Chapter 82

"Iron Will?"

Why, of all things…

Wrath's voice was filled with irritation. It seemed he was displeased with the trait called Iron Will.

'Which means this must be a good trait.'

It had to be a great trait if Wrath was hating that he had it. Raon opened the status window, filled with anticipation.

Status Window

Name : Raon Zieghart.

Title: 'Indomitable'.

State: Curse of Frost (Five Strands).

Trait: Wrath, Ring of Fire (Four-Stars), Water Resistance (Four-Stars), Perception of the Snow Flower (Three-Stars), Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation (Three-Stars), Coldness of the Frost (Three-Stars), Fire Resistance (Three-Stars), Bleeding Curse (One-Star), Backstab (One-Star), Iron Will (One-Star).

—

Strength: 62

Agility: 63

Stamina: 56

Energy: 47

Perception: 66

Wrath: 10

Confirming the increase in stats from the reward, Raon checked his new trait, Iron Will.

Iron Will

Reduce pain by momentarily increasing willpower upon receiving severe physical or mental damage.

He admired it upon reading the message. Now that he had the trait, he could resist like before even after receiving wrath from Wrath.

"I got lucky."

It's not luck. It's thanks to the greatness of the King of Essence's system.

Wrath ground his teeth while glaring at the message.

'I made it so well that it's troublesome.'

Wrath made the system prioritize creating the most necessary trait for the moment.

That aspect also applied to Raon, and Iron Will was created as a result because Raon needed it the most at the moment.

Tsk.

It was irritating.

'I thought I could finally conquer him now…'

He had finally obtained a blade that worked against Raon, thanks to him accepting wrath, but the trait had returned them to where they'd started.

'Haa…'

Wrath calmed his boiling emotion. He didn't want to give away free stats by getting angry like an idiot anymore.

'I have plenty of time.'

His recovery speed was getting faster, albeit slightly, and he had managed to give some wrath to Raon.

He was growing pretty quickly for a human, but Wrath was going to win in the end.

'Just you wait. Your body and soul are mine. I'll lock you up in a glacier for eternity.'

Wrath glared at Raon with a cold gaze.

"Tsk, tsk."

Raon looked at Wrath and clicked his tongue.

"Judging from your expression, you are thinking about something useless again."

You are the one with useless thoughts. A mere human would never be able to understand the great and mighty King of Essence's thoughts.

"It's pretty obvious. You must've resolved to wait and endure until you can eat up my body and lock my soul up in a glacier."

Urgh!

Wrath's jaw dropped.

You bastard, when did you learn to read minds?

"There's no way I wouldn't notice with everything I've heard and seen so far. Your thoughts and actions are in the palm of my hand."

Raon opened his right hand and swayed it.

A mere human dares…!

Wrath exploded in anger, despite having resolved to not get caught up in Raon's provocation.

Wham!

Wrath's coldness, which became even more intense, crushed against Raon.

"Hmm."

Raon bit his lip from inside.

'This isn't a joke…'

Even considering his wounded state, the pain had become way worse than before. It felt like sharp icicles were stinging his entire body.

It was a dire amount of pain despite having four stars in Water Resistance. Accepting wrath was extremely dangerous.

"Huff…"

He resonated his four rings of fire and ground his teeth to endure the pain, over and over again.

[You've experienced an intolerable amount of pain.]

[The Iron Will has activated.]

Along with the message, the pain pressing upon his mind and body subsided significantly.

Krrrrr! The King of Essence is going to put an end to this ill-fated relationship with you!

Though Wrath kept generating wrath and coldness with everything he had, they weren't really difficult to endure—just like before he'd taken on his wrath.

[You've resisted Wrath's possession in a severely injured state.]

[Perception has increased by 1.]

His mind grew a bit clearer with the message.

Damn it. Just what is going on here?

Wrath kept swearing while falling out of his body. He looked more like a delinquent than the monarch of Wrath.

"I already told you."

Raon snickered and shook his right hand.

"You can't win against me. You are too obvious."

