Chapter 298: A First Step That Will Go Down in History (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 298: A First Step That Will Go Down in History (4)
The Swordsmanship Presentation.
Alexander had been present from beginning to end. And from the exact moment Roman Dmitry uttered the word "Dantian," Alexander's mind had unraveled.
"Martial arts are simple. The energy inside the body..."
A third-rate warrior.
The man who had unknowingly laid the foundation for Aura had never once mentioned the "Dantian" when explaining the theory of martial arts. Looking back, it made sense. The man who claimed to be a Murim warrior had been incredibly shabby, his boastful words his only source of pride. Perhaps he hadn't even been a true Murim warrior. Though Alexander had overheard him speak about the flow of qi, that third-rate warrior had babbled about martial arts while completely omitting the existence of the Dantian—the absolute most crucial element of it all.
That warrior could never have predicted it.
He could never have known that the nobody listening to his drunken nonsense would eventually cross dimensions and become the supreme existence known as 'Alexander.'
It was devastating.
To think that the monumental achievement he took so much pride in had actually originated from a trivial misunderstanding. It wasn't that Alexander was completely unaware of the space called the Dantian. However, because he hadn't known how to utilize it, he had combined his fragmented knowledge with the magic of the Salamander Continent to forcibly explode the mana within his body. That was how he had created the eruptive power of Aura.
He felt ashamed. His pride was deeply wounded.
Up on that stage, Roman Dmitry had openly mocked, ridiculed, and belittled the 'unknown existence' who hadn't even grasped such basic concepts. Now, he finally understood why Roman had so willingly revealed his martial arts to the public. The concepts of qi and the Dantian were merely foundational knowledge. They weren't special at all in the Central Plains Murim. Even if he made them public, it wouldn't threaten his absolute superiority.
It made perfect sense.
Countless masters existed in the Central Plains Murim, developing their martial arts over a vast, bloody history and forming various sects. That history ran incredibly deep. Even if the people of the Salamander Continent now understood the concept of the Dantian, it was impossible for them to replicate the profound history of the Central Plains Murim in a short period. They might develop it in their own unique way over time, but Roman Dmitry would undoubtedly advance so far ahead in the meantime that they could never hope to catch him.
Kim Pan-seok.
Alexander's past life had been pathetic.
That insignificant existence was his ultimate sore spot, and he had vowed to live a life in this new world so magnificent that it could never be compared to the dirt he came from. That was why he took such immense pride in the title of the Creator of Aura. With the entire world looking up to him, he truly believed he had shed his past.
Even now, after transitioning into a mage, his lingering attachment to martial arts stemmed entirely from his pride in his own monumental achievements.
But now, that pride had been utterly shattered.
He didn't know what kind of person Roman Dmitry truly was in his past life, but even if Roman were only at the level of a first-rate warrior, he would undoubtedly achieve accomplishments incomparable to Alexander's. Alexander's name would degenerate into a relic of the past. People would no longer revere him as a godlike figure when speaking of the history of Aura. An era led by Roman Dmitry had begun. Alexander's legendary reputation—hailed as the Creator of Aura and the Father of Swordsmen—would end just like this.
He trembled violently. Fury boiled within him.
If it had been his past life, he would have bowed his head and accepted this miserable reality. But the Alexander of this life could not bring himself to meekly surrender.
'Yes, Roman Dmitry. Through this presentation, you wanted to denounce me as a nobody. But on the Salamander Continent, you are nothing but a trivial existence. You act as if you've become the absolute peak using the memories of your past life, but in this life, I possess the power to overwhelm you. Publicly revealing martial arts is a fatal mistake. I, who created something out of nothing, will show you exactly what kind of results I can produce with just the sliver of knowledge you've disclosed.'
This was a matter of pride.
Once his preparations were complete in a year, turning the Salamander Continent into a sea of fire would be child's play. However, before that, he wanted to trample Roman Dmitry's trivial achievements underfoot using his own martial arts.
