Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The Mercenary Dianal
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It was familiar.
Just like now, he'd spent twenty years in the military alone.
In his past life, he'd endured sixteen years as a lowly foot soldier.
This rough atmosphere was actually more comfortable for him.
Rian's eyes cooled as he stared at the hulking figure in front of him.
His name was Macquison, was it?
Of course, the name didn't matter. He'd be called something else soon enough.
"Step aside, pig."
"...What?"
Macquison looked baffled at the words from a young punk whose head barely reached his chest.
Rian spoke up.
"Are your ears clogged with lard too? I said step aside, you piglet."
"You've got to be kidding me, you crazy little shit!"
Macquison's face twisted in fury as he bellowed at Rian.
He raised his arm as if to crush Rian flat with one palm, but—
*Paak!*
"Graaaah!"
The moment Rian kicked his shin, a dull thud echoed, followed by the man's scream.
*Thud!*
Macquison's body crumpled to the ground.
From the sound, it seemed his shinbone had snapped clean through.
Clutching his shin, Macquison howled.
"Aaaah! My leg!"
"Quit whining, tsk!"
Rian grabbed him by the hair and demanded.
"Who's Dianal?"
"W-What?"
"Dianal."
"...."
Macquison's face filled with bewilderment at Rian's question.
He was so shocked he couldn't even feel the pain in his broken leg.
"...?"
But Rian was the one puzzled by the reaction.
The rowdy, boisterous tavern atmosphere had gone deathly still in an instant, like someone had dumped ice water over it.
In the suddenly heavy air, they all glanced furtively somewhere else.
Rian turned to follow their gazes.
*That guy...?*
A man in the corner gnawing on jerky.
Even amid the commotion, he hadn't spared them a single look.
It was as if he couldn't care less.
He popped the last of the jerky into his mouth and stood up.
*Scraaaape.*
His hair was wild and unkempt, but the silver strands stood out strikingly and suited him well.
Silver hair wasn't all that common.
Looking at Rian, he said.
"I'm Dianal. Who are you? I've got no ties to anyone from the military."
"Military? You're a soldier?"
"W-Why's a soldier here?"
"That kid's a soldier?"
The mood stirred uneasily in an instant.
And for good reason—most of the guys here were mercenaries.
Of course, mercenaries had no reason to fear soldiers.
But in the Artian Kingdom, soldiers enjoyed pretty good treatment.
Mercenaries fought in territorial wars and big conflicts too, but they still couldn't shake the stigma of being lower class.
In a way, they were like water and oil.
Incompatible existences showing up in their home turf? No way they'd take it well.
In a flash, their hostility turned toward Rian.
Rian calmly looked at Dianal and said.
"I came on Adelson's recommendation."
"...Adelson? Adelson from the Hamel Merchant Guild?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm...."
He looked surprised.
How did Adelson get tangled up with a kid this young?
Curiosity flickered in Dianal's eyes as he regarded Rian.
He soon headed for the door and called out to Rian.
"Let's talk outside."
As Dianal left, Rian swept his gaze over the mercenaries staring at him.
Not a friendly eye among them.
Dozens of wary pupils fixed on him, but Rian calmly scanned them once before exiting the tavern.
*Thud.*
The door shut, and the taut tension snapped away.
"Hoo! What the hell was that guy...?"
"...That kid's no ordinary punk."
They stared after Rian, unable to hide their stunned expressions.
* * *
The spot Dianal led him to was a small clearing behind the tavern.
Once there, Dianal said to Rian.
"Since Adelson sent you, I'll hear you out. What do you want?"
"I want to learn Aura."
"Aura?"
A wrinkle formed between his brows.
"You're nobility?"
"Do I look like nobility to you?"
Rian turned to look over his own body and let out a chuckle.
He could understand Dianal's question well enough.
Wanting to learn Aura at such a young age was like saying you'd mastered a mana cultivation method.
*Unless you've awakened it naturally, only nobles who've learned mana cultivation methods can use Aura.*
In that sense, the Dianal in front of him was a warrior of considerable talent.
To awaken Aura while working as a mercenary.
Dianal's face showed genuine bewilderment for the first time at Rian's response.
"You're no noble, but you have mana?"
"Do I need to explain all my circumstances?"
"No, no, but...."
Still, he couldn't quite accept it easily.
But it made sense.
The chances of building up mana through physical training insight at such a young age were next to zero.
*'Ah... there's one guy, though.'*
But he decided to exclude him.
Anyway, aside from that, you needed a mana cultivation method to use mana.
The idea of a commoner mastering one was shocking.
Dianal soon looked at Rian and said.
"I can help, but I'm not exactly thrilled to do it for a military punk."
"Then no choice."
"...What?"
Dianal spoke as Rian gave up so easily.
Learning Aura was an incredibly impressive and rare feat in itself.
