Chapter 47

Chapter 47. Will

Calian had tried to hide everything earlier.

Now he was asking Mitchell to translate the Other Script.

Mitchell did not understand his intention, but he accepted the request.

How much had he received from Calian until now?

Mitchell decided to think of this as a chance to repay some of that debt.

Even without that, he was personally curious.

You’re the one. Let me see what you can do.

This should be enough.

Those words had clearly been directed at Mitchell.

However, he could not find any connection between them.

Perhaps he would understand once the Other Script was translated.

“I’ll look into the Other Script.”

[Good. Thank you. But... it looks like you gained something from the battle with the Wild King. Your presence has changed a little.]

“It isn’t perfect yet. But if I organize it a little, I think I can make it completely mine.”

[Tsk, tsk. A talented bastard really is something else.]

Calian clicked his tongue.

How long had it been since Mitchell became a 4th Rank Aura User?

Yet he was already preparing to move to the next realm.

A wall some people could not cross even after struggling their whole lives was something Mitchell had reached in only a few months.

[I’ll help you cross the wall. With the Dark Aura you have now, it should be possible.]

Mitchell brightened.

If Calian helped, he would definitely be able to advance much more safely and easily.

He immediately headed to the clearing near the iron mine.

It was a place only Mitchell and Grant used for training.

“Huh? Grant is here too.”

[Oh... That fellow is trying to cross his wall too. Don’t disturb him. Just watch.]

Mitchell nodded and quietly watched Grant.

A tremendous amount of energy moved inside Grant’s body.

The energy began circulating.

Its speed gradually increased.

Once enough momentum had built—

THUMP!

A shockwave erupted from Grant’s body.

He was breaking through blocked meridians.

[The Chong Mai and Ren Mai have opened. Once the Du Mai opens, he’ll reach the 6th Rank.]

After hearing Calian’s explanation, Mitchell could clearly see what Grant’s energy was trying to do.

Energy gathered around Grant’s spine.

It repeatedly tried to break through the blocked pathway.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Waves of energy spread one after another.

After several attempts, the Du Mai finally opened.

Whoooosh.

Energy flowed out around Grant’s body and divided into five streams.

The five streams began circling while chasing one another’s tails.

After circling for a long time, they were all absorbed back into Grant’s body.

[He succeeded. He became a 6th Rank Aura User. Becoming 6th Rank at his age is impressive.]

The moment Calian finished speaking, Grant’s eyes snapped open.

For an instant, light flashed from his eyes.

Then it faded, and his pupils returned to normal.

Grant examined his body for a while and stood.

He noticed Mitchell nearby and approached.

“Congratulations on crossing the wall.”

“Thanks. But why are you here? It isn’t training time.”

“I’m thinking of trying too.”

Grant’s eyes widened.

There was no subject in Mitchell’s sentence, but Grant instantly understood what he meant.

“What?!”

“Why are you surprised? You crossed your wall too.”

Grant stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you and I the same? I’ve been trying for years and only succeeded now.”

“If you’re jealous, work harder.”

Mitchell laughed at Grant, who shouted that it made no sense, and sat down.

Watching Grant advance made Mitchell feel even more greedy.

But that lasted only a moment.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself.

What he was about to do could not be done with an excited mind.

Mitchell sat quietly and reviewed the realization he had gained from fighting the Wild King.

Another battle against a powerful expert had taught Mitchell many things.

The Wild King’s movements.

His use of energy.

The understanding contained in his sword.

All of those things had affected Mitchell.

At the same time, fighting the Wild King had made him realize what he himself lacked.

Those thoughts wandered through his mind.

Eventually, they all came together at one point.

What have I been fighting with until now?

After long effort, Mitchell had created magic that absorbed souls and converted them into Dark Aura.

Later, he met Calian and learned new martial arts.

Because of that, he became more skilled at controlling energy.

He also gained the ability to directly strike an enemy’s soul.

Yet he had hardly thought about the soul itself.

To Mitchell, a soul had been nothing more than something that gave him power.

I’m stupid. I gained understanding about souls in the Demon Realm, yet I didn’t think any deeper about it.

Mitchell could distinguish the color, smell, and feeling of souls.

Through that, he could convert them more efficiently.

But that was all.

Mitchell began thinking more deeply.

Eventually, he reached an answer.

There is will.

Souls contain what people commonly call lingering thoughts.

In other words, they contain the will someone had while alive.

And that was connected to martial arts as well.

Every act of holding and swinging a sword contained will.

When training, there was the will to move forward.

When sparring, there was the will to win.

When fighting an enemy, there was the will to kill.

At the same time, there was also the will to survive.

In the end, handling souls and handling a sword both meant using will.

Ah...

At that moment, Mitchell felt as if his mind opened.

His energy began moving naturally.

Powerful energy started breaking through eight major acupoints.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Seven were opened in one go.

All the energy began gathering at the top of Mitchell’s head to break through the final acupoint.

THUMP!

His head rang.

His entire body trembled.

Mitchell instinctively understood.

If he failed here, he would suffer severe internal injuries.

In the worst case, he could even go insane.

He concentrated and pushed the energy again.

BOOOOM!

But the blocked acupoint was thicker and harder than expected.

