ALL NOVEL Chapter 33
Chapter 33
‘Shaton Draker?’
The revelation that the first person to create an aura cultivation technique was Shaton was shocking enough.
However, the idea that the noble knight Shaton might be a blood relative of the Draker lineage had never once crossed Zeke’s mind.
‘Why was this never passed down to future generations?’
Until now, the origins of aura cultivation techniques had been shrouded in mystery.
It was simply assumed that each household had inherited and developed their own methods over time.
This moment unveiled the secret behind the origins of aura cultivation techniques.
After recovering from the initial shock, Zeke calmed down Grandmaster Kysir, who was still buzzing with excitement.
With a gentle approach, he began coaxing out the details about the Elemental Sword from him.
* * *
Although Kysir had a sharp tongue, he seemed genuinely intent on sharing everything he knew to the best of his ability.
“Hmph, well, you’re a little better than the others. At least you understand what I’m saying.”
For the next few weeks, Zeke was able to learn the theory behind the Elemental Sword from Kysir.
The most surprising discovery was how systematic the Elemental Sword technique was compared to what he had imagined, as well as how much the legendary deeds of Kysir had been understated in the records.
“Your Majesty defeated the Gorgon by yourself? In the legends, it says all twelve knights of the Clock Tower joined forces to bring it down.”
“The knights of the Clock Tower? I don’t know what that is, but I wiped it out in one go. The others probably just handled the cleanup.”
Hearing Kysir’s detailed accounts of an untold past, Zeke had no choice but to believe that the person before him was truly Kysir, who had transformed into a Heroic Spirit.
Once Kysir’s physical body had passed on to the spiritual realm where the fae resided, returning to the material world should have been impossible.
However, he had restricted himself to remain here as a Heroic Spirit, setting up measures to guard the ruins.
“How could such a thing be possible?”
Kysir responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Well, it was possible because the dragons helped me.”
“Excuse me? Dragons?”
Kysir appeared even more surprised at Zeke’s reaction.
“What’s the big deal about that?”
“Well, dragons are enemies of humanity.”
“What nonsense is that? There’s no other being that cherishes humanity more than dragons.”
Kysir pointed at Zeke’s sword.
“Didn’t that sword and heart come from Bahamut?”
Zeke’s eyes trembled violently.
“Th-that’s true.”
Saying the wrong thing here could agitate Kysir, undoing all his efforts to keep him calm.
Zeke cautiously asked Kysir,
“Your Majesty, have you ever heard of… the term Dragonslayer?”
At those words, Kysir ground his teeth fiercely.
“Are you talking about those damned braggarts calling themselves Dragon Slayers? I remember cutting off all their heads after they snuck into a lair, killed a precious hatchling, and then strutted around claiming they had hunted a dragon.”
Zeke kept his mouth tightly shut.
If Kysir were to find out that Zeke’s ancestor had severed Bahamut’s head and displayed its teeth and heart as trophies, he might be inclined to repeat what he had done to those Dragonslayers.
As Zeke remained silent, Kysir’s anger subsided quickly. He then looked at Zeke with a curious expression and asked,
“By the way, how did you manage to get the teeth and heart of that ill-tempered Bahamut? Out of all the dragons I’ve met, that one has the worst personality.”
Zeke lied smoothly, without missing a beat.
“Our Murray Household has been on friendly terms with Lord Bahamut for generations. As you can see, my physique is unique, and he found it amusing, so he generously shared his teeth and heart.”
Hearing this, Kysir nodded in agreement.
“Well, that guy did have an odd fascination with things he found amusing. He got scolded by Chronos quite a bit because of it.”
‘Chronos?’
Judging from the context, it seemed to be the name of another dragon. It wasn’t a name that appeared in any of the Dragonslayer records Zeke had studied.
Zeke hesitated but eventually asked Kysir carefully,
“Is the Kingdom of Chronos named after Lord Chronos?”
“Most likely. Since I was Chronos’s contractor, I received a lot of help from him when founding the kingdom. When it came time to name it, I was too tired to think of anything else, and since Chronos was loitering around, I just decided to go with Chronos.”
