Chapter 265: Chapter 265
Raon threw Rimmer into the cultivation room as he struggled.
"Hey! Treat me more carefully! I'm a patient right now!"
Raon ignored his rambling and turned around.
"General Administrator, I leave the rest to you."
"Haa..."
The Gambling Monster sighed and crossed his arms.
"I really have to guard someone at this age... I'm going through all kinds of pain."
Even though he complained, he turned around and stood in front of the door.
"It's because I needed someone trustworthy to guard him."
"Hmph!"
"Thank you."
Raon bowed to the Gambling Monster's back as he snorted, then entered the cultivation room.
"Let's get started. Are you going to break your energy center on your own? Or shall I break it for you?"
"You sound like you are breaking an egg or something!"
Rimmer stepped back, murmuring that he was such a scary guy.
"But haven't you already decided?"
"Th-That's true, but I need to mentally prepare..."
"That's why I told you how to use the artificial energy center on our way back, and even told you to brace yourself."
Raon had already told him to brace himself while telling him how to use the artificial energy center on their way back. Rimmer was dozing off on his horse, and he was apparently not listening to him.
"Th-That's..."
"The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get stronger. You should know that better than anyone."
"Alright, I get it! I get it! You heartless bastard!"
Rimmer screamed and sat on the ground.
"Haa..."
He sighed and closed his eyes. He controlled his aura from his fissured energy center. The energy he'd been accumulating over his entire life flew through his mana circuits. The smooth flow felt like it was saying goodbye.
'I never thought I would experience something like this.'
He was about to recover his mana circuits that were torn apart and break his energy center to create a new one. He would be able to live a new life thanks to Raon and the other kids. He was so thankful to them, but also apologetic for being such an inadequate teacher.
Whir!
He controlled his aura to his heart's content to enjoy its final moment before opening his eyes.
"Raon. Don't miss the opportunity."
"What? What do you mean...?"
"You will realize soon enough."
Rimmer closed his eyes once again after saying that. He amplified the aura inside his energy center just like when he used astral energy to explode it at once.
Crack!
The fissures on the energy center deepened, and the explosive aura started to burst out.
'This is going to take forever. I'm going to destroy it in one fell swoop!'
Rimmer tightly bit his lip, then amplified his aura one more time.
Clang!
The huge noise sounded like hundreds of glasses were shattering at the same time. His extremely thin energy center melted down like a snowflake landing on a finger.
'Kuuh!'
Extreme pain was crushing his body, but the vanity piercing into his soul was even worse than that. The chaos filled his head to the point that he could lose consciousness at any time.
Rumble!
Once his aura lost its path, it started spreading into the air through his mana circuits. A hurricane of high purity aura was created inside the cultivation room.
"Huff!"
Rimmer breathed heavily before opening his eyes.
"Raon. Take my aura."
"What?"
Raon's eyes widened.
"You must be able to feel it. The mana I've accumulated so far is currently rampaging in this room. Its attribute is different from yours, but it should still be helpful to you. You should take it."
"What are you talking about? Get the artificial energy center right now and control your aura..."
"I would've obviously done it if I could! But there's no time for that."
Rimmer smiled bitterly as he shook his head.
"The aura already came into contact with nature's mana. It's not even going to last a few minutes before it disappears. You are the only person right now who can take it."
He honestly wanted to give him all of the aura he had in his energy center, but that would most likely shred his mana circuits, which had barely managed to recover.
"I'm not here for that. I only followed you to check on your condition."
Raon bit his lip. He hadn't intended to take Rimmer's aura. He just wanted to create a new energy center for him.
"I know."
Rimmer nodded with a smile.
"I know how you are. I'm perfectly aware that you don't consider your own benefit even though you are considerate of others."
"I..."
"Rambling can be saved for later. I'm telling you to cultivate the aura right now! Come on!"
He said that they were really running out of time before chewing down the Elixir of Eternal Flow and gulping down the artificial energy center.
"I'm going to make the energy center, so you should cultivate your aura right now. See you again after we are done!"
That was the last thing he said before closing his eyes. Raon could feel a high purity mana from nature moving inside his body despite how empty it used to be.
'The energies from the artificial energy center and the Elixir of Eternal Flow are moving.'
