The person in charge of the Lower Training Ground came to find Ikael and apologize several times.
"Young Master Ikael, it is my fault for failing to manage the knights properly. Please have my head cut off."
"I said it was fine."
Being forgiven with one's life was something that suited a homicidal maniac like Isitor.
Ikael had no interest in such things.
Instead, Ikael set one condition.
"It is fine, so if you see me at the Lower Training Ground from now on, pretend you do not know me."
"Pardon?"
It was a somewhat absurd order, but the overseer had no choice but to follow it without a word.
'Good. I can use the Lower Training Ground for a while. I need a place where I can train without worrying about others watching.'
Ikael's mind was full of another thought now.
'Aura.'
The energy that had erupted at the training ground was undoubtedly aura.
And it was extraordinarily powerful.
'But why did it come from my heart?'
Unlike ordinary aura, which could be used through the dantian, Ikael's aura was felt in his heart.
Moreover, Recrit's inherited aura was the cold Freezing Aura.
It felt completely different from the blazing aura Ikael had felt.
All the questions converged on a single conclusion.
'Desert Dragon Pkelon.'
It was surely the power of Desert Dragon Pkelon that he had felt while dying in his previous life.
The image of the Desert Dragon, its whole body armored in bone and its eyes burning, was still vivid.
It had disappeared like a desert mirage the instant he blinked, but he could not forget the thrill he felt while facing Pkelon.
And that very sensation had raged in his heart only yesterday.
'There is no doubt. This is Desert Dragon Pkelon's aura.'
Ikael clenched his fist tightly.
The only thing known to be able to stand against Recrit's cold Freezing Aura was the Desert Aura.
If Ikael's guess was right, the power of the desert, passed down for thousands of years, had been placed in his own hands.
* * *
Night fell.
Thick darkness settled over Bronze Castle, which had shone as brightly as a well-honed sword.
Darkness was devouring the day, yet Bronze Castle's majesty was not concealed. It only grew more terrifying.
The several spires and sturdy castle walls that made up Bronze Castle looked like a knight armored in steel.
The night's darkness became a cloak draped over it, adding to its majesty.
Beneath the sight of Bronze Castle, where even forest birds held their breath, there was one lit room.
It was Ikael's room.
Ikael sat with his eyes closed, a single candle lit in the room.
One possibility spread along with the candlelight.
'I do not need to store aura in my dantian. I need to store it in my heart.'
Aura was like an innate constitution.
Just as every person's body differed, aura's qualities and cultivation methods also differed.
'I did not know there was truly a way to form an Aura Circle in the heart.'
There was only one known method like this: the Desert Aura cultivation method said to have been used by Pkelon, the Desert King.
In his previous life, Ikael had once come across an ancient desert text and read about the Desert Aura.
At the time, he had taken it to be no more than a legend. But with Desert Dragon Pkelon existing, there was no reason the Desert Aura could not exist as well.
'Let us try it.'
Ikael held his palm close to the candle.
The heat pricked the palm of an eleven-year-old boy, unmarked by blisters or calluses.
Ikael stopped just short of touching the flame.
The sensation rose intensely hot.
'Exactly like this.'
The energy that had raged in his heart before had been as hot and intense as this flame.
'Good. Today, I will finally succeed in cultivating aura.'
Ikael closed his eyes.
Remembering the heat that pricked his palm, he transferred that sensation straight into his heart.
He slowly grew the sensation until the lone candle flame became a raging typhoon.
"Hoo—"
'Focus. Focus.'
For now, it was a feeble light that would fall apart with one missed breath.
But Ikael tried persistently.
Again, and again.
Each time Ikael tried, the candle flame trembled weakly.
'Ghk.'
Hot energy gradually rose from his body.
Ikael concentrated wholly on that sensation.
At some point, a red shadow overlapped the candle flame's afterimage.
'Desert Dragon Pkelon...'
It felt as though he were meeting Pkelon's red eyes.
At that moment, the candle flame flared.
"-!"
Ikael reflexively opened his eyes.
The candle flame had shot upward as though it would pierce the ceiling.
