Aura Blade (1)
The road back was quiet.
“Makes sense after everything we went through on the way here,” I replied.
By now, my name had spread far enough that both the Green Forest bandits and the Demonic Sects alike would think twice before messing with me. And now that I had become a Master, only a complete lunatic would dare pick a fight.
“It is only natural, since My Lord has stepped into the realm of Super Peak,” Faris said.
“...You’ve gotten stronger too, you know.”
“I did get stronger, but~ the two of you are so far ahead that I feel left out!”
Hye-ryeong puffed her cheeks in a pout, looking genuinely upset. It seemed being the weakest of our trio weighed on her mind more than she let on.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Reaching first-class at your age is already impressive.”
“We’re barely two years apart, you know?”
She had me there. I really did emphasize the age difference a lot.
If there had been a bigger gap between us, it might have felt like genuine comfort. But since Hye-ryeong and I were less than two years apart, it probably sounded more like empty consolation.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Let’s find a good spot to camp for the night.”
I poked her puffed cheek with my finger to deflate it, then infused my eyes with aura and scanned the surroundings.
Where would be a good place to set up camp?
Ideally somewhere near a river so we could wash up easily.
After searching for a while, I finally found a decent campsite—only after sharpening my hearing as well.
“This way.”
“Yeees~”
“My Lord, is there a river in that direction?”
“Yeah.”
“It seems quite far away… As expected, the senses of a Super Peak martial artist truly defy imagination. This Danmo is impressed.”
When he looked at me with those burning eyes, it felt a little embarrassing. I cleared my throat a few times and started walking toward our destination.
-----------------
“Looks like someone’s been here before.”
I swept my gaze across the clearing I had chosen for our campsite. It seemed we weren’t the only ones who thought this was a good spot—there were clear signs that a fairly large group had stayed here recently.
“...Could it have been a merchant caravan passing through? There are wheel tracks over there…”
“They seem to have left quite a while ago. It should be fine, right?”
“Doesn’t look like there’ll be any problems.”
It looked like at least two days had passed, so there was little chance we’d run into them. I sighed, thinking back on everything that had happened, and pulled the camping gear out of my bag.
Not that there was much to it—just some simple cooking tools.
“Mister, I’ll go fetch some water!”
“Be as careful as possible.”
“Yeees~”
“I will gather some branches suitable for firewood.”
“Go ahead.”
I sent the two of them off and quickly began preparing the campsite. A bonfire to warm the dark night, a mat to sit on, and the ingredients I had bought in the last village—all of it needed tending.
This was the most peaceful time of the day, right before it came to a close.
“What should I make today…”
A simple soup with vegetables and jerky?
Or maybe hunt something nearby and roast it?
It was a bit of a hassle, but with my Super Peak physical abilities, hunting wasn’t particularly difficult. Catching a wild boar passing by and roasting it whole didn’t sound half bad.
...Assuming there were any wild boars around, that is.
I took out a small knife and began preparing the vegetables while waiting for the others. Fortunately, both Hye-ryeong and Faris returned quickly and started helping with dinner.
“Hehe, it smells so good~”
“I always look forward to My Lord’s cooking.”
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“But everything I make ends up burnt…”
“That’s because you don’t control the heat properly.”
While Chinese cuisine does rely on intense flames, trying to cook that way out here in the wilderness was asking for trouble.
Of course, the bigger issue was that Hye-ryeong’s cooking skills weren’t exactly stellar to begin with.
“Still, controlling the fire is hard!”
“There are very few people who can adjust a bonfire with the same precision as My Lord.”
It was rare for someone to put that much effort into campfire cooking. Using aura to fine-tune the flames was no easy task.
It was a trick one of my old comrades used to do.
When was it again? The day before he died?
He must have remembered me asking him to teach me, because he showed me the method right before charging into battle the next day. He fell from his horse and was skewered by all kinds of weapons.
...Thinking about it was making me depressed. Better to stop.
I stirred the contents of the pot with a ladle and glanced back and forth between Hye-ryeong and Faris as they warmed themselves by the fire. Their contrasting skin tones made their appearances under the firelight look completely opposite.
Faris with his pale, refined features and Hye-ryeong with her lively, energetic face.
Both of them were quite attractive in their own ways, so when I had nowhere else to look, I could pass the time by stealing glances.
Not that it meant anything.
Still, it was better than staring blankly into empty space.
Hmm. Looks like it’s just about ready.
“Pass me the bowls.”
“Yeees~”
And so began the dinner that marked the end of another day.
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“I’m going to go train for a bit.”
