Episode 49
“Yes, he sustained internal injuries to his core and has entered seclusion for treatment. The damage is said to be severe. He must remain secluded and immobile, undergoing treatment for at least a year.”
A year.
Usually, the higher one’s rank within the clan, the stronger their core’s regenerative ability.
Ashid was at the upper four-star level. Normally, he could recover from most core injuries quite quickly.
Moreover, with the full support of the Dark Mana faction during his treatment, his recovery time should have been much shorter than that of an average mage. Yet it would still take a whole year—that meant the core injury inflicted by Christian was extremely serious.
“How is that possible? Even if the purity of Dark Mana is high, isn’t Young Master Christian only at two stars? And yet he dealt such a fatal blow to Lord Ashid, who’s at the four-star level?”
“I heard it from a comrade who visited the Kazar Count’s family. Apparently, Young Master Christian’s mana control is exceptional. He once defeated Deputy Head Merlin in a duel using a broken holy sword.”
“Deputy Head Merlin? Really?”
“Yes, and that’s not all. Since regaining consciousness, he’s been showing nothing but remarkable feats.”
In truth, rumors like these about Christian had already begun circulating within the main family.
Many mages had witnessed what he accomplished with the Kazar and Tiramin Count families. Word had gradually reached the main family through whispers.
But the mages of the main family refused even to listen to such rumors.
They had dismissed Christian outright.
That was their mistake.
“…Has he really changed?”
“Who knows.”
The mages trailed off.
One thing was certain, though.
Christian was no longer someone they could casually belittle.
Christian lay on his bed, idly listening to the rumors.
He smiled to himself.
“A year for Ashid to recover? It’ll probably take even longer than that.”
At the final moment, he had deliberately made recovery more difficult.
By triggering a resonance phenomenon that violently shook Ashid’s core, he had adjusted it so that a stronger shockwave hit the core’s vital area.
It would be a tough challenge to treat.
“At least a year and a half, maybe even two years.”
That was more than enough.
After a year, Christian wouldn’t be the same as before.
Not in skill, nor in his standing within the Dark Mana faction.
He would be more than a match for Ashid.
[Oh ho ho… Young Master, you truly are remarkable. So splendid, so handsome, so captivating—my heart flutters just thinking of you.]
Banshee maid Maria flicked her ghostly tail as she attended to him.
As always, her silly flattery came as a bonus.
[Young Master… while waiting for you this time, I truly realized my feelings for you. How desperately I waited… each day felt like an eternity.]
Christian gazed quietly at Maria for a moment.
With her innocent, beautiful ghostly face speaking like that, it almost felt like a maiden spirit had latched onto him.
“Thank you.”
[…Pardon?]
“Thank you for waiting. Truly.”
Christian spoke sincerely.
Maria looked momentarily stunned by his unexpected gratitude.
‘I’ve always been weak at this sort of thing.’
In his past life—
His previous existence—
Perhaps because of his harsh environment, he had lived a life far removed from good relationships.
Even as a child.
When he escaped his hellish family and wandered the streets.
During the era of destruction he faced as an adult.
He had mostly enemies, and very few close bonds.
The only people he had genuine ties with were his fellow heroes at the end.
Especially before he was cast out of his family as a child, when everyone wished for his death.
So having someone genuinely care for him like this was unfamiliar, and he was grateful to Maria.
[Oh ho… you finally understand my heart… but if you look at me so fervently… my heart races wildly. I’m so happy… I feel like my heart will burst.]
“…It’s not like that. Besides, you don’t have a heart.”
[Don’t worry… I’m already prepared to be with you, Young Master. From now on… forever, I will be by your side.]
“…That’s enough.”
Christian shot Maria a sharp look and told her to bring some juice. She giggled, promising to prepare virgin’s blood juice, then disappeared.
‘The past, huh.’
Christian drifted into thought for a moment.
There was one person who had cared for him like Maria did.
His younger sister.
‘I wonder how she’s doing. I hope she’s well.’
The thought came suddenly.
She was probably doing fine.
Because she no longer had “Christian” in her life. Things were likely much better than before.
‘Not far from here, either.’
Where his sister was.
His previous family wasn’t far from this Magic Empire’s southern magic territory.
Not just close—they were part of the “Gold Cross” federation, formed to resist the southern magic territory.
If he followed the river flowing beside the Dark Mana Baron’s estate, he could reach his old family’s lands.
‘No point in dwelling on it. I can’t even acknowledge her. I need to focus on what I have to do.’
The Gold Cross federation, where his sister lived, was one of the first regions to fall to the Magic Empire’s invasion.
Instead of indulging in pointless nostalgia, preventing the coming catastrophe was the best way to protect his sister and everyone else.
