The Fourth Ring of Fire

The moment Raon entered his room, he drew the curtains and locked the door. He had already told them not to come in, but this was a precaution just in case.

"Wrath."

He tapped the ice-flower bracelet on his wrist, calling the demon out.

"Do not dare speak This King's name so casually, you wretched human."

"Then you shouldn't have told me your name."

"I never expected a creature like you would endure This King's possession!"

Wrath muttered that revealing his magnificent name had been a final courtesy, offered just before he devoured a human's body and soul.

"I don't care about your magnificent name. Are you planning to interfere this time too?"

"As a monarch of the Demon Realm, This King keeps every word that has left his lips. From now on, I will not lay a hand on you while you cultivate."

"Well, you did pour out every last scrap of power you'd been hoarding."

Raon nodded. A month ago, when he had learned the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, Wrath had attacked with everything he had. There was no way that spent power had already recovered.

"You fool! The energy of Wrath can be drawn forth at any time. This is merely to honor the word This King spoke as a monarch—"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"You pea-sized brat!"

Cut off mid-sentence, Wrath trembled and radiated a burst of cold.

"Shame. That would've been another chance to raise my stats."

"Krrrgh…"

Wrath ground his teeth. Frost began to settle between the flames of cold, as if his rage were a breath away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from exploding. Raon narrowed his eyes at the shivering demon.

I can never let my guard down around this one.

Wrath was not a companion. He was an enemy. Whether Raon was cultivating or training, he could never afford to lower his guard in Wrath's presence. He had to stay tense at all times.

"Alright, then."

He pulled a wooden case from his pocket, the Nine Flower Pill nestled inside, and opened the lid. A rich scent of dry undergrowth — the kind that hung over an autumn mountain — rolled out into the room.

Smells good.

The medicinal fragrance alone was enough to tell him the elixir's potency was exceptional.

"Hoo."

Raon slowly exhaled and placed the Nine Flower Pill in his mouth. A bitter, dense medicinal aroma wrapped around his entire palate.

He said to chew it.

Following Rimer's advice, he chewed the pill and swallowed. It dissolved with a dull pop in his throat, and the dense energy sealed inside it spread through every mana circuit in his body like smoke pouring from a chimney.

He closed his eyes, settled into a seated posture, and began rotating the Ring of Fire while circulating the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. The elixir's energy whirled through him, swelling his muscles. His dantian prickled as it expanded, and his sensitivity to mana soared to its absolute limit.

Heat raced through his mana circuits as if it had been fired in a charcoal kiln. The pure cold that had melted inside those same channels followed the path the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames had paved, circulating through his whole body.

Good thing I ran the Ring of Fire first.

The Ring of Fire thoroughly scoured the cold and impurities from inside his mana circuits, and the energy of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames then raced down that cleared path like a beam of light, wasting none of the elixir. The two cultivation arts moved as one, maximizing each other's strengths and canceling out their weaknesses.

As every last drop of the Nine Flower Pill's mana melted away, the Ring of Fire, his body, and his dantian were joined by a crimson thread. Raon felt the endless flow of mana and sank deeper and deeper into the world of cultivation.

When the sun that had risen hung once more beneath the western mountains and dusk painted the sky, Raon opened his eyes.

Raon clenched his fist. Even without the messages, he could feel the fourth ring whirling vigorously around his heart.

The Ring of Fire reaching 4-star was not the whole of it. Water Attribute Resistance and Sense of Frost Flowers had risen as well.

Incredible.

For a single mid-grade elixir, the changes were enormous. Of course, it was not the elixir alone. Nearly a year of training at full power had stacked effort upon effort, and the pill had simply been the spark that set it all off.

Raon rolled his shoulders and stood. His dantian was brimming with heat and coolness both, and his body felt as light as a blade of grass riding the wind. He was in perfect condition, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep. Right now, he felt he could crush Marta with physical ability alone — even if she used aura.

Just as he was about to call up his status window, Wrath erupted from the bracelet in a burst of blue flame.

"Four-star?"

Hm?

"F-four-star Water Attribute Resistaaaaance?!"

Wrath's voice trembled. He seemed to have missed the Ring of Fire messages entirely and seen only the Water Attribute Resistance that had appeared last.

Come to think of it, he wouldn't have known.

Wrath could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see the messages, but not the status window. Learning that Water Attribute Resistance even existed had clearly caught him off guard.

"You sneaky little bastard! You had 4-star Water Attribute Resistance this whole time and you hid it from This King!"

"You never asked."

"Urgh!"

Wrath's eyes flashed a vicious blue.

"I knew you had some resistance, but 4-star — and a growth type, no less. You filthy wretch!"

"Having Water Attribute Resistance makes me filthy…?"

Raon let out a dry laugh.

If he loses it this badly over Water Attribute Resistance, he'll go completely berserk if he ever finds out about the Ring of Fire.

If Wrath learned about the Ring of Fire — which raised the grade of both body and soul — or about the reincarnation, Raon might actually get to watch him faint on the spot.

That's why I told you. You can't beat me.

"Silence. If This King unleashed his original power, a thing like you would be an ice sculpture before you could blink."

But you can't.

"Every time you open your mouth, you stoke This King's fury!"

Unable to contain his rage, Wrath detonated a blaze of cold and charged.

