Chapter 70: New ground

To cut to the chase, Cheonryeo’s idea was never accepted.

Because I wanted to talk about the heart of the sword, not particularly about fondling breasts.

“Tch. How boring.”

“We’re in the middle of a serious conversation. Now isn’t the time for dirty jokes.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

At my calm rebuke, Cheonryeo grumbled.

Sigh. Maybe I should’ve just fondled her breasts.

‘No. Get a grip.’

I have Justia’s chest, don’t I?

Right now, I need to focus on the conversation.

“Ahem.”

With that, I pushed aside my wandering thoughts and looked at Cheonryeo again.

She was staring at me from a distance close enough to reach out and touch.

After the playful atmosphere had settled,

she opened her mouth.

“My true feelings… Well, Master already knows this, but I was born as a demonic sword, right?”

“That’s right.”

“At first, the demonic energy wasn’t that strong, but over time, I lost control as it consumed me. The knight who wielded me was also corrupted by the demonic energy and mercilessly slaughtered countless people.”

“Mhm.”

“During those days when I was wielded as a demonic sword, all I did was repeat the cycle of slaughter. Sometimes, I wonder—what would’ve happened if I hadn’t met the Master?”

Cheonryeo spoke while looking straight at me.

A seriousness I’d never seen before.

After a brief pause, she continued.

“If I hadn’t met Master, I probably would’ve remained locked away in Dünkel’s basement forever. I’ve always been grateful to my Master. That’s my true feelings.”

“Gratitude, huh. That’s unexpected. Never thought I’d hear that from you.”

“Hehe. I’m a woman who knows how to be grateful too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I’m really glad I met my Master. Truly.”

“…Well, thanks for saying that.”

I averted my eyes slightly from Cheonryeo’s intense gaze as I replied.

This girl. Who knew she’d been thinking such admirable thoughts?

She’s all grown up now.

“And hey, remember what you said before? About swinging the sword to save people?”

Then, Cheonryeo leaned toward me and asked.

Was she talking about what I said when we first met?

“Well, I might’ve said something like that.”

“That thing. From now on, I want to stand by your side and share that resolve with you.”

Cheonryeo adjusted her posture as she spoke.

Sitting cross-legged awkwardly like me seemed uncomfortable for her.

The way she stretched her legs out and sat as if she owned the place was amusing.

I smirked and responded.

“Well, there seems to be some misunderstanding. First of all, the reason I save people is for the happiness of my women. Keep that in mind.”

“Oh. Is that it?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway. You asked for my true feelings. I want to stay by your side and share that resolve with you.”

“Is it because you’ve lived as a demonic sword and killed so many people?”

“Well, that’s part of it. But more than anything, I just want to stay by your side forever.”

“I see.”

I straightened my legs and sat down, responding to Cheon-ryeo.

Sharing hearts with me, huh.

‘Ugh.’

I felt bad for Cheon-ryeo, but it was such a cringey thing to say.

I was just trying to live happily, mating with my women.

Was it the mood or something?

Guess he’s more emotionally sensitive than I thought.

‘Well. Still.’

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad thing to hear.

The fact that someone shared their heart with me—it meant something to me.

‘Ah.’

And then, a thought flashed through my mind.

Tempering the heart.

It wasn’t necessarily something I had to do alone.

Punching the air in gratitude ten thousand times in an empty field.

Swinging a sword alone in the forest for years.

All of that could harden my heart.

But come to think of it, the encouragement and comfort from others had also made my heart stronger.

And the moment I realized that, I felt something shift inside me.

“Hoo…”

I took a deep breath in and out.

The quiet room.

I closed my eyes and calmly observed the mana flowing within my body.

“…”

As I focused all my senses, Cheonryeo seemed to pick up on the serious atmosphere and stayed silent.

In the pitch-black world behind my closed eyelids.

I was alone, yet not alone.

My hardened heart even influenced the mana inside me.

Then, the mana in my body trembled.

Fssss—

“Oh.”

Cheon-ryeo let out a small gasp.

What did he see?

Ignoring him, I calmly circulated the mana throughout my body.

Uuung—

The mana flowed through every corner of my meridians, piercing through the blood vessels.

A tingling sensation spread as the mana traveled, bringing faint pain, but I didn’t stop.