‘First, I have to become a lord.’
Just then, the awaited message arrived.
“Young Master Christian, Marquis Langham requests your presence.”
It was time to receive the recommendation for the lordship exam.
“I’m here to see you, Marquis.”
Christian made his way to the office at the top of the main manor.
For a branch family member to become a lord, they had to pass an exam.
It wasn’t an easy process.
First, they needed a recommendation from a senior member of the main family—at least an elder.
Would a proud main family member easily recommend a branch family child? Not a chance.
But that problem had already been solved.
As a result of a wager with Ashid, Marquis Langham had agreed to be his recommender.
‘He’s probably not happy about it.’
Christian chuckled inwardly.
Langham had tried to brush him off, but now he was forced to recommend him. It couldn’t be pleasant.
Still, Langham showed no sign of his true feelings.
“A promise is a promise. As we agreed, I will be your recommender. You will take the lordship exam under my recommendation.”
He spoke with a cold, businesslike tone.
What was he really thinking?
‘No matter how he feels about me, there’s no need to be intimidated.’
As a proxy head of the family, Langham couldn’t openly harm him while they were both under the Dark Mana faction’s umbrella.
Of course, that didn’t mean Christian could relax.
Langham could still use underhanded tactics to put him in trouble.
Like with this upcoming lordship exam.
“The branch family’s lordship exam is almost unprecedented, so there’s no set format. I will decide the exam at my discretion.”
Christian nodded.
Just as expected.
‘He’ll definitely set an extremely difficult exam.’
There had been rare cases of branch family members taking the lordship exam in Dark Mana’s history.
But none had succeeded in becoming lords.
Because the exam was deliberately brutal.
Not only did many fail, but some even died during the test.
‘This time will probably be the same. They might try to push me to the brink of death.’
As he waited to see how harsh the exam would be, Langham surprised him with an unexpected statement.
“The exam will be divided into two parts. The first tests your aptitude. The second tests your achievements necessary to become a lord.”
“You mean aptitude as in…?”
Langham looked up from his papers and met Christian’s gaze.
For a moment, his eyes gleamed coldly behind his metal-rimmed glasses.
“You must reach the three-star level within three months.”
Christian’s expression showed surprise.
‘That’s it?’
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
In fact, it was nearly impossible.
Normally, it took at least three years to advance from two stars to three.
Especially since each rank’s upper level was significantly harder to surpass than the lower.
So reaching three stars within three months was absurd.
“…Is that really all it takes?”
Langham frowned.
“You said ‘all it takes’?”
“No, I just meant… it doesn’t seem as difficult as I expected.”
Not difficult.
He meant it sincerely.
For Christian.
“Marquis, haven’t you noticed? I’m not an ordinary prodigy.”
“……”
Langham fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
“Is it because you’re from a branch family? You really don’t understand anything.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Do you know why no one in the direct bloodline absorbs more than 70% of the pure Dark Mana during the ‘Seongheuk’ ritual?”
It was the first time Christian had heard this.
“Most people don’t know. Ordinary branch family members struggle to absorb even 30 to 40% of the pure Dark Mana. But the direct bloodline is different. From childhood, they receive thorough support to expand their core’s capacity, so they can easily absorb over 50%. Some rare individuals can even absorb more than 70%.”
Langham continued.
“Ashid could have absorbed over 70% if he wanted. But he deliberately stopped at 70%. Absorbing more than that is actually toxic.”
An unexpected revelation.
“If the purity of Dark Mana is too high, raising the rank becomes exponentially harder. That threshold is 70%.”
“……”
“I myself only absorbed 70% for that reason.”
Langham said coldly.
“But you absorbed over 90% of the pure Dark Mana. You don’t know your limits.”
In other words…
Even direct descendants, even if they become vessels, deliberately avoid absorbing more than 70% of the Sacred Darkness.
Because beyond that point, advancing to higher levels becomes unimaginably difficult.
They say that even just a little over 70% is enough to cause problems, but Chris absorbed over 90%.
No, others only vaguely knew it was over 90%, but in reality, it was 100%.
It’s impossible to grasp just how incredibly challenging that is.
Yet.
“I understand. I’ll give it a try.”
Chris answered with a sly smile.
At that confident grin, Marquis Langham twitched his eyebrows.
“Seems you didn’t quite get what I meant. From now on, you—”
“No, I understood perfectly. You’re saying I’ll face an insurmountable wall when trying to advance further.”
Chris didn’t wipe the smile off his face.
“That’s exactly why I’m smiling. Honestly, I’ve never actually encountered a wall like that before. To be frank, I’m looking forward to it.”
“!!”
Chris made everything look easy.
Which, to be honest, made learning and training rather dull. Too boring.