Chapter 10: Knocking Off The Rust

"I reckon I should practice a little to knock the rust off."

I say to no one in particular as I enter my room and lock it to make sure no one comes in. It will be hard to explain how a newly summoned person was able to use magic.

Going over to the bed, I sit on it cross legged.

"Hmm, I should start with the basics first, cycles. Some of my meridians are closed due to years of inactivity."

Meridians, like arteries and veins, are vessels used to house and channel mana throughout the body. The more you open, the easier it is to manipulate and absorb mana and the faster your casting of magic can be. Not to mention, it makes your body stronger over time.

However, to open these meridians and become stronger, you'll first have to learn and practice cycling. Which is one of the most important techniques for learning the rest of the [Heavenly Annihilation Arts]. 

If you tried learning [Heavenly Annihilation Arts] without properly knowing how to use cycling, you'll be either dead or wishing you were dead.

Trust me, I know this.

After getting comfortable, I start to almost instantly begin to channel mana. It seems that that hag’s spartan training ingrained the process into me. 

Starting from the meridians at the center of my chest, I circulate the mana to the meridians in my head and then to the extremities of my body. 

This was one cycle. 

And as I completed this cycle five more times, I noticed abnormalities in my body. More specifically, my left arm.

"...The battle with Wilberg left some long lasting effects that even top of the line healing magic couldn't heal."

Staring at the ‘x’ shaped scar on my left palm, I quietly mumble to myself.

As I was cycling the mana through my left arm, I found out that some of the meridians in it were burned and shredded beyond repair.

"Damn that [Eternal Flame] of his...he got me good."

When I was fighting against Wilberg, I can vividly remember the time when he stabbed through my entire left arm with his sword Eternal Heaven. That shit was hot and it hurt like hell!

It almost left me in tears.

If it wasn't for me using [Heavenly Annihilation Art] to help mitigate the heat generated from that sword, I would've long been burnt to a crisp!

"Haha, Kudos to you Wilberg. Kudos to you."

Seeing how bad the inner workings of my hand is, I know for a fact I won't be able to quickly cast magic in this hand anymore.

...Damn.

"Let's do with mana manipulation exercises next."

To take my mind off of me not able to use my arm as effectively anymore, I move on to practical exercises.

  

Hopping off the bed, I go stand in front of the nearby wall.

Channeling mana to the bottom of my feet, I place my left foot on the wall and get a firm grip on it before placing my other foot on it as well. The outcome was me standing perpendicular from the floor. 

“I feel like Spiderman every time I do this!”

I walk around on the ceiling and do a few exercises on the sides of the wall for a few rounds before jumping off. 

 

"Now, it's time for mana manifestation."

As I course mana to the palm of my right hand, a purplish black ball of pure mana the size of a golf ball appeared on it.

I would've tried to make it bigger but because of my seals, I could only produce this much.

But hey, not bad for a person who's been inactive for three years, huh? I still got the hang of it.

After that, I disperse the mana ball that was in my hand and do a few more small scale mana manipulation exercises.

“Sigh, man how I wish I could use magic.”

I lamented after about two hours of doing mana manipulation exercises.

...Well, I can use magic. It's just that due to the seals placed on me, the little bit of magic I can use barely qualifies as magic.

And the reason for that is because of my overpowered magic abilities. 

The first one: [King of the Dead].

To summarize, this ability allows me to manipulate my soul, and the souls of others. I can also summon souls back from the dead, see them, collect them, seal them, exorcise them, and if I wanted to, destroy them. This ability also allows me to drain the life force of a person and summon denizens and objects from hell.

My second ability allows me to control the purplish-black flames of hell, it’s called [Gehenna's Flame]. It can burn through steel and magical metals such as orichalcum like they were nothing and at full power, it can also turn bodies to ash in a matter of seconds. 

The third and last ability is the most dangerous one. I call it [Saint Muertas Call]. When I cast this spell it kills everything. And I mean everything. Within a certain distance, I can kill animals, plants, people, I can even 'kill' air!

But due to insane energy consumption and nature of this ability, I wish to never use these abilities unless I need to. Probably taking the effects of [Saint Muertas Call] into account, I have a very strong vitality and high mana capacity, quite the irony huh?

This dreadful ability was the reason why I was able to turn Walpurgis Castle into a 'dead zone', and defeat the demon lord. 

Am I thankful for these abilities? No, not really. As a matter in fact, I'm terrified of them. They make me out to be some death god or a highly skilled necromancer. 

These abilities are extremely taboo and dangerous, to use, especially [Saint Muertas Call] because it has no distinction against friend or foe.

So, in order to keep these terrifying abilities a secret, and under control, I placed a seal on myself. It's a three lock sealing magic called [Soul Lock]. As the locks are removed, the more powerful I get. 

It was thanks to this seal that I was able to keep my powers a secret. 

“Master Marcus, may I come in?”

Lightly knocking on the door, Mary asked. Immediately ceasing my mana training, I nonchalantly said.

“You can come in.”

“Then if you’ll excuse me.”

Mary enters my room and closes the door.

“Ms. Alice was wondering if you’ll be attending dinner tonight...What happened to your clothes Master Marcus?”

The moment Mary laid her eyes on me, she said surprised. Not understanding what she meant, I tilted my head and said puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“Your clothes are soak and wet. Is that sweat?”

Following where her finger was pointing, I looked down at my clothes. Now that she mentioned it, there were patches of sweat all over my hoodie. I also feel that the entirety of my shirt was soaked as well.

