LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 6
Chapter 6
"Wait a moment."
Vice Captain Melin intervened with a troubled expression.
"Rather than that, I think it would be better to find a more suitable opponent. You do know that Therne is at the Two-Star level, right?"
Two-Star.
It was a surprising revelation.
Therne was only thirteen years old.
Even for those who started learning the sword or magic from a young age, reaching the Two-Star level usually didn’t happen until their twenties.
Many without talent never even touched the threshold of Two-Star.
"There are plenty of squires in this knight order, so I believe they would be more appropriate sparring partners for the young master."
Even a mere squire would be more than enough to thoroughly beat Chris to a pulp, or so Vice Captain Melin thought.
"No, if I’m going to prove my qualifications, I should do it properly. I want to duel Therne."
"!!"
"So! Therne, what do you think? I bet you’ve secretly been waiting for an opportunity like this."
Chris spoke in a lazy, taunting manner.
"Or don’t tell me—you’re actually scared of your older brother?"
Therne ground his teeth.
In his head, he could hear the sound of his patience snapping.
"...I accept the duel."
Vice Captain Melin let out a sigh.
But inwardly, she thought this was perfect.
'If it’s Young Master Therne, no matter what happens, it won’t be my responsibility.'
If one of the Black Mire Knight Order’s knights seriously injured that bastard in a duel, it would put her in a difficult position.
But this was a fight between brothers.
No matter what accident occurred, her responsibility would be greatly reduced.
'He’s always hated his delinquent older brother, so he won’t go easy on him. If possible, it would be great if he crippled at least one of his legs. Though, Young Master Therne might be too soft-hearted to go that far.'
As a dark being, she despised the weak.
Especially someone like Christien—a complete disgrace.
'A worthless insect like him dares to sully the domain of the Black Mire Knight Order?'
The other dark beings in the knight order all shared the same sentiment.
"Young Master Therne, make sure you crush that bastard this time!"
"If he walks away in one piece, today’s training will be brutal!"
Amidst the heated cheers, the two stepped onto the training grounds for their duel.
As Chris had requested, neither of them would use Dark Mana—it was a purely barehanded fight.
"You dare…."
Therne clenched his teeth, radiating a menacing aura.
Chris turned to Vice Captain Melin.
"What are the rules of the duel? Until one of us surrenders?"
"No."
Vice Captain Melin shook her head.
If the rule had been surrender, that pathetic delinquent might have given up the moment he took a single hit.
"That would be too easy. The duel will only end when one of you is completely incapacitated."
It was a rule clearly designed to put Chris at a disadvantage.
The dark beings whistled in delight. The atmosphere was practically festive.
Everyone was eagerly waiting to see Chris get beaten to a pulp.
"You heard the rules, right? What are you going to do?"
Chris shrugged.
"Sounds like you’re in for a serious beating."
"!!"
Therne’s face turned red again.
Just as he was about to explode in rage—
Something unbelievable happened.
Thud!
Chris's fist smashed into Therne's face.
Blood splattered into the air, and Chris smirked.
"What are you doing? The fight already started."
* * *
Strictly speaking, this was practically a scam.
A duel with no Dark Mana, fought barehanded?
'Under these conditions, there are barely any dark beings in the entire Black Mire Knight Order who could take me on.'
As a dark being, he hadn’t even reached One-Star.
But in terms of the Dominion of Light's system—specifically the "Stellar Radiance" ranks—he was a Three-Star knight.
Meanwhile, Therne had just reached Two-Star.
From the very start, their skills were worlds apart.
And before his regression, he hadn’t just been Three-Star—he was Four-Star.
'A Four-Star knight could aim for a vice-captain or high-ranking officer position in a mid-sized knight order.'
That wasn’t all.
He had even undergone Rebirth.
His muscles hadn’t fully developed yet, so he still looked scrawny on the outside. But internally, his body was stronger than anyone else's.
No matter how much of a genius Therne was, he was still just a thirteen-year-old brat. How could he possibly be a match for him?
'Not a chance. He should go drink some more of his mother's milk—oh, wait. We have the same mother.'
Chris quickly pushed aside the inappropriate thought and swung his fist again.
Thud!
Therne’s head snapped backward.
Without giving him a chance to recover, Chris closed the distance.
A sharp knee strike slammed into Therne’s stomach.
As Therne instinctively bent over in pain, Chris delivered an uppercut.
Thud!
With a crisp impact, Therne crumpled to the ground.
"……."
"……."
The training ground fell silent.
Everyone stared at Chris with wide eyes.
It was as if they couldn’t accept what they had just witnessed.
"What… just happened?"
"Did Young Master Therne let his guard down?"
"That has to be it, right? Otherwise, this doesn’t make any sense."
Therne seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Grinding his teeth, he forced himself back onto his feet.
But his condition was already terrible.
His face was covered in blood, and his legs were trembling slightly, likely from the ringing in his head.
“W-what trick did you pull?”
“Trick?”
“Otherwise, there’s no way I could lose to you!”
Therne shouted in rage.
Chris smirked.
“You think this is a trick? Then—”
Thud!
Another punch landed.
“You need to get hit some more.”
And again—Thud!
Blood streamed down from Therne’s nose.
