Chapter 13: Qi and Mana (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 13: Qi and Mana (2)
In truth, the premise of this training was flawed from the very beginning.
Roman had already felt the mana of this world. Through the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he had even accumulated a small amount of it in his Dantian.
Yet, there was a reason he still sought instruction.
‘Blindly relying on my own common sense is a surefire way to regress. I need to experience the power called qi in Murim—and expressed as mana and aura in this world—from start to finish, in the way of this new world. Even if I can’t understand it with my mind, I will follow their methods for now.’
He cast aside his preconceptions.
Chris's teachings were completely different from the ways of Murim, but Roman refused to be bound by his old methods.
He took a few deep breaths.
Chris had said that it was crucial to feel a presence tickling the skin during this process. That was what the people of the Salamander Continent called mana. For Roman, however, mana gathered around him after only a few breaths. It was only natural. Having spent his entire life assimilating with the energy of nature, he knew exactly what properties it possessed and how to guide it.
One step.
A stage that Chris claimed would be a success even if it took a year, Roman accomplished in less than a minute.
From there, it was a matter of guiding the mana.
He drew it in.
As the foreign and mysterious energy entered his body, Roman guided it along his blood vessels to every corner of his being.
‘The method is certainly different from Murim. In Murim, the goal is to clear impurities from the blood vessels through qi circulation and ultimately accumulate energy in the Dantian. But this world is different. They merely hope that mana will naturally settle throughout the body during the guidance process, without applying any binding force. Is there a specific reason? Energy that settles naturally might be easier to control, but the problem is that if one trains this way, they won't be able to surpass the Peak Realm even after a hundred years.’
It was an inefficient method.
Furthermore, the problem also lay in the characteristics of the mana itself.
While the qi of Murim felt heavy despite being scarce, the mana of this world was abundant but light. It slipped away just as quickly as it was taken in.
He wanted to grasp it, to hold onto all of it.
However…
‘For now, I’ll do it this world’s way.’
He suppressed the urge. He could operate his own cultivation method whenever he wanted.
Roman knew how to become strong better than anyone, but now was the time to accept a new civilization.
Chris's voice reached him.
“Once you reach the stage where you can manipulate mana to some extent, you can begin to manifest aura. Concentrating the mana dispersed throughout your body into a single point—that is the manifestation of aura. It can be utilized in various ways. You can coat your sword with aura to increase its destructive power, or apply it to your body to unleash an instantaneous burst of force. To be precise, we call the stage of manifesting aura becoming a 1-Star Aura Knight.”
Chris couldn’t have known.
Roman had already entered the stage of accumulating mana.
To Chris, he was merely explaining the steps. But to Roman, he was already moving his mana in exact accordance with those explanations.
He drew in the mana.
Roman's binding force prevented the mana circulating through his body from simply slipping away. The energy accumulated, layer by layer.
It took only an instant for him to enter the stage of aura manifestation.
Flash!
His body glowed with a blue light.
Even though Chris hadn't taught him how, Roman had concentrated his mana into a single point to temporarily reinforce his skin.
It was a familiar phenomenon. Roman recalled a similar technique.
‘It’s similar to Murim's External Martial Arts, yet different. External Martial Arts is a method of tempering the body from the outside in, but the method Chris speaks of is neither here nor there. It doesn’t make the exterior strong, nor does it accumulate mana inside. Unleashing mana in an instant like this is highly inefficient. Since the mana was never gathered in one place to begin with, it just scatters in all directions. My initial thoughts when I saw Chris manifest his aura weren’t wrong.’
He was certain now.
Having experienced it firsthand, he could draw a definitive conclusion.
‘The way they utilize mana here is garbage.’
The training with Chris was over. There was no longer any reason to continue.
The moment Roman manifested his aura, Chris's eyes widened in shock.
“Wh-What?!”
For this training, he hadn't even hoped for Roman to feel mana. Simply understanding the process would have been a success, but a completely unexpected situation had unfolded.
His skin glowed blue.
It was the manifestation of aura.
Chris rubbed his eyes and checked again, but the scene before him did not change.
‘H-How is this possible?’
It defied all common sense.
It had taken him half a year just to feel mana and another three years of toil to finally manifest it. Even so, he had been called a genius. As Knight Commander Jonathan's disciple, he had steadily learned swordsmanship since childhood, reaching the 2-Star realm in his mid-twenties. He was a genius recognized by everyone.
But this…
What on earth was this?
Roman's progress was beyond anything his mind could comprehend.
“...Phew.”
Roman opened his eyes.
Seeing him catch his breath, Chris asked as if he had been waiting for that exact moment, “How on earth did you do that? Did you really just manifest aura?”
“You saw it yourself, didn't you?”
“That's why I'm asking! No, this makes no sense. Some people take three and a half years just to succeed in manifesting aura, but you, Young Master Roman, did it in barely thirty minutes. Please be honest with me. You already knew how to use aura, didn't you? You were just playing a prank to mess with me, right? Ah, that makes sense. It was strange from the start that I, a 2-Star Aura Knight, lost to you.”
It was a desperate, self-serving interpretation.
The idea of Roman being a hidden master was far more convincing than him being a genius who could manifest aura in thirty minutes. The problem was that the latter also defied common sense.
If that was true, had Roman been hiding his strength two years ago? But why?
Chris looked at Roman, his expression a complicated mix of confusion and suspicion.
