‘I wonder if the Iron Fist is doing well.’
The Iron Fist, the organization I led, was no exception to the current training craze. The group, which had been tacitly recognized by my father, had been cooped up in the fortress recently. According to what I heard from Reton, they were busy in there.
“Everyone is moving just to stay alive.”
They were working even harder than the knights. When I returned after my period of confinement ended, the news that the weakest squad would undergo hellish training once more had been an immediate motivator.
I heard they trained as if they were in a competition, but to get stronger, they also took turns discussing martial arts theories. Discussions within the Iron Fist? It seemed out of character, but apparently, it was quite effective.
“They are mixing with each other and finding their own unique styles again.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Even as a Mage, I can see they are different every single day.”
‘Hmm… Is it the power of collective intelligence?’
They compensated for each other’s weaknesses and filled in the gaps. By doing so, they were becoming one in the truest sense.
“What about you, Reton?”
“I am practicing according to the method you taught me, my Lord. It is certainly effective.”
“Good. Keep it up.”
Even Reton, who led the organization, was allocating time to his own cultivation. A training craze was truly blowing through the Spiritual Land throughout the winter. It was to the point where…
Knock, knock.
“I’m here! Shall we start right away?”
“…It’s fine as long as you aren’t too noisy.”
“Tsk. It can’t be helped when you’re playing with spirits.”
Even Manar, the certified idler and spirit summoner who loved playing with spirits, had joined the training frenzy. Before I had left to develop the iron mine, she had succeeded in developing her Danjeon.
‘I didn’t expect her to achieve something I didn’t even teach her.’
While I was away, she had been melting the Cultivation Heart Law I taught her into something of her own. Originally, the Cultivation Heart Law I taught her was called the Heaven and Earth Circulation. It had a grand name encompassing heaven and earth, but it was actually a third-rate Mugong.
Because she had found it difficult when I first taught her martial arts…
‘I thought it was just the right fit.’
I had taught her a highly stable Cultivation Heart Law rather than a high-level one. It was a consideration to ensure she wouldn’t ruin her body by practicing it incorrectly in my absence. Because of that, it was only slightly better than basic breathing techniques.
‘Its stability is the best, though.’
However, Manar, who had learned that Heaven and Earth Circulation, had done something bizarre.
“Look at this. Isn’t it amazing?”
Shhh.
Normally, practicing the Heaven and Earth Circulation should plant Internal Energy that is close to natural energy. When she first created her Danjeon, she had certainly contained natural energy. But when I saw her after my return…
“How did you do this?”
“Hehe. It just happened naturally. I just did it with my spirits.”
“…”
‘Did she say “with her spirits”?’
“Yes!”
The natural energy she was emitting had transformed. When it was inside her Danjeon, it was natural energy itself. But once she summoned a spirit and began to use it, the energy transformed into the attribute of water.
‘It’s water-property energy.’
The Qi itself was changing. This was an extraordinary phenomenon! In the Murim, one had to learn a special Cultivation Heart Law to imbue Internal Energy with an attribute. For example, practicing the Cultivation Heart Law of the Solar Palace would result in a fire attribute, while practicing the arts of the North Sea Ice Palace would grant water energy close to ice.
Yet, Manar was using water energy with nothing but a third-rate martial art like the Heaven and Earth Circulation. Furthermore, she was changing it according to her needs.
“Hehe. I think I can do other attributes if I use this well!”
“…That’s insane.”
“Pardon?”
“…It’s nothing.”
It didn’t end there. She was even finding the possibility of awakening other attributes on her own.
‘I never expected this.’
When I was teaching her, I thought I was just getting a talented spirit summoner to handle, but this situation suggested she might become a treasure chest rather than just a subordinate.
‘If she awakens the fire attribute, a Fire Spirit might be possible too. Do spirits react that sensitively to Qi?’
To think that spirits would react to the body’s Soulforce and even help with its conversion. If this was utilized well, all sorts of unexpected things would be possible.
What if I used the help of a Fire Spirit to convert my Internal Energy into fire energy? If I combined that Internal Energy with Mana to use Magic, wouldn’t the result be quite interesting?
‘If I use the ice attribute, I could even freeze things from a distance.’
Beyond just amplifying each attribute, there were endless ways to apply it. This was a utility of spirits I had never imagined.
“…Go ahead and try it.”
“Yes! Watch closely! Hehe.”
Whirrr.
I watched Manar as she increased and moved her Soulforce. I was thinking about how I could apply that power if I obtained it myself.
“Maybe I should try making a contract with a spirit too… Hmm…”
—How about me?
“I’ll see. Your price would be expensive, wouldn’t it?”
—Tsk. I’ll look forward to that time.
“I said I’ll see.”
It seemed there was a spirit waiting, but…
‘This one is too calculating for a spirit.’
It wasn’t time yet. Not yet.
“Wow! Look! It’s holding a chill!”
“…Insane.”
Still, watching Manar get stronger, it was a power I quite coveted. Time flew by like an arrow.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Yes!”
“Even so, do not go outside the Outercity. Your father will always be watching.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Good. You may go.”
At the end of winter, my father ordered the end of my confinement.
‘Two months went by fast.’
It had been a period of confinement, but it became a time to refine myself. I could now feel the Internal Energy circulating through my body and the physical body itself more deeply than ever before. Among the Mind, Qi, and Body often mentioned in martial arts, I had felt and realized Qi and Body.