Somehow, I knew I couldn’t stop here.

Following my instincts, I kept circulating the mana.

Sssss—

“Yaaawn…”

Had a lot of time passed?

Cheon-ryeo couldn’t hold back his drowsiness and yawned.

With my eyes closed, I had no idea how much the sun had moved.

But.

Even though I didn’t know how much time had passed, I wasn’t anxious.

I just kept repeating the process until not even a hint of the tingling remained.

As I continued to circulate mana, hunger briefly visited me before leaving, but it didn’t stop completely.

“Ugh… Nooo… The sleep monster is chasing me…”

Around the time Cheonryeo, who had completely passed out, was muttering ridiculous sleep talk—

Swoooosh…

I slowly opened my eyes, gathering the mana.

“Oh wow.”

“Snore…”

The sight that greeted me after a long session of mana training was shocking in many ways.

Cheonryeo lying sprawled on the floor, her underwear exposed, snoring away.

Numerous scars covering the walls around us.

And.

Me, completely naked.

‘What the hell.’

Why the hell was I undressed?

I had no clue what had happened.

I shook Cheonryeo, who was scratching her belly absentmindedly, to wake her up.

“Hey. Wake up.”

“Ugh… Mating…”

“You little— Get up now.”

“Huh…? Master? Are you finally done?”

“Yeah. What the hell happened here?”

“Oh. That. Slurp.”

Cheonryeo wiped the drool from her mouth.

Ugh. Disgusting.

“Well, you see. While you were circulating mana, the overflowing mana swirled violently inside the room.”

“What?”

“Yeah. An insane amount of mana poured out of your body, clawed at the walls, and even shredded your clothes.”

“Huh.”

I looked around again after hearing her explanation.

Sure enough. 

The floor was littered with the torn remains of what must have been my clothes, shredded as if by something sharp.

The scars on the walls definitely hadn’t been there before, so they must have been caused by me.

And yet, this girl managed to sleep through all that.

“Unbelievable.”

“Right? A grand duke training naked. How embarrassing.”

“…”

“Just kidding. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded calmly.

And in the next instant, I lunged at Cheonryeo, lifted her up, and swung my palm down on her plump buttocks.

Smack!

“Eeek!”

“You’re pushing your jokes too far with your master. You need to be disciplined.”

“Wuuu… I’m sorry.”

“Hmm. Anyway, it’s fascinating. The flow of energy in my body feels different now.”

I lowered my gaze, examining my bare body inside and out.

My usual toned muscles.

But inside, the mana was purer than before.

And.

“You’ve changed, Master.”

“Yeah. The mana is flowing as if it has a will of its own.”

“That’s amazing. How is this possible? It’s like you’re constantly using aura without even trying…”

Cheonryeo’s eyes gleamed with obvious intrigue.

Just as she said, even without doing anything, the mana was circulating through my body as if it had its own will.

‘Was it because I tempered my mind?’

It seemed the mana had synchronized with my will and gained its own consciousness.

I stood still, clenching my fist.

Just how far had I progressed now?

I wanted to test it immediately, but—

“I’m out of mana.”

“Yeah. You pushed yourself too hard. If you use any more mana now, you might suffer from mana exhaustion.”

Cheonryeo spoke with a worried expression.

She was right.

Between Polymorph and the mana consumption for advancing my realm—

My head was spinning slightly, and I could feel dizziness creeping in.

‘Definitely. I need to rest for a bit.’

Maybe I should step outside to check how much time had passed.

But just as I was about to take a step, Cheonryeo’s body began slowly dissolving into black smoke.

Swoooosh—

“The Polymorph summon is being released.”

“Yeah. But this time, it lasted quite a while.”

“Eventually, I’ll be able to maintain it for days.”

“Looking forward to that. For now, get some proper rest. I think we’ve been up all night.”

“Alright. Got it.”

I responded to Cheonryeo as she gradually turned to smoke and dispersed.

She smiled brightly at my answer.

A moment later, her body completely dissipated into smoke.

Alone in the room.

I stood there, running a hand through my hair.

“Well then. Time to head back.”

I wanted to collapse into bed and sleep right away.

But just as I was about to take a step to return to my quarters—

I realized something important.

‘Ah. I’m still naked right now.’