Episode 37
As he was about to leave the mansion, a stubborn little boy blocked his path.
“Brother.”
“Address me properly.”
“…My respected King Emperor Majesty, Brother.”
“What is it?”
“Please have a duel with me.”
Chris stared quietly at Tern.
His gaze was unmistakably different from before.
Chris realized that Tern had taken a significant step forward.
‘Mid-level 2-star, huh? That’s fast.’
Tern was only thirteen years old.
Even among the elite bloodlines of noble families, reaching 2-star at thirteen was impressive.
And not just the lower tier, but the mature mid-level rank—within the dark mage circles, that was considered prodigious.
“Dueling will have to wait until after my training.”
“…It will be different this time. Be prepared.”
“Alright, if that’s what you want, I’ll gladly take the beating.”
“Brother!”
“Address me properly.”
“…My respected King Emperor Majesty, Brother.”
Chris chuckled and extended his fist.
Tern smirked and met it with his own.
Their fists collided, and Chris began his secluded training.
Fifteen days.
That was the actual time Chris had.
Far too short to accomplish much.
But time was relative.
For Chris, it was more than enough to achieve a certain breakthrough.
‘First, reduce my sleep.’
Chris began his secret technique.
He had once been a master of medicine.
He had learned many mysterious healing arts.
Among them was a technique that allowed maximum fatigue recovery with minimal sleep.
Though it couldn’t be sustained long-term without damaging the body, for the next fifteen days, he could maintain his stamina on less than two hours of sleep.
‘I need to take the ebony pill.’
Chris pulled out the hidden ebony pill.
It shimmered with a deep, jet-black hue, like a piece of the night sky.
‘But how do I guide the energy?’
He paused to think.
Each elixir had a specific method to absorb its energy efficiently.
If the method wasn’t followed properly, not only would the energy be wasted, but in the worst case, it could cause possession by the spirit within.
The problem was that this ebony pill was a secret elixir from the dark mage’s main family, and its absorption method was unknown outside.
Normally, an elder from the main family would assist in the process.
But Chris shrugged it off.
“I’ll just do it my way. The basics of guiding energy are pretty much the same.”
He wasn’t new to taking elixirs.
Traveling with the hero’s party, he had encountered many treasures.
He had even taken elixirs comparable to the ebony pill.
‘In the end, the principle is to lead the energy to the core and absorb it, while expelling any harmful energy.’
To others, this might sound naive.
The process of absorbing an elixir’s energy was far more complex.
But if you stripped away all the details, Chris’s explanation was essentially correct.
Absorbing energy.
If you could perfectly control the elixir’s energy, you wouldn’t need a special method.
The method existed because without it, the energy would run wild inside the body.
‘I can do this.’
Chris lay down on the bed in the training hall.
Cross-legged? No need.
Comfort was key.
He swallowed the ebony pill, which soon dissolved and was absorbed into his body.
Suddenly—
Dark energy began to run rampant inside him like a wild stallion unleashed.
Not just one, but many.
From his head,
to his abdomen,
arms and legs—
The dark energy spread uncontrollably throughout his body.
Now, he had to gather and guide all that energy into his meridians.
‘It’s stronger than I thought.’
Chris closed his eyes and furrowed his brow.
More than that, alongside the dark energy, a foreign energy was also running wild.
Light energy.
‘Was light energy mixed into the ebony pill?’
Chris recalled how the ebony pill was made.
Karajoff had sacrificed himself in ecstasy for his master—that was the process of creating the ebony pill.
Though forced by the ritual, the process of overcoming Gehenna’s terror through loyalty and sacrifice seemed to have infused some light energy.
‘Now I understand why absorbing the ebony pill is so difficult.’
He had heard that the ebony pill carried a high risk of possession, so at least three elders from the main family would assist during absorption.
It made sense, since light energy was the polar opposite force to dark energy, something the dark mages could never handle.
But Chris was different.
Light energy was a familiar power to him.
‘First, control the dark energy.’
He focused his control.
The dark mage’s method of managing magic energy he had learned from Count Kazar.
It was different from the main family’s direct teachings.
The branch family was only allowed a diluted, less efficient version of the technique.
But that was fine.
A worn-out sword could outshine a polished blade in the right hands.
The wild dark energy began to calm one by one.
He guided it into his meridians.
‘At the same time, the light energy too.’
Normally, the light energy in the ebony pill was considered an impurity to be expelled.
But Chris shook his head.
‘Why waste such a precious thing?’
He intended to absorb both the dark and light energies.
As he controlled the dark energy, he simultaneously managed the light energy.
The dark mage’s method and the swordmaster’s method unfolded together within his body.
A feat that was theoretically impossible.
