Chapter 37
Isaac sat upright.
Theron moved behind him.
"First, I'll explain the entire process."
Theron spoke calmly.
"Everything happens inside your own body."
"So you need to understand it before starting."
Isaac listened.
"First."
"Chew and swallow the entire Red Flame Herb."
"Leaves to roots."
Theron continued.
"Chew as much as possible."
"The more juice you extract, the better."
"...You know this is poisonous, right?"
"Second."
Theron ignored him.
"Not long after you swallow it, heat will start inside your stomach."
"Then it'll spread through your entire body."
His voice became serious.
"At that moment..."
"Catch the heat with your mana."
"Pull it toward your mana hall."
Isaac frowned.
"And then?"
"Once the heat is stabilized, move it through your mana pathways."
"Bring it toward the heart."
Theron warned him.
"This part will hurt badly."
"But you must endure it."
"If you lose control, everything is wasted."
"...Fuck."
If Theron said it would hurt...
Isaac suspected it would hurt a lot.
"Is that the end?"
"Once the heat reaches your heart..."
"Place it directly over the foreign texture you felt earlier."
Theron looked into Isaac's eyes.
"After that..."
"The heat handles the rest."
He paused.
"The most important thing is simple."
"Never lose consciousness or control."
"This can't be done emotionally."
Isaac glared.
"Easy for you to say."
"It's not your body eating poisonous grass."
But...
He looked down at the Red Flame Herb in his hand.
Whatever.
If he died during training...
Or died eating this...
Death was death.
Crunch!
Isaac shoved the herb into his mouth and chewed hard.
An unbearably bitter taste flooded his mouth.
Every instinct screamed at him to swallow immediately.
But he forced himself to keep chewing.
Crushing it.
Extracting as much juice as possible.
Then...
Gulp.
The crushed herb slid down his throat.
The instant it reached his stomach...
FWOOSH!
"Ugh?!"
Isaac's body bent like a bow.
Fire exploded inside his stomach.
It was not a metaphor.
The moment the herb touched his stomach...
It felt as though a real ball of fire had been born inside him.
Heat erupted in every direction.
"Ughhh...!"
"Catch it!"
Theron's voice struck like a whip.
"Now!"
Isaac gritted his teeth and raised his mana.
Following his practiced breathing formula...
Mana spread like a net around the violent heat.
ROOOAR!
The Red Flame Herb fought back.
Its heat tore against the mana net.
Mana wrapped tighter.
The two forces tangled inside his stomach.
His skin felt like it was burning from the inside.
Cold sweat poured from him.
Then...
HUMMMMM!
Isaac closed his eyes and focused completely.
...Got it.
His mana net tightened.
The wild heat slowly condensed into one mass.
Trapped within his control.
"...Good."
Theron spoke behind him.
"Now move it toward your heart."
"Slowly."
Isaac began dragging the ball of heat upward.
One handspan.
Then another.
As it passed his solar plexus...
The mana net shook violently.
A groan escaped through Isaac's clenched teeth.
"Don't talk."
Theron's voice remained firm.
"Control your breathing."
"Focus only on the heat."
Isaac screamed every curse he knew inside his head.
Yet followed the instruction.
Finally...
Thump.
The heat touched his heart.
The cold foreign texture hidden beneath his heartbeat immediately became clear.
You bastard.
Isaac did not hesitate.
He took the heat he had held...
And pressed all of it directly onto that foreign texture.
Sssssss!
There should have been no sound.
Yet he could almost hear it.
The cold web burning.
"Ugh...!"
Pain pierced his entire body.
It felt as though his heart itself had fallen into fire.
His vision turned white.
His fingers scratched against the rock.
But Isaac did not release the heat.
Instead...
He pushed harder.
Burn.
It was a death curse he had carried without even knowing.
The thing that had placed a leash around his neck.
The thing intended to turn them into animals.
Isaac's eyes became bloodshot.
Burn.
"Burn all of it."
Snap. Snap.
The foreign strands around his heart began breaking one by one.
Like a burned spiderweb turning to ash...
The structure collapsed.
Then...
Snap.
The final strand broke.
"...!"
Isaac's eyes opened wide.
The remaining heat dissolved through his mana.
Something like ash disappeared into the rhythm of his blood.
And what remained...
Thump. Thump.
Was simply his heart.
Nothing wrapped around it.
Nothing hidden.
"Haaah... Haaah..."
Isaac remained sitting, his entire body soaked in sweat.
After a long time...
He touched his chest with a trembling hand.
He drew his mana into a thin thread again.
Traced the surface of his heart.
The same location.
Behind the beat.
Everywhere.
"...Gone."
Nothing.
No foreign texture.
Only familiar warmth.
Familiar rhythm.
"...It's gone."
Isaac's voice shook.
"It's really gone."
Theron smiled faintly.
"Congratulations."
"It worked."
"..."
Isaac could not answer.
The hand against his chest trembled slightly.
It felt strange.
His body was the same.
He had not become lighter.
He had not become stronger.
And yet...
"...I feel light."
Isaac stared toward the night sky.
His voice was low.
