Chapter 102 |
While Kraush stood frozen in place, a person walked steadily towards him.
Despite the lingering late summer, he was impeccably dressed in a suit with his hair neatly combed back.
Wearing a tie and adjusting his glasses, he said,
“Training for the Heavenly Slaughter Star, huh? You’re helping with quite a range of things.”
[Do it to the fullest extent possible.]
“The level a 14-year-old can endure was surpassed long ago.”
[No, he needs to do more.]
“Pardon?”
He questioned Crimson Garden’s words.
So, he was desperately fighting within the illusion.
The black flames constantly emanating from his body were proof of that.
“This is a pretty strong illusion-type curse.”
He said, shaking an empty bottle in his hand.
But Crimson Garden clicked her tongue.
[See, it’s already breaking.]
As Crimson Garden continued, the sound of something shattering accompanied Kraush’s black flames flaring up intensely.
Kraush’s eyes, reddened from Annihilation Erosion, shone brightly.
Seeing this, the man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…How? This is a Level 6 curse, the Dark Night.”
As he spoke in a bewildered tone, Kraush took a breath and swept his hair back.
Seeing him, a certain person came to mind.
‘So, this guy is one of Crimson Garden’s disciples.’
He was known as the world’s best curse expert, yet he neglected his duties in favor of wandering the world and researching curses.
Veltoa Lacroix, the world’s greatest curse breaker.
He had given Kraush the most advice on curses and was also one of the craziest people Kraush knew.
The man before him was one of Veltoa’s twelve disciples.
The curse breaker, Osper.
‘Wow, they really gather all sorts of people.’
In Kraush’s view, curse breakers were all abnormal.
This was because being able to break curses was merely a byproduct of their primary interest.
They could break curses because they studied and handled them.
In other words, the premise that they became curse breakers to break curses was fundamentally wrong.
These people simply found curses fascinating and, in the process, stumbled upon ways to break them.
‘They’re more like curse masters than curse breakers.’
As evidence, Osper’s eyes were gleaming with interest.
This was because Kraush had quickly broken the intermediate-level curse, Dark Night.
‘Well, I’ve experienced it before.’
Apologies, but when it comes to curses, Kraush had experienced more than even his mentor Veltoa.
Having endured the highest level curses in forbidden areas, he could easily break a Level 6 curse.
However, Kraush also understood Crimson Garden’s intention.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star strengthens curses.
So, even intermediate-level curses on Kraush would have the effect of high-level curses.
Considering this, Crimson Garden had devised a curse training method.
[Osper, from now on, cast the curses I mention on that boy.]
Crimson Garden began listing curses.
The Yin energy of the Heavenly Jade Star, the murderous intent of the Heavenly Authority Star, the power of the Shaking Light Star.
The plan was to awaken these three traits more strongly through curses.
“Master Crimson Garden, if all those curses are cast, he won’t endure it.”
And the hardships and trials that would follow would all fall on Kraush.
As Osper said, an ordinary person would go mad under such curses.
And Kraush would have to endure the full brunt of these curses without any mitigation.
Enhanced by the Heavenly Slaughter Star, these curses’ effects would be amplified.
Crimson Garden looked at Kraush.
Her eyes seemed to convey how arduous the path was for those who sought the quickest way.
“I told you.”
Kraush exhaled, responding to her gaze.
“That’s what I’m best at.”
It wasn’t by chance that he had endured until the end of the world.
“Hmm, really gonna do it?”
Osper’s eyes, usually expressionless, curved into crescent moons.
As a curse breaker, it was a rare occasion for him to unleash his curses freely.
With both Kraush’s and Crimson Garden’s permission, he immediately extended a finger and pulled out long bottles from his waist.
“Let’s see how far Balheim’s body and mental strength go.”
Osper let out a crazed laugh, pleased with the experiment.
Pop!
Soon, the corks popped off the bottles, and curses began to flow out.
Seeing the curses rushing towards him, Kraush let out a short, incredulous laugh.
Cold Blood Frenzy, where extreme Yin energy would make one’s body freeze and die if one couldn’t endure it.
Murderous Intent Imprint, which would make one hate all living things and ultimately despise one’s own existence.
Stone Flesh Syndrome, where the body would gradually turn to stone and die due to increasing weight.
All were high-level curses that would lead to death if the conditions weren’t met.
To think that he was now willingly subjecting himself to curses he once desperately tried to break.
Kraush couldn’t help but think that life was indeed unpredictable.
***
After repeating the training for quite some time.
Late at night.
Kraush was almost dead asleep.
Recently, he had been training almost all day long.
The Heavenly Slaughter Star had the effect of making curses stronger.
Thus, the curses cast by the curse breaker Osper, combined with the Heavenly Slaughter Star, were eating away at Kraush as if they wanted to kill him.
However, Kraush couldn’t use his knowledge and skills to suppress the curses.
He had to endure them fully to draw out the stars of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
As Kraush slept soundlessly from exhaustion, he felt a sudden warmth in his embrace.
Summer had ended and autumn had arrived.
It was a season where colorful leaves replaced the green foliage and abundant food was plentiful.
The slightly chilly weather made the warmth pleasant.
Moreover, due to his Lunar Body constitution, Kraush’s body had a lower temperature, so the warmth felt comfortable.
