Book 1 Chapter 293

In the middle of the training grounds.

Three girls stood.

One of them.

Ar was unable to contain her excitement, her ears perked up.

'I can learn Aura skills directly from Arion-nim!'

What an honor this is!

While Ar's blue eyes were sparkling brightly.

Eiran glanced furtively at Berckia standing next to her.

'To be able to learn alongside my ancestor.'

Fairy Knight Berckia.

A great hero who led the elf race after the end of the Age of Calamity.

As a disciple of Luna, the progenitor of the nebulae, she was the guardian of the elves until the day she ended her life.

That's why Eiran loved Berckia's heroic tales as much as Luna's.

It wasn't simply because she was an ancestor of her family and a great hero.

In the stories, Berckia was always dignified.

As a disciple of great heroes, she always did her best not to tarnish their names.

Eiran, who had been timid since childhood, could not help but be captivated by those stories.

To be able to learn martial arts from the great hero Arion alongside such a hero.

'How! I'm so nervous!'

It was when Eiran had a tense expression.

"Why have you been peeking at me like that since a while ago?"

Berckia asked, glancing at Eiran.

"What? Ah, no! I mean! That! That!"

Looking at the slightly sharp eyes, Eiran, flustered, soon lowered her head and said with a blushing face.

"You're beautiful."

Berckia, staring intently at Eiran, who spoke in a barely audible voice, said.

"You're pretty enough too?"

"R-really?"

Berckia looked at Eiran, who was genuinely delighted, with a look of doubt.

Even with Berckia's gaze, Eiran just smiled innocently.

Shashak-! Berckia approached Ar.

"Hey. Isn't she a bit strange?"

"She seems normal to me."

"Is that normal?"

Berckia opened her eyes slightly.

"Her gaze is a bit too wistful and passionate. Could she be in love with me? That would be troublesome."

"I don't know Eiran's tastes, but wistful and passionate seems normal."

It was when Berckia looked at Ar with strange eyes.

"Sorry I'm late."

Arion appeared in the training grounds.

"Arion-nim!"

"Eek?"

Ar pounced on Arion like an excited cat.

"You're so cool! I respect you!"

"G-go away!"

Ar chased after Arion, who was fleeing in panic.

Watching them, Berckia fell into deep thought.

'Are they perverts?'

Arion took a deep breath, looking at the three girls standing before her.

Ar's overly dazzling, passionate gaze was a bit scary.

However, Arion also had a question for Ar.

"Um… you."

"Yes!"

"You said you could sign language freely, right?"

"Yep!"

Berckia's eyes widened.

'She can sign language as freely as Master Arion?'

"Can you show me once?"

"Understood!"

At Arion's words, Ar took a breath.

Arion's ability to sign language freely was due to his unique breathing technique.

It was a skill that stimulated the beastkin blood flowing through the body through breathing, forcibly manifesting sign language.

Arion's unique breathing technique, passed down to beastkin as [Breath of the Hero] in later generations.

However, the unique breathing wavelength Arion possessed could not be replicated, so sign language remained unachievable.

Ar during the entrance exam.

Ar obtained Arion's breathing as a conquest reward by conquering Arion's world with Leo, thereby gaining the ability to sign language.

'My breathing.'

Arion's eyes widened as she saw Ar's breathing, which was perfectly identical to her own.

'But she can't handle the sign language ability properly.'

Arion said, looking at Ar, who had succeeded in sign language.

"Can you use howling too, by any chance?"

"Of course! Shall I do it now?!"

"Wait…!"

"Grrrrrrrrrr!"

The roar of a fierce beast echoed.

Berckia and Eiran, who were sensitive to sound, instinctively covered their ears.

Arion covered her face.

Ar looked up at Arion with sparkling eyes, hoping for praise.

"Ouch!"

"What is this?"

Berckia, with an indignant face, playfully smacked Ar on the head.

Shortly after, pale-faced people rushed in from all around.

"What's going on!"

"That was an unusual sound just now!"

Seeing the training ground instantly turn into chaos, Ar flinched.

"It's nothing."

Arion calmed the soldiers and sent them away.

"Yeah, I roughly understand."

Arion nodded.

"Both sign language and howling, you can't control your power properly."

"Yes?"

Ar's eyes widened.

