‘Denta. He is truly a master of metalwork.’
CLAAANG! CLAAANG!
Watching Denta strangely imitate bird calls with his anvil and hammer, Ikael admired him inwardly.
‘But this isn't the time to stand around in a daze.’
SCREEEECH—
The flock of crows gradually drew closer.
Each beat of their wings sent gusts of wind pouring down.
‘Damn it, why are there so many of them?’
Ikael counted the crows with his eyes. Even at a glance, there were well over a hundred.
At the grotesque sight before him, Denta laughed as though something amused him.
“Hahaha. Go on and face them. If it is too hard, you may flee. If you run, Young Master, I, a blacksmith, will be killed by the crows. Ha ha!”
“You crazy old man!!”
Ikael could not believe it.
‘He is certain that I will not leave him behind and run away.’
After all, a true child of Recrit would never flee with a Demon Sword before his eyes.
And it was an accurate prediction.
Even if he died fighting, giving up the Demon Sword was not an option for Ikael.
There was no avoiding the battle now.
SHING—
Ikael drew his sword and turned around.
“Promise me one thing, old man. If I show you that I'm strong enough to possess a sword, then you'll forge it without another word.”
‘Strong enough to possess the seventh Demon Sword, huh.’
Denta knew that such strength could not be expected of a young boy yet.
Even so, Denta nodded.
Ikael's eyes were far too resolute.
‘I would like to believe him. Eyes like that.’
TAP—
Ikael leaped. His movements were as light as a feather.
WHOOSH!
But their force was tremendous.
It was time to confirm the strength gained from the aura cultivation he had practiced throughout his journey to Bakuba Volcano.
SWISH! SWISH!
SCREEEECH!
Each time Ikael swung his sword, a crow shrieked.
The crows that lost their wings spun several times as they fell below.
“Hoo.”
Ikael steadied his breathing.
He had only cut down a few of them, but he could already picture how he had to fight.
‘There are many crows, but I only have to fight one at a time.’
The entrance to the cave forge was narrow.
When a crow spread its wings wide and lunged, it filled the entrance to the forge. Naturally, they could attack only one at a time.
This was a fight that a One-Star Knight's strength could manage.
‘Since this is a trial for Recrit's children around ten years old, it should not be dangerous enough to kill them.’
Recrit siblings generally reached the One-Star level around the age of ten, so this was likely a trial tailored to their level.
Of course, reaching the One-Star level around the age of ten was only natural by Recrit's standards. Compared with ordinary children of the same age, it more than deserved to be called genius.
TAP— SWISH!
Ikael seemed to make a single hop, and before anyone knew it, a crow had been split in two and was plummeting.
SIZZLE—
The sound of the fallen crows plunging into lava reached even here.
‘I feel light.’
Ikael's body felt lighter than ever.
It was the moment when the Desert Aura he had built up whenever he had the chance on the way to the volcano showed its worth.
The Desert Aura that had seeped into Recrit's exceptional body gave it strength as though excellent armor had been freshly oiled.
The more Ikael moved, the more heat swirled in his heart and poured out greater strength.
‘It's hard to believe that this is the result of only a little over two months of aura cultivation. Is this the power of Desert Aura?’
SWOOSH! SWISH!
Ikael grew increasingly immersed in the sensation of wielding his sword.
He even forgot that this was a trial, watching only the crows and the path of his sword.
It felt as though he and the sword had become one.
Volcanic Blacksmith Denta watched Ikael closely as he fell into a state of self-forgetfulness.
“Oho. Not bad.”
Before he knew it, Denta stood with his hands behind his back, watching Ikael.
“Naturally, he is no match for Lord Exitor, the eldest son, but his skill is still quite good.”
The eldest son, Exitor, was called a genius even among the Recrits.
He had already become a Three-Star Knight at around the age of ten, so he could not be compared with Ikael.
‘But I have high hopes.’
Why did he feel that way?
Was it because of Ikael's eyes, which did not belong to an eleven-year-old boy?
He felt that Ikael would accomplish something.
TAP—
Ikael moved wildly like boiling lava. Though he had cut down more than ten monster crows of Bakuba Volcano, he showed no sign of tiring.
“There is no wasted movement. His strength, agility, and accuracy are all sound.”
While Denta muttered, another crow lost its wings and fell.
“Just as expected of a Recrit.”
Being Recrit-like was the highest praise of all.
It was all the more so because Denta revered Kairon.
Denta's hands itched.
Before he knew it, he was miming hammering with empty hands.
Without realizing it, Denta was imagining what kind of sword would suit Ikael.
The flock of crows was now coming to an end.
The mass of crows that had blackened the sky had thinned until only scattered birds remained.
‘It is almost over.’
Ikael caught his breath.
Denta's face brightened as well.
Just then.
WHOOSH—
Something enormous flew toward them like an arrow. Even from afar, its size was tremendous.
‘That is…?’
It was a bird far larger than anything he had faced so far.
Ikael narrowed his eyes.
‘What is that? Is it even a bird?’
WHOOOSH— WHOOOSH—
The atmosphere had changed.
The pressure that had emanated from the flock of crows now radiated from a single bird.
Every time the enormous bird beat its wings, a small typhoon blew.
The flock of crows seemed to sense the danger and tried to flee, only to be torn apart and killed by its claws.
‘Whatever it is, there is one more to cut down.’
Ikael thought only that there was one more thing to cut down.
Just as Ikael gripped his sword and was about to charge at it.
“Young Master, wait! Do not fight that one!”
Denta's expression was more urgent than ever.
***
From afar, Bronze Castle in the northern snow-covered mountains looked like a crown resting upon a winter mountain.
