Ch.153Chapter 153: The Decisive Battle in the East (21).

“Ah, I have a question. Is there any of my food left?”

“Of course!! The person who contributed the most today arrives so late! Here, have a beer first!!!”

The one who greeted Valt warmly was Delfon, who had crossed swords with him before.

“I don’t see the Commander anywhere?”

“Well, he said he had some business to attend to and stepped out. Please, come sit here!”

“You can speak comfortably with me, Lord Delfon.”

“A-Ahem! How could I possibly do that with a prince of a nation? I appreciate your consideration, but this is comfortable for me, Prince Valt.”

“Please just drop the ‘prince’ title.”

“As you wish, Sir Valt.”

Delfon must have taken quite a liking to Valt, as he even personally brought Valt’s food to him.

Then he immediately began questioning Valt.

“How on earth did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Neutralizing that artifact! I saw it through the crystal ball, but it was truly an unbelievable power! Even if we accept that you disrupted it with illusion magic, you actually blocked it yourself!? How was it? Please tell us about it!”

Everyone gathered here was a Master-level powerhouse.

Of course, there were differences in strength, but they were all people who wouldn’t back down anywhere.

Their abilities were so close that if anyone let their guard down, victory or defeat between them would hardly make a difference.

That’s why they couldn’t help but be interested in Valt’s artifact neutralization incident.

The Orc King’s artifact was so threatening that Zerdin himself had mentioned he might need to go and stop it personally.

In fact, if Valt hadn’t been there, Zerdin would certainly have stepped in.

But if that had happened, the previously established operation to subjugate the Orc King would have been rendered useless.

No matter how strong Zerdin was, he couldn’t face hordes of orcs without troops.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but they had to block the Orc King’s artifact somehow.

Everyone present knew this—in the worst-case scenario, they would have had to face the Orc King without Zerdin, bearing that burden themselves.

Some of them had experience fighting monsters called Master-level.

Monsters like Twin-headed Ogres or those called Fenrir were no less powerful than Masters.

Therefore, they knew better than anyone how tremendously powerful the Orc King, who was rated even higher, would be.

And yet, that Orc King’s attack had been defeated single-handedly by someone who wasn’t even a Master, nor an Arch Mage, but merely a 5th Circle warrior with somewhat solid muscles.

Since not all Masters were enjoying the banquet, only about twenty Masters had gathered here. The rest were probably resting or training.

For the sake of those who had gathered to hear his story, Valt had no choice but to speak.

“Well, I was lucky. And my companions helped a lot.”

“P-please tell us in detail. What was it like?”

“Hmm… well, you see…”

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.

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Since there was no need to tell them everything, Valt considerably condensed his story.

But even that seemed to have impressed the Masters.

“Hmm… so the shape-changing effect of Lupenium played a major role!”

“You could say that.”

“Incredible… Tremendous physical strength plus magical power, and then Lupenium, the divine metal! Could you be pioneering a new genre called ‘Magic Fighter’?”

Magic Swordsman, Magic Fighter, Magic Fist Fighter, Magic Spearman, and so on.

Efforts to master both magic and aura simultaneously weren’t unheard of.

Especially those who knew that Lupenium responds to magical power had been trying to use aura and magic together.

But it was never easy.

No, it was almost impossible.

To create a floor in the dantian after creating circles, the efficiency dropped dramatically—double for 1st Circle and 1st Floor, and as circles and floors increased, the efficiency decreased three times, four times, even tens of times.

Eventually, humans concluded that aura and magic couldn’t coexist, deciding that using both powers was not permitted for humans.

Only one being on the continent.

Only dragons were classified as the supreme beings capable of using both aura and magic simultaneously.

But this too was a misconception of humans.

Dragons’ magical power was innate.

Dragons, known as the lords of magic, grew their magical power simply by growing up.

Therefore, dragons only needed to invest their long lifespans in learning aura, so it was only natural that they reached levels humans couldn’t achieve.

After all, there was a legendary dragon who held the titles of the world’s only Arch Wizard and Sword Gerant.

“That could be one way to look at it… but while I do use aura, I rely more on magic and spirit arts.”

“S-spirit arts?”

“That’s right.”

“Then this ‘Magic Fighting’ style of yours, Prince Valt! Is it a combination of spirit arts and magic?”

“Well, you could say that.”

Didn’t they say magic and aura couldn’t coexist? But there was one exception.

That was the Spirit Knight.

“But spirits…”

However, there was a problem with this too.

Human affinity with spirits was among the lowest of all races.

Occasionally, humans with exceptional spirit affinity appeared, but this was purely due to humans being the most numerous race on the continent.

The probability of such a human with spirit affinity also having talent in swordsmanship or aura?

It would be easier to learn magic and aura together.

After all, spirit arts were determined purely by affinity rather than effort—truly a realm of talent.

In summary, even if one wanted to learn and put in the effort, they couldn’t even attempt it.

Throughout human history, there had been extremely powerful spirit knights, but most humans didn’t possess such talent.

“I guess I’ll just focus on honing my aura.”

“Haha, that would be better. I’m sure everyone here aims to become a Sword Gerant.”

At the term Valt mentioned, the eyes of all the Masters present changed.

Sword Gerant.

Or Aura Gerant, the ultimate destination for martial artists who use aura.

Some called it another beginning, but for these people, it was undoubtedly a goal they wished to reach.

The 9th level Grand Sword Master, which only a tiny fraction of humans born with the quality of Aura Masters—already just one in hundreds of thousands—could reach.

And the Sword Gerant, which could only be reached by those with the pinnacle of human talent even among Grand Sword Masters, was like a dream even to them.

“Indeed. I was momentarily blinded by Sir Valt’s achievements and forgot what’s important. How embarrassing of me.”

How could one dabble in something else when they hadn’t mastered one field?

This was the stubborn belief of those who walked the path of aura.

“Sometimes looking around can be beneficial. Focusing on just one thing can be tiring.”

With that, Valt began to flex his arm.

It wasn’t magical power.

Valt wanted to give these stubborn aura enthusiasts a hint.

Woong-

The partial aura operation method developed by Valt, Riman, and several others.

Although still in development, that technique was enough to shock everyone present.

“Th-this is!?”

“Aura only in the arm? S-Sir Valt, may I touch it for a moment!?”

“Go ahead.”

Valt’s massive forearm provided enough space for a dozen strong men to gather and place their hands on it.

“M-move aside! I want to check too!”

The Aura Masters, unable to comprehend how partial aura operation could produce such enhancement effects, all wanted to accurately grasp the movement of Valt’s aura.

These were grown men, especially at the Master level, with bushy beards and considerable age.

The sight of such men all reaching out to touch Valt seemed bizarre even to Arias and Liris.

“Valt’s popular with women, but he seems even more popular with men, don’t you think?”

“I agree. This feels strange.”

“Same here. I can’t even get angry… what is this feeling?”

“Should we learn aura too? Would that work?”

“We’re not Valt… spirit arts and magic alone are hard enough…”

“I agree with that too, Arias.”

So the two women had to watch as burly men competed to touch Valt’s arm while they ate their food.

***

Late at night, Valt returned to his tent.

Baron and others had tried to arrange Valt’s quarters near Zerdin’s unit, but Valt deliberately chose to stay in the tent that Grace had initially prepared.

He thought it would allow him to receive news from various places more quickly.

Sure enough, shortly after Valt returned, Grace was coming back looking disheveled.

“Oh? Valt?”

“Just getting back? I’ve been waiting, senior.”