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Episode 8 – “Thirst (3)”:
Yuri blinked at Johan’s response.
“…The Dragon’s Cradle? Why there?”
“Why else? You passed the exam, so of course you have to enter.”
“That cradle test thing, wasn’t it just a formality?”
“Heh, just? Juuust?”
“Yeah, just.”
“Are you out of your mind? You think I’d waste that precious dragon medal on some pointless nonsense?”
Johan’s crooked tone left Yuri looking genuinely confused.
Tilting his head, Yuri asked,
“I thought I was your, uh…”
“Test subject?”
“…Yeah. If I’m supposed to be your test subject, shouldn’t I not go to the Cradle? If I enter, we won’t be able to meet anymore.”
“Oh? Impressive—you’re actually capable of thinking things through.”
“…Do you take me for an idiot?”
“Heh, don’t worry about that. I’ve already taken care of the issue.”
Johan, who had been joking, suddenly dropped his smile.
“And besides, for the sake of the experiment, you must go to the Cradle.”
“Why?”
“There’s no better place to build up your abilities.”
“…?”
Seeing Yuri blink blankly, Johan grinned again.
“Do you know why the world’s brightest and strongest are all desperate to get into the Cradle?”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no other place where the strong can monopolize everything like that.”
“…!”
“In the Cradle, dozens of rare elixirs that are hard to get even with money are distributed each year. Not only that, but there are legendary swords and the secret martial arts of powerful masters from bygone eras, too.”
“Wow.”
“And all of that goes only to those who triumph in fair competition. Now imagine someone who stands out far above the rest—what do you think happens?”
“They’d take all the rewards the Cradle has to offer.”
“Exactly. A perfect monopoly by the strong.”
Yuri’s face stiffened as he listened.
At the same time, he remembered the voice that had branded itself into his childhood.
[“The weak are trampled and weeded out, but the strong… they crush and evolve. That’s the age of the Swordmaster.”]
The words of a dying knight, who had laughed as he spoke them.
The world Yuri had wandered through these past years hadn’t been much different from that dead knight’s tale.
‘And the Dragon’s Cradle is practically the symbol of this era…’
In other words, the Cradle was a microcosm of the strong-devouring-weak reality of the present age.
So Yuri could understand Johan’s reasoning, at least to some degree.
‘He’s right—it really is the best place to hone one’s abilities.’
But that required one key precondition:
Absolute strength.
For the Cradle to be a place to “grow,” Yuri would need the power to win every fight.
And in that regard, Yuri felt confident.
“So all I have to do is go in and suck up every drop of the sweet nectar they hand out, huh? Sounds like a good plan.”
Johan’s eyes glinted for a moment at Yuri’s confident muttering.
But the grin that curved his mouth was unmistakably mocking.
“Pffft, what utter nonsense.”
“…?”
“One day.”
“Huh?”
“If you enter the Cradle now, one day is all it’ll take before you’re thrown out. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to walk out in one piece. More likely, you’ll be carried out in a coffin.”
“…What?”
“What’s so surprising? Do you think the Cradle is some neighborhood playgroup? It gathers hand-picked talents from around the entire world—kids who’ve been rigorously trained as prodigies since they were toddlers.”
“……”
“How long do you think that pitiful body of yours, which hasn’t even accumulated mana or learned martial arts, would last among those geniuses?”
“Even if I use the curse… no, the avatar?”
“One day—including that. Without it, you wouldn’t last a minute.”
It was a harsh evaluation.
Yuri frowned slightly, and Johan smirked.
“What? Hurt your pride?”
“……”
“Avatars are indeed extraordinary techniques. But even the finest sword is just firewood in the hands of a peasant. You’ve never truly wielded your avatar. You’ve only crushed opponents with its brute strength.”
“…And your point is?”
“Up until now, that’s been enough. Swordsmanship, mana arts—you’ve never needed to bother learning them. That’s why you’ve ignored them, isn’t it?”
He wasn’t wrong.
Ordinary swordsmanship required constant training at a martial hall.
Mana arts, even the lowest level, cost a fortune that commoners could never dream of affording.
‘And even then, none of it could compare to using the avatar.’
For Yuri, who barely scraped by day to day, the choice had been obvious.
Their gazes locked.
“You’re fundamentally off-balance.”
“I know, my soul’s oversized—”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what?”
“Right now, you have the power to kill an opponent in one strike. But you lack the power to protect yourself. If you could wipe out every enemy in one blow, that’d be fine. But what if you can’t?”
“……”
“What if, like today, you collapse unconscious after using the avatar—and one enemy survives?”
Yuri clenched his fists tightly.
Johan’s voice was cold.
“The people in the Cradle are like rabid wolves. To them, someone who collapses after using an avatar is nothing but easy prey.”
Yuri’s expression hardened.
‘Prey…? Me?’
He had never once considered such a possibility.
Ever since he’d awakened the avatar, he had always been the predator.
Street thugs.
Mercenaries.
Even knights with unofficial titles.
He’d faced countless opponents, but none had ever truly threatened him.
Even the famed Black Sword Soldiers had fallen before him recently.
‘Me, prey?’
The word scraped at his pride, and a defiant tone slipped from his mouth.
“That Gunter guy who passed the Cradle exam this time didn’t seem that impressive.”
“That unimpressive brat could kill you with one finger if you couldn’t use your avatar.”
“Why do you keep dismissing the avatar? It’s my ability. If I manage it properly, I can—”
“And you plan to keep using the power that eats away at your life span even inside the Cradle?”
