Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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The sudden appearance of the man in black robes sent ripples through not only Altomers but the entire barbarian village.
It was unavoidable. This place was the barbarian village behind Porhen Gorge.
‘How...?’
There was only one way to reach here: through Porhen Gorge.
But they had been guarding Porhen Gorge with ironclad defenses.
“Who are you?”
“Oh ho, that’s pretty fluent kingdom tongue. Did you learn it?”
“Answer me. Who are you?”
Altomers asked again, watching the man respond with exaggerated gestures.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
“Does it matter who I am? What matters is what I’m going to do.”
With that, the man glanced around.
It was a crude place, not even worthy of being called a village, lacking any trace of civilization.
He furrowed his brow.
“You live well in this filthy place.”
“RKAL DURL DJELRH-!”
One barbarian warrior bellowed loudly and charged at the robed man.
He could no longer tolerate this unknown intruder prattling on so leisurely.
He planned to sever the fool’s legs and interrogate him. But,
“Tsk.”
The moment the man clicked his tongue,
Splash-!
A black shadow on the ground suddenly surged up and swallowed the charging barbarian warrior whole.
Gulp.
It wasn’t an illusion.
The sound of gulping down a large mouthful of water rang out clearly. Then, clunk, clatter, thud!
The armor the barbarian warrior had been wearing spilled out from the risen black shadow and fell to the ground.
As the shadow subsided without a trace, Altomers’ eyes shook violently.
He recognized it instantly.
‘...Strong.’
Far stronger than himself.
Even if everyone here ganged up on him, he couldn’t guarantee they could kill the man.
His palms grew slick with sweat, and cold sweat trickled down his back.
Seeing Altomers’ expression change, the robed man spoke.
“You want to kill them, don’t you?”
“...What?”
“Heh heh, I’ll help you.”
With that, the man pulled something black from within his robe.
It looked like black flames flickering in his palm, or perhaps black smoke rising.
Its true nature was unknown, but one thing was certain.
Just looking at it filled him with an intensely ominous feeling.
They flinched.
Altomers and the barbarian warriors instinctively took a step back.
They knew on instinct that it was dangerous.
Smirk.
Seeing this, the robed man curled his lips into a long grin.
“I’ll give you courage and power.”
Splash-!
The moment the black mass in the man’s hand spread toward the barbarians and engulfed them,
“U, uwaaaaaah-!”
Screams of agony began to echo through the barbarian village, silent for over a decade.
* * *
How long had it been since supplies arrived intact?
In the past, it was routine for parts of the supplies to be destroyed or stolen.
After treating the wounded and honoring the fallen comrades, Bieltna’s soldiers began storing the received supplies in the warehouses.
“Come on, move it!”
“Tommy, that goes to Warehouse 3!”
“Help me here!”
It was quite lively, but it felt invigorating for the first time in ages.
Homel, who was directing them, also felt a pleasant busyness.
“Is the sorting going well?”
“Ah, Barus sir. As you can see, there’s so much that it’ll take a bit of time, but it’s proceeding without issues.”
Barus nodded at Homel’s words.
The Eagle Company, who had escorted the supplies, was also helping move them, and with so many soldiers, it wouldn’t take long.
Then, someone approached Barus.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Hm? Rian, are you feeling better?”
The doctor had said he needed to stay in bed for at least ten days.
Barus asked, seeing Rian up and about in just a few days.
Rian forced a smile at the question.
“I’m fine.”
“Huh? Rian, you okay?”
Derek, who was moving supplies, rushed over upon seeing Rian.
Rian nodded.
“Yes, I’m fine. More importantly, you’ve worked hard.”
“Hmm... really okay?”
Derek gave him a suspicious look and lightly poked his side.
“Ugh!”
Rian flinched and furrowed his brow. Derek shook his head as if he’d expected it.
“Leave this to us and rest. The doctor said you need to stay in bed without moving for ten days.”
“He’s right, Rian. Recovery comes first over forcing yourself to move. Don’t come here—go rest.”
“...Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Derek grinned as Rian bowed his head and turned away.
He knew Rian would insist on helping otherwise.
The “chased off” Rian headed toward the barracks but changed direction toward the training grounds.
He’d heard that except for the wounded, everyone had resumed training the very next day after the tough operation a few days ago.
“Hah!”
“Take this! Hah-!”
Entering the training grounds, he saw them sparring intensely with wooden weapons.
The intensity was toned down post-operation, but their zeal for training was the same as always.
Then, Rian’s eyes caught someone else.
It was Isaac.
“...?”
Isaac was swinging his sword alone at a wooden dummy in the corner, his one arm bandaged and splinted from injury.
“Oh? Vice Captain!”
“Rian sir!”
Brandt and Florang spotted Rian entering and ran over.
Rian nodded at the two.
“Are you okay?”
“Can you move already? They said you needed a few more days of rest.”
“I’m fine. But why is Isaac over there doing that? What’s wrong with his arm?”
“Ah, you might not know. He broke his wrist blocking the enemy commander-in-chief’s attack last time.”
“Don’t even get me started. He’s been training alone there ever since. Please talk to him, Rian sir.”