Putting on an awkward smile, I said to her.

“Oops, I didn’t even notice...Do you perhaps have any spare clothes by chance? Usually when I’m bored, I’d exercise. It’s a habit of mine.”

It was either this, read a few books, or practice my drawing. There wasn’t much one could do in a prison cell. This was even more so when you’re put into solitary confinement under the premise of ‘PC’ or protective custody.

Not that it helped any considering that I was already attacked twice.

“I’ll prepare some clothes right away. Also, will you be attending dinner with Ms. Alice and Ms. Kari?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s around 8:30 in the evening.”

“Really?”

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Looking outside through the windows, I saw that the sky was now turning dark.

“My, how time flies.”

Because I was so focused on training, I lost track of time and before I knew it.

"Well, since I’m covered in sweat and it’ll be considered rude to eat while smelling of musk, I’ll pass on having dinner with them today. Instead, bring it to my room.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright. If you need me, I’ll be in the bathroom taking a shower."

With a forehead full of sweat and a body full of stink, I enter the bathroom to wash.

***

I take a shower and then soak in the freestanding tub.

While I was soaking in the hot but comfortable water, I took the time to truly marvel at the bathroom's extravagance. I discovered that the shower and tub didn't get water from a plumbing system and instead got the water from water spirits. If you wanted to make the water hot you'd use a fire stone which was scarlet red and if you wanted to cool the water down you'd use an ice blue stone.

I'm amazed at how this world's technology is getting more advanced as time goes on. Give it a couple hundred more years and maybe, just maybe, they'll reach earth's level of technology, albeit, not in a scientific way but a magical one.

As I was marveling at this…

"It's not fair!"

The feelings of jealousy started to leak out again.

Why couldn't I enjoy my baths like this back then? 

Why was it every time I had to wash, it'd be in a cold creek or not washing at all?

“This is hero discrimination!”

"A-are you okay young master?"

Outside the bathroom, Mary asks a little nervously. Giving her an 'everything's good' I soak in the bathtub a little while longer.

"Master, here are your clothes. As for your food, it’s placed on the table."

Mary said as she entered the bathroom and placed my clothes on the nearby stand.

There was a dense layer of mist in the bathroom due to the hot water from the shower so Mary wasn't able to see my body.

...Is it normal for me to feel a little bit disappointed?

"Thanks."

"I-If you'll excuse me."

Mary bows slightly before leaving. From her voice I could tell that she was embarrassed.

After she left, I spent about twenty more minutes in the bathtub before deciding to hop out.

I don't want to get all wrinkly. Bad enough one place usually is, if you catch my drift.

"Man, this body has been through the ringer."

I said to myself as I pose in front of the mirror and examine my body from my head to toe.

Deep scars from blade slashes, arrowheads, bite marks and shrapnel cover it. Heh, I even have the branding of a slave owner on me!

The only reason that no one has ever really noticed these scars is because I mostly wore shirts and pants. The scars on my arms are easy to explain but as for what’s on the rest of my body, those are a bit harder.

When I was processed into prison, and asked about how I got these scars, I came up with the lie saying that I got them before I went to Father Jefferson’s orphanage. Which they bought considering that my family situation back then wasn’t all that great. 

If the police didn’t buy it, I’m a hundred percent positive that Child Protective Services would’ve been paying Father Jefferson a visit.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not like I’m ashamed of having them. I consider them badges of honor. It’s just that I hate having to explain the circumstance behind them.

"Uwoh! This is silk!"

I said in surprise as I picked up the set of pajamas laid out in front of me by Mary.

I put them on...I feel so cozy! This is what the king goes to sleep in every night? Ooh, I'm so jealous!

Me: "You guys are early.”

Kari: "Early? It's pushing 10 o'clock."

Me: "Then I guess you're on then."

Upon exiting the bathroom, I see Alice and Kari in their pajamas. Alice was sitting in one of the chairs, sipping tea that was prepared by Mary, and Kari was sitting cross legged on my bed.

I’m a little bit sad because they chose to go with the pants and shirt type of pajamas instead of a nightgown, resulting in me not being able to see glimpses of their panties.

Tch.

“Wow, Marcus, I didn’t expect your hair to be that long. It looks way shorter when you put it up with a hairband. You look unexpectedly more handsome.”

Glancing at my slightly longer than shoulder length hair, Kari said surprised.

“I agree. It has a manly charm to it.”

Alice said in agreement. Hearing her compliments, I point my nose in the air and say confidently.

“I know I'm handsome. Now, come on. Praise me more!”

Satiate my ego!

…

"Now, as for the reason I called you two here... It's about what happened yesterday."

After joking around for a while, I say to the two as I’m sitting down in a chair right across from Alice. 

While doing so, I take a bite out of the dinner set before me, steak au poivre…It’s delicious! 

"...So, what have you called us for?”

As the atmosphere grew solemn, Alice asked as she gracefully placed her tea on the table.

Kari: "..."

Me: "..."

"Why don't you want to become a hero."

Alice said as she looked at me square in the eyes. Within her eyes are emotions of worry, fear, and loneliness.  

Seeing those crystal blue eyes filled with such emotions made me feel a tinge of pain in my heart. 

"Please don't look like that Alice...Sigh, I'll tell you the reason for why I don't want to become a hero.”

I lean back in my chair and gather my emotions. I wanted to pull out a cigarette as I explained but remembering that I ran out of cigarettes yesterday and that my lighter is in my jacket, I put those urges away.

With a calm voice, I say to the two.

"I used to be this world's hero."

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