The Serpent's Oath and Thunderclap Gifts
Arian was overjoyed that her son, who had declared his first overnight stay, returned in the evening. But when she heard that Kyle had successfully begun cultivating a mana technique, her joy exploded—she actually leaped into the air.
“Th-that's the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique?!”
“You know it?”
“N-no, I don't know what it is.”
Arian was a spirit summoner who had never learned martial arts. She flashed an awkward smile for a brief moment before beaming and pulling Kyle into a tight hug.
“I don't know what it is, but just the name sounds amazing!”
“It's a third-grade lightning mana cultivation method.”
“Amazing, amazing! My son is a total genius!”
Even without martial arts knowledge, she understood how incredible it was for a ten-year-old who had just awakened his spirit root that day to enter a third-grade technique from the Great Library.
“I need a place to cultivate.”
“Use the basement!”
“That's the food storage.”
“I'll move the storage out and convert the basement into a cultivation chamber. No—actually, it might be better to build a new one in the back garden. Don't worry, Gladiheim is overflowing with craftsmen!”
Arian hugged Kyle and bounced around joyfully. Only after quite a while did Kyle manage to escape her embrace.
Since the training hall wasn't ready yet, Kyle returned to his room for now.
He didn't lie down on the bed. There was still something he wanted to test. Kyle plopped down on the floor and tapped the thunder spirit stone necklace.
“Hey, come out.”
With a sharp crackle, a purple snake poked its head out. Kyle stared into the snake's eyes and extended his finger. As always, the snake coiled around it.
“Can't you speak?”
De, dear.
The snake flicked its tongue as if it had been waiting and whispered.
Spirit root, awakened. Me. Waited, long.
“Your speech is pretty rough.”
Kyle let out a hollow chuckle and propped his chin on his hand.
Me young, small.
“I know.”
Kyle had learned about spirits from Arian over the past five years.
Spirits were broadly divided into lower, middle, upper grades, and the Spirit King who ruled all of a single attribute—four categories in total.
This was a rough classification. Just as there were lower spirits growing into middles between those grades, there were also newborn baby spirits below the lower grade.
This lightning snake, drawn by the thunder spirit stone's energy, was a freshly born baby spirit. That explained its rudimentary intelligence and poor speech.
“My mom said with my aptitude, I don't need to contract with a baby spirit like you.”
Me, me waited, long.
“Awakening the spirit root feels like being reborn. Even before, when I focused, I could sense something in the wind or earth... Now, if I listen closely, I can even hear whispers.”
Tap. Kyle tapped the thunder spirit stone necklace.
“Thunder rarely strikes inside the Sword Tower, even if it rains occasionally. Rain adds a nice ambiance sometimes, but thunder's too noisy. But outside the tower, lightning strikes now and then. If I go out on a stormy day, lightning spirits will probably flock to me.”
Uuuh...
The snake drooped its head dejectedly. Its speech was lacking, but its emotional expressions were vivid. Kyle smirked and stroked the snake's head.
“Just saying. Let's make the contract anyway.”
Re, really?
The snake, which had been hanging its head low, lifted it up.
Me, young, small. Really, contract?
“I'm more sentimental than I look.”
He had fed it magic stones as treats for five years, after all. And this one was the first spirit to approach him.
Young and small? No big deal. He could feed it well and raise it big. Arian had recommended this approach too.
Higher-grade spirits had high pride and were hard to handle. But a baby spirit like this, not even lower grade yet, was easy to tame and could be shaped to his exact tastes.
“What's your name?”
Kyle stared intently at the snake. Its tiny body shivered.
All spirits were born with a name. They shared their true name and received mana. That was how spirit contracts were formed.
My, name... Yor... mungand.
The snake whispered while trembling. Kyle nodded and drew mana from his lower dantian, guiding it through his circuits to his fingertip.
Crackle! Purple lightning sparked from his finger. The snake gazed at it ecstatically, flicking its tongue.
“Yormungand. Too long to call out, so I'll shorten it to Yor. No complaints?”
No, ne.
“Eat this, and you're contracted to me.”
Kyle slowly brought his fingertip closer to Yor.
“I'll be your master. Got it?”
A contract with a spirit.
