CH 215

The Duke’s Eldest son Escaped to the Military (215)

Translator: Master of Djinn

68. A New Possibility (1)

Iron had two rewards to receive. One was for winning the first battle against the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation, and the second was for making the greatest contribution in the fight against the giant. However, instead of a notification window informing him of his reward, there was  a strange window floating before him. 

“Hmm……”

Iron looked at the strange window with a grave expression. 

[You made the greatest contribution to the two quests. However the planned reward has been judged insufficient.]

[Calculating……]

The notification window remained stuck on the words “calculating”. The window had been that way since he fainted, and by now a few good hours had passed, but it had still not changed. Since he had no way of knowing when the window would begin functioning properly again, he decided to ignore it and focus on healing his body. 

In fact, at this point, the thought of big rewards no longer moved Iron much. The title effect had been very helpful to his advancement, but Iron was already at the height of advancements. Under such conditions, it would be difficult for him to get any meaningful increases to his physical abilities or his mana. All he would get was the ability to fight for a longer amount of time during battle. At present, what he wanted was for his Battle End Qi to be perfected and for his divine beasts to advance further. 

“Commander!”

A healer who had come to check on Iron’s situation was stunned to find that he was awake, and gave a loud cry of surprise.

“Mmmph……”

“I, I’m sorry, Commander.!”

Iron had frowned because of how loud the healer was, causing the healer to hurriedly bow in apology. 

“It’s alright.”

The fidgeting healer calmed down and checked Iron’s physical condition. Already his external injuries had almost all healed, and as for his internal injuries, since they were not too grave, they were also recovering bit by bit. The only things left were for him to recover his spent aura and the divine beast power that he had pushed to its limits. It was indeed a problem that his powers that had seemed so full as to be on the verge of overflowing had disappeared, but as it was something  he had experienced time and again, it was nothing too serious. 

“I have seen it several times already, but your recovery powers are astonishing, Commander.”

“Is that so?”

Iron laughed softly at the healer’s admiring words. 

“You have some internal injuries, but there are no big issues.”

Iron nodded at his words, as if to say he already knew, and told the healer to leave. Then he focused on healing his internal injuries. He compressed the mana that had begun to gather and then made it into aura. At the same time, his divine beast power also slowly increased. Since Iron did not need to worry about the divine beast power as it could recover on its own, he only needed to concentrate on his aura. If he recovered his aura to a certain level, his slight internal injuries would be healed in a snap. 

Meanwhile, news that Iron was conscious had spread throughout the command, and soon the commanding officers rushed to see him. 

“What of Ariel?”

All the commanding officers had gathered, but Ariel was nowhere to be found. Iron asked with his head tilted. 

“Did she get injured seriously while I was down?”

Cardro shook his head to clear Iron’s doubts and spoke. 

“She entered training.”

“……training?”

Iron’s eyes grew round at Cardro’s words, a conjecture running through his mind. 

“Could it be?”

“I think she gained some comprehension about the next level. Since it is an critical moment, we could not disturb her and came on our own.”

“You’ve done well.”

Iron nodded, indicating that they made the right decision. 

“But…… Why all of a sudden? Did she gain some understanding in the middle of the battle?”

“I don’t think so.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Cardro’s statement.

“……then what is it?”

“I think it is because of the reward.”

“Reward? Ah……”

Since they won the first battle against the south’s ancient gods, they must have received rewards. And since he had left them to take on the six other-worlders while he dealt with the giant, Ariel was sure to have a specific reward. 

“Then what about you all?”

“Sadly, I didn’t receive that.”

Cardro said with a bitter smile, while Saeridan and the others next to him also looked disappointed. However, from the expectation that accompanied the disappointment on their faces, it was clear that they had all received a reward that would make them grow stronger, at least by one level. 

“And you, Gaon?”

“……I think I’ll need to enter training.”

“Training?”

Iron contemplated Gaon’s answer for a moment before continuing. 

“Mmm…… if it’s for the sake of Raven, then it’s fine. You enter training like Ariel did.”

Gaon shook his head slightly at Iron’s instructions.

“No, sir. In order to utilise the abilities I received through the reward…… I need some more time.”

“What kind of ability……”

“It is absolute zero, sir.” [1]

Gaon replied to Iron’s question in a tone that implied it was nothing special. But after hearing what he said, Iron’s eyes widened and he stared at Gaon. 

“I also received the physical ability to withstand cold qi as a reward…… but I think I’ll need more time before I am able to withstand absolute zero as well.”

“Hoo…… In that case, when the time comes, let me know. I’ll let you have some time, no matter what.”

“Yes, sir.”

This time, Gaon did not reject Iron’s favour, and instead smiled as he accepted. He knew that when that time came, he would be able to reach master level. The awaited time also did not seem too off either. 

Iron, who had been looking at Gaon, turned to look at the other commanding officers. 

“How many people among your subordinates are at critical moments like Ariel?”

They remained silent for a while at Iron’s question, before Cardo replied carefully. 

“There should be one or two people in each squad.”

“That’s more than I’d thought.”

As he said that, Iron became lost in thought for a short while. 

“What about the confederation’s army?”

“They are retreating to the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation. But they are still not completely out of the Empire’s territory.”

