Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Dragon Demon Prince (8)
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“The essence of Spirit Order lies in mastering the mind. The secret art that the Dragon Demon Worshippers called a forgotten technique… you must learn it from me. Otherwise, you won’t be able to stand against those who wield it.”
From the moment he decided to leave Zail by Arietta’s side, Azel resolved to pass on his secrets and teach him the secret art. The threat from the Dragon Demon Worshippers wouldn’t end with this incident. Perhaps the reason he had awakened in this era was because they were preparing to once again blanket the world in great darkness. If that were the case, he needed comrades with the power to fight back.
“Spirit Order prioritizes mental training above all else. Do you know why?”
“If you don’t learn to use your mind differently from ordinary people, you can’t perceive mana. And if you can’t perceive mana, you can’t use it.”
In other words, mental training was essential to acquire mana sensitivity. That was his answer.
Azel shook his head upon hearing Zail’s response.
“No. That’s one possible answer, but it’s not complete.”
“Then what is it?”
“Sir Zail, we humans weren’t born to move as swiftly as the Dragon Demon tribe or wield superhuman strength.”
“Hm?”
“Spirit Order practitioners are superhumans. No amount of physical training alone can reach the level of our bodily capabilities.”
Both Azel and Zail moved like lightning to the eyes of ordinary people. Even clad in heavy armor, they could finish off foes in moments that ordinary folk couldn’t even perceive, let alone react to.
“Normally, human senses keep pace with improvements in physical abilities through training. But that comes with clear limits, and the power gained through Spirit Order surpasses those limits. In other words, we’re too fast and too strong. Too much for our senses to keep up with.”
Mental training was preparation for becoming superhuman. To properly utilize superhuman physical prowess, one needed senses that perceived the surroundings far faster than an ordinary person’s, the ability to process incoming information at high speed, and thought processes as swift as light.
“Without that foundation, you can’t make use of the abilities you gain later. You’re fortunate if you don’t self-destruct from losing control. A famed steed far swifter than ordinary horses is the ultimate mount for a rider skilled enough to handle it, but to an unskilled one, it’s nothing but an uncontrollably wild runaway.”
“……I’ve never thought of it that way.”
“It’s something you should naturally consider. After honing the mind to gain mana sensitivity, you can keep up with superhuman physical growth beyond ordinary limits, so you might not worry about it. But you need to understand this. Only then can you grasp that Spirit Order is the result of humans developing sensory techniques in ways innate to our kind.”
“What does that mean?”
“Humans aren’t a race born to manipulate senses in non-intuitive ways. We always breathe, feel, and train instinctively. We learn how to utilize our senses and focus, but it’s only superficial. It’s only by grasping the structure and mechanisms of senses through mental training that we can manipulate them in previously unimaginable ways. And by knowing those methods, we learn how to exploit the enemy’s senses.”
For example, Azel could freely manipulate his vision. He could see nothing even with his eyes open, filter out specific colors from the scenery, or eliminate concepts of light and dark in darkness to perceive only outlines of objects.
Zail looked confused.
“Is that even possible?”
He could control his senses to some degree. But not with the variety of conditions Azel described. He could only do so faster, slower, or with greater focus for clearer perception… things ordinary people could do to a limited extent, just more freely.
Azel said,
“I was shocked that you and Sir Boer, as Spirit Order practitioners, didn’t even know these basics. Because you don’t know these fundamentals, you’re not properly utilizing your own power. Come, Sir Zail. Let’s first train how to move your body without using your muscles.”
“Like moving an object detached from your body?”
“Exactly. As if manipulating a puppet. But not by grasping and pulling from the outside—you must control everything from within. The first step is to accomplish it with the mind alone.”
Azel spoke firmly to Zail, who doubted whether such a thing was possible.
“Don’t doubt it. If you dismiss what I teach as impossible, you’ll spend eternity just marveling at what I do.”
“Hm. Understood.”
Zail’s eyes changed. He had seen what Azel had done so far. If that was the essence of Spirit Order, there was no reason he couldn’t do it too.
“Three days is short to teach advanced techniques. But I can convey the key points. How deeply you engrave them in your mind and develop them further is up to you.”
There wasn’t much he could teach in three days. But with Zail’s solid foundation, passing on concepts lost for 200 years would allow him to build upon them.
Zail asked,
“Sir Azel, what exactly are you?”
“It’s regrettable that I can’t answer that yet. But someday, I will.”
Azel smiled as he said this.
11
He dreamed.
A dream of long ago, from an era when all despaired.