Learning that the name of a legendary kingdom had been decided on such a whimsical whim left Zeke feeling hollow.
‘A contractor of Chronos? Can a dragon even form a contract with a human?’
There were so many questions Zeke wanted to ask, but he worried that probing too deeply might reveal his connection to the Dragonslayer lineage. For now, he treaded lightly, disguising his inquiries as casual curiosity.
After a lengthy conversation, Zeke pieced together what Kysir was saying. During Kysir’s era, humans and dragons had a very close relationship, with dragons often assisting humanity, which was still in its early stages of civilization.
At that time, dragons served as “harmonizers of the world,” but they were unable to provide unconditional aid to the material realm.
After forming a contract with a human, a dragon could polymorph into human form and place restrictions on themselves, allowing them to aid their contractor without disrupting the world’s balance.
Otherwise, the equilibrium of the world could be broken, potentially endangering the material realm.
‘This is completely different from what I know.’
While much of the history following Terakan Draker’s slaying of the Evil Dragon Bahamut and his salvation of the continent was well-documented, the period before that remained largely lost to time.
With so little known, some scholars even speculated that ancient civilizations were far more advanced than the present era.
Listening to Kysir’s account reinforced just how scarce information about the ancient era truly was.
During that time, dragon contractors were reportedly common, and polymorphed dragons provided significant assistance, enough to leave lasting impacts on human history.
Some of the ancient items discovered in ruins remained inexplicable with contemporary magical knowledge, leading to speculation that they were created with a dragon’s aid.
Zeke couldn’t help but wonder why the once-close relationship between humans and dragons had deteriorated.
‘I’ll have to review the chronicle recordings Kysir left behind later.’
With his thoughts organized, Zeke decided to focus on fully mastering the Elemental Sword first.
Claiming he had come to Argos for a retreat to avoid his household’s scrutiny had worked well enough, but he needed to return to Atlas before the academic term at Valhalla began.
The process of mastering the Elemental Sword went smoother than he anticipated.
However, Zeke unexpectedly struggled at one particular stage.
“No, no, that’s not it! How can you get everything else right and keep messing this one up?”
He was having difficulty mastering the Water Field, which involved wielding the power of water, one of the four elements.
Once more, Zeke tried to draw upon the power of water and swung his sword.
A strong force swept through the surroundings, like a crashing waterfall.
Kysir, however, promptly smacked Zeke on the head with the scabbard of his sword.
“You idiot! That’s not the power of water—that’s the power of a waterfall! Water’s strength lies in its softness. Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘Softness overcomes hardness’?”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
“This brat… You just claim ignorance whenever it suits you, don’t you? Listen. Water’s power isn’t about brute force. Watch.”
Kysir drew his sword and summoned the power of water.
Like a serene water surface, his blade flowed calmly and steadily.
It moved with the grace of a flowing river, sometimes as tranquil as a still lake, and at other times, it struck with the ferocity of a cascading waterfall.
Kysir sheathed his sword and spoke.
“All four elements are important, but water is the most crucial. Life begins with water, and over 70% of our bodies are made up of it. Understand that, you thickheaded brat.”
In his previous life, Zeke had relentlessly pursued overwhelming strength to survive, driven by his determination to grow stronger at any cost.
For someone like him, who only sought sheer power, wielding a sword with softness and fluidity was an entirely foreign concept.
His mind and body understood the movements, but his heart struggled to truly grasp the essence of the technique.
Eventually, Kysir decided to take Zeke back to the basics.
As a result, Zeke had to mimic Kysir’s meditative posture, crossing his legs and meditating for several hours daily.
Although he was desperate to master the Elemental Sword quickly and return to Valhalla, being forced to sit idly for hours was excruciating.
Thwack!
Whenever his thoughts wandered, Kysir would smack him on the head with the scabbard of his sword.
“Clear your mind and look deeply into your heart.”
It was strange hearing Kysir sound like a priest.
A full month passed like this.
Even so, Zeke failed to understand the power of water. Instead, his impatience only increased, filling his head with distracting thoughts, which led to him being smacked even more frequently by Kysir.
In the end, Kysir decided to take a different approach.
