WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 128: I'll Teach You

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From the moment the Upper Dantian opens, a human, no, a species, breaks free from its existing limits and is reborn as something new.

The use of intent was an entirely different concept from the use of mana.

The mana Raikal, Kyle, had seen, heard of, and experienced throughout his life was the fundamental substance that made up the world. In the era before Spirit Roots existed, one had to risk one's life and pray for mana's blessing just to sense and use it. This era was different.

That painful process of endurance had been omitted. Ruin Alastor had rewritten the laws of the human species.

The process had been refined, but the core was the same. Just as people breathed air and took in nutrients through food, swordsmen and mages held mana within their bodies and used it.

They swung weapons powerfully to create Aura, shaped it to bring about the phenomenon called magic. All of it was using mana.

A being borrowed mana and used it.

But opening the Upper Dantian changed things. Once the mind opened, a being finally gained a world of its own. Helenas's sword, which was bound by fate to swing and forced what she considered natural by skipping the process. Lizet's fist, which created a blow without even extending her fist. Flower Immortal's art, which bloomed horrifying, savage, destructive flowers without a seed.

Kyle's sword, which cut everything through the simple intent of ::I Cut::.

All of it was the use of intent.

From the moment the Upper Dantian opened, a being could impose their own world upon reality. At that point, mana fell completely into the role of a tool. It went beyond using mana. Mana, as a substance embedded in the world, was forced by the being's will. It became the medium that helped bring about the result decided by one who wielded intent.

"A bird can fly through the sky because it has wings. But humans and elves don't have wings, so they can't fly through the sky."

In the middle of a forest without even a single hut, Helenas finally released Kyle after having him lie on her lap for quite some time while she stroked his hair. The two got down from the carriage and faced each other.

"One who has opened the Upper Dantian can deny the natural laws that exist in the world."

The martial art of the extreme boundary was to consider such denial natural.

"Right."

Kyle nodded. Even at the Will Realm stage, after opening the Middle Dantian, one could cut targets dozens of meters away. But to bring about that phenomenon, one still had to swing a sword.

Using intent required no action. The heart, the will, became the trigger. Just as an arm moved when the brain decided to move it, in the Boundary Realm, the intent of I Cut became the trigger that cut the world.

What was not natural for a being became natural.

"That is the use of intent."

Helenas picked up a branch.

"I can cut without swinging my arm or a sword. Everyone in the Boundary Realm can. But when possible, we try to cut by swinging an arm or a sword. Why do you think that is?"

"Because you have to swing a sword to cut something."

"That's right. Repeatedly denying the laws the world considers natural is difficult. It requires compromise."

The branch slowly pointed toward Kyle.

"From now on, I'll cut you through intent, without swinging this branch. It isn't an action I understand well, so I'm not skilled at it. But that doesn't mean I can't do it. I'm going to cut you now, so try to block it."

"Okay."

"Now."

::I Cut::

Helenas did not swing the branch. She simply decided, and the world was forced to comply. The result, ::I Cut::, reached Kyle.

Now.

Kyle immediately swung Fenris. Clang! An invisible slash collided with Fenris. Fenris rang sharply, and Kyle's feet slid backward.

"You can respond to it, right?"

Helenas whispered. Feeling the tingling in his wrist, Kyle nodded.

"Next, I'll cut you directly. By swinging the branch. Now."

At the same time as her whisper, Helenas moved. To cut him, she had to enter the branch's reach. Her will had decided it, so Helenas was there. As naturally as if she had always been within reach of the branch, she swung it.

It was a kind attack, since she had warned him beforehand. Kyle saw the swing that he normally would not even have been able to see. He blocked it with Fenris, but there was no force in the branch that reached him.

Rip.

Yet his clothes were cut. Kyle let out a hollow laugh and looked down at himself. His skin had not been cut, so there was no blood, but his outer garment had been sliced and fluttered loose.

"Mixing in action makes it stronger," Helenas said as she lowered the branch.

"Against inferior opponents, you can kill with intent alone, without mixing in action. But in a battle between those who wield intent, the more compromises you make, the weaker you become."

"I see."

Kyle slowly nodded.

"What a strange world. No matter how drastically martial arts have changed compared to five hundred years ago... intent didn't seem this all-purpose in the past."

Kyle had opened his mind in his previous life as well, and he had fought opponents who had done the same many times. A single swing of a sword could cut down castle walls and mountains. Even in that era, there had been superhumans whose will made the impossible possible.

"But no one could fly through the sky."

Kyle said it with certainty. The Sword Demon had been the same in his previous life, and none of the powerful people he had faced could fly. Yet in this world, people opened their Upper Dantian and soared through the sky.

Intent was neither all-purpose nor omnipotent. As Helenas had said, using this power required compromise. No matter how extraordinary the natural order one believed in was, it was only natural that the laws of the world were greater and stronger than a single being.

"I didn't reach this level in your era, so I don't know how natural those impossibilities were then."

Helenas shook her head.

