Chapter 49: You, Be My Disciple (1)

I woke up in a dark cave.

A damp and dirty one at that.

“Awake, are you?”

“…Where am I?”

My body was bound by heavy chains.

As I lifted my head, I saw a Drakan grinning and waving at me.

“Hmm, you’re more composed than I expected. I thought you’d be trembling in fear.”

“…”

“Whatever. I just want to know what I’m curious about, and that’s it.”

The Drakan dragged an old chair from the corner and sat down in front of me.

“Now, speak up.”

“What should I say?”

“What do you think? How do you know my techniques?”

I tried to play dumb, but seeing the Drakan’s confident gaze, I realized it was pointless.

‘What kind of excuse would work here?’

Honestly, I didn’t know how I could use the techniques of the Drakan, known as the “God of War.”

I just tried to mimic what Isabel had done, attempting to replicate it as closely as possible.

“…I don’t know either.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“That technique hasn’t even been taught to my second disciple, who has a foul temper. So how do you know it?”

“…”

“Not going to answer? Fine then. I’ll just take away what you hold most dear and see if you keep your mouth shut.”

The Drakan’s expression turned menacing as his gaze slowly lowered.

‘My neck? My heart? Or…’

His eyes passed over my neck and chest, then stopped at my stomach.

“It’ll be fun to crush them one by one.”

“You crazy old man! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

I had planned to buy some time to come up with a plausible excuse, but I couldn’t afford to lose one of my precious orbs, so I confessed immediately.

“Hmm, I met that child.”

“…Yes. Though he’s dead now.”

“Why are you so tense? Did you think I’d blame you for killing him?”

“Well, he was your disciple… I thought you might.”

I gave him a mix of truth and lies.

I told him that Arcane had been attacked by an unknown group, and there I met his disciple, Bakal.

I said I just tried to mimic the technique Bakal had used, and it somehow worked.

Honestly, I wanted to come up with something more plausible, but what could I do?

It was true that I had only seen it and tried to copy it.

‘It’s just that the subject changed from Bakal to Isabel.’

The Drakan didn’t seem particularly shaken.

He just stroked his beard a few times.

“Alright. That’ll do.”

He leaned in closer.

Then he said,

“You, become my disciple.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“…What?”

***

There was no choice.

He made it clear that if I refused, he’d kill me, since no one who wasn’t his disciple should be able to use his techniques.

“Even so, I won’t make you abandon your sword. You seem to have talent in that area.”

“But what does that have to do with this?”

“First, we need to refine your body. What do you plan to do with such a fragile body that looks like it could break at any moment?”

It was true.

The balance I had barely maintained had been shattered not long ago.

‘It’s amazing how he noticed it right away. Does your perception change as you reach higher levels?’

Looking back now, it seemed like the things he had said at the black market were based on my condition at the time.

Back then, I didn’t know who he was and didn’t have the energy to pay attention, so I just thought he was some strange old man and brushed it off.

“Ugh… Huff… How long do I have to keep doing this…?”

“Until I get back, which should be within 10 minutes.”

“And I can’t use magic?”

“What’s the point of using magic to train your body? That stubborn disciple of mine understood after being told once or twice.”

What the Drakan demanded of me was to carry a boulder weighing at least 100 kg to the mountain peak outside the cave within 10 minutes.

It was a distance that was barely manageable even with magic. Trying to do it with just my body felt like it would drive me insane.

“The body becomes stronger the more you train it. If you shrink back in fear of breaking, you’ll only grow weaker.”

“I’ll die before that happens.”

“Do you not trust me, the God of War, Drakan?”

“It’s not that, but everyone has their own suitable training methods…”

I tried to ask him to reconsider the training without provoking him, but…

“Want to lose one of your orbs?”

Seeing the Drakan laugh menacingly, I quickly gave up.

“…Well, there might be such a thing, but I’m sure you’ll adjust it for me, right?”

“Good. Now get moving.”

I had thought about escaping.

During the nights when the Drakan was asleep, I tried to sneak into the dense forest to escape, but…

“You’re not even going to let an old man sleep, are you? You troublesome disciple.”

“How did you…?”

“Fine. Try to run away anytime. But if I catch you, your training will double.”

Every time I was caught, I ended up having to reach that mountain peak within 10 minutes.

‘I can’t take this anymore.’

He promised to let me go once I reached a satisfactory level.

Since it was a magical oath, someone of his stature, the God of War, wouldn’t break it.

‘Let’s think of this as an opportunity to raise my level.’

Though it was an unwanted training, receiving guidance from the God of War was an honor akin to the glory of my family.

At any rate, he seemed to be trying to fix my mana imbalance, so I decided to follow his instructions for the time being.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already informed them.”

“Informed who?”

“You know, that place where they gather the rejects to teach them.”

‘Sigh, calling them rejects is a bit much.’

It was the top academy on the continent, gathering the most talented individuals.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, not at all.”

“Good. If you did, I would’ve plucked out those arrogant eyes along with your orb.”

Still, it was a relief. If he had informed them, I wouldn’t be marked as absent without leave.

‘I still need to stay there.’

Recently, I’ve been wandering outside Arcane due to various incidents.

But since the important matters are still tied to Arcane, it would be troublesome to be expelled already.

.

.

.

.

.

Time flew by.

When I first arrived here, it was early summer, with cool night breezes.

Now, it was full-blown summer.

“Ugh… Huff…”

“Here. Drink this.”

I was still trying to carry the boulder to the peak every day.

The time was gradually decreasing, but it still wasn’t enough to reach it within 10 minutes.

“Are you sure you’re not using magic?”

“…You said you’d kill me if I did.”

“Exactly.” Just in case.

“I haven’t used it even once since I’ve been here, except when I tried to escape.”

For the first few days, he just watched.

He brought some mysterious liquor and lay down beside me, sipping it.

But as time went on, he increased the demands of my training.

Like the training I had done with Isabel, where I had to dodge his attacks blindfolded.

Or jumping on one foot over rolling logs while climbing a hill—meaningless training that I couldn’t understand.

I wasn’t sure what these exercises were supposed to do, but one thing was clear.

‘The chills and muscle pain are gone.’

After taking the mana orb, the chills and muscle pain that had disappeared before returned due to the mana imbalance.

It felt like I had developed insomnia and various other annoying ailments because of it.

But after living with the Drakan, they all disappeared.

“Here, eat.”

“…Could you at least add some salt?”

“What do you expect in the middle of the mountains? Just eat it.”

“Ugh…”

The Drakan prepared the meals.

The menu changed every day, but the taste was consistently bland.

“You have to eat the bones too.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“…I’ll leave them for you, Master.”

“Open your mouth.”

There was something strange about it.

The food seemed ordinary, but at the same time, it wasn’t.

Like boiling what looked like chicken and then telling me to eat the bones.

Or swallowing some weird-looking ginseng while it was still on fire.

‘But at least it’s filling. It keeps going down.’

I really missed salt and the MSG developed by modern food scientists.

But it was better than starving, so I just had to eat it.

‘It’s not like I’m going to prepare it myself.’

With only four hours of sleep a day and being pushed to the limit in training, how could I possibly prepare meals too?

Just thinking about it made me sigh.

“By the way, you don’t seem to know.”

“What do you mean?”

As I chewed on the disgustingly hard bones, I looked up at the Drakan.

He was glaring at me with a pitiful expression.

“…You have no idea, do you? That you’ve reached the 5th Circle.”

“Me?”