Burren raised his head, sitting on the floor of the cave he was in.
There were countless blade marks carved into the walls and ceiling. They were marks left by the Central Martial Palace swordsmen that had entered the cave before him.
"They look like scribbles."
The first palace master's remnants could've been among them, but all he could see was contorted traces that resembled a child's drawing.
However, the people that left the marks weren't playing around. They were seriously practicing their swordsmanship. The reason they looked like that was because the flow of mana was slightly distorted inside the cave.
'So, that's why they said it was meaningless to train here.'
He had heard from his second brother that it was meaningless to train in the cave.
He didn't pay much attention back then, but he finally understood what he meant. Training in that place was pretty much meaningless because of the distorted mana. The most he could do was strengthen his willpower a bit.
Enduring the headache and wasting his time in boredom was the only thing he could do.
"However…"
Burren clasped the hand that had been touching the ground.
"I can't do that."
After all, Burren's goal was that monster.
He still couldn't erase the fight between Raon and Holline from his mind, even a week later.
Holline was a genius that became the vice-squad leader of Striding Lightning at a young age. If he wanted to catch up to Raon, who had defeated such a powerful person, Burren wasn't allowed to waste any time.
He was sure that Raon would still be training despite the distorted flow of mana, since he managed to develop his technique even further even though the technique had already looked complete in the past.
"Huff."
Burren caught his breath and drew his sword. His eyes sparkled as he moved into the posture of the new technique he'd been practicing for the last year in Levine Desert.
'I shouldn't lose to Raon's sword if I manage to complete this technique.'
The martial art he managed to obtain in the Levine desert during his survival exam was more than just powerful. Burren was certain that its fangs would become sharp enough to work against Raon, who was already at the highest rank of Expert, once he managed to fully acquire it.
Whoosh!
The harsh wind of desert that could even kill the sand. That deadly wind dynamically spread from Burren's hand through the martial art he had learned.
* * *
Raon didn't move in the slightest, continuously rotating the Ring of Fire.
Likely because of the trait Focus, his thoughts grew centered, and he gradually became accustomed to the distorted mana. He almost didn't feel dizzy or suffocated anymore.
'That's not the only positive part.'
From inhaling and purifying fragmented and twisted mana instead of an ordinary mana, the Ring of Fire's proficiency increased exponentially in a short time frame.
Cring!
The five rings of fire were rotating perfectly, and a new ring was being created.
You damn bastard!
As he focused on the creation of the sixth ring, Wrath's annoyed voice resounded in his ear.
"Haa…"
Raon sighed and opened his eyes slightly. Wrath was grinding his teeth in front of him, covered in blue frost.
What are you even doing, not eating or sleeping for three whole days?
"Three days? Has it already been three days?"
Yes! The King of Essence has endured this living hell for three days while starving. If you have any conscience at all, leave this place immediately and offer me food from the annex building!
"Move aside a bit."
He pushed Wrath away as he tried to stick onto him, opening the bag next to him.
That bag…
"What? You told me to eat this earlier."
Were you actually ignoring me when I said that?
"Rather than ignoring you, I just couldn't be bothered."
He ignored him because he figured Wrath would only throw more tantrums if Raon reacted to him.
"Hey, you are the Monarch of Gluttony, not Wrath. Right?"
Wh-What are you talking about?
"Although you keep claiming that you are a gourmet, you asked me to eat this unsavory bread, which means you just want to fill your stomach."
Th-The king of essence is the proud Monarch of Wrath that loves the world of delicacies! Apologize for comparing me to that rabbit bastard immediately!
"Rabbit, huh…?"
Just as he called Sloth a sleepyhead or a bear, Gluttony was apparently like a rabbit.
It was rather unexpected that he was called a rabbit instead of something like a boar.
'This is another piece of information.'
The talkative Wrath unconsciously gave away many important pieces of information. Remembering it should come in handy one day.
Raon snickered and picked up the Nadins bread. With a round shape like a half moon, it had the brown color of a well-cooked sweet potato. The fact that it wasn't tasty despite its appearance was the bread's main characteristic.
Hmm? It looks pretty delicious.
Because he had been starving for three days, coldness drooled from his mouth just from looking at the bread.
"Do you think so?"
Raon snickered and took a bite of Nadine bread. It was as tough as a lump of rubber, and there was no taste at all. Raon smiled at the taste from his previous life, one that he hadn't had in a while.
Gurgle…
Wrath stretched his mouth, trying to throw up. Apparently, he didn't believe Raon when he said that it was unsavory and felt like chewing rubber.
