Reincarnated with the King’s Power

Chapter 20

‘A human's life is like the blink of an eye.’

Was it because I had spent a long time as a blade? It was only recently that I had been realizing that self-evident truth.

The training of the Mana Heart through meditation, the physical strength training conducted in the knight order's training ground, the tempering of swordsmanship against hundreds of knights.

A day would disappear just by incorporating these three basic processes into the body.

Since I also had to oversee the training of others in my spare time, it was to the point where one body was not enough.

And finally, two days before the monster subjugation.

“Huuuk…… Huuu……”

Killian, who had been swinging his sword alone in the training ground, realized that his body had reached the level of a 4-star knight.

***

Knock, knock.

“Young Master, it's me, Haman.”

The chamberlain, who entered with a knock, laid out twenty potions on the table.

“Good work.”

Haman, who nodded silently at the compliment, stripped off his top and bottom.

On his body, clad in tight-fitting undergarments made of tar fiber, muscles honed by arduous training were well-defined.

It couldn't be called a knight's body yet, but it was a physique that was not inferior to any low-level ranger.

“Shall we start with the lower body today.”

Haman asked in a lifeless voice and naturally assumed a horse-riding stance.

Drinking a recovery potion as soon as the hellish physical training was over and then returning to his chamberlain duties. It was a routine he had been repeating for nearly a month.

While his stamina could somehow be replenished with recovery potions, his mental strength required time to recover.

The muscles of his two legs, spread shoulder-width apart, already seemed to be screaming.

“……”

But he gritted his teeth.

After Loen's visit the other day, Killian's terrible retaliation had followed.

‘If I whine clumsily, the time of suffering will only get longer.’

As long as he didn't run away from the family, there was no way to escape this hellish training.

Enlightenment.

Haman had recently been approaching that mystical state.

‘I think I could beat down Rhodos with my bare hands, but if I start a fight, I'll be confined for at least a week……’

It wouldn't be bad to fight once and get disciplined at this rate.

It was while he was having such thoughts.

“Rest.”

“Yes. As soon as the basic movements are finished, I will immediately move on to lower core strength training.”

“……?”

Haman's lifeless eyes met Killian's indifferent ones.

“The core too…… I will continue with it.”

His voice began to tremble like his shaking lower body.

Haman forced himself to look straight ahead and corrected his posture.

“I told you to rest today, didn't I?”

“I apologize. I unknowingly harbored insolent thoughts. Please forgive me.”

He gritted his teeth and lowered his seated posture even further.

The more he trembled, the more beads of sweat flowed down his face.

“Chamberlain, that's enough for today.”

“I'm fine.”

“Haman, you can really rest today.”

“I'm sorry. I will never harbor such insidious thoughts again.”

Haman lowered his seated posture even further with unfocused eyes. His buttocks were now almost touching the floor.

“……”

Killian, who couldn't watch any longer, pushed Haman with his index finger.

“Ugh.”

The chamberlain, who lost his balance, fell flat on his back.

“I understand your spirit, so get dressed.”

“If you are testing me……”

“Test or not, the subjugation is tomorrow. I have to prepare too.”

At the calm words, his eyes grew as wide as lanterns.

“A-are you serious?”

“If you go to the Apothecary, the Head Apothecary will have something prepared separately. Go get that. She said it's a large quantity and won't be ready until dawn, so check the time well.”

“……!!”

Was waiting until dawn a big deal?

‘As long as I can escape this hellish training right now.’

“Don't worry. I will prepare it flawlessly!!”

“Alright. Also, tell the guards not to let anyone in.”

“Understood. Even if the family head comes, he will not be able to enter without cutting off this Haman's head.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get out.”

“Yes, sir!!”

Whoosh.

The insincere chamberlain dashed out of the bedroom at a speed comparable to the First Flash.

“All talk……”

Killian, left alone, took off the clothes he was wearing one by one and threw them aside.

He stood in front of the mirror that, though the room was bare from having various things thrown out, still stood firm in a corner of the bedroom.

His body, covered by the undergarments he wore beneath the silk, was revealed.

The muscles were expanded as if they would burst through the fabric at any moment.

Muscles that were not just large in size, but densely packed through high-intensity training.

“Not bad.”

He remembered how he was skin and bones a few months ago.

Now, a body that brooked no comparison to then was reflected in the mirror.

He tried drawing out his Mana.

Ssssss.

The most basic color manifested by humans, a blue Mana, enveloped his entire body.

Killian didn't stop releasing it until the Mana went beyond his control and filled the bedroom.

One minute was enough for the Mana to fill the bedroom.

Carpe.

Just by releasing his Mana, he had achieved the secret technique of a 5-star knight.

It was such a stable Mana operation that if anyone else had seen it, they would have been unable to contain their astonishment.

“If I deploy it with all my strength, is it 5 seconds?”

If he narrowed the range, 2 seconds seemed possible.

He picked up the Blue Flame Sword he had set aside.

Fwoosh.

Just by letting a small amount of Mana flow, Red Flame blossomed.

The flames did not stop at the sword but continued to the Mana scattered in the space.

Fwoooosh.

The bed, the mirror, the floor, red flames blazed up from everywhere.

No smoke was generated, nor did anything burn to ashes. It was because the will of Killian, who dominated the space, did not want it.

The moment the flames, which burned with Mana as a medium, filled the bedroom.

FWOOOOOSH!!

In the blink of an eye, the Red Flame turned into Blue Flame.

Blue Flame Devil.

The mystical sight that can be seen when a living Blue bird immolates its own life was recreated.

