TUK 21

Chapter 21

“Huff… Huff! What the hell…?”

Rian slowed down for a moment, gasping for breath. His lungs felt like they were tearing apart, and his heart felt ready to burst.
He barely managed to ask Verkir a few questions without showing his pain, but got nothing useful in return.

Now, he realized the most urgent thing was to check the state of his own body.

“I almost died just now.”

Of course, he wasn’t literally going to die from running, but keeping up with that monster Verkir had clearly put his body under tremendous strain.
And since he’d been foolish enough to try to imitate him, the smooth rhythm of his physical state had gone completely out of sync — leading to this mess.

Still, thanks to the temporary physical enhancement that activated to keep him from dying, he’d managed to recover enough strength to keep running.

Whoosh!

Rian seized that moment to pick up his pace again.
Verkir had already widened the gap to nearly a hundred steps ahead, but by gritting his teeth and pushing himself, Rian managed to close the distance to about twenty.

Not that he was running so desperately just to close the gap.

“That light… Am I the only one who can see it?”

Rian’s attention stayed fixed on the white light flickering off Verkir’s body.
Every time Verkir’s feet struck the ground, the light seemed to grow brighter at that point of contact.
The same happened when his arms swung across his body.

The bursts of light stretched out like threads of silk before scattering into the air.

Maybe that light was what enabled Verkir to run like that.
It looked oddly familiar too — something Rian felt he’d seen before.
That was one of the reasons he was so determined to catch up and see it more clearly.

“Where have I seen it…”

He racked his brain, trying to recall where he’d seen that same kind of pale light before. And then a certain memory snagged his thoughts.

“Ah… Gerard.”

He remembered the moment his head was severed by Gerard — the faint blue shimmer that had flared around his killer’s body.

That glow, fleeting as it was, had first appeared as a white haze before turning blue, quickly engulfing Gerard’s entire form like an aura.

Come to think of it, before that blue light… there had been white.

If the light Verkir was emitting was part of that same process — the first stage of aura manifestation—

“Then maybe… I’ve stumbled on a clue.”

But why was he only able to see it now, when he couldn’t before?

The answer wasn’t far away.

“It’s tied to death again.”

Just before he thought his heart would stop and his lungs would burst, that’s when he began to see the light radiating from Verkir.

So this sudden physical enhancement had been the trigger.

“Then maybe that light — that aura-like radiance — can only be seen when your body reaches its limit and the enhancement activates at the edge of death.”

He couldn’t know for sure yet.
To confirm it, the enhancement would have to fade.

That wouldn’t take long.

As his body gradually returned to normal, the distance between him and Verkir began to widen again. And as it did, the light around Verkir faded too.

“So they’re connected.”

Temporary enhancement — and the opened eyes that came with it, allowing him to see the mysterious light.

Then what benefit came from these opened eyes?
Surely, it wasn’t just the ability to see the light.

“Verkir… the white light… physical enhancement.”

What kind of advantage did that white light grant him, allowing him to run that fast?

“When he sped up, the light flared. When he slowed down, it faded. If that’s the first stage of aura awakening…”

Then Verkir’s incredible speed must come from aura.
And if Rian could run like him, maybe he could find the key to unlocking his own aura.

“Alright… Let’s try it. That’s what his advice was for, after all.”

Verkir had said:
He lacked guts.
His training wasn’t balanced.
His body lacked flexibility.
His use of force was inefficient.
He didn’t know how to distribute strength properly.

Why had he said all that? What did he really mean?

Lack of training wasn’t something that could be fixed overnight.
Even among knights, each one’s ability to awaken aura varied.
So instead of worrying about what he lacked, he needed to think about how best to use the strength he did have — how to distribute it efficiently.

“…Is the key perhaps the relationship between how strength is used, how it’s distributed, and the awakening of aura?”

Even as his speed dropped from exhaustion, Rian kept thinking — piecing together Verkir’s cryptic words like a puzzle.

Then suddenly, a line from long ago resurfaced in his mind.

“Willpower is the driving force that keeps a human alive — the bridge that draws the unconscious aura into the realm of conscious control.”

Those were the words of his adoptive father, Ellen Cade, when he had once tried to explain aura to him.

“Willpower…”

Rian repeated the word softly, giving it meaning as he organized his scattered thoughts.
The chaos in his mind slowly began to settle into clarity.

Tap, tap, tap.

Then he stopped running altogether, breathing evenly as he took a brief rest.

Verkir had said rest was also part of training.
Rian didn’t follow that advice blindly — but right now, rest really was necessary.
He also needed the time to process and define what he had concluded.

And that conclusion was—

“The light Verkir emitted… is his will.”

Rian crouched, ready to run again. He recalled the sensations he’d experienced between life and death, and focused on every muscle in his body.

Then, with renewed determination, he launched himself forward.

Bang!

From his toes to his fingertips,
from his core to the crown of his head —
he felt every movement of every muscle, driven by one thought:
Faster. Stronger. Lighter. Farther.

