PAID

It felt like a scene from a play.

The timing was so perfect, so natural, it almost made the actors seem as though they were performing rather than living through the moment.

Thud…!

However, the next moment quickly dragged them back into reality.

Iliad, the man once known as the Sword Saint, sank to the ground and vomited blood, his body crumbling like a puppet with its strings cut.

Thud!

He fell, kicking up dust as he hit the ground, his movement silent but heavy.

“D-Dead…”

The words came from Barbarian, the first to confront the harsh truth.

“……”

A deep silence swept over the group.

No one spoke.

Was it the emptiness of death that caused the silence, or was it the hesitation to face the family’s sorrow? Or perhaps, the family simply couldn’t accept the loss and found themselves speechless in grief?

Whatever the reason, it was clear that it wasn’t a positive silence.

But…

“…So, this is how it ends.”

“That was a magnificent duel. Truly magnificent.”

Even in the face of their family member's death, they did not blame or harbor resentment against the knight who had fought.

Rather, it seemed they had accepted the inevitability of this moment long ago, and they took the situation with a certain calm acceptance.

The family of the great swordsmanship house Offen, a family of noble knights.

Although they had lost a blood relative, they accepted the death as a result of a fair duel and did not speak against it.

Even as nobles, those who live by the sword must live with the understanding that death comes with it.

So, despite their sorrow, they did not show any resentment at Iliad’s death.

It had been a knight’s duel, and there had been no dishonor in it.

There was nothing to feel wronged about.

Therefore, what they had to say was…

“Thank you, thank you, my child. You allowed him to go out like a true knight until the end.”

“Master, I’m sorry. I’ve stained your hands with our family’s blood. Even though it turned out this way, I won’t hold any grudges. This is the life of one who stands on the edge of the blade…”

Expressing gratitude was the right thing to do.

They owed it to Ihan, who had done what they couldn’t.

If they had to owe something, they would, but they wouldn’t act out of cowardice, like holding any resentment.

“Iliad, I’m sure he’s satisfied.”

“Yeah, definitely…”

“He was truly strong, Mother. I never thought I’d be part of such a regret-free duel. Arno, you have a great teacher.”

“Indeed, Father.”

“You did well by sending him to the academy.”

“Haha, still, it’s a bit disappointing. If I had been active, I could have fought even more impressively.”

“You were impressive enough. So… huh?”

“You were already great. Of course, if you were still active, it would have been an even more magnificent duel… huh?”

“……Hmm?”

In that moment, everyone felt something strange.

What was that?

Why did they hear a voice they shouldn’t be hearing?

They blinked in confusion, as if they had heard a ghostly voice, and stared dumbfounded at the Offen family, who were tilting their heads with identical, puzzled expressions.

“They’re playing around…”

The knight only let out a snicker.

***

Boom!

Ihan collapsed.

It was as if all his strength had been drained, and he lay flat on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Are... are you okay?”

“…I’ll be fine after resting a bit.”

Though he said that, Ihan felt like he wouldn’t be able to move for a while.

His body was so heavy, and the dizziness was overwhelming.

Though the amount of blood he had lost was considerable, it was the immense fatigue from using willpower that weighed most heavily on him.

Had he been anyone else, with less mental strength, he would have fainted or even died by now.

Truthfully, Ihan longed to just sleep deeply.

“First, I need to finish treating that guy before I rest.”

As Ihan spoke, Felicia rushed to ask,

“W-What did you do!? How is Iliad still alive? What did you do to make him suddenly recover?! There’s never been a case of a mana creature turning back into a human!”

“…Calm down. Let’s go one question at a time. You’re all over the place.”

“Ah….”

Felicia, seemingly calming under Ihan’s composed tone, looked at his state with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“Sorry…”

It seemed she was ashamed for not being able to maintain her composure.

Well, Ihan understood.

It was a shock of the kind that would shake anyone, to have a son return to his normal state after appearing to be lost forever.

It was like someone who had been dead returning to life.

That was the kind of shock they were experiencing.

Therefore, Ihan responded coolly instead of chastising her.

“…I know it looks like you should be relieved, but take action with your son quickly. He’s not safe yet.”

“What?”

“Use your aura or whatever. If you leave him like this, he’ll die.”

“!!?”

Before Ihan’s advice even finished, Felicia rushed to touch Iliad’s body, and less than a minute later, she was horrified.

“Th-That’s it, so this is how…!”

Whoosh!

Felicia, seemingly realizing what needed to be done, released her aura.

Whooooosh!

A massive amount of aura enveloped Iliad’s body like a cocoon, with the aura gathering intensely around his chest—his heart, as if protecting it.

“…What… what are you doing?”

As the mysterious aura surged, the others were stunned and unable to understand the situation. Only Derrick, driven by curiosity, asked the question.

“What kind of mysterious method did you use?”

To which Felicia casually replied,

“It’s nothing special. I killed him once and brought him back.”

“??”

“Well, technically…”

She had destroyed his heart.

***@@novelbin@@

The previous day, Taechang had said something in the tunnels.

He spoke about the criteria that divide lower-tier and high-tier martial arts.

It was none other than:

"The reason why the martial arts learned by the nobility, the so-called arts of prestigious families, are classified as high-tier martial arts is because they consume monster’s magic stones."

It was a shocking revelation.

As most knew, using monsters for food would lead to mana corruption, and consuming magic stones would lead to an irreversible transformation into a mana creature—this was common knowledge.

But Taechang’s statement, which broke this assumption, had the potential to shake not just the kingdom, but the entire continent.

