Jeong Hyeon-su was still under suspension, and he had not the slightest lingering attachment to Cradle.
Unless there was something to gain, he had no intention of deliberately entering a small political arena swarming with greenhorns. So Jeong Hyeon-su simply devoted himself to training.
Jeong Hyeon-su was standing on a specially made medicine ball, holding a heavy barbell and enduring the weight.
High-weight strength training was essential, but a hunter could not afford to be lacking in even a single aspect of physical ability.
At times, one had to unleash explosive power in an instant. Depending on the situation, one had to respond more flexibly than anyone else, and one needed the foundation to continue fighting more tenaciously than anyone.
That was why the body always had to be pushed to its limit and brought to its finest condition.
‘Half-hearted training for self-satisfaction, or relying only on the Tower’s rewards, will not do.’
Rewards from the Tower or Gates certainly made hunters stronger. But one could not depend solely on them.
Rewards were merely a bonus. A body polished and tempered to madness, together with anguish and refinement over one’s own techniques, could create an enormous gap even between hunters of the same rank.
It was not for nothing that the higher one climbed among the upper classes, the more one gritted one’s teeth and immersed oneself in personal training.
And the most important time was not after reaching a high realm and understanding all of that, but the moment one had just taken the first step.
‘Can I call this fortune?’
Astonishingly, that was precisely Jeong Hyeon-su’s current state.
He was already nineteen, but because of his laziness and lack of talent until now, he had barely trained at all.
In particular, the part concerning mana was so miserable that it was practically at a beginner’s level, no different from starting over.
In other words, he could now perfectly lay the foundation that everyone later regretted—the beginning that was said to be half the battle, and the reason that half mattered so much.
And he could do so based on the experience of having reached SSS-Rank!
THUD!
After high-weight strength training, Jeong Hyeon-su finished an endurance training session in which he sprinted like a madman, then picked up the enormous greatsword in the training room.
WHOOOSH!
As the greatsword fell from above, the muscles in his arms and legs screamed in agony.
There were countless weapons in the world, and the weapons that suited or appealed to each person varied widely.
Jeong Hyeon-su preferred weapons that were heavy and powerful.
And because it needed to have an edge, choosing a greatsword was, in a way, only natural.
It had the destructive power unique to a weapon by default.
If, on top of that, he could swing it faster through his own training and various rewards, it could truly become the king of all weapons.
“Hoo, hoo!”
The secret behind his being called the Night King was simple, in a sense.
It was because he had trained himself to the extreme and could swing the heaviest greatsword faster than anyone else.
Just then, sensing someone approaching, Jeong Hyeon-su stopped the training he had been continuing.
“Eat before you continue.”
It was Jeong Cheol.
“You came.”
Jeong Cheol looked at Jeong Hyeon-su, who answered calmly.
His face was pale, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.
Those droplets of sweat ran down his hands.
His insufficiently trained hands, unable to withstand the greatsword, had been crushed and were covered in blood.
Seeing intermittent spasms running through his muscles, it seemed he truly was pushing his body to its limit.
“Have you abandoned the path that clings only to swiftness , and now seek to break through by pursuing the extreme of weight?”
Just by seeing the state of his training, Jeong Cheol had accurately understood what Jeong Hyeon-su was pursuing.
‘As expected of the head of one of the Ten Great Guilds. His eye is sharp.’
Back when he had been all empty style, Jeong Hyeon-su had pursued a fast and flashy sword.
“If one swings quickly, that is swiftness. If it is heavy and powerful, that is weight. If destructive force is added, is that not dominance?”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s position was that everything was ultimately determined by the wielder’s ability, and that the direction one pursued did not have to be decided by the weapon’s weight.
For an instant, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Jeong Cheol’s mouth, then vanished.
“That is right. What matters is one’s mindset. And though that mindset is important, continuing it is the difficult part.”
“It is.”