She had heard similar words before.

'The black rabbit told me that.'

Ar's tail swayed gently.

"How should I explain this? Let's think about it a bit more for now."

Arion, with her arms crossed, pondered for a moment and then looked at Berckia and Eiran.

"Eiran. You seem to resemble Berckia a lot."

"Me, her?"

"To say such a gracious thing…"

Berckia squinted her eyes, and Eiran was beside herself with joy.

"Yes, it's as if you're blood relatives with Berckia."

At Arion's words, Ar and Eiran shivered.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Your scent is the same."

'As expected, Arion-nim.'

'Sharp!'

If Eiran's being Berckia's descendant were discovered, the conquest would fail.

Ar and Eiran's faces tensed.

"So. If you spar with each other, wouldn't you learn something from each other?"

"That would be the case."

Berckia nodded and drew her sword.

"Draw your sword. Fight me."

"It's an honor."

Ar's eyes sparkled.

"Arion-nim! Do I fight those two as well?"

"No."

Arion shook her head.

"First, kneel down."

Chak-!

Ar immediately knelt down in front of Arion.

"Close your eyes."

Ar closed her eyes.

"Concentrate and don't move for a long time."

"What is the effect of this training?"

"Mental training."

"I see! To avoid being overwhelmed by power, it's definitely necessary to increase concentration!"

'If she calms down, she won't bother me anymore.'

Ar did not know.

That the hero Arion, whom she admired, genuinely feared her.

***

Lunia's face was tense as she looked at Katariu before her.

Fiora was pecking at the chocolate Lunia gave her next to her.

Katariu looked at Lunia with a bored expression.

"What do you think is the essence of fire?"

Lunia replied to Katariu's question.

"I think it is immortality."

At those words, Katariu chuckled.

"Why?"

"Because the flames of the phoenix burn forever."

"Yes. That's an elf-like answer, handling the flames of the phoenix."

Katariu rested her chin on her hand.

"But you're wrong. The essence of fire is destruction."

Katariu's eyes turned cold.

Lunia trembled slightly.

"Even the phoenix eventually meets its end. It means that even the flames we emit are not perfect."

Fwoosh-

A white flame appeared in Katariu's hand.

"Even my flames, the king of the phoenix, cannot burn forever. I am not an immortal being."

Katariu clenched her fist, and the flames dispersed.

"Ah, of course, there is a fire that absolutely never goes out."

Katariu smiled alluringly and said in a low voice.

"The hateful flame of disaster that burns the world."

Lunia's face turned pale.

Seeing her, Katariu smiled faintly.

"You've seen it before, haven't you?"

It was impossible to forget.

The primordial evil that brought overwhelming despair with just a small fragment.

Katariu smiled deeply at Lunia.

"Even the white flames of the Phoenix King, called [Flame Emperor] for generations, could only block the hateful black flames. That flame is also fire that burns the world. Therefore, the essence of fire is destruction."

"Flame… Emperor?"

"Huh? Isn't the epithet of the Phoenix King, [Flame Emperor], a very famous story?"

"Y-yes."

It was not a famous story in Lunia's era.

The bloodline of the Phoenix King disappeared at the end of the Age of Calamity.

The reason Lunia was surprised was simple.

[Flame Emperor].

It was the same name as Luna's magic, which Leo told Lunia had ultimately failed to complete.

"Of course, that perverted old man babbles about fire being creation and such."

A golden flame ignited in Katariu's hand.

"What is that?"

"It's Dwenno's flame. That old man said he would teach you the essence of fire, didn't he?"

Katariu curled the corners of her mouth.

"That means he's going to give you his flame."

"Give… flame? Is that possible?"

"Yes. It's possible if you have flames equal to mine or the Great Spirit of Fire."

At those words, Lunia's eyes widened.

This meant that Dwenno's flame was on par with the Phoenix King and the Great Spirit of Fire.

"Fire burns more fiercely when it consumes stronger fire."

'I… Dwenno-nim's flame…'

Katariu chuckled.

"Well, I think it's absolutely impossible for you to consume Dwenno's flame."

"Why?"

"Because Dwenno's flame is special."

Katariu brought the essence of fire that Dwenno had entrusted to her to her eye level.

"Dwenno's flame burns longer than the flames of the Phoenix King or the Great Spirit of Fire."

