Chapter 36

As soon as Raon entered his room, he closed the curtains and locked the door. He'd told them to not enter, but he was preparing—just in case.

"Wrath."

He tapped the ice flower bracelet on his wrist to call out Wrath.

How dare a mere insect human call the King of Essence by name.

"You shouldn't have told me your name then."

It's because the King of Essence didn't know you would resist the possession!

Wrath murmured that he informs the humans of his great name as a last consideration before eating up their mind and body.

"I don't know about great, but are you planning to interfere again?"

As a monarch of devildom, the King of Essence keeps his words. The King of Essence will never interrupt you again while you are cultivating.

"I suppose, since you must've used all the power that you've stored up so far."

Raon nodded. Wrath had attacked him with everything he had when he was acquiring the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' a month ago. He shouldn't have been able to recover his strength yet.

You idiot! The energy of Wrath can be used at any time. It's just to keep the word of a monarch…

"Ah, whatever."

Seriously, you little shit!

When Raon interrupted him, Wrath started to emit coldness while trembling in anger.

"Too bad. It was a chance to raise my stats again."

Kuh…

Wrath ground his teeth. The frost started falling between his icy flames, as though he was about to explode in anger.

Raon scowled, watching the trembling Wrath.

'I can't be careless against him.'

Wrath was an enemy, not an ally. He couldn't be careless in front of him, whether he was cultivating or training. He had to keep on his toes at all times.

"Well, then."

He took out the wooden box containing the Nine Flowers Medicine and opened the lid. It radiated with the strong fragrance of dry bushes found in the fall mountains.

It smelled nice.

From the way the medicine spread its fragrance throughout the room, he could already tell that it was a very effective one.

"Haa."

Raon exhaled slowly and put the Nine Flowers Medicine in his mouth. The bitter, yet strong, taste of the medicine covered his whole mouth.

'He told me to chew it down.'

Following Rimmer's advice, he swallowed it after chewing it, and it was released in his throat.

Whir.

The thick energy within the Nine Flowers Medicine spread out throughout his mana circuits like smoke rising from a chimney.

Raon sat down and closed his eyes, starting to rotate his 'Ring of Fire' and cultivating the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation'.

The energy from the Nine Flowers Medicine circulated throughout his body and expanded his muscles. The energy center was stimulated then expanded, and his mana perception increased to the extreme.

Whap!

The hot energy, similar to the one heated in the charcoal kiln, dashed through his mana circuits.

Whap!

The pure ice melting in his mana circuits followed the path cleared by the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' to circulate throughout his entire body.

'Cultivating the 'Ring of Fire' first was the correct choice.'

The 'Ring of Fire' cleared up the coldness and impurities inside his mana circuits, and the energy of the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' dashed along that path like a ray of light, which allowed the elixir to be used more efficiently.

The two cultivation techniques synergized as one, maximizing their merits, and canceling out their demerits.

Whir!

All the mana from Nine Flowers Medicine was melted down, and the 'Ring of Fire', his body, and his energy center were connected by a red path.

Raon got even more absorbed into the world of cultivation, feeling the endless flow of mana.

***

When the sun that rose was setting down on the western mountain once again, and the evening glow was shining upon him, Raon finally opened his eyes.

[The fourth 'Ring of Fire' has been created.]

['Ring of Fire' has reached four-stars.]

['Ring of Fire (Four-Stars)' has increased the expertise of the body and soul.]

[Strength, agility, and stamina have increased with the effect of the 'Ring of Fire (Four-Stars)'.]

[Energy, willpower, and perception increase with the effect of the 'Ring of Fire (Four-Stars)'.]

Raon clenched his fist. He could feel the fourth ring rotating violently, even without the messages.

[Constitution 'Decline in Athletic Abilities' has disappeared.]

[Constitution 'Decline in Mana Affinity' has disappeared.]

['Water Resistance' has reached four-stars.]

['Perception of the Snow Flower' has reached two-stars.]

The 'Ring of Fire' wasn't the only skill that was raised to four-stars. and also increased in rank.