However,

"Of course, you shouldn’t just eat them as they are. They must be diluted and processed into potion form. This is the secret of the noble families."

It’s said that one should always listen to the whole explanation.

Taechang’s further elaboration was completely understandable.

"As you know, martial arts were originally designed to fight monsters or demons, but honestly, it doesn't make much sense, does it? To explode one’s internal life force and gain abilities dozens of times greater than normal—it's essentially suicide."

A combat technique that an ordinary human couldn’t handle.

Once or twice might be manageable, but repeatedly using such a combat style would eventually break the body, and death would be inevitable.

Even if the body could withstand it, life force would be depleted, and death might come before one even reaches thirty.

Historical records say that due to such side effects, many early users of martial arts died in their twenties.

...Therefore, researchers were forced to make a choice.

Should they give up on martial arts altogether, or should they find a way to use it safely?

And the choice was clear:

"They sought improvements, and researchers focused on the mana corruption phenomenon."

Through this phenomenon, humans could gain superhuman strength.

Researchers saw potential here.

"They decided to focus the mana corruption on just one spot."

Without affecting the brain or other parts of the body, they induced mana corruption only in one place.

The most vital organ in the body, the source of life—

It was none other than the:

Heart.

Heart enhancement.

By artificially causing mana corruption only in the heart, they would have a strengthened heart. This became the way for martial arts to evolve, and after countless experiments and trials, this method spread among the powerful, and many noble families eventually succeeded in creating their own unique martial arts over hundreds of years.

"That’s why high-tier martial arts are incomparable to low-tier ones, and why the nobility holds power that commoners can’t touch. Even if commoners learn about heart enhancement, they can’t surpass the centuries of trial and error, or the unique martial arts and potion-making methods created by noble families. The technological gap is as vast as that between a steam engine and a rocket."

This was the secret and the core of the noble families’ high-tier martial arts, and when Ihan first heard it, he couldn’t help but feel stunned.

"Whether in this world or the next, there are always idiots doing crazy things."

"Well, they didn’t experiment on normal people. Most of the experiments were done on heinous criminals…"

"Do you believe that?"

"……."

"I’m not criticizing. Human progress does have dark sides to it. Still, … it’s kind of lacking in romance."

"Hmm…"

It was undeniable that it shattered a bit of innocence.

But then again, innocence was meant to be broken, so Ihan had let it go, and after hearing the story, he almost forgot about it for a while.

But today...

"-I remembered it, the secret of martial arts."

"Unbelievable… There’s such a secret…?"

"Kunta is shocked too."

"It’s a well-kept secret. It shouldn’t be known, as it would cause great confusion if revealed."

"If it gets out, people might start recklessly consuming magic stones, so we have to be extra careful."

The bears, whose sizes were awe-inspiring, expressed their shock, while the little wolves who already knew the secret, including Taechang, scratched their cheeks bitterly.

"Well, it's an uncomfortable secret."

Ihan sneered at them, clearly uncomfortable with their reactions.

"They’re not ‘noble enough.’"

"If you're a noble, you have to be a little unlucky and lack humanity, right? Tch."

"Please stop with the noble hatred…"

"That's discrimination, Instructor."

"Quit the nonsense. This isn’t about criticizing martial arts or its origins. I’m explaining how I treated the fairy tale writer."

Ihan scolded them to stop nitpicking and continued, while they all closed their mouths.

Sometimes, when you just say it, they listen.

If he’d been in good condition, he might have given them a piece of his mind, but since he was utterly exhausted, Ihan chose to answer their questions instead.

"My treatment process wasn’t really anything special."

It was based on a 'hypothesis' grounded in faith.

"Honestly, I didn’t think he was foolish enough to eat monster meat or gallstones."

If he were an idiot, maybe, but the Iliad Ihan knew was no fool.

Quite the opposite—he was sharp.

So, how did he become a mana creature?

"I thought maybe he was poisoned by an ‘underlying disease’ that had been dormant, and no matter how smart he was, he’d be helpless against it."

He wasn’t sure how, but if the monster cells in his heart spread like cancer, turning him into a mana creature would make sense.

It was a form of spiritual collapse.

The heart, the body’s center, overwhelmed by the flow of mana, causing a tragedy.

That was Ihan’s guess, and along with this theory…

"He stupidly 'broke it.'"

"……."

"Well, it seems like my guess was right."

"…So, it was a gamble?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"……."

It was a level of boldness that left them speechless.

But their speechlessness only made it more impressive.

‘Can anyone really come up with this kind of idea in a situation like this?’

The fact that Ihan had the clarity of mind to think that way, and to come up with a treatment plan during a battle, clearly indicated he wasn’t an ordinary person.

…But the problem was, it was so extraordinary that it was hard for anyone to believe it.

"So, Master, I understand the principle and the process, but how is Iliad still alive if you destroyed his heart?"

The logical question was about how anyone could survive with a destroyed heart, and Ihan shrugged.

"I struck it twice. The first strike destroyed the internal heart, and the second strike protected the external part, briefly halting its destruction. That’s why his heart stopped temporarily, but fortunately, he regained consciousness…"

Click.

"There are also ways to regenerate the heart, so it’s not a problem."

"……."

His finger pointed toward the swordmaster, who was busy using vast amounts of aura to restore Iliad’s heart. The disciples were so amazed, they almost applauded.

"You truly keep your promises, Master…"

"I told you I don’t lie."

"……Ha."

Arno chuckled wryly, shaking his head in admiration.

Really…

"…I respect you, truly."