"Image Memory."
Fwoosh.
Mana surged. The world warped.
Inside Alexander's mind, a fragmented memory residing in the deepest corner of his consciousness began to materialize.
* * *
The Western Front.
He replayed Roman Dmitry's martial arts in his mind. The sight of Roman unleashing the Heavenly Demon's Sovereign Step and charging into an army of 300,000 was truly overwhelming.
Boom!
Rumbleeeee!
It had been a one-sided slaughter.
The ground shook with every step he took, and with a single swing of his sword, the soldiers of the Kronos Empire were obliterated before they could even scream. It was a terrifying spectacle. Alexander, who had been sharing Shepir's vision at the time, could not help but marvel at Roman Dmitry's martial prowess. He had always thought the legends of the warriors passed down at the foot of the Hundred Thousand Mountains were mere fabrications, but Roman Dmitry had proven them to be real.
'Roman Dmitry is at least a first-rate warrior or higher. Where on earth did his martial arts originate?'
No particular figure came to mind.
Alexander had truly been nothing but an ignorant commoner who had absolutely nothing to do with the Murim. The only figures he knew of were the leaders of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, or the Heavenly Demon, the leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult. In particular, he had heard tales of the Heavenly Demon's achievements so often that his ears had grown calloused. Having lived at the foot of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, rumors of the being whom everyone revered as a god had reached even his remote village.
The Heavenly Demon.
He didn't think Roman was that very same person.
To Alexander, the Heavenly Demon was an untouchable, god-like existence. He speculated that with the martial prowess Roman Dmitry displayed, he might have been an executive-level expert among those who followed the Heavenly Demon. In truth, he knew nothing substantial. Even regarding the classification of strength he remembered, he didn't know the exact terms used for ranks above first-rate.
In the end, no matter how much he scoured his memories, there was no useful information to be found.
He had tried to analyze how Roman Dmitry operated mana based on the Dantian he had mentioned, but the system was far more complex than he had anticipated. It wasn't something that could be understood simply by watching. Annoyance welled up inside him. Even though he had reached the 9th Circle—a realm akin to that of a god—martial arts were an entirely different world from magic.
The creation of Aura. It had been a monumental achievement.
If he had possessed no potential as a Murim warrior, he never would have been able to create Aura based on nothing but the drunken ramblings of a third-rate warrior. If only he, too, had received proper training in the Murim... He would have possessed strength incomparable to the likes of Roman Dmitry, to the point where he wouldn't even have needed to choose the path of a mage.
It was a deeply personal desire.
Setting aside the conquest of the continent, he wanted to produce meaningful results through martial arts. He wanted to force Roman Dmitry to acknowledge him.
Space warped. He returned to reality.
Alexander summoned Mystic and issued a command.
"Order the spies currently infiltrated into Dmitry. Tell them to uncover all of Dmitry's martial arts by any means necessary. To those who succeed in this mission, I promise in the name of the Kronos Emperor that they will enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of their lives."
"Understood."
Though it was humiliating, he had to accept reality. He needed more detailed information. Alexander was absolutely certain that on the day he surpassed Roman Dmitry in martial arts, he would finally be able to purge this seething inferiority complex.
* * *
Around that time, the continent was thrown into an absolute uproar by Roman Dmitry's announcement.
"A swordsmanship revolution has occurred!"
Indeed, the word 'revolution' was perfectly fitting. The concept of Aura—the very foundation supporting the power structure of the continent—had been completely redefined. People had no choice but to pay close attention to Roman Dmitry's every move.
Even Alexander, the Creator of Aura, hadn't readily released the concept of Aura in the early days. Yet Roman Dmitry had taught the concepts of the Dantian and martial arts without asking for anything in return—even to hostile nations. As this fact spread, he became the sole topic of conversation everywhere.
"What's going to happen to the existing Aura Swordsmen?!"
