Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Training (2)
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Nearly six years had passed since Yuno began learning martial arts from Katrin.
From the day he took Katrin as his master, every single day of Yuno's life became a relentless cycle of grueling training.
Day after day, he would charge at Katrin, sparring until his body was a battered wreck, then drag his injured form to pummel the steel sandbag with his fists and feet, and hammer his body with iron balls. Later on, Yuno even had to temper his fingers by slamming his hand blades into searing-hot sand.
Every day, the skin on his hands and feet would peel away, and there wasn't a single bone or muscle in his body left unscathed. But as a prince, Yuno treated his external wounds by dousing them with the finest potions, while Katrin would guide mana through his body after every training session during meditation, healing his internal injuries. By the next morning, he was back to his flawless self.
As the reward for enduring such brutal training, Yuno's body grew stronger and tougher with each passing day. Yet Katrin increased the intensity just as much as he improved, so the training always felt just as demanding to him.
That was why Yuno sometimes regretted choosing this arduous path. But whenever he sparred with members of the Imperial Guard Knights, he could feel how much stronger he'd become, and it drove him to train even harder.
Today, during their usual morning personal workout time, Yuno was helping Eliza, Isabella, and Marie with their exercises. As he started his own intense routine bright and early, Isabella asked,
"Yuno! I hear training with Lady Katrin is insanely tough... So why are you still pushing yourself this hard first thing in the morning?"
At Isabella's words, Yuno paused while helping Marie with her warm-up and glanced back.
"Hmm~ Thanks to Master's teachings, I'm right on the verge of reaching Master level. If I just push a little harder, I can grab it. Even if it's been almost a year now."
"Still, take it easy. Today's your coming-of-age ceremony, so make sure you show up for dinner tonight."
"Yeah, got it, sis."
Yuno replied and headed to the back garden to loosen up. Now that they were all approaching adulthood, starting at age fourteen, they no longer used the knights' training grounds. Instead, they'd built a private training area behind the empress's palace—a space even the servants and maids couldn't enter.
So Yuno freely stripped off his top and began his run.
Through years of training with Katrin, Yuno's body had developed far beyond his childhood frame. He stood nearly 190 cm tall, with bulging muscles that evoked the image of an ogre. The scars covering his body hinted at just how savage his training had been.
Watching him from afar, Isabella and Marie let out simultaneous sighs.
"Sigh~ Look at all those scars on Yuno's body... Scars on that beautiful skin... It breaks my heart. Mom gets upset every time she sees him too. He never attends balls or anything—just trains all day."
"Tell me about it, sis. Brother doesn't need to get that strong—I'll protect him... Why does he push himself so hard?"
"Hmm? Marie? Yuno has his big sis to protect him. So you should start thinking about getting married soon, okay?"
"What are you talking about? If we're talking marriage, the older sister goes off in a political marriage first. I'm going to become a high-level spiritist and stick by brother's side without marrying."
"Hmph! A high-level spiritist? You? Goodness, with that personality, good luck getting a high-level spirit to contract with you. You can just watch while sis becomes a mage and lives with Yuno."
The two sisters, taking a break from their workout to watch Yuno, glared at each other and bickered. Eliza smiled slyly as she observed the older and younger siblings.
Eliza was set to return to Leon Kingdom at age twenty, so she'd set her goal to reach Master level before then. With talent and passion certified by Richtenaur himself, she was confident she could achieve it—and that would earn her the freedom to marry Yuno. Plus, Marie's side had discreetly proposed the secret pact Isabella had suggested in their childhood, giving Eliza firm support from both sisters and a solid position.
Of course, Yuno was oblivious to all this, but the three women watched over him, each harboring their own intentions.
It was his coming-of-age day, but Yuno didn't skip his training with Katrin today either.
The sessions were always tough, but today Katrin was especially merciless from the start, driving him harder than usual.
"Don't just move fast! I tell you this all the time—strikes without power behind them are useless!"
"What happens if your opponent pulls a dagger while you're flailing around like that?"
"Master said back then that this kind of training lets you ignore daggers... Ack!"
Yuno tried mouthing off for a moment, but after taking a hand blade to the gut, he shut his mouth.
"If your opponent's at Master level, even my body couldn't block it. So you need to become a Master too—learn to coat your body with mana."
'Why assume that now~? I'm not even a Master yet, damn it... I'll get stronger than you soon, Master, and make you train under me... Just you wait. Master~ Ngh!'
