I Finally Felt It – Aura!
Quite some time had passed. Day after day. And another day. Then yet another. Several more days slipped by there. And still, on this night too, the one-sided beatdown disguised as training continued...
“Urghaaah!”
“Wrong.”
Drakan downed the liquor bottle in one hand as he sent the monster tumbling off the cliff with a mistimed dodge. Gulp, gulp. He savored the buzz without shaking it off, fully immersed in the drunken haze for a moment.
Flash!
His eyes snapped open. He sensed an energy racing up the steep cliff face. By his calculations, it should’ve been smashed far below by now. And yet, it was already climbing back?
Spreading his senses across his body, he felt it.
Dudududu—
The monster hauling itself back up the cliff showed no signs of the rapid muscle swelling, steam, or crackling electricity from before. That meant it had purely shifted its body just enough to slip past the kick point of Drakan’s strike!
This bastard?
Drakan’s eyes gleamed fiercely. He stepped forward slowly, heading toward the cliff edge where the monster’s roar grew louder.
“Spiriiiit craaaash!”
“Oh ho.”
He casually stomped the ground. Crack! The rock split instantly with fractures spiderwebbing out.
In that instant, the monster—having scaled the sheer incline enough to peek over the edge—opened its mouth to roar at Drakan.
Craaaack—!
The entire cliff edge where it gripped crumbled like sand.
Boom.
Kabooooom—!
The cliff rim collapsed in a flash, shattered rocks pouring down to the open ground below with a deafening roar. Thick dust billowed up immediately, forming a small rock mound down there in no time. A hefty chunk of stone had tumbled down.
The remaining cliff edge where Drakan stood, however, gleamed with a clean, knife-cut shear—nothing surprising to him.
What wasn’t ordinary was the monster’s attitude amid the debris crashing into the clearing below.
Tap.
Drakan leaped lightly off the cliff. Landing with a puff of dirt on the distant ground, he soon saw it.
Drip, drip.
Suddenly—!
A massive arm and hand burst from the modest rock pile. The monster shook off the fragments with a burst and revealed itself. Coughing and grimacing, it spotted Drakan and bellowed again.
“Damn, you crazy old fuck—!”
“Hmph.”
“Wait, didn’t I just dodge that? Huh?!”
“A skilled swordsman would’ve felt that since weaning off milk—no need for hysterics.”
“Answer me, old man! Felt like I grazed it—did I?!”
Yet a strange joy etched the monster’s face. Sparkling eyes. Pointless pride in those monster peepers.
But Drakan couldn’t lie, at least. He spat toward the staggering beast climbing the rubble.
“Answer quick, old timer?!”
“It’s too meager, nothing impressive—barely basic, even. But if you truly sensed something and dodged just now—”
His lips twisted.
“That’s aura.”
“Ha!”
Under the eerie moonlight of dawn, from the rubble-strewn clearing to the sheered-off cliff edge.
Kuhahaha!
A madman’s joyous laughter boomed across it all...
***
“I knoooow!!!”
Explosive elation surged through me. I finally had the hang of it. What that aura felt like. All those beatings as that crazy old fuck’s sandbag from dawn to dusk—it had meaning!
“Kuhahaha! Got it, you piece of shit!”
“Such a fuss.”
“Kwaaahaha!”
“Quiet.”
“Aura or whatever, it’s nothing special?! I just got the feel!”
“Shut it already!”
Drakan’s bellow made my eardrums ring, but it couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.
Now I got it. How to sense this intangible aura.
If I had to describe it—a strange mental wind scattering with a flash of killing intent? Like feeling hot air brush your fingers, you could perceive this aura too with peak focus in combat.
In simple terms, it vaguely resembled the inner energy bursts from wuxia tales.
“No need to celebrate.”
This old geezer kept killing the vibe.
“Sensing aura is just the start. You’ve barely toed the line.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You’ve got some thanks to your innate energy...”
“So I did have it.”
True. Back on Monster Island, right before that insane explosion, the intangible energy on my hands when I hurled that special oar wasn’t random.
“Pathetic amount—embarrassing to even gloat over. Laughable next to mine. Hell, not even average Swordmaster-level aura measures up. But hit the ball first, build it steadily—”
“Not stacking more.”
“Hm?”
“And why the hell would I go to some ball? You lost the bet.”
“Hold on.”
I snorted back, and Drakan shot me a dumbfounded look.
“You lost your mind? As I recall, after Nadia’s special stew, we nailed down the bet details.”
“Same here.”
It dated back to the day we kicked off this madness—mid-argument, we’d rashly set the wager.
“We set the deadline.”
“Yep.”