But the shock didn’t end there.
Both energies traveled through the same meridian.
Water and fire, they should have clashed violently.
Yet, surprisingly, it was calm.
Chris perfectly controlled the two energies, keeping them separate like oil and water.
One slip, and he would suffer terrible internal injuries.
But Chris made no mistakes.
With extreme focus, he dominated the two wild energies racing through his meridians.
‘Now, I have to strengthen my meridians with the elixir’s energy.’
Simply absorbing the energy into the core was a waste.
By forcing the energy to surge through the meridians, they would be strengthened.
The risk was high.
If control failed, the meridians would be severely damaged.
Especially since he was managing two opposing energies at once.
It might have been wiser to just absorb the energy quietly into the core.
But Chris took the risk.
‘I can do this.’
The dark and light energies surged violently through his meridians.
From the lower dantian core to the heart.
From the heart to the neck and head.
Out to the limbs.
Then back to the core, repeating the cycle.
Countless dizzying moments passed.
At every twist and branch of his meridians, the two energies trembled, trying to mix.
If even a drop mixed, it would trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.
But Chris remained calm.
He steadily controlled both energies.
Eventually, the two opposing energies twisted together like a double helix, racing forward.
They clung together as one, yet never mixed—a miraculous feat.
His meridians were strengthened by both energies.
And then, an unexpected miracle began.
Crack, crack.
Beyond strengthening, his body began to change.
Waste flowed out, and his bones subtly shifted.
‘A rebirth?’
Chris’s eyes widened slightly.
Not exactly a rebirth, but similar.
The meridians, stimulated by both dark and light energies, had been strengthened to the extreme, triggering a physical transformation.
His bones, already optimal after his previous rebirth, had become even more exceptional.
Now, his meridians would channel magic energy and mana more powerfully, and his body was as refined as a master swordsmith’s blade.
‘Let’s finish this.’
The wild energies rushed into his core.
Pain surged, but he clenched his teeth and endured.
He guided the dark energy to the outer core, and the light energy to the inner core.
Finally—
“Haah.”
Chris exhaled deeply and opened his eyes.
His gaze was deeper than before.
‘By magic energy volume, I’m roughly at 3-star level now.’
Three stars!
An astonishing development.
Chris’s current rank was 2-star.
But his magic energy was lacking for that rank.
Strictly speaking, his magic energy hadn’t even surpassed 1-star.
He had risen quickly thanks to talent, but lacked the absolute time to accumulate magic energy.
Yet, with just one elixir, he had amassed enough magic energy to leap two ranks.
‘And that’s not all. My mana, the star radiance of the alliance, has also reached 3-star level.’
His light energy, mana, had been insufficient too.
Though his rank had long been 3-star, his mana volume was embarrassingly low.
Now that problem was solved.
‘I think I even look better.’
Chris glanced at his reflection.
A handsome but annoyingly arrogant young noble stared back.
Thanks to this near-rebirth, he looked even more striking—and even more insufferable.
‘I can’t stop here.’
Taking the ebony pill was just the beginning of his secluded training.
His goal was to reach the pinnacle of his rank.
Chris was determined to reach an even higher level of achievement than he had now.
The idea of raising his rank in less than two weeks sounded ridiculous—anyone else would laugh at such a claim.
For context, Chris was currently at the lower second rank.
He had just barely reached second rank.
Normally, it takes over five years to move from second to third rank.
Even climbing from the lower to the middle tier of second rank usually takes at least a year, even for the most talented.
Tern, who was considered a prodigy, took a year and a half to move from lower to middle second rank—and that was only because Chris had pushed him. Without that, it might have taken even longer.
But Chris thought,
“I have to reach upper second rank before the Black Star ritual.”
He was on the verge of third rank.
Even the most gifted would need two years for that.
Could it be done in just two weeks?
We’ll see.
“Let’s begin.”
Whoosh!
Magic energy surged through Chris’s body as his intense training officially began.
Time flew by in an instant.
The day Chris finished his training was approaching.
“…”
A stern-faced boy stood guard outside the training grounds.
“I don’t like this.”
Tern frowned as he waited for Chris to come out.
“What an annoying brother.”
Tern had always looked down on Chris.
It was only natural.
The old Chris had been a worthless, reckless waste of space, deserving of nothing but contempt.
But at some point, Chris had completely changed.
He had become a new person, showing incredible, unbelievable strength.
Tern found his brother’s transformation… irritating.
“If you could change, why didn’t you do it sooner? Why did you act like an idiot until Mom passed away?”
Tern clenched his fists tightly.
He wasn’t even sure what exactly he was feeling.
He just knew he was angry.
He wanted to knock him down a peg.
“I can definitely beat him.”