These were the physical gains Jin had obtained during his stay in the Storm Castle.
And according to Murakan’s explanation, Jin could use the pendant to summon Luna once. Moreover, the artifact’s effect also provided him a powerful immunity against 5-star or lower attack spells.
Additionally, the pendant could amplify the effects of magic buffs cast on its user.
Two years have already passed since Jin ate the Phoenix Heart, but it had yet to be fully absorbed by his body.
One month after he ate the heart, Jin tested how much his body had absorbed its effects every day by placing his finger on a candle flame.
“Lady Mary would be very proud of you if she were here, Young Master.”
And sure enough, Jin placed his index finger above a candle flame today as well.
The flame that touched the tip of his finger had absolutely no effect on it. Jin felt no burning sensation—it was as if he had placed his finger in warm water.
Gilly was thrilled by this sight and slowly approached the young boy.
“Gilly.”
“It’s also my first time seeing the effects of the Phoenix Heart. And as your nanny, I’m overjoyed to know that the beneficiary of the heart is you, Young Master Jin.”
A wide smile drew on Gilly’s face. Jin truly believed that amongst the nannies working for the Runcandel Clan, she was the most honest and sincere.
‘If my knowledge from when I was a magician doesn’t betray me, I seem to have absorbed around 50% of the heart.’
Should he absorb 100% of the heart, Jin would be able to withstand a fearsome firestorm that could burn down an entire castle—let alone a candle flame. In other words, Jin would be near-perfectly resistant to all flames that don’t contain mana.
To put it another way, Jin wouldn’t be fully resistant against flames generated with magic.
Needless to say, unless it’s a high-rank fire magic spell cast by a 6-star or higher magician, they wouldn’t be able to break through the heart’s flame resistance effects. However, there is another reason why the Phoenix Heart is considered such a crucial item amongst magicians.
‘If I fully absorb the heart, I won’t be restricted when I summon a phoenix in a few years.’
The flames that are constantly swirling around the mystical beasts known as phoenixes generally have the force of 5-star spells. So whenever a phoenix flaps its wings, it’s no different from having 5-star fire magic being shot out constantly.
And unfortunately, these flames can also injure the magician who summoned the phoenix. So even if someone were to become a 6-star magician, it would be difficult to summon and use a phoenix unless they have a high resistance against flames.
In other words, one had to eat a Phoenix Heart to have complete control over a phoenix familiar and make full use of it.
‘I can’t wait.’
To this day, Jin was far more interested in magic than in swordsmanship. Before his regression, the last three years of his 28 years of life were far more enjoyable than the initial 25.
“You seem to be quite loved by your sisters, Young Master. There’s Lady Luna as well as Lady Mary. I wonder how you will repay their affection, hohoho.”
Jin nearly snorted from hearing Gilly’s words.
He couldn’t help but laugh to himself when he remembered the stories about ‘Mary Runcandel’ from his past life, along with her unique personality.
‘I’m sure that Mary gave me the Phoenix Heart to speed up my growth, so that I can challenge her later on in life.’
That was how Jin’s third sister’s mind functioned.
She was a battle-crazed, muscle-brained maniac. Moreover, she loved fighting against other Runcandels or enemies from the Zipfel Clan.
That was why she became a 6-star knight and roamed around the continent—challenging powerful opponents despite not being 20 yet. She stirred trouble everywhere she went, which earned her the nickname ‘Stormwind Mary’.
Initially, it was ‘The Southern Region’s Madwoman’. However, Mary slaughtered everyone who called her that, so she received a cooler sounding nickname.
‘Not only does she want me to challenge her after I become powerful, she also gave the heart away because she believes that she doesn’t need it. So it was a gift that originated from her pride and self-confidence. Mary’s one helluva prideful nutcase.’
Jin grinned as his thoughts reached a conclusion.
“I should repay them the way they want me to.”
Luna wanted Jin to grow up strong and healthy, and to survive the family’s deadly feud.
