Chapter 81: Reysir’s Past

‘Reysir has already lost too many precious people!’

In the original story, mainly his parents were mentioned.

However, the Demonic Realm didn’t just swallow him and his parents—only three people.

It was a Demonic Realm so massive that it devoured an entire territory.

Therefore, everyone who worked at the lord’s castle, whom Reysir had been close to, all of them—moreover, even the common people of the territory—were all killed.

After so many sacrifices, they managed to push the Boss Monster to the brink of death.

Then, it was the young boy who survived till the end thanks to everyone’s protection—‘Reysir Daudabina’—who drove a spear into the heart of the fallen monster, completely drained of strength.

The Demonic Realm was barely dismantled.

However, the altered landscape, the newly grown plants, and all other changes caused by its emergence remained untouched.

When Reysir said in the previous chapter that ‘the royal family took back the territory for investigation,’ it was because of this.

‘So, not only did they lose people, but also the land that had been managed by the family for generations…!’

Since the territory belonged to the Daudabina family, it would be one thing if the investigation team was just dispatched.

But the royal family’s taking resources at will and profiting from them was a different matter.

Thus, the royal court twisted the story, accusing the lord and lady of conducting strange experiments that caused the disaster.

Even though they knew this was not a disaster caused by human power, they used it as a pretext to seize the territory, defaming the honor of the deceased.

‘Hence, even the family’s honor was lost…’

When a noble family loses both parents, it’s common for many to volunteer as guardians, hoping to siphon off the family’s assets and interests little by little.

But for Reysir, all that remained was the image of an unfortunate child.

The person who took in the boy, abandoned by everyone, was Baron Diyuf Bitnir, father of Hailga.

Diyuf, along with his wife, loved and cared for Reysir as if he were their own son—the child of a deceased friend.

Thanks to them, Reysir gradually found stability.

‘If I remember correctly, there was also a setting where the baroness passed away from illness halfway through, leading to a difficult period…!’

Reysir overcame that as well.

The Bitnir father and daughter supported each other through the sorrow, and the three of them grew even closer.

Had the story ended there, it might have been somewhat fortunate.

But that was merely the prelude to tragedy.

On the day of the graduation ceremony, Hailga died, and Diyuf lost his life while investigating the Demonic Realm alongside Reysir.

That is the original flow of the story to come.

‘And even after that, precious people come into his life and die repeatedly.

Compared to that, the time when Reysir was bullied by Karvald at the Academy feels peaceful.

***

After suddenly killing Hailga, Senna, the author, would kill off any supporting character who received even a single negative comment—whether justified or not.

Eventually, even when those comments stopped, supporting characters continued to be killed off again and again.

Even as readers begged for the supporting characters to be spared, even as saddened readers gradually left, the comment section was overtaken by trolls attracted to reviews calling it a ‘novel where every supporting character dies.’

The original author repeatedly introduced new supporting characters only to remove them again and again.

To place a protagonist who must have trauma from losing so much at such a young age, and then repeatedly give and take away what’s precious—’how cruel can it be?’

‘Since Reysir usually shows a bright and cheerful demeanor, I never really considered his past in such detail…

The original didn’t cover it extensively either—just a few lines of narration.

But now, facing that painfully forced smile, so bittersweet and forlorn, an unbidden realization struck me.

‘Reysir could smile so brightly despite storing painful memories in some corner of his mind because he never wanted to worry those around him.’

I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut but couldn’t.

I didn’t want him to notice how emotionally shaken I was.

So I forced myself to speak calmly.

“You only answered the reason you hide your silver-colored eyes. But that’s not the real issue, is it? Explain why you revealed that to me.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? I wanted to prove to you that I could help.”

That made sense.

If it weren’t for that reason, why would he reveal that he also possessed two types of Aether, like me?

“Karvald, you can’t freely draw out Sky-Blue Aether from your core because Purple Aether interferes, right? If that’s the case, I have a way to fix it.”

I already knew what that method was—I had read the original.

“My innate Golden Aether is stored in the vessel below my navel, like everyone else.

But the Silver Aether I gained later settled here, in my head.”

Reysir tapped his temple with his index finger as he spoke.

If you, dear reader, are familiar with martial arts novels, you would have caught it at once.

The vessel below the navel that stores Qi—

The Dantian.

This was the lower Dantian.

If there’s something similar in the head, that would be the upper Dantian.

Though not mentioned, there’s probably also a heart vessel corresponding to the middle Dantian.

“So you’re telling me to separate Purple Aether and Sky-Blue Aether.”

“Yes, that would be better.”

