…You want me to teach you the sword?
“Yeah.”
That sensation from earlier—when I dodged his strike and closed the distance in one fluid step—it was still vivid.
The air in that moment still clung to my breath, electric and alive. Just as the Heavenly Demon had said, all I’d done was throw myself forward into an incoming blade… yet in that instant, victory and defeat had been decided.
Life and death had always been split by mere moments, but this… this feeling was new.
It felt like I was handling death itself as if it belonged to me. Like I had everything in the palm of my hand.
I was sure of it—this man who had crashed into my head, this stranger who called himself the Heavenly Demon, the so-called greatest under heaven from another world… he was the real deal. I’d suspected he was no ordinary figure from the moment I sensed him coiled in my mindscape, but this ?
He really had ruled over an entire world.
If I could learn the sword from a man like that…
Why should I?
The Heavenly Demon snorted.
“What do you mean, why?”
I straightened my tone, polite and persuasive, “Master Heavenly Demon, aren’t we bound as one? Two hearts sharing one body.”
Bound as one, my ass. Why would I waste my time teaching a halfwit like you? There’s no bigger waste than that.
“You said you were frustrated watching me.”
I can tolerate it. You get used to watching an idiot flail around after a while.
“….”
So that’s how he wanted to play it?
I shifted from respectful persuasion to bold declaration.
“Heavenly Demon.”
What now?
“Tomorrow, I’m going to storm Gustav’s base.”
He gave a derisive snort. Go ahead. You’ll die a dog’s death.
“No matter what my master says, I’m going. That’s final.”
Who said I was your master?
“Anyone who teaches me something is my master. Even a stray dog named Banguri was my master once. No exceptions.”
I’ve never taken on a moron like you as a disciple.
“Once a master, always a master.”
….
I clung to him shamelessly. If I could get the strongest man I’d ever met to train me, I’d grovel as much as needed.
“Master, don’t you worry about your disciple’s life?”
You’re disgustingly shameless.
“This unworthy disciple of yours has a question, Master.”
Tch. What now?
“If I die… what happens to you?”
….
That shut him up.
I pressed the advantage. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but if I die, wouldn’t that put you in a bad spot too? Hm? What do you think, Master?”
…You damnable brat.
‘Got him.’
I grinned in triumph. “Take me as your disciple, Master.”
…Insolent disciple.
“So, in your world, do master and disciple have some kind of formal ceremony? I wouldn’t know—I’m an uneducated man.”
Didn’t expect it, don’t care. Forget it.
And that was how, after some heated bargaining, I became the Heavenly Demon’s disciple.
But there was no time to waste.
Before I could even savor my victory, the lesson began—and my lunatic of a master told me to sit cross-legged and meditate.
“…Uh, Master?”
What?
“You said you’d teach me the sword. Why are we meditating…?”
Shut your mouth and do it before I burst your head open.
“Yes, sir.”
The Heavenly Demon sighed. You said you had a day, right?
“That’s right, Master.”
Not much time. And no foundation at all in this trash body of yours.
“…Did you just call your disciple trash?”
From what I can see, your external training isn’t bad. You haven’t neglected your body—good.
“External training?”
I tilted my head, guessing it meant physical conditioning.
But your internal cultivation… nothing. Not a trace. Even the untalented are born with a spark of it. You’re a once-in-a-lifetime case of absolute nothing.
“….”
It’s fine. I’m not offended. Nope. Not at all.
Still, with my talent seeping into you, things should change.
“So what now, Master? How do we start?”
It’s called breathing and circulating energy.
He explained. Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. Expel the impure air, draw in the pure natural energy. This place’s energy isn’t bad.
I followed his words, focusing on my breathing. A crisp, fresh sensation tickled my nose.
Is this… qi?
I wondered if it was different from mana, but since I’d never even felt mana before, I had no way of knowing.
Store the qi you draw in at your dantian.
“Dantian? You mean the heart?”
Not the middle dantian—your lower dantian, just below the navel.
Sure enough, when I focused, I felt an empty space there.
Once I realized it was there, I could see it clearly—an absurdly vast space, like an ocean.
I began storing the gathered qi there, little by little.
Tch. Just filling it will take the whole day. No wonder you’re so weak.
“Could you keep quiet so I can focus?”
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue. Focus only on your breathing. Forget everything else until I tell you to stop.
“Hoo…”
I emptied my mind, thinking only of inhaling and exhaling.
The Sherwood Mercenaries… the bandits I’d killed… the so-called key dagger… all of it vanished from my thoughts.
There was only the breath.
I didn’t know how much time passed before—
Enough.
The Heavenly Demon’s voice cut through.
Settle your breathing, then open your eyes.
“Whew…”
I finished circulating my breath and opened my eyes.
“Whoa, you scared me.”
Three people were standing there, arms full of luggage, staring at me wide-eyed.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Hans replied, “The real question is—what about you? You said you needed to think, and then you never came back all night. We were worried.”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard him, “…Wait, what? All night?”
“You didn’t notice? It’s already morning.”
