LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 113
I received clothes and food. I also got a place to stay. It was a room slightly detached from the main building, filled to the brim with extravagant decorations.
Nightmare also received a warm welcome. Unlike the usual stable horses, it was assigned a dedicated servant to attend to it, and the floor of its room was layered with fluffy silk blankets.
[Lanah]
I frowned at the voice coming from outside. It was around lunchtime when the dragonblood, Jekrin, came to visit.
I stood up and slightly opened the door to find Jekrin holding two wooden swords and a tattered book, looking at me.
“What brings you here?”
“As a descendant of the Blood Dragon House, there are things you must learn. I heard that you still…”
I let Jekrin’s words slide by my ears as I gazed at the book he held. Despite its old appearance, it radiated a strange warmth.
[Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War]
“What’s that…?”
“It’s the heart technique you must learn for the rest of your life.”
“Heart technique?”
“It’s the method to control the power of the dragon residing within you.”
With no one who could engage in a proper conversation, I contemplated escaping this place when my hair started to fade. However, an opportunity to learn something new had arisen.
In fact, I vaguely hoped I could learn something about Dragon’s Blood, like the Ch’eong-bin and Ch’aeng-a, or the ways of the swordsmen of this land. I thought that if I followed in the footsteps of the Dragon’s Blood kin, I might learn a unique way to manipulate the mana within me. So, I asked Jekrin just in case.
“I told you, I’m not a Dragonblood. Is it okay to show me that?”
“Lanah…”
“If you teach me, I will learn…”
Jekrin, looking at me with pity, smiled as he approached. The book he handed over, called “Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War,” was densely filled with difficult characters.
While I could manage speaking and listening, there were many characters from this land’s script that I had yet to learn. In other words, I couldn’t read a substantial portion of the content written in this book.
“So, what do you think, Lanah? Can you feel the greatness of Dragon’s Blood…?”
“I can’t read it.”
“What…?”
“There are characters I haven’t learned yet.”
At my response, Jekrin made a gloomy face, nodding as if to understand.
“I see… You must not have had the chance to learn…”
I had indeed had the chance. I had learned to read under a teacher named Sobaek, but I had run away wanting to come to this world quickly. Jekrin nodded alone, misunderstanding.
“It’s okay. I’ll teach you.”
Jekrin opened the book and began to recite its contents.
[Remember that everything in the world lies beneath Dragon’s Blood. When the black ashes cover the sky, and everything melts in the hot flames…]
“Remember this secret, and thinly spread the energy in your body. You must create a path so that it can ignite at any moment.”
“Is it like that from now on?”
“Like what, you ask?”
“The strange incantations, I mean… moving the mana and the energy in my body while reciting them.”
“You’re quick to understand. You’re correct.”
“Um… Okay. Please continue explaining.”
Jekrin continued to elaborate. Most of what poured from his lips was almost self-praise to remind one of the greatness of Dragon’s Blood. Listening to Jekrin’s words, I could understand why the Dragon’s Blood kin were the way they were.
It was only natural, given they had memorized such strange writings from a young age.
Before long, I realized something. What Jekrin was reciting resembled an incantation.
A magical incantation is a promise made to oneself. By reciting a set phrase, it evokes images to amplify the magic’s power.
That was the essence of magical incantation.
The moment I understood it, it was over. The secret of the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War that entered my head unwound and began to reorganize. I shed what was unnecessary and took only what was needed.
The circle of my heart began to spin. The heat that was undulating inside me followed a specific flow, forming thin lines. It was about opening the path for instantaneous enhancement, not permanent reinforcement.
A path for mana began to form. There was no room for impurities. The heat embedded in the mana burned everything away.
Humans cannot become dragons. They claim to be descendants of dragons under the name of Dragon’s Blood, but they are not true dragons, only a mixture of dragon’s blood to a certain degree.
The Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War was a delusion filled with the aspirations of those who wanted to be dragons. They arrogantly assumed themselves to be dragons and took on arrogance and brutality.
Mana has a profound impact on the surrounding environment. So do people. They cannot help but be influenced by mana. By giving suggestions to the mana within their bodies and changing its properties, their bodies will reflect those changes.
The secret of the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War was exactly that. The fire mana created through strong self-suggestion would someday reach the brain and shape the user’s personality to resemble the dragon they had fashioned.
I removed the arrogant incantations about all-consuming flames and the greatness of Dragon’s Blood. What I would retain was the form contained within it. A solid image of flames twisted, leaving only a vague afterimage behind.
