Future Knight

Chapter 17

“For your first time, you’re sitting quite naturally. Normally, people find this posture uncomfortable. Now, let’s continue. First, sit like this. Then, inhale air using your shoulders with costal breathing, followed by thoracic breathing through your chest, and finally, compress the air and guide the mana into the mana hole located below your navel using abdominal breathing. You must perform these three breaths in a single breath. Do you understand?”

“Wait a moment, what exactly is a mana hole?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Is your memory that poor? I explained it to you before, didn’t I? I heard rumors that your memorization and comprehension skills were unmatched, but they seem to be just that, rumors.”

“I’m sorry, please explain it once more.”

“Alright. I’ll explain again. Listen carefully.”

After an hour of detailed explanation and practice on the basic breathing techniques and the mana hole, once Kang Chan had somewhat gotten used to the peculiar breathing method, Elradian got to the main point.

“You’ve now learned the basic breathing technique. But from here on, the process will become truly difficult, so don’t rush and take it slowly.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Mana, which is scattered throughout nature, doesn’t stay in one place for long. Therefore, we must gather mana into the mana hole and circulate it throughout the body using small pathways called mana lines, just like blood flows through veins. This way, the mana will remain in your body instead of escaping. This process is like blood being pumped from the heart to circulate through the entire body, with mana being pumped from the mana hole to circulate throughout the body via the mana lines.”

Although Kang Chan didn’t fully understand what Elradian was saying, he decided to cram it into his brain and think it through later.

‘Computer, save all of Master’s words.’

-Yes, understood.

Even while Kang Chan was recording, Elradian’s lecture continued.

“Moreover, each mana has its own unique attribute. These attributes are generally categorized into five: fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning. There are also two entirely different attributes, light and darkness. These attributes are the foundation of all magic, and since we also absorb similar mana into our bodies, it’s something we must always keep in mind.”

‘What are attributes now?’

Facing an entirely new theory, Kang Chan found himself in deep thought once more.

“The reason I’m bringing up mana attributes is that while some attributes are similar or complementary, others are oppositional. If you gather only similar or complementary attributes in the mana hole, they help each other and produce stronger effects. Complementary mana attracts more mana, accelerating the increase of its absolute quantity. However, if you mistakenly gather opposing attributes, terrible things can happen.”

“What kind of terrible things?”

“Just like fire and water can extinguish each other, they can destroy each other. So, you must always be aware of the attributes of the mana you absorb and ensure they are compatible.”

“Then how do I recognize and separate those attributes to absorb them?”

“I’ll teach you that once you start sensing mana.”

“Understood, Master.”

Looking at Kang Chan, who seemed slightly disappointed, Elradian began to smile wickedly again.

“Well, since you’ve learned the basics of mana breathing, shall we start training again?”

“Already?”

“Training is always insufficient.”

“Master, I haven’t even had lunch yet. Can’t I at least eat first?”

“In my long experience, mana is more perceptible on an empty stomach.”

Elradian’s expression was resolute.

“…”

With a sinking heart, Kang Chan headed towards the waterfall on an empty stomach, feeling like he was being forced to swallow bitter medicine.

Watching Kang Chan, Elradian wished that Kang Chan understood his own anxious feelings. He wanted him to realize that there wasn’t much time left to be together…

7. The Approaching Green Shadow

The Duchy of Carmel, located at the border where the Helios Mountains and the Matheus Mountains meet, and known as the backbone of the continent, was situated at the northernmost end of the continent. It was a frozen wasteland, a kingdom in perpetual winter.

Now, they faced an imminent crisis.

### Chapter 17

An endless green tide was approaching them over the frozen sea, hardened by the harsh winter.

The eyes of the Carmel Duchy’s infantry filled with despair as they watched.

They could do nothing but stare blankly at the overwhelming number of enemies.

The figures covering the endless horizon had green skin.

They looked like orcs but weren’t, and the massive green trolls leading the charge weren’t real trolls either.

Despite their slightly different appearances, their faces were surprisingly similar to elves.

The Carmel army, alerted by Eskimos who hunted seals on the frozen sea in winter, hastily deployed their entire force to establish a defensive line against them.

But faced with the endless number of green elves, they were left dumbfounded.

“Commander, the Green Witch’s offspring are swarming endlessly!”

“Where on earth did such an army come from?”

The commander of the Carmel Duchy stood in a daze, staring at the massive green tide flooding the horizon.

The sheer number of them seemed to be at least hundreds of thousands.

“Commander, retreat to the castle immediately… Argh!”

The aide who was assisting him was struck in the head by an arrow and fell, which signaled the start of a torrential rain of arrows.

“Protect the commander! Gigantes, move forward! Magic Corps, bombard them!”

Knights armed with shields protected the commander and began an orderly retreat to the castle.

At the forefront, where they collided with the green horde, a bloody battle ensued.

The ten 6-meter-tall steel giants known as Gigantes swung their massive maces and axes, turning dozens of green elves into pulp with each strike, but this lasted only for a moment.