‘If I can achieve balance here, I will take another step forward.’
I had laid the foundation to become stronger at any time.
“Yes. I will head out immediately.”
The progress of my father, who sat on one side of the Household Head’s Room as he sent me off, was also significant. My father, who had chosen and taught the knights of the Knight Order, had achieved considerable growth himself. They say there is something to be gained from teaching, and my father was the living proof of that.
By teaching, he redefined concepts, and by planting Soulforce into the knights, he managed his own energy. His Soulforce had deepened. At the same time, he didn’t miss out on raising the knights.
‘The power of the knights has leaped to another level.’
The knights had received the Aura cultivation method from my father. They had all succeeded in gathering their Soulforce. They had settled their Cultivation Heart Law.
What they had learned was the Root Strength Vessel Technique. It was a Cultivation Heart Law that focused on realizing the source of power and creating the vessel to emit it. The initial difficulty was not high, but the more one practiced, the more it required a specific composition.
Since it was a technique that required persistence to achieve greatness, I had interpreted it and handed it over so it could be passed to the knights.
‘It’s a perfect fit for the knights of this world.’
Knights are people who use Aura even with cultivation methods that don’t even reach the level of simple breathing techniques. They called them cultivation methods, but in reality, they were closer to swordsmanship.
‘Almost all of it can be seen as Active Cultivation.’
Based solely on innate martial talent, they often reached the Expert level. Even if the energy of this world was abundant, such a thing would be impossible without steady effort. I judged that there was no better Cultivation Heart Law for them than this. And that judgment proved correct.
“It’s… it’s Aura!”
“To think I’ve reached Expert level!”
Before long, knights began to break through the wall one by one. Breaking through the wall with only two months of learning was actually close to a miracle. Thanks to that, a training craze was properly blowing among the knights.
Furthermore…
‘The Iron Fist has grown stronger too.’
The vassals, who had heard the story from Sian last time, began to put in more effort. It was only natural that the Iron Fist members who followed them would also grow stronger. During the winter, a time when everyone should have been hunkering down, everyone was instead expanding their strength.
However, this place was different.
“Ugh… It’s cold. So cold. I told you to light the fire already.”
“It’s because you’re all just huddled up. Should I send you out to work?”
“Ad-Administrative Officer!”
“It’s been a while. Since I’m back, shouldn’t we start working now?”
“Eek…”
The Territory Administrators in the administrative office, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, had completely lost their military discipline.
‘They’ve slacked off because I wasn’t here.’
It looked like I would need to tighten the reins.
“Well, it seems you’ve been doing your jobs.”
I looked through the documents they had prepared, as if conducting a surprise inspection. Many things had piled up in the administrative office, which I hadn’t been able to visit for the past two months.
‘I gave instructions from the mansion occasionally, but… it’s still not enough.’
Looking at it, this year’s harvest was substantial. The grain collected during the autumn was several times higher than the previous year’s total harvest. We planned to store what needed to be stored and sell the rest through the merchant guilds.
Since the budget was plentiful, a large portion went to areas in need. I took measures to repair the castle walls that hadn’t been maintained and to further expand the waterways.
‘Well done.’
The supply for the soldiers was also smooth. On the surface, it seemed as if there were no problems at all.
‘To think I would see such a relaxed budget.’
When I first became the Territory Administrator, I saw a budget that was on a knife’s edge. It was a budget proposal that seemed ready to declare bankruptcy if it stumbled even slightly. But look at it now.
‘It’s a surplus.’
There was more money left over than ever before. Not only was there surplus grain from the great harvest, but the brewery that processed and sold it had also become a huge hit. On top of that capital, we were running the Refinery, and by next year, the iron mine I newly developed would be in full operation.
‘The Magic Tower must be getting anxious by now.’
There were many things to sell in the future. At a glance, the situation looked very good.
“R-Right? We worked quite hard. Esty, come over here and say something.”
“We truly put in a lot of effort. This is a budget proposal we made while working overtime for two months!”
Pling and Esty were confident enough to say they had done well.
‘It seems there are no holes.’
Since I had dealt with the nobles who were eating away at the territory throughout the year, there was no money leaking out either. On my way to the administrative office…
—Isn’t life good these days?
—It’s all thanks to the Count. Oh, and those damn nobles are gone!
—Shh! You’ll get in trouble if you talk like that.
—Who cares? Those bastards all had their necks—slice—taken off.
I had listened to the commoners talking about how satisfied they were with the current situation for quite a while. Since the taxes that were being increased secretly behind the Count’s House’s back had disappeared and those who sucked the people’s blood had decreased, such praise was only natural.
But why was there something catching my eye?
“You haven’t caused any trouble by starting new projects. Hmm… Everything is good for now, but…”
“Yes, yes. Everything is good, as you say.”
“What on earth is this?”
Thud.
I pointed to one specific page among the thick stacks of documents.
“Um… It’s something that has happened every year…”
“It’s a repayment of what was borrowed. This is where we returned what we received when our financial situation was urgent. That’s right.”
The page was packed with numbers. Pluses and minuses went back and forth. A substantial amount of money was moving. The problem was…
“Why does the money that should be offered to our family keep being taken away? Hmm?”
This money was not coming to our family. Nor was it in the storage of the administrative office!
‘I entrusted them to grow the money, and they’re gnawing away at it.’
I thought things were running smoothly, but there was one more hole.
‘I’ll have to fill it.’
I needed to plug this one hole.