Chapter 124: Calm [2]
Ronan looked down at his broken bones and exhaled slowly through his teeth.
"You went overboard."
Both shins fractured. Both wrists shattered. Forearms cracked in multiple places. He could barely feel anything on his body.
Aura crossed her arms, glaring.
"I did what you asked."
"I told you to break them, not pulverize them."
"You also told me ’even if I tell you to stop, keep going.’"
Ronan sighed. She had him there.
He moved on to what needed to be done.
"I’ll have to skip class tomorrow. Even Steel Bone Armament can’t heal my bones this fast."
He tested his right wrist and immediately regretted it. Pain flared through his entire arm.
Aura shifted her weight, looking vaguely irritated rather than apologetic.
"Tell the teachers I’ll be absent tomorrow."
She nodded, then paused.
"Is it okay to tell them we know each other now? Should we still keep it secret?"
Ronan shook his head.
"I don’t care about that anymore. Tell the whole class. Grace included."
Aura’s eyes widened slightly.
+1 Affection [Aura Acheron]
+2 Loyalty [Aura Acheron].
Ronan felt the notification flicker past his vision. He’d expected that. Letting her exist openly beside him rather than forcing her into hiding meant something to her, even if she’d never say it directly.
Internally, Ronan reasoned it through. They’d been in the same class long enough now. If Aura announced she knew him, it wouldn’t raise too many questions. Students would assume they’d met during the war, or through Academy events.
Besides, with what he was planning, secrecy was becoming more of a burden than anything.
"This wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place if you knew how to hold back."
Aura glared harder.
"How was I supposed to know your mana control was that bad?"
Ronan raised an eyebrow slowly, keeping his tone light. "Why are you getting mad at me? You’re the one who broke my bones beyond repair"
Aura rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated huff.
"They’re not beyond repair." After a pause she continued. "I’ll be back tomorrow with food and whatever else you need."
She turned toward the window, and transformed into her cat from. She looked back at him one last time, her purple eyes glowly slightly, and then turned back.
Then she was gone, slipping out into the night as a dark blur.
Ronan stared at his broken limbs for a long moment.
Tomorrow would be painful.
—
The next morning, Ronan woke to the familiar sensation of his bones cracking.
His body had not healed. Both wrists throbbed, his forearms were still splintered, and his shins sent sharp pain every time he shifted in his bed.
He pushed himself into a sitting position. The pain was unbearable. Every part of his body screamed at him to sit back in bed and just ignore everything. To just rest.
But of course he couldn’t just do that. Ignoring the pain, Ronan steadied his breathing and cycled mana through the damaged pathways. He tried his best to keep his body upright as he did.
Steel Bone Armament responded immediately.
The sensation was sharp. It hurt, but Ronan kept the circulation steady. The technique did not repair bone in the sense healers did. it compressed, refined, and hardened the structure through the damages.
Ronan studied the process carefully.
His wrists reacted differently from his shins. The forearms were easier to circulate through because he had better conscious control over his arms than his legs. The shins hurt worse because he – or the original Ronan – didn’t often channel mana into his shins, unlike the forearms.
He noted all of this without complaint, learning more about this skill.
After several hours, Ronan checked the skill progress through the system.
[Steel Bone Armament LVL 4].
He wished he could see the percentage, but it was fine. He’d get the notification when it happened, he just needed to keep going.
Aura returned through the window around midday with food and water, exactly as she had promised.
She dropped a cloth-wrapped bundle onto the desk, then turned to study him.
"You’re still cultivating."
Ronan nodded. The slowly stopped the mana circulation. If he did it too abruptly, it would cause damage, so he did it gradually. After a few seconds, all the mana flow throughout his body came to a halt.
Aura frowned. "You’re insane. I have a feeling you didn’t take any breaks."
"I’d be wasting the injuries if I did nothing."
"You say wasting the injuries as if they’re resources of some kind." She crossed her arms. "The teachers asked too many questions."
Ronan paused his circulation long enough to meet her gaze. "What did you tell them?"
"That you injured yourself training and that I was delivering your message." Aura tilted her head. "I also made it clear we know each other. You said it no longer mattered."