Th-This is a sin! A sin towards food! How can you smile while eating this? You must be a devil!
Raon was called a devil by the demon king once again.
"It's not too bad."
Raon thoroughly chewed up to the last piece and swallowed before patting his belly, as he already felt full. It was really good at filling the belly, despite its disgusting texture.
A bread with satiety as its only purpose… What a frightening food! It's a true horror…
Wrath trembled while looking at the Nadine bread. Although Raon had seen many reactions from him before, it was his first time seeing him so frightened. He wasn't sure whether he was a gourmet or a glutton, but he looked like a fool for sure.
"Hmm?"
As he was about to cultivate the Ring of Fire once again after drinking water, he could hear the footsteps of two people from the direction of the cave's entrance. Once he focused his hearing, he could feel anxiety from them.
"They are finally here."
Raon used Glacier to lower the temperature of his left hand, giving it a light pink color—as if he had gotten frostbite.
He could use aura for a short time, thanks to having purified the mana inside his body through the Ring of Fire.
He fixed his posture and waited, and the two people's faces appeared from the corner of his eye. It was General Administrator Urek and Training Instructor Reff.
"Gasp! Y-You were ali…"
"A-Are you alright?"
The two people's eyes widened, as if they had seen a ghost, upon finding him casually sitting there.
"Of course I'm alright."
Raon nodded with a faint smile, and their faces turned even more pale—as if they were covered by white paper.
"Argh…"
"B-But there's no way you are alright! It's impossible that you wouldn't feel that nauseating distortion of mana in this place…"
While slowly walking towards him, Reff frowned and grasped his chest. He was feeling nausea from the twisted mana inside the cave.
"Reff, shut your mouth!"
Urek stopped him from talking and stepped up. He was also biting his lips as the feeling of the distorted mana washed over him.
"Are you really alright?"
"It feels slightly nauseating, but I should be able to endure this much as a swordsman of Zieghart."
"S-Slightly?"
"Hmm…"
Reff bit his nails, and Urek remained speechless for a while before forcing himself to look calm. He nodded.
"Fine. Since three days have passed, you have eleven more days to hold out."
"Understood. But…"
Raon smiled faintly and met their wavering eyes.
"Why did you come here? This is supposed to be a two week long meditation, yet a visit like this is disturbing me."
"Impudence!"
"…It's just a check-in, in order to prevent the accidents that occasionally happen inside the cave."
Urek explained the situation while stopping Reff.
"I see."
It was obvious that he was lying, judging from his trembling lips. Raon just snickered and nodded.
"Then, can you please leave now? I need to continue."
"Alright. See you later…"
Urek grit his teeth and started to leave, but noticed Raon's left hand and narrowed his eyes. His eyes shone for an instant, and he tugged Reff towards the exit.
'I see.'
Raon snickered, looking at the two shadows as they got further away.
'You were right.'
Considering the fact that they came to visit him, the self-proclaimed gourmet demon king was right about the fact that the other caves' mana wasn't as distorted as his.
Urek was trying to control his expression, but it was pointless because Reff was completely flustered. They did send him to that cave in order to screw him over.
It ended up helping him instead.
Although they picked that location to make him suffer, they ended up helping him instead. The progress he had made with the Ring of Fire in the past three days was more than the progress he'd have made in three months.
Wait! Did you pour frost into your hand in order to trick them?
'Yes.'
Then, did you also pretend to be in pain after sparring against that weakling for the same reason?
'That's right. Now they must believe that I'm weak to ice, and will use that when they decide to attack me.'
Even though he was the most resistant against ice.
Raon smiled coldly, remembering Urek's expression.
You are insane. You are seriously nuts…
Impressed by his plan, Wrath murmured that he was the real fiend.
'You were also pretty amazing. You even felt the other caves' mana distribution from here.'
Ahem! That's the greatness of the King of Essence. Not just the other caves, I can even feel the energy from further away.
Wrath vividly pricked up his ears at hearing the rare compliment.
If you are grateful to the King of Essence, then leave this place immediately. Go outside and eat the pineapple girl's pie…
"Alright, I'm going to resume."
Sensing that the two people had left the cave, Raon sat back down and closed his eyes.
Hey! Hey! Raon!
Wrath frantically shook his head to stop him, but Raon had already closed his eyes and was focused on the Ring of Fire.
I don't want the rubber bread anymore!
* * *
"Wh-What's wrong with that guy?"
Reff's hands were trembling, unable to understand what he had witnessed.
