Chapter 4
Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 4
Among the items Aden had requested, the mana potion was easily obtained by a servant the next day.
When Aden started bringing in a lot of potions, even the Duke found out.
However, when Aden explained he bought them to recover from the fatigue of starting his exercise regimen, the Duke laughed heartily and approved.
As expected, he was a parent who only knew how to give generously.
But Philip informed him that it would take over a month to procure the top-grade holy potion and the herbs Aden requested.
Given how difficult they were to obtain, this was expected.
So, Aden decided to train while waiting.
‘Even if I had them now, I couldn’t use them right away.’
Aden lacked the stamina and mana to use those two items.
Thus, he decided to grow his stamina and mana first.
Aden went to a training ground prepared separately from the knights.
“Haap!”
In a quiet corner of the training ground, Aden relentlessly struck a scarecrow with a wooden sword.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack-thwack!
‘To think I’d be doing this again.’
Aden reminisced bitterly.
The training his master first made him do in the past.
It was hitting a scarecrow.
“Hit this scarecrow. Keep hitting it until you feel like you’re the scarecrow.”
“What nonsense… Ow! Why are you hitting me!”
“Hahaha! The young one has a mouth on him!”
“You old kidnapper, ow!”
Eventually, young Aden had no choice but to hit the scarecrow.
After hitting it continuously for about three days, he became so delirious he couldn’t tell if he was hitting the scarecrow or himself.
‘Unpleasant memories.’
Aden shook off his thoughts and continued hitting the scarecrow.
One hour, two hours, three hours.
“Huff, huff.”
After three hours of relentless beating, Aden was drenched in sweat.
Philip, the waiting servant, handed a water towel to the panting Aden.
“Young Master, here you go!”
Aden wiped his sweat with the water towel.
“Give me that.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Aden held out his hand, Philip handed him a potion.
It was a mana potion.
Aden uncorked the potion and drank the whole bottle.
Then he started another exercise.
He slowly extended his fist at a snail’s pace.
Similarly, he kicked into the air very slowly.
Each movement was so slow it took about a minute to complete one action.
But beads of sweat started forming on Aden’s body again.
The strain on his muscles was immense.
In that state, Aden circulated mana through his mana circuits.
Fwoosh!
The mana from the potion spread throughout his body, healing the micro-damaged muscles from the strenuous exercise.
The regenerated muscles developed slightly more than before.
‘Rapid Strength Enhancement Training.’
This high-efficiency body training method was conceptualized by a previous Mercenary King, Steroad, and established by the former Mercenary King, Proten.
‘In about a month, I’ll have a decent level of basic stamina.’
It involved repeatedly straining the body with intense exercise and recovering with mana from potions, like tempering a sword.
This method not only improved strength but also accelerated the growth of the mana circuits several times faster than mana breathing alone.
It was an excellent method to simultaneously develop strength and mana.
‘Even though nobody uses it…’
There were two reasons for this.
First, it depended on the activation of the mana circuits.
This method required the mana circuits to be operational, which was typically achieved only after building a certain level of physical strength.
The order was reversed.
Second, the cost.
A single mid-grade potion cost as much as a commoner’s monthly living expenses.
It wasn’t unusual for people to come to this wastrel noble to get potions, leading to bizarre events.
Only a Mercenary King with accumulated wealth from long mercenary work could afford to use this training method generously for his disciple.
It also consumed a lot of mental energy.
There was one more downside.
Thud.
After completing all the movements over the span of an hour, Aden collapsed.
“Y-Young Master! Are you alright?”
Philip supported the fallen Aden.
“H-Haa, P-Philip…”
“Yes! Are you in pain? Should I call a doctor?”
Philip noticed Aden’s arm trembling.
Watching Aden’s overexertion made Philip anxious.
‘I should have stopped him earlier!’
But the young master had threatened him with a beer bottle, saying, “If you interfere, I’ll break your head,” so he couldn’t stop him.
Aden spoke in a voice that seemed on the verge of breaking.
“…Hungry.”
“Yes?”
“I’m hungry. Take me, now. To the dining room.”
Aden, with the eyes of a starved beast, drooled.
This training method made one very hungry.
On the first day of training, Aden ate ten servings of steak for lunch.
### * * *
About a month and a half had passed since Aden started his stamina training.
During that time, Aden had built up the basic stamina and mana he aimed for through his training.
“It’s finally here.”
