Chapter 84: Training For Breakthrough

By the time the group stopped to rest the following day, Roderic had already disappeared into the nearby forest.

Bang!

One of his Azure Hooked Blades tore straight through the trunk of a small tree.

Roderic twisted his body and swung the second blade immediately after.

Whoosh!

A large golden aura arc shot out from his blade.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Three trees snapped apart one after another.

Blue aura continued flowing around Roderic’s weapons as he moved from one target to another.

Move after move flashed through the forest.

Each time, his normal blue aura briefly changed into a shiny golden color.

Roderic wasn’t practicing anything difficult though.

His goal was simply to exhaust his aura.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Several more trees fell.

Before long, his aura had almost completely run out.

Roderic came to a halt right away, his breathing heavy and sweat soaking his clothes.

But that wasn’t where his attention was at all.

Instead, he was completely focused on the large aura seal on his chest.

’’Almost,’’ he muttered, letting out a deep breath. ’’Just one more day...’’

A strange feeling of completion had started running through him a while ago.

But now, it’d grown far stronger.

It was like he’d eaten enough, yet he could feel very tiny gaps inside his stomach that still wished to be filled.

Roderic wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Then he sheathed his Azure Hooked Blades and slowly made his way back towards the camp.

By the time he returned, several fires had already been lit.

Roderic dropped down beside one of them.

Sweat continued dripping down his face as he stared silently into the flames.

For a while, he was completely lost in thought.

Forming his Second Aura Seal wasn’t as simple as it might sound.

Unlike his first, this time he’d be the one choosing where to inscribe the seal on his body.

And the process itself was rumored to be excruciatingly painful.

Painful enough that some knights lost concentration halfway through and failed entirely.

And that failure could set one’s progress back immensely.

Roderic’s expression stiffened for a split second.

SLAP!

He suddenly smacked both hands against his cheeks.

The nervousness disappeared almost immediately.

’’There’s no way I’ll fail,’’ he muttered. ’’I’ve already been through quite a number of painful situations, and I’ve even got a trait for pain resistance.’’

Worrying about failure was pointless.

If anything, he should be thinking about something far more important.

’How large can I make it?’

The larger the seal he created at the beginning, the larger it could eventually grow. And the larger it grew, the more aura it could contain.

That was what truly mattered.

’’Aura determines nearly every fight,’’ he said, eyes narrowing. ’’If I want to perform amazing techniques in the future, I need as much as I can get.’’

Roderic didn’t care about his own safety either.

If he was going to do this, he wanted to push it as far as his body could handle.

That was how he’d separate himself from the other knights at the second seal.

’’I’ll probably make the seal on my back,’’ he muttered. ’’It’s the largest empty area since my chest already has one.’’

The other, smaller body parts required much more complex and compressed seals to contain the same amount of aura.

That was something he simply didn’t want to burn his hands with yet.

Roderic leaned back for a moment.

His gaze darted up at the bright, star-filled sky.

Unlike back on Earth, where the sight was incredibly polluted by light, it was incredibly beautiful here.

Just then, footsteps approached from behind.

’’Hungry, young master?’’

Roderic lowered his gaze and turned to look.

Edmund was walking towards him with two large pieces of roasted deer meat in his hands.

His gaze locked onto the meat almost instantly.

’’Very,’’ he replied, licking his lips.

Edmund chuckled and handed one over.

Roderic accepted it without hesitation, biting into the meat while Edmund lowered himself beside the fire.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Only the crackling flames and distant conversations of the knights filled the silence.

Then Edmund suddenly cleared his throat.

’’I haven’t gotten the chance to thank you, young master.’’

Roderic paused halfway through another bite.

He glanced sideways while slowly raising an eyebrow.

’’For what?’’ he mumbled, still biting down on the meat.

Edmund didn’t mind it though.

He just... stared off into the fire, a strange look in his eyes.

’’For standing up for me during the gathering,’’ he replied. ’’Lord Gareth was humiliating me in front of everyone, yet you didn’t hesitate for even a moment.’’

Roderic stared at him blankly, slowly taking the deer meat out of his mouth.

’’You’re thanking me for that?’’

Edmund nodded immediately.

’’Of course,’’ he replied firmly. ’’Most nobles wouldn’t risk angering another house over someone like me.’’

Roderic stared at him for a moment.

Then a large smile appeared on his face.

Slap!

He slapped Edmund’s back hard, shaking his head while chuckling.

’’I’ve told you before, haven’t I?’’ he said. ’’You’re my family.’’

The chubby middle-aged man blinked once.

’’You’ve taken care of me since I was a kid,’’ Roderic continued. ’’Even when I strayed from the right path, you were beside me.’’

He paused for a moment.

’’I’d be very pathetic if I let someone humiliate you after all that.’’

With that said, Roderic bit down on the deer meat.

He ripped off a huge chunk, casually continuing his dinner.

Edmund’s smile softened beside him.

For a moment, even small tears appeared at the corners of his eyes.

But they disappeared just as quickly again.

’’Thank you, young master.’’

Roderic nodded once, concentrating on the meat.

’’You’re welcome.’’

That seemed to satisfy him.

The two remained beside the fire for some time, finishing their food while occasionally talking about the journey home.

Eventually, the exhaustion from Roderic’s training began catching up with him.

He stood and stretched his arms overhead.

’’I’m going to sleep.’’

Edmund nodded.

’’Rest well, young master.’’

Roderic gave him a small wave before heading towards his cloth tent.

...

Roderic dropped onto the thick bedroll inside and let out a deep breath.

His previous conversation with Edmund had already disappeared from his mind.

Instead, his thoughts returned to only one thing.

’Tomorrow,’ he thought, rolling onto his back. ’It’ll finally be time.’

’I’ll break through, and I’ll make it the best damn breakthrough anyone has ever seen!’