"Nothing changed..."
"But breathing..."
He swallowed.
"How can breathing feel this light?"
Theron silently watched him.
He knew the feeling.
The night the Blood Jade Fruit burned away his own Death Sigil...
Theron had felt the same unfamiliar lightness.
Then he asked,
"...You remember every step?"
"Yeah."
Isaac stood and pushed his wet hair back.
"It's burned into me."
"I couldn't forget it if I tried."
The earlier emotion had faded from his eyes.
Something colder had replaced it.
"So now..."
"Do we teach the others?"
"Not yet."
Theron shook his head.
"We still have time."
"We push as many people as possible to Two-Star first."
"Then..."
"The night before the Inspection Delegation arrives..."
"We remove every Death Sigil we can."
Isaac's expression darkened.
"What about the ones who still haven't reached Two-Star?"
"...Do they all die?"
"We try anyway."
Theron answered.
"Even if they haven't reached Two-Star."
"We can't simply let them die without trying."
"...Right."
Isaac nodded with a grim expression.
Whether he liked it or not...
He was part of this impossible plan now.
Backing out was no longer possible.
Theron spoke.
"Until then..."
"Live normally."
"When the signal comes..."
"Move."
Isaac simply nodded.
Starting the next day...
A new sight appeared at night.
"Your breathing isn't the problem."
Theron spoke.
"The moment your mana reaches the wall, your entire body tenses."
During spare time before lights-out...
Trainees from other sections began joining Section Five's cultivation area.
There was a simple excuse.
After the third test...
The walls between sections had weakened.
And wanting to learn from the trainee who ranked first...
Was completely natural.
Even surveillance had nothing suspicious to criticize.
"When you reach the wall..."
"Don't stop breathing."
Theron continued.
"Exhale even longer."
"Don't think you're pushing the wall."
"Think of your mana as soaking through it."
Theron personally checked each trainee who came.
The eyes of someone who had guided hundreds of warriors in his previous life...
Could identify where someone was stuck after only a few breaths.
And there...
As always...
Was the small boy.
"Haaaah..."
Miro.
He controlled his breathing exactly as taught.
Moved his mana exactly as taught.
But at the final moment...
Something blocked him again.
"...Failed again."
His head dropped.
Theron sat beside him.
"Miro."
"Y-Yeah?"
"What do you think about when you reach the wall?"
"...Think about?"
"At the final moment."
"When your mana touches it."
Miro hesitated.
Then answered in a tiny voice.
"...What if I fail again?"
"..."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"What if I'm the only one left behind?"
Theron listened quietly.
The problem was not the wall.
The night Miro spent waiting for death between those valley rocks...
Still held his final breath.
"Miro."
Theron looked at him.
"What did you do on the night of that test?"
"...Huh?"
"After you lost your badge."
"When everyone was hunting you."
"What did you do?"
"I hid."
Miro answered.
"Near running water."
"I stayed there until sunrise."
"Exactly."
Theron's gaze sharpened.
"You survived half a day in a forest full of hunters."
"People bigger and stronger than you were searching everywhere."
Then...
"Why are you afraid of one wall inside your own body?"
"...!"
"There are no hunters beyond that wall."
"You don't die if you fail."
Theron spoke quietly.
"So starting tomorrow..."
"Remember one thing."
"I survived that night."
His voice softened.
"This wall is nothing."
Miro's eyes trembled.
His tiny fist slowly tightened.
"...I survived that night."
"Exactly."
"That's enough."
For the remaining time...
Theron would pull up as many people as possible.
Even one more mattered.
Several days later.
Morning assembly.
An Executioner climbed the platform.
Then made an announcement that froze Theron.
"Attention."
"In preparation for the arrival of the Inspection Delegation..."
"Every trainee will undergo a complete physical examination."
"...!"
"Each trainee will be examined by the medical officers in order."
"General health."
"Physical injuries."
"And..."
"Condition of the mana channels."
"The results will be reported to the Inspection Delegation without exception."
Most trainees only murmured in confusion.
Medical examinations were not unusual.
Some looked almost pleased.
Perhaps better meals had improved their health.
However...
In the middle of the formation...
Two faces subtly hardened.
Condition of the mana channels.
Now...
They understood what those examinations could reveal.
...They inspect the heart.
Theron's mind became cold.
He had once survived by creating a fake Death Sigil.
The problem was...
Isaac.
His heart was now completely free of the leash.
If the examination checked the Sigil...
They would discover it immediately.
A trainee without a Death Sigil.
The people running Hell Island would understand the meaning instantly.
And within half a day...
The investigation would reach the throat of Theron's entire plan.
The order matters...
Theron's thoughts moved rapidly.
No.
This could not be avoided.
Every trainee.
The moment someone skipped the examination...
That itself became a confession.
Only two options remained.
Fool the medical officer.
Or somehow destroy the examination itself.
Across the formation...
Isaac quietly looked toward Theron.
Their eyes met.
One silent question passed between them.
What the hell do we do now?
Before the Inspection Delegation had even arrived...
The first true crisis had dropped directly in front of them.