Heat washed over Ikael's face, then faded away.
FIZZ—
The candle, which had flared up in an instant, burned through its own body and went out.
Only the remains of the completely melted candle ran down the candlestick.
"Ah."
He had succeeded.
Several hours had passed before he knew it, and his whole body was soaked in sweat. But his face was bright.
'It worked.'
It had lasted only a moment, but Ikael had felt it clearly.
It was only a handful of aura, yet it felt as though his heart would burst apart like a gunpowder magazine.
'A mere handful of aura has this much power.'
A shiver ran down the nape of Ikael's neck as cold sweat trickled over it.
Sweat seeped into his tightly clenched fist.
'With this much power, it is surely Desert Aura.'
The Desert Aura said to have been used by Pkelon, the Desert King, was said to burn every existence.
'Right now, its amount is like a handful of desert sand. But if, instead of a handful of sand, gunpowder as vast as the desert accumulated... If I could set all that gunpowder alight.'
Ikael wondered just how strong he could become through aura cultivation.
Holding on to the feeling of aura, Ikael collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
It was already closer to morning than to night.
When day came, the maid found sleeping Ikael and was startled.
"Oh my, Young Master Ikael's body is like a ball of fire!"
To the maid, it was simply a feverish cold, but the truth was entirely different.
Having held fiery energy within himself all night, the heat had not yet faded.
"Let him sleep a little longer! He is weak by nature."
"Yes. But the candle has burned down so much. Did he keep it lit all night?"
"Eleven is still a child. It is an age when the dark can be frightening."
Ikael heard the maids' chatter but pretended not to.
'No one can ever find out that I use Desert Aura.'
As long as he bore the name Recrit, as long as he lived near Kairon, it could never be discovered.
The only thing that could oppose Recrit was the Desert Aura.
The cold Freezing Aura flowing through Recrit bodies chilled an enemy's blood the moment it touched them.
With this aura, Recrit had conquered the continent and placed the emperor beneath its feet.
Recrit's physical abilities were also extraordinarily developed because of this Freezing Aura.
They had been made to survive while containing cold aura within themselves.
In a sense, it had been inevitable that Kairon, the Genesis Sword, was born in Recrit.
If Ikael could properly use the Desert Aura, it meant he could stand against Recrit.
'I will keep growing stronger.'
I will clasp Desert Aura tightly in my hand and build my strength.
And when I have become someone everyone looks up to, I will open my hand and show them.
The aura that flows through this body like blood is the sword that will pierce and kill you, Kairon.
* * *
WHOOO—
Nirtan Gorge, located in the desert.
They said that only sandstorms could pass safely through the treacherous Nirtan Gorge.
That was because the powerful Nirtan Tribe guarded the gorge like gatekeepers.
Yet Nirtan Gorge, which had not been taken once in a thousand years, now lay beneath Kairon's feet.
"Kairon... You dare trample our land?"
The Nirtan Chieftain ground his teeth.
Kairon and the desert shared a long and bitter enmity.
Kairon had conquered the entire continent, but the desert had resisted without bowing. At the forefront stood Nirtan.
"Kairon Fel Recrit. Today, we will settle this once and for all. Nirtan will never bow to you."
But before the all-out battle, the Nirtan Chieftain's son was trembling.
"Are you afraid?"
The Nirtan Chieftain asked his son.
The boy, still carrying the air of youth, forced himself to shake his head.
"Then why are you trembling?"
The boy's eyes were fixed on Kairon, standing upon the gorge.
Nirtan Gorge, like a mother to them, had exposed its back and lay prostrate before Kairon.
There was a power in Kairon that overwhelmed even vast nature.
"Kairon... They say that man possesses swordsmanship that could fight a god and win. They say he has another eye on his head that lets him see the future."
"Ha. You are at the age when things like that are frightening."
The Nirtan Chieftain snorted.
The world was vast, and there were many skilled with a sword and many skilled in strategy.
The chieftain thought Kairon was merely a man skilled at both, and even more skilled at boasting.
"Do not worry. Desert warriors never lose."
Snap—
At that moment, Kairon raised his hand from above the gorge.
