The attacking instinct of a red dragon flowing in her veins successfully learned powerlessness to some extent. It was now time to take a step further, and make sure she could control herself in even more extreme situations.
“What’s this knife for?”
Yeorum blinked her eyes looking at the knife he gave her.
“It’s for stabbing me.”
“But why are you giving this to me? You want me to stab you or something?”
Carrying a knife each, Yu Jitae and Yeorum were facing each other at a close distance. It was time for the second training.
The training was simple.
1. Yu Jitae and Yeorum both carry a knife.
2. With their bodies restricted, the two of them face each other, and Yeorum had to put the core in her mouth on top of that.
3. They will both point their knives at each other’s heart so that they could stab through and kill the opponent at any given time. Yeorum was restricted but she could move her arms.
4. Yu Jitae will slowly push the knife deeper into her heart.
5. On the other hand, Yeorum had to refrain from stabbing Yu Jitae’s heart and control the urge to attack even at the face of death.
Yeorum frowned. She asked, “Will you even get stabbed even if I try to?”
That was why there was point number 6.
6. Like the first training, Yu Jitae will undo a portion of the authorities and blessings so that Yeorum could relieve her urge for violence by stabbing him. At the same time, their remaining hand will be clasped together for her to receive Yu Jitae’s emotions in real time.
While the first training was a forced injection of powerlessness, Yeorum’s job this time was to endure it with her own willpower.
That was the only difference.
“What’s wrong.”
“…”
“What’s with the look on your face. This is the most certain method.”
“I’m not doubting you or anything…”
Yeorum did not look very good.
“But like, how is that a proper education?”
“What do you mean.”
“It, like, feels super strange.”
“What is.”
“…Don’t you think it’s way too extreme?”
“…”
“To be frank, it feels as if killing a parent and a child might also be a part of that training curriculum as long as it’s effective…”
He shook his head in response.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I won’t die unless you stab as deeply as possible.”
“…”
There seemed to be something she wanted to say.
As uncomfortable as it was for her, Yu Jitae was also feeling uncomfortable but there was nothing that could be done about it. It was something that had to be done.
“…So. Are we starting? Right now?”
“Do you need time to prepare yourself?”
“That’s not it but… What about that cutie that went for a breather?”
“I just sent him off.”
There was actually a reason why he brought Clone 2.
Yu Jitae was inexperienced with emotions. Even with a certain emotion in his heart, he couldn’t precisely identify it so he used Clone 2 to verify a few things.
But that was not necessary in the following training.
“So are you prepared.”
Yeorum took a deep breath to prepare herself and soon nodded with a stiff look on her face.
“Nn…”
***
Bound by the [Chains of Hell], Yeorum was hanging in mid-air. Like spider webs, there were several black strings wrapped around her head, neck, waist, shoulders, pelvis and knees. Her two arms were the only things that were free.
Yu Jitae stood in mid-air in front of the child and faced her.
With the start of the training, Yeorum placed the core that was the size of a walnut kernel into her mouth. She grabbed his one with one of her hands, and used her other hand to hold the knife at his chest. Yu Jitae likewise had his body tied up with the Chains of Hell and the two of them looked like insects that had fallen into the traps of a spider.
From this point onward, Yu Jitae would not move even if Yeorum was to stab him.
“We’re starting.”
“Yah.”
The tip of the gleaming steel blade touched her skin.
“It might sting.”
“…”
As he added a very faint amount of power, the blade began to pierce through her skin. Something red oozed out and budded into a drop.
“You have to hold it in.”
Yeorum tried to manage her expression but could not stop her eyebrows from curving into a small frown. This training will be even more painful than the previous one and will also be a lot more cruel.
From now, he will be hurting Yeorum even more.
“…It’s bearable …Go on.”
He pushed the blade deeper in.
Yeorum bit her lips.
*
At the start, he felt uncomfortable when he thought their relationship might be shaken. But on second thought, it wasn’t something that would serve to be a problem.
To him, the thing called relationship was something futile.
Their relationship was bound to come to an end with the end of the Amusement. They won’t be spending their entire life together either so what was the issue even if she were to hate him a little bit?
Despite having that thought in his head, it seemed that his heart had a different perspective compared to his brain.
Perhaps, quite possibly, it might be that he wanted to remain a good person in Yeorum’s memories.
Truly,
It was an insane thought…
The reason he was living a daily life was to send the baby dragons back home happily, because that will in turn shed light to the path going towards his dream.
However, it seemed that he had become drunk in that warmth instead. Emotions had begun fading the foundation of all the relationships.
There was no need for him to be a good person and naturally, there was no need for him to be remembered as a good person either. In fact, it was more correct to say that he had no right to be remembered as such.
Sending the baby dragons happily back home was his objective. Him being remembered as something and whatnot was not the important factor there.
Stabb…
Therefore, he pushed the knife deeper in.
“…”
He could see her breath pausing in between.