And he was just walking away like that?
Rian told Dianal in response.
"You don't have to say yes just because Adelson asked. The choice is yours in the end."
He turned to leave, adding.
"But you really are just a mercenary, huh."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. I heard you owe Adelson a huge debt, but treating me—who came in his name—like this means your sense of honor and pride is worth that much."
In short, he was saying mercenaries like him had no honor.
Dianal let out a small sigh at the words.
Truth be told, he'd had no intention of refusing since the name Adelson was dropped.
He just hadn't been keen because the kid was military.
*Step, step.*
"Wait."
Dianal called out to Rian, who was really walking away as if he had no interest in learning.
Rian turned back, and Dianal clicked his tongue.
"I'll teach you starting tomorrow. Be back here at 6 a.m."
"Got it."
"But keep this in mind. My teaching style isn't gentle."
"If you've got the skills, that's fine by me. 6 a.m. tomorrow. I'll be here."
And Rian returned to the spot exactly at 6 a.m. the next day.
"You're punctual."
Dianal was already waiting.
He frowned slightly at Rian, who had brought a bow.
"You... you're an archer?"
"Problem?"
Dianal looked at Rian in surprise at the question.
"No problem, but it doesn't suit the training we're about to do. Training with a bow is basically upper-level difficulty."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll get it step by step. So for today, train with a sword or spear instead of the bow."
Dianal went into the tavern and came back out with a sword and a spear.
"Sword or spear. Pick the one you like."
"...Then the spear."
It was a basic spear—just a wooden shaft with a blade fitted on.
As Rian chose the spear, Dianal shrugged.
"Soldier, so you're used to spears? Whatever you're comfortable with."
Then Dianal picked up the sword.
Mana rippled around his body as it began to flow.
The real lesson was starting.
"Can you feel the mana moving in me?"
*Nod.*
"If you move mana, you can strengthen your body like this. Can you move mana to strengthen your body?"
"That I can."
Rian immediately circulated his mana, focusing it in his hand.
Just concentrating mana in one spot naturally reinforced the body.
That was why Rian could punch through Kyle or Arthur's thick muscles with his bare fists and deal real damage.
Seeing Rian handle mana smoothly, Dianal nodded.
"Then next is emission. Can you do that?"
"No, not that."
"I'll explain it then."
There were a few prerequisites to creating Aura.
First was moving mana.
Second was emitting the moved mana outside the body.
And finally, holding the emitted mana in the desired shape—that was 'fixation.'
"From the looks of it, you've had mana for a while, but I think the weapon you use is why you can't emit it."
"Because of the weapon? Because I use a bow?"
"Probably. Bows are one of the hardest weapons to use Aura with."
With that, Dianal injected mana into his sword and emitted it.
Mana shimmered from the blade, radiating a sharp aura.
"This is emission. If I have to explain, you refine the emitted Aura sharply in a 'processing' step, but that's not hard, so no need to count it separate."
"So just emitting lets you use sword aura?"
"Right. And next you need fixation. Master that perfectly, and you can advance to sword beam."
The difference between sword aura and sword beam was like a wooden sword versus a steel one—night and day.
And one more thing.
"You need sword beam to emit Aura."
Shooting Aura for ranged attacks.
That would be the ultimate stage of using Aura.
"But bows don't have a sword aura stage. You can't use Aura with arrows unless you can handle sword beams."
"Now I get why you called it upper-level difficulty."
Rian finally understood Dianal's words.
For handheld weapons like swords, spears, or axes, even just emission worked because they connected to your body, allowing basic sword aura.
But with a bow, it wasn't the bow in your hand—it was the flying arrow that needed to carry the Aura.
That required both emission and fixation.
Without fixation, you couldn't even put sword aura on an arrow and shoot it.
"So... I couldn't use sword aura because I use a bow?"
"Who knows. Maybe that's why, or maybe your talent only goes that far."
"Let's give it a try."
At Rian's words, Dianal raised his sword.
"First, get used to activating sword aura through the spear."
*Nod.*
There were steps to everything, after all.
Dianal moved his mana straight to the sword in his hand.
"Step one: transfer mana to the object you're holding. That's required to advance."
You had to perceive the weapon in your hand as an extension of your body.
"Think of the spear you're holding as an extension of your arm and move mana to reinforce it."
*Nod.*
Rian put on a serious face and slowly began circulating his mana.
It sounded simple—hold the weapon and transfer mana to it—but
*'It won't be easy.'*
Not for a first-timer.
Even talented ones struggled with this step for days.
*'This'll keep him busy for a few days.'*
It'd be fun messing with a military punk.
Dianal smirked faintly as he stepped toward Rian. At that moment,
"Is this right?"
"...Huh?"
What the hell is this guy.
Dianal couldn't hide his shock at the spear with mana evenly distributed along it.