Before beginning his training in earnest, Mitchell went to the Runei Family’s kitchen.
As befitted the barren north, the kitchen held plenty of dried provisions. Among them, he filled a large sack to the brim with jerky made from various kinds of meat, then stood up.
“I-If you take all of that.......”
“It’s fine. If anyone asks, tell them I took it.”
The head cook shouted something from behind him, but Mitchell covered his ears and headed straight for the training ground.
‘I'm not going to get an earful later, am I?’
Well, if he did, he did.
Training was urgent right now. A little nagging was hardly a problem.
Calian, who had been watching him, spoke in a tone that made it clear he did not understand.
[Are you evacuating somewhere?]
“No, I’m preparing to train.”
Mitchell pointed to the nearby tent and sleeping bag he had been using, then to the jerky he had just brought.
“I’m going to sleep over there and train while living on jerky and well water. Ah, you don’t need to worry about nutrients. There are plenty of edible wild plants growing back there.”
[......The main building is right next door, is it not? Your room is there as well.]
“That’s where I go after I’m done training. And where I keep my things.”
[Have you trained like this before?]
“Not every time. And even when I did, it was only for a few days?”
From Mitchell’s perspective, this was actually fairly manageable.
When he had studied and trained in black magic at the Kellion Family, had he not sometimes holed himself up for months, or even years? Of course, a servant had brought him food.
In any case, when it came to training, he always had to keep his feet heavy.
If he let them get light, all he would think about was going somewhere to have fun.
Mitchell was human too, so he did want to look around Ranga and the rest of the north.
He was only doing this because it was fun to see himself change through training.
[Hmm.......]
Calian thought similarly on that point, at least.
He wondered whether there was really any need to go this far, but since Mitchell wanted to do it, he decided to leave him be.
When Calian fell silent, Mitchell sat down.
“Let’s start with the circulation method.”
Mitchell circulated his energy as he looked inward.
After doing so for several hours straight, Mitchell opened his eyes and frowned.
“Isn’t it accumulating way too slowly?”
[That is normal. But merely circulating your energy according to the circulation method increases your total amount of dark Aura, does it not?]
“Huh? It really does.”
Until now, he had thought the only way to increase his total amount of Aura was to use it all the way to his limit. Since Mitchell had started out with Grade 2 dark Aura from the very beginning, he could hardly have thought otherwise.
[That is also an excellent method. Then you know what the fastest way to increase your total amount is.]
“Recover my energy with the circulation method, then use it all the way to my limit.”
[Correct.]
After hearing Calian’s words, Mitchell had a good idea of how he should train.
His Aura Hole was full now, so it was time to empty it.
First, he tried using Heaven-Breaking Annihilation.
Sure enough, when he moved his energy along the path of Heaven-Breaking Annihilation that Calian had taught him during the battle, dark Aura naturally settled onto his sword.
‘Directly infusing a soul can wait until later.’
The overall framework was the same anyway, so the training effect was identical. Besides, he did not have many souls left inside his body now, so he had to conserve them.
‘And more importantly, the whole point of doing this right now is to empty my dantian.’
Mitchell swung Heaven-Breaking Annihilation, packed full of dark Aura.
Powerful energy flew out, and the tree it struck exploded.
[Do you intend to hurl such crude Sword Energy at every enemy? Sharpen it. Make it sharp enough that anything it touches will be sliced apart.]
At Calian’s words, Mitchell recalled Grant’s Heaven-Breaking Annihilation, which he had seen before.
Although the Aura flow of Heaven-Breaking Annihilation had been unstable because the secret manual was damaged, the Sword Energy produced by the technique itself had been utterly flawless.
Sharp enough to smoothly bisect dozens of martial artists.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never once thought about making Sword Energy sharp before.’
That had been true when he first fought the raiders, and when he fought the people of the Rapel Family.
After all, once the Sword Energy was wrapped around the blade, the sword’s own edge meant he had no trouble cutting.
And when he used Heaven-Breaking Annihilation with souls, cutting had not been the objective in the first place.
Mitchell let his will flow out to sharpen the Sword Energy while recalling the battle between Kayden and Cain.
Each manifestation of their Sword Energy and Sword Force contained energy restrained to the absolute limit.
Engraving in his mind the sharpness that had seemed capable of cutting him just from looking at it, he continued adjusting his own Sword Energy.
‘Got it!’
Before long, sharp Sword Energy formed.
Calian was dumbfounded as he watched.
He had succeeded in giving Sword Energy form after only a moment’s thought?
CRASH—!
Of course, the tree exploded again the moment the Sword Energy flew out, but it was visibly different from before.
When Mitchell tried once more, it improved even further.
Calian kept his surprise from showing and spoke as calmly as possible.
[At that rate, can you even cut down an enemy far away? Launching Sword Energy is an extension of your sword swing. The sword, in turn, is an extension of your hand. Do not think of it like magic that you fire after locking in coordinates.]
“Ah!”
At those words, Mitchell immediately unleashed Heaven-Breaking Annihilation again.
CRACK—!
The roughly severed tree slowly toppled over.
[Can you not do it properly?!]
A smile had formed on Calian’s lips as he shouted.
Mitchell simply could not see it because Calian was inside his body in soul form.
***
Two days passed like that, bringing him to the third day of training.
Mitchell repeated the same routine his body had grown accustomed to.
He circulated his energy according to the cultivation method, then repeatedly fired off Heaven-Breaking Annihilation.
Before long, the Heaven-Breaking Annihilation he fired had grown fairly sharp, enough to cut down trees reasonably well.
‘Should I start training the Incarnation Art too?’
Perhaps because he had done nothing but train Heaven-Breaking Annihilation, he was starting to want to train something else as well.
So he released his energy to use the Incarnation Art.
