Inside the empty training room.
In the centre of it, two people were immersed in meditation.
Grayson wanted to control the mystical Aura which Irene Pareira gave him and Irene Pareira wanted to observe and grasp the new changes which had taken place in him.
The orc, who took the role of protecting them, was alone in his own thoughts in the room.
‘That flame… what was it?’
He could only guess how that energy came about. It was probably the energy which was inside Irene’s mind.
The passion and beliefs of youth were usually revealed in the form of flames among the five spirits.
In fact, in his hometown, there were many cases where excellent warriors or spirits would give their energy to children who lacked the flame.
But what Irene showed was different.
This wasn’t just giving him flame, but this was more like encouraging him to live.
It was as if he gave a spark of hope to the shipwrecked person who gave up on everything.
A thought popped into Kuvar's head when he recalled that.
The one who taught him astrology and animism.
‘How will the teacher react when he meets Irene?’
He couldn’t imagine it. Neither Irene nor his teacher were ordinary people.
Contemplating their meeting, he sighed and then focused on the people.
Irene would be fine, but Grayson was still in a dangerous state. He was more sensitive as he was given energy.
“…”
In the meantime, Irene Pareia was realizing one by one what changed in him.
First of all, the easiest one was the amount of Aura in him which increased.
Was it because of the flame in his heart which recently grew?
In the process of transformation the stake had turned into a sword he could hold, and the stubborn man’s will was controlled.
Like a very thin piece of thread, the will of the man was replaced with an Aura which spread out evenly in his body.
But even more delightful than that was the part where his spark changed Grayson’s heart.
‘If I can use my current power well… I might be able to get Ilya back.’
Up until now, Irene focused on how to defeat Ilya Lindsay.
Since conversation didn’t seem to work with her, he was trying to use the sword to have a proper conversation with her, but he didn’t have the confidence to defeat her yet, so he didn’t have the time to think deeply about what he was.
Because of that, Irene constantly concentrated all his attention on improving skills but on the other hand, he was worried about what would happen after convincing Ilya.
Now, he felt like his worries were resolved.
‘At least… I think things are better than what I was worried about.’
A faint smile appeared on Irene’s face.
Still, the problem was that he had no idea how this change happened.
Until now, he worked hard to nurture the flame in his heart and deal with the stubborn will of the man and now he had achieved results.
But he didn’t think that the results would come so suddenly.
At least like the school master said, the flame was complete only after he found a new path and a new sword.
However, it wasn’t the end.
Irene still didn’t know how far to travel.
He felt more had to be done…
‘No, I shouldn’t be worried about this now.’
Irene shook his head.
Right. Things haven't been completely resolved yet as Ilya's matter was still at hand.
Thanks to the man’s will, he was able to purify Grayson’s magi, and thanks to the spark, he was able to make Grayson want to live.
However, Ilya and Grayson were different. She was much, much stronger.
‘Whatever it is, it is a fact that Ilya needs to be defeated by the sword.’
If so, what he had to do hadn’t changed.
Irene, who had managed to get his mind around this, opened his eyes and got up.
“All done?”
“Yes, for now… actually, I don’t exactly know what my condition is. I figured out that I am stronger than before.”
“That is good.”
“I know. Ah, that sword…”
“Right. It is drenched in magi. He must have been influenced by it.”
Kuvar picked up Grayson's sword while wearing spirit gloves filled with anti-magi energy.
Even though the sword was split in two with Irene’s attack, the sword was still giving out unpleasant energy.
The orc used his spirit powers to meticulously seal it, and then put it in his leather backpack with anti-magi energy.
“Suddenly, Ignet’s words come to my mind.”
“Ah…”
Irene had the same thought.
She said that these days there were more and more people who were using cursed objects.
And that seemed real. Even if they weren’t sure, this was the third time. The Alhad bandit, the twin swordsmen and now this.
‘Something doesn’t seem right.’
Kuvar frowned again.
From the moment the thought entered his mind and he said it out loud, his anxiety was growing and now he was speechless.
This couldn’t be ignored. He looked at Grayson, who just opened his eyes.
Unlike before, the blood red eyes had disappeared.
However, the bloodstains on his lips and specks of blood in eyes didn’t vanish.
But there was no reason to point it out.
Kuvar asked.
“The sword you used...”
“I am sorry but I know nothing.”
Grayson answered in a blunt voice, and a small groan.
It wasn’t because he was in pain. It was because he was aware of how he just answered it.
Was that why? The next words were softer and the tone changed as well.
“… it is hard to believe, but it is true. It was the day of the battle with the champion. I was tormented by the thought that it would be difficult to destroy the Aura Sword of the opponent, so I fell asleep late that day. And when I woke up in the morning, the sword was stuck in the middle of the room.”
“…”
“Of course, I was suspicious and wary, but the moment I saw the sword, the thoughts vanished. It was incredibly sharp, admirably hard… the moment I gripped it, I thought that no one could take that sword away from me. So I started the game with the sword and after that… you know the rest.”