Even though the artificial energy center used to have no attributes, it changed its shape to match Rimmer's body and aura's characteristics, and the Elixir of Eternal Flow's energy naturally seeped into his mana circuits to heal the wounds that couldn't be removed before.
"Hmm..."
Raon nodded while looking at the aura that was still lingering in the air.
'I should take some of it at least.'
Since Rimmer was stabilized and the Gambling Monster was guarding them, he figured it was fine for him to start cultivating.
Whir!
Raon closed his eyes and controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier at the same time. Flowing through different circuits, the aura created countless trajectories to suck in the wind attribute aura from the outside.
'Hmm...'
Raon furrowed his brows upon feeling the aura circulate in his mana circuits.
'It's not going to work at this rate.'
As Rimmer had said, the aura spread around the room had the wind attribute. The fact that not much remained was a problem, but the difference in attribute was making it difficult to properly absorb it.
'But there's a method I can use.'
Raon rotated the Ring of Fire. The six rings resonated with each other at once, then started to pull out the pure energy at the deepest part of the aura of wind.
Although the quantity wasn't that high, the power and purity were a lot better than decent elixirs because it used to belong to Rimmer, who had a high affinity with nature.
"Haa..."
Raon absorbed the energy that the Ring of Fire had purified through the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier before opening his eyes. Even though it wasn't a large amount, his energy center still felt full.
[The Ring of Fire's proficiency has increased.]
[The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's proficiency has increased.]
[Glacier's proficiency has increased.]
[All stats have increased by 3.]
Although he'd only been cultivating for a few hours, the proficiency for his cultivation techniques had increased drastically, his stats had increased, and the aura inside his energy center became even stronger.
He felt like all the time Rimmer had spent accumulating his aura became a pillar to support him.
Raon looked at Rimmer with a smile on his face.
'It's not going to take much longer.'
Considering the fact that the change was only limited to the outer part of the artificial energy center, the process must've been nearing the end.
Tap.
Raon took out two wooden boxes from his inner pocket and placed them in front of Rimmer, who was focused on creating his energy center.
'This is a gift from me.'
The first box contained the elixir that he bought on his way back, and the second one was the wind attribute elixir that he had gotten in exchange for a bronze tablet he had received before.
He'd prepared those gifts because he figured Rimmer would be disappointed once he realized his energy center was empty.
'Is this the relationship between a teacher and a student?'
Just like the way he'd prepared the elixirs for Rimmer's sake, Rimmer had also told him to take his aura so that his student could benefit from it.
He could only smile, because the way they were caring for each other reminded him of the relationship between a teacher and a student that he'd only seen in stories and books.
'You should come out quickly.'
Raon smiled while watching Rimmer's back as he created his energy center.
'Because I have plenty of training plans prepared for you.'
Hmm...
Wrath narrowed his eyes, while emerging from the ice flower bracelet.
Are you sure what you just said is suitable in this situation?
"Ugh."
Burren groaned as he opened his eyes.
"Where am I...?"
He looked around while enduring the headache. He was inside a dim room with a small radiating stone lighting up his surroundings. Considering how damp it was, he must've been underground.
"Why am I here... Huh?"
He tried to move, but he couldn't move at all because something was binding his arms and legs. He looked down and saw that his wrists and ankles were shackled by manacles connected to metal chains.
"Wh-What? What's going on?!"
Burren bit his lip and tried to control his aura, but his aura was completely immobile. Something was completely blocking his mana circuits.
"Ah!"
He remembered.
He remembered darkness covering his vision after hearing his second eldest brother's voice. It was him. Gelmia must've made him faint and brought him there.
'But why?'
Burren frowned. He couldn't believe that his brother had kidnapped him just because he didn't grant his nonsensical request.
Creak!
While he was shaking his hazy head, a frightening sound could be heard as the cell door opened.
"Brother! Why would you do this?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not Sir Gelmia."
Just like he said, he wasn't his second brother. He was a small and red-haired middle-aged man who gave off a gentle impression.
"It's been a long time, Sir Burren."
"Olan?"
The person who entered the room was Olan, the second team leader of the Severing Steads squad, which was led by Gelmia. Since he'd been his brother's subordinate ever since childhood, they used to see each other pretty often.
