Chapter 17
The guardian of the Arcadian Empire, the esteemed family of swordsmen known as the House of Cardenas, led seven orders of knights that made up its fighting force.
The Order of the Golden Dragon.
The Order of the Red Dragon.
The Order of the Blue Dragon.
The Order of the Black Dragon.
The Order of the White Dragon.
The Order of the Green Dragon.
The Order of the Light Dragon.
They were powerful enough to conquer small countries, and their primary duty was ensuring the safety of the vast Empire. Though the Order of the Golden Dragon was the only one led directly by the sitting Duke, the other six knightly orders made so many achievements that they made up a significant portion of the Empire’s history: They stopped a sudden demon invasion. They slaughtered waves of monsters.
Without their fighting power, the Empire wouldn’t be such a fine place to live.
“It’s already that time of year. I suppose they’ll be coming,” Bruno muttered to himself as he looked out the window.
Other than the seven prestigious knightly orders that made up the face of the family, there was one more that was unknown to the public: the Order of the Fledgling Dragon. As the name implied, it existed for the sole purpose of fostering the Cardenas family’s youth. They distributed the potion needed for the Blood Awakening Ceremony based on the trainees’ qualifications and put the trainees on an optimal training regimen.
“I think they sent Banneret Red Salamander last time. I wonder who they’ll send for this class,” he mused.
In terms of officer ranking, a banneret in the Order of the Fledgling Dragon would be similar to Bruno, but they were high-rank knights who were just as strong as, if not stronger, than the instructor in battle.
If the Order of the Fledgling Dragon sent someone with a dubious personality, it could cause multiple issues. Bruno hoped it was someone he knew.
“Ah, I apologize for disappointing you, Sir Bruno.” A voice suddenly came behind him from his spot next to the window.
Bruno hadn’t sensed a thing beforehand. It sent shivers down his spine.
If he were attacked from this distance, he would die without even having the chance to unsheathe his sword. Even though Bruno was far past his prime, he was sure of this. He whipped around and drew his sword.
Shing—
There was a blue flash of light as vivid augmented sword energy covered his blade, piercing through the man in front of him. Or rather, it should have pierced him.
“Not bad. I see you haven’t neglected your training.” The middle-aged man praised him with an amused smile on his face. Bruno had swiftly swung his sword with all his might, but the man had caught it with two fingers.
Only then did the instructor recognize him. His face grew as white as a ghost’s. “S-Sir Fabian?!”
The man by the name of Fabian stepped out from the shadows. He was a giant who stood over 190 centimeters tall, but not even his clothing made a sound as he walked. He chuckled when he saw Bruno freeze in shock, and plopped down on a chair.
He remarked, “So you do recognize me. I never went to your inauguration ceremony, so I was worried about what I should do if you continued to attack me once I blocked.”
“Your joke is too harsh.” Bruno let out a sigh that was half relief, half anxiety. “I didn’t know that you would be coming here, Commander.”
The Commander of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon, Fabian, differed from the other Commanders because his knightly order existed only to train the youth, but being their leader still required one to prove their skills. And Fabian had—he was a Swordmaster, the equivalent of a Creation Realm martial artist from murim.
“I am only here because of your report. It was the first time I read one that was full of such praise. And…” Fabian pulled out a stack of papers and placed them on the desk. These were the documents containing information about the trainees. “I was very familiar with No.1, William. He is his oldest son, and the powers he was born with are unique and formidable. I also quite like how he is not careless about his martial training. But this No. 25, Leonard, defeated him and took his place? I don’t think I could believe it unless I saw it for myself. That is why I am here.”
Bruno nodded in understanding. “I understand. He was ranked 25th, after all.”
“Seeing as you still say that, I have high expectations. If I came all the way here for nothing, this training facility may be due for disciplinary action.”
“Ha, hahaha…” Bruno managed to force a smile and trembled against his will. His intuition told him that Fabian wasn’t joking.
The Commander chuckled again and procured the items he’d brought. When Bruno saw what he was holding, his face immediately grew serious.
“Are those for this year’s class?” He asked.