“Could you tell me the criteria for the Stars that classify an Aura Knight's strength? I want to know what level my current achievement is and how many Stars the strongest person on the continent possesses.”
“...First, since you succeeded in manifesting aura, you’ve met the requirements of a 1-Star Aura Knight. If you can coat an object with aura and cut through steel, you’re considered a 2-Star Aura Knight. The real deal starts from 3-Star. The Stars are divided based on the intensity and destructive power of the aura, and 3-Star Knights receive special treatment even within the kingdom. Knight Commander Jonathan is a 4-Star Knight, which is why he’s recognized by the kingdom. A 5-Star is known across the continent. For reference, the one called the First Sword of the Continent is said to be a 6-Star Swordsman. As for 7-Star… no one is known to have reached that realm yet.”
6-Star.
The peak of the continent.
Having met Jonathan, Roman could paint a rough picture in his mind.
‘By Murim standards, Jonathan falls slightly short of a second-rate warrior. No matter how highly a 6-Star Knight is evaluated, I’m certain they aren’t at the level I’m imagining. Perhaps swordsmanship isn't the mainstream power in this world. If aura is a talent granted to one in a thousand, they say magic is a talent of one in ten thousand. To be sure, I’ll have to experience them firsthand.’
It was amusing. A method so different from Murim.
He wanted to go out into the world and experience everything it had to offer.
“Actually, the classification of Stars doesn't perfectly represent combat power,” Chris added. “There’s a ranking system on this continent. Although a 6-Star Knight is the strongest, not all knights in the top ten have reached the 6-Star realm. Anyway, just when did you start training your mana, Young Master? It took me a whopping ten years to reach the 2-Star realm. Even for someone like me, who was called a genius. Considering how you were when we met two years ago, this makes absolutely no sense.”
Chris’s words.
He said it took him ten years to feel mana, manifest aura, and channel it through a sword.
“Pfft.”
Roman burst into laughter.
Truly, the level of this world was far below his expectations.
At Roman's reaction, Chris's face flushed red. Though Roman hadn't said a word, Chris couldn't help but feel enraged by the mocking laughter.
“...Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s funny.”
“Are you saying my efforts are a joke?”
The atmosphere turned icy.
Chris was the genius of Dmitry. Even though he had lost to Roman, his pride remained intact.
Seeing Chris’s face, so red it looked ready to burst, Roman looked back at him with a lingering smile.
“Let me ask you one thing. In all the time it took you to reach that realm, did you ever once question your training method?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“People harbor an illusion. The illusion that just because a method has been passed down for generations, it must be correct. While learning your mana training method, that thought occurred to me. Why do you persist with this method when its flaws are so obvious? Is it because you don't know any better? Or is it because your trust in Knight Commander Jonathan, who taught you, is just that strong?”
“...”
It was a completely unexpected question.
Chris, who had been about to vent his anger, felt as if he had been struck dumb. He stood there with a bewildered expression, unable to say a word.
The training method.
Just as Roman said, he had never once questioned it.
“The reason is simple. It’s comfortable to follow in others' footsteps. With a method where someone else has already gone through all the trial and error, there’s no reason for you to suffer or face criticism. I’m not denying that you worked hard for ten years. However, it’s amusing that in all that time, you never once questioned the path you were on. This world doesn't have a perfect answer key. The method you blindly follow is, in the end, merely one path that began from someone else's contemplation.”
Back when he was called the Heavenly Demon, Roman had not accepted his father's teachings at face value.
Even though his father was the absolute peak of the Demonic Cult, Roman constantly analyzed and researched his words. At the end of those efforts, he created his own version of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Even the cultists who had initially criticized his actions eventually gasped in admiration at the sheer power of his perfected art.
That was how Roman had lived.
He was the master of his own life.
He did not accept things simply because they were passed down; instead, he pondered why he should accept them and whether they were truly the best choice for him. Of course, such questions plunge one's life into suffering. One must endure trial and error and, in the face of failure, taste the criticism of others and deep despair.
Even so, change is necessary.
Just as the traditions passed down from ancestors originally began with a question, Roman always questioned himself.
“I ask you again. Did you really do your absolute best for ten years?”
“...”
Chris was speechless.
He looked back on his life. He had indeed lived diligently.
But his training had been blind.
He had done exactly as Jonathan told him. Even this time, he had accepted the proposal out of a desire to learn a secret technique from him.
Roman’s words had struck a nerve.
Even against remarks that defied the common sense of the world, he could not offer a single word of rebuttal.
‘Following established knowledge isn't a bad method,’ Roman thought. ‘Chris might continue to grow steadily and reach a high realm, just as others call him a genius. But that’s his limit. Those who do not question their own lives can never reign at the peak. Chris is one of the stronger people I’ve met in this world, but a frog in a well is bound to rot in the end.’
Roman's advice was an act of goodwill.
Because Chris had helped him, Roman spoke the words that would force him to face reality.
From now on, it was up to Chris. If he couldn't accept the truth, his life would end within its expected limits.
“Let's end the training here.”
He finished speaking and was about to walk away.
“...Then please tell me the answer,” Chris’s voice called out, stopping him. “What should I do from now on?”
Roman stopped in his tracks and looked back at Chris.
He smirked.
‘Interesting.’
Casting aside his pride.
That was a significant act.
It was the moment Chris, who might have been a mere passing acquaintance, began to look different.