"Yes, it's me. You can recognize me even though it's been a pretty long time since we last met."
He smiled gently, bringing over a chair to sit opposite him.
"Where's my brother? Release me right now and let me..."
"I'm sorry, but Sir Burren has no right to give me orders."
Olan's smile was the same as before, but his eyes were extremely cold.
"What are you planning to do...?"
"Sir Gelmia is a distrustful person. He cannot trust Sir Burren to remain silent about his request."
"I-Is that why he kidnapped me? Doesn't he realize that this is an even more serious matter?"
"Of course he does. That's why he sent me here."
Olan nodded with a gentle smile on his face.
"What does that even mean...?"
"There's something I'm really good at, except for swordsmanship. It's called brainwashing."
"You idiot!"
Burren clenched his teeth.
"Do you really believe that the seniors in the house won't even realize that? Even the Light Wind squad..."
"Don't worry about it. The brainwashing I'm going to use isn't that powerful or conspicuous."
Olan grinned.
"I'm going to very slowly change your mindset. It's weak and slow, but the change of your thoughts should happen in a very natural way. Sir Burren should be fine to be released in about ten days. Though, I cannot guarantee that Sir Burren will be the same as he is right now."
His grin showed his confidence in his results.
"I'll give you one last opportunity before that. If you give us the information about Raon Zieghart..."
Burren spat on Olan's face as he started to blabber.
"I'm a Zieghart! I'm never going to sell out my companion! And you know nothing about Raon! I'm sure he will find this place even if he had to destroy this entire building!"
"Ah, you don't have to worry about that either."
Olan grinned while wiping the spit from his cheek.
"Because we've already made preparations for that."
* * *
"A family event?"
Raon licked his lips while looking at Burren's butler, Tias, who came to visit the fifth training ground.
"Yes. He said that he wouldn't be able to participate in the training for about ten days because of a scheduled event at the Central Martial Palace."
Tias bowed to Raon, telling him that Burren wouldn't be able to join in on training for a while because of an affair at the Central Martial Palace.
"I see."
Raon remembered Burren talking to his brother Gelmia when they returned to the house. He guessed that he must've been doing something with him.
"I guess it can't be helped if it's a family event."
Raon examined Tias while slowly nodding his head.
'But...'
Something seemed fishy.
Ever since Raon had made Burren stand back on his feet at the Central Martial Palace, Tias had always been smiling at him from the bottom of his heart. However, the Tias he was facing had a cold atmosphere around him, like the way he used to be before that event.
"...Thank you for understanding."
He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, then politely bowed to Raon before he left.
'I'm going to need some information here.'
He figured he needed to ask Judiel to find out what Burren and Gelmia were doing once he returned to the annex building.
"How is Burren the only one getting special treatment? I also have businesses to attend to!"
Martha exploded in anger, saying that it couldn't be allowed to happen.
"What business?"
"Wh-What?"
"I'm asking what business you have."
"I-I can't answer that question if you ask it right away! Argh!"
She panicked from the direct question and ended up biting her tongue a little.
"It's fwine since you don't have any."
"Stop copying me! I didn't do that on purpose!"
Raon snickered and looked around at the Light Wind members. Their healthy faces made him guess that they must've focused on resting since they had only one day of rest.
"How is the squad leader doing?"
Krein raised his hand. Everyone else must've been curious about it as well, since their eyes turned round. Runaan was dozing off, but she even raised her eyelids to reveal her blank eyes.
"He's completed his energy center and he is currently gathering aura."
He pointed at the innermost cultivation room that the Gambling Monster was guarding. Rimmer had completed his energy center in the morning, and he was absorbing the elixirs as he spoke.
"Don't worry about him and focus on your training, since he can handle his own business."
Raon grinned and opened the box that was placed on the platform.
"Equip these on your wrists and ankles as soon as you get them."
He threw a pair of black bracelets and anklets to each of the swordsmen.
"Huh?"
"What's thi... Uhah!"
"M-My aura is getting sucked out!"
"Kuah! Why is this so heavy?!"
"I-It's a ghost! There's a ghost dwelling in the bracelet!"
The swordsmen freaked out upon noticing that the bracelets and anklets were taking away their aura and started to struggle.
