Chapter Title: Resonator Candidate
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"S-spare me, sir knight! If you just let me go this once, I'll give you this..."
Ballun pulled a money pouch from his bosom and held it out, groveling pathetically.
Karyl froze at the sight of the jewels and gold coins inside, a smile creeping across his lips.
'Of course.'
No matter how much they called themselves knights or whatever, money was king.
In a world where even those haughty priests took bribes on the sly, that said it all.
Ballun was brimming with hope that he might just walk away scot-free.
Whish— Thud!
Karyl's foot shot out, slamming into his mouth.
Blood oozed from between his scattered teeth.
"Eu-eu (spare me)..."
Ignoring Ballun's pleas, Karyl dropped to one knee, seized his arm, and twisted it viciously in the opposite direction.
Crack! Crunch!
After shattering every limb, Karyl dragged the man back to the village like a rag doll.
In the meantime, the villagers who had regained their senses were tending to the cleanup.
They treated the wounded and gathered the corpses in one place. Karyl approached them and hurled Ballun down at their feet.
"This is the last one. Do with him what you will."
"Wah-wah! Thank you! We truly thank you!"
The villagers bowed repeatedly to Karyl before turning venomous glares on Ballun.
"Eu-eu, u-ueu..."
With his jaw smashed, Ballun couldn't speak. He tried to grovel like a fly anyway.
But with every limb broken, all he could do was wriggle like a maggot.
The villagers, fueled by rage over lost family and friends, grabbed clubs, hoes, shovels—whatever they could find—and unleashed their fury without mercy.
"Aaaagh! Uwaaagh!"
"Forgive me! I was just doing what the boss told me to... Aaaagh!"
Not just the boss Ballun, but the bandits too injured to flee met the same fate.
They were tortured so brutally that their comrades cleanly slain by Karyl's sword almost seemed fortunate.
Karyl watched the bandits' torment without intervening once.
'If you've committed the crime, you pay the price.'
Whether their eyes were gouged out alive, their flesh ripped apart, or they were set ablaze.
All that suffering was the lot of those who had piled up their sins.
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"Thank you! Truly, thank you!"
"We'll never forget this kindness!"
Karyl pulled some gold coins from the bandit leader's money pouch, claimed the jewels and a horse for himself, then hit the road again.
As he traversed the narrow mountain path, he patted the holy sword hanging at his waist.
"Hey, Angelica."
-…
"You gonna keep ignoring me? Another regulation violation? Then why bother helping?"
Only then did her curt voice echo in his mind.
"My duty as the holy sword is to uphold the world's justice. That's why I endured a regulation violation to activate the emergency protocol."
"That's not it, though? I clearly heard 'resonator candidate' earlier."
"That was a temporary workaround to skirt the regulations. Don't get any funny ideas."
Karyl couldn't help but smirk at Angelica's response.
'This one's not honest at all.'
There were people like that.
Those who hid their true feelings behind pride or self-respect.
Spouting excuses like it wasn't really for you, they just happened to pass by, or it was loyalty, not affection.
"That breastplate that popped up and vanished—was that part of the Holy Spirit Armor? Thanks for the help anyway. But was that really aura? I still can't wrap my head around it."
Karyl was intrigued by the Holy Spirit Armor summoned from the holy sword like barding, but the aura fascinated him more.
He knew all too well the grueling efforts he'd made to learn aura. That's why he could tell.
This was it. The thing he'd sought, strived for, and despaired over.
The energy rippling at the sword's tip, the boosted physical prowess—it was definitely aura.
"Can the holy sword let aura incapables wield aura?"
"Not aura—ether."
"Ether?"
"Yes. It looks similar to aura on the surface, but their natures are entirely different."
According to her, ether was the chaotic power that formed the foundation of the world itself.
The very basis the gods had used to create the world in ancient times.
"Isn't that mana?"
"Mana is a derivative of ether. To be precise, demonic energy—the root of demon power—mages' mana, knights' aura, and priests' divine power are all branches split from the ether stem."
"So it's a more primal force. And the holy sword lets you wield it? I never saw Hakan use that purple aura—or ether, I guess."
"Naturally. Ether isn't a power just anyone can handle."
Karyl's face lit up with anticipation at her words.
"If not just anyone, does that mean I'm part of a god's bloodline?"
Myths and legends were full of such figures.
Demigods, heroes born with divine blood.
But Karyl's hopes were swiftly dashed.
"You're 100% human. Not a drop of divine blood in you—not even Rolan's."
"Tch, then why?"
"Paradoxically, because your constitution can't accumulate anything."
Her explanation went like this: aura and mana were like reservoirs where you stored water to draw from later, while ether was like channeling water from a flowing river.
"Ah, I get it now."
Karyl was an aura incapable because of his innate cursed constitution that couldn't store aura in his body.
But such a constitution wasn't entirely a curse.
It acted like a conduit, allowing him to channel ether.
And the channeled ether could be converted on the spot into aura or mana, depending on the user's aptitude.
"My wounds healing earlier must've been thanks to ether too."
"Yes. I converted it into divine power for you."
Karyl swallowed hard before asking,
"So if you supply me with ether, can I keep using aura?"
The exhilaration from that fight was still fresh.
Cleaving a bandit shield and all, slicing projectiles smaller and faster than arrows, moving quicker than the eye could track—unforgettable sensations.
