Chapter069
Translator: RaidenTL
Thirty men had been recruited as private soldiers.
None of them were Aura Swordsmen.
Puki was merely a C-Rank Mercenary, a step below Lucas. But on the very first day he received instruction from Roman, he heard something incomprehensible.
"You were born with a warrior's constitution."
Back then, he hadn't understood what that meant.
After the war ended, Roman's private soldiers were taught the Asura Mind Method. Stepping into this new world, Puki progressed at a terrifying pace. His learning speed was on a completely different level from the rest. While the soldier next to him struggled just to accept mana, Puki naturally absorbed and guided it through his body.
The manifestation of mana.
For most, it was a realm they couldn't reach even after years of desperate effort. Yet, in less than a month, Puki succeeded in manifesting Aura.
It was an astounding feat.
At first, just like Lucas, the men had harbored doubts about the Asura Mind Method. No matter how incredibly wealthy the Dmitry family was, they couldn't believe Roman would share a profound cultivation method with mere soldiers. That was just common sense. But once they experienced the Asura Mind Method firsthand and witnessed Puki's explosive success, their perspectives completely shattered.
'The Asura Mind Method is the real deal.'
Roman's gift was a priceless treasure that couldn't be bought with all the gold in the world.
While Puki's outstanding talent certainly played a part, the others knew from their own experiences that this wasn't achieved through talent alone. The effects of the Asura Mind Method simply defied belief. By forcing them to sense the surrounding mana, it allowed them to easily bypass what ordinary people considered the highest hurdle to becoming an Aura Swordsman.
Everything had changed.
As long as they put in the effort, they, too, could become Aura Swordsmen just like Puki. And with Kevin standing as another piece of living proof, the soldiers' attitudes toward training completely transformed.
Everyone risked their lives.
To become stronger.
To break through their limits.
This fierce atmosphere sparked a burning rivalry, and the extreme clash currently taking place between Kevin and Puki was the direct result.
Clang!
Rumble!
Aura clashed against Aura.
Even the sound of the impact was different. As heavily compressed air exploded outward, those sparring nearby jumped in surprise and turned their heads.
"Try blocking this!"
Boom!
Puki seized the momentum. Although Kevin had manifested his Aura first, Puki held the absolute physical advantage. He possessed a massive build with muscles as solid as armor. His explosive attacks synergized perfectly with the power of his Aura, and beneath the weight of that overwhelming force, Kevin was helplessly pushed back.
Even so, Kevin's expression remained unchanged.
In a situation where a single mistake could mean severe injury or worse, his eyes never wavered from his opponent.
"He's seriously relentless."
Among the soldiers, Kevin had earned the nickname "Ghost."
There were many reasons for this. His unpredictable movements and uniquely unorthodox swordsmanship certainly brought a phantom to mind, but the biggest reason was his sheer audacity—he fought as if he had multiple lives to spare. He was utterly fearless. Despite the countless spars they had held, Roman's private soldiers had never once seen Kevin take a step back out of fear.
This was the same Kevin who had once cut off his own arm.
After gritting his teeth and enduring that hellish agony, the very concept of fear had vanished from his mind.
'I must win.'
Defeat was not an option.
Even setting fear aside, Kevin felt a burning pang of jealousy over the fact that Chris was relied upon more heavily than he was. If he couldn't even surpass Chris and instead fell to someone like Puki, Kevin knew he wouldn't be able to live with the self-loathing. Roman was his savior—the one who had reached out when his life was being brutally trampled in the mud. To repay that grace, Kevin constantly whipped himself to grow stronger.
Tap.
The opponent's attack came down. He deflected it with the flat of his blade, letting the heavy strike slide off.
Kevin immediately lunged forward, but Puki, as if anticipating this exact reaction, rapidly pulled his sword back and struck again.
Puki's counterattack was blistering fast.
At this rate, Kevin's head would be split open in an instant.
It was a hair-trigger situation. Yet, despite his life being in imminent danger, Kevin chose to step forward rather than evade.
Whoosh!
He thrust his sword. Right beneath Puki's chin.
Faced with a lethal strike aimed directly at his vitals, Puki's eyes shook violently.
He had to make a split-second choice: press his attack and strike Kevin down first, or abandon his momentum to block the incoming blade.
If this were a real battle, Puki would have chosen the former to end it, but he had no desire to recklessly risk their lives in a mere spar.
"Damn it!"
Clang!
He aborted his swing and blocked the attack. His balance faltered from the sudden, awkward shift in posture, and Kevin immediately lunged, bringing the massive man crashing to the dirt.
With that, the match was over. When Puki came to his senses and raised his head, the cold steel of a blade was resting gently against his throat.
"...Did you really have to go this far?"
"Why don't you try risking your life too? Then you'll see that my judgment wasn't wrong."
Puki stared up at him with an exasperated look.
Kevin merely sheathed his sword and stood back.
The spar was truly over.
*
Watching this entire scene unfold from a distance was Willas, his face frozen in utter shock.
At first, it had just been simple curiosity. These were soldiers of the periphery. He had merely wanted to pass the time by seeing how they trained and evaluating their level.
Because of that casual mindset, the training had been a profound shock from the very start.
'What on earth am I looking at?'
The soldiers engaged in sparring possessed extraordinary movements. Normally, common conscripts were only trained to thrust and block with spears, but Roman's soldiers were entirely different. They aimed for each other's vitals like seasoned swordsmen. Their evasive maneuvers were ruthlessly efficient and swift. Watching them strike at their opponents in the blink of an eye made Willas unconsciously clench his fists.
He couldn't help but admire them.
The refinement of their swordsmanship, in particular, was staggering. Seeing techniques that systematically cornered opponents made him doubt whether these men were truly just soldiers from the periphery.
