Chapter 106: In the Na of the Blood Pact
The explosive physical enhancent technique Burst Strike unleashes all latent potential in an instant, overturning limits.
The aftermath, however, lasted longer than I expected.
I was carried sowhere and spent three full days lying down like a patient, unable to move. Even with the Ring of Desire, which could restore my depleted vitality, it seed ti was still needed for full recovery.
To have a ring that could restore life itself was miraculous. To complain about the ti it took would just be greedy, wouldn’t it?
Though I spent my days lying down, I didn’t waste ti idly.
Especially not my mouth.
For three days straight, my mouth never stopped moving.
I carried out two tasks with relentless effort—one was chewing and swallowing food, and the other was bombarding Reto with an endless storm of questions.
“Reto, how can I increase my latent energy?”
“Reto, is there a way to avoid the curse of the divine na?”
“Reto, those mana stones ca from the mimic’s body, right? Does that an I’ll eventually start spitting out mana stones too? Like, I don’t know, while taking a dump or sothing?”
“Reto. Hey, Reto?”
Whenever a question popped into my head, I’d imdiately ask Reto for answers.
Despite his gruff nature, Reto answered all my questions seriously. He never showed annoyance or impatience.
Talking to him felt almost like chatting with a perfectly programd AI—his responses were truthful and detailed explanations of what he knew.
Reto’s answers were sotis tedious, sotis fascinating, and occasionally downright shocking.
It was interesting.
In fact, these conversations helped realize Reto’s other potential.
It was like having an encyclopedia or a strategy guide for the novel When the Villains Get Stronger.
[Don’t know.]
[That’s a term I’ve never heard before.]
Of course, being an absolute didn’t an he knew everything.
***
The next day.
Finally, I managed to get out of bed and walk around again.
Only now did I realize how blissful it was to be able to move freely on my own two feet.
Over the past few days, I’d needed the help of attendants even for als and other, uh, personal matters. It was a thoroughly humiliating experience.
I never wanted to go through that again… but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last ti.
My relief at being able to move didn’t last long.
The mont I unwrapped the bandages stabilizing my wrist, astonishnt replaced my joy.
“...Wow. That’s just insane.”
Cautiously, I curled and stretched my newly regrown fingers.
Aside from a slight stiffness, there didn’t seem to be any major issues.
The wrist that had been obliterated by the failed enchantnt had fully regenerated.
An unprecedented recovery speed.
[In the state of Burst Strike, all physical abilities surpass their limits. Recovery is no exception.]
I had watched my wrist regenerate in real-ti. Though I’d experienced sothing similar when I first unleashed Burst Strike, seeing it happen before my eyes and feeling it directly was a new kind of shock.
I felt like I was slowly drifting further away from being human. But to survive in this brutal world, I had no choice.
Being a pure human just wasn’t viable in a place this rciless.
When I asked Reto about the restoration of my damaged body, he replied:
[Your body continuously gathers the biological information necessary for reconstruction. As long as you’re alive, any part of your body can regenerate, given enough ti. But you do have to stay alive.]
So, if my head exploded, my heart burst, or I suffered injuries beyond recovery—that would be the conditions of my death.
While most of it was easy to understand, the last part puzzled .
“Injuries beyond recovery?”
[So attributes interfere with regeneration. If a force significantly stronger than your recovery ability attacks you, you’ll die.]
“What kind of forces?”
[It depends on the user’s abilities, so it’s hard to specify. But if you want an example, poison is a classic one.]
This was new information, even beyond what the novel had revealed.
I would’ve liked to take a month off and absorb all of Reto’s teachings, but I had too much to do for that to be feasible.
Stretching my stiff body and preparing to leave, I noticed the sun had already set.
I gazed briefly at the darkening sky beyond the window before stepping out of the room.
Since part of the lord’s castle had collapsed, I had been moved to a new residence—a private villa located on the outskirts of the inner castle.
Fenry had regained consciousness and returned to the Blue Rose, leaving to stay in the villa alone.
Sharbadin occasionally stopped by to update on Fenry’s condition. Apparently, she was busy adapting to her newly evolved shadow spirit while catching up on all her overdue work.
“Sir Alex, you’re up?”
“Oh, yes. Good morning.”
“Please, you don’t need to address so formally. I’m just the caretaker of this villa.”
“This is how I’m comfortable. Please feel free to relax.”
As I stepped out of the building, a large, elderly caretaker who had been sweeping the ground greeted warmly.
He was an old wolf beastman.
If wolves aged, this is probably what they’d look like—a grizzled, dignified elder.
Though dwarves dominated Beneta’s population, elves and beastn also held their own in this territory.
Among the beastn, those with wolf blood were particularly nurous.
Now that I thought about it, wasn’t the butler of the Blue Rose also a wolf beastman?
The elderly caretaker before had been hired by Sharbadin to manage this villa.
“If nothing urgent cos up, could you start delivering my als to the training grounds from now on?”
“Shall I begin with dinner tonight?”
“Yes, please.”
Behind the villa was a small training ground. It was immaculately clean, likely thanks to the caretaker’s efforts.
As I looked around, a new sense of appreciation washed over .
“…Have I made it in life?”
The villa had its own training ground, a caretaker, and three attendants.
And it was all free.
This was a luxury I couldn’t have dread of in my previous life.
A life where even scraping by was a challenge.
Buying an apartnt on a mortgage would take a lifeti of work, and by the ti retirent ca, all you’d have left would be that one paid-off ho.
