to volunteer as guardians.
Because they can embezzle that family's assets and interests little by little.
But all that remained for Reisir was the reputation of being an unfortunate child.
The person who took in the boy everyone turned away from was Helga's father, Baron 'Diyoop Vitnir'.
Together with his wife, Diyoop treated Reisir, the child of his deceased friend, like his own son and cared for him with affection.
Thanks to them, Reisir was gradually able to regain stability.
'Come to think of it, I remember a detail where the Baroness passed away from illness midway through, and they went through a precarious period for a while...'
Reisir overcame that as well.
Together with him, the father and daughter of the Vitnir family also found the strength to overcome their grief.
The three of them became even closer.
It would have been fortunate if the story had ended there, but this was merely the beginning of misfortune.
On the day of the graduation ceremony, Helga dies, and later Diyoop loses his life while investigating the Demon Realm alongside Reisir.
That is the expected course of the original work from this point onward.
'Considering that, even after that, the pattern of precious people appearing only to die repeats...'
Wouldn't the time he spent attending the academy and being bullied by Karvaldr seem peaceful in comparison?
It started with the author suddenly killing off Helga.
Author Senna killed supporting characters whenever even a single negative comment about them appeared, regardless of whether the criticism was valid or not.
Then, at some point, they began killing supporting characters over and over again even without such comments being posted.
It didn't matter if readers left tearful comments begging them to stop, or if saddened readers gradually left one by one.
This continued even after people drawn in by the review, 'A novel where supporting characters die as soon as they appear,' flooded the comment section.
The original author repeatedly introduced new supporting characters only to remove them from the story.
As if presenting a protagonist traumatized by losing ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ too many precious people at a young age was not enough.
Why repeat the process of giving him precious things only to take them away again?
Isn't it cruel? Just unbearably cruel?
'Because the image Reisir usually shows is so bright and cheerful, I never had the occasion to recall and contemplate his past in such detail...'
That was especially true because it wasn't explored in detail in the original work, as it was merely background information summarized in a few lines of narration.
But at this moment, I was facing a pitiful smile that was clearly forced.
A sudden realization compelled me to think.
'The reason Reisir can continue living with such a bright smile despite carrying painful memories inside him must be because he always wants to avoid making the people around him worry...'
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut, but I couldn't.
Because I didn't want him to realize just how emotionally shaken I was.
I forcibly opened my mouth and spoke calmly.
"You only answered why you hide your silver eyes. But that isn't the main point, is it? Explain why you revealed them to me."
"Isn't it obvious? To prove that I can help you."
I suppose so.
If not for that reason, why else would he reveal that he, like me, possesses two types of ether?
"Karvaldr. The reason you can't freely draw out and use the sky blue ether from your core is because the purple ether interferes, right? If that's the case, I have a solution."
I already know what that method is, since I read the original work.
"The golden ether I was born with is contained in a vessel below my navel like everyone else's, right? But the silver ether I obtained later took root here, inside my head."
As he spoke, Reisir tapped his temple with his index finger.
If you, reading this text, are also familiar with wuxia novels, you would have noticed it the moment you read that line.
That refers to the vessel containing Qi located below the navel.
It is an explanation of the Dantian, specifically the lower dantian.
If there is something similar inside the head, then that would be the upper dantian.
Although Reisir did not mention it, I assume there is also a vessel in the heart corresponding to the middle dantian.
"So you're saying I should separate the purple ether and the sky blue ether."
"Yeah, that would be best."
Do you remember that on the day I first manifested the sky blue ether, I sat in the 'lotus position' and entered ether cultivation?
That was foreshadowing for this Three Dantians setting.
Actually, I had been considering moving the sky blue ether to the middle or upper dantian ever since then.
However, to attempt that, I first needed to become accustomed to handling the sky blue ether.
That is why I simply skipped over mentioning it in that chapter.
If there are no problems with keeping two ethers inside one core, then there is no need to separate them either.
Because...
"Ah, right! Although I don't think you'll do anything reckless, I'll warn you just in case. I hope you won't recklessly force ether toward your head. Because it's dangerous."
That's right. The problem is that it's dangerous, just as Reisir said.
Knowing full well how fragile brain tissue is, how could I recklessly shove ether into it?