At the summit of the northern snow-covered mountains, where blizzards raged all year round, Kairon was meditating.
The winter north wind that clawed at one's body seemed to avoid Kairon alone.
After all, Kairon's Dark Aura was colder than anything on the land.
Kairon's attendant knight, Zen, glanced sideways at him.
‘How can the Family Head be so calm?’
Without his heart freezing over as well, how could he be calmly practicing while his child had been sent into a deadly place?
“What is it, Zen?”
Perhaps Zen's stare had been too obvious. Kairon spoke.
Even now, his Aura was not disturbed in the slightest.
Feeling surprise on one hand and bewilderment on the other, Zen asked.
“That is… are you not worried about Young Master Ikael?”
“Was there any need to worry from the beginning about a child who would die so futilely while bearing Recrit's name?”
The word child.
To Kairon, a child was nothing more than a single card representing Recrit's name.
This trial was merely the process of checking whether that card was useful or not.
Just then, someone ran up and made a report.
“Family Head! Young Master Ikael's pendant is breaking!”
“What?”
It was Zen who cried out in surprise instead.
The reporting knight held up the pendant.
Only a little of its outer surface had come off, but it was unmistakably breaking.
That pendant was a pair with the one Ikael had taken with him.
It was a signal tool: when Ikael's pendant broke, this one would break as well.
‘The pendant that was sent with him in case of an emergency is about to break. It must mean that Young Master Ikael is in danger.’
Zen urgently turned to Kairon.
“Family Head, shall we prepare to march?”
“You are in a hurry. Has a war broken out?”
Zen wanted to say that a child being in danger of dying was almost the same as a war.
“But… because Young Master Ikael is weak, it may be better to prepare to march in advance…”
“Zen.”
Flinch.
Zen realized that he had made a slip of the tongue.
He immediately knelt on one knee and apologized.
Calling a child of Recrit weak was as good as an insult.
“I apologize.”
But that was not why Kairon had interrupted him.
“It does not matter if he dies.”
“Pardon?”
Kairon merely remained calm.
All of Kairon's children carried pendants when they left for Bakuba Volcano.
Yet among them, only Ikael's pendant had sent a signal so quickly.
The eldest son, Exitor, was an unusual case: he had handled every demonic beast without signaling even once.
Kairon did not expect Ikael to perform to that degree, but at the very least, he had hoped that the signal would come later than this.
To Kairon, a weak child was worse than no child at all.
‘I may have been mistaken about Ikael.’
Kairon closed his eyes and sank back into meditation.
As ever, there was not the slightest disruption.
***
“Everyone, to your positions!”
CLACK— CLACK— CLACK—
The Ikael Palace Knight Order assembled atop the magic circle.
“They say Young Master Ikael's pendant has trembled! If a proper signal comes, we will march without delay!”
“Yes!”
While they waited, the knights prayed with one heart.
‘Please, do not let us be too late.’
They feared that the sickly Young Master had already been reduced to pulp by a monster.
It was not because the knights followed Ikael.
Every knight had worked hard to gain a foothold in Recrit's Bronze Castle. If Ikael died so futilely, they would lose their place in an instant.
‘Damn it, I had a bad feeling from the moment I was assigned to the feeble Ikael Palace!’
They even wondered whether Ikael had not yet broken the pendant simply because he lacked the strength to do so.
Tremble. Tremble.
Every knight in the Order watched the violently trembling pendant with anxious eyes.
***
Ikael faced his greatest crisis since coming to Bakuba Volcano.
“Damn it, why is that so huge!!”
A giant crow two or three times larger than the others had appeared.
Even the eccentric Volcanic Blacksmith Denta had told him not to fight it.
“Young Master, do not fight that thing!! It looks as though it came after smelling blood! You have to be a Two-Star Knight to fight it!!”
But he could not do that.
‘My pendant…’
The moment he was swept up in the giant crow's immense wind pressure, its claws snatched away the pendant.
The pendant dangled precariously from the tip of its claws.
‘That pendant cannot break. The moment it does, it will be the same as failing the trial.’
If he survived somehow, he would obtain the sword, but all of this was also Kairon's trial.
If the signal pendant broke, word would immediately be sent to the northern snow-covered mountains. Then the trial would be over.
TAP—
Without hesitation, Ikael flung himself at the giant crow.
He barely managed to grab hold of its leg.
“Aaargh, Young Master!!”
SCREEECH—
The giant crow thrashed, and Ikael's field of vision shook wildly.
‘Retrieve the pendant.’
After several acrobatic attempts, Ikael barely managed to retrieve the pendant.
Just as he finally caught his breath, Denta shouted at the top of his lungs from below.
“Young Master, its teeth!! Break its teeth!!”
‘Teeth?’
Still hanging from the crow's leg, Ikael looked up above.
The demonic beast crow's teeth were as large as one of Ikael's arms.
“Why? Are its teeth that creature's vital point?!”
But Denta's next words defied his expectations.
“No, I just want to use them!! The demonic beast crow's teeth are extremely good material!”
‘That old man?’
Ikael cursed inwardly.
Even in a situation like this, he thought of nothing but swords. Ikael did not know whether to call him an artisan or a madman.
‘But because he is that kind of person, I can entrust my sword to him.’
Ikael grinned.
“Good material, huh.”
GLANCE—
Ikael looked up at the demonic beast crow's teeth.
“Old man, promise me just one thing. If I bring you the teeth, you will use them to make my sword!!”
“Of course!!”
‘Then I'll take them.’
Ikael's face brightened.
CLANG!
Sharp talons and a sword blade collided.