Heaven-Bestowed Talent
Yohan stripped off the training clothes he was wearing and spread them across the floor as he spoke.
“Don’t hold back. Just vomit it all up.”
Throw up the elixir? Shiron stared at him, wondering what the old man was talking about—but one look at the deep creases in Yohan’s face made it clear this was no joke about making him pay for the expensive medicine.
Urgh—
Shiron jammed his fingers down his throat at once. Vomit soiled his clothes, but Yohan only murmured that it was fine and patted him firmly on the back.
“There’s a slim chance the tangled meridians could have thrown you into heart-demons. Heart-demons usually appear when a person loses control of the mana inside their body.”
“…”
Yohan was saying Shiron had just brushed against death. The realization that he had nearly died without even knowing it made Shiron’s body tremble slightly.
Once he had retched up every last drop of the elixir, Siriel held out a bowl of water.
“Oppa. Here.”
“Thanks.”
Shiron accepted the bowl with a bitter smile. Rinsing the foul taste from his mouth, he glanced at Siriel; her face was completely crushed.
She had just heard that her cousin could never achieve greatness as a martial artist.
Siriel was genuinely heartbroken for him.
“Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re lucky to have such a sturdy body.”
After cleaning up the mess, Yohan approached Shiron and began checking every meridian, as if inspecting him from head to toe.
“That aside… even I have never seen a case like this in my entire life.”
“Is it that rare?”
“Ordinarily… it isn’t rare at all.”
Yohan continued while he worked.
“Looking at the population as a whole, it’s about one in a hundred.”
“As a whole?”
“Yes. If you narrow the scope to the children of renowned martial houses, you can safely say there are no cases of people born unable to handle mana. Not even one in ten thousand.”
Finished with the examination, Yohan wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
In martial families, those who could not handle internal energy died long before they ever left descendants.
Yohan added that the longer a family’s history, the more completely even that one-in-ten-thousand chance vanished.
“…When you say ‘congenital,’ do you mean there are also cases that are acquired?”
Lucia, who had been silent until then, spoke up. The mention of tangled meridians in the upper and middle dantian had struck a chord.
Yohan nodded.
“There are cases where someone suffers a terrible accident and barely survives.”
“…”
“But Young Master Shiron has no notable scars, nor any lingering aftereffects like a limp or trembling hands. So that isn’t the case here.”
“You heard him? So stop thinking weird thoughts.”
Shiron walked over and clapped Lucia on the shoulder. She had kept her eyes down and looked utterly miserable; he could read every thought on her face.
“It’s not your fault.”
He spoke as if trying to reassure his little sister. The effort to cheer her up left him looking completely drained.
It was the backlash from forcing his mana to circulate.
“…B-but—”
Lucia kept moving her lips, trying to say something. Deciding enough was enough, Shiron leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“If you don’t fix that expression right now, I’m going to lie down and make you take responsibility for me for the rest of your life.”
“…”
“So if you don’t want to watch me make a complete fool of myself, don’t apologize.”
Not that I was ever going to make her take responsibility anyway.
Shiron let out a long sigh. His lack of talent was simply a fixed fate. He didn’t want Lucia blaming herself for a fault that didn’t exist.
This isn’t her fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the people who designed the game.
If getting beaten unconscious and ending up unable to handle mana were a law of this world, every rough profession like the knight orders would have been hemorrhaging retirees long ago.
Shiron left Lucia behind and fixed his gaze on Yohan.
“I’ll wait outside. Please look after Lucia.”
“Yes. You’ve worked hard, Young Master.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on how to absorb the elixir properly. Think of Uncle and Sir Yohan’s efforts.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Shiron bowed to Yohan and put distance between himself and Lucia. Now that he knew there was nothing to gain from drinking elixirs, he had no reason to stay.
He walked out of the training hall.
“Oppa! Wait for me!”
Siriel hurriedly chased after the receding figure of Shiron.
After Shiron and Siriel left, silence settled over the training hall.
This has become awkward.
Yohan scratched his head at the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Judging from the exchange between Shiron and Lucia a moment ago, it wasn’t hard to guess that something had happened between the siblings.
The way Shiron had walked out of his own accord, and the way Lucia still couldn’t shake the shadow from her face, both pointed to it.
Having roughly pieced together their feelings, Yohan stroked his beard for a while before breaking the silence.