Mary wanted Jin to grow up strong and healthy, and attempt to cleanly slice off her head with his sword.
Therefore, Jin had to repay them by doing exactly what they expected of him.
Knock-knock.
Someone was behind the door to Jin’s room.
“This is Khan, Young Master Jin. It’s time for your training.”
“Oh, so it’s already time. I’ll be there.”
Currently, Jin was training two skills simultaneously.
He was learning spirit energy release from Murakan in the underground chamber, and was being taught the Runcandel martial arts by Khan, a knight at the castle. As a result, Jin had no time to rest on a daily basis.
When he opened the door and exited his room, Khan politely bowed.
“What will today’s lesson be about, Khan?”
“In the morning, we’ll study combat footwork. Around noon, it will be the different striking techniques using both punches and kicks. Then, we’ll tackle joint lock techniques in the evening together with some general physical training.”
It was a busy schedule, but Jin nodded in satisfaction. He was emanating an aura of dignity and majesty like a ruler who had received a report from a subordinate.
Khan tensed up as he observed Jin’s behaviour.
As a guardian knight of the Runcandel Clan and the young master’s martial arts instructor, he should’ve been extremely proud of the child’s growth.
However, Khan was on edge and nervous whenever he trained the young boy.
‘I mustn’t slack off and idle around while teaching Young Master Jin.’
Khan had taught the clan’s combat techniques to a total of six Runcandel children in the Storm Castle.
The Tona twins, who had left two years ago; Jin’s sixth sister, Yona; his fifth sister, Anne; his fourth sister, Myu; and finally, Jin himself.
Except for the twins, the other three had already left the Storm Castle when Jin was still a baby.
‘I’ve never felt like this when I was teaching the others. They were all busy keeping up with the training program, and all I had to do was evaluate their growth. But for Young Master Jin… He’s the one evaluating me. There’s something different about him.’
Evaluate.
Normally, the instructor is the only one with the right to evaluate his student—similar to the relationship between a boss and a subordinate.
But Khan could sense that Jin was inversely evaluating his ‘teaching skills’. And it happened on a daily basis during their training sessions ever since their first lesson.
During the exhausting physical training when Jin would sweat buckets, during the exercises where he’d get bruised and his youthful skin would tear and burst, even during the spars when he’d get thrown onto the floor.
Jin would always be closely observing Khan’s teaching skills.
This was a first for Khan.
However, he didn’t find it unpleasant or uncomfortable. On the contrary, Khan believed that Jin possessed all the virtues a pure-blooded Runcandel should have.
‘No wonder the patriarch shows great interest in him. I mustn’t let down my guard today as well.’
Khan focused his attention as a flame of enthusiasm sparked in his eyes. He and Jin then moved to the training grounds inside the castle.
“Young Master Jin.”
“Speak freely, Khan.”
“It’s a great honour to be able to instruct you, Young Master. I promise to provide you the best possible training regime and guide you to the best of my abilities in the next few months, until your 10th birthday.”
“I appreciate your thoughts. I’ll be in your care until then.”
It was only after the combat training session had ended that Jin could go visit Murakan, despite his complete exhaustion.
He then practiced the spirit energy release technique under the dragon’s guidance.
Today was a gruelling and demanding day, but still a joyous one.
***
“Kya!”
Murakan let out a cry of excitement and amazement.
Jin wondered how many times Murakan had been astonished already. According to a quick calculation, it was over 20 times during the past hour.
“Are you that happy, Murakan?”
Murakan turned his head back and stared at Jin.
“Is that even a question, kid? I can finally get out of this boring and stuffy place! And it’s tomorrow!”
Two years have passed since the Tona twins left the castle. But for Jin, the two years went by in a flash. He had countless more things he wanted to learn and practice, so he would’ve loved to stay for a few more years.
‘He’s right. Up until the day I met him down here, I also found every day boring as hell in this castle.’