“Lanah…?”
“Ah, yes…”
“Have you memorized it all?”
“To some extent.”
I had only set the basic framework; there was still much direction left to follow.
“May I check your body for a moment? I want to see if the path of fire has properly established itself.”
I hid my hands behind my back at Jekrin’s words. Even though the people of the Blood Dragon House accepted me as family, to me, they were still unfamiliar others. I couldn’t allow them to flow mana into my body.
“Um. You still seem unfamiliar.”
“A bit, yes.”
“I understand… Then.”
Jekrin, looking disappointed at my answer, stood up and handed me a small wooden sword.
“Are we learning swordsmanship too?”
“Swordsmanship… there’s no fixed form. If you’ve properly learned the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War, your body will move by itself.”
“It moves by itself?”
“The dragon’s energy will tell you the answer. Just let it flow like watching flames spread.”
“Um…”
“Of course, it might be hard to understand at first. But if you continue training, you’ll come to understand my words.”
Jekrin stepped out into the spacious courtyard and aimed the wooden sword at me.
“Are you suggesting we spar?”
“I will not move from this spot; swing as you like.”
Is that really okay?
But it was a great opportunity to test what I had just learned. It would be much better to have someone to clash swords with, rather than just swinging in the air by myself.
I lightly shook my hand holding the wooden sword and stood up.
Swish-!
Even with a light gesture, it felt like a wisp of heat was rising from the tip of the wooden sword. The movement of mana was faster than usual. Without conscious thought, the path of mana connected to my heart naturally sent a small amount of mana into the sword.
“Already that much heat in the sword…!”
“No, I told you. I’m a wizard…”
“Indeed, you are a descendant of the Blood Dragon House…! To achieve such a result despite just learning the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War means it fits your body well…!”
He still didn’t listen. It was clear that his mind had been consumed by the mana from practicing the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War. If I had to guess, everyone in the Blood Dragon House was probably similar.
I thought that perhaps the members of the Blue Dragon House were better.
“Come on!”
Hot energy began to surge from Jekrin’s body as he held his sword. Heat shimmered above him.
Starting lightly.
I moved forward and swung my sword. In that moment, a small amount of mana surged along the path I had opened, creating an instantaneous boost.
Clang-!
The wooden swords clashed. In that moment, Jekrin smiled brightly and shouted.
“Lanah! Can’t you feel the fierceness of the flames!”
Of course. I had tinkered with the principles of the Kwanghwa Dragon Island Style Art of War. What was currently enhancing this body was the pure Starlight Mana I possessed.
“Visualize the great dragon! Remember that its blood resides within you!”
I didn’t want to do that. The one controlling my body had to be solely me. I frowned and began to change the properties of the mana. The circle of starlight, which had been spinning in my heart, caught fire and spread heat throughout my entire body.
“Good!”
As the hot heat began to rise within me, a bright smile spread across Jekrin’s face.
Wroooom-!
Flames erupted from the extended wooden sword. Unable to withstand the heat, the sword began to burn, and ashes started to scatter.
This isn’t good. I needed to keep the flames entirely under my control.
Bang-!
The wooden swords clashed again. The faint heat shimmering on Jekrin’s sword also ignited with flames.
Two types of fire were mingling. The mana of similar properties did not repel each other. I didn’t like it. Did that mean I was similar to these lunatics?
My mana must wholly follow my control. That flame blooming atop the sword too. Therefore, it should not mix. It should only exist as myself.
The moment I thought that, the fiery flames that had been blazing began to subside. The intensity of the flames didn’t weaken. Rather, the temperature was rising even higher.
Red.
At the moment when the orange flames transformed into a perfect red, that red mana enveloped the wooden sword. Instantaneous compression of mana. The scorching heat concentrated in one place formed a blade.
In that moment, I felt that the sword in my hand could slice through everything in this world.
It was instinct.
Swish-!
As the wooden swords collided once more, Jekrin’s sword was cut off. Even the flames of mana that had enveloped it disappeared in an instant.
The sensations I had just felt began to fade. The wooden sword, shrouded in opaque red, began to exhale orange flames anew, as if it had never changed.
“This is…”
Jekrin’s voice calling me grew distant. To grasp that sensation I had just felt, I cut off my awareness from everything around me.
However, what had vanished did not return again. That premonition which had come to me without warning simply faded away, as if it had been nothing more than my illusion.