Chapter 29

The place where the ground had collapsed.
Lucas quietly looked at it.

‘He found it well on his own.’

Down there was the only field in the gorge where no trees existed.
A place where a faint light shone even in the darkness of night.
A place where warm wind blew even in the low temperatures of winter.
A space full of contradictions, as if even the interference of time avoided it.

The Sanctuary of the Golden Mandragora.

That was what people called that place.
The reason was not simply because of its dreamlike atmosphere.

Tat.

Lucas took one step forward.
His body dropped into the darkness.
His posture didn’t waver even in the fierce wind.
Though it was quite a deep path, Lucas didn’t slow down.

Thud.

At last, his two feet stepped onto soft ground.
In the middle of the field tinged with blue light, where Serpens was likely to have come down.
What greeted him was neither the planted mandragoras nor the warm blowing wind.

“Uwaaa! Save me, Lucas!”

A familiar scream came from behind him.
Lucas slowly turned his head.

“Hey, look at this body. Why are ya so sturdy for your age? Don’t ya have an innate talent for farming?”
“Where the hell are you touching, you son of a bitch! Uwaaak!”
“Kid, even your mouth is rough. This is totally natural disposition, natural disposition!”

Serpens had been caught by a large man.

Lucas was at a loss for words for a moment.

The boy desperately tried to pull himself free, but the other man’s grip was far too strong.

Lucas slowly approached the two of them.
He placed his index finger against his forehead and slowly sorted out the situation.
And the conclusion he reached.
Whatever the case, it didn’t look urgent.

“……Let him go, Sean.”

Lucas said quietly.
Then the large man chuckled and let Serpens go.
His eyes flashed.

“Well, damn! bro, it’s been a long time ain’t it?”

A rustic voice.
Serpens gasped for breath and moved away from the man.

“……It has been two years.”
“Wow, it’s already been that long, yeah?”

Lucas and Sean conversed.
Serpens was looking at Lucas as if he needed an explanation.

“What brings ya here? I felt an unbelievably strong presence nearby, but I never thought it would be you, bro.”
“I came because of him.”
“Ah, that kid? He’s sturdy, so it looks like ya really worked him over.”

Serpens frowned.
A strong-looking face and a rustic way of speaking.
Even his harmless-looking face was fine.
Because he would probably be more enjoyable to talk to than the blunt human beside him.
But conversation was something done with words.
Crushing his body with those watermelon-sized forearms was not conversation.

“He looks fifteen at most, but he blocked my blade several times. He’s quite the talent!”

Leaving behind Sean, who laughed heartily, Lucas approached Serpens.

A bleeding forehead.
Scraped knees and both arms.
Panting breath.
Even so, the words that came from Lucas’s mouth were far from concern.

“The torch?”
“I lost it when I suddenly rolled down…….”
“……Alright.”

Lucas gave a slight nod and turned his back to the boy.
Lucas spoke with Sean for a moment.
Serpens scratched his philtrum with his index finger and looked at him.

A moment later, Sean spoke to Serpens.

“Ya said ya wanna get stronger?”

Serpens glared at Sean.

That was obvious.
Had he not fallen into this unknown field while training to become stronger?

Serpens glanced at Lucas, then opened his mouth.

“Of course.”

Then Sean laughed loudly as if satisfied.

“Haha! Then do ya wanna learn properly?”
“……What?”
“Ya said ya wanna get stronger. Ya don’t get strong just by running around and swinging a sword a few times.”

Serpens furrowed his brow.
He wondered why he was going on about something so obvious.
But Sean threw out one more line.

“Your eyes rush too much when ya fight.”

Serpens clenched his fist for a moment.
At that moment, Sean slowly stroked his chin.

“Want to go a few rounds with me?”
“What……?”
“Don’t they say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times? Let’s go a few rounds, kid. Don’t tell me you’re scared because of that short fight earlier?”
“I’m not!”
“Then it’s settled. Hurry up and pick up ya sword.”

The boy grabbed his sword with a blank face.
A sparring match that had suddenly been arranged.
He looked at his teacher, but Lucas merely watched the two as if it were nothing.

‘What’s going on?’

This field he had reached when the ground suddenly collapsed.
He had hurt himself all over while rolling down.
And in that situation, even a sparring match had suddenly been arranged.
Seeing as Lucas had followed him, it seemed he had come to the right place.
But what kind of sparring could he do in this physical state……

“Huh?”

The boy felt around his body with widened eyes.

“Huh?”

His waist that had been throbbing until just moments ago.
His forehead that had been bleeding.
His knees and both arms that had been stinging from scraped skin.
The pain in his body had disappeared at some point.
So quickly and naturally that even the boy himself had not noticed.

Whoosh-

Kang!

At that moment, an attack suddenly came in.
Serpens instinctively blocked the attack and frowned.

“To think you’d get distracted with me in front of ya. Looks like ya thought I was easy.”

Serpens glared at Sean.
At the same time, he began blocking the incoming attacks.

“I wasn’t distracted. It’s just that my body felt strange!”