“Indeed. There are 505 doses—not one drop more, not one drop less.”
He’d brought the items necessary for the Blood Awakening Ceremony. Their very existence was the most closely guarded secret in the family. Other than the senior instructors and the Fledgling Dragon’s bannerets, only those in very high positions knew about this.
About dragon’s blood. It awakened the latent potential in members of the Cardenas family and created an organ that should not exist in humans’ bodies.
Yes, the blood of dragons flowed through their veins.
***
“Mana core…” Leonard mused to himself.
Morning practice had been canceled. After they ate breakfast, the children gathered in the auditorium, where the instructors finally began to explain the details of the Blood Awakening Ceremony.
The descendants of the Cardenas family could develop internal organs that could accumulate and amplify mana. These organs were called mana cores, and together they made up the mana hall. Genetics determined how many one could develop as well as what elemental affinities they had, and the mana cores were divided into several ranks.
This system is similar to the cores of spiritual animals, Leonard thought.
Very advanced cultivation methods that allowed one to develop cores existed in murim, but the Blood Awakening Ceremony was far inferior to them, as the inductees were brand new to using mana.
Leonard wasn’t the only one lost in his own thoughts. The children who were known as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 up until the day before were also pondering deeply because the ceremony went in the order of lowest to highest rank.
“I have a single core. It’s unquestionable,” said No. 1, William, overflowing with confidence as always.
That made No. 2, Belita, scowl. “Dream on. Only one person a decade gets a single core, if that,” she retorted.
“Then that person is me,” he replied.
“And what will you do if I get the single core?”
William looked at her with pitying eyes. “That will never happen. You don’t have enough class.”
“What did you just say to me?!”
A lopsided smile appeared on No. 4’s face as he watched them bicker. And here he’d thought they’d grown a little closer after the experience the day before. “Well, regardless of how many you have, merely possessing a mana core will allow you to grow stronger at a pace several times faster than the average person. I advise you to put aside your greed.”
Leonard thought to himself as he listened to their conversation, So the number of mana cores someone is born with corresponds with which force they are inherently affiliated with. If you have one, it’s Chaos Origin. If you have five, it’s the Five Elements. If that’s the maximum number you can have, Heavenly Demon was right. He said that was the limit for living humans.
According to the principles of martial arts theories, having a small number of mana cores wasn’t necessarily good, and having a large number wasn’t necessarily bad. Otherwise, the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk would have been weaker than the Taiji Sword Immortal.
However, the Cardenas family simply seemed to believe that having fewer mana cores was better. On the other hand, if everything the instructors said was true, they weren’t entirely wrong.
When you only have one mana core, you can extract the maximum amount of energy from your mana supplies without any of it going to waste. And apparently, the efficiency of your mana core decreases proportionally with the number you have.
A duo core needed four times as many mana sources as a single core to produce the same output, and a triple core needed nine times as many. A quad-core needed sixteen times as many. The worst type, the penta-core, needed twenty-five times as many. That explained why people believed that those who had more cores were inferior.
And most importantly, these mana cores seamlessly absorb only the elemental energy they correspond to without even needing to purify it.
In murim, the naturally occurring qi was inherently full of impurities. Unless a person purified it several times after performing breathing techniques, the cultivation would be very inefficient.
But in this world, having an affinity for a single element meant that a person didn’t need to sort the incoming mana by type or worry about purifying it, so of course it was the most advantageous. Having a penta-core meant that a person had to put in the effort to control and sort the qi according to the five elements, but those with single cores absorbed energy as easily as they breathed.
“Dillon, you’re next.” A voice from the ceremony room called for No. 4. The trainees in the lower ranks had already finished the Blood Awakening Ceremony, so the five of them were the only ones left.
No. 4, Dillon, stood up with a nervous expression on his face. “I shall be on my way. We will meet again soon enough.”
He disappeared behind the door, and reality began to sink in for the others. It was almost their turn. Even the self-assured No. 1 looked a bit restless. His fight with Leonard had humbled him a little, but he had spent a lifetime proving his strength and superiority. Since the Blood Awakening Ceremony would decide his standing, he couldn’t help but be anxious.