GRAAAAAH—!
As a monstrous form appeared through the Incarnation Art, a ghostly wail rang out.
A smile formed at the corners of Mitchell’s mouth when he heard it.
‘My own Incarnation Art.’
He did not know why it took this form, but simply being told it was his own made him even more attached to it.
And did it not even have the ability to cow the spirit?
There was not a single thing about it he disliked.
‘Ah, except for one thing.’
This thing devoured an enormous amount of energy.
Before, even with his dantian completely full, he could not sustain it for even a moment before running completely dry.
Without his ability to turn souls into dark Aura, using it in battle would have been unthinkable.
But thanks to the cultivation method Calian had taught him, his control over dark Aura had strengthened, allowing him to use it far more efficiently.
Now he could sustain it for a few minutes.
It was an improvement he had gained as soon as he learned the cultivation method, so Mitchell could not stop grinning.
Calian, however, clicked his tongue when he saw Mitchell’s satisfied smile.
[Tsk, tsk. To think you are pleased with that little.]
“What do you mean, this much? I can sustain it even for a little while. If I can already do this now, won’t I be able to use it even longer later?”
There was no need to get discouraged already.
Ten whole years.
That was how long he had spent at the Kellion Family trying to repair his ruined body.
He had worked without resting for even a moment during that time, but the results had been meager.
In the end, an Aura Road had even opened instead of a Mana Circuit, so it was no different from failing to accomplish a single thing he had aimed for in those ten years.
‘Compared to that, this is so much better.’
As long as he put in the effort, today would be better than yesterday, and tomorrow better than today.
Even if there were no visible results right away, his physical strength increased, his Aura Hole grew, and his sword became sharper.
What a joy that was.
That was why Mitchell was enjoying his current situation so much.
Because even at this very moment, he was steadily improving.
“By the way, Master, at my level, how long should I be able to use the Incarnation Art?”
[At your level? Then you should not be able to use it at all.]
“What? I shouldn’t be able to use it at all?”
Calian gave a hollow laugh at Mitchell’s words.
[You seem to have forgotten, but you are only Grade 3. The act of projecting energy itself requires you to be at least Grade 4.]
“Ah.......”
Come to think of it, he had been using it so naturally until now that he had forgotten.
Seeing Mitchell’s expression, Calian shook his head and added an explanation.
[Do you know why people bother dividing levels of attainment into stages? It is because what you can do differs depending on your stage.]
“But I can use the Incarnation Art. Come to think of it, Heaven-Breaking Annihilation projects energy too, so shouldn’t it only be possible from Grade 4 onward?”
Calian clicked his tongue at Mitchell’s words.
[You fool, Heaven-Breaking Annihilation is a technique that compresses energy. Those mad descendants use the technique with the damaged circulation method of the Heaven-Breaking Sword, so they cannot compress the energy stably. Is that not why they quickly fire it off before the energy explodes?]
“Ah...... Then everyone has been using it wrong.”
[Not entirely. Projecting the energy and sending it flying is also a good way to use it. But you must be able to compress the energy stably if you do not want it to strain your body.]
After saying that, Calian paused to catch his breath, then explained Mitchell’s current physical condition.
[Putting that aside, you are an unusual case.]
“Unusual?”
[Your growth is unbalanced. Normally, one’s understanding and proficiency in martial arts, the depth and purity of one’s Aura, the amount of Aura, and many other things develop organically together as one grows. But you only have a large amount of Aura. Even that is only possible because you can create dark Aura from souls.]
So that was how it normally worked.......
He had already read about it in books, but hearing it from Calian made it feel different.
[In any case, because your Aura Hole and Aura Road were made remarkably sturdy when they first opened, you are able to use the Incarnation Art and Heaven-Breaking Annihilation. It is truly a great stroke of fortune.]
Calian called it a stroke of fortune, but Mitchell thought it was closer to an accident.
An accident had happened, and he had simply turned out to have talent for martial arts by chance. Combined with the spiritual talent he already possessed, that had allowed him to learn the Sword of Death.
‘Does that count as a stroke of fortune?’
Well, either way, it was good for him.
[So once you become a Grade 4 Aura User, using the Incarnation Art and Heaven-Breaking Annihilation will become much easier.]
“Yes, I’ll work hard!”
Mitchell gripped his sword again and unleashed the Incarnation Art.
Then he began swinging his sword.
No matter how exceptional a martial art was, the basics had to be in place.
Anything built without a solid foundation was nothing more than a sandcastle.
He had keenly realized that when he first learned magic, and again when Grant taught him how to grip a sword.
‘But I’ve already taken three whole days off.’
Reflecting on how he had focused only on martial arts, Mitchell swung his sword.
Whenever his Aura Hole emptied, he circulated his energy to refill it, then unleashed Heaven-Breaking Annihilation again.
After refilling his Aura Hole again, he unleashed the Incarnation Art and swung his sword.
Repetition, repetition, and more repetition.
[.......]
Calian watched him while intervening as little as possible.
No, it was not that he chose not to intervene. He could not.
What was he supposed to say to someone who trained like that?
Besides, it would have been one thing if Mitchell were training hard but heading down the wrong path, yet he was not even neglecting the basics. Calian had nothing to say.
[Still, what if he succeeds within a week at this rate?]
It was a method his own master had used on him.
Using something new as bait and continuing to push him harder and harder. How difficult had it been when he was subjected to that?
Day after day, he had cursed his master, yet gritted his teeth and endured for the sake of new martial teachings.
Of course, it had been just as effective, so by now he no longer held any ill feelings toward his master.
It was one of the things he had resolved to do without fail if he ever took a disciple of his own.
[I must put him through hellish training.......]
He could not be the only one put through something that wonderful.