Iron gave a small nod at Faulden’s report. Since many of their troops were injured, it would be very difficult for them to cover long distances in such a short time. Unlike when they first entered the Empire’s territory, the pace of their march was bound to be much slower. 

“Shall we hit them from the back? We will be able to catch up with them in two days.”

“Send us first, Commander. We only need a day.”

Cardro, who had the strongest air force in the entire Mobile Field Army, and Ludem, captain of the Storm Troops, stepped forward, as if competing. Iron shook his head slightly as he watched them. 

“Carl.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Contact the southern command, tell them we have some juicy prey for them.”

At Iron’s order, they all looked at him with eyes wide open. 

“Commander!”

If they went after the confederation’s army right now, they could deal them a near-devastating blow. But right now, Iron was saying that he would give that up to others. 

“We have received as many rewards as we can. Now is the time for us to go up one level using the rewards we’ve received.”

Iron looked at the commanding officers as he spoke. None of them spoke, but after having received huge rewards, they all wanted to begin training. They couldn’t hide the keen desire to train that lay in their eyes. 

However, the defeated confederation’s army was also a huge prey to them. But Iron had to make the decision as the commander. 

“As it stands, it will be difficult for us to exterminate their main forces given our current situation. In that case, we should let the southern command take care of them, and begin preparing for the next battle.”

Iron looked at the commanding officers one by one as he continued. 

“The next battle will take place on the Southern Confederation’s territory. When that time comes, we will get help from the southern and eastern commanders. We have to grow one more level before then.”

The commanding officers had solemn expressions, with their heads lowered, as they listened. However, a few of them looked like they were blaming themselves for the Mobile Field Army losing such a good opportunity. 

“Don’t look like that. I also need time to prepare.”

Once he said that, all of them raised their heads to watch him, ask if to ask, ‘You mean you are going to become even stronger?’. Iron did not say anything to that. He didn’t want to raise their hopes, only for them to be disappointed later. 

But he also did not explicitly say that he would not advance at all. After his battle with the giant, in which he used battle end qi for that final blow, he now thought that he should redefine the notion he had of what steel was. Before this, his idea of ‘the Way of Steel’ had been to advance through a sword technique similar to the basic swordsmanship. He had practised endlessly in that way, but he had not been able to create a sword technique that was at the level of Battle End Qi. 

But he had felt different when he gave the final strike that felled the giant. 

‘Is that the path I should take?’

As he was thinking that, he heard a sound

-The delayed reward has been decided. 

“Huh?”

While Iron stared blankly at the notification window, the commanding officers who had not left yet looked at him oddly. Iron looked at them, and spoke in a bewildered voice. 

“The reward notification……”

They looked at him, wide-eyed. 

“You have just received your reward, Commander?”

“Huh……”

“It makes sense though. His contribution was the greatest……”

While they spoke over each other, they looked at Iron with sparkling eyes. Seeing their excitement, Iron smiled and said. 

“It seems that I will need some time.”

They all smiled brightly upon hearing that. Their commander was going to become even stronger? That meant that he would soon become the strongest on the continent. 

Iron laughed as he watched  his cheering subordinate, then said. 

“Follow me diligently. Or shall I advance alone instead?” [2]

“We’ll follow you no matter what.”

Like Cardro, each one of them pledged the same and promised that they would increase the speed of their training. 

His subordinates now filled with drive, Iron sent them out of the office and looked at the notification window again. 

[You will be given one innate ability as a reward for the two quests. However, because the reward is too big, part of the authority given to you previously will be rescinded. Do you agree?]

■Upon agreement: 

-Reward: Innate skill ‘fusion’

※ All achievements except  ‘Hero of the Empire’ and ‘Hero of Steel’ deleted + innate abilities deleted

■Upon decline:

-Reward: Increase in power of innate ability ‘lightning’ + sharp increase in all title effects. 

‘Is this fusion skill amazing enough to give up the title effects?’  

The one thing that was certain was that the notification was wondrous enough for one part of his abilities to be withdrawn. As he considered his achievements disappearing, he heard an additional notification. 

[If you give up all your title effects and innate abilities as payment, you will be given one more ability. You will also receive the Haemorrhage Service as an upgrade to the World Tree’s blessing. However, innate titles will not be considered as payment.]

-Reward: Innate skill ‘Fusion’ + ‘Steel Physique’ + ‘Nature’s Body’ 4th Stage. 

At that sound of that notification, Iron unknowingly flinched. He began to ponder the words that he would be given one more innate ability, as well as the term ‘Haemorrhage Service’. [3] The ‘Hero of the Empire’ title effect was enormous. Was it really worth given that up? 

As he worried over that, the sound of the notification came again. 

[This reward plan is the best reward to make you stronger.]

Iron’s eyes shone when he heard that. He was convinced by what the system said. Even if he gave up all of his title effects, as long as he had the ‘Fusion’ skill, he could certainly become stronger than he was now……

There was only one level that was greater than Iron’s current level. 

“Grand Master……”

Notes: 

[1] Absolute Zero: 절대 영도; lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale: 0 Kelvin or -273.15℃

[2] Follow me diligently: 부지런히 따라와라; He is telling them to work hard too, and advance like him. If it sounds odd, let me know!

[3] Haemorrhage Service: 대출혈 서비스