During the Dragon Emperor War, Azel had wandered the battlefields as a mercenary, fighting the Dragon Demon Army, only to despair at the world’s reality. No matter how many he saved by swinging his sword, nothing changed.
One man’s power wasn’t enough. He needed to rise to a position where he could move many people.
With that thought, he became a knight. After receiving guidance from his second mentor, Barf, he possessed skills that opened wide the path to knighthood anywhere.
But becoming a knight brought new obstacles. A lowly knight could only fight as ordered. Despite the harsh reality before them, human organizations were rife with all sorts of irrationalities.
What truly tormented Azel was that human hearts were diseased.
Humans began to unite against the great darkness of the Dragon Demon King. But not all achieved noble unity of heart and mind. Even with their lives—no, humanity’s future—threatened, they couldn’t cast out the darkness in their hearts.
Otherwise, Azel wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.
This castle held a tactically vital position. Its terrain allowed a small force to efficiently block many enemies, and if it fell, the foes could advance far more easily to the territory’s heart.
Any sane lord would have committed significant troops and supplies here. Regrettably, the lord made no rational choice. When a castle guarded by his kin fell to the enemy, he panicked and summoned troops from everywhere to protect himself.
Naturally, the areas stripped of troops were left exposed to the enemy. Despite countless territory folk facing ruin, he cared only for his own safety.
‘Trash bastard.’
On a night when moonlight shone brightly, Azel leaned on the castle wall’s railing, watching people evacuate as he cursed the lord.
At the lord’s order, eight-tenths of the garrison left. What remained were Azel and a few others, including those who defied the lord to buy time for civilians to flee.
People scrambled, packing belongings in panic. None stayed to sacrifice themselves alongside them.
For Azel, who staked his life to protect them, it was bitterly disheartening. But even more bitter was…
People despising and discriminating against each other even in this situation.
“Mister, you not running away?”
The grimy girl who asked was clearly a street urchin at a glance.
Azel, watching people flee from the wall, replied,
“No matter how trash-like people seem… someone has to uphold duty.”
“Wow, you talk so fancy, mister. Anyone’d think you’re a noble.”
“I’m a knight, albeit a lowly one, so I am a noble? Stop calling me mister.”
Azel grumbled. At the time, he was a fresh-faced youth just turned twenty. He hadn’t bathed or shaved for days, so he didn’t look his best.
“You should go too.”
“No way. I wanna watch you fight, mister.”
“You’ll die. I’m staying to fight so kids like you can live—what then?”
“If you hadn’t saved me, I’d be dead already. So it’s fine. I’d just hear I’m cursed again anyway.”
The girl was shunned as a cursed child among the people. Events that terrified them stemmed from her abilities.
But those events were trivial. Objects moved on their own when she got angry, fires broke out where she stayed, nearby folk fell ill…
Those with knowledge wouldn’t fear it. It was commonplace for those born with mana. Once the negative image stuck, everything got pinned on her blatantly.
In surging despair, people needed someone to abuse. They feared and hated her, blaming everything on the child.
Azel had saved the girl from a mob driven mad.
“Little one, you’re not cursed.”
“How do you know?”
“I know. You’re just born with a unique constitution. You might even become a great mage. So no matter what people say, it’s okay to value yourself more.”
“But…”
Woooooo—!
Azel couldn’t hear her out. The Dragon Demon Army attacked.
“Run, quick.”
Azel patted her head and dashed along the wall.
From then, the remnants fought a grueling battle. Piling corpses into mountains, they overcame numerical inferiority with desperate resolve.
Seven hours later, dawn broke in the distance, brightening all around. The Dragon Demon Army, mostly nocturnal beasts, withdrew, and the surviving troops prepared to escape.
“Ugh…”
Azel was among the survivors.
He had slashed through enemies like a demon in the night’s darkness but was exhausted. Fighting from such disadvantage, he’d taken glancing wounds everywhere. Had he not been an advanced Spirit Order practitioner, he might have died from blood loss.
Dragging his body, on the verge of collapse, down the wall, one person approached. The girl, who hadn’t left despite the night’s battle.
“You… why didn’t you go?”
As Azel asked, she wiped blood from his face with a clean cloth moistened with water from who-knows-where and smiled.
“You’re bleeding and fighting for everyone, mister. It’d be sad if no one wiped your face.”
“……”
Azel stared at the girl, momentarily lost. Amid despairing battle, he’d never felt this, yet tears suddenly welled up.
Suppressing the emotion, Azel averted his gaze and grumbled.
“I told you, I’m not ‘mister.’”