"What do you think? Those who master the concept of the Dantian and quickly adapt to the change will survive. Those who don't will be left behind. A great cataclysm is coming. The current ranking system is considered so solid that there's barely any shift in the rankings, but those who adapt and rise up will push out the ones who fail to read the trends. They'll take the top spots for themselves."
"But what on earth is Roman Dmitry thinking? I don't understand why he'd just give away something so incredible."
"One thing is certain. Through this presentation, he proved that there was a solid foundation for the rapid progress he's shown so far. This isn't just him leaking his techniques. If there are swordsmen who desire the same kind of explosive growth... if there are those who refuse to fall behind the times... they will have no choice but to follow Roman Dmitry and swear allegiance to him. It means the balance of power will rapidly shift toward Dmitry."
Just as the rumors suggested, the tide had turned.
Although the basic theory had been revealed through the Swordsmanship Presentation, the precise, established training methods for martial arts existed only in Dmitry. Consequently, Aura Swordsmen from all over the continent flocked to Dmitry.
They believed that they—who had always been evaluated as a grade lower than mages—could live a new life if they jumped on the bandwagon of this revolution. Roman Dmitry's judgment had been impeccable. With the simple concept of the Dantian—which was nothing special in the Murim—he had secured a reputation surpassing Alexander's, simultaneously transforming into an existence revered by countless swordsmen.
The Dmitry Duchy.
It was no longer just a small country on the periphery. It was now hailed as the holy land of swordsmen, and its rapidly surging population delivered a clear message to the world.
Kronos and Valhalla.
Between the two unshakable pillars of the continent, the cracks of a 'Tripartite Struggle' began to appear for the first time in history.
* * *
Click.
He cut off the communication. Scott, a spy for the Kronos Empire, wore a grim expression.
"...To steal Dmitry's martial arts information."
An order had just come down from his superiors. The command was to steal the martial arts manuals by any means necessary, but there was a glaring problem: his identity might have already been exposed.
Roman Dmitry had weeded out the spies through the 4th Test. He had let the spies who confessed their identities return alive. Yet, even though he surely knew that deep-cover spies like Scott were holding out until the end, he had still accepted them as his private soldiers.
Just thinking about that moment made his heart race. Although Roman Dmitry hadn't mentioned Scott by name, Scott instinctively knew his cover was blown.
'Roman Dmitry is no ordinary man. Not only did he turn a blind eye to the existence of spies, but he also publicly revealed the very information we risked our lives to dig up. The meaning behind that is clear: no matter how much information we steal, it won't affect Dmitry in the slightest. Is it really right to carry out the Kronos Empire's orders? In the future... is there a chance that Dmitry will take over the world?'
He was deeply conflicted.
When he first accepted the mission, he hadn't dared to even think of refusing the Kronos Empire's demands. But now, the situation was far too complicated.
Roman Dmitry had overturned the entire playing field with a single Swordsmanship Presentation. People in his line of work were already whispering that a Tripartite Struggle might actually become reality. Furthermore, hadn't all the kingdoms of the Salamander Continent—except for Odelia—declared their intentions to follow Roman Dmitry?
Setting aside the danger of the mission, he began to question the very act of entrusting his and his family's future to the Kronos Empire. Just a few years ago, challenging the absolute power of the Kronos Empire was utterly unimaginable. But Roman Dmitry had introduced unprecedented changes, and the resulting cracks were rapidly leading to the collapse of the established power structure.
'For now, I'll join Dmitry. I'll live here for a few days and then decide whether to carry out the Empire's mission. If Dmitry truly possesses the potential to bring down Kronos... then, instead of stealing information, I seriously need to find a way to evacuate my family from the Empire.'
He stood at a crossroads.
For now, he pushed his worries aside. No matter how much the world was changing, abandoning the Kronos Empire to follow Dmitry was not an easy decision to make.
The next day, Scott officially joined Dmitry.
The successful candidates of the 4th Test stood together. Without a single exception, they all declared their intention to serve as Dmitry's private soldiers.