"Your aura isn't getting taken away. It's simply being used to add weight to your bracelets and anklets. That's why it becomes heavier the more aura you have."
While their chins were trembling, Raon explained about the training artifact, the Black Converters, that Encia had made for them.
"You aren't allowed to take that off in the future without my permission. You should have them equipped all the time, even when you eat and use the restroom."
"S-Seriously?"
"How can I have this always on when I can't even move properly...?"
"I-Impossible..."
The swordsman's lips were trembling as they complained that they couldn't even move while wearing them.
"Your bodies haven't finished maturing yet. Training the body is bound to develop your energy center and mana circuits, and that's the goal of this training."
Raon raised his finger while telling them that it wasn't going to be that hard.
"You should get used to it soon enough because humans adapt. Let's start with long distance running."
"Argh!"
"You are the only one who's getting used to this!"
"H-How am I supposed to stay alive while wearing this?"
The swordsmen shook their hands, brushing it off as nonsense.
"In that case, I have another training plan prepared for you."
Raon nodded and raised his finger.
"Another training plan?"
"What is that?"
"I'll do that one instead!"
The swordsmen walked up to him, saying that it sounded like a better idea.
"Spar against me one-on-one until sunset."
"I-I'm ready to run!"
"Stop dreaming! I'll be the fastest!"
"How many laps should I run?"
The swordsmen leapt back and got ready to run. They violently shook their heads, trying to deny the spar at all costs, even if they had to go through difficult training.
"It's so nice to see how motivated you are to train."
Raon folded his hands behind his back and nodded.
"Kuuh!"
"H-He's a demon. He's a demon!"
"The squad leader feels like an angel in comparison..."
"If only I had the power, I would've..."
The swordsmen swallowed their tears and got ready to run.
"Everyone, run!"
"Damn it!"
"Ugh..."
Martha gave a killing glare at her bracelets and anklets while Runaan sighed deeply before they both started running around the training ground.
"Huff!"
"This is madness!"
"Sir Burren is taking the easy way out while we are all suffering!"
Once the team leaders started running, the other swordsman had no choice but to start running around the training ground.
"Martha, your body is leaning forward too much. Runaan, pull back your chin, and Dorian, you need to stand up already!"
Raon stayed on the platform and generously gave away advice for the swordsmen on running properly, even though it sounded like he was nagging at them.
'They are doing pretty well.'
They were running at full speed while enduring the Black Converter's weight, even though it wasn't clear whether they were just trying to avoid the spar or if it was because of all the difficult training they'd done in the past.
'It should be fine to proceed according to the plan.'
He was going to make their schedule a little bit easier if they were having trouble, but he figured it wasn't necessary to do so.
"Listen while running. We are going to do some survival training in the North Grave Mountain. You will hide by reducing your presence, and I'll try finding and attacking you. You should think of a strategy to survive in advance."
Raon told them about the survival training that he'd been planning as they ran.
"Survival?"
"What a shitty way to train..."
"I'm already terrified even though I just heard about it..."
The faces of the swordsmen turned white from fear as they sighed.
"When are we going to do that?"
Dorian stopped running while panting. He was trying to rest while pretending to ask a question.
"This evening."
Every single member of the Light Wind squad stopped in their tracks and looked back at Raon upon hearing him. Everyone's eyes widened to the point that it looked like their eyes would pop out of their heads.
"This evening...?"
"Damn it! You crazy bastard!"
Runaan and Martha dropped their jaws in shock.
"Did you just say this evening?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Even that scummy Rimmer gave us a day to prepare ourselves!"
Everyone shouted at him, saying that it couldn't be happening.
"That's your problem. You should start thinking about it if you don't want to suffer. Think about how to survive on that mountain."
"Y-You aren't even human!"
"A demon. He must be a devil!"
Raon smiled while looking at the Light Wind squad's terrified faces.
'Ah, this is so fun.'
He looked at the cultivation room while enjoying the threatening glares of the Light Wind members.
'I just need him to come out now.'
His heart was pounding in anticipation, since he was confident he could make Rimmer suffer more than anyone else.
You are being recognized by everyone now.
Wrath gave him a big nod. He looked impressed.
The King of Essence knew you were too talented to stay here. Come to Devildom with the King of Essence...
'I'm not buying it.'
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