When green elves, standing 3 meters tall and wielding massive axes in heavy armor, swarmed in overwhelming numbers, even these giants soon turned into mere heaps of scrap metal on the ground.

The small Magic Corps, suitable for a small kingdom, continuously launched powerful explosion magic-infused shells at the green elves, but they were quickly decimated by the rain of arrows that blotted out the sky.

Thus, the green horde of nearly 500,000 began to quickly surround the human formation, which was no more than tens of thousands.

A beautiful green woman, sitting atop a silver Pegasus with three horns, looked down on the collapsing human lines and chuckled.

“Five hundred years of humiliation, I have eagerly awaited this moment.”

As she arrogantly looked down, countless humans were turning into corpses at the hands of the green elves.

“From today, all races across the continent will turn into corpses under the green flag!”

With those words, merciless attacks were unleashed from her gestures as she flew over the human formation like a storm.

“Wind Buster.”

With a casual wave of her hand, a tremendous vacuum vortex erupted above the humans.

Hundreds of bodies, shredded as if by razors, soared into the sky with a desperate scream.

It wasn’t her power, but the power of the silver Pegasus she rode.

The name of the Pegasus was Ariel, the Spirit King.

The master of all winds in the world.

“A witch! The witch has appeared!”

“The Spirit King!”

At those words, the soldiers’ morale plummeted into the abyss.

All hope for survival was utterly extinguished.

Her power, capable of freely wielding the strength of the Five Great Spirit Kings, was unrivaled among all races of the world.

Not even the mighty dragons could compare.

In just a few seconds, hundreds of lives were snuffed out under her light gestures like the lives of ants, and the battlefield became a hellish chaos with humans fleeing in terror from her.

### Chapter 17

* * *

“Why is your hair and eyes black?”

“Because I’m human.”

“They say there are no humans like you.”

“Then I must be unique.”

“Are all people from your planet as rude as you?”

“No, I’m special.”

“See? You are special.”

As Kang Chan and Jaina lay under the shade of a tree, exchanging idle banter, Elradian, unable to listen any longer, sounded a warning.

“Ahem! Ahem! You two, isn’t it time to get up?”

“Oh, Master, you’re too harsh. It’s not even been ten minutes.”

Jaina tried to add as much charm as possible to her nasal voice, but it was of no use.

“It sounds like you both still have plenty of energy if you’re joking around. Enough with the idle talk, get started!”

When Elradian raised his voice, Jaina and Kang Chan jumped up and ran towards him.

“Stop trying to act cute. It’s affecting me too.”

“Do you want to die?”

Elradian’s eyebrow twitched.

“Are you two approaching?”

“No, sir!”

“No, Master!”

On this day, the two received an intense training session that left them completely exhausted.

It had already been a year since Jaina had joined and they both received personal guidance from Elradian.

During this time, the most significant change was that Kang Chan had begun to sense mana in his body.

The most surprised by this fact were Kang Chan himself and Master Elradian.

Even Elradian had taken ten years to feel mana in his youth, yet Kang Chan had achieved it in just one year.

The waterfall’s help was significant.

The pure natural mana condensed by the waterfall’s drop was beneficial, but even more helpful was the water pressure conveyed by the drop.

The water pressure pounded his entire body, greatly enhancing the circulation of his blood and senses.

At first, Kang Chan couldn’t endure the waterfall for even two hours, but over time, he trained himself to handle it for about four hours without any strain.

Since then, Kang Chan had spent almost the entire day under the waterfall, trying to feel mana.

After nearly a year of training under the waterfall, he suddenly sensed a very small, warm energy gathered in his mana hole one day.

He felt these energies moving freely inside his body.

‘Is this the mana Master talked about?’

To Kang Chan, who had lived in the mana-scarce universe, even the small movements of mana felt more sensitive than to others. From that day on, he had been striving to guide his mana according to the mana cultivation method.

However, moving mana at will was just as difficult as sensing it.

Despite his tireless efforts to move mana, it remained stubborn and immobile. Struggling daily in his fight with mana, Kang Chan suddenly had an idea.

‘Can I control mana through my biochip, just like I control my body?’

Unlike others, he had the ability to regulate his metabolism at will through a biochip implanted in his brain.

Although he had decided to learn swordsmanship to become stronger on his own, he didn’t want to bury the advantages of his abilities.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Kang Chan closed his eyes slowly and recalled the mana lines that Elradian had infused into his body to teach him. He commanded the biochip to expand those lines.

However, the computer struggled because it didn’t clearly recognize what mana lines were.

Nevertheless, Kang Chan continued to focus all his nerves and senses on the mana lines, trying to imprint them into the computer.

His whole body heated up, and sweat poured down like rain.

But it didn’t work.

‘Sigh… It’s not working. Let’s try maximizing my metabolism.’

Determined, Kang Chan decided to maximize his metabolism and raised his combat mode to level 5 while still sitting.

It was his first time raising combat mode to level 5 without an enemy in front of him.

Combat mode was something he couldn’t use lightly, as it placed a great physical burden on him, requiring at least two days of sleep to recover after one use.

This was a gamble for him.

– Activating combat mode level 5.