“Huu.”

He maintained the state of the Blue Flame Devil, composing his breathing.

The most basic form of Carpe is the pressure using momentum.

But if one uses a special medium or imagery like now, it is also possible to change the nature of Carpe.

‘The Mana consumption is more than I thought.’

Three minutes.

Just by maintaining the Carpe of the Blue Flame Devil, his Mana was depleted.

Fwoosh.

He wiped away the sweat trickling down in the bedroom that had returned to its original state.

He drank two of the twenty potions Haman had left. They were items personally concocted by Loen, capable of controlling even the backlash symptoms of a 6-star if mixed and drunk.

The effect was outstanding. The empty Mana Heart began to fill up rapidly.

‘I wonder if the Head Apothecary is holding up well.’

Killian recalled Loen's pale face.

He didn't know how many top-tier apothecaries there were on the current continent, but he was confident that with her skills, she would be among the top.

If she achieved a 7-star Mana Heart, she might even become the best apothecary on the continent.

‘I have one more thing to thank the family head for.’

Without her support, he would not have been able to perform high-intensity training every time, nor would he have been able to master 4-star so quickly.

He looked at the eighteen potions whose contents had not yet been emptied.

By now, Loen would be in the process of making an additional thirty potions.

‘Even if I don't achieve 5-star today, it will be a matter of time.’

Her becoming his exclusive apothecary until he reached 6-star.

That was the most crucial part of their deal.

Of course, what needed to be done before that was to bring back the 'intact hearts' of an ogre and a troll.

“It's possible even at my current level, but…… there's no harm in being thoroughly prepared.”

Generally, the growth of a Mana user is related to the size of their Mana Heart.

And the method of increasing the size of the Mana Heart is similar to training the muscles of the body.

‘Pouring out Mana to the limit, then recovering with a high-quality method.’

To do that, one had to either get enough rest or drink high-quality recovery potions, and what Killian chose was the latter.

Gripping the Blue Flame Sword, he once again let his Mana flow.

Fwoosh.

He tried some basic swordsmanship while maintaining Carpe.

First Flash.

A thrust that uses the recoil from exploding the core that controlled both the lower and upper body muscles immediately after expanding them.

Second Flash.

Two thrusts executed in a fleeting moment by raising the speed of the First Flash by more than double.

Ascension.

Slashing upwards from below to split the target in half, and.

Netherworld.

A linked technique that strikes down from above to completely cut the target down.

First Group.

A technique that creates a curtain of Mana by creating a sword path in the air from left to right, bottom to top, top-left to bottom-right, and bottom-left to top-right.

Frenzy.

An anti-personnel technique that mixes First Flash, Ascension and Netherworld, and First Group to scatter sword energy in all directions.

Each time he successively swung his sword, the Mana in his body circulated, and his two hearts pulsed.

Killian, who had exhausted his Mana once, downed two more potions.

Apart from his ragged breathing, a pleasant sensation came over him.

In a short time, he had emptied and refilled his Mana Heart to its limit in succession.

The two hearts, where the recovery potion began to circulate, were creating a harmony with a cheerful pulse.

‘Not yet.’

He demonstrated the four ascending sword techniques once more and emptied two potions.

‘Not yet.’

He performed the two ascending sword techniques while dominating the space.

Eurasia Style, Thorn.

Eurasia Style, Thunderbolt.

Whoooosh. Whoosh.

Thus, every time he showed a swordsmanship he had never shown to anyone.

Adamas Style, Meteor Flash.

Tzzzzzzzz.

Every time he showed a Mana operation that only high-level knights would attempt.

The two types of recovery potions laid out on the table were quickly emptied.

Fwoosh. Fwoosh.

The Blue Flame blossomed and vanished repeatedly.

Occasionally, he failed to control it and some furniture turned to ash and scattered.

But nothing could disturb Killian, who had fallen into a state of total immersion.

***

It was dark.

A darkness that fit the expression 'pitch-black'.

‘Did I pass out?’

Even after downing the last two potions, he wasn't satisfied and had swung his sword.

It seemed he had lost consciousness due to exhaustion in the middle of it.

‘I couldn't achieve 5-star in the end.’

Loen's recovery potion, prepared in case of a backlash. He had expected his level to have risen by the time he finished all twenty, but it seemed he had been overly ambitious.

The 4-star Killian had achieved was equivalent to a typical beginner 6-star level. If he used the Blue Flame Sword, it was possible to obtain the Magic Stones of a Grand Ogre or a troll by himself.

‘But even so, that's only five.’

For any more than that, he would have to carry out a diversionary operation using the knight order.

‘It's annoying, but it can't be helped.’

Unlike Julian, Killian was not incompetent enough to sacrifice his allies for pointless greed.

Shaking off his disappointment, he focused on feeling the sensations of his body.

‘I don't know how much time has passed.’

His eyelids were heavy and wouldn't open easily.

How long did he have to stay like this?

It was around the time such a thought naturally came to mind.

[How does it feel to be freed from the sword?]

A man's voice was heard in his head.

‘……’

[How disappointing, have you already forgotten?]

‘……!!’

At that moment, his dark vision began to slowly recover as if the darkness was lifting.

Soon, the owner of the voice revealed himself before his eyes.

Killian's two eyes, upon confirming the man's face, shook violently.

‘How……’

[It's been a long time.]

The man waved his hand with a fresh smile.

The undefeated knight who had mastered 9-star, and the great king who had led Eurasia's golden age.

Edan Eurasia.

[We finally meet again.]

His close friend burst into laughter.