Where I ca from, that was considered a successful life.
[Made it? What does that even an?]
“It’s just a saying.”
No point in explaining it to Reto—it’d just be a waste of breath.
Summoning the Ring of Blood, I held the pristine white bow that imdiately began draining my blood with enthusiasm.
Its form and aura were divine, but its behavior was that of a villain.
Chuckling to myself, I stared at the crimson-stained bow in my hands, then at the red ring on my finger.
The Ring of Desire.
Without it, neither Burst Strike nor the Ring of Blood would function as they do.
This ring, imbued with the will to survive, was the cornerstone of my abilities.
It completed the powers I had gained.
Right now, it was my most precious possession.
I stared at the blood-soaked bow for a mont.
Reto had said that once I completed the first stage of training, the maximum output ti for the Ring of Blood would be shortened.
However…
“…Still a long way to go.”
The output ti had indeed beco noticeably shorter—down from 15 minutes to about 5.
While the change was significant, 5 minutes was still impractical for real combat.
“Can’t we shorten it further?”
[Soday. Once the value of your blood increases.]
“The value of my blood? Are you saying blood has grades or sothing?”
[Do you think the bow’s abilities depend solely on the amount of blood? The quality matters far more. Your recent awakening increased your vessel’s capacity, which is why there was a change.]
“What about during Burst Strike?”
When latent potential is burned, the limits of the vessel disappear. The sa should apply to blood.
[The ti would be drastically shortened. But with your current vessel, you wouldn’t even be able to hold the bow while in Burst Strike.]
“…….”
Reto scoffed at my tiny pool of latent energy.
If Fenry heard how long I could sustain Burst Strike, she’d probably call a pathetic loser.
In the end, I’d have to grow further and expand my vessel to hold more latent energy.
Deactivating the Ring of Blood, I began moving my body.
Faster.
Faster still.
I kept pushing my limits.
The pristine training ground grew covered in footprints by the ti I stopped.
Huff— Huff—
My forehead was slick with sweat.
After pushing myself to the limit, my muscles scread in protest.
The first-stage training regin Reto had devised for had been borderline insane.
It was brutal enough to make curse constantly, but the results were phenonal.
[You’ve gained a fighter’s eyes. And that starts with taking hits.]
I’d developed the ability to read attack trajectories.
[If you want to tear at a throat, you need courage. You have to get close enough to risk their fangs.]
I’d gained the composure to face any attack head-on.
My body had beco tougher and more resilient.
I’d mastered the Ring of Blood and enchantnts to a degree where they were now combat-ready.
I felt like I could finally pull my weight in any situation.
But one thing remained clear:
‘Enchanting my body is insane.’
I resolved—again and again—that I wouldn’t try enchanting my body until I was far more skilled.
I’d been lucky to get away with just losing a wrist. If my luck had been any worse, my entire body could’ve been destroyed.
And luck wasn’t exactly my strong suit.
It felt like I’d used up all my good fortune just surviving this ordeal.
The intense training in Beneta had co to an end.
With my awakening of Burst Strike—the final mission—I felt like I had successfully completed it.
“Reto, can I take it easy now?”
[If an infant taking its first steps decides it’s done walking, it’s no different from a beast.]
“…What are you saying?”
[It ans, stop saying such inhuman things.]
…This damn old fossil. Ever heard of flexibility?
Letting out a long sigh, I summoned the Ring of Blood again.
Maybe it was easier when I didn’t have a wrist.
It seed tonight would be another sleepless training session.
***
“You look tired.”
“I do, don’t I? Ti to head out.”
“Are you going straight to the castle?”
“Yes, the lord has summoned .”
“Safe travels.”
Dragging my feet as I left the villa, the wolf caretaker waved off with his broom.
Sweeping the ground at dawn—were all wolf beastn this diligent?
“I really spent the whole night in the training grounds, huh.”
Reto’s complete lack of rcy or flexibility.
Every ti I tried to lie down and rest, he’d hit with a sharp “Get up.”
Ignoring him didn’t help—he’d tighten my heart or jab at until I gave in.
Even modern torture thods wouldn’t have been this relentless!
I was already starting to develop a complex over the phrase “Get up.”
As the lord’s castle ca into view, I leisurely strolled along the well-paved stone path. The morning air added a serene charm to the castle’s scenery.
Last night, Dorneth had sent a ssage through an attendant, asking to visit the castle.
With Fenry now awake, it was probably ti to discuss the Blood Pact.
Preparations for the matter involving the abandoned mine should also be complete by now.
Dwarves, elves, and humans.
A Blood Pact uniting these three races would undoubtedly stir up all of Tobaron.
After all, it had been nearly a century since a non-human race ford a Blood Pact with humans.
‘I wonder what the future holds?’
As I tried to predict what might unfold, I realized I’d need to hear Dorneth’s side of things first.
As I entered the central part of the castle, the roads widened, and more people began to appear.
“…Huh?”
As I walked lost in thought, I noticed sothing strange.
People were staring at .
The townsfolk’s eyes followed , and when I made eye contact, they quickly looked away in shock.
It made sense for to stand out as a human here, but their gazes were oddly intense.
It wasn’t just one or two people, either.
“What’s going on?”
Every ti I appeared, people stopped whatever they were doing and began whispering among themselves while glancing at .
It didn’t seem like they were badmouthing .
From the looks of their expressions, their gazes were full of curiosity and admiration, not hostility or malice.
That only made it more unsettling.
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