Looking at his son as he answered, Jeong Cheol clicked his tongue.
“If you want to continue, eat first. You will collapse at this rate.”
Jeong Hyeon-su was clearly overdoing it. Jeong Cheol knew it, and Jeong Hyeon-su himself knew it as well.
However, to make up for the time he had wasted, he knew such a period was inevitable, so he did not stop him.
At times like these, eating well and taking dense, efficient rest were all the more important.
Focusing solely on training instead of wasting time on other foolishness was the best and most optimal path.
“I was going to do that anyway.”
Then he encountered an unexpected situation.
“…Are you eating with me?”
“What is wrong with me eating in my own house?”
“No. There is no problem.”
“If you do not even want to eat with your father, then say so.”
“I said it is not that.”
It was simply awkward.
When he thought back on it for a moment, how long had it been since he had eaten a home-cooked meal alone with his father like this?
As befitting a family that trained in martial arts, the dining table was abundant. The father and son devoured the food at a frightening speed.
“…When you return to school, live diligently as a cadet.”
“I had something to tell you about that anyway.”
“Say it.”
“I do not plan to return to Cradle.”
Clack.
In an instant, Jeong Cheol felt his appetite vanish.
Just when it seemed his son had gathered himself and finally come to his senses, he said he would not attend the school he had been going to.
“No, please do not get ready to throw that. Honestly, considering my current realm in Illusory Heaven True Energy, is there any reason for me to go there and waste time?”
“You lack social skills. There are certainly things you must learn by going there and meeting people. Also, Cradle’s instructors are excellent hunters.”
It was something he could roughly agree with. Cradle’s instructors were certainly talented in their own way.
However, no matter how outstanding they were, did they have more skill, experience, and knowledge of the Tower and Gates than Jeong Hyeon-su?
‘Then they would have killed the Explosive Annihilation Dragon and the Titan King.’
Every day was precious if he intended to save Garam, fully clear the Tower, and present the chairman with hell.
“Please give me a chance to prove it. I only need to bring back results that make even you think I do not need Cradle, Father, do I not?”
“And if you fail?”
“I will do as you say without complaint.”
“Very well. Then get engaged immediately next year.”
Jeong Hyeon-su, who had been drinking a protein shake to cleanse his palate, choked.
“Cough! Cough! Excuse me?”
“If you are setting your mind straight, then starting a family will make you even more responsible and dignified.”
“No, Father, what are you saying?”
“You set a condition, so I merely set one as well. Even a father cannot always make unfavorable deals.”
In other words, Jeong Cheol was telling him to go to Cradle.
If he did not like it, he only had to prove himself as he had said. At that very Jeong family-like way of thinking, Jeong Hyeon-su felt oddly amazed.
‘Blood truly is blood…….’
However, Jeong Cheol’s pressure did not end there.
“I will choose the stage. Soon, this guild’s new hunters will climb the Tower for the first time.”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s eyes flashed.
How could he not know?
The rookie debut match that had taken place amid that unsettled atmosphere, back when he had been treated as the bastard who was ruining the guild.
It had been a raid that drew attention as an arena where promising talents who would essentially determine the future competed, with no fewer than five of the Ten Great Guilds participating.
The problem was that Garam recorded last place there.
The eldest son had caused trouble, and on top of that, they had met a disaster that could not be resisted.
And beyond that, there was a reason he absolutely had to go there.
‘The Overlord’s Seed.’
Because it was a chance to obtain a Legendary-grade item.
Jeong Hyeon-su immediately stood, ripping off the foreleg of the whole roasted pig with a tear.
“Then I do not have time to be sitting here like this. For the time being, even meals……”
“Eat here. You have to sit at the same table and eat together to be family.”
“Yes……”
“By the way, are you not curious about whom you would be engaged to?”
At Jeong Cheol’s words, Jeong Hyeon-su gave a faint laugh.
“I have no intention of getting engaged no matter who comes. I am sorry.”