“Lady Lucia. Come this way, if you would.”
He decided to continue with the mental cultivation training.
Smoothing the black sand, he gestured for Lucia to approach. Hadn’t Young Master Shiron himself asked him to take good care of his sister because he was fine?
Out of respect for that consideration, Yohan could not simply stop.
But Lucia did not move from her spot.
“I already know how to handle mana.”
“Impressive.”
Yohan nodded as he spoke.
She was, after all, a child of a great house. Siriel had begun handling the mana in her body last year as well.
So the fact that Lucia, the same age, could do the same was nothing to be shocked about.
Lucia stared blankly at Yohan, who seemed unexpectedly unfazed.
“You’re not surprised?”
“Lady Siriel can handle mana as well. She’s still immature, of course.”
“Then… what about this?”
Lucia gathered formless energy at her fingertips.
“Hm?”
“I can do this too.”
She held out her finger so he could see clearly. A white radiance bloomed from the tip.
“It can’t be…”
Yohan blinked. He could not believe what was happening right in front of him.
The light gathered in the girl’s hand was unmistakably Aura.
True energy that a martial artist could only obtain after long years of training—she was releasing it so casually.
Lucia managed to fluster even Yohan, who had watched countless prodigies up close.
“W-wait a moment.”
Yohan held out the cloth that had wrapped the elixir.
He needed to confirm whether this was genuine Aura and not mere mana release.
“Try cutting it as if you were swinging a sword.”
“Yes.”
Lucia drew the radiance across the cloth.
The result was obvious. The cloth split cleanly in two, as if severed by a pair of sharp scissors.
“It really is Aura…”
The words slipped out in a low murmur.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, Yohan could not believe it.
“Who in the world taught you this? The Guardians of Dawn Castle? Or Lord Prien himself?”
“I just… knew it by instinct.”
She had known by instinct. Those words were no lie. Instinct meant the same thing as innate.
At that, Yohan forgot all dignity and leaned forward abruptly.
“Would you… hold out your hand?”
A child not yet ten years old had released Aura from her hand without anyone teaching her.
Even while scolding himself for being an old fool, Yohan could not hide the curiosity that had suddenly blossomed in his twilight years.
Lucia extended her pale, slender arm toward him.
“I’m going to send mana into your body now.”
“…”
Lucia nodded instead of answering.
Yohan pressed her meridians and let his mana flow.
Indeed—the mana that entered through her fingers met no resistance whatsoever.
No… “no resistance” doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is—
Yohan’s eyes flew wide as he was shocked all over again. Even without any conscious effort to push the mana, Lucia’s body began greedily absorbing it from him without pause, as if siphoning it away.
I can’t see the limit.
It was like pouring water into a bottomless jar. Yet he sensed no mana leaking out around her. Her capacity itself was simply enormous.
Her meridians were thick and tough.
Yohan did not want to explain what was happening with such a mundane phrase.
Heavenly Martial Physique.
The girl before him had been born for the martial path. There was no other way to put it.
If this isn’t a dream…
Yohan’s fingers trembled slightly. This was a genius who appeared once in a hundred years… no, once in a thousand years.
This girl could clearly grow into a martial artist greater even than Hugo Prien.
The thought that he might play a part in that historic moment made Yohan’s eyes grow hot.
But unlike the deeply moved Yohan, the girl in front of him looked completely dejected.
“Can we stop? My body… doesn’t feel well.”
“…Yes.”
Yohan nodded, forcing his excitement down.
In his heart he wanted to embrace Lucia, but he could not.
The reason was obvious.
He could see all too clearly why she was not happy.
Yohan let out a deep sigh toward the ceiling.
She’s worrying about the young master.
In his mind rose the image of the boy who had walked out of the training hall of his own free will only moments ago.
His footsteps had held not the slightest trace of regret, as if this were simply not a place where he belonged.
Is this some cruel joke of the gods?
The older brother possessed not a shred of talent for the martial arts.
In contrast, the younger sister casually displayed a divine gift that could only be called a miracle.
Faced with that extreme disparity, Yohan could only scrub his face dry again and again.
“Then… four days from now. Will that be all right?”
“Yes…”
Lucia nodded weakly.
Shiron had insisted it was not her fault, yet she still could not shake the heavy, uneasy feeling in her chest.