‘Hmm, am I overdoing it a bit?’
There was a reason he specifically chose Therne.
‘He needed a beating at least once.’
If he left Therne alone, he would just keep yapping and causing trouble. It was obvious, so Chris had decided to take this opportunity to shut him up.
Besides, a little fistfight between brothers could build some sibling affection, right? Of course, in this case, the fists were flying in only one direction.
‘And I have another important reason.’
Chris deliberately provoked Therne for that purpose.
“You know, you’re bleeding a lot from your nose. Wait, you’re not crying, are you? Oh, my bad… should big brother blow on it for you?”
“Graaahhh!!!”
Therne let out an enraged scream—something between a shriek and a howl.
And finally, he did exactly what Chris had been waiting for.
Fwoosh!
Therne’s fist became engulfed in dark energy.
He had activated his Dark Mana.
“Graaahhh!!”
Losing all reason, Therne swung his magic-infused fist at Chris.
Too late, the dark beings of the Black Mire Knight Order panicked. Even Vice Captain Melin realized her mistake.
‘If that Dark Mana lands, he’ll die!’
No matter how things were, if Chris died, her situation would become very troublesome.
But it was too late to intervene.
Melin’s face turned pale.
Yet, in that moment, Chris grinned—so subtly that no one noticed.
‘Bingo. He reacted just like I wanted. I was wondering what I’d do if he held back like some uptight noble.’
Everything was going according to plan.
Chris glanced briefly at Vice Captain Melin.
‘Alright, keep your eyes wide open and watch closely. See how I handle this.’
Through this duel, he intended to catch Melin’s attention.
Melin was a dark being from the main branch of the Dark Mage Household.
Moreover, in the Era of Great War, she would rise to the level of a Six-Star Master.
The method was simple.
He just had to show her something unbelievable.
‘For someone weaker to take on someone stronger, there’s a simple method—you let their power flow past you.’
The problem was that this only worked when the gap in power wasn’t too overwhelming.
If he touched Dark Mana with his bare hands recklessly, he’d be fatally injured before he even had a chance to redirect it.
So Chris used a different method.
He glanced at Therne’s eyes.
Therne was visibly shaken, disturbed by the fact that he had lost control and launched a deadly attack.
Was it because of that hesitation?
The flow of his Dark Mana was unstable.
This time, Chris focused his gaze directly on the Dark Mana.
The incoming attack shimmered like flames.
Within the erratic, flickering energy, a momentary weak point appeared.
Chris didn’t miss that instant.
He struck that weak spot with his palm—smack!—and the shock caused the Dark Mana surrounding Therne’s fist to shatter into nothing.
“Huh?”
Therne’s eyes widened in shock.
And that was the end of it.
Thud!
Chris’s punch landed clean.
Struck squarely, Therne was knocked backward and collapsed.
He had fainted.
“……”
Silence filled the training ground.
The dark beings of the knight order couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
“What just happened? Why did his Dark Mana disappear?”
“Did Young Master Therne retract his Dark Mana at the last moment to avoid hurting that delinquent?”
That was the only explanation that made sense to them.
Striking a weak point in Dark Mana to disperse it was something they believed to be impossible.
But there was one person who had a different reaction.
The strongest dark being present—Vice Captain Melin.
Her face had hardened.
Her eyes, filled with a mix of shock and disbelief, stared at Chris.
‘Got her.’
Seeing Melin’s reaction, Chris smirked inwardly.
“Is this proof of qualification enough for you?”
“…Yes.”
Melin finally spoke.
She was trying to suppress her surprise, but to Chris, it was obvious what was going through her mind.
Chris beamed.
“Then, I look forward to working with you.”
It was time to milk the Black Mire Knight Order for everything they had.
* * *
From that day on, Chris trained at the knight order’s training grounds.
However, he didn’t train with them.
He was in the same space, but entirely separate.
While the Black Mire Knight Order followed their structured knightly training, Chris focused solely on basic physical conditioning on his own.
Though he didn’t cause trouble like the dark beings had feared, he still got on their nerves.
“It’s like having a fly buzzing around nearby.”
“He’s quieter than expected, but still annoying.”
“At least the delinquent knows his place. He wouldn’t dare make trouble in the Black Mire Knight Order.”
“Let’s see how long he keeps up the act. Two days?”
“I give him one.”
“Half a day, tops.”
Even though Chris had defeated Therne, the dark beings still held a low opinion of him.
They believed he had used a cheap trick to win.
Even the way he nullified Therne’s Dark Mana at the end—they assumed Therne had simply gone easy on him.
“I should have been the one to fight him instead of Young Master Therne. I would’ve taught that brat a lesson.”
As they grumbled amongst themselves—
A cold voice cut through the chatter.
“You have time to sit around gossiping? You must not be very busy.”
“Vice Captain?”
“If you have time for useless talk, use it to swing your swords instead!”
Vice Captain Melin’s sharp reprimand made the dark beings tilt their heads in confusion before returning to their training.
They were noticeably more tense than usual.
‘What’s with her?’
‘Is she just irritated because of that delinquent?’
They were half right.
Melin frowned.
‘That duel… What the hell was that?’
From the very beginning of the duel, she had been deeply shaken.
Because of Chris.