"It's more difficult to hold out in that cave the more sensitive you are to mana. I don't understand how he can stay in that cave despite being at the highest rank of Expert!"
He thought he was going to remove his corpse since he hadn't come out for three days, yet he looked perfectly fine.
Instead, he looked even better than when he had entered the cave.
"He seemed to have plenty of room to spare."
Urek bit his lip.
"It looked like he was laughing at us."
"Th-That's…"
"He wasn't just fine. His refreshed eyes looked like he had realized something. He must've gotten accustomed to that distorted mana. Your rash actions only made that damn bastard even stronger."
"P-Please excuse me…"
Reff lowered his head. He couldn't say anything, as his impulsive actions seemed to have helped Raon instead.
"Shouldn't we bring him out immediately? If we make excuses…"
"That's meaningless. It would only confirm his suspicion."
"Argh!"
"That's why you should've just followed orders!"
Reff's shoulders kept shrinking under Urek's scolding.
"Haa…"
Urek turned to look at the first cave, where Raon sat, and sighed.
'It looks like we picked on the wrong opponent.'
His experience was telling him that he shouldn't make an enemy of someone like that. And if he ended up being his enemy, then he needed to make sure to kill him.
'However, I still gained something from this.'
He confirmed it after seeing Raon's pink hand earlier—that the injury he had received from Holline a week ago was still not healed. Ice was definitely Raon's weakness.
'I have at least one thing that I can report to the palace master.'
Urek's eyes became as cold as ice.
* * *
Raon didn't open his eyes a single time, continuing to cultivate the Ring of Fire after Urek and Reff left.
Amidst the five rings that kept clashing and crossing each other, he created a thin ring as carefully as crafting a glass bottle.
'A little bit slower.'
It was necessary to keep the new ring from colliding with the previous rings. That was why the increased number made it harder to create a new ring.
'I have to do this properly, even if it is slow.'
Just like a cicada's nymph—which endured eight years before surfacing from underground—Raon took his time to form the new ring of fire, avoiding the five rings that rotated around each other like cogwheels.
He removed all of the unnecessary thoughts in his mind, focusing on rotating the existing rings of fire and crafting the new ring.
The beginning and the end.
Although they seemed like they would never meet each other, the Ring of Fire's beginning and end eventually began to approach each other.
'This is the important part.'
If the new ring of fire was longer, it had more of a risk of collision with the existing rings of fire.
Like an artisan crafting pottery, Raon focused even more to refine the new ring of fire.
Cring!
The fifth ring of fire rotated violently, about to crash into the new ring. Raon very slightly turned the Ring of Fire, less than a hair's length, and barely managed to avoid the collision.
His back was drenched in sweat each time he avoided danger. He couldn't tell in his focused state, but his entire body was drenched.
However, he didn't have time to think about how sticky he was. A single mistake could nullify all his efforts so far, and further injure him internally.
Whir!
Right before the two ends of the Ring of Fire met each other, a new crisis occurred. The first and the third rings resonated with each other and started to put pressure on the new ring.
'I need to avert it.'
He applied the twisted mana flowing into him directly to the new Ring of Fire. The ring curved for a moment to avoid that pressure.
'Now is the time!'
That crisis was his opportunity.
Raon absorbed a large amount of mana the moment the crisis was averted, extending the beginning and end of the sixth ring of fire.
Cring!
The new ring connected perfectly, like a line drawn by a master, and started rotating through the twisted mana.
Whir!
The pulses coming from the resonance of six rings of fire crossed his brain, creating a huge, thrilling sensation of the heavens opening.
[A new ring of fire has been created.
Ring of Fire has reached Six-Stars.
Two strands of the Curse of Frost have disappeared.
You can see and feel more than before.
Your soul level has increased.
All stats have increased by 5.]
Raon clasped his fist, feeling a thrill running through his body. He couldn't help but smile at the exhilaration striking his body.
It was unfortunate that he hadn't managed to reach Master level, but he could clearly see that half of the huge wall that he needed to overcome had collapsed.
Urgh!
Wrath's jaw dropped upon seeing the message, despite the fact that he hadn't even been talking to him for a while as he sulked over the disgusting bread.
Wh-Why are you showing off when you are giving him stats that belong to the King of Essence? Damn system!
Wrath jumped around in anger, saying that the stats that Raon just got came from him.
However, Raon wasn't looking at the message or Wrath after he opened his eyes. He swallowed nervously, not taking his eyes off the cave's wall.
"Wh-What is this…?"
The blade marks that looked like scribbles before… Those old marks were shining in gold.
____