I rubbed my chin as I studied the aura, now far larger than before. According to Sword Masta, developing it this way led to tremendous inefficiency.

Aura billowing like flames versus aura refined to a sharp edge. Even a cursory comparison made it obvious which was more efficient. But apparently, an enormously high wall stood between the two, making the latter difficult to reach. Reaching it would make you a military asset nations would scramble to recruit, so talent played a huge role.

'It hasn't even been a month. I can't just count on talent.'

My body might be gradually adapting to the Forest of Four Seasons, but talent was another matter.

The technique the dwarf had taught me, casting, only required following instructions. But aura and internal energy cultivation methods were completely different. Those powers all depended on a “feel” for them. So even if my mana kept growing endlessly, it meant nothing if I couldn't get that feel.

'I'll ask Sword Masta first.'

The realm known as aura blade, or sword force. Would I have to fight with this inefficient stuff until I reached it? If there was no alternative, so be it, but I wanted an expert's opinion in case it could cause problems.

'Heavenly Demon will probably offer advice too. I'll also ask whether it's normal to fall asleep right after hearing a formula.'

Rather than ask them separately, I'd post on the forum. That would make it easier for them to exchange opinions. I might even get advice from someone else.

Aura got bigger

Wild Grylls

(Photo of aura much larger than before)

Yesterday I ate an inner core and fell asleep as soon as I recited the formula Heavenly Demon taught me. Had some kind of dream afterward, and when I woke up, I had more aura.

Is this normal? Thought I'd get an aura blade, but instead my aura just got fucking huge;;

└Heavenly Demon You fell asleep as soon as you recited the formula? How curious.

└Wild Grylls Is that not supposed to happen?

└Heavenly Demon Normally, enlightenment clears the mind. But falling asleep is a first even for me.

└Wild Grylls Then I guess the dream would be hard to explain too.

└Heavenly Demon What did you dream of?

└Wild Grylls Just flying around in the sky? Happened when I had that fever too.

└Heavenly Demon A dream of flying through the sky... Are you certain it was truly a dream?

└Wild Grylls What do you mean?

└Heavenly Demon It may not have been a dream, but your soul leaving your body.

└You mean an out-of-body experience?

└Sounds like it. Isn't that something only immortals would experience?

└Is Grylls becoming an immortal?

└He's escaping through the sky. Leaving his body behind lmao

└Lord Grylls... Why have you come in spirit alone...?

└Wild Grylls You bastards;;

That possibility gave me the creeps. My soul might really have popped right out! But nothing was certain yet. As I was thinking that...

└Necromancy Is Love Leaving one's body is easy. I can teach you.

└How do you do it?

└Who's this guy anyway? Never seen this registered user before.

└Some guy doing a weird bit. Says he's the Undying King and he's sealed inside Kadir's fridge?

└What kind of bullshit is that lmao

└Even says Allfather is Kadir lol. Probably just friends IRL.

└So, old man. Got a method for us?

└Necromancy Is Love Wait. I shall tell you shortly.

└Necromancy Is Love Oh dear. Unfortunately, I cannot write the formula on the forum. If I had a body, I would have written it on paper myself.

└People come up with the weirdest bits lol

└He's talking shit like he's actually sealed away lmao

└Ask your friend then

└Necromancy Is Love He says he will lower the refrigerator's temperature further. Insolent wretch.

└LMAOOOOOO

└LMAOOOO

└LMAOOO

Necromancy Is Love had appeared out of nowhere and claimed out-of-body experiences were possible. His credibility was pretty low, but everyone agreed it was possible. In that case, I had to consider that it really might have been an out-of-body experience rather than a dream.

└Wild Grylls That's not exactly a good thing, right?

└Necromancy Is Love If soul and body remain close, that is one thing. But should they separate forever, the soul wanders while the body ceases to function. Moreover, since only the soul has left, the body does not die and remains as though alive.

So you'd end up something like brain-dead or in a vegetative state. I got the gist. A dream was definitely preferable to an out-of-body experience. I'd be in serious trouble if my soul went AWOL.

└Sword Masta Wait. What's wrong with that aura now? Why's it so big? I told you that was seriously inefficient;;

└Wild Grylls I know, but it just got bigger on its own. The mana's the same.

└Sword Masta You're putting in the same mana, but it got that big?

└Wild Grylls Yes.

└Sword Masta And it consumes the same amount of mana?

└Wild Grylls Yes

└Sword Masta Seems like your efficiency improved in a weird direction;;

└Damn, a sidegrade

└It really is a sidegrade lmao. Everything's the same except the size of the aura lol

└Has that ever happened before? Not that I know of

I wondered the same thing. Had there ever been a case like mine? Even Sword Masta was utterly baffled. Fortunately, history was full of all sorts of strange occurrences. Before long, an anonymous user appeared who remembered a similar case.

└There was one. About 300 years ago? Pretty sure the Sword Saint of that era was like Grylls.

└Oh, I remember. What was his nickname? It was pretty fucking memorable.

└The Stupidly Strong Sword Saint?

└That's right. That was actually his nickname lmaooo

└But he was a Sword Saint. Why the hell was that his nickname lmaooo

└He couldn't even use an aura blade, but his aura just kept getting insanely huge like Grylls's lmaooo

└Couldn't cut space, but his destructive power was fucking insane lol

└Was his secret move cramming all his aura together and thrusting?

└Yeah, pretty sure he blew up a whole castle with just that.

└Wild Grylls So you're saying I'm stupidly strong?

└Nope. That guy at least had swordmaster-level fundamentals.

└He thrashed other swordmasters on fundamentals alone. That's why he went down in history as a Sword Saint.

