Chapter 43: Succession

<There are so many that need a good beating.>

Sir Sian von Roman’s eight favorite words

…….

Kuntarian was born into a fallen noble family. His family had nothing that could be considered noble, and when he was fifteen, his family collapsed. Kuntarian was then forced to live as a mercenary. His bad character became worse when he joined the mercenaries, and with not-so-great skills, he faced death within one year of being a mercenary.

It happened when he was helping another mercenary with an investigation about a weird laboratory at the bottom of Sky Mountain. He was left to die when a trap was activated. Trapped inside the laboratory, he had to search for food to survive. That was when he found a mysterious heart.

The laboratory was a few hundred years old, but the heart looked like it had just been pulled out from a living being. However, Kuntarian couldn’t think properly. He was extremely hungry and so starved that he gorged the heart down. After he finished eating it, he was shocked by the pain and soon fainted.

When he woke up, he felt a strange power and information flowing within him. He was able to realize one thing. What he ate was the heart of a <Kal-Gul>. After eating it, he had absorbed its power.

It seemed like he had eaten the heart that the Empire had been researching to win the war against <Kal-Gul>.

He couldn’t use all the power and the memories it had though Something was missing.

The heart owner’s weapon.

The power of the <Kal-Gul> was stored within the heart and the weapon, so he needed to find the weapon. Yet Kuntarian had no intention of finding the sword. If the owner of the heart was a <Kal-Gul>, the sword was definitely in the Old Empire.

As he began utilizing the power, his intention to forget about finding the sword grew even stronger. He was strong enough as it was. No one could stand in his way.

Yet when he came to the capital, he realized the sword was there somewhere. After meeting with the Grand Banders, his desire for the sword grew stronger. He couldn’t bear the fact that someone else was stronger than him.

Besides, his heart seemed to be whispering to him to get the sword. If he acquired it, he’d gain invincibility, and he’d be the successor of the great <Kal-Gul>. He even began thinking about stealing it when he realized the sword was one of the <Kaloan>’s prizes.

<I was destined for this!>

Kuntarian laughed and entered the competition at once. He already knew that no one other than the Grand Banders was a match for him in Tian Kingdom.

Now, the sword was placed in front of him.

“Hahaha!”

Kuntarian picked up the sword thrust it into his heart.

Just like when he ate the heart, he felt sudden pain and fainted.

“Nngh…”

Kuntarian woke up and glanced around. He then realized the change in his body and began examining it. He burst into a smile and maniacal laughter.

“Hahahahaha! Hahaha! I now understand how Kiraine knocked me out. This power…!”

Kuntarian was surprised by the power of a Grand Bander. It was much more than what he had imagined. He also had more information and experiences coming from within. It was everything that the warrior of <Kal-Gul> experienced. He was now the reincarnation of a <Kal-Gul> warrior, a dual-wielder of Exar and Bander.

After thinking about what to do with this power, he decided to show the true power to old man Kiraine who knocked him out first. Then he would acquire Celine.

He felt like he could handle all three Grand Banders at once.

“Hehehe… just you wait… you old men… HAHAHA-”

“Are you done laughing?”

“WHAT!”

Kuntarian jumped up at a voice that came from behind. His heightened senses now allowed him to feel even ants walking a few hundred yards away. Even if he was mesmerized by his own powers, there was no way he would miss someone approaching him this close. He turned around to see a familiar face looking at him.

“You bastard, I waited here for an hour for you to wake up, just in case you wouldn’t feel any pain if you got beat up while sleeping.”

After looking closely, Kuntarian remembered that it was the guy who was talking with Celine a while ago. He couldn’t beat him up because Kiraine ambushed him, and now he was here.

Kuntarian forgot the shock and began smirking in delight.

“Good, good. I needed a target to practice on anyway. Good tim-UGH!”

Kuntarian felt searing pain coming from his belly and fell down on one knee.

“What… is… nngh…”

He couldn’t understand what was going on.

“Get ready, it’s just beginning. I used all fifteen vacation days for this.”

Sian gritted at the thought of his wasted vacation days and began smacking his scabbard at Kuntarian.

“It’s boring without him. Hm…”

Celine was bored after Sian left for his vacation.

“I wonder where he went? Hm… Why couldn’t he take me along? He can…”

Celine flinched and stopped in the middle of her blabbering. Traveling with Sian. She considered it a mistake and began moving to the Knight Guard training yard. She felt she needed to erase all the nonsense out of her head.

Meanwhile, Sian was working hard.

“UGH! ARGH!”

Kuntarian could not think straight due to the beating that had been going on for two straight weeks. That evil man did not talk. He didn’t even seem to be angry. He just smacked and smacked. For two straight weeks, it did not stop.

Kuntarian cursed his powers. The power of <Kal-Gul> granted him incredible regenerative powers and a strong mind. Thanks to his power, even though he was under great pain, he did not faint. Just one smack was more painful than when he broke his bone from a sword before. It had been going on for fifteen straight days without one second of rest.

He couldn’t even think. Why it was happening didn’t even matter to him now. Kuntarian only had one thing in his mind.

‘Vacation… is… fifteen days… fifteen…’

Today was the fifteenth day. He said he used his vacation days and today was the last day. That was what kept Kuntarian awake. As he felt hopeful from almost reaching the end, his face brightened and Sian opened his mouth for the first time.

“Hey, what’s with that hopeful expression on your face?”

Sian became uncomfortable. He kept on smacking with his right hand and began counting the days with his left.

He laughed, “Oh, so are you happy because today’s the fifteenth day?”

Kuntarian flinched as Sian realized what he was thinking. Sian smirked.

“Hah. I told you I spent fifteen vacation days. It doesn’t mean I have fifteen days total. I still have six days left including the weekend.”

“UGH!”

Kuntarian felt all hope shatter into pieces after hearing Sian’s words. He barely managed to withstand the fifteen horrendous days with the power of <Kal-Gul>, but there was still six more days to go. Kuntarian then lost his energy and fainted. That was when Sian became curious.

“Huh? Did you faint? I was controlling it…”

It seemed like Kuntarian wasn’t faking it. Sian was dumbfounded. How did he make such a foolish mistake! But Kuntarian soon woke up.

Yet Sian was not delighted. Sian frowned and spat out, glaring at Kuntarian.

“…Who are you? Where’s the half-wit?”

Kuntarian did not seem to be bothered by the question and looked at Sian. It now held the organized flow of energy within, unlike before.