“If you couldn’t master aura proper by the eve of Nadia’s royal ball, you’d escort as guard.”
“Spot on.”
“?”
“?”
“So you lost—time for the ball?”
“Lost when?”
“Couldn’t master aura.”
“I... did master it? Aura?”
“?”
“So you lost the bet. Gotta answer my questions honestly, whatever they are.”
“......Hold up.”
“......Oh.”
In that moment, the white-haired monster and I stared at each other with identical expressions.
We’d been idiots, assuming different conditions for the bet.
“Mastering aura proper”—Drakan had taken it one way, roaring in outburst as our spat reignited.
“You dumb fuck!”
“Pot calling the kettle!”
“Mastering aura means wielding ample amounts aptly like a decent Swordmaster!”
“Master! Get used to! Hand familiar! Don’t you even know what ‘hand familiar’ means? Just grasping aura’s existence!”
“Don’t bullshit!”
“You! Even generously, context meant learning aura fights!”
“You monster prick!”
“Monster’s you!”
“You little shit!”
“What the fuck!”
Drakan bellowed with his white hair whipping, but I was pissed too. Crackle. Sparks flew from our glaring eyes, whipping up dust and stones.
Drakan smirked dismissively.
“So, you ‘mastered’ aura? Even aura fights?”
“Obviously.”
“Concede that—who judges?”
“You judge.”
“What?”
“Again.”
He scoffed at my words.
“Crazy bastard. Didn’t learn after last time?”
“Dead serious.”
“What’s different?”
“Heh.”
I’d been holding it in. Last time that monster toyed with me—not just skill or strength, but aura presence.
Now? I could roughly sense aura too. Turn his aura’s tracking against him, exploit what it detects in me.
Feints are basic mind games in any bout.
And yeah, I was annoyed. This damn geezer using “training” as excuse to vent on me like a punching bag. Worried about recovery? Hell no—he’d unleashed techniques he always wanted to try.
Thinking back pisses me off more.
With that grudge, I proposed again.
“Different this time.”
“Ridiculous.”
“I lose, fine—ball it is. I win, answer everything you know. Deal?”
“Hilarious. Suits me fine.”
If I won here, time to ask. About Ascension.
“Bare-handed.”
“Bare-handed?”
“Yeah.”
“No weak shit like ‘land one hit wins’ this time—cool?”
“Winner wins.”
“Good.”
Drakan backed to the clearing’s rear. I descended the rubble slowly, facing him.
His eyes sank cold. No words needed—he’d dive into combat.
My heart pounded. Damn. Second-guessing my rash proposal flickered, but...
Nah, didn’t matter. Deep down, I knew. More than anyone, I craved this brutal clash—a mad bastard through and through.
“......”
“......”
Our gazes locked midair, sparks flying. How long till—
Step.
Closing distance gauged, the second bare-handed duel with top-tier powerhouse Drakan began.
“Whoa! Dragon over there!”
...
Under moonlight.
Drip.
Another blood drop fell into the dark red puddle already pooling.
“......Cough!”
“It’s over.”
Drakan’s voice echoed through the clearing. Opposite him, another voice responded.
“No. Not... yet.”
“Enough.”
“I haven’t... lost.”
“Say you lost.”
“Heh, funny... old man.”
“Hah.”
The voice’s owner was grotesque—even Drakan scoffed.
Shiver. Snap. One leg shattered, the other trembling like a fawn’s. Yet staggering forward, it knelt in its own bloody puddle.
But rallying ragged breaths, the monster advanced. Both arms broken at upper and lower, ribs cracked—breaths leaked ragged. Clear loser.
“Keep... going! I... recover, so let’s keep at it!”
Drakan shook his head at the beast’s vibrant eyes, gazing starlit dawn sky.
With a long sigh, he spoke.
“Bet’s yours—you win.”
“What—?”
“I lost. You dumb monster fuck!”
Only then did the beast flop down. Half-sprawled in its blood pool, panting.
“Take it.”
Drakan tossed a recovery potion. It shattered, elixir soaking in. He wore a baffled look.
Clearly battered near death, yet he conceded defeat.
Obviously not just for that gaze.
Even bare-handed, this thrill’d been ages. Thinking that,
“No clue what you’re dying to know... but I’ll answer what I know.”
Drakan raised his voice for the recovering monster.
“First—you said amnesia.”
“......”
“What do I call you?”
“Huh?”
“Pick a name for yourself.”
In short:
“......After 10 years, a guy breaks my arm—and no fitting name? Makes no sense.”
The beyond-heavens monster who toyed with Swordmasters like toddlers muttered at his broken left arm.