Even as stray thoughts flitted through his mind, Yuno kept moving his hands and feet, continuing the spar with Katrin.
After the unusually brutal session, as Yuno gasped for breath, Katrin—unlike usual—gave no break and demanded he hit the steel sandbag.
"Now, punch without stopping. No breaks in between. Keep going until I say stop!"
Yuno thought today felt extra grueling, but since it was his master's order, he figured there must be a reason and started pounding the steel sandbag.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
His fists, long callused over, felt little pain, but the impacts reverberated through his bones. Each full-power punch drained his stamina rapidly.
But instead of "stop," Katrin only called for him to switch to kicks. Yuno kept going, wrecking his hands and feet, until evening approached—and still, he punched the steel sandbag on Katrin's command.
His fists were a bloody, fractured mess, his leg bones shattered, his stamina depleted—but Katrin wouldn't let him stop.
"Keep going! Extreme training like this eventually hits a limit. Your brain signals that moving further is dangerous—that signal is the pain you feel. If you were ordinary, I'd have stopped you long ago... But your body and mana reserves are already at Master level. Let your mana move your body naturally! Surrender to the flow!"
Katrin's words seemed to reveal the purpose behind this training, but Yuno could no longer hear her.
He fell into a trance, forgetting his body's state, hammering the steel sandbag mindlessly. But unlike his exhausted flailing earlier, his steps now followed Katrin's teachings precisely—artistic footwork infused with her lessons. A faint blue glow began to form around his fists.
'Yes... that's it. You can break through by force. Transcend human limits! That's how you become a Master today.'
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each punch now dented the steel sandbag in the shape of his fist. The childhood bags had been hollow, but this solid steel one crumpled before his eyes.
The blue glow on his fists deepened, amplifying the destruction, until the sandbag lost its form, becoming scrap metal.
Boom!!
With a massive roar, Yuno's fist shattered the solid steel sandbag. The blue light on his fist had coalesced into a proper form—worthy of being called an Aura Blade. Yuno stared at it in a daze.
Clap clap clap clap
"Yuno, congratulations on reaching Master level!"
"Master... Did... did I really become a Master?"
"Yes, you did, you rascal. What do you think that is on your hand? For the past year, your progress has been stuck, so I racked my brains to come up with this method to break through."
Yuno approached Katrin with a face full of emotion.
"Master~!!"
"There, there, you fool! Becoming a Master at nineteen—you're the first in continental history. I was twenty-six myself..."
Katrin hugged him, offering sincere congratulations. Then she forced him to sit cross-legged on the floor.
"Master? But what about this...?"
"You forcibly ascended to Master by injecting the overflowing mana from your Mana Core into your body. Now you need to let your internals know too. Only then can you truly call yourself a Master, right?"
At Katrin's explanation, Yuno realized he hadn't undergone Body Change—one of the hallmarks of reaching Master.
"Ah! So then?"
"From now on, I'll slowly guide the mana inside you. Circulate it naturally, like in your usual meditation. And surrender to the flow, just like before."
Yuno closed his eyes and focused entirely on the mana within. He felt it slowly flowing from his Mana Core. But the volume was several times what he handled in normal meditation, startling him. Katrin's mana gently assisted, and he soon regained his composure.
The mana raced through his body, and finally, Yuno felt something shatter in his mind before blacking out.
Crack crack crack crack
As Yuno's body began glowing blue, Katrin withdrew her hands. She ascended to the first floor and approached the Imperial Guard Knights guarding Yuno's palace.
"Under no circumstances is anyone to enter this building—not Richtenaur, not the empress, not even the emperor. For the next day, entry is absolutely forbidden."
"Lady Katrin, what happened? Why even His Majesty... And Prince Yuno has his coming-of-age ceremony today—he must attend!"
"Yuno just reached Master level. He'll undergo Body Change for the next day—relay that."
The knight's eyes widened at Katrin's words.
"I... Is that true? Prince Yuno became a Master?"
"Yes! Don't make me explain again—go spread the word!"
At her command, two of the four guard knights dashed off—one to the imperial palace, one to the Imperial Guard Knights headquarters.
Soon after, Viscount Spier arrived with the entire reserve force of the Imperial Guard Knights, thoroughly securing Yuno's palace. Feeling somewhat relieved, Katrin descended back to the basement to check on him.
*Yuno's scar-covered body before Body Change