There was an uncomfortable silence.
Neither Irene, Kuvar nor Grayson spoke.
Grayson’s face was darker in the dim room.
And the eventful confrontation between Irene and Grayson had come to an end.
A messy day passed and a new day dawned.
In the meantime, Grayson thought and reflected deeply.
As if it was a sort of confession for him, he confided in Irene and Kuvar about his situation, his frustration and sense of deprivation.
Of course, he didn’t think that his sins would wash away because of that.
“The ominous sword wasn’t without influence, the demon whispered in my mind and then… I am not making excuses. It all happened because my will was weak.”
Grayson’s story was just a courtesy to the man who saved him.
He didn’t want to take help and not give anything back in return.
The middle-aged gladiator, who looked at the sword sealed by Kuvar, opened his mouth with a smile.
“When done with my work, I was planning on heading to the temple.”
“…”
“I will confess my sins and face the judgement and ask for forgiveness too and make sure that my heart has been washed away of all the evil… after that, I will continue my life as a gladiator like you said.”
The sorcerer and the spiritualist looked at his eyes, Grayson’s heart was pure.
Not a single grain of magi could be felt.
However, they couldn’t say no to the man because of doubts, so they both nodded their heads.
Of course, the parting wasn’t immediate.
The ‘work’ Grayson had to do was more like Irene’s work.
“Then, should we start?”
“Yes.”
Irene nodded his bright face and summoned his great sword while Grayson took a stance with a new long sword.
Eventually, the two swung their swords at each other.
Kang!
Kaang!
Kang!
Was it because he let go of the frustration, burden and anger?
Grayson’s sword seemed more free and cheerful.
Although it lacked the power compared to yesterday, it was difficult for Irene to grasp the ever-changing sword.
And this was despite Irene observing the Aura.
And that wasn’t the only surprise.
Grayson too felt shocked by Irene’s swordsmanship.
‘Is this the sword of someone in their early 20s?’
Irene was slower than him and lacked precision. And the changes were lacking too.
However, the swordsmanship which guards the centre with a wide blade and occupies the lead position was powerful enough to cover the shortcomings.
And all this made Irene lag behind Grayson, but the factors mentioned above weren’t lacking much when compared to Experts.
What surprised him the most was the Aura.
“I was worried about the Aura operation so I looked carefully to see if it was insufficient, but you aren’t bad? Rather, I am surprised to find you do this. It isn’t easy for young people to learn this.”
“Thank you. However, Compared to Mr. Grayson I am far behind. Especially… Aura movement? I can’t exactly explain it.”
Irene smiled.
But that was true, compared to Grayson’s smooth and quick Aura operation, his level was low.
In particular when it comes to concentrating Aura in one part of the body.
There was a huge difference in that part and Grayson's technique of focusing Aura on the needed part looked like a miracle.
‘It is incredibly difficult.’
It was like not just using the forearm muscles to win arm wrestling but to use the muscles in thighs along with forearms.
And feeling all that was a difficult task, but Grayson did it naturally.
He explained his feelings slowly and the middle-aged gladiator listened to it and answered it in a low voice.
“I know what you are curious about.”
“Thank god the meaning has been conveyed.”
“However, there is one thing I am curious about. Why is it difficult to explain?”
“Huh?”
“You could have just asked me to tell you the second half of the 3 part Aura operation, and the know-how of concentration. I would have understood it right away, but why did you have to say all…”
“The 3 part?”
“…?”
“…?”
Silence passed for a moment.
Irene and Grayson both looked at each other.
They looked at each other as if they were both thinking the right thing, but in the end Grayson, who couldn’t stand the silence, opened his mouth.
“I am just asking.”
“Yes.”
“You know, the basic concept of Aura… that, three sets of Aura operation and the third set of the second half, you don’t know that?”
“… if you can explain the concept I will probably understand it… I never learned that theory.”
“I thought you came from Krono…”
“Ah… for personal reasons, I only learned physical and swordsmanship there, but…”
“But?”
“The Aura happened later…”
Irene paused for a moment.
Irene didn’t know about the Aura.
He just kept using his sword in the sorcery world and now he uses it against his mates when training.
However, he couldn’t explain all that to Grayson.
In the end, what he could say was decided.
“… somehow it happened, it was just closer to practice.”
“…”
“…”
“That means…”
“Yes.”
“The current Aura operation isn’t based on theory and experience…”
“…”
“But by feeling alone, you learned it… right?”
Irene stayed silent.
However, this was enough to answer.
And silence fell again. This time it was more uncomfortable.
Grayson, who had been standing, pulled out his cigarette.
And then he lit it and inhaled it deeply.
“Phew…”
Bang!
He swung the sword strongly.
It was to prevent the smoke from reaching Irene, still it was full of emotions.
To his heart which felt like sinking again, he mumbled.
‘I always knew it, but life is so absurd.’
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