Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Why It Doesn't Gather More
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Cold sweat trickled down Krash's forehead.
After consuming the Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill, Krash was certainly managing to endure it.
However, that just meant it was bearable—it didn't mean there was no pain.
His body was flushed with heat from the pill's fiery energy, raising his temperature, and faint smoke wafted from Krash's mouth.
Within that haze, Krash kept his eyes closed, fully absorbing the Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill's power into his body.
Normally, the pain would prevent such concentration, but Krash could do it.
[It's practically a freakish feat.]
Crimson Garden shook her head as she watched Krash.
Come to think of it, the Annihilation Erosion he'd developed also came with excruciating pain from the start.
It was a mad technique that set his insides ablaze until they nearly cooked.
She should have realized it back when he casually endured reconnecting severed nerves in his arm, but he'd used it so routinely that she'd overlooked it.
'A guy who can endure that won't balk at anything.'
Crimson Garden grumbled curtly, but deep down, she felt pity for him.
Regressors undoubtedly wore down with each cycle.
Yet Krash seemed more worn than most.
For someone like him to keep his sanity was a talent in itself.
'Or maybe he's just holding on through sheer willpower for his goal.'
Crimson Garden gazed silently at Krash as he absorbed the pill.
What kind of life had pre-regression Krash lived?
She couldn't know, not being from that world.
She only vaguely sensed that the Krash before her was walking a razor-thin line.
'Dear me.'
Why did he have to catch her eye?
Feeling irritated, Crimson Garden stepped in front of Krash.
[Even if you collapse, I'll force you back up.]
Her voice wouldn't reach him now.
He was pouring every ounce of focus into absorbing the pill.
There was no room for her words to slip in.
[So don't even think about breaking, no matter what happens.]
Still, Crimson Garden continued.
[I'll make sure you keep that promise.]
Until then, she intended to hold onto Krash until the end.
Slowly,
Krash's eyes began to open moments later.
Crimson Garden reflected in his glowing blue pupils.
"Crim, did you say something?"
The aura emanating from him felt different now.
He had fully absorbed the Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill.
Krash had taken another step forward in growth.
Sensing it clearly, Crimson Garden climbed onto his shoulder.
[Nothing at all.]
She could only hope that someday Krash would take her immortality.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill.
Having experienced its effects firsthand, Krash realized the true power of this elixir.
'It forces the body through nine thresholds.'
The body grows stronger each time it overcomes a hurdle.
Aura shares this property.
That's why the world says it:
You grow through experience.
'I've had plenty of experiences, but my body hasn't.'
Regression's experiences had certainly shaped Krash profoundly.
But translating those into physical growth was another matter entirely.
The Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill changed that.
It subjected body and aura to nine trials they'd never faced.
They shattered endlessly in agony, only to recover through the pill's effects.
Repeat that nine times—what's the result?
The answer was simple.
'My realm has advanced.'
Krash clenched his fists tightly.
The vitality surging through his body was naturally far superior to before.
But the most striking growth was in his aura.
Krash, who had lingered at the peak of mid-tier Expert, had rocketed to the brink of high-tier Expert in an instant.
A bit more effort, and peak Expert wasn't far off.
'Add World Erosion to this...'
He might even stand before the Master's wall.
'That's not all.'
As he absorbed it, Krash noticed his aura's very quality had changed.
Aura is often likened to water.
For two reasons: quality and quantity.
Quality depends on purity, like first-grade or second-grade water.
Aura's rank follows suit.
Krash excelled in quality.
The Valheim library's secret arts emphasized it.
So he'd naturally honed his aura's purity.
Quantity, though, couldn't be solved by those arts alone.
An average person's aura fits in a tiny pond.
Too small—it dries up quickly in use.
Thus, aura users forcibly expand it through grueling effort and time.
Overdo it, and you ruin yourself.
Unlike commoners, some have lake-like reserves from the start.
They wield aura effortlessly and endlessly.
The world calls them geniuses.
Ironically, those geniuses expand their reserves faster too.
Expansion power comes from aura itself.
So commoners can't catch up, no matter the effort.
That was the world.