Spirit summoners provided mana, and spirits granted requests—it wasn't a master-servant bond. But Kyle demanded a master-servant contract from Yor. Since he was raising an unformed baby spirit, it was fair.
Un, understood. Master.
“Good. Eat.”
As Kyle grinned, Yor opened its mouth wide and chomped the current. Sizzle! Its tiny body noticeably grew larger.
It had been finger-sized at first meeting. Now it was palm-sized. This growth far outpaced the gradual feeding with magic stones.
De, delicious, delicious Master.
“Work time after dinner.”
Kyle planned to leverage his spirit talent for future growth.
This wasn't entirely his own idea. His mother Arian had awakened a wind spirit root, contracted a wind spirit, accumulated mana quickly, and learned magic.
'Magic starts with entering a cultivation method too.'
Of course, warriors' and mages' cultivation methods differed in structure. Mages accumulated mana in their bodies via cultivation, then manipulated external mana to produce magical phenomena.
But both were bound by spirit roots and circuits. Kyle grinned and whispered to Yor.
“Convert the mana in this room to thunder energy.”
Spirits were living mana lifeforms. Their exact birth conditions were unknown, but when elemental mana gained ego, it became a spirit.
Thus, spirits were close to mana and could force their nature onto neutral mana, altering it.
Got it, Master.
Yor coiled up and shivered. The neutral mana swirling in the room resonated with Yor's thunder energy and began to change.
It was a faint shift, not quite full current, but satisfying enough for Kyle. He immediately focused his spirit root and circulated the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique.
Whoosh...!
The room's mana was drawn to Kyle's breathing. He concentrated on the mana flowing through his circuits. The mana Yor had converted felt like pre-digested baby food—almost no resistance.
As it flowed through the circuits to his lower dantian, the mana began refining.
There were fewer impurities than in the Great Library's cultivation chamber, and less loss. Kyle's lips curled up.
'Perfect.'
This method used the spirit as a filter before cultivation—a technique unavailable to ordinary warriors.
Spirit aptitude was exceedingly rare, and Kyle's spirit root even more so. This was a method only he in the world could use.
'For now, just digesting the technique's thunder energy. But as mana grows and my body matures, I can contract more spirits.'
Kyle's awakened spirit root bore the grandiose name Chaos Spirit Root. With no precedent, his path would be unprecedented too.
He was new to mana cultivation methods... but to swing a sword well, the body came first.
'Others learn methods matching their spirit root attribute. I don't need to.'
His circuits were ample, and he was confident in mana control. Kyle decided what to do at the Great Library tomorrow.
First, skim all the cultivation methods, pick the appealing ones, and extract their essence.
'Practicing multiple at once is inefficient and annoying.'
So, mix them.
'My spirit root holds the potential to become anything as the world mixes. Circuits formed accordingly—no reason it can't work.'
Never tried? Try it. Doesn't work? Keep trying until it does, or humbly accept failure.
“Alright.”
Kyle stopped the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique and opened his eyes.
“I'll name it Mixed Origin Cultivation Method.”
“Mixed Origin” describing the world suited better than chaotic jumble. Kyle named his fused method first, then stood.
Master... tired...
Yor, slumped in midair, wriggled over. As a baby spirit, its stamina was poor.
“Eat up.”
Kyle drew some lower dantian mana to his fingertip again. Crackle! Pure purple mana formed, and Yor snapped it up. Its fading current sparked anew.
Yor converted mana, Kyle absorbed it. Absorbed mana fed Yor. A win-win. Kyle grinned and petted Yor's head.
“Grow big and strong.”
The words were for himself too.
*
The next day.
Kyle woke at his usual time, stretched, and went to the window—then froze at the sight outside.
Craftsmen from Gladiheim had gathered in Rose Mansion's inner courtyard to build the cultivation chamber on the grounds.
“Lucky to reincarnate into a rich family.”
Muttering that, he headed downstairs. A beaming Arian spread her arms wide.
“Grandpa sent another gift!”
Probably because Nellia had informed him of Kyle's entry into the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique.
Julius's box contained five fruits swirled with gold and purple. Puzzled by the unfamiliar fruit, Kyle tilted his head as Arian chuckled beside him.
“Thunderclap Fruits? He sent five of these rarities...”
