Chapter 6
A handsome man with long red hair took a sip of black tea, savoring its aroma.
He wore black leather gloves with strange patterns engraved on them.
Unlike typical knights, he wore a black uniform and leather coat with a sword at his side – this symbolized only one thing.
An official knight of the Draker family.
Among them, he was of the most noble status – a pureblood Dragon Slayer.
Abel Draker, the second of the five direct descendants of the Draker family, put down his teacup with a satisfied expression.
"The tea has a nice aroma."
He was a knight known as the 'Lion Sword' for sweeping through battlefields with his red mane-like hair.
Across from Abel's relaxed demeanor, his cousin William Jiemens let out a light sigh.
"How can you leisurely drink tea now, Abel?"
He wore a serious expression while looking at news delivered from his younger brother Owen at the Cradle.
"Are you not concerned that Zeke defeated Reina Tourn?"
Abel smiled as he set down his tea.
"William, you're always too serious."
Abel then asked William with a relaxed expression.
"The Blessing Ceremony is coming up soon, isn't it?"
William nodded.
"Yes. It's in a month."
Abel grinned as he stood up.
He stood by the window and looked down at the scenery outside.
The view outside was completely different from the relaxed atmosphere inside the room.
Everything around was burning, and people were screaming.
Meanwhile, knights were capturing prisoners, beheading them, and throwing the corpses into pits.
Abel's face remained peaceful even as he watched the hellish scene.
He slowly spoke.
"I should visit home after so long."
Abel continued.
"I'm curious to see what kind of awakening our youngest will have."
* * *
Swish! Swish!
Zeke was swinging his claymore in an individual training room.
Horizontally, vertically.
For a month after the year-end evaluation, Zeke focused solely on basic strikes to the point of tedium.
After defeating Reina and shocking the entire Cradle, he devoted himself to sword training, holed up in the training room.
"Phew…"
After completing ten thousand swings, Zeke wiped his sweat with a towel.
Over the month, Zeke's body had grown remarkably.
He had grown over 5 centimeters taller, and rock-hard muscles had developed throughout his body.
This was the result of repeating hellish training – abusing his body and recovering through healing.
"Phew."
Zeke exhaled and said.
"Open Status Window"
Active Skills: Vital Strike [E-rank (Expert)] / Consecutive Cuts [D-rank (Beginner)] / Fatal Strike [D-rank (Proficient)] /Flash step [D-rank (Proficient)]
"Hmm…"
When his Slash skill surpassed expert level during sword training, it changed to Consecutive Cuts.
Consecutive Cuts was a higher-tier skill than Slash with better accuracy.
'I still don't know why only I can see this.'
Zeke shook his head at the thought while looking at his status window. Currently, he could only speculate that it was related to the ancient relic he had found in his previous life.
To reach the Ice Mountains where the ancient relic was hidden, one needed to be at least a Blue Knight level, so in his current situation, he had no information about this status window.
Zeke focused on the karma points.
He thought he might learn more about the system if he gained points by eliminating magical beasts with mana.
'First, I need to regain my original skills.'
Knock knock!
Someone knocked on the private training room door.
"Come in."
Decker entered.
"Young master. We depart in two hours."
Zeke nodded and said.
"Understood. I'll be out soon, so get ready."
* * *
Clop! clop! clop! clop!
The carriages carrying the Cradle's students began moving under the escort of Draker family knights.
The family crest was engraved on the carriages.
The Cradle existed within the 'Dragon's Nest' territory where the Draker family's main house was located.
The Dragon's Nest held great symbolic meaning as the birthplace of the Draker family.
However, since the main house's location in the Troy Principality was biased towards the western continent, the family's core Four Seasons Castle was located in Midland at the center of the continent.
One of the reasons why the Draker family's main house held important symbolism was none other than the 'Blessing Ceremony.'
And for that 'Blessing Ceremony,' carriages carrying the students headed quickly toward the Dragon Slayers' main house.
Thud!
The students who got off the carriages were all wearing black ceremonial clothes with the Draker family crest.
Zeke also got off the carriage.
'It's been a while.'
Zeke looked around at the central building called 'Lair' which had been preserved for a thousand years.
This is where the Dragon Slayer legend began, as it was known to be where the founder Terakan was born and raised.
The students moved to the hall where the blessing ceremony would take place.
Rumble!
The door opened, revealing a massive hall.
On the central wall was a painting of ancestor Terakan Draker wrapping chains around the neck of the evil dragon Bahamut and striking it with a sword.
Inside the hall, the family's knights and retainers were already waiting in uniform for the trainees.
They were parents of apprentices and family representatives who came to watch the blessing ceremony.
Zeke surveyed everyone in the hall from the back.
'More unfamiliar faces than familiar ones.'
In his previous life, he was exiled from the family at fifteen, so he never had a chance to see Draker's knights directly.
Instead, he learned about Draker family issues through newsletters while wandering the continent.
Among them were likely informants for direct Draker descendants competing for the next family head position.
'Well, they'll leave quickly once they know I can't awaken.'
Then Zeke noticed someone distinctive.
A red-haired man wearing a different uniform and leather gloves.
Zeke's heart pounded when he saw him.
'Why is he here…?'
It was Abel Draker, the second among direct Draker descendants.
Sensing Zeke's gaze, Abel turned and smiled at him.
A prodigy who became the youngest Blue Knight at a tender age ten years ago.
