Using Karma for the First Time
She smiled faintly at my words. As Raena waved her hand, an enormous amount of knowledge flooded into my mind.
Once the infusion of knowledge—beyond human comprehension—finished, I understood what was being sold here.
If I browsed it like shopping, picking one by one, it would probably take years to find what I wanted.
What I sensed during the infusion was that the items were surprisingly cheap, and there were countless pieces of forbidden knowledge for humans beyond just potions.
What did I need most right now?
Actually, I had already thought about it.
True to my nickname Hero of Herculean Strength, my power was overwhelmingly immense, and my body was as tough as steel. On top of that, my special privilege had made my skin even tougher.
However, I had almost no techniques or mana to support that strength.
On the Karen Continent, there were plenty of mages and knights who handled mana. I had crushed them with sheer overwhelming force.
I was a character with no equal, but what about one against many?
Of course, smashing a single territory was possible, but against 50,000 troops, even I couldn't handle it alone.
I wanted a power that could smash even a dragon.
Raena looked at me with a hint of admiration.
"Hey, excellent choice. It's rare for a human to accurately judge and admit their own shortcomings. Will you go with the fist manual and potion?"
"Yes."
"Karma can't be refunded once used. And karma inherently carries divinity. Still want to buy?"
Inherent divinity. This was the power of gods, superior to the divine power humans used. Of course, humans couldn't strengthen it, and it was consumable.
Someday, if I was in danger, I could consume karma to escape, but would that happen right now? I didn't think so.
I had appeared on the Karen Continent, and there was a chance I'd clash with Odin's chosen warrior, but that was a story for later. No need to worry now.
"I'll buy. But how do I use these...?"
"Hehe, no need to worry about that."
Poof!
A fist manual and potion floated up before my eyes. In an instant, they seeped into my body.
"Gah! Aaaargh!"
A scream burst out for a moment. My head throbbed like it would split as enormous knowledge flooded in. My body began to be forcibly remodeled as mana seeped inside.
Crack! Creak-creak!
With the sound of bones breaking, my muscles, tendons, and ligaments twisted throughout my body. My bones actually broke, and they began reforming like a complete physical transformation.
My muscles grew denser, and mana permeated my entire body. Especially around my dantian, a massive amount of mana formed—like the inner energy from a wuxia novel, though here it was mana, not qi.
Flash!
As the pain vanished, I opened my eyes.
"Huff! Huff!"
My whole body was drenched in sweat. I instinctively understood the mana system and the essence of fist arts.
"My lord! Are you alright?!"
The carriage stopped. Knights rushed over, and the entire army halted at my scream.
Rommel flung open the carriage door and jumped in.
"What happened?!"
Rommel had even drawn his sword, probably thinking an assassin had slipped in since my scream was that loud.
"Nothing. Just a nightmare."
"A nightmare...?"
"What? Can't I have nightmares too?"
"N-no, sir! Of course you can, my lord. You're human after all."
"What time is it?"
"Around 3 p.m., sir."
"We'll rest a bit, then move."
"Yes, sir!"
Rommel didn't argue. I really needed to tighten up the knights' discipline. Who would've thought Rommel, who used to drown in booze every day, would change like this?
Rommel dispersed the crowd around me.
"It's nothing. Everyone, rest here!"
"Yes, sir!"
Screech.
I opened the door and stepped out of the carriage. A cold wind cooled my sweat-soaked face. Steam even rose from my body—probably because the mana infusion and body remodeling had heated me up.
Kainus and Aria came running late. But Cecilia arrived first, flying toward me and hugging me tightly.
"My lord! Are you okay?!"
She had been tending to the sick in the newly annexed territory and joined us late. She was always waiting for a chance to touch me, and saw my sweaty state as her opportunity.
Flames seemed to shoot from Aria's eyes.
"Wh-what are you doing right now?!"
"What? Can't you see? I'm soothing the lord."
"Hmph! You're a high priestess! How can someone who should guard her purity do that?!"
"What're you on about?"
"......"
Aria looked at me in disbelief. Well, I figured the two women would have some tension when they met.