Kraush slowly opened his eyes.
It was early dawn, and the surroundings had a slight blue tint.
He lowered his head into the blanket.
He noticed something squirming under the blanket.
Gently lifting the blanket with his hand, he saw a head of white hair.
As he lifted the blanket, lowering the temperature slightly, the owner of the white hair burrowed further into him.
Naturally, the owner of the hair was Bianca.
Seeing her with her eyes closed, it seemed she had gone to the bathroom and then come to this room.
Having shared a room for a while, Bianca would often come in at night even after moving to a different room.
‘Does she miss human warmth?’
Or maybe she only did this with him.
Kraush wasn’t sure, but he pulled the blanket up to cover Bianca so she wouldn’t feel cold.
Recently, it wasn’t just Kraush who had begun training.
Bianca had also begun serious training under Jena’s guidance.
Kraush lifted Bianca’s small hand.
As he touched her hand, he saw scars all over.
It was proof that her training was intense.
Just as Kraush was sleeping like a log from exhaustion, so was Bianca.
At that moment, Bianca’s hand grabbed Kraush’s hand.
“Mr. Kraush…”
Bianca’s voice called out, perhaps having woken her up.
“Why are you in my room?”
You’re the one who came in here.
Kraush found it absurd, but he gently patted Bianca’s head.
Her eyes were sleepy.
“People say it’s easier to sleep when it’s warm.”
“Wouldn’t it be cold with me?”
Due to his Lunar Body, his temperature was lower.
“Mr. Kraush has a warm heart, so it’s okay.”
But Bianca, not minding, buried her face in his chest.
“I can warm you up.”
Was she saying she’d be his heater?
But it was true; he felt warmer in many ways.
“Isn’t the training hard?”
“It’s hard. Master is strict during training.”
“You don’t have to do it if it’s too hard.”
“I don’t want to stop.”
She was surprisingly assertive in such matters.
“I want to stay with Mr. Kraush.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Even if you do, I’ll follow.”
“Then I’ll walk slowly so you can keep up.”
“Hold my hand too.”
“I’m holding it now.”
“That’s good.”
Perhaps because she was sleepy, her conversation was all over the place.
It was amusing, and Kraush chuckled softly.
Bianca’s forehead touched his chest.
“Don’t forget me when you go to the academy.”
“I have a good memory. I hardly forget things I want to forget.”
“Then just remember me.”
“I wish it were that easy.”
In her sleepiness, Bianca said things she wouldn’t usually say.
She suppressed her desires, but in her drowsiness, she let them out.
“Mr. Kraush, I’m sleepy.”
“We still have a long time until morning. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay.”
Watching Bianca soon snore softly, Kraush also closed his eyes.
He thought he had to prevent the world from ending, even to protect this little one in his arms.
For some reason, he felt he could train even harder tomorrow.
***
Time flies like an arrow.
No matter how hard you try to catch it, it continuously moves toward the target.
When it will reach the target is unknown.
Time had passed, and winter had arrived, surpassing autumn.
Large white snowflakes fell gently from the sky.
Kraush felt the cold of the snow on his nose and exhaled a white breath.
The snow-covered midwinter wouldn’t last much longer.
Soon, green sprouts would emerge, and the scent of flowers would fill the air.
When the pink cherry blossoms bloomed, it would be full spring.
[How do you feel?]
Crimson Garden’s voice came from Osper’s shoulder.
Hearing her question, Kraush swallowed a light smile and gripped Rain Thunder Prime.
As the golden blade rose with a thunderous roar, a blue aura formed into a blade.
“It feels great.”
The beginning of mastery.
Kraush had finally crossed the threshold into mastery.
He had struggled to reach this level before entering Rahelrn Academy, and he had managed to do so just in time.
‘This means I have met the minimum standard.’
The level of mastery was considered the basic level of a genius.
Of course, surpassing the initial stage of mastery was another story.
But reaching the entry-level of mastery at 14 years old was enough to be called a genius by anyone.
Even Charlotte had only reached the entry-level of mastery at 15 years old.
‘But Rahelrn Academy probably has quite a few at the mastery level.’
The academy had been in operation for a year already.
Among the 15-year-olds, none apart from Charlotte had likely reached the entry level of mastery.
But Rahelrn Academy accepted students aged 15 to 20.
Considering those aged 18 and older, there would be students at the mastery level.
And those were the ones Kraush would have to compete with.
Kraush planned to surpass not only his peers but also the Ten Strongest Under the Heavens and the Four Strongest Above Heaven.
So, he had no intention of being satisfied with the entry-level of mastery.
There was still a long way to go to become stronger.
‘This is just the starting point.’
It was time to compete with true geniuses.
“Now my curses won’t be as effective.”
Meanwhile, Osper smacked his lips in regret.
For him, testing all sorts of curses on a direct descendant of Balheim had been enjoyable.
But that was effectively over.
Kraush had firmly anchored the three stars of the Heavenly Slaughter Star within his body.
[The preparations are roughly complete.]
Crimson Garden remarked that it was at a level she could accept.
Indeed, the preparations were done.
All that remained was entering the academy.
‘Time to weed out the rotten ones from the sprouting ones.’
Let’s go to the academy and steal some skills.
End of Chapter