The superstar known as the 'Lion Sword' who shook the continent had come here in person.
Zeke swallowed as he looked at Abel.
'Lion Sword. No, Knight of Massacre…'
In his past life, Abel Draker brought great chaos to both the Draker family and the continent.
Zeke tensed watching Abel.
'Abel definitely didn't come here in my past life. Then… the future has changed because of me.'
Though a small change, things were clearly shifting from his previous life.
Just then, Fan Mark appeared in family uniform.
"The blessing ceremony will begin soon!"
At Fan's shout, everyone in the hall moved toward the walls.
Servants behind them brought something to the center of the hall.
Rumble rumble!
A massive object covered in cloth was placed in the center.
At Fan's gesture, the servants removed the cloth.
Though Zeke knew what it was, his eyes still trembled when he saw it.
'To think I'd see that cursed thing again.'
In the center of the hall stood a massive bronze statue of a man in armor holding a sword.
It was the God of Swords statue used in the Draker family's blessing ceremony.
Fan called out in front of the statue.
"Aaron. Step forward."
A tall boy at the front of the children stood before the statue.
Aaron looked up at the statue nervously.
Then he slowly knelt on one knee and put his hand in the water bowl beneath the statue.
A sharp needle at the bottom of the bowl pricked his palm.
Whoosh!
As blood from the needle prick spread faintly, the water's surface rippled.
At the same time, light began emanating from the bowl and the statue shook.
Rumble!
Soon, a bluish light rose from the sword.
Aaron's body was also enveloped in blue energy.
This was the signal that the blessing ceremony succeeded and awakened his aura.
The Draker family's bloodline awakens aura at age twelve through this aura blessing.
This was incredibly fast considering regular family knights typically awaken aura after coming of age.
This aura blessing allowed the Draker family to raise strong knights faster than any other family on the continent.
Starting with Aaron, other trainees also received the aura blessing before the statue.
"Next, Reina. Step forward."
It was Reina's Tourn, and she too went before the statue and put her hand in the water bowl.
Rumble!
Blue light rose from the statue's sword again.
This was expected since Reina had already awakened her aura and opened her lower Diantan.
Then it happened.
Whoosh!
The blue light flared more intensely.
Soon the light changed to red.
Simultaneously, exclamations burst from the observers.
"Red light! It's a pure blood awakening!"
Reina's body was enveloped in red light.
Pure blood awakening, which appears only in a select few Draker bloodline members, was essentially a guarantee of growth to Blue Knight rank or higher.
Moreover, pure blood awakeners were granted special abilities.
Crackle!
With Reina's awakening, the magic lamps in the hall flickered.
This was due to the 'magic interference' characteristic of pure blood dragonslayer lineage.
"Bring the gloves!"
Following Fan's order, servants brought temporary gloves to Reina.
When Reina put on the gloves, the flickering stopped.
Everyone in the hall – observers and trainees alike – looked at Reina with reverent gazes.
Reina Tourn could now use the name Reina Draker.
She had proven herself to be of pure Draker blood.
As Reina finished her awakening and stepped back from the statue, Fan called out.
"Next! Zeke!"
Finally, it was Zeke's turn.
Everyone in the hall focused their attention on him.
The youngest son of Arthur Draker, the current head of the family and one of the continent's strongest.
Statistically, pure awakenings were more likely to occur in direct descendants of the Draker family head.
All observers watched as Zeke stood before the 'God of Sword Statue'.
'To think I'd stand here again.'
Memories of his terrible past life kept surfacing.
Zeke knelt and slowly placed his hand in the water bowl.
A sharp needle pricked his palm.
Blood spread through the water.
'Huff…'
Everyone tensed, focusing on the statue.
Rumble rumble!
The statue began to vibrate.
If the blessing ritual succeeded, the sword would emit a blue light.
But something unbelievable happened.
Thud!
The vibration stopped without any light emerging.
'Damn…'
Anyone from the Draker bloodline would receive the Aura's blessing. The observers tilted their heads at this unprecedented anomaly where the vibration stopped without the expected response.
But Zeke had experienced this situation in his previous life.
Even when he changed hands and repeated the ritual, the blue light still didn't appear.
'Is this life going to be exactly the same?'
He had a slight hope that this life might be different.
But once again, the statue rejected him.
'Damn it. Well, it doesn't matter. There are plenty of ways to become strong without Aura awakening.'
Just as Zeke was about to withdraw his hand from the bowl, feeling bitter…
Woong! woong! woong!
Suddenly, the statue began vibrating in an unfamiliar way.
Simultaneously, text appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Information required for class identification has been lost in the identification terminal.]
[System authority will input class information into the terminal.]
'What is this?'
The administrator system, visible only to the statue and Zeke, was establishing a connection.
Woong woong woong!
The entire statue vibrated even more intensely.
[Class identification information input complete.]
Suddenly, light emerged from the statue's eyes.
The observers wore bewildered expressions at this unprecedented phenomenon.
[Terminal has identified user's talent as 'Healer'.]
[Confirmed class has already been unlocked.]
[Acquired class is identified as a Rare class.]
Whoosh!
Red light flickered from the statue's sword.
'Red light?'
Red light from the Draker family's statue signified a pure awakening.
Usually, blue light would appear first, then change to red, but this was the first time red light appeared from the start.
The observers murmured at the sight of the red light.
And at that moment, a new text appeared before Zeke's eyes.