Chapter 4
The moon was floating in the middle of the sky.
Raon, who was lying down on the crib, cautiously opened his eyes.
'She's asleep.'
He turned his head to the side. Sylvia was sleeping on the bed right beside him.
Knock.
It appeared she was sound asleep, since she did not wake up even when he tapped on the crib.
'Whew…'
He let out a small sigh.
The past hundred days had been extremely suffocating.
He became terribly drowsy all the time, and he could not use mana nor train because he was with Sylvia whenever he was awake.
He couldn't do anything, as there could be a problem if he were to be even gently nudged during his practice. But his chance had finally arrived.
'Crib.'
He got to sleep separately in the warm crib from that day onward, once Helen—the head maid of the bedchambers—offered her advice.
Though she was right beside him, there was no way Sylvia would wake up. It was the perfect time to begin his practice.
'Let's get started…'
Raon slowly exhaled.
'With the cultivation of the Ring of Fire.'
The method of the practice, implemented in the continent, was about accumulating aura in the abdomen by taking in mana from nature via breathing.
But the practice for the Ring of Fire, which he had obtained by fate in his past life, was different.
By rotating the spherical ring around one's heart, as if one were a sorcerer making a magic circle, one's physical strength and body would improve. At the same time, it also increased one's willpower and sensitivity to mana.
Which meant that, though it could not create aura, the Ring of Fire was a cultivation technique that could help improve the mind and body—the perfect conditions for becoming a soldier.
'That is not the only advantage.'
The Ring of Fire was a practice that followed the flow of nature exactly. Even a soldier at the highest level would not be able to determine that he had practiced the Ring of Fire.
Even Derus Robert, referred to as the greatest swordsman in the continent, did not know that Raon had acquired the Ring of Fire.
However, there was a very big issue with Raon's body.
'Ice.'
The mana circuit, where mana flowed through like blood in his veins, was blocked by the massive amount of ice in his body.
It was not long ago that he first discovered that fact.
He had tried to use his mana for a brief moment, whilst acting as if he were asleep, but almost shrieked upon feeling the ice blocking his mana circuit.
Raon slowly took in a breath of air until his lungs ached, and felt the mana spread out in the air.
'It's being dispersed.'
Perhaps it was because his basic mana affinity was poor, but he could not feel mana that well, unlike his past self.
He only barely managed to take in the mana, and settled it in his mana circuit after quite some time.
'Hmm…'
Raon suddenly stopped before he was to start practicing the Ring of Fire with the absorbed mana.
'I feel it, as expected.'
The mana circuit at his shoulder was half blocked by the ice.
'No wonder I am constantly drowsy, and so cold.'
The reason he has been sleeping more than twenty hours, and feeling the severe chilliness, was due to this ice.
'Is it in nine places?'
He released some mana to scan through his entire body. There were nine places in the mana circuit that were blocked by the cold.
'This is severe…'
Unlike that of an adult, a baby's mana circuit was wide open. Since the coldness filled it halfway, even while in that state, the entire mana circuit could become blocked as he grew older.
Should that moment come, he would experience cold and pain that would be incomparable to what he experienced currently—or worse, die.
He had to remove the ice, no matter what, before that happened.
'I should try to pierce through the coldness in my mana circuit, using the Ring of Fire.'
Though his practice with the Ring of Fire would be considerably delayed, the priority for the moment was to survive.
Raon slowly absorbed the mana as he took a deep breath. The absorbed mana cut into thin, sharp, awl-like pieces and pierced the coldness blocking his mana circuit.
Screech!
As if it was a frozen waterfall chipped away at by a fork, a tiny bit of the ice chipped off.
'Wait. Can't I make use of this?'
He could release the ice as it was, but it seemed a waste—especially considering the high purity of it.
Raon guided the coldness with the natural mana, following the flow of the Ring of Fire.
The natural mana and the coldness that was blocking the mana circuit bonded together as one to circulate through the mana circuit throughout his body.
'I did it!'
Raon clenched his fist. It was at a much slower speed when compared to in his past life, but he could use mana via the flow of the Ring of Fire without issue.
He felt the cold air drawn forth by the mana settling in his body.
'It must be because it's a child's body.'
It was somewhat fortunate, as he would not have been able to circulate mana at all because of the ice if it wasn't a child's wide-open mana circuit.
'Next I should… Huh? Already?'
As if his body was saying it was tired after using its brain and strength a little, he started to feel sleepy. His eyelids lowered like curtains, completely against his will.
'Damn it…'
Raon groaned angrily and closed his eyes.
As he fell asleep, and the moon hung in the sky moved to just about three fingers-width apart, a figure appeared outside the door.
The person who entered without opening the door was the head of House Zieghart, Glenn.
"..."
Glenn gazed at Raon, who was asleep, and reached out his hand. A light as pale as the sunset bloomed out of his clenched hand.
Raon's forehead, which was crumpled due to the ice in his mana circuit, smoothed out like velvet.