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[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 3
Jakenn's eyes narrowed at Zeke's words.
"Are you insulting me?"
Zeke nodded in response.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm insulting you."
Jakenn trembled with anger and clenched his fists.
Zeke said,
"So what are you going to do? Do it if you want to. Otherwise, I'm leaving."
Jakenn, trying to suppress his anger, looked at Pan, the instructor.
"Is this alright, Instructor?"
Pan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"If Zeke is okay with it, I don't mind."
With permission granted, Jakenn and Liam stepped onto the arena.
Zeke stood opposite Jakenn and Liam with a relaxed expression.
He looked at Liam standing next to Jakenn.
'It's strange seeing him here again.'
Liam Stone.
In the future, he was one of the most famous people in the Central Continent.
'The Mercenary King, Liam.'
Unlike the Conrad or Vardec clans, who were blood-related to the Drakers, Liam was a very distant relative among the Draker's collateral lineage.
Despite that, the reason he was in the Cradle was that he had been chosen as Jakenn Vardec's attendant.
In Zeke's memory, Liam would receive the blessing of aura here and enter the academy, but he wouldn't be able to enter Valhalla, the higher educational institution.
He was abandoned midway because of his low birth.
Liam, who wandered around as a free knight, was able to join the Knights of Baranon, a small country in the western region.
He could have ended his life peacefully as an ordinary knight, but when Baranon was destroyed by the Empire, the Knights he belonged to disappeared.
With nowhere to go, he became a mercenary and wandered the continent.
Then, by chance, he attained enlightenment and became a Red Knight.
People gather around those who are strong.
Moreover, it was a chaotic time, so there was no shortage of mercenaries.
Thus, the Stone Mercenary Corps was formed, centered around Liam, the Red Knight, and a few years later, he united the three major mercenary corps of the continent and earned the title of Mercenary King in the Central Continent.
Zeke felt a strange sensation seeing the taciturn boy standing next to Jakenn, the future Mercenary King.
'We were enemies in my past life, but this life could be different.'
Just then, Pan blew the whistle.
"Match starts!"
Jakenn took his stance and approached Zeke.
But Liam, who was behind him, didn't move and just stood still.
Zeke frowned and said to Jakenn,
"I clearly said both of you should attack me together."
Jakenn scoffed.
"I was just playing along with your childish game earlier."
Jakenn lunged forward with a powerful high kick towards Zeke.
Thud!
It was a powerful impact, unbelievable for a twelve-year-old's kick.
Everyone thought Zeke would collapse from a single kick from Jakenn.
"Ugh..."
But contrary to expectations, it was Jakenn who groaned and stepped back.
Jakenn's ankle, which had delivered the kick, was swollen.
Zeke said as he lowered his left elbow.
"Why are you throwing yourself at my elbow?"
Jakenn tried to regain his balance, but his ankle seemed to be completely broken, making it difficult for him to stand.
'Damn it, if this happens, I'll have to take him down with a mount...'
Just as Jakenn was about to charge, Zeke struck first.
Whoosh!
Zeke delivered a low kick to Jakenn's injured leg.
Crack!
"Ugh!"
Jakenn's face contorted in pain as he was hit on his injured leg, and his balance faltered.
It was then.
Whoosh!
Zeke spun around, rotating his whole body, and thrust his fist into Jakenn's side.
Wham!
[Skill Critical Strike activated.]
With its full rotational force, the Critical Strike shattered all of Jakenn's ribs.
"Ugh..."
Jakenn gasped and collapsed to his knees.
Zeke, catching his breath, shouted at Liam, who was standing behind,
"Are you just going to keep standing there?"
Liam glanced at Jakenn, who was gasping for breath.
There were four cousins who had joined the same year as Zeke.
Some, like Leon, directly pressured Zeke, but most just watched him from afar.
However, even the cousins who had been observing Zeke from a distance wouldn't be able to stay silent after witnessing his transformation today.
It was obvious that their families would give them orders.
'I can't just sit still and wait. I'll take the initiative and divert their attention.'
It was easier to hide in moderately dirty water than in perfectly clean water.
That was the reason he deliberately revealed his strength in the year-end evaluation today.
His fighting skills were only a small part of his abilities, so there was no problem in revealing this much.
Zeke got out of bed and stood up.
"While those guys are busy scheming, I just need to steadily build up my strength."
He had no intention of being bullied like in his past life.
In this life, he was going to devour the Draker Clan whole.
Zeke quietly opened his mouth.
"Status window open."
[Low-rank Administrator Status Window]
Name: Zeke Draker
Class: Healer (Rare)
Title: Blessed by the Ancient Dragon
Skills Held: Healing / Composed Mind / Health Regeneration / Heightened Senses
Active Skills: Precise Stab [E-rank (Beginner)] / Mutilate [E-rank (Expert)] / Critical Strike [D-rank (Beginner)]
Draconian Skills: (Unavailable - 10 Karma Points required to unlock)
Karma Points Held: 0
'The Mutilate skill has changed from Beginner to Expert.'
He didn't know the exact principle, but it seemed like the level of the skills changed the more he used them.
Looking at the status window, Zeke tilted his head at the Karma section.
'Hmm... What are Karma Points?'
Karma Points were required to unlock the unavailable Draconian Skills.
But Karma was a term he had never heard before.
Zeke pressed Karma Points, just in case.
—Karma Points—
Karma Points can be obtained by killing monsters.
"You can get points by killing monsters?"
The first thing Zeke did after being expelled from the family was to become a dungeon porter.
He had followed low-level adventurers, going back and forth between dungeons where dangerous monsters appeared.
Zeke read the explanation again.
'Monsters with mana.'
The monsters in the dungeon lived in groups, so to hunt them alone, one needed to be at least a Purple Knight, capable of wielding aura.
Zeke closed the status window and fell into thought.
'To obtain Karma Points, I need to have at least the skills of a Purple Knight.'
Zeke's current state, with only his Ether Hall opened, could be classified as a Yellow Knight, a rank above a White Knight.
He could be promoted to a Purple Knight after awakening his aura, opening his lower dantian, and imbuing his sword with aura.
From this stage onwards, the title used was no longer swordsman but knight.
Only after mastering aura and creating an aura blade from the sword could one be promoted to Blue Knight and be recognized as a true knight, earning a title.
And those among the Blue Knights who broke through the wall and advanced to the next level were the Red Knights.
Commanders of large kingdoms or empires are typically Red Knights.
Therefore, the military strength of a nation is often gauged by the number of Red and Blue Knights it possesses.
However, there are those who defy this common sense.
Superhumans who surpass the realm of humans, a rare few even on the continent.
They are the Black Knights, also known as one-man armies.
Even across the entire continent, the number of Black Knights was so small that they could be counted individually.
Surprisingly, the Draker Clan had five such Black Knights.
With five Black Knights, each capable of wiping out a small kingdom on their own, no one dared to oppose the Draker Clan.
Not even the Emperor.
'There's a reason why they're called one of the three transcendent families.'
The dragon-slayer Draker Clan.
The Mystic Arts Ishtaar Clan.
And the magic-wielding Nirvana Clan.
They didn't belong to any country and were recognized for their independence, unbound by any laws.
But in the future Zeke had seen, a great change would occur in this three-way power structure.
'It was about 10 years from now, I think.'
He had to prepare and grow stronger before the time of change.
'I don't know why I regressed to the past, or what this system is...'
Zeke's eyes gleamed.
'If I can become stronger, I will use anything.'
It was then.
Knock, knock.
Zeke shouted towards the door.
"Come in."
The door opened and Decker, a servant who looked more like a knight than an actual knight, entered.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]