“Haaah!”

He poured will into his breath — turning it into wings for distributing power.
He poured will into his heartbeat — the engine that would never stop.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Rian drove his feet into the ground with pure determination.
Soon, he felt it — a current of energy flowing outward from his core, spreading down through his legs.

“This… this is the light that flowed through Verkir?”

He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it.
And as the distance between them shrank, he knew his will was truly being engraved into his body.

He didn’t need to see light to know it was there.

Thud, thud!

With every step, Rian joyfully closed the gap between them.

When there were barely thirty strides left between them, Verkir finally glanced back.

“Huh?!”

His expression was one of pure surprise.
It was a shame Rian couldn’t see it in the dark — it would’ve been quite a sight.

“What the— Is this kid a genius?!”

He could sense the distance closing.
He had slowed slightly to avoid overexerting himself — yet Rian was still catching up.

“How is that even possible?”

He’d given Rian some clues to improve himself, yes —
but no one could have mastered those lessons so quickly unless they were a prodigy.

“Hah… Haha!”

Rian’s movements were now efficient — his power perfectly distributed, his breathing stable. Every motion made sense.

“This is incredible… what a talent!”

Verkir couldn’t help but grin — the grin of someone who’d just found a fascinating treasure.

And Rian called out to him.

“Thank you for your teaching.”

“Huh? Oh— haha! Sure! You’re welcome!!”

Verkir’s startled laugh betrayed his surprise. After all, all he’d done was provoke the boy — hiding hints of growth within his taunts.

“Feels weird getting thanked for something I barely did.”

Feeling awkward, he blurted out something random.

“Don’t tell me… you secretly drank some vitality potion or something?”

It was the kind of half-joking comment meant to be ignored — but Rian took it seriously.

“My finances aren’t exactly good enough to afford something like that.”

Rian had no idea what he meant.
Vitality potions were expensive tonics brewed in the Magic Tower and sold only to high nobles.
They said even the weakest man could become a “night emperor” after drinking one.

“Even a year’s wages wouldn’t buy one. And I don’t need it anyway.”

Verkir seemed to realize how absurd his own comment sounded.

“Haha! Hahaha! Right — you’re too young to need that sort of thing anyway!”

Still chuckling like a madman, he suddenly dashed ahead — and soon vanished from sight.

“Yeah… he’s definitely not human.”

Rian knew he couldn’t catch up this time.
Still, he didn’t stop running.
He kept pushing through the darkness, alone.

After some time, a strange smell reached his nose — something sharp and foul.

“This smell…”

His heightened senses caught the stench — blood mixed with brine and decay.
It was hard to see in the darkness, so he trusted his instincts.

Tap-tap-tap!

If he couldn’t see Verkir’s shadow, he’d follow his nose. That scent would surely lead to him.

“Blood… fishiness… rot. We’re close to the destination.”

As he adjusted his direction and ran toward the smell—

Boom!! Kraaash!! Clang-clang!!

A series of explosions and crashes erupted ahead — followed by screams, or perhaps grotesque laughter.

“Monsters.”

No human could make such sounds.
The roars and shrieks could only mean one thing — Verkir was fighting monsters.

Whoosh!

Rian sprinted toward the noise without hesitation.
Given the region, he already had a guess.

“We’re near the Frozen Mountains. There’s a stream below that forms a swampy area — most likely a group of Murlocs.”

Murlocs — creatures with fish-like heads and sharp teeth.
By day, they hid in the water like corpses.
By night, they crawled onto land to hunt animals or feed on carcasses.
Some books claimed they were the result of deranged necromancers’ experiments — but whatever their origin, they were man-eating abominations that had to be slain.

Grrrrk! Gruk!

Just as he thought, the closer he got, the clearer their grotesque cries became.

Then he saw it — a massive shadow crushing a Murloc’s skull.

“A bear…?”

Murlocs were about the size of adult men, with clawed feet and powerful legs that made them excellent jumpers — not an easy foe.

Yet Verkir was ripping them apart with his bare hands.
He kicked one’s head like a ball, crushing it instantly.
Two more lunged at him — and both lost their heads just as fast.

It really did look like a furious bear rampaging through the swamp.
But there was a difference — every one of Verkir’s movements was fast, fluid, and deliberate. Each carried an unmistakable sense of purposeful destruction.

“Yeah… he might really not be human.”

As if sensing Rian’s presence, Verkir called out — still smashing Murloc skulls mid-swing.

“Ha! I thought you’d gotten lost! Took a little nap on the way, did you?!”

Even in the midst of carnage, he sounded cheerful.

To Rian, his tone almost felt like a taunt — how long are you just going to stand there watching?

Shing—

He quickly unstrapped his pack and drew his sword.

“If you need help, I’m ready anytime.”

Verkir didn’t need it — but he was curious to see how Rian would fight.
After all, fighting monsters was very different from fighting humans.

“Well then! Let’s see what you’ve got, shall we? Haha!”

Verkir laughed heartily and stepped back a little, eager to watch.