Lunia swallowed dryly.

"If you eat it carelessly, you'll get sick. You won't die, but you'll be in agonizing pain. How about it? Want to swallow it?"

Lunia took a deep breath.

"You say I won't die?"

Lunia grinned.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Brave."

Katariu, with a bored expression, threw the golden flame at Lunia.

Lunia, who received it, was flustered.

Watching her, Katariu rested her chin on her hand and laughed.

"Swallow it."

At Katariu's words, Lunia tightly closed her eyes and swallowed Dwenno's flame into her mouth.

"Gasp?"

Lunia collapsed to her knees, feeling a burning sensation spread throughout her body.

Katariu, looking coldly at Lunia writhing in pain, beckoned to a flustered Fiora.

"Come here."

Peep?

Fiora rolled and came in front of Katariu.

"That appearance is certainly cute."

Peep! Peep!

Fiora happily rolled around.

"But you are certainly damaging the dignity of the phoenix."

Fiora's movements stopped abruptly.

Fwoosh-!

The chocolate Fiora was eating burned to nothing.

Katariu stood up.

"Beautiful flames come from a healthy mind and a healthy body. So, it's a diet."

Katariu, with an evil expression, lifted her leg.

Fwooosh-!

A kick flew towards Fiora as if kicking a ball.

Bbaaaak~!

Fiora, panicked, began to flee.

"If you don't run quickly, I'll kick you! Kyahahaha!"

Katariu chased Fiora, laughing like an evil witch.

A hellish scene unfolded in the open space of Dwenno's workshop.

Karl, watching the scene from outside the window, looked bored.

"Is that okay?"

"Leave it."

Dwenno took a book from his study.

"Alchemy relies on individual effort. This is the alchemy book I recorded."

"C-can I really accept this?"

"Normally, no. But what does it matter?"

"What?"

"Just read it. If you can understand even a little, it's yours."

Dwenno laughed heartily and patted Karl's shoulder.

"Even if you're terrible at other things, you seem to have a definite talent for alchemy, so try hard."

"…It doesn't sound like just praise, so I'm sad."

Karl smiled sadly.

A moment later.

The door opened, and Driana entered.

"Dwenno-nim! Here it is! It's a sculpture I carved with all my might!"

"…"

Dwenno accepted the sculpture that Driana handed him.

"Original."

"Yes! As an artist, I believe originality is important…"

"Did you say your name was Karl?"

"Yes."

"What do you think this is?"

"A work of art."

"Ahem."

Driana puffed out her chest.

Dwenno's face turned even colder.

"Tell me the truth."

"…Trash."

As soon as Karl finished speaking, Dwenno threw Driana's sculpture towards the wall.

Flap-!

The sound of clay crushing echoed.

"Did you say your name was Driana? You dream of being an artist."

"Yes? Y-yes!"

"Quit it."

"What?"

"Don't blaspheme beauty! You damned brat!!"

"Hiiiiiick!"

"You gave up on being a blacksmith because you thought you couldn't catch up to me? With that rotten spirit, you thought you could become an artist who expresses beauty? Is that garbage art? Is art a joke? Do you disregard beauty!"

Dwenno grabbed Driana by the collar with his rough hands and shook her.

Karl, intimidated by the terrifying aura, fled to a corner.

Dwenno dragged Driana to one side of the workshop and forcibly stood her in front of the furnace.

"Pick up the ore! Make a weapon!"

"What? But I've only made replicas of Dwenno-nim's weapons for years."

"Rather than wasting materials making that garbage, at least make a replica! Weapons, whatever! What's wrong with a replica! As long as it can cut and hit enemies! As long as it can block enemy attacks!"

"B-but, even weapons are works of art, how can you make weapons with that kind of heart…"

"Why are weapons works of art! Weapons are just for smashing enemy heads! How dare you equate weapons with art! You ignorant fool!"

"Hiiik!"

Driana was terrified by Dwenno's menacing aura, who truly saw weapons as less than works of art.

Karl, watching from the corner, muttered to himself.

'No… Dwenno-nim shouldn't be saying that!'

"Grasp the hammer! Strike the weapon! I can never tolerate someone like you doing art, even if I die! If you ever go around saying you're an artist, I'll rip your throat out!"