Chapter 96 : Chapter 96

Chapter 96 : Beneath the Branch of the World Tree (9)

The Fairy King Frude declared that the fairies should halt their offensive.

Most fairies bowed to Frude and followed his orders, but not all did.

The fairies who couldn’t easily quell their anger continued their war in their own way, roaming Kipaso and not avoiding fights provoked by elves, despite following Frude’s words.

But that didn’t last long, because Raldetun, who had somehow become my loyal follower, didn’t let the rebellious fairies run wild.

“I’ve caught the runaway fairies!”

Raldetun shouted in a booming voice as dejected fairies, bound and trailing behind him, returned in a line.

The rope tying them was the one used by Tello agents.

Raldetun, claiming he knew it well from being bound by it himself, borrowed it from me and used it effectively.

- This should make Polarin-nim understand my heart!

Even the thoughts he sent me were as boisterous as Raldetun himself.

“…Good work.”

“I’ll head out again, Polarin! Don’t worry about the war!”

“Alright, stay safe.”

Raldetun tossed the bound fairies into the territory and set off triumphantly.

Thanks to him, untying the ropes fell to Bea and me.

Bea, watching Raldetun’s back, asked,

“Did you brainwash that evil spirit or something?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Was it?

Anyway, Raldetun was acting of his own will.

Since all his actions stemmed from a desire to pledge loyalty to me, it was hard to stop him.

In the end, I chose to change the subject.

“The war has finally stopped, hasn’t it?”

“It’s just a ceasefire for now. Is there a way to truly end this war?”

“Yes, my friends are coming to figure that out.”

“…Friends.”

Bea, who had no notable friends besides Nihel, murmured softly.

I’d said I’d be her friend, but friendship isn’t something that forms instantly just by saying it.

I changed the subject again, like a friend would.

“There’s not much to do while we wait, so let’s train. My body’s feeling stiff.”

“Didn’t you train every day since arriving here? And you’re still feeling stiff?”

“I haven’t moved as much as usual.”

As Bea said, the journey to the fairy territory wasn’t easy and there was a big battle with Raldetun along the way.

But if you think about it, I’d always had battles like that.

I never neglected training even after fighting.

The Dragon Heart poured immense power into me.

Even when I felt exhausted from using all my strength, not long after, purer and more vigorous mana than what I’d spent was generated.

Moreover, the fairy territory was brimming with energy.

Though not as potent as under the World Tree, Kipaso, rich with spiritual veins, had some of the finest energy in the land.

“You seem excited just thinking about training.”

“Of course.”

I grinned and headed to the training ground Frude had shown me earlier.

Walking through the dense forest, I soon reached a clearing.

Numerous targets stood in a row.

Some fairy warriors were shooting arrows at them.

Beside them, wind spirits stirred gusts to disrupt the arrows’ paths.

But the fairy warriors’ arrows, overcoming the wind’s interference, hit the targets every time.

“Looks like a better place for you to train than me, Bea-nim?”

“…Impressive.”

When Bea and I appeared, the fairy warriors’ gazes turned toward us for a moment.

Some warriors grimaced upon seeing Bea, an elf, and she seemed to shrink slightly.

But I didn’t care and explained about the training ground I’d visited a few times.

“The fairy warriors train to overcome or ride the wind’s flow, I heard.”

“It’s different from the elves’ methods. But it looks quite effective.”

“There’s a magic pond over there. Soak in it after training. It relieves fatigue and boosts energy.”

Bea nodded, looking in the direction I pointed.

Then a fairy flew over, flapping its wings.

Pat!

It swerved just before crashing into us.

Glittering dust from its wings fell onto Bea’s and my faces.

I could’ve blocked or subdued it, but I let it be.

Bea’s startled, wide-eyed expression was amusing.

It seemed the fairies were helping with the elf reformation movement too.

“Well then, let’s train hard and meet up later.”

I waved at Bea once and moved to a corner of the training ground.

Bea stood dazed for a moment, let out a faint sigh, and drew her bow.

* * *

“Uncle, why are you so tall?”

“Maybe because you guys are small?”

While staying in the fairy territory these past few days, I’d become a superstar among the fairy children.

The kids, untainted by the adults’ gazes, didn’t mind that I was human.

So, many followed me around when I trained.

‘Like with Narima, I’m oddly popular with kids.’

The adult fairies still found me uncomfortable, but they didn’t tell the kids to avoid me.

That was because I didn’t just laze around in fairy territory.

I trained diligently and helped with the tribe’s tasks, which were short-handed due to the war.

I assisted with gathering fruits when they went foraging and sparred with some fairy warriors.

I even taught swordsmanship to kids who wanted to learn.

In game terms, I was grinding favorability.

“Uncle, show us your wings one more time!”

“If I spread my wings here, everyone would freak out.”

“Your wings look cool. They’ve got feathers. Are you a bird?”

“No… I’m human.”

“What’s a human?”

Befriending elves or fairies isn’t easy unless you’re of the same race.

I wasn’t exactly close with them, but getting friendly with the kids helped narrow the gap with the other fairies.

But playing with kids sometimes made my head spin.

Just when I thought physical activity would be better, I met my savior.

“Raldetun-nim!”

I called out to Raldetun, who was returning from patrol with his fairy warriors.

Raldetun ran over joyfully at my call.

“You brats! Don’t bother the busy man, go play somewhere else!”

“Eek! It’s the evil spirit!”