Was this also some kind of magic?
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand it.
His entire body had been a mess of scrapes and scratches, yet in a brief moment, he had become fine.
But Sean did not give the boy any time to understand the situation.

Whoosh-

Sean swung his sword again.
This time, faster than before.
Serpens focused on defense and raised his sword.

Kang!

Sparks flew as sword struck sword.
The impact traveled up the boy’s arm.

‘It’s definitely…… heavy!’

He had already realized the difference in strength.
Serpens quickly stepped back and opened the distance.
But Sean did not miss that opening.

“Ya can’t just think about dodging.”

Whuuk-!

Sean’s kick came in quickly.
Serpens barely twisted his body to avoid it, but Sean’s following fist slammed into the boy’s abdomen.

“Keoheok!”

Serpens staggered.

Sean spat and roughly rubbed it into the dirt on the ground.

An opponent who looked relaxed.
Himself, barely managing to dodge.
Serpens had clearly grown, but he quickly realized he still had a long way to go.

A slight glance.
Lucas entered the boy’s sight.
He was watching the two from a distance with his arms crossed, his expression showing no particular emotion.

“Ya eyes are wavering.”

Thud.

Sean’s foot struck the boy.
A massive impact he couldn’t react to.
Serpens was sent flying backward.

“Keueuk!”

He rolled across the ground and barely came to a stop.
For a moment, the boy’s mind went blank.
Sean chuckled with his sword resting on his shoulder.

“Looks like I don’t even need to use my sword.”

At the mockery directed at him, Serpens gritted his teeth and stood up.

“A guy who gets distracted while fighting goes down in one hit.”
“…….”

This time as well, Serpens felt something strange.
He had clearly taken an impact that felt as if his abdomen had been pierced through.
But what about now?
He felt no pain at all, as if he had never been hit.

“Lucas still made sure to give you everything you needed. Your body is good for your age, and looks like ya got a feel for energy sense too.”

Sean gave Lucas a thumbs-up.
Of course, Lucas did not react.

“But now that I’ve seen him, there’s definitely a problem. Bro! How long have you trained this kid?”
“About half a year.”
“Damn. He’s got talent! His luck is just terrible.”
“Can you do it?”
“No problem.”

What was he going to do?
Serpens stared blankly at the man standing before him.
He felt distinctly different from Lucas.
That didn’t simply mean his personality.

“All right. Do ya know what Aura is?”

Sean asked Serpens.
His eyes were serious, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, making his expression impossible to read.

“Aura……?”

Serpens retraced his memory.
The elf he had seen at the Apex Tournament a few months ago.
He recalled what the elf named Viento or something had used.
That power that looked like magic.
As he remembered Lucas’s words, it was a technique only strong people could use.
That it made the user stronger.
And that its color differed from person to person. That much, he knew.

“No need to think about it with such a serious face. Sometimes thinking simply is the fastest way to the answer.”

Sean lightly kicked Serpens’s foot.
With an “ugh,” Serpens lost his balance and naturally fell into a kneeling position.

“Ya can sit comfortably.”

The boy sighed.
Well, now that it had come to this, he had no choice but to follow.
Since Lucas seemed to have asked him……
Serpens had no way to refuse.

“Fine. I’ll do everything you tell me to do, so just tell me what we’re doing.”
“I’m going to make ya an Aura user.”
“Ah, I see……. Wait, what?!”

In the boy’s eyes, delight appeared together with unease.
Was that something he could do just because he was told to?
Compared to a few months ago, it was true that his body had become sturdier and his skills had improved.
But it did not seem to be to the point where he could use Aura.
At least, that was what the boy thought.

“Lucas said he awakened Aura after four years too, so is this something I can do after only half a year of training?”
“Of course not. That is why I am saying I’ll help ya.”
“Is this something that works just because you help?”
“The odds are half and half. Either it works, or it doesn’t.”
“What happens if it doesn’t?”
“Well, your tiny body’ll go boom and burst.”
“What?”
“No problem at all! Ya just need to succeed!”
“No, wait a second. I see way too many problems here!”

Serpens hurriedly tried to stand up.
There was not a single normal person among Lucas’s acquaintances.
There was a reason people said birds of a feather flock together.
Half and half odds? Was that not exactly how a scammer talked?
Back-alley dice gamblers used exactly this kind of tone.
But the results were always miserable.

Sean lightly pushed Serpens, who was struggling, back down.

‘Such strength!’

This was the first time Serpens had ever found a smile directed at him so frightening.

“W-wait! Lucas! This is way too dangerous!”
“…….”
“You crazy person, I’m saying I’ll die!”
“Just think about succeeding.”
“No, what does that even mean-”

Sean put strength into the hand gripping Serpens’s shoulder.
Serpens let out something close to a death cry and sank down.

“All right, let’s go in.”
“No, you crazy bas-”

Tap.

Sean’s hand lightly pressed Serpens’s forehead.
At that moment, darkness came over the boy’s vision.
Sight, hearing, smell, and the rest disappeared one by one.
Serpens’s consciousness slowly sank into darkness.