In his room, Aden looked at the bottle and herbs with his shirt off.
The bottle, the size of a child’s head, contained a large amount.
It was filled with a clear, sacred-looking liquid that seemed to emit its own light.
The top-grade holy potion from the Church of Law.
Next to it were about a dozen types of herbs spread out on a cloth.
Aden checked the medicinal herbs one last time.
“Roots of Scream Grass, dried Despair Grass, fruit of the Poison Thorn Ginseng, and the Crazy Troll Mushroom…”
Though called medicinal herbs, they were all, as Philip had said, toxic herbs.
But these toxic herbs were the elixirs that would transform Aden’s frail current body.
With the confirmation complete, all the materials were gathered.
‘Forced Physical Awakening Method.’
This theory was developed through the collaborative research of the Grand Alchemist Kalsis and the Grand Wizard Shara.
First, a proper amount of these dozen or so herbs must be ingested.
Inside the body, their effects would interact to create a completely new poison.
This poison, if fully mixed, would neutralize through detoxification.
But until then, the poison would try to destroy the body, and the body would instinctively resist.
In this process, the potential of the body would be stimulated.
‘This was discovered while researching to quickly create strong warriors during the war against the Demon Lord’s army.’
Though it couldn’t create exceptionally strong warriors, it significantly enhanced the strength of soldiers and knights.
‘Fortunately, I remember those materials.’
However, Aden didn’t know the exact ratio of the toxic herbs.
If the ratio of the ingested poison was even slightly wrong, one herb’s toxicity could overpower the others, failing to neutralize the poison and making it dangerous.
‘That’s why I need this holy potion.’
He remembered seeing the use of divine power to treat those poisoned by an excessive intake of toxic herbs.
A top-grade holy potion would be enough to cover any shortcomings.
Aden picked up a toxic herb…
Crunch.
He shoved it into his mouth and chewed.
Normally, the poison should be refined before consumption, but Aden didn’t have that skill.
“Ugh.”
Unconsciously, he felt nauseous, as if his body instinctively told him not to eat it.
Aden forced down the nausea. He then roughly shoved the rest of the toxic herbs into his mouth one after another.
As he ate, his tongue went numb, losing all sensation.
“Ugh.”
Aden clutched his chest.
His heart pounded wildly.
Cold sweat poured down his body like a waterfall, making him feel hot while his hands and feet felt cold.
It felt like his stomach was rotting.
No, it was likely the tissues were actually dying.
‘I must endure. Just a little more.’
If he drank the holy potion now, the toxicity would be completely purified.
He had to endure with his own strength.
Aden endured the pain and sat in a meditative pose, circulating mana.
With the mana, the poison spread through his entire bloodstream.
“Ugh.”
The poison dissolved the waste and weak tissues in his body, with mana regenerating those areas.
Dying, regenerating.
Dying again, regenerating.
It was a precarious tug-of-war between death and regeneration.
Finally, when the mana and poison circulated through his entire body twice.
Aden felt he had reached his limit.
‘That’s enough for today.’
This process was not completed in one go.
It had to be repeated at least a hundred times, tempering the body like a weapon.
In the future, he prepared a priest and made soldiers go through this process thirty times a day, completing it in three or four days, but he didn’t need to go that far himself.
Aden quickly grabbed the holy potion and took a sip.
– Top-grade holy potion ingested.
– Toxins in the body are being purified.
The sacred energy of the holy potion spread rapidly through his body.
The remaining toxins were cleansed, and his depleted energy was restored.
“Cough!”
Aden coughed and spat out black blood.
It was dead blood, mixed with toxins and waste from his body.
After spitting out about a bowl of blood, Aden felt refreshed.
He circulated mana again.
‘The flow of mana has improved.’
His body was noticeably cleaner than before.
It was just one session out of a hundred, yet the difference was significant.
It showed how inefficient his body had been.
‘Hm?’
Aden’s expression turned odd.
He felt a faint sense of foreignness inside his mana circuits.
‘What is this?’
Apparently, the abundance of waste in his body had previously masked it.
It was a faint energy.
Aden focused on the foreign sensation.
The outline of the
foreign energy became clear.
It was dark, gloomy, and cold, a feeling that was condensed in a small clump.
Aden soon realized what it was and muttered involuntarily.
“Is this… a Demon Stone?”
Demon Stone.
It was a type of mana organ possessed by creatures like Talos, who thrived on dark mana.