That was the moment when Leonard spoke. “I…”
The other three turned to look at him. They had no idea what he would say in such a situation.
“I probably have a penta-core.”
“… What?”
“What nonsense.”
“Leonard?”
The children couldn’t do anything but blink. They didn’t understand, but that only made Leonard grin and give them words of encouragement. “What does it matter how many cores you have? If it’s less efficient, all you need to do is obtain more mana sources, right? I don’t know why you guys are so nervous when you already have the talent and skill.”
His words made their eyes widen with shock, but then they were back to smiling as always. Heather’s and Belita’s smiles were faint, but William had a big smile on his face. William made a triumphant sound.
“Exactly. I refuse to be judged by some nobody’s standards. If I am not chosen to have a single core, I’ll just make them regret believing that hierarchy,” he declared.
Belita’s face softened as well. “I suppose you’re right. When have I ever cared about such things?”
“I didn’t know you believed in me that much, Leonard! I promise I won’t disappoint you no matter how many cores I get!”
While Leonard’s encouragement invoked the other two children’s pride, Heather’s eyes were actually brimming with tears by the time she dashed into the room. She was painfully bad at hiding her feelings.
I suppose my tongue has loosened a little. Leonard wasn’t sure whether it was because he was now in a younger body or because he’d taken a liking to these children. While he was trying to make sense of this strange feeling, the other two were also called in for the Blood Awakening Ceremony.
No matter how much he strained his ears, he couldn’t hear a thing from the room. Because of how valuable and closely guarded its existence was, they’d taken precautions to ward off any eavesdroppers.
A few minutes passed until his name was called.
“Come in, Leonard.”
He stood up and pushed the tightly shut door open with all his might.
The room was slightly larger than he’d expected. He met the eyes of the man sitting behind the desk, which was at least a hundred paces away. Even though the knight was sitting, it couldn’t hide his large frame, and his presence was so powerful that it would be strange not to feel overpowered. Power was emanating from the knight in waves.
He’s a Creation Realm martial artist—or a Swordmaster, I suppose.
The man was such a powerful martial artist that Yeon Mu-Hyuk would have drawn his sword and challenged him to a life-or-death battle on the spot.
However, the person in the room was Leonard, not the Sword Emperor.
He forced down the burning desire to fight him and stood unwavering under the man’s gaze.
“My name is Leonard,” he said politely as he reached the center of the room.
The senior instructor Bruno was sitting by one of the surrounding desks, but only the highest-ranking, most physically powerful was allowed to speak first. And that was the Commander of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon, Fabian.
Fabian had been unable to tear his gaze away from Leonard from the moment the boy entered the room. His eyes shot wide open. “This is a fourteen-year-old? With this much power?”
He then raised his right hand.
Woosh! A sword swiftly came down upon the boy, who dodged by taking a precise half-step.
The people in the room were stunned. The child had moved when he shouldn’t have.
Fabian was the only one who openly marveled. “You can see this at your age? Really? You haven’t even developed your aura yet, but you can wield a sword from your heart?”
Leonard couldn’t help but inwardly smile bitterly. If it weren’t for the memories of his past life, he would never have been able to see a heart sword at this age, no matter how great of a genius he was. But he couldn’t say that to Fabian.
“Martial arts are fostered in the heart and channeled through the body. It does not matter whether I have a sword aura,” Leonard said.
The room went silent. How could a little trainee talk back to a Swordmaster like that? If Fabian lost it then and there and tore Leonard in half, no one would object. However, it didn’t go down as the people in the room imagined.
Fabian’s eyes remained closed as he took in what Leonard said. Then, Fabian stood up. “And so the student becomes the master. I never thought I’d learn something from a child I just met!”
The Commander knew he was being impulsive, but he couldn’t help himself. “I shall make you a promise. Regardless of the results of your Blood Awakening Ceremony, you will be treated better than the others. I, Fabian, swear on my title as the Commander of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon.”
Despite the unbelievable outcome, Leonard was calm.
“Thank you,” he said.
It was time for his Blood Awakening Ceremony.
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