Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Jealousy
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"First off, let me make one thing clear."
Kain put on a deliberately solemn expression as he alternated his gaze between me and Baerin before speaking.
"What I'm going to teach you is fundamentally different from what your average knight uses."
"Something like... unconventional, I suppose. Not the orthodox way, anyway."
"If it's not orthodox, doesn't that mean it's a hack job?"
"Shut up and listen."
He cleared his throat once, then fixed his stare right on me.
"As you know, I'm from the slums just like you."
"Aren't you curious how a nobody like me with no pedigree awakened his aura?"
Of course I was curious.
Aura training methods aren't something you pick up at the corner store.
That stuff is usually locked away in the secret vaults of established knight families—the privileged ones.
"What, did you luckily stumble on some secret manual or something?"
You know, like those fateful encounters in wuxia novels.
"Luck, huh..."
Kain gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I got pretty damn lucky."
He gazed into the distance with a wistful look, as if dredging up old memories.
"It was around when I was twenty. There was this woman who was kind of like a master to me..."
Old folks love their war stories, huh?
He launched into an unasked-for tale of his youth.
The story dragged on for a good two hours, long and rambling.
But filtering it through my brain, it boiled down to something super simple:
1. Young Kain, thug and mercenary in the back alleys.
2. One day, spots a stunning beauty while on a delivery job.
3. Naturally, tries to jump her like a dog in heat.
4. Gets his ass handed to him instead.
5. Spends three years as her slave learning aura.
The end.
I made a disgusted face as I asked for confirmation.
"So, you saw a pretty girl on the street, tried to rape her, failed miserably, got schooled, and dragged around as a slave?"
"And that's how you picked up this aura technique over her shoulder?"
I shot him a look full of contempt.
Kain coughed loudly, looking embarrassed.
"Ahem...! Well... I won't deny it."
"You were a real piece of shit back then."
Attempted rape just 'cause she was hot.
What a colorful youth he had.
This guy's supposed to be a master? No thanks.
I'd rather die than bow to him.
"Anyway!"
Kain hurriedly changed the subject, raising his voice.
"Once I learned to use aura, I got the senior knight rank pinned on me and hung out with similar types."
"Of course, I didn't pry into their training methods or anything..."
He continued with a serious glint in his eye.
"But that's how I realized it."
"The aura training I learned from her was... well, pretty damn unique. No, extremely so."
"How is it different, you ask?"
He paused for effect.
"Most knights—hell, almost all of them—'breathe'."
He took a deep breath in, then let it out with a whoosh.
"Inhale, exhale."
"They each have their own breathing techniques to accumulate or use aura."
He tapped his left chest.
"Normally, they gather mana here, in the heart."
"They take in mana from the air through breathing and store it up."
"Same when using it—they breathe while converting the stored mana into aura and releasing it."
After explaining, he looked back and forth between me and Baerin.
Checking if we got it.
It wasn't hard to follow.
Baerin and I nodded at the same time.
"But I do the opposite."
"...Opposite how?"
"No breathing. Not for accumulating, not for using."
He picked up a stick from the pile nearby and poked my lower abdomen with it.
About a hand's breadth below the navel.
"And I store it here, not in the heart."
"She called this place the 'dantian'."
At the word "dantian," Baerin widened her eyes in reaction.
"...I've heard of it. Dantian and sword aura."
"Oh? Right. She called aura 'sword aura' too."
A term Baerin knew.
"Was that woman from the East?"
"Dunno. Her hair wasn't as black as yours..."
Kain shook his head.
"Not sure, exactly."
"She never said where she was from, and her hair could've been dyed."
"Hmm... Got it."
Baerin looked a bit disappointed, her eyes returning to normal.
She really loves her fellow Easterners, huh.
Yet she hates the idea of going to the Eastern Continent. Ironic.
"Anyway, most knights use breathing for both storing and using, centered in the heart."
"I use no breathing for either, centered in the dantian."
"That's the difference."
And the method this old man's teaching us is the latter.
Honestly, I'd prefer the orthodox way—the one everyone uses.
But we don't have a choice.
The former is family secrets: breathing techniques.
Kain doesn't know them, so he can't teach 'em.
He's just passing on what his master-like woman taught him.
Beggars can't be choosers.
Just one thing bugged me, so I asked.
"You said earlier it's about taking in mana from the air."
"But if you're not breathing, how do you do that?"
Kain nodded.
"Not bad for a question from that thick skull of yours."
"What the fuck?"
"I was just about to get to it."
Kain stood from his crate and sat down closer, right in front of our noses on the floor.
"First, copy my posture."
He crossed his legs deeply over his thighs, hands lightly on his knees.
"This is called the 'lotus position'."
"...Like this?"
Isn't this just criss-cross applesauce?
"Twist a bit more. Soles facing up."
I grunted and twisted my legs as instructed.
Trying it out, my thighs pulled tight—pretty uncomfortable.
Meanwhile,
"......"
Baerin sat in the exact position effortlessly, comfortably.
Her flexibility made it easy, apparently—no change in her expression.
Kain nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. You pick it up quick."
"Took me ages to get used to it 'cause it's so uncomfortable."
"...You were just stiff."
I grumbled as I adjusted my posture.
Not much different from regular criss-cross, anyway.
I managed it and could hold the lotus whatever.
"Now, close your eyes."
Kain's voice dropped low.
"Breathe slowly... very slowly."
"Feel like there's no boundary between inhale and exhale. Thin and long."
I breathed as told.
The cabin filled with the sound of waves outside and Noy's soft snoring.
Just our three faint breaths lingered.
...As my mind started to calm a bit.
"Now, take a deep breath in... and hold it."
Inhale.
I stopped dead.
"Don't exhale. Hold it."
Kain placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered softly in my ear.
