FVN Chapter 192: Talent?
Chapter 192: Talent?
chapter 192: talent?
the midterm evaluations had taken place, and quite some time had already passed since then.
before anyone realized it, the season of summer was right around the corner.
the world tree, which had been scattering pink petals for quite some time, now shimmered with the fresh green of vitality.
beneath the world tree stood rahern academy.
“ahhh!”
“kyaaah!”
“stop whining and get up.”
the sounds of training echoed unmistakably from the martial arts department, as usual.
meanwhile, kraush was silently sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in an absurd place.
the location he was in? none other than one of the branches of the world tree.
a place unimaginably high above the ground.
for the past few weeks, kraush had been relentlessly climbing this tree.
the reason? none other than durandal.
「the place where your training begins is atop the sacred tree. start as soon as you make it up here.」
durandal had climbed the world tree immediately after saying those words.
the way he casually ascended with his hands behind his back made it look deceptively easy.
however, as soon as kraush himself started climbing, he realized just how absurdly difficult it was.
the world tree was much taller than it seemed at first glance.
while the roots sloped gently at the start, it became nearly vertical from the midpoint onward.
even using aura to scale the wall-like trunk vertically had its limits.
as a result, kraush drove thunderstorm into the tree midway and used accel to propel himself upward.
then, he repeated the process by embedding his sword into the tree again to climb further.
‘damn it, never thought i’d have to use accel like this right off the bat.’
feeling a surge of frustration, kraush gritted his teeth and climbed the world tree.
an ordinary person would have cursed and given up long ago, but kraush was no ordinary man.
whenever his stamina hit its limit, he would drive a greatsword he brought into the sacred tree, sit on it, and sleep to recover his energy.
then, he would climb the world tree again, repeating the process until he finally reached the branch.
“you’ve arrived.”
when kraush reached the top, his face utterly drained, durandal greeted him with remarkable leisure.
without giving him any time to rest, durandal immediately instructed.
“sit down and cross your legs.”
exhausted, kraush trudged over and sat down cross-legged.
he was drenched in sweat, his face a complete mess, but the fierce determination in his eyes remained unshaken.
durandal approached from behind and abruptly slapped a piece of paper onto kraush’s back.
“the paper i just attached is imbued with the power to suppress aura.”
as soon as he heard those words, kraush felt the aura within his body completely cease to move.
it was then that he realized an intangible energy emanated from the paper.
that power was unmistakably the energy of calamity dragon fall, a secret technique possessed by durandal.
‘so it doesn’t just suppress world erosion.’
it seemed that if durandal willed it, he could suppress even aura.
as kraush was still processing his surprise, durandal continued speaking.
“you will now learn the most fundamental force of calamity dragon fall.”
“the fundamental force, you say?”
“that’s correct. once you master this power, the paper stuck to your back will naturally fall off.”
the paper attached to his back carried that implication.
“so, it’s a kind of test, then.”
“exactly. if you cannot pass this, you will never be able to learn calamity dragon fall.”
with those words, durandal walked forward, sat down with a thud, and crossed his legs.
then, without saying another word, he stared at kraush.
under durandal’s gaze, kraush sat awkwardly in a cross-legged position.
naturally, he had been waiting, expecting durandal to offer some kind of guidance.
but durandal simply watched him silently, saying nothing.
it didn’t take long for kraush to understand what that meant.
‘figure it out on your own, is it?’
to slap a piece of paper imbued with calamity dragon fall on his back and then tell him to figure it out alone.
what an absurd method.
but if this was considered training, kraush had no grounds to complain.
resigned, kraush closed his eyes and began to probe his own senses.
at first, world eroders didn’t understand this power.
but as they crossed over into other worlds as eroders, they came to realize its nature.
they discovered that the power of their eroded world differed fundamentally from the power of the outer world.
thus, world eroders mastered the ability to wield the power of world erosion freely.
the act of creating servants was, in essence, drawing others into the domain of their eroded world.
it was from this understanding that durandal realized one crucial possibility.
if the power of world erosion exists, could it be that our own world also possesses its own inherent power?
when this thought occurred to him, durandal began to empty his aura—the innate power of living beings.
he spent entire days exhausting every drop of his aura, repeatedly driving himself into a state of collapse.
only after painstakingly draining his aura entirely did he finally sense the power of the world.
the world itself, a realm where everyone lived, held an inherent power that no one had ever truly recognized.
durandal referred to this power as the aura of the world.
through this aura, he developed the secret technique of calamity dragon fall, which propelled him to the pinnacle of the four above the heavens.
durandal had kraush climb the world tree for this very reason, to help him sense the world’s aura more easily.
the world tree was an ideal location, as the aura of the world could be felt there more strongly than anywhere else.
moreover, the act of climbing the world tree depleted kraush’s aura, making it easier for him to perceive the world’s aura.
although durandal had expected it to be effective,
‘i didn’t think it would work this well.’
durandal’s astonishment was clear.
‘is this what talent looks like?’
as someone who had reached the pinnacle of talent and skill to ascend to the four above the heavens, durandal could only watch kraush with wide-eyed amazement.
in reality, kraush’s ability had nothing to do with talent; it was simply the culmination of countless experiences.
“is this it?”
before long, kraush was freely manipulating the aura of the world.
having previously mastered the power of world erosion, he found it easy to handle aura as well.
‘no wonder the prophecy of sephira mentioned his star.’
durandal observed kraush, mistakenly assuming him to be an unparalleled prodigy, unaware of the truth behind kraush’s abilities.
“yes, as you said, that is the power known as the world’s aura. it is the innate force of the world, distinct from aura generated by living beings. it is also the same as the power behind the curses you wield.”
perhaps because kraush had infused so many curses into his body recently, even to durandal, kraush’s world erosion power appeared as though it were a curse.
not that it was incorrect, so kraush simply nodded in agreement.
“and with that aura as your foundation, you will now learn calamity dragon fall.”
“i see.”
kraush gazed at the aura swirling in his hand.
the aura was clearly different from the power of world erosion.
where world erosion was a force of destruction and consumption, aura was a power meant to protect.
perhaps because of this distinction, kraush decided to test something.
he tentatively clashed the power of world erosion with world’s aura.
crackle!
in that moment, black and white sparks erupted simultaneously within kraush’s body, freezing him in place.
for an instant, he felt as though his body had been split in half.
had he not held himself back, he might have screamed aloud in front of durandal.
‘as i thought, it’s impossible to use both at the same time right now.’
but this outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected.
though the revelation of the world’s inherent power was surprising, kraush had been contemplating methods from the start.
even if it meant risking his life, he was determined to master calamity dragon fall.
‘i’ll use everything i have at my disposal.’
this had always been kraush’s guiding principle, from the very beginning.
“take the rest of the day off. you’ve had quite a rough time climbing up here.”
durandal said casually, turning away with a calm demeanor.
“i’ll head down and bring something to eat.”
despite kraush’s weeks of grueling effort to climb the world tree, durandal descended effortlessly, as if it were nothing.
watching him disappear below, kraush collapsed onto the spot, sitting with a heavy thud.
far below, past the distant clouds, rahern academy came into view.
kraush looked at it with a faint wish in his heart.
that, at the very least, no trouble would arise down there while he was stuck up here.
even though he knew full well how futile such a wish was.
translators note: