Chapter Title: Thirst (3)
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Yuri blinked at Yohan's response.
"…The Dragon's Cradle? Why there?"
"Why do you think? I took the exam and passed, so of course I have to go in."
"That Cradle exam or whatever was just something you did on a whim, wasn't it?"
"Heh heh, just a whim? On a lark?"
"Yeah, just that."
"Are you insane? You'd throw away that precious dragon plaque over some meaningless nonsense?"
Yuri looked baffled at Yohan's sharp tone.
She tilted her head and asked.
"If I'm going to play the role of your…."
"Test subject?"
"…Yeah. That test subject role, doesn't that mean I shouldn't go into the Cradle? If I go in there, we won't be able to meet anymore, right?"
"Ho? Not bad, you're thinking ahead."
"…Who do you take me for, an idiot?"
"Heh heh, don't worry about that. I'll handle all of it."
Yohan flashed a sly grin before wiping it away and continuing.
"And even for the experiment, you absolutely have to go to the Cradle."
"Why?"
"Because there's no better place to build up your strength."
"...?"
Yohan smiled again as Yuri blinked in confusion.
"Do you know why all the hotshots in the world are dying to get into the Cradle?"
"Why?"
"Because there's no other place where the strong monopolize everything."
"...!"
"In the Cradle, spirit elixirs that are hard to buy even with money—dozens of them get released every year. And that's not all. All sorts of treasured swords, secret martial arts from powerhouses who dominated an era—they're all there in abundance."
"Wow."
"All of that goes only to those who win through fair competition. But what if one person dominates that competition overwhelmingly?"
"They'd sweep up every benefit the Cradle offers."
"Exactly. Perfect monopolization by the strongest."
Yuri's face hardened slightly as she listened to Yohan.
At the same time, a voice from her childhood echoed in her mind.
[The weak get trampled and culled, but the strong… crush and evolve. That's… the era of the Sword Lord.]
Words spat out by a dying knight with a laugh.
The world Yuri had wandered through for the past several years wasn't much different from what that dead knight had said.
'And the Dragon's Cradle is practically the symbol of the current era.'
In other words, the Cradle was a place where the current reality of the strong devouring everything was concentrated in its purest form.
That was why Yuri could somewhat understand what Yohan meant.
'He's right, it's definitely a good place to build strength.'
But that came with one prerequisite.
Overwhelming strength.
For the Cradle to be a 'good place to build strength,' as Yohan said, Yuri needed the power to win every competition.
And in that regard, Yuri was confident.
"So, I go into the Cradle and suck up every last drop of the goodies they're handing out? Sounds like a great plan."
A glint flashed in Yohan's eyes at Yuri's confident mutter.
But in contrast, a clear sneer curled on his lips.
"Pfft, you're full of shit."
"...?"
"One day."
"Huh?"
"If you go into the Cradle right now, it'd take one day to pack your bags and get kicked out. And that's if you're lucky enough to walk out in one piece—more likely, you'd be carried out in a coffin nine times out of ten."
"…What?"
"What's there to be surprised about? You think the Cradle is some playground for neighborhood kids? It's where the world's elite talents gather. Talents who've been rigorously trained as geniuses since childhood."
"...."
"How long do you think your pathetic body—not even trained in martial arts, let alone able to gather mana—will last among those geniuses?"
"Even… even using the incarnation?"
"That's factoring it in. Without it, you wouldn't last a minute, let alone an hour."
It was a brutally harsh assessment.
Yuri's brow furrowed slightly, and Yohan snickered.
"What? Ego bruised?"
"...."
"The incarnation is certainly an amazing gift. But no matter how great a famed sword is, in a bumpkin's hands, it's just an axe for chopping firewood. You haven't wielded the famed sword of the incarnation properly—you've just been crushing opponents with its raw power."
"…What are you trying to say?"
"Until now, that method worked. Whether swordsmanship or martial arts, you haven't trained in them, but you probably never felt the lack. So you never bothered much with them."
He was right.
Even basic swordsmanship required steady training at a dojo.
Martial arts, even the lowest grade, cost a fortune that commoners could only dream of.
'But even if I scraped by to learn them, it wouldn't measure up to using the incarnation.'
For Yuri, who struggled to make ends meet day by day, it wasn't a viable choice.
Their gazes locked.
"You're seriously out of whack right now."
"I know, my soul's overgrown…."
"No, not that."
"Then what?"
"You have the power to kill opponents in one go. But you lack the power to protect yourself. If you could kill all enemies in one spot at once, it'd be fine. But if not?"
"...."
"Like today, if you collapse after—poof—one enemy survives?"
Yuri clenched her fist tight.
Seeing it, Yohan said coldly.
"Those who set foot in the Cradle… are vicious piranhas. To them, you—using your incarnation once and then collapsing—are nothing but easy prey."
Things Yuri had never considered before.
No, things she'd unconsciously avoided thinking about poured from Yohan's mouth.
Her face hardened slightly.
'Me… prey?'
It was something she'd never deeply pondered even once.
After awakening the curse—no, the incarnation—she had always been the predator.
Local thugs strutting around with puffed-up shoulders because they could throw a punch.
Mercenary warriors who'd learned some martial arts and ate well for it.
Even knights with unofficial certifications.
She'd met and faced many while wandering the world, but none had ever seemed like a threat.
And recently, hadn't she even toppled the infamous Black Sword Soldier?
'Me, prey?'
The word 'prey' scraped at Yuri's pride, and a defiant voice burst out in rebellion.
"That Gunter guy who passed the Cradle exam this time didn't seem all that impressive."
"That unremarkable little shit Gunter could kill a nobody like you—who can't even use an incarnation—with one finger."
"Why do you keep excluding the incarnation? It's my power too. If I control it well…."
"You plan to keep using a power that gnaws at your lifespan every time, even in the Cradle?"
"...."
"If that's your plan, carry a coffin on your back when you go. If you rely on the incarnation every time something happens, your lifeline will snap before you even finish the five years there."
Yuri bit her lip hard.
But no rebuttal came to mind.
Everything Yohan said rang true.
As if reading her thoughts, Yohan's mocking voice continued.
"Like you said, that Gunter punk is a rookie. A baby piranha, let's say."
"..."
"And that baby piranha… grows fat by eating prey like you. Puheheh."
Yohan repeated his point for emphasis.
He watched Yuri inwardly, chuckling.
'For his own sake, I need to temper his spirit a bit.'
Yuri was like a wary wild beast.
Provoke him, and he'd bare his teeth with a growl; if he sensed a threat to his safety, he'd rip out throats without hesitation—a ferocious predator.
His pride was so strong that even treating his wounds got ignored half the time.
So how do you tame such a beast?
Build rapport and bonds slowly?
Sure, that was one way, but Yohan had no taste for coddling Yuri with lukewarm feelings.
'To handle a beast, you crush its pride until it exposes its belly.'
Imprint the overwhelming gap in power and make it follow you.
That was Yohan's preferred method.
Yohan grinned.
"But don't worry! There's plenty of time before this cohort's Cradle entry!"
"...."
"If you roll steadily under me from now on, you could at least become the piranha king in the Cradle. That's the bare minimum to call yourself human!"
Yohan poked at Yuri, cackling, and waited.
For Yuri to bite the bait.
'Should be snapping by now.'
And sure enough.
Yuri, who'd been listening silently, had sparks flying in her eyes.
"Old man."
Her golden eyes gleamed with sharp menace as she stared at Yohan.
"…How strong are you, old man?"
"Huh?"
"I don't care about piranha king crap. If I'm getting strong…."
Yuri paused briefly.
The corner of her mouth lifted as she eyed Yohan.
"…I need to be at least stronger than you."
"Ho?"
"That way I can plant one right in your ugly mug."
Yohan's eyes gleamed at Yuri's defiant aura.
'She bit.'
Time to reel her in quick.
Yohan smiled with his eyes.
"Curious? How strong I am?"
Swish—.
Without waiting for Yuri's reply, Yohan vanished.
He reappeared right behind her.
"...?!"
"Then I should show you."
Yohan, wearing a deep smile, grabbed Yuri's nape in an instant and bolted out of the cave.
Yuri yelped in panic.
"O-Old man?! What the hell are you doing?"
But Yohan moved faster than her shout.
By the time her voice echoed, their bodies were already hurled outside the cave.
"...?!"
Yuri's hideout was on a 20-meter cliff.
Leaping from there naturally revealed a dizzying drop below.
Her face paled at the sheer height.
But that expression shifted to astonishment soon enough.
"…Huh?"
Yuri's eyes widened.
It was inevitable.
"Walking on…."
Yohan, gripping her nape.
"…thin air?"
He was walking through the sky.
As if descending stairs, Yohan leisurely stepped on empty air.
Finally, his feet touched ground, and he tossed the stunned Yuri aside.
Even then, Yuri quickly righted herself and faced Yohan.
Yohan met her gaze and spoke.
"You wanna land one on me? Then watch closely. You need at least this much to even get a hand near my face."
With that, Yohan turned toward the cliff.
At the same time, a thick white mist billowed up from under his feet.
'…What's this?'
Pure white smoke? Fog?
Neither.
What formed beneath Yohan's feet was a 'cloud.'
A fluffy white cloud from the sky, now cradling him.
And Yuri realized it wasn't just any cloud.
Because she had something similar.
Though it looked different.
'This is the old man's incarnation?'
If Yuri's incarnation looked like a fear-inducing monster, Yohan's was a pure white fluffy cloud.
As Yuri stared blankly at the cloud-shaped incarnation.
Srrk—.
Yohan drew his sword and slowly lowered it at a diagonal.
A single stream of air rose from the cloud, winding up his calf, thigh, body, arm, and gathering at his blade.
The white cloud stream coiled around the blade like a serpent, writhing.
Humm—.
The cloud strand vibrated fiercely on the sword, as if begging to be unleashed.
Hummm!
Yohan casually swung the sword to shake off the thrashing cloud.
Slash—.
From bottom to top, a diagonal cut as if slicing the cliff.
It looked utterly unremarkable, but the result was anything but.
The white stream shot out ferociously, expanding to dozens of meters mid-flight, and by the time it reached the cliff, its form had changed.
Ruuuumble—.
A dragon's head with deer antlers.
A serpent's body and four pairs of legs.
It resembled the divine dragon from ancient eastern legends.
Roooaaar!
The cloud dragon roared with jaws wide.
Kaboooom—.
It slammed into the cliff.
And then.
BOOM!
With a massive explosion, the cloud dragon vanished—and the cliff did too.
No, the cliff and the mountain behind it were obliterated entirely.
With the sunset-blocking mountain gone, a vivid red sun emerged beyond.
Yuri's eyes shook as she tracked the gaping void.
'This is really….'
One strike.
That casual swing had vaporized a cliff and a mountain.
'…The work of a single human?'
The realization hit her.
She'd been using her incarnation all wrong.
She hadn't drawn out even a thousandth—no, a ten-thousandth—of its power.
'I wasn't wielding the incarnation. I was just dragged along by its power.'
Yuri gazed at Yohan's back.
His once-small frame now loomed massively.
'This… is a master's power?'
Masters—she'd heard their legends until her ears bled.
But she hadn't truly grasped it.
How immense their famed power was.
'My god….'
Still just fifteen years old.
And never once defeated in her life.
That cocky arrogance cracked.
Drip—.
Yuri felt regret.
'I was a frog in a well.'
As reality sank in perfectly, the contempt and arrogance that had clung to her shattered and faded.
In their place burned the spark of aspiration.
'That's true strength.'
The world forged by Sword Lord Luke Rider.
The absolute power held by those who ruled it.
"Ah…."
Yuri's eyes glazed over.
One thought filled her mind.
'I want it. That strength….'
The strength Yohan Redner had shown.
Her thirst for it.
Nothing else swirled in Yuri's head.
'No, a power beyond that… I want it in my hands!'
At seven, craving a toy, Yuri had harbored hatred alongside strength unfit for her age.
At eight, learning her life was limited, she'd replaced world-hating loathing with the will to live.
Now, at fifteen, adrift without purpose and wearying of anxious days….
'My throat… is parched.'
For the first time, Yuri felt a burning thirst for pure aspiration.