“Run, it’s the crazy evil spirit!”

I learned while staying here that Raldetun was called an evil spirit even among the fairies. I heard it was a nickname from before the racial war.

But that nickname didn’t mean the kids disliked him.

Though he’d briefly fallen into madness, before that, as the Fairy King’s son, he fought harder than anyone for the fairies and was highly respected.

Raldetun didn’t seem to mind the nickname either.

“You brats!”

Raldetun yelled at the kids, playfully tussling with them.

Then he looked at me with a goofy grin.

“Why’d you call? Want to spar again?”

“Hmm, shall we?”

I hadn’t called him for that originally.

I sparred with Raldetun often.

We fought when we first met, but the Raldetun then and now were completely different.

The Raldetun consumed by demonic energy was powerful but had simplistic attacks.

But now, fully freed from demonic energy, he wasn’t an easy opponent.

“How much should we limit this time? No aura? Or no tunes?”

“Let’s go all out this time.”

“Kahaha! Sounds fun.”

Raldetun gripped Wapuhugun and got into a sparring stance.

I drew the Branch of the World Tree. A cold glint flashed in Raldetun’s eyes as he saw my sword.

“The Branch of the World Tree. It’s about to transform, huh. Can it talk?”

“No, it’s been asleep for a while.”

“Hm, it seems to have absorbed plenty of your mana.”

Raldetun swung his axe lightly as he continued.

“Well, since all the World Tree’s spirits have vanished recently, it might be related. Anyway, let’s have some fun!”

“Let’s do it.”

Raldetun and I clashed.

Wapuhugun, though cracked in the middle, retained its hardness.

The axe, brimming with aura, pushed my sword back.

‘Going toe-to-toe on strength alone is no match.’

Raldetun was much smaller than me but incredibly strong.

I increased the mana output through my bloodline, releasing it outward.

The ferocious aura in my sword poured toward Raldetun’s axe.

“Urgh!”

Raldetun tried to redirect the flow.

As he stepped back, I activated [Gravity Manipulation], adding weight to my sword’s tip.

My ability to wield mana and harmonize various tunes has improved significantly.

But what I’d been focusing on lately wasn’t increasing strength or tune mastery.

It was infusing intent into my actions.

The key to reaching the Sixth Rank lay there—changing the world by embedding my will into my skills and magic.

I overlaid intent onto my mana.

My intent hadn’t yet reached the level of altering the world.

But mana was different.

I’d handled mana since birth and recently, I’d gained experience and trained intensely.

The initial change when natural mana settled in my body.

To surpass that, I had to transform mana to match my nature to ascend ranks.

Mana transformation required a complete understanding of oneself—not just the body but temperament and fighting style.

Only by achieving that could mana’s nature transform, allowing ascension to the Sixth Rank.

I’d recently grasped a clue to reaching the Sixth Rank.

By pushing mana to its limits and controlling it as I wished, I felt its nature slowly changing.

But it wasn’t enough to fully ascend to the Sixth Rank yet.

Through sparring with Raldetun, I wanted to feel and understand my mana’s power more concretely and bring about a complete transformation.

To do that, I needed to understand and ultimately surpass the heart responsible for my mana, the Dragon Heart.

Pakang!

The sound of sword and axe clashing echoed in the clearing.

Raldetun was taking it seriously too.

He was already a Sixth Rank warrior.

Unlike the Fairy King, whose mana harmonized with nature, Raldetun’s mana, fitting his evil spirit nickname, formed a purple aura that poured toward me.

My hands tingled.

My head spun as if burning.

But I didn’t stop.

I felt I could soon grasp the Sixth Rank’s key.

I had to seize this sensation.

Raldetun suddenly let go of Wapuhugun.

Reaching behind his back, he grabbed throwing axes in both hands and hurled them.

Ppagak!

I deflected one and blocked the other with [Intangible Armor].

As I focused on the fight, the world seemed to slow.

While fighting with full concentration, I mentally charted my path forward.

The realm I aimed for was the one Adjak achieved in the game.

The problem was that even Adjak couldn’t fully purify Myeolji.

That meant one thing: I couldn’t stop at understanding the Dragon Heart inherited from Adjak—I had to surpass it with its power.

I focused strength in my heart, drawing up energy.

‘Surpass Adjak.’

A phrase I’d repeated to myself countless times since arriving in this world.

But the strong will I summoned during combat was transforming my heart and mana.

White light spread through my body.

Raldetun swiftly leaped, grabbed Wapuhugun, and swung it in a wide arc.

I thrust the Branch of the World Tree, infused with transformed mana, toward Wapuhugun.

Ppaak!

My sword cleaved through Wapuhugun.

[Severance] had manifested on an artifact known as the hardest axe.

“Argh! My axe!”

Since it wasn’t a life-or-death fight, the spar ended there.

I patted Raldetun’s back as he shouted in frustration, savoring the achievement I’d just gained.

Mana stronger and brighter than before.

And I realized it—I had ascended to the Sixth Rank.

‘It feels like I’ve become the sun.’

As I basked in the exhilaration, Bea approached.

“There are a lot of onlookers. Couldn’t you have gone easier?”

Bea must have been watching my spar with Raldetun too.

As she said, the surrounding fairies stared with mouths agape.

I gradually reined in my mana, dimming the light.

Then Bea delivered news in a low voice.

“Your friends have just entered Kipaso.”

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