'Amazing.'

It was a tremendous change, especially considering he'd only taken an intermediate elixir.

But of course, it wasn't only because of the elixir.

The efforts he'd been making for almost a year had been accumulating and were finally exploding because of the elixir.

Raon rolled his shoulders and stood up. His energy center was full of hot and cold energy, and his body was as light as a leaf riding the wind.

His body's condition was perfect, as if he just woke up from a good sleep. He felt like he could now single handedly win against Martha with her aura, using his physical abilities alone.

Whap!

When he was about to open the status window, Wrath, who was inside the bracelet, burst up with a blue flame.

Four stars?

'Hmm?'

Four stars in Water Resistaaanceee?

* * *

Wrath's voice was trembling furiously. It appeared that he hadn't managed to see the information about the 'Ring of Fire', only managing to see the 'Water Resistance' that appeared at the end.

'Now that I think about it, he doesn't know.'

Wrath could see the message but couldn't see the status window. It looked like he was surprised because he realized Raon had 'Water Resistance'.

You sly bastard! Have you been deceiving the King of Essence with your four-star Water Resistance?!

"You never asked me, though."

Ugh!

Wrath gave him a deadly glare.

I expected you to have a resistance, but it's a four-stars type that can grow! You disgusting bastard!

"How come I'm disgusting just because I have 'Water Resistance'…"

Raon smiled bitterly.

'Seeing the ruckus he's causing over the 'Water Resistance alone', he'll likely start rampaging once he learns about the 'Ring of Fire'.'

Raon thought he might be able to see Wrath faint once he learned about the 'Ring of Fire', which increased the expertise of his body and soul, or about his reincarnation.

"That's why I told you that you can't win against me."

Shut your mouth. If the King of Essence uses his original power, a mere human like you will easily be turned into a block of ice.

'But you can't.'

You never fail to anger me whenever you open your mouth!

Unable to withstand it anymore, Wrath dashed at him with an exploding flame of coldness.

Whap!

The coldness that could turn his lips blue in an instant stormed around his entire body.

"Hmm."

The coldness and emotional stimulation had become stronger. It looked like Wrath had also grown.

'However.'

The 'Ring of Fire' and 'Water Resistance' had leveled up even more than that. In front of the four naturally spinning rings, Wrath's anger was child's play to deal with.

Bang!

As he was enduring the blue coldness stabbing at him throughout his body, the messages appeared.

[You have withstood Wrath's attack.]

[Stamina has increased.]

Damn it!

Wrath let out a horrible shriek, similar to a monster's, and came out from Raon's body.

It feels like all my limbs are gone! There is no way! No way!

He started screaming. It looked like he gave up on pretending to be composed.

"Well, that's why I told you that you can't do it."

The King of Essence's abilities aren't just coldness. Inciting the primitive emotion of wrath is his real ability. Back in devildom, the number of devils who self-destructed from the King of Essence's incitation of wrath was over ten thousand…

"But that doesn't work against me, either."

Arrrrggh!

Wrath's blue flame started to become red. He was about to explode, but he didn't start attacking again, since he seemed to dislike giving away free stats.

"It's better now that it's silent."

Raon nodded like nothing happened and opened his status window.

Status Window

Name: Raon Zieghart.

Title: First Victory.

State: Curse of Frost (Six Strands)

Trait: Wrath, Ring of Fire (Four-Stars), Water Resistance (Four-Stars), Perception of the Snow Flower (Two-Star), Ten Thousand Flame Cultivation (Two-Stars), Coldness of the Frost (Two-Stars), Fire Resistance (Two-Stars)

—

Strength: 40

Agility: 41

Stamina: 41

Energy: 29

Perception: 53

He immediately noticed that Decline in Athletic Abilities and Decline in Mana Affinity, which used to be anchored in the status window, were now gone.

An irresistible smile appeared on his face.

His body was so light he could fly, and he could feel the mana entering his body throughout his pores. It seemed there was a good reason for all that.