"It'll feel suffocating. You'll want to gasp for air."
"But imagine your nose and mouth are sealed. No usual holes."
His hand slid down my spine.
"Now imagine."
"Every pore in your skin opening wide at once."
......Does that even make sense?
I'm not a frog or toad—how do you breathe through skin?
Fuck, can't breathe.
Chest hurts, throat burns.
Wanna exhale and suck in air right now.
But,
"......"
Glancing sideways, Baerin was following orders without a word.
And,
"Lungs take in air, but skin takes in energy."
"Hold it and focus. Feel that energy."
The old man spoke earnestly, no hint of joking.
So,
"......Ngh."
I kept going.
No clue how, but I did it.
Just did.
Without doubt.
Kept going...
...
....
.....
"......?"
What the hell is this.
"......What the fuck is this."
Why?
Why is this,
breathing through skin,
......working?
.....
Air coming through the skin.
No, not air—something wavy, sticky, lukewarm.
It tickled as it seeped in all over, swirled inside, then sank slowly downward.
And,
I felt it.
Deep in the lower abdomen,
in that spot called the dantian.
A tiny something popped into existence.
"......What the fuck is this."
A curse slipped out involuntarily.
I opened my eyes.
"Kid, I said hold it even if it hurts."
"No, that's not it..."
I rubbed my belly in a daze.
"Something... appeared?"
"......What?"
Kain's eyes went wide.
"Appeared? You mean the energy coalesced?"
"Yeah. Like a mung bean size... plopped right in."
Kain's jaw dropped at my words.
Incredulous, he grabbed my wrist and checked my pulse urgently.
Moments later, his face filled with shock.
"Holy shit..."
He stared at me like a monster.
"...It's there. Tiny, but definitely a seed of energy planted in your dantian."
"......For real?"
"Who knew you had this kind of talent..."
Kain clicked his tongue.
"Took me two or three months just to sense it... You're insane."
"......"
This is legit?
No hidden camera?
I blankly turned to the side.
What about that monster girl I figured succeeded first?
"......"
Baerin still had her eyes closed, brow furrowed.
Something not clicking—she tilted her head, then opened her eyes.
"How'd it go? You get one too?"
"......No."
She shook her head.
"Felt itchy all over, but...
Nothing like something forming in my gut."
"......Ha!"
I let out an involuntary laugh.
No way the genius is me, not her?
It's me. A genius?
For real?
Fuck yeah... this is it.
This is what a reincarnator gets, what an isekai demands.
This is right.
After 15 years of beatings, my life's finally getting some sun.
"Don't be discouraged, Baerin."
Kain said consolingly.
"Sensing that itch already puts you way ahead."
"...Really that fast?"
"I told you, took me months just to feel it."
"Problem child's this one... Not only sensed it, but formed it."
Kain shook his head at me again.
Seemed proud, but also kinda pained.
"You got lucky and succeeded—never forget that sensation."
"Luck? Nah, this body's brilliant talent."
"Tch, cocky bastard."
Ah, got it.
Definitely a pained look.
"Practice whenever you can from now on. Eating, shitting, whatever."
"Hold your breath longer, draw in more energy to nurture that dantian seed."
"Yeah yeah, I'll grind it hard."
I excitedly closed my eyes and tried again.
Following that same feeling, that path.
"Inhale..."
Hold breath. Open skin.
Sss...
It comes. The energy flows in again.
But,
'......Huh?'
This time, no coalescing pop—instead, it swept through my body and leaked out somewhere.
Like pouring water into a leaky bucket.
"......Old man."
"What. Gonna brag again?"
"No... It comes in, but this time just slips right out."
Kain nodded.
"Spot on. That's the right feel."
"Why?"
"Your dantian seed's still mung bean-sized."
He drew a tiny circle with his finger.
"Can only hold that much.
It's full, so excess spills back out."
Ah.
"So keep training to grow it from mung bean to bean to fist-sized."
"Bigger vessel holds more water."
Got it.
Right now? Game terms, my MP bar's at 10—like a total noob.
Grind repeats to max out the mana pool.
"Confirmed. What's next?"
"...Next?"
"I know how to gather—teach me how to use it."
Kain's response to my obvious point:
Crack!
"Fuck! Why'd you hit me!"
I clutched my head and yelped.
The crazy old fart whacked me with the stick.
"Keep practicing."
"Eat too fast, you'll choke."
He cut me off firmly.
Eyes screaming he hated something.
"Jealous of my talent, you petty geezer."
"......Sigh."
Kain let out a deep sigh.
Wonder what that means.
Awe at my genius?
Or an old man's inferiority complex?
"Practice together and help Baerin out."
"Help how."
"You succeeded first—give her some tips."
I was floored.
"No, don't we need tailored lessons for our levels?"
Brains mean fast progress—
Genius kids get special classes, right?
This primitive world's old fogey doesn't get it.
Elite education like advanced tracks and tutoring builds leaders who drive progress and prosperity.
Why don't they see it? So frustrating.
"......Tch tch."
Ignoring me, Kain clicked his tongue and stood.
Even gave me a pitiful look.
"Dumbass. Can't even use a laid-out board."
"......?"
"That's why you're still a eunuch."
He dropped that cryptic line and vanished to where Noy slept.
"......What bullshit was that."
Laid out a board?
Eunuch? I'm fine down there.
Puzzled by the old man's nonsense, I tilted my head.
"......"
Then I felt a piercing stare.
Turned to see Baerin still in lotus, staring hard at me.
Deep black eyes.
Yearning, intensely longing for something.
No helping it.
Guess I'll say something.
I smiled softly and said,
"What're you staring at, you blockhead? Never seen a genius before?"
"......"
And,
got beat pretty good.
Dumbasses always so jealous.