“I can’t believe the only one capable of inheriting my techniques is such a dimwit.”
“Perhaps Your Majesty’s teaching methods are to blame?”
“Shut up. It seems I have no choice. You’ll have to learn it another way.”
“There was another method? You could’ve taught me that from the start! You wasted so much time!”
“You’ll regret saying that.”
Kysir’s alternative method wasn’t anything complex.
The essence of water’s power was “release of tension.”
In other words, relaxing the body and mind was key. Kysir’s method was to physically exhaust Zeke, forcing his body to relax and integrate the concept of release.
Hearing this, Zeke smirked.
Thanks to his Endless Stamina passive skill, he had never felt fatigue and assumed that no level of training could wear him down.
But Zeke was gravely mistaken.
“Hah! Hah!”
What followed was an intense training regimen so grueling that not even Endless Stamina could keep up.
The training involved endless sparring with Kysir.
Without meals, without rest, and without sleep, Zeke had to continuously clash swords with Kysir, over and over again.
To make matters worse, Kysir used the Field of Gravity to increase the gravity around Zeke’s body tenfold.
Zeke’s body felt unbearably heavy, yet he had no choice but to evade or block Kysir’s relentless attacks.
“Move faster!”
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The Storm Sword, enhanced by the Field of Wind, surged toward Zeke in a violent gale.
Zeke deployed his own Field of Wind to block the attack, but his elemental power was insufficient to withstand Kysir’s strength.
He was swept away and slammed into a wall.
Fortunately, he didn’t lose consciousness this time—a sign of his growth.
But Kysir wasn’t about to let him rest.
Dragging Zeke back up, he battered him mercilessly with yet another new technique.
After learning that Zeke’s Healing Factor and Endless Stamina allowed him to recover from most injuries, Kysir became even more enthusiastic in his assault.
“This is so much fun! It’s the kind of thrill you can’t feel in the dull spirit realm!”
For an entire month, Zeke endured Kysir’s grueling training, forcefully integrating the concept of Release of Tension into his body.
At the brink of collapse, when he felt he couldn’t move a single finger, Zeke swung his sword and stepped forward, embodying the lessons Kysir had drilled into him.
As he wielded the sword in utter exhaustion, he lost the sense of where he ended and the sword began.
It was a sensation he had never experienced in his previous life.
Zeke entered a trance-like state, swinging his sword.
With his body completely relaxed, the blade moved smoothly, flowing naturally as if it knew its own path.
For the first time, Zeke understood the techniques comprising the Field of Water.
At that moment, enlightenment struck him.
Vwoooom!
Zeke, having grasped the essence of Release of Tension, began wielding his sword in a way entirely different from before.
He combined the Elemental Sword with the Swift Wind Technique, harnessing his aura to execute techniques from the Dragonslaying Art.
His body moved instinctively, his hands following wherever the flow led him.
The energy that had been swirling around Zeke gradually settled into his body.
He had broken through the barrier between a Blue Knight and a Red Knight.
Zeke opened his eyes.
[You have successfully completed the Emergency Linked Mission.]
[Reward: Tears of the Fairy King.]
[Reward: 500 Karma Points.]
[You have successfully completed the Main Quest Mission.]
[Your system administrator privileges have been upgraded to Intermediate Administrator.]
[Intermediate Administrator system permissions have been activated.]
[The Beginner’s Questbook has been upgraded to the Intermediate Questbook.]
[System linkage functions have been activated.]
[Skill shortcut slots have been unlocked (active skills only).]
[Item shortcut slots have been unlocked (automatic equipment and potion consumption enabled).]
[The portal travel system on the minimap has been activated.]
[Reward: 500 Karma Points.]
[Reward: Three random skill cards and three random boxes.]
A series of messages flooded his vision.
[You have acquired the Elemental Sword of Hero King Kysir.]
[The special skill Elemental Sword (S-Rank) has been added.]
[Your soul has grown.]
[The power of your unique authority has strengthened.]
[As your soul grows, the seal on Bahamut’s Heart has partially been lifted. Current compression seal level: 90%.]
‘This is incredible.’
Zeke could hardly contain his excitement.