“Mister… can’t you show me just once?”
“Show you what?”
“Aura Blade!”
Hye-ryeong looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
Was she that eager to see it? It wasn’t like Aura Blade was anything special.
No, actually, it was pretty damn special.
In the entire Central Plains, the number of people who could use Aura Blade probably didn’t even reach fifty.
It really hit me just how high my current realm was. There were fewer than fifty people above me.
In the original story, even the enemies only started reaching Super Peak toward the end of the middle arc.
That meant I probably wouldn’t face any major crises for a while.
“Sure, why not.”
“My Lord, if I may also…”
“Come along.”
“Thank you, My Lord.”
His slightly excited tone made it clear he had wanted to see it too.
We added a few more logs to keep the campfire going and headed toward the riverbank. The open space next to the water was perfect for training.
I stood in the clearing beside the river and drew my sword.
My trusty longsword.
I never imagined the day would come when I would wield Aura Blade—no, an aura blade—with this very sword. I wondered if the Captain would have been happy to see it.
Pushing aside the nostalgic memories, I gripped the sword with both hands. The slightly rough but familiar texture filled my palms. Feeling the grip, I awakened my mana core.
...Wait, why did I call it a mana core?
The sudden question made me pause right as I was about to draw out my aura. I fell into thought for a moment.
Why was I calling it a mana core instead of an aura core when I was using aura?
Paying attention to a word I had been using without thinking suddenly felt strange.
Was this also part of reaching Super Peak?
“Mister? Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m just getting used to my increased inner energy.”
I gave a suitable answer and drew the aura from my mana core.
The moment the aura—on a completely different level from before my enlightenment—escaped the core’s control, it began racing wildly through my body. I checked how much aura was permeating my muscles and mana pathways, then slowly layered it onto my sword.
A much clearer blue aura wrapped around the blade.
The sword energy itself had become far more refined.
Impressed, I layered on even more aura.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times…
Each time I added another layer, the aura around the sword grew larger. It had already stretched comfortably to about four cheok (120cm). If I pushed it, I could probably make it twice as long.
“Hmm…”
What exactly was an aura blade?
The Captain had only ever described it as “the ultimate crystallization of overwhelming destruction,” so I still didn’t have a clear picture.
I stared at the blazing aura clinging to my sword and pondered for a moment.
Just because I had become a Master didn’t mean the method to create an aura blade had magically appeared in my head. I decided to try making sword qi using the approach I had in mind.
I closed my eyes and recalled the Captain’s aura blade—the one that looked like a massive blade overlaid on top of his sword.
...He had used it to split a castle gate in half before charging through.
How could I produce something like that? Should I just overlay a similarly refined blade?
But how?
By compressing it?
I slowly began compressing the loosely released sword energy, making it smaller and more precise.
I opened my eyes and watched as the aura gradually shrank.
The smaller it became, the more solidly it condensed, the hazy aura started taking on the appearance of a well-forged blade.
“This is…”
“This is Aura Blade (Sword Qi Becoming Gang)…”
“Mister, that’s amazing!”
On my blade rested an aura blade smaller than the Captain’s but similar in shape, emitting a soft blue glow. Bathed in moonlight, it scattered a mystical light. It was beautiful, but this was the crystallization of destruction.
Touch it carelessly, and you would literally be torn apart.
“Mister, swing it once!”
Might as well.
I looked around for something suitable to cut. My eyes landed on a massive boulder.
It felt somewhat out of place next to the river, but it was large enough that slicing it would feel satisfying.
I took a deep breath and raised my arm.
The sword naturally rose above my head, ready to cleave the boulder before me.
Then…
One.
Two.
Three.
I swung straight down in a perfectly vertical line. Marveling at the smooth sensation in my hand, I looked at the boulder now split cleanly in half.
“To cut a rock that size in one strike…”
“...There was almost no resistance at all.”
So this was an aura blade?
No wonder everyone was so desperate to reach Super Peak.
It was on a completely different level from regular sword qi. Sword qi could cut rock too, but it felt much rougher.
I examined the cleanly sliced surface, marveling at the power of the aura blade that had cut through the boulder like a knife through cake.
And then…
“Hmm?”
“Mister, what’s wrong?”
“Hye-ryeong, what does this look like to you?”
“...Um… a basement door?”
“...It appears to be a hidden secret passage.”
We stared at each other in silence.
A brief exchange of glances. In that instant, we all realized we were thinking the same thing and nodded.
“Hehe…”
I carefully grabbed the handle and pulled open the mysterious door hidden beneath the boulder.