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Chapter 96: Overheating (1)

After the secret(?) trip with Professor Elisha ended, I still had time left since my suspension wasn’t over.

I threw myself into training my newly acquired technique, "Ashen Flame."

Maybe it was because it had been a while since I learned a new technique, but I became so engrossed that I practically stopped eating and drinking, dedicating myself to training day and night.

The result?

I succeeded in enveloping not just my sword but also my fists in ashen flame.

Of course, the technique was so taxing on my mana pathways that my whole body\'s mana system was in tatters, but I was able to fix that with the "Blessing of Revival."

So there I was, repeatedly experiencing death and revival from the early hours of the morning, fully focused on training, when:

Beep.

["Candidate ‘Yuren Helios,’ ‘Berald Ryu’ access confirmed."]

Yuren and Berald entered the training hall after their classes ended.

"Oh, Dale. You were here first."

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Brother, haven’t you been here since this morning? No matter how important training is, overdoing it can ruin your body. You should take it easy."

Berald stroked his chin with a concerned look.

Although he wasn’t directly from the main family, Berald was still a member of the ‘Ryu’ clan, and he had his own private training hall.

Yet, ever since our group exploration mission to the ruins, he often came to Yuren’s personal training hall to train together.

"Don’t worry about it. I’m fine."

I waved off his concern with a smile.

There’s an old saying in the Republic that goes, "Too much of anything is bad," but that didn’t apply to me.

‘The one who told me that in my past life was this guy, Berald.’

A memory from my past life suddenly resurfaced.

-Brother, are you really struggling that much?

Huff! Huff!

I-I’m dying... I’m really going to die!

-Hahaha! Don’t worry, brother!

-So, we\'re done for today, right?

-If it’s hard enough to die, just die, come back to life, and start again!

-Y-You crazy bastard!

-Come on! How can the ‘Immortal Demon’ be whining like this? Get up!

-Aaaah! Stop! Aaargh!

Ugh.

Just thinking about it pisses me off again.

What?

Overdoing it can ruin your body, so take it easy?

You’re the one who said that, really?

"Why... why are you looking at me like you\'re going to tear me apart? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it\'s nothing."

I smiled brightly and approached Berald.

"By the way, today’s our sparring day, right?"

"Y-Yes, that’s right."

"Haha."

"Actually, I was thinking maybe I should just do some solo training today…."

"Where do you think you’re going?"

I grabbed Berald’s shoulder as he tried to turn away.

"Come on, we’re wasting time. Hurry up and change into your training gear."

"Ugh. Fine."

"Don’t worry. Even if you get beaten to a pulp, you’ll be okay."

"Why are you suddenly so harsh, brother!"

I shoved a whining Berald into the locker room.

As I smirked, anticipating a bit of revenge in the upcoming sparring match:

"Dale, are you really okay?"

"Huh?"

Yuren cautiously approached me.

"You look really exhausted."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. Your dark circles are deep, and your face looks pale."

Yuren gently stroked my cheek with a worried expression.

‘This is... kind of creepy, coming from Yuren.’

If it were ‘Yurina’ in this situation, it would be different, but having a blond pretty boy gazing at me with soft eyes while touching my cheek wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

"I’m fine, really."

"But if I look at your training hours lately, it seems like you’re in here almost all day. Are you even getting enough sleep?"

"Well…."

To be honest, I hadn’t been getting more than two hours of sleep a day recently.

"I’m getting plenty of sleep. Don’t worry."

"Liar. Yesterday, you logged out at 3 a.m."

Yuren narrowed his eyes as if about to press me further when:

"Brother! I’m all changed!"

Berald came out of the locker room in his training clothes.

I quickly walked over to him.

"Great. Let’s get started then."

"Haha! I won’t go down as easily as last time!"

Berald clenched his fists, shouting energetically.

I smirked and nodded as I stood in front of him.

"Ah, seriously, I can’t stop you two…,"

Yuren sighed, walking toward the wall of the training hall.

"Alright, I’ll start the countdown."

When Yuren touched the magic device on the wall, numbers appeared in the air.

[Sparring begins in 5 seconds.]

"Hoo."

Berald took a deep breath, his muscles tensing and his stigmata glowing.

[4 seconds.]

He clenched his fists.

[3 seconds.]

He lowered his stance, pulling his waist back.

[2 seconds.]

His gaze locked straight on mine.

[1 second.]

He kicked off the ground, charging forward!

Boom!

"Haaah!"

Berald’s loud shout echoed across the wide training hall as his fist, enveloped in a dense brown aura reminiscent of solid earth, tore through the air.

Whoosh!

I deflected Berald’s fierce punch with the palm of my hand and swept low to target his knees.

Berald’s martial technique: Falling Leaf Sweep.

It was a sweeping kick aimed at his unprotected lower body.

"I won’t fall for the same move twice!"

Perhaps remembering how he had been knocked down by a similar move in our last sparring session, Berald stomped hard on the ground and leaped into the air.

Midair, Berald clasped both hands together and brought them down like a hammer.

Whoom!