Do you remember the day I first manifested Sky-Blue Aether, when I sat cross-legged and began Aether cultivation?

That was foreshadowing for this three-Dantian setup.

In fact, from that moment I had intended to move Sky-Blue Aether to the middle or upper Dantian.

But to attempt that, I had to get used to handling Sky-Blue Aether first.

That’s why I didn’t mention it in that chapter.

If it were no problem to contain two Aethers in one core, there would be no need to separate them at all.

Because…

“Oh, by the way! You don’t seem reckless enough to do something foolish, but just in case, here’s a warning. Don’t recklessly shove Aether into your head. It’s dangerous.”

That’s right. As Reaysir just said, the danger is the real problem.

Knowing how delicate the brain’s tissue is, how could anyone foolishly cram Aether in there?

‘So, I didn’t want to try it unless absolutely necessary.’

‘If I had to separate them, I would aim for the middle Dantian.’

‘But the upper Dantian would be more beneficial!

Even martial arts novels value opening the upper Dantian higher than the middle one.

Besides, since different kinds of Aether interfere with each other, it’s advantageous to keep them as far apart as possible.

And most importantly, this is the path pioneered by the original protagonist, Reysir.

Though not mentioned in the serialized chapters, it might have been Senna’s plan all along for Silver Aether to occupy the upper Dantian.

‘For example… someday, the Golden Aether in the lower Dantian and the Silver Aether in the upper Dantian might meet in the middle Dantian, harmonize, fuse, and unleash tremendous power.’

That possibility must have been in mind—

“If you’re listening quietly, can I assume you also decided that separating the two types of Aether is best?”

“The process of pushing away the Purple Aether remaining in the core to open the path and draw out Sky-Blue Aether consumes a lot of mental energy. I’m getting better at it with practice, but…”

“Going through all that is extremely inconvenient, isn’t it?”

“Yes. And if the total amount of Purple Aether increases, it will become even harder to draw out Sky-Blue Aether. Giving up on Purple Aether’s development is out of the question.”

“In that case, shouldn’t you have something to say to me?”

—Despite Reaysir teasing me like this, he hadn’t left but stayed to talk.

Perhaps because he expected I would ask him to help, his expression brightened noticeably.

Indeed, this was a situation where I couldn’t say I didn’t need him.

“So, specifically, how can you help me?”

“I’ll let you know exactly where the Silver Aether is in your head. Also, I’ll tell you the safe path to move the Aether there.”

“You… do you know what you’re saying?”

“Of course.”

***

While I became serious at once, Reaysir acted nonchalantly.

Because of that, I had to ask again.

“So… you mean you’ll let my Aether move freely in your head?”

“Right. That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Are you sane? What if I mess up your brain or damage it?!”

“Hahaha!”

“Don’t laugh. This isn’t a laughing matter.”

“But you’re worried about me, right? And yet you threaten that you might hurt me—it actually seems harmless.”

Reysir said that and laughed again, genuinely cheerful this time.

Seeing that, a groan escaped me.

“If you go around trusting people like that, you’ll get betrayed someday.”

Note, this wasn’t just empty talk.

In the original, Reaysir was betrayed by a trusted companion and had to kill that person with his own hands.

But even my sincere warning sounded like a joke to him.

His laughter echoed once more.

“Stop laughing and tell me what you want.”

“Hm? What do you mean by what I want?”

“You’re willing to help me even though it could be dangerous for you. Then it’s only right that you receive compensation.”

“A beggar.”

I didn’t agree to help because I wanted compensation.

I know well what kind of feelings led Reysir to offer his help—as a friend.

But I couldn’t accept his help without any exchange.

Especially if he’s helping because he considers me a friend.

At the same time, refusing his help was too regrettable.

So I said I would provide compensation.

To turn this into a fair transaction where both sides exchange something, not just a one-sided favor.

“By the way, all I have is money.”

“Did you just pretend you didn’t hear that?”

“I hope you can suggest a specific amount within reason.”

“Fine, fine. If you want to give me compensation that badly.”

After a long back and forth, I thought he’d reluctantly accept the deal.

But Reaysir gave up far faster than I expected.

However, what he wanted as compensation was a service I didn’t want to provide.

“Since calling each other by pet names was scrapped due to Heli’s circumstances, how about at least the two of us calling each other by pet names?”

“Rejected.”

“Isn’t that answer too fast?! It’s not even a hard request.”

“To me, it wasn’t even worth considering.”

“Are you embarrassed to call me by pet names? Or are you suffering from a disease that obsessively attaches to those you call by pet names? Then how about you at least allow me to call you by a pet name?”

That was really an absurd line of nonsense.