The blade dug half-way through her chest. Piercing through the skin, it dug through the fat and the muscles, through the ribs and was about to touch her heart. Blood was gushing out of the wound, wetting her clothes.
The onion core was fluctuating and she was drooling through her half-opened mouth. Yeorum had a somewhat blank look on her face as she closed her eyes and tried to hold in her anger.
It wasn’t a simple stab – Yu Jitae was pushing forth an unpleasant mana that contradicted and provoked the mana of the red race.
The dagger of a treacherous enemy was piercing through her heart. Her instinct should be letting out loud warning signs that she will die at this rate but Yeorum was holding it in with her consciousness.
It was a commendable feat but now was the true start.
I want to kill you.
“…?”
His thought rode through her hand and was conveyed into her body. In shock, Yeorum widened her eyes into circles and glared daggers at him with eyes filled with disbelief.
There was something called [Combat Immersion]. This blessing that every red dragon had was one that allowed them to be more sensitive to life-threatening situations. That was why Yeorum was taking the killing intent seriously despite the prior agreement of the training.
He continued thinking.
I want to kill you.
“…!”
Yeorum seemed slightly more upset from his thought. Feeling powerless did not mean her anger had been removed. In a situation that made her feel extremely close to death, Yeorum felt endangered and faced him back with killing intent, but it was a truly miniscule and petty amount in his eyes.
It would be better if you were dead.
“…!!”
Snap—
Looking like she would stop breathing anytime soon, Yeorum shook her head. With an infuriated expression she sent a gaze demanding him to cancel that thought.
He didn’t react, nor did he cancel it. In fact, even this was sloppy and was not enough to make Yeorum think that she might really die.
Why?
Because this was a part of training.
Her consent at the start was acting as a safety device inside her heart. She had to feel the emotion of looming death and overcome it but she was aware this was training and thus could not feel death. It would simply put her in a very bad mood.
But of course, that was something he had already taken into account.
So what he was about to do now might really hurt Yeorum.
Even though he really didn’t want to do it, it was something that had to be done one day;
And that day was today.
He retrieved the knife that had dug half-way down her chest and stabbed her cheek.
“Uhk…!” Yeorum frowned in surprise.
He created a long cut down the white cheek all the way to her ears with a thought in mind.
I was actually, sincerely, hoping for your death.
Perhaps because this was something completely outside her expectations, the fury was momentarily wiped clean off of her face.
As if something heavy had dropped inside, she looked at him. How could you say such a thing to me? That was the look on her face.
Her left hand clenched tightly onto his hand as veins protruded out of her right hand that was holding the knife. The veins went all the way from her hand to her feet. Yeorum could not believe what he was thinking and at the same time felt the urge to stab him.
This should be painful enough but he couldn’t stop here and turned his gaze to other parts of her body. The shoulder should be fine – thinking that, he pierced the dagger through her shoulder and messed the joint up with the tip of the blade.
‘Ahk…!’ A weak shriek left her mouth as Yu Jitae thought to himself.
I’ve been wanting to kill you every time you showed that stupid attitude of yours. How great that I can finally kill you today.
Yeorum, who had been writhing from pain, once again turned blank. Her hand holding his hand released its grip – she instinctively wanted to look away from the unbelievable thoughts in his mind.
But that was something he couldn’t allow her to do, so he tightened his grip as Yeorum twisted her arm and retaliated.
What’s wrong?
He pierced the knife deep into her stomach and let it bleed. At the same time, he looked straight into her eyes. It was instead Yeorum that tried to turn away from his gaze. The emotions revealed from her mana were shock, fury, horror and a feeling of being betrayed.
But even this wasn’t enough.
He repeatedly created false hatred and said it over and over in his mind.
Born with a trash talent.
You could do nothing but be swept away by your emotions and get mad.
Why don’t you try doing it again?
You are the best at it aren’t you. Trashing on people for no reason, getting mad, annoying people, shouting with a loud yet empty voice, making other people tired to put only yourself at ease.
Try it.
Isn’t that your forte?
With such thoughts in mind, he stabbed her neck. Soon, the blank shock became fuel for an even greater fury as her entire body trembled from an unbearable sense of betrayal. Her face that had turned vacant from shock suddenly turned into one of blazing anger that could explode at any time.
Right. This was supposed to be the look on her face.
Looking like she would immediately run in and rip someone to pieces.
Looking like she would blend the enemy into a juice and drink it.
Since this expression was finally being revealed on her face, it was almost there. But that in turn meant that it was still slightly insufficient.
Yeorum will have a frontal fight against her oldest unni after going back. Without fixing her temperament, she would be even more upset than now during the fight since there was no reason why she wouldn’t be more mad.
That was why this had to be controlled.
He pushed the knife into her mouth. As the blade touched her tongue, Yeorum clenched down on it with her fangs.
Yu Jitae decided to hold even worse thoughts in his mind.