"But I do know this. Hundreds of years passed after your death, and the world changed. It wasn't humans who changed. The world changed. At some point, the imposition of intent began changing the world more easily."

There was no other way to think of it. Things impossible five hundred years ago were possible in the present. Was it because the system of martial arts had changed? Because the average level had risen? All of that was true, but...

"The world has become more generous."

Kyle muttered softly.

"It has become looser, enough for a single being's world to impose itself upon it and shake its laws. That's what it feels like."

Was this also an aftereffect of Ruin Alastor's Ascension?

'Was this what you wanted? Or did it become this way because you Ascended?'

Everything in the world had begun changing from the moment Ruin Alastor Ascended.

"I understand that my experience is outdated now."

Kyle nodded as he spoke.

"But I don't miss the old days just because I remember them. This world is stranger and more fun than my previous life. Humans who aren't birds fly through the sky. Did you know? When I was little, I thought about wanting to fly quite often."

Kyle chuckled and glanced up at the sky. Beyond the thick branches and leaves overhead, he could see the sky, and several birds flapped their wings as they flew.

"Have you ever thought about that?"

"No."

"And yet you fly through the sky? How?"

"Because I'm certain."

Helenas answered briefly. Her feet floated into the air.

"I am certain that the laws decided by my world are natural. Without hesitation or doubt."

"..."

"If your world is strong enough, the world submits to yours. A world that has submitted follows your laws."

"Easy to say."

"It is. Saying it."

A faint smile appeared on Helenas's lips.

"Understanding and mastering what I say is the difficult part."

The branch moved to the side.

"The method is simple. I'll put you in a situation where you'll die if you don't fly."

"What?"

"Fly through the sky."

Helenas swung the branch. Swish. It was a simple movement, but the instant it happened, Kyle felt death. Without hesitation, Kyle leaped backward.

Whoosh! The kind slash cut through the place where Kyle had been standing. If he had jumped a moment later, his ankles would have been cleanly cut off. Kyle shouted in disbelief.

"This is more than getting a little hurt!"

"I don't intend to hurt you. You can avoid it."

Helenas swung the branch again. The slashes gradually rose higher. At first, they had been at ankle height. Now they passed his knees and thighs, climbing to his waist.

Avoiding them was not difficult. Helenas was swinging kindly for him, and even without using intent or mana, Kyle's body could leap to the top of the trees in this forest in a single bound. With mana, he could jump several times higher.

'Jumping high isn't the problem.'

Kyle looked down. The slashes did not disappear. The slashes she had already drawn remained in the world. If he fell back down, his body would be carved apart by the lingering slashes.

To avoid being cut, he had to endure in the air. Kyle gritted his teeth and stepped on empty space. He did not think there was no foothold in the air.

Mana.

The world was filled with invisible mana. In truth, it was not invisible. Once a Spirit Root awakened, one could feel mana, and depending on the quality of the Spirit Root, one could even see the flow of mana with one's eyes.

'Mana can be seen.'

Of course, being able to see it did not mean he could step on it. But if he added a process, he could leap from it. He concentrated mana in his feet, stepped on a foothold made of mana, and jumped.

'I see.'

Mixing in action was stronger. The more compromises one made, the weaker one became. Kyle understood what Helenas meant. He could cut without swinging a sword, but cutting was stronger if he swung it because the act of swinging was natural to cutting.

A person without wings needed wings to fly through the sky. But no matter how much one wanted them, wings that did not exist would not appear.

'I need a compromise right now.'

Kyle could consider cutting natural, but he could not consider flying through the sky natural. Twisting himself up in an attempt to do something he could not immediately do was stubbornness.

'I'm not flying. I'm stepping.'

In his world, he could step on the sky. The slashes kept rising. Earlier, they had paused for a moment, but now they remained without disappearing. If he fell, his body would be sliced apart. Jumping only let him endure briefly. What he needed now was to stand by stepping on mana.

'With my will, I step.'

Step.

He heard the sound. Kyle looked down as he caught his breath. His body did not fall. He was standing still in the air.

"You compromised."

Helenas lowered the branch. She stared at Kyle, standing in the air, and whispered.

"Since it is something you have never done before, it is natural for you to compromise. Once you grow accustomed to it, you can gradually remove those compromises."

It was impossible to consider something natural when one had never even done it. One had to try anything, even a little, even if one failed, for experience to build. Once enough experience accumulated, it became familiarity. After familiarity came what felt natural.

"I'm starting to get the hang of it."

He had never used intent this way in his previous life, nor could he have. But it was possible in this world. Today, Kyle had stepped into empty air for the first time. Once he grew more accustomed to it, he would be able to walk through the air, and after that, he would be able to run.

As his movements in the sky became freer and he began considering them natural, he could reduce his compromises. Someday, he would be able to fly through the sky without even moving his legs.

'It won't take long.'

Drip, drip.

Sweat ran down his forehead and fell to the ground. Since it was his first time doing this, the consumption was fast. Like mana, intent was not limitless power. This power came from the mind, so it consumed mental force.