It was as small as a pea but definitely a Demon Stone.
Aden involuntarily chuckled.
“What on earth did this wastrel do to have something like this in his body?”
A Demon Stone, which only beings like Talos had, existed in a human’s body.
It was unheard of.
Even warlocks didn’t have it, so why did this wastrel noble possess it?
‘I don’t know.’
Initially, he was cautious of the pea-sized Demon Stone, carefully examining the energy.
However.
‘It doesn’t seem dangerous for now.’
Though it was dark mana, it was certainly an energy subordinated within Aden.
After pondering over the pea-sized Demon Stone for a while, Aden came to a conclusion.
‘There’s no way to figure it out now.’
The Demon Stone was a bothersome issue, but he had no way to deal with it currently.
In such cases, it was best to set aside concerns and focus on immediate problems.
Aden set aside his discomfort about the Demon Stone and got up from his meditative position.
“Ugh, it stinks.”
Aden frowned at the foul odor.
His entire body was covered in a sticky substance.
It was waste expelled through sweat.
‘I need a shower.’
### * * *
After that, Aden’s daily routine was set.
Morning was for strength training with the scarecrow.
“Haap!”
Lunch was for regaining energy through feasting.
“One more plate!”
Afternoon was for detoxifying his body with toxic herbs.
“Cough! Ugh…”
And finally, a shower before the family dinner.
Whenever he felt he was running out of toxic herbs and holy potions, he had Philip procure more.
After about another month of this repetitive routine, rumors started circulating among the servants of the Duke’s household.
The young master was up to something.
But no one knew what it was.
“I heard the young master has been gathering all sorts of deadly herbs lately?”
“Yesterday, he had eight servings of bread and meat for lunch. We’ll need to shop for more soon.”
“And when he comes out of his room, he reeks.”
“I even saw bloodstains when I went to clean his room!”
The young master had been acting strangely again since the day he dueled the novice knight.
“They say he’s collecting those things as a hobby…”
A hobby?
That was even scarier.
At least when he was a wastrel, his actions were predictable, but now no one could guess what he was doing, making them uneasy.
It was to the point where the second son, Carl Remes, had the tableware replaced with those that reacted to poison.
One servant sighed.
“Please, I hope nothing happens to the Duke’s household…”
Unaware of the servants’ unnecessary worries, Aden continued to relentlessly strike the scarecrow with a wooden sword in the training ground today as usual.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack-thwack!
One hour, and then two hours.
Crack!
The scarecrow couldn’t withstand Aden’s beating and broke.
“Phew, I should stop for today.”
Philip approached with a potion and a water towel.
“Young Master, here you go!”
“Thank you, Philip.”
Aden wiped his sweat with the water towel and drank the potion.
It had been a month of repeating this routine.
The mana from the potion spread through his now grown mana circuits, restoring his energy.
As a result, the tiny ruptured tendons from the intense exercise healed, becoming stronger.
Aden checked his physical condition and smiled contentedly.
‘I’ve gained quite a bit of stamina.’
Aden’s body had changed significantly in just a month.
Small muscles had formed all over his body, giving him a defined shape.
He now had the stamina of a novice knight.
Considering it usually took at least three years of holding a sword and training to reach the level of a novice knight, this was remarkable progress.
It was an achievement hard to reach in just a month.
Thanks to this, Aden no longer collapsed from exhaustion after training, requiring Philip to carry him.
‘I’m lucky to be in a wealthy duke’s household.’
Here, he could procure as many potions and toxic herbs as he needed.
At the same time, he felt a bit of regret.
‘It would have been nice if I could also get refined elixirs.’
Potions only temporarily replenished mana and dispersed over time, not increasing the mana circuits permanently.
Refined elixirs, on the other hand, were special items that permanently enhanced the mana circuits.
But those were not only expensive but also rarer than the demand, making them hard to come by even for the duke’s household.
‘Well, I have something else in mind for elixirs.’
Aden dismissed his thoughts and called Philip.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
The food at the duke’s household was delicious.
Aden licked his lips as he moved.
To get there quickly, he cut through the training ground where the knights were practicing.
Thanks to that, he saw the knights training hard.
“Hup!”
Knights wielding their swords with shouts.
‘They’re all working hard.’
Aden glanced at the knights indifferently, then his gaze fixed on one.
Aden’s face showed a hint of curiosity.
‘That guy looks familiar.’
** Note **
Dark Magician has been changed to Warlock