└Wild Grylls Then what am I?

└Just stupid?

└Wild Grylls You bitch;;

└Sword Masta I know of him too. First, test what that aura can actually do. It might be all show.

I followed Sword Masta's advice to see whether the flame-like aura actually did anything. Aura wasn't simply formless energy; it had substance. Its effects also varied depending on the tool. It gave sharp weapons like swords more cutting power and made hard weapons like bludgeons harder still. Reaching the aura blade realm would produce effects beyond that, but that was for later. Right now, I needed to check whether my aura, which had gone beyond a heat haze to become flames, actually worked.

'These trees will do.'

I stood before some suitably sized trees. I needed to make an enormous amount of charcoal anyway, so I'd think of this as logging. Holding the sword with its billowing flame-like aura in both hands, I slowly raised it. No need for a shield.

'Start recording too.'

I didn't forget to record it, since I'd be posting it on the forum. Then, with the sword in position, I slashed hard on a diagonal.

SWISH!

Perhaps thanks to the combination of Heavenly Demon's sword and aura, the motion was smooth. But the result was what mattered. I waited quietly for it.

CRAAASH!

Before long, the result unfolded before my eyes. The towering trees fell along the line of my slash. Given how effective the sword was, their cut surfaces were clean too.

'Same goes for the aura.'

The parts sliced by aura were no different. The trees behind them toppled as well. The aura wasn't just for show; it had real cutting power. Unsure whether to be happy about this, I felt a little conflicted. Time to post it on the forum.

Video of cutting trees with aura

Wild Grylls

(Video of a sword blazing with aura and trees toppling after being cut by it)

Looks like the aura isn't just for show. It works across its full size;;

└Heavenly Demon A clean strike. Why not take this opportunity to abandon your shield? With even gorillas using internal heavy-hand techniques, I think it would be a reasonable choice.

└Wild Grylls My shield has saved my life a lot. Besides, that one's monstrously strong. The others are still manageable.

└Sword Masta Now that we know the aura isn't just for show... what do we do?

└Wild Grylls Why are you asking me? You're supposed to teach me, Sword Masta.

└Sword Masta How am I supposed to teach something I don't know...?!

└It's hard to teach when you genuinely don't know lmao

└Messing with it for no reason could screw everything up~

└Starlight Lady How should I put it? Your strength is like a magic formula, Grylls. The process is strange, but it works just fine.

└Wild Grylls What's that supposed to mean?

└Starlight Lady Birds normally fly with their wings, right? But this one's flying by spinning its head around and around. Still, it does fly, so you let it slide.

└Wild Grylls That doesn't sound good.

└Starlight Lady Even if the process is strange, isn't it fine if the results are good?

└Wild Grylls True, but... Ah, shit lmao. I don't know anymore lol

└Just relax and keep growing your aura. Probably best.

└Aura blades are a matter of talent anyway. Ignore that and get stupidly strong.

└That might be better lol

└Sword Masta But you said you gained enlightenment after hearing Heavenly Demon's formula, right?

└Wild Grylls Yes.

└Sword Masta Maybe she taught you something weird?

└Wild Grylls That sounds like a dangerous thing to say.

└Wild Grylls Teacher?

└Wild Grylls Huh? Where'd you go?

└Heavenly Demon I have delivered divine punishment. I can tolerate anything else, but not slander against a divine art passed down through generations.

└Yeah, Sword Masta had that one coming lmao

└Lmao fucking called the internal energy cultivation method the moderator taught him weird

└How many days is the ban?

└Heavenly Demon I have banished her for six hours so she may take this opportunity to be good to her parents.

Well, nothing to be done about that. I closed the forum. There had been all kinds of speculation, but one thing was certain. Heavenly Demon's formula definitely worked. The problem was that the benefit had gone somewhere else.

To give an example, it was like taking hair-loss medication only to grow a huge beard. Meanwhile, the hair on your head, the stuff you wanted to stop losing, stayed the same.

'That's sad in its own way.'

Wouldn't that make you want to rotate your head 180 degrees? I stopped that pointless train of thought and looked at my sword.

'But I can't just reduce the amount of mana.'

Generating aura required a certain quantity of mana. Put simply, it was like oil. Oil burned up in an instant when it met fire. But unless it reached its ignition point, it was just an ordinary liquid.

'In my case, the ignition point stayed the same, but there's much more oil... I just don't get why.'

Which raised one question.

'How much more will the Mithricon sword flare up?'

I checked the time. There was still a little while before breakfast. So I took the Mithricon sword and fed mana into it.

SHHHHH!

The Mithricon sword sparkled like a green galaxy. Beautiful every time I saw it. After gazing at its luminous glow, I manifested aura. I'd expected it to grow to about one and a half times the size at most, but...

WHOOOOSH!!!

“Whoa.”

So much aura blazed up that I had to crane my neck to see it. I knew the sword was effective, but wasn't this a little too effective?

'So Heavenly Demon didn't say that for nothing.'

If even I could produce this much, never mind what an expert could do. It even consumed very little mana. One wrong move and I could hurt myself. I quietly withdrew the aura. Ideally, I should probably wait until I could condense it.

'Should I just use this to keep enemies at range?'

It seemed kind of stupid, but also effective. All I could do was laugh in disbelief.

* * *

Meanwhile, at around the same time, Sword Masta, otherwise known as Ashe, had been banned by Heavenly Demon.

“What's gotten into you? Helping your mother for once.”

“I just... thought I should be a good daughter.”

“If you have nothing to do, bring home a nice potential husband. That's how you can be a good daughter.”

“Yes...”

Thanks to Heavenly Demon's kindness(?), she was fulfilling her filial duties for the first time in a while.