"Hear this, Nirtan Tribe. From this moment on, I will return your prisoners—"
"Do not make me laugh. Do you think we do not know your scheme? Do not think you can draw us near the gorge with that excuse!"
But it was not a lie.
The Nirtan prisoners really did come rushing out in a swarm.
"Brother!"
"Father!"
The prisoners ran forward, each crying out the names they missed.
The Nirtan Tribe stood wide-eyed, ready to welcome the prisoners.
'Touching.'
Kairon liked moments like this.
While waiting for the tribespeople to reunite, he counted to himself.
It was a quiet voice buried under the gorge's wind.
"Three."
Thirty paces until the prisoners reached them.
"Two."
Twenty paces until they reached them. And then...
"One."
That was the signal.
FWIP, FWIP, FWIP!
Fire arrows shot forth.
For a moment, the tribespeople did not know what had happened.
Flames were suddenly burning across the bodies of the prisoners running toward them.
"B-Brother!"
"Father!"
The fire arrows of Kairon's knight order had pierced the tribespeople.
FWOOSH—
"A-Aaargh!"
"Put out the fire!"
"Father! Please hold on a little longer!"
"Brother! You cannot die!"
Wails and screams mingled, filling Nirtan Gorge.
The Nirtan Tribe embraced the blazing fireballs, calling them family.
'Human bonds.'
Kairon calmly took in the consequences they brought about.
Blood ties, friendship, and fireballs tangled together and burned the tribespeople.
If there was anything most useless on the battlefield, it was human bonds.
Then, a man rode toward Kairon with a sword drawn.
"Aaargh, you bastard Kairon! I will cut off your head!"
It was the Nirtan Chieftain.
The Nirtan Chieftain, said to kill wild beasts with his bare hands, looked like a demon at that moment.
Kairon merely smiled once as he watched him.
WHOOSH!
Kairon cut his sword through the air.
Darkness fell over the gorge along that brief movement.
It was darkness with substance, as though the sun itself had been gathered into blackness.
"What kind of trick is this?!"
But in the next moment.
Neigh!
"Gasp!"
Thud—
Everything grazed by the immense darkness began to fall one after another.
Horses, people, even flames.
Darkness seeped into everything that stood.
Thud—
The Nirtan Chieftain was no exception.
"Gasp!"
The chieftain rolled about, clutching his throat.
It felt as though an enormous planet were pressing down upon his body.
A coldness denser than darkness carved into his bones.
Each breath brought the feeling of death.
It was the power of Dark Aura, which only Kairon, the Genesis Sword, could use.
The chieftain barely looked up toward Kairon. Then he realized.
'High.'
Kairon stood high above, leaning on his sword and looking down.
Between him and the chieftain was a difference in skill as vast as a gorge.
'From the beginning, he did not even need to draw his sword against us.'
But the Nirtan Chieftain could voice neither surprise nor fury.
BOOM!
The dense darkness that had settled over him relentlessly pressed down on his body.
The gorge the tribe had served like a mother had now become shattered rocks, barely enough to cover Nirtan corpses.
It was a living hell.
One created by Kairon Fel Recrit alone.
"Long live the Recrit Knight Order!"
"Long live the family head!"
As everyone was drunk on victory, one knight brought over the chieftain's son.
"Family Head, we found this one hiding and brought him here. What shall we do?"
The boy looked young.
But as befit a descendant of Nirtan, his eyes were quite fierce.
"I-I will kill you! Kairon, you enemy!!"
For a moment, interest appeared in Kairon's eyes.
Human bonds were sometimes fascinating.
They could give a person courage that bordered on childishness.
Before the knights could punish the boy, Kairon flicked his hand once.
Whoosh.
As though drawn by a magnet, the boy was pulled into Kairon's grasp.
CRUNCH!
The next moment, Kairon was gripping the throat of the tribal boy.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
"You said you would kill me?"
"Guh...!"
"Very well. If you pierce here, you will die."
Click.
Kairon slightly opened his breastplate.
There was strange interest in his eyes.
Tremble.
The boy's hand shook.