However, he didn't feel comfortable on the inside.

'He is recovering his power even faster.'

Wrath's energy was getting stronger and stronger. If Raon couldn't get stronger faster than him, Wrath would end up eating him up.

"Haa."

Krrrr!

Raon and Wrath were preparing to devour each other despite being at a close distance to each other.

***

The next day, Raon woke up after noon, then went outside.

When he looked at the village, the reconstruction had advanced a little. It seemed the swordsmen from the branch and the trainees had been working on it throughout the night and the morning.

"You woke up."

Branch Manager Brukas, who was around the wooden fence, came up to Raon.

His gaze was different from the day before. He was looking at him like a mysterious animal.

It seemed he heard the story about him killing the Green War Demon and fighting the Blood Raving Demon from the other trainees.

"How is your body?"

"It's a lot better now."

Raon nodded slowly. He wasn't sure what kind of medicine Rimmer had used, but the broken bone was reattached, and the flesh was regrowing on his torn waist and thigh.

It seemed he could return to his normal state soon enough, as long as he focused on his recovery once he returned.

"You did really great. You killed the Green War Demon at the age of fifteen and survived a fight against the Blood Raving Demon. It's nothing short of being called an achievement."

Brukas swallowed, giving him a thumbs up.

'No, it's more than an achievement.'

No one would believe that a trainee yet to become a swordsman managed to kill the Green War Demon from Eden and fought against the Blood Raving Demon for more than ten minutes.

Even if he returned to the house and spread the news, the majority wouldn't believe it.

He examined Raon carefully. He was severely wounded, wrapped in bandages, yet he didn't show any weakness on the outside nor complain about it.

He could only be amazed and wonder what he had to go through to have that much patience and might at that age.

"We are going to take care of the rest here, so you shall return to the house with the trainees. We did first aid, but many of you are severely wounded—including you. You should return and get treated properly."

"I see, thank you for your consideration."

"We are Ziegharts, after all."

Brukas smiled lightly and waved his hand.

"Well, then."

Raon bowed slightly and went to the other trainees.

"..."

Brukas stared at Raon's back blankly.

'He held his ground against the Blood Raving Demon…'

Even though he was an intermediate Expert, he wasn't confident he could survive for five minutes against the Blood Raving Demon.

The story about Raon fighting against him for ten minutes after letting the trainees escape was both surprising and impressive at the same time.

'He looks huge.'

Even though he was a young boy less than half his age, his back looked huge to him.

'Anyway.'

Brukas smiled, looking up at the sun shining upon the world from the middle of the sky.

'There's going to be an uproar in the house.'

"Raon."

Runaan ran up to Raon like a puppy that saw food. After checking his entire body, her eyes drooped.

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't anymore."

Raon shook his head and smiled. It wasn't a lie since the pain had really subsided significantly.

"Really?"

"You don't need to worry anymore."

"Mhm."

The corners of Runaan's mouth were slightly lifted. It seemed she had gotten slightly better at expressing her emotions.

"We are going to return to the house, so tell everyone to prepare to depart."

"Alright."

She visibly nodded, then ran towards where the other trainees were.

"Are we going to return right away?"

Burren, who was watching them, approached him silently.

"Yes. The branch manager told us to return since he is going to take care of the rest."

"Hah, where the hell did our instructor go?"

Burren frowned and kicked the ground.

"Is your body really alright?"

"The wounds still remain, but they are recovering."

"Make sure to recover completely, since I need to defeat you in your perfect state."

"Even though you saw that?"

"Because I saw that."

His blue eyes were unwavering, as if a boulder was weighing down on them.

"I'm not going to give up or withdraw. If I can't walk then I'll crawl, if that means I can chase after you."

His voice contained an unbreakable will. It seemed Burren had also grown up throughout the mission.

"And."

"Hmm?"

"I silenced those that know you can use the ice aura. Since you saved their lives, they aren't going to reveal your secret."

"Ah."

Raon's lips parted.

'He even did that for me?'

