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[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 4
Zeke said in a sharp voice,
"What is it, Decker?"
Decker adjusted his monocle and said,
"I heard about what happened to you at the Pankration testing ground earlier, young master."
Zeke turned his head, feigning disinterest, and said,n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"So what?"
"I heard you beat Leon Conrad and Jakenn Vardec to a pulp. Is that true?"
Zeke scoffed.
"You already know, so why ask?"
Decker stepped closer to Zeke.
"I have been watching over you since the day you were born, young master."
Zeke said as he changed his clothes,
"I know."
Decker had been in charge of Zeke until he was expelled from the family.
His father, the head of the clan, hadn't seen him once since he failed to awaken his aura at the Blessing Ceremony.
His mother had died when he was young, and his father was as good as gone, so Decker was like a parent to him.
Even when he was treated like trash by the family, Decker was the only one who stayed by his side.
Decker looked at Zeke and said,
"May I ask what happened?"
"Those bastards messed with me, and I beat them up. What more do you need?"
Despite Zeke's harsh words, Decker remained silent.
Zeke looked at Decker and said,
"What do you want to say, Decker?"
Decker slowly opened his mouth.
"Young master, may I check your pulse for a moment?"
Checking his pulse meant checking whether he had awakened his aura.
Zeke looked at Decker and then silently held out his hand.
"Please, go ahead."
Decker grabbed Zeke's wrist.
Woooong!
Zeke flinched as Decker's aura flowed through his body.
Decker's aura examined every corner of Zeke's body.
It was then that Zeke realized something he hadn't known in his past life.
'A Blue Knight?'
The way Decker's aura moved freely within Zeke's body was unusual.
'Even if he's a servant from the main family, is a Blue Knight really doing chores for a kid?'
It was absurd.
Even in the knightly orders of small kingdoms, Blue Knights often served as commanders.
As Zeke's suspicions grew, Decker, who had been examining his body, pursed his lips tightly.
Seeing that, Zeke chuckled inwardly.
'No matter how much he checks, he won't sense any aura.'
Opening the ether hall was fundamentally different from opening the lower dantian, and it was a method almost no one knew.
Even Zeke himself had thought it was absurd when he first heard about the ether hall from his master.
Because it was a concept that defied common sense.
Knights who awakened their aura and opened their lower dantian couldn't use mana.
Conversely, mages who awakened their mana and formed a circle in their heart couldn't use aura.
It was impossible to possess both a lower dantian and a circle in one body.
Zeke, who could use Healing, a type of magic, couldn't use aura.
However, by opening his ether hall, he became able to use mana, the source of both magic and aura.
By wielding mana, Zeke could use a different kind of power than aura.
Decker stared at Zeke and said,
"Are you hiding something from me, young master?"
At his serious question, Zeke also stared back at Decker and said,
"Are you hiding anything from me, Decker?"
Decker closed his mouth at Zeke's words.
In his past life, Decker had been a loyal servant who protected him until the very last moment when he was expelled from the family.
But now that Zeke knew Decker was hiding his strength, he couldn't let his guard down.
'Maybe... the other direct descendants deliberately placed him here.'
Decker slowly opened his mouth.
"May I ask why you suddenly changed?"
Just yesterday, Zeke was trying to figure out how to skip the Pankration test.
But in a single day, he had changed drastically.
On the other hand, he was barely over 160 centimeters now, with a small physique and almost no muscles.
If it weren't for the combat skills and awakened skills he learned in his past life, he wouldn't have been able to overpower his cousins in Pankration.
Zeke clicked his tongue, looking at his aching body after swinging the sword a few times.
"Really... my body was complete trash when I was young."
He decided to use his secret technique.
"Healing."
Light spread throughout his body, and the pain in his aching muscles disappeared.
Zeke lifted his healed arm and, with a satisfied expression, grabbed the sword again.
This was how Zeke utilized Healing in his past life.
He used to overwork his muscles, heal them with Healing, and then overwork them again, strengthening his muscle fibers several times more than others.
Through this training method, Zeke was able to cut down opponents larger than himself and even higher-ranking knights.
It was a harsh training method that was impossible without extraordinary mental strength and willpower.
"One week. It's a bit tight, but... I'll have to adapt somehow."
He swung the claymore again and again without rest.
* * *
A week had passed since the Pankration evaluation.
During that week, Zeke's performance became a hot topic among the trainees.
Zeke, who had been seen as weak, unlike a direct descendant of the Draker Clan, showed a completely different side of himself in this year-end evaluation.
Some of the trainees even speculated that Zeke might be using an evil power obtained through black magic.
And finally, the day of the swordsmanship duel, the last event of the year-end evaluation, arrived.
Mealtimes were fixed at the Cradle.
Since the training was harsh, the meals were well-prepared with a balance of nutrients.
Especially breakfast, which was prepared as a buffet, allowed the trainees to eat as much as they wanted.
Next to the common dining area used by ordinary trainees, there was a separate dining room that only the children of prominent families within the Draker blood alliance could enter.
Unlike the ordinary meals focused on nutrition, luxurious dishes were set on the tables there.
Owen, Reina, Jakenn, and Leon were sitting at the prepared round table.
The servants placed the food each of their masters wanted in front of them.
Owen picked up his knife and fork and gracefully cut the plain fish dish into bite-sized pieces.
On the other hand, a whole steak was placed in front of Reina.
She cut a large piece of the bloody steak and put it in her mouth, chewing.
It was a hearty meal befitting the heir of the Turunn clan, known for having the strongest physique among all the clans.
Jakenn and Leon didn't touch the food and just sat still.
Seeing them like that, Owen said,
"Even if you don't have an appetite, you should eat something. You need a full stomach for the swordsmanship duel this afternoon."
At those words, Leon looked up and glared at Owen.
"Are you picking a fight?"
Owen shook his head with an indifferent expression.
"There's no point in talking to someone who doesn't know how to accept kindness."
Leon jumped to his feet.
"How dare you..."
Just then, Reina, who had almost finished her steak, looked up and glared at Leon.
Leon flinched at her stare and slowly sat back down.
Jakenn, who had been silent, opened his mouth.
"So, what are we going to do?"
Owen, Reina, and Leon looked up at his words.
They all knew what Jakenn was talking about.
'Zeke Draker.'
Owen said as he wiped his mouth,
"Well... I don't know if it was a fluke or what, but he won't be able to do much with swordsmanship."
He continued with a cold glint in his eyes,
"We'll find out today what else Zeke is hiding."
Reina, having devoured her entire steak, abruptly stood up.
She raised the sword that had been leaning against her chair and declared,
"Did that truly seem like a fluke to you?"
Her words drew Owen's attention.
Reina looked at the three still seated at the table and said,
"You are not worthy of becoming Draker knights."
With that, she strode out of the dining hall.
"That arrogant bitch..."
Leon slammed his hand on the table, trembling with rage.
Owen tapped the table with his fingers, his mind racing.
'Reina and Zeke. This could get interesting.'
A genius who awakened her aura at the age of ten, before the Blessing Ceremony.
It seemed Reina Turunn had found her prey.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]