So if possible, I didn't even want to attempt it.
If I absolutely had to separate them, I intended to aim for the middle dantian.
'But the upper dantian would offer greater advantages.'
Looking at wuxia novels, isn't opening the upper dantian generally considered superior to opening the middle dantian?
Even aside from that, since the problem is that different types of ether interfere with one another, it would be advantageous to keep them as far apart as possible.
And above all, the greatest merit is that it is the path pioneered by the original protagonist, Reisir.
Since it wasn't mentioned within the serialized chapters, I can't be certain.
But perhaps Author Senna had something in mind when they established that the silver ether took root in the upper dantian.
'For example... someday the golden ether in the lower dantian and the silver ether in the upper dantian might meet in the middle dantian, harmonize, and fuse to unleash immense power?'
While keeping such a possibility in mind—
"Can I take your silence to mean that you've also concluded separating the two types of ether is the best option?"
"The process of pushing aside the purple ether remaining in the ether core to open a path and draw out the sky blue ether consumes a considerable amount of mental energy. Although I am gradually getting the hang of it..."
"The fact that you have to go through such a process in the first place is incredibly inconvenient, isn't it?"
"...Yes. Furthermore, if the total amount of purple ether increases, drawing out the sky blue ether will become even more difficult. Because of that, abandoning the development of the purple ether would be absurd."
"Then shouldn't you have something to say to me?"
—Even though Reisir was teasing me like this, I was unable to leave this place, so I continued responding to the conversation.
Perhaps because he expected to hear me ask for help, his expression brightened considerably.
Truly, this was a situation where I could hardly claim I didn't need his help.
"Specifically... how are you saying you can help me?"
"I'll let you confirm exactly where inside the head the silver ether has taken root. And I'll also teach you the pathway through which ether can be safely moved there."
"You...! Do you even understand what that means?"
"Of course I do."
Unlike me, who immediately became serious, Reisir reacted nonchalantly.
Because of that, I had to ask once more to confirm.
"So... are you saying you'll allow my ether to enter and leave your head?"
"That's right. That is exactly what I meant."
"Are you sane? What if I mess around inside your brain and damage it?!"
"Hahaha!"
"Don't laugh. This isn't something to laugh about."
"But you're worrying about me right now, aren't you? So your threat to harm me sounds rather harmless..."
Reisir said that and burst into genuinely cheerful laughter once again.
Watching him, a groan naturally escaped me.
"You... if you go around trusting people so easily, you will be betrayed someday."
For the record, I'm not just saying that.
In the original work, Reisir was betrayed by a trusted companion and ended up in a situation where he had to kill that person with his own hands.
But it seems even this sincere warning sounded like a joke to Reisir.
His laughter rang out once again.
"Stop laughing and just state what you want."
"Huh? What do you mean, what I want?"
"Are you not offering to help me despite the danger to yourself? Then it is only natural for me to provide compensation."
"I didn't offer to help expecting compensation. I just said I'd help because we're friends."
I also understand very well the intentions behind Reisir's offer to help.
But I cannot accept Reisir's help without paying some kind of price.
Especially not if he wants to help because he considers me a friend.
Yet rejecting Reisir's help altogether would have been too regrettable.
That is why I said I would provide compensation.
To turn the situation from one-sidedly receiving help into a fair exchange with a proper price.
"For your information, all I have is money."
"Are you pretending you didn't hear what I just said?"
"I hope you will suggest a specific amount within reasonable bounds."
"Sigh, fine. If you insist that badly on giving compensation."
I thought he would reluctantly accept the deal only after a long argument.
But Reisir gave in much more quickly than I expected.
However, what he wanted as compensation was a service I had no desire to provide.
"Since the whole thing about everyone using nicknames fell through because of Heli's circumstances, how about just the two of us calling each other by nicknames as consolation?"
"Dismissed."
"Wasn't your answer way too fast?! It's not even a difficult request."
"To me, it was a request unworthy of reconsideration."
"Are you perhaps embarrassed to call me by a nickname? Or do you suffer from some kind of illness where you become obsessed with the person you call by a nickname? Then will you at least allow me to call you by a nickname?"
It was truly an absurd pile of nonsense.