'My stats have also increased a lot.'

Each one of the stats had increased by at least two levels. His current physical abilities and perception weren't any worse than a proper swordsman.

'The 'Water Resistance' is a great harvest.'

Since his 'Water Resistance' was now four-stars, he could now easily endure magic on par with four-circles.

The resistance was going to be more helpful with fighting mages or shamans, rather than swordsmen.

'I have gained a lot.'

The Nine Flowers Medicine was a good elixir, but he'd obtained a lot more than that. It was to the point that he couldn't stop himself from smiling, despite his cynical personality.

'Shall I try it out just a little bit?'

Since he wanted to test out how much his body and aura had changed, he opened the door.

"Huff!"

"Ah!"

Sylvia and Helen, who were standing in front of the door, hurriedly stepped back in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"N-no. Since you said you were cultivating, I was guarding…"

"Same goes for me."

They both had slightly bloodshot eyes. It looked like they had been guarding him the entire night, without even making a sound while breathing.

As he widened his perception, he could see that there were other maids outside his window.

"Hmm…"

Raon closed his eyes. A warmth even greater than when he cultivated the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' warmed his heart.

It even gave him the impression that the ice from his mana circuit had disappeared for a moment.

"Thank you."

He lowered his head to them, and the other maids outside, feeling grateful and apologetic at the same time.

"Sob!"

"Madam!'

"He-Helen. What shall I do?"

Sylvia collapsed to the side while bursting out in tears.

"My son has grown up so well!"

"That's right! I wouldn't have any regrets even if I died right now! Madam!"

"Helen!"

The two of them sobbed while hugging each other.

'This is the hardest part.'

Rather than Wrath's emotional attack, the ice inside his mana circuit, or the pressure from Glenn Zieghart, he found it the most difficult to deal with Sylvia and Helen.

"Haa…"

Raon quickly left the annex building while they were busy hugging each other.

***

Over the next two days, Raon finished getting used to his changed body.

His body and perception had changed more than what he'd seen in the status window.

When he first practiced his swordsmanship, he thought it wasn't his body. Despite using the same technique, the power and speed were on a different level.

And the reason it had changed so much was simple.

His state had changed.

The Decline in Athletic Abilities and the Decline in Mana Affinity disappearing from his state allowed his body to be at peak condition.

His body moved exactly the way he wanted, and his mana—which used to appear as thin as sand—now felt as big as a bead.

'This is another foundation.'

Rather than his increased might, he felt more satisfied about hardening the foundation that would allow him to reach a higher level in martial arts.

That was why he was taking care of flowers in the flower bed in the garden, taking a rest on his last day of holidays.

You idiot. When you are thinning out the soil, you must dig out the bottom first. You must use your hand instead of a trowel to properly mix the nutritious soil.

Wrath was unbecomingly knowledgeable about the flowers and trees. Thanks to him, he could manage the flower bed without having to look in a book.

Back in devildom, the King of Essence once filled an entire flower bed with ice flowers. The devils that saw the flower bed lowered their heads to the flowers in respect. That was an expression of admiration and awe for the King of Essence…

"Haa."

It would've been better if he could stop babbling.

Wrath really talked way too much. Especially when he started with the 'Back in devildom, the King of Essence…', he could talk for at least ten minutes before stopping.

After hearing about the devildom every day, he'd started growing familiarity to the devildom that he'd never been before.

That's not it! You must treat the flowers delicately. If you can't, then freeze it first!

"I know, I know."

Raon frowned and flicked his finger. When he carefully planted the flower, as if he were controlling mana, Wrath stopped preaching.

It was when he was about to head to the left flower bed, after finishing the right side…

"Hmm?"

A thin shape was walking towards him from the entrance of the annex building. The long hair had been cut short, but it was impossible to not recognize her.

Martha Zieghart.

Martha, who'd lost two days ago, was approaching him while frowning heavily.

"Are you here to pick a fight?"

Raon dusted off his dirty hands and stood up.

That would be welcomed.

____

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