As she said this, she handed him the food she brought. It was a meat bun with what looked like beef inside. She had another one with pork and chicken as well.
Ronan accepted this without concern.
He had expected the questions and trusted Aura’s delivery.
He grabbed the food from Aura’s hand and ate. It tasted great, especially after he hadn’t eaten for a while.
"Good."
Aura muttered something in a demonic dialect Ronan did not recognize, then moved toward the window. Before she could leave, Ronan spoke again.
"Anyone react to my absence?"
Aura stopped, turned, and smirked devilishly. "Your girlfriend and boytoy approached me."
Ronan deadpanned. "Boytoy?"
Aura tilted her head, as if it should be obvious who she was talking about.
When it became clear Ronan did not know, she sighed dramatically.
"Elara and Kazuma."
Ronan stared at her for a long moment.
She was trying to tease him.
Sadly for her, Ronan knew her better then she knew him.
"That’s the plot of the book you’re reading."
Aura froze.
"What was it about again? Oh yeah, it’s about this commoner girl who gets involved in some steamy relationship involving a prince and a knigh–"
Aura’s hand clamped over his mouth, shutting him up with a glare.
Her face was faintly flushed.
"S-shut up. I... I apologize."
Aura turned away, clearly embarrassed, muttering under her breath in a very soft void. "Stupid future me. Stupid seers."
"I accept your apology Princess," Ronan said, feeling a rare moment of genuine amusement at the scene.. "Anything else, though?"
She shifted back into a more serious tone.
"Concern from Irene. Grace seemed a little interested, but other than that, nothing. Iris, Freya, Luca, and the other ’important people’ as you call them didn’t care. However, that Brutas fellow seemed rather pleased."
Concern from Irene was unusual, but everything else seemed to match.
Ronan nodded, filing the information away.
"Brutas huh?" Ronan honestly expected Brutas to challenge him again.
If Brutas was acting on his own accord, he definitely would have done so.
That means that someone else ordered Brutas to challenge me to a duel, but then took back their order. But if what Aura says is correct, Brutas feels genuine dislike towards me.
Aura hesitated, then asked with narrowed eyes, "Do you actually plan to fight Brutas later?"
Ronan considered the question.
"Perhaps. But not yet. I need my bones to recover." Then, after a pause, Ronan continued with a thought he was considering overnight. "Also, I want us to spar after this for a few days."
Aura actually looked a little amused.
"I’m a lot stronger than you. I assume you want me to hold back?"
"Yes, but not completely. I need a controlled environment. As long as you don’t turn me into paste while we practice, it should be fine."
Aura rolled her eyes.
"As long as you give better instructions rather than ’keep going even if I say stop.’
Ronan sighed exasperatedly. "You’re still stuck on that."
"You told me to keep breaking your bones even if you screamed."
"And you did."
"Exactly." Aura smirked. "So next time, be more specific. I was only trying to help my friend with getting stronger, and I am being berated for it!"
She seemed very pleased and cocky that she was winning the argument. So much so that she actually went ahead and called Ronan a "friend" just to get her point across.
Ronan admitted, "That was a mistake on my part. You’re right."
Aura’s smile widened, Ronan finally saying what she wanted to hear.
+1 Affection [Aura Acheron].
The system notification was more annoying than anything.
Ronan continued cultivating while Aura stayed nearby longer than necessary.
She ate some of the food she brought, complained that humans made terrible bread, and watched him work through the pain without comment.
Aura had already delivered the food. She had already answered his questions. There was no reason for her to remain.
She remained anyway, sitting near the window, tearing apart the bread and occasionally insulting his performance.
Ronan noticed, but did not comment.
Finally, after hours of circulation, Ronan got the system notification.
[Steel Bone Armament: Level 4 → Level 5]
[Mana Control: Level 11 → Level 12]
His body felt denser. Not healed yet, but clearly improved.
He estimated it would take another two days until his bones fully healed.
This method of training could actually work if repeated carefully. If it takes around three days to heal from fully broken, I could inflict microfractures on myself during the weekdays while having Aura completely destroy my body on the weekends.
Feeling pleased with the progress, Ronan continued.
