Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 17: White Night Castle of Hell (3)

To tell the truth, Harang’s physical condition was not exactly normal either.

Even though his achievements were outstanding for his age and he showed the most remarkable stamina in this setting, the other boys were not to be underestimated.

Harang’s body had become quite heavy, and his arm muscles were significantly fatigued from forcefully pushing and throwing the rock earlier.

But what did that matter?

‘You can only grow when you push your stamina to the limit.’

Additionally, considering Harang’s characteristic of growing through experience in duels, the current condition where he could fight randomly was the best environment for growth.

‘It’s true that my stamina is the best among them.’

Harang had skill, while the trainees did not.

Stamina was not everything in swordsmanship. Physical abilities were ultimately just a support to enhance swordsmanship.

The most important thing was the swordsmanship itself.

However, what if everyone except Harang was exhausted from the hellish stamina test, and he was the only one who conserved his strength?

The story would change.

*Thud!*

That was his thought.

“Ugh, I lost.”

When the first challenger declared his defeat, Harang felt a slight fatigue. The trainees were not as easily knocked down as he had thought.

Even though they were undoubtedly tired and exhausted, the boys charged at him with tenacity. As a result, Harang ended up wasting unnecessary energy.

Fortunately, the second challenger was one of the lowest-ranking trainees, but he too was a monster who would be called a genius among geniuses outside.

It took Harang 10 minutes to defeat the second challenger.

Then came the third challenger.

‘This time, it’s not an easy opponent.’

A trainee from a branch family who had risen to the main family through ‘ascension’, named Dail Kaladan.

Though his skills slightly fell short compared to Theon and Charen, he was still not an easy opponent.

‘Damn it, to think I’d have to step up now just to stall for time.’

Dail gritted his teeth and looked at Harang. Just before challenging him, Theon had told him one thing.

“Go and stall for some time. You can’t beat him with your skills anyway.”

Dail felt humiliated by the words of Theon, who was younger than him, but having been beaten up all the time while training together, he had no choice but to accept it.

“Begin the duel.”

“Haah!”

At the instructor’s signal, Dail charged at Harang first.

While Harang fought in two duels, Dail deliberately conserved his strength by not engaging in other duels.

‘Who does he think he’s stalling for? I’ll take him down right here!’

Dail gritted his teeth and swung his wooden sword.

*Clack!*

The wooden swords clashed, creating a friction sound.

Although the use of sword energy was prohibited, forms and techniques could be used, so Dail’s swordsmanship was fierce.

Here’s the problem.

The reason Harang struggled was not because it was difficult to defeat him, but because he had to conserve as much stamina as possible for the next duel.

He had to defeat his opponent efficiently while using less energy.

How?

*Whizz!!*

Dail’s fierce horizontal slash aimed at Harang’s neck, and Harang naturally raised his wooden sword to defend.

A move anyone could predict.

Then, an unexpected situation occurred.

*Tap!*

Dail had swung his sword with all his might, thinking Harang would surely defend, but Harang’s defense crumbled surprisingly easily!

It looked like Harang’s wooden sword was knocked away, but Dail sensed something odd.

If he had broken through the defense, he should have felt the impact of hitting the neck, but he felt nothing!

It dawned on him too late that Harang had dodged by lowering his head.

He had pretended to defend, drained the opponent’s strength, and dodged the wooden sword by lowering his head!

Moreover, he skillfully spun his sword handle like a fan, using the direction of Dail’s attack, and caught it again in mid-air.

‘How… how is this possible?’

Dail realized it was an absurd trick, but it was too late by then.

*Thud!*

The duel ended with Harang’s light thrust hitting Dail’s chest.

“What the…?”

Lauren, watching the duel with her arms crossed on the platform, could not believe her eyes.

‘That… Do they teach that at Kaladan? No way, that’s impossible.’

There was no swordsmanship instructor who taught the technique of momentarily letting go of the sword and using the opponent’s strength to catch it again.

Such skill could only be seen in seasoned swordsmen who had experienced numerous battlefields.

It was unlikely that a seven-year-old boy would possess such finesse.

‘Did he show such a technique purely by instinct?’

Ha. Now she was at a loss for words.

“Damn it, damn it…”

Dail had wanted to prove his skills by defeating Harang himself, but he couldn’t even stall for time.

He bit his lip and hung his head in shame.

“Useless.”

He heard Theon’s clicking tongue behind him. The humiliation of being looked down on by a kid younger than him was unbearable, but he couldn’t say anything.

“Next.”

When Harang flicked his wooden sword, the trainees began to panic. No one wanted to step forward. Joining the fight when Harang’s stamina was depleted was the best chance to win 20 points.

“Damn it, you cowards! I’ll take the duel!”

Of course, not everyone was a coward.

Though young, the trainees who were determined to serve the Kaladan family had sharp minds.

Usually, those with such determination were tough opponents.

Compared to the previous duels, the time spent crossing swords increased significantly, and Harang felt his body growing heavier.