In an instant, frost fierce enough to turn lips blue whirled through Raon's entire body.

"Hnh."

Wrath had grown as well. The cold and the emotional assault were both stronger than before.

But.

The Ring of Fire and Water Attribute Resistance had grown even more. Before four rings rotating of their own accord, Wrath's fury was nothing more than a cute tantrum. As Raon gritted his way through the blue cold that stabbed down through his entire body, a message appeared.

"You miserable piece of—!"

Wrath let out a monstrous howl and then withdrew from Raon's body.

"It feels as though all my limbs have been severed! There is no way! No way at all!"

He had dropped the pretense of composure and was now screaming in genuine distress.

"That's what I told you. You can't."

"This King's power is not cold alone. Raising the primordial human emotion of wrath is my true ability. Even when This King was in the Demon Realm, the demons I drove to self-destruction by stirring their fury numbered in the tens of thousands—"

"And that doesn't work on me either."

"Ghhhhk!"

Wrath's blue flame began to turn red. He was on the verge of exploding, but he didn't charge in again — apparently unwilling to hand over any more stats.

"That's better. Nice and quiet."

Raon nodded, unbothered, and opened his status window.

The first thing that caught his eye was the disappearance of Diminished Athletic Ability and Diminished Mana Sensitivity, which had been lodged in his status like anchors. An irrepressible smile spread across his face. That sensation of a body light enough to take flight, of mana seeping in through his pores — it had not been his imagination.

The stats jumped a lot too.

Every stat had risen by at least two points. His current physical abilities and perception would not fall short even compared to a Regular Swordsman.

The Water Attribute Resistance is a huge gain as well.

With Water Attribute Resistance at 4-star, he would have no trouble enduring even 4th Circle magic from now on. That resistance would be a far greater help against mages or shamans than against swordsmen.

I got more than I expected.

The Nine Flower Pill was a fine elixir, but he had gained even more than that promised. Enough that even his cynical self could not wipe the smile off his face.

Might as well loosen up a little.

Wanting to test his changed body and aura, he opened the door.

"Huk!"

"Ah!"

Sylvia and Helen, who had been standing right outside, startled and scrambled backward.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, no — you said you were cultivating, so we were standing guard…"

"I was doing the same, young master."

Both women's eyes were faintly bloodshot. They had been watching over him all night without making a sound. When he spread his perception, he found the other maids outside the window as well.

"Mm…"

Raon lowered his gaze. A warmth greater than anything the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames had ever produced kindled in his chest — enough, for a moment, that the cold in his mana circuits felt as if it had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been wiped away.

"Thank you."

Grateful and a little sorry, he bowed his head to the two of them and to the maids outside.

"Hic!"

"My lady!"

"H-Helen. What do I do?"

Sylvia's eyes welled, and she toppled sideways.

"Our boy has grown up so well!"

"He really has! I could die without a single regret now, my lady!"

"Helen!"

The two of them clung to each other and sniffled.

This is the hardest part.

Dealing with Sylvia and Helen was more exhausting than Wrath's mental assaults, the cold in his mana circuits, or Glenn Zieghart's pressure.

"Hoo…"

While the two of them were still wrapped in each other's arms, Raon left the Annex at a quick pace.

Over the next two days, Raon finished adapting to his changed body. His physique and senses were far more different than the status window had suggested. The first time he performed his swordsmanship, he thought it was not even his own body — because even executing the same techniques, the power and speed were on a completely different level.

The reason for such a vast gap was simple.

A change in constitution.

The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Diminished Athletic Ability and Diminished Mana Sensitivity vanished from his constitution, his physical condition climbed to its peak. His body moved exactly as he willed it, and mana that had once felt as fine as grains of sand now registered as large as beads.

This is a foundation too.

More than the increase in raw force, he was proud to have laid a base from which he could climb even higher. And so, on this last day of the holiday, he had come out to the garden flowerbeds to tend the flowers as a form of rest.

"You fool. When you thin the soil, you must turn it from below first. To mix the nutrient-rich earth properly, you work it with your hands, not a trowel."

Wrath, of all beings, knew a surprising amount about flowers and trees. Thanks to that, Raon could put the flowerbeds in order without even opening the book he had brought.

"When This King was in the Demon Realm, I once filled an entire flowerbed with ice blossoms. The demons who beheld it bowed their heads to the flowers as if in worship. That was praise for This King, and awe—"

"Haa."

It would have been nicer without the rambling. Wrath talked far too much. Especially whenever a sentence started with When This King was in the Demon Realm, the words did not stop for at least ten minutes. After listening to Demon Realm stories every day, a place Raon had never even visited was starting to feel familiar.

"That is not how it is done! Petals must be handled with delicacy. If you cannot manage it, just freeze them!"

"I got it."

Raon frowned and flicked his fingers. He planted the flowers as carefully as if he were handling mana, and Wrath's nagging finally ceased.

He had finished arranging the flowerbed on the right and was about to turn to the one on the left when he paused.

"Hm?"

A slender figure was walking in from the entrance of the Annex. The long hair had been cut to a bob, but there was no mistaking who it was.

Marta Zieghart.

Marta, who had been defeated two days ago, approached with her face twisted in a scowl.

"Did you come looking for a fight?"

Raon dusted the soil from his hands and stood.

I'd welcome that.