I moved past them.
"Eh? My lord! Are you really okay?"
"Yeah. I have something to test, so don't follow."
"If you're fine, we'll do that, but you don't look well right now."
"I don't look well?"
No way. My condition was perfect. It had been painful for a moment, but cramming in vast knowledge and mana with no sensation would be weirder. This was a negligible price.
Thud, thud.
A rocky mountain loomed in the distance. Not quite a full range, but like a neighborhood hill, covered entirely in rocks with no trees.
I approached near the rocky mountain and steadied my breath. Without conscious effort, the essence of fist arts surfaced.
"To use divinity and mana purely, weapons are not recommended. Force emitted through weapons is easily tainted by blades. Explosively bursting elemental energies is the foundation of fist arts, and moving with utmost efficiency is its essence."
⟨ Fist Art Essence ⟩
Eliminating all impurities and redundancies for maximum efficiency. That's where fist arts begin.
People considered using mana through weapons the pinnacle. Even I used to think that. But realizing the fist art essence showed me that pure destruction comes from bare hands.
The Fist God's fist art was an absurd martial technique that maximized elemental power with minimal force. Of course it was absurd—it was created by a god.
Somehow, with this much power, smashing a rocky mountain seemed easy.
Rumble!
As I drew up mana, enormous power transmitted through my mana roads. The pain during infusion came from forcibly carving those roads.
Could a human smoothly draw such vast mana? The answer was no.
You'd need to train in martial arts from birth, but no such human exists. Even starting early, impurities clog the mana roads, impossible to fully remove.
But my new mana roads had zero impurities.
Boom!
Azure aura gathered on my fist. I knew it was possible, but knowing and doing are different.
I thrust my fist toward the rocky mountain without hesitation.
Whoooosh!
Near the rocky mountain, knights and soldiers watched their lord. Kainus did too. Like everyone else, he couldn't help but follow the entranced lord to the mountain.
When the lord stood before it, an immense mana surged.
Boom!
Whirl!
The surrounding mana swirled visibly. All knights could handle mana. Skill varied with training, but you couldn't be a knight without basics. So they sensed the lord's massive mana surging.
Even non-mana users could feel it spreading everywhere.
Rommel tilted his head.
"Has the lord ever used mana before?"
"Never heard of it, Captain. He just rips mana apart with raw strength, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Maybe he had an enlightenment."
"Pfft, how can a human suddenly gain enlightenment and use mana without training? You think that's possible, Vice Captain?"
"That's why it's weird."
Kainus furrowed his brow at the knights' words. So the lord, who never learned mana anywhere, suddenly awakened it. It had to be the gods' blessing.
'It's certain.'
The oracle to Kainus was to aid Aron. As a dragon, he had no reason to help Aron. He disguised as a strategist post-oracle, but couldn't fathom why the gods commanded it.
Today proved Aron received direct divine aid.
"This power is Master level..."
"M-Master?!"
Commotion erupted at Kainus's words. Then Aron's fist aura slammed into the mountain.
The small fist's aura expanded, completely obliterating the peak.
Kaboom!
"Gasp!"
"Whoooaa!"
Even Kainus was shocked. He didn't know if gods could instantly make someone a Master like this.
'Something's up! Lord Aron and I are part of the gods' grand plan!'
Rumble!
"......"
I was stunned by my own strike. Following the Fist God's technique, I infused aura into my fist and hit the mountain, but not only did the peak vanish—the whole small mountain collapsed.
"What the...?"
At that moment, I felt all the gods watching me.
The God of Destruction and Regeneration Mahadev has sponsored you 5,000 Karma.
The Goddess of Love Venus has sponsored you 6,000 Karma.
The Goddess of Abundance Demeter has sponsored you 3,000 Karma.
The God of the Sky Jupiter has sponsored you 4,000 Karma.
The God of Giants Talos has sponsored you 5,000 Karma.
"......"
What? What don't you mean? Why stop mid-sentence?! And it felt like the gods were about to stir up something big.
What? Conquer the empire first? So they're planning to boost his rank by causing some incident soon...