On the other hand, the trainees were challenging him after having enough rest.

As time went by, the trainees grew stronger from rest, while Harang inevitably grew weaker.

This was Lauren Chaygan’s strategy! What if a high-ranking trainee challenged Harang when he was weakened?

“Huff, huff…”

After defeating his fifth challenger, Harang leaned on his wooden sword and bent his knees.

But he did not kneel on the ground. That was something he would never do.

It would be akin to declaring defeat to Lauren Chaygan.

Instead, he closed his eyes and entered a state of deep concentration.

He maximized the system’s blessing, expanded his mind, and gradually felt the energy of nature.

‘When I absorbed the inner core of Tangakhyang, I felt something similar.’

As mana accumulated in his body, he began to sense the mana in the air. This was possible because Tangakhyang was a spiritual being full of nature’s energy.

‘Draw in the natural mana… add the divine energy of the Silver Dragon, and store it in the second heart located in my dantian.’

This was the secret of the ‘Silver Dragon Divine Qi Technique’.

*Voom…!*

Harang’s training clothes and hair fluttered slightly.

So subtly that the trainees didn’t notice.

“…Wait. That, could it be?”

However, Lauren Chaygan, realizing what it was, stood up abruptly.

“Is he really doing breathing exercises? Ha, haha.”

—

[You recall the forgotten skill ‘Breath of Deep Meditation’.]

[Synchronization with the skill ‘Silver Dragon Divine Qi Technique’ begins.]

—

In the game, ‘mana’ was a resource common to everyone, but it was so limited and recovered at a fixed rate, making it impossible to use many skills at once.

So he developed a skill to recover mana!

By circulating mana within his body through breathing, he could recover mana twice as fast as others. It was a unique skill Harang developed.

‘Breathing exercises are something martial artists usually comprehend by reaching at least 5 stars. What is this guy’s true identity?’

A mana recovery technique like breathing exercises couldn’t be taught by someone. Some people realized it at 7 stars, and others at 5 stars.

Breathing exercises were a skill that manifested when extreme situations and talent aligned.

Seeing this skill, which appeared only in seasoned martial artists, from a boy, Lauren couldn’t help but think strange thoughts.

‘This is driving me crazy. Is he a guardian or a spiritual being pretending to be human? No, damn it, what am I thinking.’

If Harang were really a transformed spiritual being, Kalel would have noticed.

The things Harang displayed were so unbelievable that even such ridiculous thoughts crossed her mind.

“I challenge you to a duel.”

Though he hadn’t fully rested, the duels kept coming.

In the worst situation where his arms were trembling and his legs felt heavy, the challenger was none other than Theon.

It was no exaggeration to say that he was one of the top trainees among the 97th batch, and he pointed his wooden sword at Harang after almost fully recovering his stamina.

‘It’s unfolding just as I expected.’

Despite being extremely exhausted and weary, Harang didn’t give up and held his wooden sword. With things progressing to this point, the one feeling most anxious was Charen, who had been resting after collapsing.

Thanks to Harang, she had earned 5 points and was currently at the top of the rankings. Many trainees had been watching Harang’s duels without moving, and some high-ranking trainees who challenged Harang lost, reducing their scores by 1 point, resulting in her gaining 5 points without doing anything.

‘…Why is he doing this?’

She couldn’t understand his actions. He was just adopted and could hardly feel any affection for the family.

‘That kind of thing doesn’t work with direct descendants of Kaladan.’

Family love?

Kaladan was not a family with such beautiful emotions. Family members

were rivals and targets to be killed.

Leaving Charen alone and trampling on her would be the smartest choice for Harang to elevate his position in the family.

‘Is he really… an idiot?’

But, it was strange.

No matter how young Charen was at 9 years old, she could tell from Harang’s words and actions.

That boy was neither foolish nor weak.

There was only one reason he acted this way.

‘Because he’s strong.’

He had the confidence to handle everything with his strength.

This feeling was new.

The feeling of being protected by someone strong.

Rather, it was her first time feeling protected by ‘family’.

Having never received family love from a young age as a direct descendant, this type of emotion was very unfamiliar to Charen.

‘What am I thinking…’

What nonsense.

Family love? That couldn’t exist in Kaladan.

‘A seven-year-old kid couldn’t possibly fight Theon in such an exhausted state.’

Theon was one of the few swordsmanship geniuses she acknowledged. There was no way he could win in such a tattered state.

‘Why did you intervene?’

Because of his unnecessary meddling, Harang would end up even worse off here than she was.

‘It has to be. That’s how it should be in this family. That’s what I was taught. That’s what it is…’

But why?

Perhaps because she was still young and not fully immersed in the Kaladan ways, Charen did not want to see Harang lose.

Even though she knew it was an impossible fight, and even though she knew that seeing Harang fall here would be most beneficial for her, she strangely wanted to see Harang overcome it.

“Duel, begin!”

Harang and Theon pointed their swords at each other. Charen couldn’t bear to watch and shut her eyes tightly.