Watching Jeong Hyeon-su turn away with those words, Jeong Cheol thought to himself.
There was definitely a change.
Perhaps it was a father’s heart, but that alone was certainly encouraging.
Jeong Cheol only hoped that, on this occasion, Jeong Hyeon-su would truly set his mind straight.
***
After returning to the training room, Jeong Hyeon-su encountered something new.
“This is…….”
Perhaps the old butler had come by in the meantime, because the training room had been cleaned, and a book had been placed on the table in the corner.
‘Tyrant Heaven Energy!’
Tyrant Heaven Energy, one of the Five Great Divine Arts of the Five Kings’ Martial Arts.
It was an indisputably supreme martial art, awakened, learned, and compiled by Jeong Hyeon-su’s great-grandfather, who had been chosen by the five kings exiled from the Netherworld.
Jeong Hyeon-su had challenged the world’s peak with nothing but Illusory Heaven True Energy and the Heavenly Tyrant Ghost King Art.
And this was the second supreme art he was encountering, Tyrant Heaven Energy.
How deeply he had lamented the absence of Tyrant Heaven Energy, said to be the most compatible with the Heavenly Tyrant Ghost King Art.
He had once even hoped for the call of the Five Kings, like his great-grandfather had received, but the Five Kings had always remained silent toward him, so he had suffered much despair and frustration.
But now, none of that mattered. The secret manual of Tyrant Heaven Energy, which would quench that thirst, was sitting right there before him.
There were many ways to inherit techniques.
Some were handed over directly in the form of a skill book, while others were learned through realization and oral formulas.
And when considering the future, the latter was overwhelmingly better.
That was what experience had taught him.
The skill book format allowed immediate acquisition, but because of that, it lacked the anguish necessary during the learning process and the improvement needed to adapt the technique to oneself.
Jeong Hyeon-su knew all too well that realization and realm came from anguish, effort, and trial and error.
That was why he greatly preferred this method of charging headfirst into the ground.
The forgotten king of the Netherworld who handled Tyrant Heaven Energy, called the Tyrant Heaven True Demon, was a being who pursued the amplification of pure physical force to its absolute limit.
He had heard that the Heavenly Tyrant Ghost King Art, when resonating with Tyrant Heaven Energy, could create shockwaves through physical force and nullify an opponent’s absolute defense. It seemed likely to be extremely effective against Seon Woo-hyeon’s defensive magic.
Not only that, it would also be useful when breaking the Explosive Annihilation Dragon’s scales, and it would clearly be crucial when countering the Titan King’s overwhelming strength.
‘All energy becomes weight through convergence. The formula, blood and flesh become steel, the breath sinks like stone…….’
Crush, press, pulverize, shatter.
Heaven-Trampling Descent.
All energy became weight.
Jeong Hyeon-su slowly gathered that energy and roughly condensed it.
Twisted flesh and blood had to become steel, and even his breath had to carry the power to settle like stone.
By crushing, pressing, and pulverizing.
PAAAAANG!
The released power would one day trample even the heavens.
The shockwave fired into the air struck the training dummy standing at the center of the training room.
Looking at the dummy with its chest caved in, Jeong Hyeon-su grumbled.
“I still have a long way to go.”
[You have learned Tyrant Heaven Energy!]
He had entered the first stage, but if he wanted to use it in battle, endless repetition and mastery were the only path to survival.
[Name: Jeong Hyeon-su]
[Stats: Vitality (11), Strength (7), Technique (5), Mental Strength (12), Endurance (8)]
[Skills: Five Kings’ Martial Arts—Heavenly Tyrant Ghost King Art (2-Star), Illusory Heaven True Energy (10-Star), Tyrant Heaven Energy (1-Star)]
And so, aside from mealtimes, he even slept in the training room, and two weeks passed.
Until the day when the rookies of five of the Ten Great Guilds would climb the Tower to compete.