He thought he had no choice but to reveal he had two auras, but it seemed Burren had stopped the trainees from talking about it for him.

Raon was dumbfounded, since it was completely unexpected.

"You shouldn't be surprised. I just did what I could since you saved my life."

Burren scratched the side of his nose and turned around.

"I'll prepare for departure. You should rest a bit more."

After saying that, he went to where the other trainees were.

'He really changed a lot.'

He had changed so much that it was difficult to believe he was full of jealousy when he first met him.

Raon thought the fifth training ground's miracle might have been Burren, instead of himself.

"Hmm."

Raon packed up his belongings and went towards the village center.

"We need to repair that properly, so just pile up the wood for now!"

The slightly injured village chief was commanding the villagers.

"It's dangerous if you pile it up vertically, so put it next to… Oh! Benefactor!"

Upon noticing Raon, he quickly ran up to him.

"A-are you alright? You are severely injured because of me…"

"It wasn't because of you, village chief."

"But you fought against that monster in order to save this worthless man. I really don't know how I can thank you."

The village chief knelt and lowered his head.

"..."

Watching the village chief expressing his gratitude, he reminisced on when he first met the Blood Raving Demon.

'That time…'

The moment the Blood Raving Demon attacked them, he instinctively hugged the village chief and stepped back. His body had moved on its own, despite knowing that he would get injured.

'I wonder why I did that.'

It wasn't actually necessary to do that.

Since he had already gotten the goblin king's magic stone and heard the story, there was no reason to save him.

Yet he had saved him, getting injured in the process.

'I'm changing.'

It could be because of Sylvia, or Rimmer, or the children, or the circumstances.

Regardless of the reason, he was going through a change.

And he didn't dislike it. It felt like the clothes called emotions were being put on an empty wooden doll.

"Please stand up."

Raon smiled lightly and made the shivering village chief stand. His old eyes were filled with deep emotions and gratitude.

"Just like I said before, I'll take this gemstone, since they might come after it again if left alone."

"Please, go ahead!"

The village chief firmly nodded his head.

"Don't talk about it carelessly, and if somebody visits you looking for the gem, tell them Zieghart took it along with a few other objects."

"I see!"

The village chief nodded. He looked like he just received a god's revelation.

Why are you saying that? Can't you tell him everything?

'It's better that he doesn't know.'

He needed to erase the information about Eden looking for the gem by taking other objects on top of the gem.

'I can sell this information for a high price.'

Raon grinned. He wasn't going to miss an opportunity to sell Eden's information to Glenn.

***

The trainees left Cebu village, accepting the villagers' heartfelt cheers.

Burren led the trainees from the front instead of the injured Raon, and Runaan followed right behind Raon like a duckling.

Martha was walking on her own like always, but she was deep in thought with cloudy eyes.

Raon carefully examined his surroundings, standing at the center.

'My perception has increased thanks to the stats.'

Thanks to having killed the Green War Demon and the Blood Raving Demon, as well as the stats he extorted from Wrath, his perception had gotten significantly better.

The range had increased, and it became easier to find people that were hiding their presence.

He felt like he could find a Red Eye Demon's location in no time if one was hiding nearby.

Upon increasing the range of his perception to prepare for Eden's attack, just in case, he found one person's presence.

'Rimmer!'

He could feel Rimmer's refreshing wind. He was still watching over the trainees instead of returning.

'I guess that's normal.'

Since Eden or another organization might attack them, it was as plain as day that he would decide to stay.

Pfft.

Rimmer's presence suddenly vanished, like an extinguishing candlelight. It seemed he noticed he was detected.

'He is really peculiar.'

Raon snickered and followed the trainees after erasing his aura perception.

A moment later.

Rimmer came down from the tree on the path the trainee went down. He shook his head with an expression of disbelief.

"That monstrous guy…"

He knew Raon had grown tremendously during the last few days, but he didn't expect him to see through his concealment.

"I wonder how he is going to react if I tell him about this."

Rimmer grinned, thinking about Glenn's dignified expression.