If he could wield aura from here on out, becoming the knight—and even cavalier—of his childhood dreams would be easier than eating cold soup!
"Impossible. You're not an official resonator, so ongoing assistance violates regulations. Divine weapons can contain and use ether, but they can't gather it themselves."
"What? Then what was that earlier...?"
"Injected by Lord Rolan 500 years ago, before his passing."
Most had dispersed over the centuries, and what little remained had been nearly exhausted helping Karyl.
"Ha, so close."
As Karyl deflated, an enticing offer reached his ears.
"If you wish, you can receive ether directly from the world itself. I can teach you the method." ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"What? Like an aura training method, but for gathering ether?"
"Not gathering—receiving and utilizing it."
That's why it was called the acceptance method, not a training technique.
Either way, it meant he could wield aura.
'Nice!'
Karyl cheered inwardly but quickly reined in his excitement. He still had something to confirm.
"You're... really gonna teach me that? Isn't helping a non-resonator a regulation violation?"
"That's why I've tagged you as a candidate for now. And it's not direct use of the holy sword's power, so it's fine."
The true power of the holy sword went far beyond mere ether usage.
Recalling the world-shaking clash between the elf queen and Hakan, Karyl nodded in agreement.
"Besides, I want to observe you a bit longer. If you're qualified, I won't make the mistake of bonding with the wrong person as my resonator."
Karyl had told her about his life before the regression yesterday, spilling everything about Hakan.
She hadn't said much at the time, but it seemed choosing Hakan as her resonator really got under her skin.
"So now you'll treat me like a resonator—or at least a resonator candidate?"
"Don't celebrate yet. Becoming a true resonator requires passing strict, grueling verification."
"And that verification is about upholding world justice?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Eh, whatever. I get the gist. But you're not teaching me anything besides the ether acceptance method? My skills feel pretty lacking for setting the world right."
"Be satisfied with escaping your aura impotence for now."
"Hey, there are so many powerhouses out there! What if I run into another resonator and get wiped out in one shot?!"
The known wielders of the Fire Halberd Kelthar, Divine Gauntlet Reckless, and Thunder Lord Mjolnir alone were superhumans who had transcended human limits.
At Karyl's current level, he couldn't even survive a single exchange.
"Then strive to become an official resonator faster."
"How about teaching me Stella Sword instead—the one the Sword Saint created? That's part of the holy sword's abilities too, right?"
"I'm a holy sword, not a swordsmanship tutor."
"If things go south and I die, you could end up in the hands of another Hakan-type scum?"
"That's..."
At Karyl's veiled threat, Angelica finally let out a deep sigh.
"I'll teach you one form for every verification stage you pass."
Stella Sword consisted of a total of three forms.
'Tch, if you're gonna teach, just do it all at once. What a stubborn one.'
He'd failed to learn Stella Sword right away, but it was still a win.
He'd escaped the curse of being an aura impotent.
Just mastering aura would make him several times stronger than he was now—he was confident of that.
"By the way, who created that ether acceptance method?"
"Lord Rolan created it."
Karyl had been thinking of the All God, but the answer was different.
"What? The Sword Saint? Why?"
"Because Lord Rolan was an aura incapable, just like you."
Five hundred years ago, this was the man who had thwarted the continental cataclysm.
The only superhuman in history to earn the Grand Master title, the hero who established the code of chivalry.
And he'd been an aura incapable!
'Now that I think about it, the legends...'
The Sword Saint was renowned not just for his genius swordsmanship, but for his overwhelmingly vast and powerful aura.
He fought hordes of demons and monster legions single-handedly without tiring, and during his seven-day, seven-night bloodbath with the Demon King, his aura's might never waned.
Everyone chalked it up to the holy sword, but apparently, it was because he knew how to wield ether.
"When Demon King Kaniza plunged the continent into chaos, Rolan—a mere knight—wandered the world seeking the power to vanquish him."
At the time, the Sword Saint had analyzed countless aura training methods of the era, as well as mages' mana meditations and priests' prayer rituals, all in pursuit of overcoming his constitution.
"He discovered me sealed in a ruin in the Karakas Mountains and created Stella Sword and the ether acceptance method. It was twenty years after he'd set his resolve."
'I would've thrown in the towel halfway...'
Putting talent aside, Karyl felt deep respect for the Sword Saint's unyielding perseverance and pressed on.
"But the Sword Saint's chronicles mentioned that whoever gathers the twelve divine weapons becomes the successor to All God Theos—is that true?"
Some claimed it meant becoming the continent's strongest, others that it would make one a true god.
That's why, for the past five centuries, countless people had hunted for the divine weapons.
And ten years from now.
Resonators would emerge into the world, clashing fiercely to seize each other's divine weapons.
"It doesn't make one the second All God. However, it is true that uniting the spirits of all twelve divine weapons grants transcendent authority."
'Damn it, if a guy like Hakan gathers all twelve, the world's done for.'
Shaking his head, Karyl requested the ether acceptance method first.
"Let's start with what we can do!"
But Angelica shot down his eager words.
"Wait. Astra Nexus is best practiced at night rather than during the day."
"Why?"
"Ether is more visible at night."
"Got it. I'll wait."
The sun would set soon enough.
With anticipation building, Karyl set out to find a suitable spot for training.
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