SWNOVELXO Chapter 320
Chapter 321. There’s a Reason for Strength (2)
Anis and Taragon had trained with Keter once before, but for the rest, it was their first time.
Everyone was prepared.
“I’ve heard the rumors. Setting your body on fire, running until you’re on the verge of death. I have that much grit.”
Sephira had no choice. What Sephira needed most right now was simply power.
With power, they could wage war and engage in diplomacy. The negotiation table would be set.
“Aaaaaah!”
“This is insane!”
“Oof!”
Splash!
At -50 degrees Celsius, in weather where hot water would freeze instantly, Keter splashed cold water on the trainees.
“If you want to live, keep circulating your Aura within your body. Every finger, every toe, even the tips of your ears—don’t miss a single spot! Trainee 7! Your big toe is blue. Do you want it cut off?”
Keter’s training was harsher and crazier than they had imagined.
Slap!
“Gasp!”
“Trainee 8! Don’t close your eyes! Don’t lose consciousness!”
Keter slapped Elder Panir’s cheek. Panir regained his senses like someone who had just come back from the dead.
Pekda, the most experienced among the trainees from the Big Dipper, gritted his teeth.
‘What is this training even for? I can’t understand it at all.’
The pain from the cold was beyond imagination. Every cell in their bodies felt like it was freezing, and while melting it with the heat generated by circulating Aura, they still felt pain in the process.
Pekda had even been tortured by the enemy before. Needles under his nails, hot irons burning his body.
But compared to the pain now, that was nothing. It felt like all the pain in the world had been gathered into this moment.
It was impossible to think positively. He wanted to give up right then and there.
At that moment, Keter approached him.
“Trainee 9. Your face is full of dissatisfaction. You don’t understand what this training is for, do you?”
“Yes! I don’t understand what this training is for!”
“I like your honesty!”
Splash!
Keter splashed water only on Trainee 9 and explained.
“Just as you can train the human body, you can also train Aura. It’s not just about quantity and purity. The training you’re doing now is to increase Aura affinity and flexibility.”
“What’s the benefit of that?”
“Higher Aura affinity allows for optimization of Aura. You can achieve maximum effect with minimal effort. Flexibility is exactly that—flexibility. What’s the weakness of Aura? The further it gets from the body, the stronger its rebound, and if it completely leaves the body, it disappears instantly. This training compensates for that.”
“Are you saying that Aura can evolve like Mana through this training?”
“It’s not impossible, but I don’t know how long it will take. But even if you do it moderately, your range will increase by at least 100 meters.”
They were training not the body, but Aura. The trainees were amazed by Keter’s innovative training methods, but they also wondered if it was really possible.
And Keter wasn’t about to let them off.
“Do you have talent for exercise? Just take time to consistently alternate stimulation and rest. Aura is the same. Work hard. Can’t work hard? Then give up and get lost.”
Keter doesn’t ask for the impossible. He’s done it all himself first and only teaches what he’s sure others can learn. There’s no time to waste on uncertain outcomes now.
Everyone fell silent under Keter’s pressure, showing their determination to see it through.
But Keter scoffed.
“The Elixir’s effects are good. You all still have some leeway. And that’s natural. If you have no leeway when it’s not hard, you’re just a weak human. True strength is having leeway even when it’s hard.”
Snap!
Keter flicked his finger, and a mound of dirt rose 100 meters away.
“From now on, create a bow and arrow with Aura and shoot. If you don’t shoot within 10 seconds or miss three times in a row, you’re out. Begin!”
As soon as he said “begin,” the trainees started creating bows with Aura. But at the same time, their bodies stiffened.
“Ugh!”
“Huff!”
“Grrr.”
Not a single one of them could suppress their groans. And that was exactly what Keter intended.
“Right now, Aura is circulating in your bodies. At a very fast speed. The heat from it is protecting you from this cold, but the moment you try to use it, the story changes. You lose control of the Aura.”
Calm Aura can be controlled. But Aura in rotational motion is hard to control. Aura is a double-edged sword from the start. If you mishandle it, you’ll get cut.
“3 seconds left.”
“……!”
There’s no time to groan in pain. Reminded of the 10-second rule by Keter’s words, everyone started creating bows again.
Blood flowed everywhere. Many tore their hands trying to forcibly extract Aura.
But Keter showed no mercy.
“1 second.”
Protecting their bodies from the cold with Aura while simultaneously shooting bows and arrows made of Aura.
The trainees felt for the first time today just how difficult this was.
Twang! Thud, Crack!
Everyone managed to shoot arrows, even if forced. But not a single arrow flew properly. The Aura Arrows either shattered, disappeared mid-flight, or embedded themselves in the ground.
“Huff, huff……!”
“…Ugh.”
Just shooting one arrow caused everyone to groan in immense pain.
“10…… 9…… 8, 7, 6, 5-”
“Isn’t that too fast!”
Under Keter’s pressure, not even giving them time to savor the pain, the trainees felt like they were losing their minds.
*
When preparing for the Southern Sword Tournament, Keter had trained with them.
But back then, Keter still had room to grow, and now, having reached the level of a Transcendent Being, it was meaningless.
So Keter focused solely on breaking the trainees’ spirits.
“Trainee 8. Can anyone become an elder just by age? Your patience is pathetic. Or are you expecting special treatment because you’re older? If so, say it now. I’ll treat you as an elder.”
“Trainee 1. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d come. You’re not an archer, you’re a sorcerer, right? I thought it’d be more beneficial for you to stay in your room reading books instead of enduring this hardship.”
