Chapter 3

Mad Swordsman of the Shadow World (3)

A day passed.

As scheduled, the instructors gathered the trainees from each section and tested them on their memorization of the mana cultivation method.

Of course, only a very small number had memorized it all.

“You goddamn bastards! Are you planning to disgrace me again!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“P-Please spare me! I was wrong! Aaaaaagh!”

The trainees curled up and screamed beneath the merciless beating of the instructor.

Bengle, the instructor in charge of Section 5.

This place was divided into a total of ten sections, and Section 5 was always hovering near the very bottom.

Of course, there were a few trainees with excellent results, including Perka, but the overall level was lower than that of the trainees in the other sections.

Bengle raised the bloodstained iron pipe and pointed at the next trainee.

“You. Recite it.”

“Th-Th-Th-Th-That is...”

“You little bastard... You get down too...!”

Thudthudthudthud! Thudthud! Thudthud!

Eventually, Bengle threw aside the iron pipe and began stomping on them with his feet clad in hard military boots.

But none of the trainees could stop him.

Most of the fifty trainees were beaten by Bengle.

Of course, those who had memorized a decent amount were beaten somewhat less, but that did not mean the beating was light.

“Hoo... Are you the last one?”

Before long, Bengle stood before Theron, the last remaining trainee.

But the moment Bengle saw Theron's face, he spat into his palm and picked up the iron pipe.

“Idiot Theron? You bastard. You couldn't memorize it anyway, right? Just get dow...”

He had never once seen this pathetic bastard do anything properly until now.

As though there was no need to even ask, Bengle pointed at the floor with the iron pipe and spoke.

But...

“I memorized it all.”

“...What?”

Before he could even finish speaking, Theron answered with a calm expression.

At that answer, Bengle's eyes trembled slightly.

The children lying on the floor also raised their heads and looked at Theron.

Every one of them looked astonished.

But Theron resolutely raised his head and slowly began reciting the mnemonic formula of the mana cultivation method.

“The core of this Darkfin mana cultivation method is to absorb the mana in the atmosphere and condense it in the dantian. After lowering it from the dantian to the perineum, it is drawn upward along the mana circuits of the spine into the first meridian, then passes through both shoulders and spreads throughout the body through the heart meridian.”

Bengle's eyes trembled slightly as Theron's words flowed without hesitation.

That was because he did not seem to be merely reciting the mana cultivation method, but to fully understand its meaning and practice it.

“And it is important to gather the mana that has been spread throughout the body back at the fingertips and refine it. If the flow of mana is unstable, it is reorganized at the fingertips before being circulated again. And...”

“Enough. That's sufficient.”

Bengle cut Theron off.

His words flowed so perfectly without the slightest hesitation that there was no longer any need to listen.

Bengle turned his head and thought.

‘Until just a few days ago, he was hopeless...’

Did getting beaten so much finally knock some sense into him?

After a moment, he tilted his head and looked at the trainees.

“I'll give you one more day. Anyone who hasn't memorized it properly by then had better be prepared. And...”

Bengle glared fiercely at the trainees like a wild beast.

“The upcoming midterm exam. If we come in last again... I'll make sure to kill a few of you bastards myself.”

At Bengle's threat, the trainees' faces turned pale.

How could they not, when they had already seen several people beaten to death by the instructors?

In an instant, fear settled over the shoulders of the Section 5 trainees.

Except for one person.

Step, step.

Theron returned to the room and sat down.

At that moment.

“Hey, hey!”

“What the hell are you? Did you really memorize that entire book?”

Perka asked. Behind him, Renil made a huge fuss.

“Fuck! How does that make any sense? Idiot Theron was the only one who memorized everything?”

“Perka memorized almost all of it too. And Jiaron in the room next door memorized everything. You're the only one in this room who couldn't memorize any of it.”

Tioren said while looking at Renil.

At that, Renil's face twisted sharply.

“Fuck, it's not that I couldn't memorize it! I just got nervous earlier and my mind went completely blank!”

“If you couldn't say it in front of the instructor anyway, that's the same as not memorizing it.”

“You bastard!”

Renil scowled as though he were about to charge at Tioren at any moment.

But Perka stopped the two of them.

“Both of you, be quiet. More importantly, Theron. Did you really memorize it all?”

At the somewhat serious look in Perka's eyes, memories of the past suddenly flashed before Theron's eyes.

To these guys...

‘I do owe them.’

His previous life.

Hadn't they gotten into quite a few conflicts with trainees from other sections simply because they were his roommates and had tried to help him?

In Perka's case especially, he had been injured because of that and eventually died during training.

Even so, he had never once said anything blaming Theron.

And...

‘The other two... were the same.’

They had extremely rough personalities, but after living in a place like this for several years, there was no way anyone could remain normal.

In a way, Theron found it remarkable that these guys had not abandoned their humanity even in an environment like this.

Remembering the past, Theron unconsciously let out a faint chuckle.

At that, Renil frowned.

“You bastard, what are you laughing at?”

Renil's anger turned toward Theron.

He had been beaten half to death without managing to say a single word, while Theron had passed perfectly.

The momentary inferiority he felt from that contrast came out as anger.

But then.

“Enough. Sit down. I'll help you.”

“What?”

“Blindly memorizing it won't get you anywhere. I'll help you, so sit down.”

At Theron's words, Renil looked awkwardly at Perka and Tioren.

The two nodded.

