Chapter 103
Chapter 103
'Sword King Bernas.'
Zeke was startled by Bernas's sudden appearance.
In his past life, he had heard much about the fame of Sword King Bernas.
He couldn't help but be surprised as one of the continent's strongest figures, a true heavyweight among heavyweights, appeared here in person.
As Bernas tried to take Carus away, Abel asked while breaking into a cold sweat.
"S-Sir Bernas. Where are you taking the prince?"
Bernas looked at Abel intently and spoke.
"None of your business."
With those words, Abel couldn't ask anything more.
That was the dignity of a Draker Black Knight.
Even if all the knights here attacked together, they couldn't defeat Bernas alone.
Carus shot a glance at Zeke.
His look seemed to ask what was happening.
But Zeke also didn't know how the situation was unfolding.
At that moment, Kali Draker sheathed her sword and stepped back.
"The Silver Knights will follow Lord Bernas's orders."
Seeing Kali step back first, it seemed Bernas wasn't an enemy.
Zeke nodded toward Carus.
Only then did Carus feel relieved and spoke to Bernas.
"Lord Bernas. I am Carus Nerva Constantinus, the 4th Prince of the Rom Empire. Please escort me safely."
Bernas glanced at Carus and gestured to him.
"Follow me."
Carus gave a light bow toward Zeke, then followed behind Bernas.
No one could move from their spot until the Sword King leisurely walked out of the terminal.
Abel clenched his teeth.
Then he turned his head toward Zeke.
"Red Lion Knights, capture that guy immediately!"
It seemed he thought he needed to capture Zeke and uncover who was behind this.
Kali also shouted.
"By family orders, arrest the suspect!"
The knights from both sides clashed with Zeke in between.
Clang!
In the middle, Abel and Kali collided with their swords drawn.
"Lady Kali! Don't obstruct lawful vengeance!"
"Are you going to defy family orders?!"
While chaos erupted, Zeke created an opening.
He used flash bang and dissonance again.
SCREECH!
An intense flash enveloped the entire terminal.
The Red Lion Knights, including Abel, seemed to recover their senses faster since this was their second time experiencing it, and chased after Zeke.
But Zeke was nowhere to be seen.
Having already escaped the terminal using his stealth skill, Zeke immediately summoned Bucephalus and took to the air.
"Let me leave you with a parting gift."
Zeke attacked the terminal with Bucephalus's lightning strikes.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Dozens of lightning bolts rained down on the terminal.
The knights and soldiers guarding the area were struck by the lightning and collapsed foaming at the mouth.
Zeke smiled with satisfaction and rode Bucephalus toward Duke Graham's castle.
* * *
"Zeke!"
Kali called out for Zeke as she entered Duke Graham's residence after handling the situation at the terminal.
Zeke was hiding in a secret room prepared in the tower where Angelina was previously imprisoned.
"Sister Kali."
As Zeke tried to get up, Kali stopped him.
"It's fine. Just stay lying down."
Due to the healing factor, there weren't any particular painful spots, but Zeke decided to just lie down as Kali suggested since he was very tired from the long journey.
Zeke asked Kali.
"The Sword King suddenly appeared. Is Carus okay?"
Then Kali grinned.
"Ask him yourself."
Suddenly someone rushed in from behind.
"Zeke!"
Surprisingly, Carus entered the room.
"Carus?"
Zeke looked at Kali in surprise.
"Sir Bernas is actually my master."
"What?"
The fact that Sword King Bernas was Kali Drake's master was unknown even in his past life.
Kali said with a smile.
"Master is quite shy and doesn't like revealing himself."
The words 'Sword King' and 'shy' really didn't match, but that wasn't important.
Zeke nodded while looking at the safe Carus.
"Well, that's one worry off my mind."
"Yes. All thanks to you."
"Did you contact Sir Feinan? I didn't expect you to come so quickly."
"The Jayed side contacted me in advance when they were bringing Sir Feinan to Aison. So I personally took the warship to meet him."