'Every single soldier is using the same swordsmanship, and its level of completion is unbelievably high. And the atmosphere of this training... they fight as fiercely as if it were a real battlefield. Is this really a standard that a mere baron's family from the periphery can display? This is like looking at a miniature version of the Valhalla Empire.'
Valhalla was exactly like this.
A bellicose empire whose people staked their very lives on combat. Just like those warriors who fought with everything they had regardless of the reason, Roman's soldiers traded lethal blows without taking a single step in retreat.
It was then that Kevin and Puki clashed.
As their fight grew fiercer, Aura finally manifested from their blades.
It was a truly astounding sight.
However, rather than the fact that a boy who looked like a child soldier was using Aura, it was the quality of the Aura that caught Willas's absolute attention.
'This is impossible.'
The Aura wrapping the two fighters' blades defied common sense.
Normally, Aura exerted instantaneous power through an explosive burst, but Kevin and Puki manifested an Aura so faint and condensed that it made him doubt if it was even Aura at all. At first, he thought it was a trick. He wondered if they were using some kind of magic artifact to deceive his eyes, but the moment the two Auras collided, his jaw dropped.
Boom!
Rumble!
A violent gust of wind blew outward. Even from a distance, Willas could feel the shockwave of their clash against his skin, making him realize that the power of their Aura was far stronger than its faint appearance suggested.
It was completely beyond common sense.
His mind spun. Everything from the soldiers' sheer caliber to the peculiarity of their Aura left Willas utterly bewildered.
'These are no ordinary soldiers. They must be a knight order that the Dmitry family poured their heart and soul into raising. But since when did the Dmitry family possess this kind of power? While looking into Roman Dmitry this time, I confirmed that Dmitry is the true power in the northeast, but even so, this cannot be seen as the strength of a mere peripheral family. Even the influential figures of the Central Government do not possess such power. I heard Dmitry was famous for mining, so what on earth is this scene I am witnessing?'
"...Priest. Is Dmitry truly just a mining city?"
It was the voice of his disciple.
The young man was no different from Willas. He had also investigated the Dmitry family, but witnessing a reality so vastly different from his expectations had left him completely dazed.
Willas spoke in a hushed tone.
"I, too, doubt what I am seeing right now. What is certain is that they are no ordinary soldiers. I heard Dmitry has a knight order named after them; these men must be the Dmitry Knights."
At the very least, it was a deduction that aligned with common sense. He couldn't possibly accept them as mere soldiers.
However, Hans, who had been listening to their conversation right beside them, politely interjected.
"They are not the Dmitry Knights. The Dmitry Knights are a separate entity. The men you see before you are the private soldiers who follow Young Master Roman Dmitry. They do not belong to the family; they have sworn allegiance solely to Young Master Roman."
At those words, Willas was plunged into shock all over again.
Valhalla. The empire of warriors.
Even there, a nation known to possess the strongest military in the world, the common soldiers were nowhere near this strong.
'They are mere soldiers?'
It was absurd enough to make a passing dog laugh.
A soldier. The word implied beings who were little more than cogs in the great machine of war. They were not supposed to be highly skilled individuals capable of trading fierce, technical blows. Normally, a common soldier was someone who screamed and fell after just one or two attacks. It was no different even in the Valhalla Empire. While Valhalla's troops possessed superior combat capabilities compared to other nations, they still didn't display the refined qualities of individual swordsmen like Roman's private soldiers did.
He was completely speechless.
Dmitry. A territory on the periphery.
It wasn't some prestigious family from the heart of an empire, yet a mere peripheral baron's house was raising soldiers of this caliber.
His common sense had crumbled to dust.
While he was lost in his brief panic, the training came to an end.
Willas had to return to his quarters. On the way there, guided by Hans, he finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
"Where did you recruit such soldiers? Their skills are extraordinary. Did you hire them for a fortune, or are they apprentices preparing to become knights? Otherwise, there is absolutely no way you would employ Aura Swordsmen as mere soldiers."
Setting aside the high caliber of the rest of the troops, Kevin and Puki were absolutely not talents who should be labeled as mere soldiers.
They could openly manifest Aura! What kind of madman would employ such talents as common footmen? If they were forced into the lowly position of a soldier, they would have quit immediately over the unfair treatment.
He expected a sensible answer this time.
However, Hans shattered Willas's common sense once again.
"I do not know your intentions in asking such a question, but if you are referring to Kevin and Puki, they were not Aura Swordsmen until recently. Kevin was a boy from the slums whom Young Master Roman took in, and Puki was a C-Rank Mercenary who volunteered to become a soldier after seeing the recruitment notice. They simply became strong under Young Master Roman's teachings. Isn't it amazing? As the successor of the Dmitry family, Young Master Roman was born with a divine eye for recognizing talent. Truly, he is the blessing of Dmitry."
Hans's voice was overflowing with pride.
Hearing those words of absolute reverence, as if Hans couldn't even contain his pride in Roman Dmitry, Willas stopped dead in his tracks.
He looked at the surrounding scenery.
It was incredibly dreary—the unique, rough atmosphere of the periphery. He had previously judged that a talent capable of defeating Homeros could never be born in a place known only as a mining city.
But now, everything was different.
'Roman Dmitry... just who on earth is he?'
Their meeting had been postponed until tomorrow. He had told Baron Romero that a day's delay was perfectly fine, but now he wanted to see Roman as soon as humanly possible.
He was burning with impatience.
The protagonist of the rumors.
What kind of person was Roman Dmitry?
In the end, the only way to uncover the truth about this man who had completely shattered common sense was to meet him face-to-face.