Krash's quantity had been in that commoner range.
He'd expanded it over the past year, but it was still just a pond.
Superior quality aside, he couldn't match lake-bearing geniuses.
But the Nine Curved Dragon Flower Pill fixed that.
'A lake.'
Krash's eyes widened.
He felt endless aura welling within him.
'My aura has become a lake.'
The quantity geniuses took for granted.
The one area where effort yielded no answers.
Now, it was different.
He finally stood on equal footing with them.
That fact brought him unparalleled joy.
Without this, he'd never breach the Master's wall.
Now, he could move forward.
[Happy about it?]
Crimson Garden's voice rang out.
Krash slowly lowered his raised lip corners.
"Nah. Too early to celebrate over this."
He'd merely caught up to geniuses.
They'd started with this talent and built on it.
And Krash knew stars beyond those geniuses.
Oceans.
Beings with endless aura that dwarfed lakes.
Monsters leading the Generation of the Sky.
'And I'll devour them all.'
Today's growth was just the foundation.
Far too soon to rejoice.
Krash sensed the waste expelled as the pill took root.
Normally, it would ooze from his skin, reeking foully.
But he held it in.
Instead, he activated Ignis within.
The waste burned away, consumed by Ignis.
[Such a tough bastard.]
Crimson Garden seemed pleased by his reaction, though.
"How is it? You okay? That thing was packed with some seriously risky ingredients."
Darling, realizing Krash had finished absorbing it, tossed out a question.
Worry flickered in her eyes.
She knew what he endured wasn't ordinary, even if she'd made it.
Krash shrugged leisurely at the sight.
"Fit as a fiddle. Performance is top-notch, no question."
Darling once again sensed Krash was a genius.
"Phew, glad to hear it."
Relief washed over her face.
She didn't want to watch him die from her elixir.
"Where's Bianca?"
Then Krash noticed Bianca's silence.
Turning, he saw her sleeping soundly under the blanket Darling had draped over her.
Exhausted from waiting, it seemed.
"I was gonna take her to a room where she could rest properly, but she insisted on staying."
"She'd have woken up and come right back anyway."
Because it was Bianca.
Krash approached and gently stroked her hair.
Her expression softened slightly at his touch, bringing him a sense of peace.
Darling, watching from behind, chuckled softly.
"You two are so precious to each other. Engaged, huh?"
"We are engaged."
An unchanging fact.
"Lucky. Hmm, engagement. Think I could get engaged to Charlotte?"
"Say that to her face, and your head's gone."
"Yeah, probably. Guess no choice then. Mind if I become little Krash's concubine?"
Krash ignored her giggling laughter.
Darling smiled with her eyes at him.
He was so fun to tease.
"Krash, you're enrolling in Raheln Academy next year, right?"
Krash nodded matter-of-factly at her question.
"Perfect. I'll head there first then."
Krash's eyes widened round at her words.
A "why you?" reaction.
And understandably so—Darling hadn't enrolled in Raheln Academy after Charlotte in the past.
"You're coming next year, right? I wanna hear 'senpai' from my junior Krash."
Raheln Academy for that?
Krash looked incredulous.
"...Raheln Academy doesn't use standard grade levels."
"I know—it's just cohorts. And you can only advance after passing exams."
From her response, Darling had clearly prepared for Raheln Academy already.
"Plus, I wanna be classmates with Charlotte."
But her follow-up differed.
Krash's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Why would sis go to the academy? Unless she's out fighting World Erosion."
"I have a feeling why. Charlotte's enrolling in Raheln Academy this year."
Darling gazed at Krash with a knowing smile.
He looked baffled, but she was certain.
Charlotte would definitely enter the academy Krash aimed for first.
"One year from now, I'll be waiting. Don't be too late. Gets lonely."
Krash clicked his tongue at Darling speaking like a wife seeing off her husband.
"Do whatever."
Her enrolling or not wouldn't change his plans.
And so, on March 1st.
The day Raheln Academy first opened its doors.
Raheln Academy made its name, welcoming a historic class of geniuses.
And it wouldn't be long before Krash confirmed that Charlotte was among those geniuses.