Then—

Calian’s energy, as pure as Mitchell’s own, flowed into his body.

That energy guided Mitchell’s power somewhere else.

It moved along the meridians he had just opened.

Each pathway increased its speed.

By the time the energy returned to the top of his head, it was moving at a speed incomparable to the beginning.

The energy struck the blocked pathway.

BOOOOM!

Mitchell’s body trembled violently.

Then Mitchell’s consciousness split.

A part of it left his body.

Although he had not opened his eyes, he could sense the surroundings.

It felt as though the consciousness outside his body was directly seeing everything.

A bird of prey flying through the sky carried the will to find food and fill the stomachs of its starving chicks.

Meanwhile, from an axe heading toward a burrow in fear, Mitchell felt the will to survive.

...

After clearly sensing such things, Mitchell turned his attention inside his body.

A pitch-black monster silently stared at him.

The moment Mitchell thought about approaching the Possession, he suddenly entered a dark space.

Mitchell noticed he now had a body.

He looked at his hand and realized it was not real.

It was a kind of mental body.

Mitchell raised his head and met the Possession’s eyes.

Grrrrrr.

Previously, it had looked like one creature.

Now, Mitchell could see countless individual entities inside it.

He stroked the Possession’s body and felt the countless wills embedded inside.

At that moment, countless spheres flowed out of the Possession.

The spheres approached Mitchell and covered his entire body.

Mitchell felt each will one by one and absorbed them.

His consciousness gradually became distant.

Different wills mixed together.

Mitchell began losing himself.

Mitchell Kellion.

Mitchell Wilson.

Mitchell Runei.

The wills belonging to each identity were being swallowed by the wills of other souls.

Then—

[Wake up, Mitchell!]

Calian’s voice came from somewhere.

Mitchell pulled his drowning consciousness out from among the wills.

That was close...

But he was not completely safe yet.

He had to resolve the other wills now making up most of himself.

Mitchell began changing each will into his own.

As he did, tremendous energy began swirling inside his body.

[Leave the energy to me! You continue what you’re doing!]

Mitchell followed Calian’s words.

He left the violently boiling energy entirely to Calian and entered a state of complete concentration.

After some time—

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The rapidly moving energy began breaking through meridians.

After several impacts, only the final pathway remained.

[Urgh... You damn disciple!]

Calian groaned.

Despite repeated attempts, Mitchell remained calm and focused only on absorbing the wills.

Finally—

At the moment Mitchell unified all the wills—

BOOOOM!

Another new wall broke.

“This is dangerous...”

Grant bit his lip while watching Mitchell from outside.

His earlier words about Mitchell advancing already had also contained this concern.

When a martial artist remains at the same realm for a long time, their energy naturally stimulates the meridians required for the next realm.

It softens and thins them so energy can pass.

However, Mitchell had advanced not long ago.

That process had not happened enough.

Damn it. I should’ve stopped him earlier!

Grant blamed himself and anxiously watched Mitchell.

He prayed Mitchell would break through the final meridian.

As though heaven heard his prayer, Mitchell’s body suddenly shook violently.

The quality of his energy changed.

“He did it!”

Now Essence, Energy, and Spirit would harmonize, allowing him to step into a new realm.

Grant happily prepared to watch.

Then his face stiffened.

At first, one glowing sphere emerged from Mitchell’s head.

That much was normal.

But then the Possession Grant knew well appeared.

Grant had no idea why the Possession appeared in this situation.

The mouths covering its body opened wide.

Screeeeeech!

Kiiiiik!

Gyaaaaaah!

Ghostly cries echoed.

Countless gray spheres poured from the Possession and attached themselves to Mitchell’s sphere.

The gray spheres vibrated, desperately trying to enter.

But as time passed, Mitchell’s sphere began devouring the gray ones.

Eventually, only Mitchell’s sphere remained.

The Possession had also disappeared.

Mitchell’s sphere had become much larger.

It slowly moved toward the top of his head and slipped back into his body.

“What the hell is happening...?”

Grant muttered quietly and stared at Mitchell.

Nothing he knew could explain the phenomenon.

While Grant searched through his knowledge for something similar—

Whoooosh!

Energy began moving violently once again.

Mitchell had opened eight major acupoints upon reaching the 5th Rank, allowing him to perform the Great Heavenly Circulation.

And that was exactly what he was doing.

Hummm.

The rapidly circulating energy continued gaining speed.

A huge amount of energy was absorbed from the surroundings.

Grant jumped backward in surprise.

From a distance, he watched Mitchell.

Then he realized what Mitchell was trying to do.

D-Don’t tell me?

Just as Grant suspected, once the energy gained enough momentum, it smashed through an important meridian required for the next realm.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The energy rapidly moved through major pathways.

Its momentum still did not weaken.

It seemed to be because of the spheres the Possession had released earlier.

Thanks to that, the energy reached the final blocked meridian.

After several attempts, it shattered the closed barrier.

Whoooosh!

At the same time, five streams of energy emerged from Mitchell’s body.

It looked exactly like what had happened to Grant.

Mitchell had crossed directly into the next realm.

Grant had gone beyond surprise.

He simply blinked.

I should just stop trying to understand.

That seemed better for his mental health.