His fist, packed with enough power to crush metal like paper, aimed directly for the top of my head.

"Hoo."

I gleamed with interest as I slightly twisted my body to avoid the punch.

Without stopping, I stepped inside his guard and drove my knee upward.

Thud!

My sharply raised knee struck Berald\'s solar plexus.

"Hmmph!"

Just before his solar plexus took the hit, Berald pulled back his downward punch, using his thick forearm as a shield to protect his vital spot.

"Your movements have improved a lot."

I couldn\'t help but utter a short exclamation at Berald\'s smooth, natural flow between offense and defense.

I had thought Berald had grown quite a bit during our last exploration of the ruins, but now, comparing him to that time felt almost embarrassing.

‘Is this how Professor Elisha felt when she looked at me?’

His growth was not just surprising—it bordered on awe-inspiring.

"Heh. Did you think I was just taking all those beatings from you for nothing? I can see through your every move now."

"Is that so?"

I chuckled as I asked, and Berald gave me a smirk.

"This time, I\'ll show you a move you taught me!"

Berald clenched his fists tightly and pulled his arm back as if drawing a bowstring.

"Haaahhh!"

With a rough shout, he stomped forward.

A muddy aura gathered around his fist, radiating destructive energy.

"Mountain Breaker!!!"

Boom!

Berald stomped hard as he threw his punch.

The air around us ripped apart with a deafening roar.

\'So, you think you can see through my every move, huh?\'

In the past, I wouldn’t have dared to counter such a move head-on.

‘Well then, let’s see.’

Fwoosh!

Ashen Flames flared around my fist as I threw my body forward, meeting his punch head-on.

"Wha...?!"

Berald\'s eyes widened in shock.

With a twisted smirk, I swung my fist towards his incoming punch.

\'Mountain Breaker.\'

BAM!

The fists collided.

The blazing Ashen Flames around my punch swallowed Berald\'s muddy aura whole, sending him flying backward violently.

"Gah!"

Boom!

The two-meter-tall Berald crashed into the training hall\'s wall like a kicked stone.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

[Warning.]

[Anomaly detected in the shock-absorbing barrier. Please cease combat immediately.]

As the alarm blared, red lights flashed throughout the hall.

"So, is it still so easy to see through my moves?"

"I-I was wrong... Brother."

Berald slumped to the floor with his head drooping.

The impact must\'ve been pretty harsh; saliva dribbled from his mouth as he hung his head.

\'Did I hit him too hard?\'

For a moment, I felt a twinge of pity, but remembering Berald\'s past misdeeds quickly snuffed out any sympathy that had begun to creep in.

"Dale, that..."

Yuren, who had been watching the spar, stared at me with wide eyes.

I turned toward him and shrugged.

"So? Do I seem a little more fitting for my role now?"

"Wait, did you change your combat style just because of what I said before?"

"Rather than changing my style, it\'s more like I had a revelation. Thanks to you, Yuri... I mean, Yuren. I appreciate it."

"A revelation... You... because of me... Ehheh, ahaha."

Yuren\'s face turned red as he grinned widely, clearly overjoyed.

"Then, that unique aura... Did you also gain that thanks to the revelation?"

"Yeah, that\'s right."

"I-I see."

Yuren clenched his fists in excitement and bounced on his feet, unable to contain his joy.

Suppressing a laugh, I asked,

"Since I owe you for the revelation, is there anything you need?"

"Huh? Need?"

"Yeah. It doesn’t feel right just accepting it without giving something in return."

Without Yuren\'s advice, I probably would have never mastered the "Ashen Flames."

"There\'s nothing I really need... Actually, wait."

Yuren shook his head at first, but then abruptly stopped.

"In that case, could you... praise me?"

"...Praise you?"

"Y-Yeah! While patting my head!"

Yuren nodded eagerly, eyes gleaming with expectation.

I stared at him, dumbfounded, but his expression was nothing short of serious.

"Huh, well, if that’s all you want..."

I sighed and placed my hand on Yuren\'s head.

Swoosh, swoosh.

I patted his head, though it felt strange because it was Yuren.

"Good job, Yuren."

"...Call me Yurina."

"Huh?"

"Call me Yurina."

"...But—"

I glanced over to see that Berald had passed out, still drooling on the floor.

Sighing, I nodded.

"Good job, Yurina."

"...Mhm!"

Yuren—no, Yurina—smiled bashfully and nodded in satisfaction.

Suppressing another chuckle, I removed my hand from Yurina\'s head.

"...Ah."

She let out a small, disappointed sigh.

Feeling a bit guilty for pulling my hand away too soon, I moved to pat her head again.

"...What?"

Suddenly, my vision flipped.

Thud!

The hard training floor slammed into my cheek.

No, it wasn’t that the floor had risen up.

\'I... collapsed?\'

In my confused haze, I heard Yurina’s panicked voice.

"Dale! What\'s wrong?! Are you okay?! Dale!!!"

"I’m... fine..."

Before I could even finish my sentence, everything faded to black, as if I were sinking into a deep abyss.