“Trainee 7 is truly hopeless. The leader of the Holy Knight Order? Is Sephira really this lacking in talent? The leader of a knight order representing hundreds still doesn’t understand.”
“Trainee 9. What are you smiling about? You might be the best here, but to me, you’re all the same. You’re unlucky, so do 500 push-ups.”
“It’s truly sad. I want to cherish and love you all, but your incompetence angers me. It’s hard to even watch from the side, so I’ll go eat.”
Keter went into the igloo. He left the trainees with the task of hitting a dirt mound 500 meters away.
“Oh, by the way, there’s no next training until all of you pass. Either pass or give up.”
Inside the igloo, Keter sat in front of a warm fire and started roasting a whole chicken. Whether intentional or not, the igloo was very close, and the entrance was wide, making the inside clearly visible.
The chicken roasted to a golden brown over the fire. Despite being a simple dish seasoned only with salt and pepper, the aroma filled the air.
Crunch.
Keter tore off a chicken leg with his bare hands and ate it.
Gulp.
The trainees, while shooting arrows, couldn’t help but glance toward the igloo. Taragon’s mouth was already watering, forming icicles.
And Keter wasn’t about to miss that.
“The first one to give up gets the right to sit here, eat chicken, and watch the training. First come, first served.”
Twitch!
Anis reflexively moved at the mention of “first come, first served,” but upon hearing the details, he returned to his spot.
“You’re holding up well, huh?”
Keter, who was watching from the side with Maknun, wiped the smile off his face.
“There’s the Elixir’s effect, but he’s also from a prominent family. There’s no mediocrity here. But he’s still far from enough.”
“I can see that too. During Ruquer’s winter, even if my fingers were crushed trying to survive, digging through the ground, there was still nothing to eat—”
“Don’t say any more. It’s ruining my appetite.”
“Brother, you’ve been influenced a lot by the outside world, huh?”
“My heart has always been soft. It’s just the environment that forced me to be this way.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Have you checked on Eslow?”
“There’s nothing to check. He’s holed up in his palace, not planning to move. It’s the most awkward situation.”
With the prince’s division, the lords also chose their masters.
The North and West supported Crown Prince Rukan—
The Lord of the East supported Second Prince Rakan.
But Lord Eslow of the South chose no one.
Eslow had already received orders long ago—to subjugate Sephira. If Eslow had followed those orders, Sephira wouldn’t be where it is now.
But that doesn’t mean he’s friendly to Sephira either. Hisop had already sent a letter to Eslow. Let’s join forces. He didn’t expect an alliance, but at least let’s not be enemies.
But Eslow’s response was neither refusal nor acceptance. Silence. He’s completely ignoring it.
“Brother. Let me ask you straight. Can you beat Eslow now?”
Maknun also knew that Keter had been defeated by a lord in his past life. Moreover, he has decades less time now than he did then.
And the lord he fought before was the Lord of the East, not the Lord of the South. The odds might be even worse.
Keter held up three fingers and folded them one by one as he spoke.
“In a one-on-one, head-on fight, the odds are 7 to 3. Of course, I’m the 7. If I ambush him, I can raise it to 8 to 2. And if I use tricks, I can catch him without any risk.”
“Then you’ll have to kill Eslow, right? To conquer the South, you must confront Eslow.”
Sephira hasn’t taken over the entire South. Two prestigious swordsmanship families still stand strong in the South.
Of course, Sephira’s combined strength is immense. They’re not lacking against the two families.
The problem is Eslow. Not knowing whether Eslow is an ally or an enemy, if they rashly send out troops and their base gets attacked, there’s no answer.
“Anyway, in this weather, we can’t send an army. Only a few absolute beings can fight. But no one wants the burden of fighting in the enemy’s base. But archery is different. It’s an advantage to preemptively strike an unsuspecting enemy.”
“I know that. But Eslow’s palace is different. The palace itself is his authority. Ambushes won’t work.”
“You just said ambushes would work.”
“That’s if we can lure him out of the palace.”
“Then use tricks to catch him.”
“But I don’t like that.”
“I thought so. If you’re reluctant to step forward, should I give it a try?”
Even Keter can’t guarantee a 100% victory against a lord. But Maknun wants to solve it? Keter was curious but shook his head.
“Hold off for now. Eslow is my responsibility. Once this training is over, I’ll visit him with a gift.”
“By the way, do you think Eslow turned Henya into a weapon?”
“If he had, he wouldn’t be holed up like this. He must have failed.”
“Brother. I think it’s time you told me. You stopped mid-sentence last time. About your authority.”
“Ah, that.”
“And what you gave up to become Prime.”
Keter had achieved the realm of 7-Star Prime in his past life. Thus, he has authority.
And in this life, he has also reached the realm of 7-Star Prime. And Keter himself said that the realm of Prime is one that requires giving something up.
“Does it show that I’ve become Prime?”
“I didn’t notice before, but I guess I’ve grown too.”
“First of all, I didn’t give up anything.”
“Huh? You said it’s a realm that requires giving something up.”
“If I had chosen to give up, I could have become Prime sooner. It took so long because I didn’t give up.”
“Wow… So what’s your authority?”
“My authority?”
Keter glanced outside. All the trainees had successfully hit the 500-meter dirt mound.
The quick-witted Maknun crossed his arms and said,
“If you don’t tell me this time, I’ll really get upset.”
“Alright, alright. My authority is—”
Keter stood up and held up two fingers.
“Not one, but two.”