“Like this?”

“Just sit comfortably.”

“Urgh!”

Renil, who had been beaten quite severely, grimaced as though simply lowering his butt onto the floor caused intense pain.

But Theron stood up as though it did not matter and spoke.

“First, sensing mana is the most important thing. Then, if you move the mana according to the mnemonic formula written in this book, you'll naturally learn it without having to memorize it separately.”

“...You're saying you've already sensed mana?”

“Idiot Theron has?”

Renil called him an idiot every time he spoke to him, but his eyes were trembling badly.

Because he had never even imagined that Theron might have already sensed mana.

But at Renil's words, Theron said.

“Should I not help you?”

“N-No! No!”

“...Renil, I think you'd better keep your mouth shut from now on.”

Tioren, standing beside him, looked at Renil with cold eyes.

At that, Renil tightly shut his mouth and looked at Theron.

With desperate eyes.

If he got beaten like this again tomorrow, he felt certain that something would really break.

Perka spoke to Theron.

“I'll apologize for what Renil said. If you can help us, I'd appreciate it.”

“...Fine.”

It was not that he was particularly offended.

He had merely wanted to straighten him out a little.

When Theron nodded, the three of them wore oddly relieved expressions.

Theron spoke.

“I'll inject mana into your bodies, so don't think about anything and focus only on feeling that sensation. Once you get used to it, you'll be able to sense mana quickly.”

“Got it.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

At their answers, Theron first walked behind Perka and placed his hand on his back.

“I'm starting.”

Nod.

Then Theron slowly drew up his mana and injected it into Perka's body.

Since he had only gathered mana for a single day, the amount was extremely small.

‘Still...’

It was enough to let these guys experience the sensation of mana.

Perka flinched at the warm sensation suddenly entering his body, but focused all his attention on it.

It was a sensation he had never experienced in his life, yet it somehow felt strangely familiar.

As though he almost understood it, yet could not quite grasp it.

Perka focused every nerve on following the mana moving inside his body.

And then.

“Keep track of how the mana moves. Don't try to memorize it with your head. Remember it with your body.”

At Theron's words, Perka felt the path taken by the warm energy.

It first dropped sharply from his lower abdomen toward the perineum near his left hip, then traveled upward along his spine and curved toward his shoulders.

Perka calmly focused on the sensation through the movements that followed.

And one cycle, two cycles, three cycles.

Theron's mana moved tirelessly through every corner of Perka's body.

Had about thirty minutes passed like that?

“Hoooo...”

At Perka's signal, Theron removed his hand and exhaled softly.

Perka was sweating heavily from how much concentration he had used, but.

“...I think I understand.”

He soon opened his eyes and looked around.

Because he could faintly sense the tremendous amount of mana floating in the atmosphere.

At that sight, Theron chuckled.

If there was exactly one... advantage to this hellish place.

‘It's that the concentration of mana is incredibly high.’

Because of that, as damned as this place was, it was an environment perfectly optimized for training.

Of course, he still hated the damp smell of mold.

“Next is Renil.”

“Y-Yeah!”

Renil answered as though bracing himself.

And after Renil came Tioren. Theron likewise injected mana into him and moved it according to the operational mnemonic formula of the Darkfin mana cultivation method.

During that process, both of them managed to sense mana and fully learn the operational mnemonic formula.

The only difference was that Renil took three hours.

While Tioren finished in only ten minutes.

Tioren slowly opened his eyes, briefly marveling at the sensation of mana in the atmosphere.

“...Why are you so slow?”

He bluntly tossed the remark at Renil beside him.

At that, Renil flared up and shouted.

“S-Shut up! You're just fast!”

“...Three hours.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Seeing the two of them looking ready to fight at any moment, Theron intervened.

“I think you've learned the mnemonic formula well enough. And there's one important point.”

“...What is it?”

Perka looked at Theron seriously. Theron replied.

“From now on, focus only on drawing that mana toward your dantian. Two hours every day after training ends. Don't think about anything else. You have to practice every single day.”

“Every day?”

“Every day?”

The three of them stared with wide eyes.

But Theron nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, every day. Why? Can't you do it?”

“...No, I'll do it.”

“Damn it... Fine, I'll do it.”

“I'll do it too.”

Perka, Renil, and Tioren nodded as they answered.

Of course, it might not be easy.

The training they already underwent here was unimaginably intense.

‘If they practice the mana cultivation method after training on top of that... not only their stamina, but their mental strength will be pushed to the limit.’

But if they managed it, they would advance faster than anyone else in this place.

And...

‘If we want to get out of this place... they need to be capable of at least this much.’

Of course, before that, Theron intended to take everything he needed.

In his previous life.

He had not known it while he was here, but he later realized that this Hell Island was far more of a treasure trove than he had imagined.

Theron then stood up.

“Then don't rest. Train. That's the only way to survive.”

“...But did you hit your head or something?”

Perka asked Theron.

Far too many things about Theron had changed.

How could a person change this much overnight?

Tioren, who had been thinking the same thing, asked.

“You didn't get hit in the head the wrong way, did you?”

But at their questions, Theron merely shrugged.

“Who knows.”

It might be easier to simply assume he had injured his head.

Theron then moved to a corner, closed his eyes, and slowly began practicing the mana cultivation method.

The plan begins now...

Theron's gaze settled calmly as an intricate plan began filling his mind, densely woven like a spiderweb.