Brandt looked frustrated.
He knew better than anyone how bad Isaac’s wrist was.
Rian nodded.
“Oh, and there’s another guy who’s gone weird in a different way.”
“Gone weird?”
“Gerard’s been shooting arrows in the training grounds all day long.”
“...?”
Rian tilted his head, and Brandt shook his head while Florang did the same.
“He seems really disappointed in himself from the last operation. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but he’s been shooting arrows from morning till night.”
“That guy...?”
Suddenly, Rian recalled yelling at Gerard during the operation.
‘No way... it’s not because of that, is it?’
He thought not, but the nagging feeling lingered.
Rian sighed softly and scratched his head.
“Got it. I’ll talk to him too.”
He headed toward Isaac first.
Thud! Thwack! Bang!
Isaac swung the sword in his left hand at the wooden dummy.
It was a crude swordplay, lacking his usual rhythmic speed.
Switching from dual swords to one disrupted his rhythm.
His movements seemed like mere venting, and Isaac furrowed his brow.
“Damn...”
On top of that, his throbbing wrist with every motion.
Nothing was going right.
Isaac stopped and let out a deep sigh. Then,
“What’s wrong?”
“...!”
He startled at the voice behind him and turned.
“Vice Captain!”
“Yeah, I’m fine, so don’t ask. More importantly, how’s your wrist? I heard it was completely smashed.”
He hadn’t heard that exactly, but he could pretend.
Surviving a blow from Aura-wielding Altomers was fortunate enough.
At Rian’s question, Isaac hung his head low.
The memory resurfaced, reminding him of his own powerlessness.
“...It broke blocking his attack. It looked so strong that I dispersed the force as much as possible while deflecting, but it still snapped. If I hadn’t dispersed it, I might’ve died.”
Isaac looked extremely frustrated as he spoke.
After switching from spear to dual swords, Isaac’s talent had exploded.
His style changed completely, allowing him to do what he did best.
But in this battle and the previous one at Sallerone, Isaac had faced defeat.
Both opponents were towering walls, both wielding Aura.
Rian gave a wry smile.
He could guess how Isaac felt.
“Oh, and...”
Isaac hesitated, then drew a single sword.
The blade was cracked all over, on the verge of shattering.
“The sword you gave me, Vice Captain... it ended up like this. I’m really sorry...”
“Whoa... it’s right on the verge of breaking apart?”
Rian looked at Isaac with renewed surprise.
The blade being damaged so evenly meant Isaac had dispersed the opponent’s force uniformly.
‘A genius... is a genius, huh.’
It was a skill unimaginable for just fifteen years old.
Rian ruffled Isaac’s hair lightly.
“We can fix it. More importantly, what training with an injured body?”
Not just his arm—his whole body must be under immense strain.
At Rian’s words, Isaac smiled bitterly.
“My chest felt so stuffy I couldn’t just sit still. If I didn’t do something...”
He sighed, looking at the sword in his hand. Then he asked.
“Vice Captain.”
“Yeah?”
“How do you learn to use Aura...?”
“...”
“If I just keep training hard and fighting like now... will I eventually be able to use Aura too?”
Rian clamped his mouth shut at Isaac’s question.
Naturally awakening Aura required surpassing the limits of the body.
In short, only a genius with immense talent could achieve it through extreme training.
Perhaps Isaac would one day awaken it on his own.
But that was far off.
No one knew if it would be in ten years or fifty.
That’s why they had to learn mana circulation methods.
‘But...’
Most soldiers in the Arrowhead Unit were commoners.
In this era, no matter how hard they struggled, they couldn’t learn mana circulation methods.
‘Isaac only learned after becoming Duke Russell’s disciple.’
As a result, he became the kingdom’s youngest Aura user and reached a realm dominating the continent.
But Isaac’s history had already changed.
From the moment he joined the Arrowhead Unit. No, from the moment Rian brought him into his squad.
It meant Isaac might never get the chance to learn from Duke Russell.
“...”
Rian felt his heart grow heavy.
The Child Mana Circulation Method he was practicing now.
It was exceptionally excellent.
Faster achievement than any existing method, with vast mana capacity.
Yet Rian hadn’t taught it to others for several reasons.
First, even he couldn’t fully utilize the Child Mana Circulation Method yet.
He still couldn’t use Aura, limited to injecting mana into artifacts to activate them.
But that would resolve naturally with more time.
The real key reason was second.
The Child Mana Circulation Method was one created by the Child family in the future.
‘If it’s just me learning it, no problem...’
If only he learned it, he could claim he’d acquired it later.
They’d think he was just a fast-learning genius.
But teaching it to someone would make it no longer the Child Mana Circulation Method.
It would become a new, unprecedented method created by Rian.
He couldn’t predict the fallout if that happened.
So Rian had been extremely cautious. But...
‘If it’s Isaac.’
His future was already altered by Rian.
He was a top talent who would’ve soon become Duke Russell’s disciple and soared.
‘...This is my responsibility.’
It might be an excuse, but he’d push that aside for now.
Rian spoke to Isaac with resolve.
“Isaac, want to try learning a mana circulation method?”