He had graduated from Khan’s combat lessons 10 days ago with his instructor’s recognition, and he had achieved double the progress Murakan had expected Jin to accomplish when it came to spiritual energy release.
In the clan’s history, there was not a single Runcandel who had achieved as many feats as Jin during their stay in the Storm Castle. Normally, the only training the Runcandel children could receive at the castle was combat training. Thus, it was to no surprise that Jin was the highest achiever ever.
However, the boy in question was still not satisfied.
‘I wanted to reach 5-star in mana and 2-star in spiritual energy before leaving the castle… Oh well, I guess I was being too impatient.’
He was, indeed, being impatient. Even in the entire world’s history, there was not a single individual who had gained such powers at the age of ten.
‘Stay calm. Don’t rush. My achievements so far are already impressive enough. If the world knew about my powers, everyone would treat me like an unprecedented genius.’
Today was October 30th, 1790.
Tomorrow, the Runcandel Clan’s guardian knights would arrive to escort Jin back to the clan’s main house, the ‘Garden of Swords’.
“By the way, if you leave this place, what do we do about your empty coffin, Murakan?”
“It’ll be fine. Those who come down here will just read those books and won’t notice that I’m not inside.”
“How will they not notice it? Even though you fixed that glass coffin, the insides are still empty.”
“Kuhaha. Your knowledge in magic is still lacking if you’re worrying about such things, kid.”
“Sheesh, fine. Then tell me what your fail-safe plan is.”
“I just need to create an illusion of myself lying down inside the coffin using Draconic Magic.”
‘Holy cow, you can do that?’
Jin almost spontaneously shouted that out, but barely held himself back. According to his knowledge, illusion magic couldn’t recreate elaborate images.
“Who do you think I am? I’m a dragon. Moreover, the Shadow Dragon. Creating an illusion like that is as easy as blowing my nose into your shirt.”
“Amazing. Is it possible to maintain the illusion over a long period of time?”
“Hm… That might be harder, even for me. Oh well, what other choice do we have? I’ll just do my best to sustain it for as long as possible until you grow old enough to protect yourself. So be grateful, alright? Respect and revere me, alright kid?”
“That’s exactly why I brought you a little special something today.”
As Jin opened up the basket, stars shone in Murakan’s eyes. The basket was filled to the brim with strawberry pies. Gilly had made them using the Mitel Kingdom’s first harvest.
“S-Strawberry pies……! My strawberry pies!”
Jin grinned as he watched Murakan wolf down the pies before him. He then took out a few bottles from the cloth bag that usually held his notebooks.
“Those bottles! Don’t tell me…! Is that alcohol?”
“Yep. Since today’s our last day here, I stole some without letting my nanny know.”
“So you do have some humanity left in you, kid! My time spent educating you was worth it. Hahaha!!”
He was such an easy dragon to manipulate.
***
The next day, around lunchtime, two knights from the Runcandel main house came to the castle.
There were fewer escorts compared to the time the Tona twins left the castle, but both escorts were 7-star knights this time around.
“Young Master, you must steel yourself now. From here on out, your every desire won’t be fulfilled. It will be difficult for me to bake you strawberry pies all the time too…”
Gilly spoke in a solemn tone as she stared directly into Jin’s eyes.
“The main house won’t be as tranquil and peaceful as our days here. You must keep that in mind.”
Jin’s days at the Storm Castle were rarely tranquil and peaceful due to his constant training sessions, but he adjusted his attitude to the serious atmosphere.
“I know. Don’t worry, Gilly. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I will faithfully assist you to the best of my abilities out there, Young Master. Well then, let us go.”
“Guardian Knights Jerome and Holtz greet Young Master Jin. The two of us will safely escort you to the Garden of Swords.”
The knights from the main house politely saluted the young boy.
A steel, horse-drawn carriage was waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain.
***
Later, during the night.
A group of unidentified assailants attacked the steel carriage belonging to the Runcandel Clan.