“What are they?”
“Spiritual fruits that rarely grow on lightning-struck trees. Treasures coveted by those who awaken lightning spirit roots.”
Lucky to reincarnate into a rich family. Kyle thought again and picked one up. Just holding it stung his palm like a shock. Focusing, he saw pure thunder energy filling the fruit.
“Can I eat them all?”
“No! One at a time, over days.”
Spiritual fruits were ultra-pure mana orbs, incomparable to magic stones. Overdoing anything was bad, so Arian's warning was natural.
'Feels like I could handle all five.'
Judging by his circuits and lower dantian capacity, he probably could digest them all. But not wanting to worry Arian, Kyle obediently bit into one.
Crackle, sizzle...
Current sparked with each chew. His spirit root resonated naturally, circulating the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique. The thunder energy flowed down his circuits.
Master, Master!
Air rippled as Yor peeked out, eyes pleading. Kyle tore off a piece and fed it.
Waaah!
Yor cheered and swallowed it whole. He wondered how much it'd grow—no real change. Kyle swallowed his bite.
“Better stick to my mana for you.”
“Kyle! You contracted a spirit? Why didn't you call Mom?!”
Arian cried out sadly.
“Wanted to surprise you, Mom.”
Kyle replied calmly, wrapping Yor around his hand.
“Name's Yormungand.”
“You went with that baby spirit after all?”
“Yeah. Gonna raise it right...”
Thud, thud.
Before he finished, someone knocked on Rose Mansion's door. Maid Seril arrived with a stiff face.
“Lord Barkas requests a visit.”
“That bear?”
Arian's brows furrowed. Not someone she wanted to deal with, but ignoring a direct visit wasn't proper.
“Kyle, want to wait in your room?”
“Probably here for me.”
Kyle bit into the half-eaten Thunderclap Fruit.
“Uncle's here—odd for the nephew to hide. I haven't done anything wrong.”
“But...”
“He's waiting. Let's go, Mom.”
Arian hesitated, then nodded. Her son was right. No crimes, just full of talent—why hide? Steeling herself, she headed to the door.
“What brings you so early?”
Beyond stood massive Barkas and Bruno—smaller than his father but huge for his age.
“Couldn't stand the racket from dawn.”
“No way. Soundproofing's solid.”
“Your brother's got sharp ears.”
Barkas replied gruffly, glancing at Kyle. Meeting the harsh gaze, Kyle grinned and waved.
“Hi, Uncle Barkas. Hey, Bruno.”
Bruno Alastor. Five years ago, punched in the solar plexus by Kyle, flared aura, got stopped. Now 15, knight candidate usually at the Sword Tower, but here on the 4th floor residential area.
“Uniform suits you. Nice build too.”
“Arian. Who'd your son take after to be so rude?”
Barkas scowled.
“Calling an older brother by name like that. You okay with it?”
“Brothers gotta act like brothers to earn the title.”
Arian snorted.
“I'm the foolish one there. Calling a guy nothing like you 'brother' all the time. Lucky my son didn't inherit my stupidity.”
“Mom's not stupid.”
“See? Even kind-hearted. Unlike some who tried killing their little brother in a rage.”
Barkas's brow furrowed deeper at the counterattack.
“So, brother. Really here for the noise? Dragging your busy training son along?”
“To foster kinship.”
Barkas spat.
“Your son awakened his spirit root yesterday. Now he'll properly enter Alastor pureblood martial arts. So my son Bruno, the senior knight candidate and brother...”
“No birthday gift?”
Kyle asked, crunching the Thunderclap Fruit.
“It was my birthday yesterday. Uncle didn't even say happy birthday.”
“...”
“A gift now, and I won't mind the oversight.”
“What... are you eating?”
Barkas stammered.
“This? Grandpa's gift. Thunderclap Fruit. Not great—tingly and bitter?”
Crunch. Kyle took another bite.
“Thunderclap Fruit... Right. Why are you eating it?”
“Oh, Uncle doesn't know.”
Nellia said librarians had tight lips. As promised, Barkas was unaware of Kyle's technique entry.
“I started the Whirlwind Thunder Heaven Technique yesterday.”
But Kyle saw no reason to hide it.