Zeke was impressed by Kali's quick judgment.
Feinan boarded Kali's warship, explained everything from beginning to end, and quickly moved to her territory.
Kali tried to send knights to the Dorta Republic to find Zeke, but he had already left for the south.
After losing contact with Zeke and waiting anxiously, when she heard that Abel was heading to Fantastas, she immediately followed.
In the meantime, she also showed thoroughness by asking her master Bernas for help just in case.
Kali said with a regretful expression.
"Unfortunately, the recorded video that Feinan brought was damaged and couldn't be used as evidence."
"I see. The storage device itself is quite fragile..."
Although they missed the perfect opportunity to immediately remove Abel from Draker, the mission was considered successful since they saved Carus.
"But how did Abel's side know that I came to Panstas? We came through Ishtar's portal."
At those words, Kali said with a serious expression.
"We can assume two things. One is that there's an Abel spy in Ishtar. The other is that there could be a spy on your side, Zeke."
Hearing Kali's words, Zeke pondered deeply.
'Is there a spy among Simon and Boris?'
But situationally, it was almost impossible for either of them to separately inform Abel of their destination.
Zeke's brow furrowed deeply.
'There might be some other method. I should look into it.'
Given that the strategic Jiemens was involved, they might have found out Zeke's destination through some extraordinary method.
Then Carus, who was beside him, said to Zeke.
"Zeke, I plan to stay in Lord Kali's territory for a while. I will never forget the grace of protecting me during this time."
Zeke patted Carus's shoulder.
"Carus. Assassins won't be able to come to sister's territory. Don't die no matter what, make sure you live."
The two had grown quite close after going through various hardships together.
Carus, holding back tears, left the room and immediately prepared to go to Kali's territory.
Zeke asked Kali.
"Are you leaving right away?"
"Yes. If Abel or the Empire finds out that Carus is here, they'll try to assassinate him by any means necessary. It seems better to get to a safe place as soon as possible."
If the Silver Knight personally escorted him, there would be no need to worry about attacks.
She stepped closer to Zeke and said.
"You did really well, Zeke. I'll make sure to give you sufficient compensation for the mission."
"I look forward to it, sister."
After everyone including Kali left, Zeke could finally rest comfortably alone.
* * *
"Ugh. It was a long, long journey."
While moving with Carus, the year had changed and Zeke was now eighteen years old.
He lay on the bed and checked his karma points while organizing his inventory.
[Available Karma Points: 2710 points]
Looking at the karma points, Zeke fell into contemplation.
"Hmm, I think it would be good to unlock level 3 of the Dragon Race skills soon."
The reason Zeke was paying attention to the Dragon Race skills was because of the still locked 'Incantation'.
The soul Technique he learned in his past life was an incomplete technique for Zeke, who was human.
But thinking about what he heard from Caesar, if he could use Incantation, a dragon race skill, he might be able to perform a complete Soul Technique.
To unlock level 3 of the Dragon Race skills, 1,000 karma points were needed.
"A thousand points. It's quite burdensome, but if I can unlock Incantation..."
It would mean having another trump card in addition to the Elemental Sword.
Zeke spent a thousand points to unlock level 3 of the Dragon Race skills.
[Opening Dragon Race Skills Level 3.]
[Having reached Level 3 of Dragon race Skills, you have acquired the qualification of 'Dragon Being'.]
[The mark of Dragon Being appears in your eyes.]
[With the Dragon Being qualification, part of Bahamut's Heart seal is released. Current compression seal level is 75%.]
[Dragon Eye and Dragon's Dignity skills grow.]
[Dragon Eye and Dragon's Dignity skills grow to Expert level.]
[Locked Incantation skill is unlocked.]
Zeke cheered at the messages that appeared.
"Incantation! Finally unlocked!"
Zeke immediately checked the Dragon Race skill window.