“……”
“If that’s your plan, better bring a coffin with you. Keep using the avatar like that, and you won’t even last the five years there.”
Yuri bit his lip hard.
But he had no retort.
Because everything Johan said was true.
Johan’s mocking voice continued.
“Like you said, Gunter’s a rookie. A baby wolf, you could say.”
“……”
“And that baby wolf will grow strong by feeding on prey like you. Pffft.”
Johan repeated himself deliberately to hammer it in.
He watched Yuri with amusement.
‘For what’s coming, I need to break his spirit a bit.’
Yuri was like a wild beast—vigilant, fierce, and quick to bare his fangs at any threat.
And with a pride so stubborn he’d even reject help if it wounded his ego.
So how do you tame such a beast?
By slowly building trust?
That was one way—but Johan wasn’t the patient type.
‘To tame a beast, you break its pride and make it show its belly.’
Overwhelming force. That was his method.
Johan grinned.
“But don’t worry! There’s plenty of time before this year’s Cradle entrance!”
“……”
“If you keep training under me, you could become a Wolf King there. That’s the bare minimum for being considered human.”
Johan snickered, waiting.
For Yuri to take the bait.
‘By now, he should be snapping.’
And sure enough—
Yuri’s eyes flared like sparks.
“Old man.”
Golden eyes flashed cold blue as they locked on Johan.
“…How strong are you?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t care about becoming some Wolf King. If I’m going to get stronger…”
Yuri paused briefly.
Then smirked.
“…I’ll have to become stronger than you.”
“Oh?”
“Otherwise I’ll never get the chance to smash that annoying face of yours.”
Johan’s eyes gleamed.
‘He’s bitten.’
Time to reel him in.
Johan smirked.
“Curious how strong I am?”
Swish—
Without waiting for an answer, Johan vanished.
He reappeared behind Yuri.
“…?!”
“Then I’ll show you.”
Yuri startled, Johan grinned deeply.
In a flash, he grabbed Yuri by the scruff of the neck and leapt out of the cave.
Yuri yelped in panic.
“O-old man?! What the hell?!”
But Johan’s movements were faster than Yuri’s cries.
By the time Yuri shouted, they were already out of the cave.
“…?!”
Yuri’s hideout was perched on a 20-meter cliff.
They had jumped straight out of it.
The dizzying drop made Yuri’s face go pale.
But soon, his expression shifted to shock.
“…Huh?”
His eyes widened.
Because Johan—
“…is walking?”
Was calmly walking on air.
As if stepping down invisible stairs.
When they finally reached the ground, Johan tossed the stunned Yuri aside.
Yuri quickly regained his footing and stared.
Johan met his gaze and spoke.
“You said you wanted to land a punch on me? Then watch closely. At minimum, you’d need to be this strong to even touch my face.”
Turning toward the cliff, Johan’s feet began to emit a hazy substance.
‘…What’s that?’
White smoke? Mist?
No.
It was cloud forming under his feet, supporting him like a pedestal.
Yuri immediately sensed it wasn’t an ordinary cloud.
Because he had something similar himself.
‘That’s… his avatar?’
Yuri’s avatar was a terrifying beast.
Johan’s was a billowing white cloud.
As Yuri stared in awe—
Shhhk—
Johan slowly drew his sword and held it diagonally.
The cloud’s current climbed up his legs, torso, arms, and finally coiled around his sword.
The white stream writhed like a snake around the blade.
Wumm—
The cloud coil around the sword vibrated intensely.
WUUUUM!
Johan swung his sword lightly, shaking it off.
Slash—
An upward diagonal slash—almost lazy.
But the result was anything but.
The white current shot out violently, expanded to dozens of meters, and transformed as it struck the cliff.
Ruuuuumble—
A dragon’s head with deer antlers.
A snake’s body with four pairs of legs.
It looked exactly like the mythical eastern dragon.
ROOOAAAR!
The cloud dragon opened its jaws and roared.
KA-THOOOM—!
It struck the cliff with overwhelming force.
Then—
BOOOOM!
With a tremendous sound, both the dragon and the cliff vanished.
No, not just the cliff—the entire mountain behind it was blown away.
As the mountain disappeared, the setting sun blazed clearly in the distance.
Yuri stared wide-eyed at the empty space.
‘This is…’
A single strike.
That casual swing had obliterated a cliff and a mountain.
‘A human… did this?’
At that moment, Yuri understood.
He had been using the avatar wrong all along.
Not even one-thousandth—no, one-ten-thousandth—of its true power.
‘I wasn’t controlling it. It was dragging me along.’
He stared at Johan’s back.
Once unimpressive, now it loomed like a giant.
‘This is… the power of a Master?’
He had heard countless tales of Masters and their legendary strength.
But never had he felt it.
Not until now.
‘Oh my god…’
He was only fifteen.
And he’d never once lost a fight.
His childish arrogance cracked.
‘I was a frog in a well.’
The moment reality hit, his contempt and pride shattered completely.
And in their place—
A spark of desire ignited.
‘That… that’s true strength.’
The power that ruled the world created by Swordmaster Luke Rider.
“Aaah…”
Yuri’s eyes grew hazy.
Only one thought filled his mind.
‘I want it. That strength…’
Johan Redner’s display burned itself into him.
A hunger took root.
‘No… I want power beyond that!’
At seven, he’d harbored hatred alongside unnatural strength.
At eight, he’d traded hatred for the will to live.
At fifteen, weary and aimless—
‘I’m… thirsty.’
For the first time in his life, Yuri felt a burning thirst born from pure, untainted desire