Sure enough, I could hear the cheerful chirping of birds, and the golden sun was peeking over the horizon.
‘I thought I’d just closed my eyes for a moment… and it’s morning?’
The Heavenly Demon spoke. Your focus is at least decent.
“….”
Unbelievable.
Hans said, “You looked like you were in the middle of something important, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Julia added, “Are you all right? I don’t think you’ve eaten anything since yesterday.”
Hans nodded. “We were just about to leave, but since you’re still here, we wanted to say goodbye.”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and stood, “Guess I lost track of time while meditating.”
I shook hands with Hans and Julia in turn, “Stay safe. Take care of yourselves.”
“You too.”
“Ashuban, you be careful as well. Here—take some food.”
“Thank you.”
I took the basket Julia offered and glanced at the little figure fidgeting behind her, “Joy, say goodbye.”
At Julia’s prompting, the girl stepped out, “Um…”
She hesitantly walked up and held something out to me, “Thank you for saving my mom and dad.”
It was a bracelet woven from wildflowers. So that’s what she’d been hiding behind her back.
I smiled and slipped it onto my wrist, “Thanks. It’s beautiful.”
But she wasn’t done yet—she beckoned me closer, as if she had something important to say, “And… I’ll tell you a secret. You can’t tell anyone, okay?”
Her expression was deadly serious.
“Of course. What is it?”
She glanced at her parents, who were watching us with warm smiles, then leaned in and whispered in my ear, “My name… it means ‘life.’”
I stared at her for a moment, feeling like someone had just smacked me on the back of the head.
A cruel twist of fate, wasn’t it?
A man who had just crawled back from death… meeting a girl whose name meant life .
I placed my hand gently on her small head and smiled, “Thank you. I’ll take this secret to my grave. It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”
“…Hehe.”
With our farewells said, only parting remained.
Before leaving, I asked Hans, “Where’s this Gustav guy?”
“…You planning to storm in?”
“No. I’m just going to show off the dagger and leave.”
Hans looked conflicted but answered, “Head straight east from here, and you’ll find a large fort in the forest. There’s only one building that big out there, so you can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. Please—be careful.”
“Sure.”
We waved goodbye. I kept watching until the trees swallowed them from view.
“Life… huh.”
I fiddled with the wildflower bracelet on my wrist, then clenched my fist, “From now on, Zoe and I are one. Anyone who tries to hurt her—I’ll crush them all.”
….
But Gustav was an aura user. From the look of it, he’d been the leader of the one I killed yesterday. That meant Gustav himself could definitely use aura.
Even if I’d somehow managed to handle things this time, there was no guarantee I could again. Starting from a disadvantage was just asking to die.
Aura could only be matched with aura. And now… I had a way to learn it.
“Master.”
What?
“How do you make aura?”
You mean sword energy?
“Yeah, that. I heard you need to wrap mana around your heart to use it. Mana heart, mana circle, something like that.”
I don’t care about that nonsense. Just do as I say.
“Yes, sir.”
You’ve got qi stored in your dantian, right?
“I do.”
I had gathered a small amount overnight. Compared to the size of my dantian, it was like a single drop in a lake—but it was there.
Move it into your sword.
That was… remarkably simple. “…That’s it?”
You’ve got my talent. That should be enough. The rest, figure out yourself.
I picked the best-looking sword from the loot the bandits had left behind.
Closing my eyes, I guided the qi from my dantian upward.
‘Oh.’
It moved with surprising ease, almost naturally—another gift of the Heavenly Demon’s talent, no doubt.
I guided it from my core to my shoulder, down my arm, and into the blade.
“…Did it work?”
If you’ve done it right, the sword will sing.
The blade seemed to soak up the qi like rain on dry earth, then—
Vwooom—
It vibrated, releasing a shiver-inducing hum.
“Ah…”
The power I could never have reached in decades… was now right before me.
Slowly, a crimson glow flared to life along the blade.
“Ahh…”
It danced like fire, like water, flickering and alive.
A thrill raced down my arm into my spine. “So this… is sword energy.”
It was so overwhelming that my eyes stung.
The Heavenly Demon spoke in a displeased tone. Why does your sword energy look like that? It’s sinister—like something from a demonic cult.
I wiped my eyes and grinned. “What? I like it.”
Sinister or not, I adored my little crimson beauty.
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue. I don’t have time to teach you martial techniques now. Take care of this business, survive, and I’ll teach you more later.
“Martial techniques? Like sword forms?”
Close enough.
“Perfect.”
Now that I had aura, it was time to crush anyone who dared to threaten Zoe.
I grabbed the bandit’s clothes I’d stripped yesterday and strode toward the fort.
A grin crept onto my face without me realizing it.
“Hehehehe…”
….
A man burst into the courtyard in a panic. “Emergency! Emergency! We’re under attack!”
“What?!”
The men who had been resting grabbed their weapons and rushed out, scanning their surroundings.
“Where’s the enemy?!”
“Who is it?!”
The man who had announced the alarm grinned. “Right here.”
Shhhkkk!
A wave of crimson sword energy poured across their backs.
(End of Chapter)