Dragon Race Skills (Level 3 Unlocked): Dragon Eye (Expert) / Dragon's Dignity (Expert) / Gluttony (Expert) / Incantation (Beginner) / Dragon Scale Armor (Proficient) / Dragon's Claws (Proficient)
All level 1 skills had changed to Expert, and Incantation was also unlocked.
"But what are the Dragon Being qualification and Dragon Being mark?"
Then Zeke felt something strange in his left eye.
"UGH!"
Zeke grabbed his eye and staggered up.
It felt like another eye was growing inside his eye.
"ARGHHHH!"
Even the healing factor couldn't stop this pain.
Fortunately, the pain in his eye soon stopped.
Zeke, whose body was drenched in cold sweat, went to the mirror to check his eye.
"W-what is this?"
His left eye was glowing golden.
Moreover, the golden eye had changed to look like a reptile's eye.
Zeke realized what the Dragon being mark was.
'Good grief. Has my eye changed to become like a dragon's?'
With his left eye changed to Dragon Eye, he could clearly see things that couldn't normally be seen.
He could distinguish temperatures with his eye, and it was also possible to see through objects that were hidden.
It felt like the Dragon Eye skill was constantly activated.
'The amount of information is so overwhelming it's giving me a headache. I'll need some practice.'
The moment he thought that, his eye returned to normal.
It seemed he could change his eye to Dragon Eye according to his will.
He could naturally use Dragon Eye's abilities without separately using the Dragon Eye skill.
'Good. This will be very useful once I get used to it.'
Deciding to adapt to the Dragon Person mark over time, Zeke decided to try Incantation next.
"Cut (切)."
He raised his energy by activating Soul Technique and Incantation together.
Sharp energy emerged from Zeke's hand.
Swoosh!
When he swung his hand toward the table, it was cut in two much cleaner than if cut with a sword.
Zeke gave a hollow laugh looking at the perfectly cut table.
"To succeed so easily..."
The perfect Soul Technique his master showed in his past life.
Until now he hadn't been able to completely recreate it, but through Incantation, he could fill in the incomplete pieces.
There were no after-effects even when using different characters consecutively.
Zeke had a dumbfounded expression before smiling with satisfaction.
"There's no problem using single spells. If I could use double spells too..."
Zeke raised his hand and slowly spread out his Soul Technique while regulating his breathing.
"Cut and Carve (切削)."
SCREECH!
A tearing sound rang in Zeke's ears.
"URGHH!"
Zeke collapsed, unable to endure the pain.
Soul Technique, which draws upon the power of the soul, directly impacts the soul when overused.
Since the healing factor couldn't heal soul damage, Zeke barely crawled onto the bed while gasping for breath.
"D-damn... double is still far off."
His master in his past life could use up to triple spells.
His master using the triple spell Soul Technique was truly invincible.
No demon beast could last 10 seconds before his master.
"Wonder if that monster of a master is still in the forest."
He was one of the people Zeke would rather not encounter in this life if possible.
Zeke lay on the bed and opened the level 3 dragon race skill window.
―Dragon race Skills Level 3―
Dragon's Sense (Locked) / Dragon's Breath (Locked)
3,000 karma points needed to unlock Level 4 skills
Level 4 increased several times, requiring 3,000 karma points.
'Level 4 will only be possible much later.'
Zeke read the description of the unlocked Dragon Race skills.
―Dragon Race Skills Level 3 Introduction―
Dragon's Sense: A dragon's keen senses allow one to look beyond the realm of existence across space and time. (500 points needed to unlock)
Dragon's Breath: Condense natural energy to unleash powerful breath that sweeps away enemies at once. (800 points needed to unlock)
Zeke contemplated while reading the descriptions.
Currently he had 1,710 points.
If he unlocked both Dragon's Sense and Dragon's Breath, only 410 points would remain.
"Hmm. Both skills seem good. What should I do?."
Among the dragon race skills, there wasn't a single useless one.
Zeke got up while contemplating.
"Alright. I've decided."