The longer he maintained his focus, the more his head throbbed and spun. Kyle came down to the ground as he caught his breath. Mental fatigue rather than physical fatigue... either one would be fatal in actual combat. He could not use this carelessly.

"You're sweating a lot."

Kyle's bright red hair was soaked through with sweat. Pushing it back, Kyle gave a bitter smile.

"I can swing a sword all day without breaking much of a sweat, but just moving my feet a few times..."

"Do you feel powerless?"

"I do. But I don't dislike it. Learning something new is always fun."

That was the greatest difference between Kyle and Helenas.

"Learning..."

Helenas muttered in a small voice. Teaching Kyle something. Teaching him something new that he did not know. A faint smile rested on her face. In the past, she could never have imagined doing this, and even if she had imagined it, she could never have done it. Now she could.

Because Raikal had reincarnated.

"I'll teach you many things you don't know."

Helenas whispered with a smile. Kyle smiled back and lifted his sweat-soaked clothes. His chest had been cut by Helenas earlier, and he could not wear them any longer anyway.

"I feel grimy. I want to take a bath."

"There's a lake deeper in the forest."

Helenas turned her head slightly to look deeper into the woods.

"Let's go together."

Kyle had no choice but to freeze at her sudden suggestion. When someone heard something too surprising, their brain was bound to stop.

"Pardon?"

"Let's go together. Did I say something difficult?"

"No... it wasn't difficult. But why do we need to go together? Why?"

"Because I want to wash too."

Helenas tilted her head as though she was the confused one. Unlike before, there was no room for misunderstanding in those words. Kyle silently stared at her face before asking.

"Don't tell me you mean we should bathe together?"

"That's what we did in the past."

"Hey, hey! When did we ever?"

"When you saved me for the first time. You said I smelled and washed me."

"That was because I got too much blood on you by accident... and that only happened once, didn't it?"

While escaping the slave market, he had kept Helenas behind him, and during their repeated fierce battles, he had spilled a great deal of blood. Helenas had gotten covered in blood during that process, and since the stench was too severe to leave alone, he had washed her. That was all.

"It was only once, but it is a good memory for me. Good enough that I thought I wanted to do it again."

"..."

"I was younger than you then, but not now. Have you ever had someone wash you?"

"I have... when I was little. My mother did."

"I'll wash you too."

Helenas calmly headed deeper into the forest.

"It will be the first time I wash you."

"I can wash perfectly well by myself."

"Come along. I won't say it twice."

When an elf decided to do something, it was because they truly wanted to do it. That was why it was difficult to persuade an elf.

"Good grief, what a life."

Who would have thought that one day, he would be dragged around like this by the little elf who had once followed right behind him, and do whatever she wanted without resistance?

* * *

Just as Helenas had said, there was a lake deeper in the forest. It was deep enough that the bottom could not be seen, and the water was quite clear.

Kyle hesitated for a moment before the lake.

No matter what, stripping naked in front of Helenas and being washed by her was... humiliating and embarrassing. Kyle cleared his throat and spoke.

"I'll wash by myself."

"I said I'd wash you."

"I'm not a child."

"To me, you are a child."

His body in this life was fifteen years old. Even counting his previous life, his mental age was only around fifty. Helenas, on the other hand, had lived for five hundred years. Even a rough calculation put the difference at tenfold. Helenas was right.

"Good grief."

Kyle let out another deep sigh and took off his shoes.

He did not take off his clothes. Helenas tilted her head as she watched Kyle enter the lake.

"Why aren't you taking them off?"

"They're soaked with sweat, so I'll wash them too."

"There were plenty of new clothes among the things the Crows gave you."

"I like these clothes. Have you ever tried bathing with your clothes on?"

"No."

"Trying something you haven't done is a challenge too. It's surprisingly nice once you try it. You should come in wearing your clothes too."

Helenas watched Kyle silently for a moment, then nodded and entered the lake.

"So how exactly are you going to wash me..."

At Helenas's gesture, the water of the lake surged up and poured down over Kyle's head. Splash! Hit by the sudden torrent, Kyle blinked and turned to Helenas.

"One more time."

Another torrent poured over him. Kyle sputtered and shook his head.

"You washed me like this in the past too."

With a faint smile, Helenas raised both hands. Her hands grabbed Kyle's head. Scrub, scrub, scrub. Her fingers rubbed his scalp and hair. This was less a bath and more laundry.

"Do you still hold a grudge over how I washed you back then?"

"I told you it was a happy memory. I'm recreating that time."

"Your memory is impressive. Is this how you usually wash?"

"No."

"Then how do you wash?"

"An Apostle washes me."

"An Apostle? Washes you? Is it a man?"

"A woman. The Fifth Apostle. She likes me."

The hands scrubbing his hair suddenly gained strength. Splash! The force pushed Kyle's head into the lake, then pulled it back out. It happened several times.

The laundry had turned into water torture.

"Her teacher and her teacher's teacher were Apostles too. They washed me every time. There was no need for it."

"I don't need you to wash me either...!"

"That won't do. I want to."

The water torture continued.

Footnotes:

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