Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Things That Must Be Done (2)

 

Lord Ramon Errandis’s physical state was not the only source of the fatigue Russell sensed, but it was difficult to determine what else was bothering him because his eyes lacked the ability to penetrate one’s mind.

 

The Lord told Russell that he was free to use the facilities of the Lord’s Keep, such as the dining hall and training grounds, as he wished. It was not a request he refused. He focused on getting his physical state in order before setting out, even if it took some time.

 

There was one thing he needed right now.

 

“May I have something to eat? I would like to eat a lot of meat, too.”

 

His stomach had been growling for some time now, urging him to eat. It was natural, as he hadn’t consumed any food or water in two weeks. If he were an ordinary human, he would have already died from dehydration or starvation by now, but Russell was Russell.

 

The Lord looked worried.

 

“Are you sure? It would be dangerous to put food in your stomach all of a sudden.”

 

Evelyn agreed.

 

“Yes. Rest for a while, and then eat. Look at your body. You’re incredibly thin.”

 

As he hadn’t received proper nutrition for a long time, Russell’s body was noticeably thinner than before. His tall height made him look even thinner.

 

“I’m fine. I can eat.”

 

Ordinary humans would have to eat nutritious food gradually to recover their physical strength. They would start with simple foods like porridge or soup to soothe their stomachs and then gradually increase their food intake.

 

However, Russell, who had lived for 21 years, knew how different his body was from a human’s. His stomach was not that weak. Even when he had poured alcohol down his throat, his body remained unharmed.

 

“Are you really okay?”

 

“I appreciate your concern, but I know my body best. Please.”

 

The Lord accepted Russell’s request. He was about to order someone to bring food to Russell’s room, but Russell said he would go to the dining hall himself and headed downstairs.

 

“This is Russell. Treat him as you would treat me.”

 

“Yes, my Lord.”

 

Head Chef Barnes looked bewildered that the man in question was thinner and weaker than he had imagined. Sweat soon covered his face as he worked tirelessly in front of the sizzling frying pan.

 

Phel and Aellasis weren’t in the dining room. They must have gone out.

 

Russell stopped eating after consuming three times the amount of food an adult male would eat in a day. Evelyn, who had been eating with him across the table, asked him with a tired expression.

 

“You ate that much, but your stomach isn’t bloated?”

 

“Nope.”

 

There was not a single bulge in his stomach. Evelyn pondered whether his stomach consisted of a vacuum.

 

“Russell.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I know about that child.”

 

Russell, who was drinking water from a cup, looked at Evelyn. Only one person could be considered a child here.

 

“Aella?”

 

“W, What? Aellasis. I met her during that battle two weeks ago.”

 

“How?”

 

“I assisted her in casting a beam of light from her mouth. Jirach helped find your location.”

 

“Right. Where is Jirach?”

 

“Oh, I almost forgot. He’s searching for any remaining monsters outside the territory at the Lord’s request. He’ll come as soon as he hears that you’ve woken up.”

 

“I see. So, you helped her cast Dragon’s Breath?”

 

Evelyn’s eyes sparkled.

 

“Why not? I’m also a promising wizard.”

 

True. Russell recalled the battle in Calisden a while ago. In the battle on the castle walls, Evelyn demonstrated different skills from other wizards and witches.

 

While other wizards struggled to cast more than two spells, she was able to cast a fireball and blast the heads of monsters climbing the castle walls while simultaneously using a healing spell.

 

Moreover, she was the only one who could cast a wide-range protective barrier to protect others from the dragonkin Karugon’s magic.

 

“How did you help her cast it?”

 

“I gave her focus, concentration, and penetration.”

 

Russell understood what she had done when he heard Evelyn’s explanation. Normally, Dragon’s Breath would have spread out in a radial shape, but she helped shape it into a straight beam of light.

 

Evelyn said it with a cheerful smile.

 

“I guess I helped save your life?”

 

Russell couldn’t deny it.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Evelyn noticed that Russell’s tone of speech had become more relaxed than before. Her mouth’s corners went slightly up. Then she suddenly remembered something she had to say. Evelyn said to Russell:

 

“So. What is that child? How did you. . .?”

 

Evelyn looked around for a moment and, after confirming that there was no one around, whispered.

 

“Carry a dragon with you? And such a young dragon at that.”

 

“Have you forgotten what I fought with in that city?”

 

Evelyn’s mouth fell open.

 

“It’s real, then.”

 

Russell nodded.

 

“She’s the daughter of that dragon. She asked me to take care of him.”

 

“My goodness.”

 

Evelyn said it once more.

 

“My goodness.”

 

“Is it that surprising?”

 

“How could it not be? A dragon. There were dragons that vanished hundreds of years ago, or even further back. That’s why I went through so much trouble to go to Calisden, and even when I barely managed to get a scale, the university didn’t recognize it. . . People will turn the world upside down if they discover the truth. Even the dragonkin might come looking for her.”

 

“The dragonkin, you say.”

 

Russell fell into thought. The number of dragonkin didn’t seem to be that large. He hadn’t encountered anyone since meeting and fighting a drakan named Karugon in Calisden.

 

‘Is it related to the climate?’

 

Karugon had a reptilian appearance. Of course, he wasn’t a complete reptile, and he wasn’t cold-blooded either. However, Russell thought that there might be some connection. They might live further south, where it is warmer.

 

“There’s something else you should know.”

 

“What is it?

 

“Elder. . . Runebas seems to have noticed something.”

 

“Aella?”

 

“Yes.”

 

That wasn’t good news. Russell thought about the grumpy old man. With his short, white hair and beard, the old man’s forehead was full of wrinkles from frowning so much.

 

“Has he approached Aella?”

 

“Not yet. It would have been difficult to approach her because she’s been hovering around you so much. Also, all the wizards are busy repairing the houses and buildings of the residents of the territory that were destroyed at the Lord’s request.”

 

Russell chuckled at the Lord’s unexpected assistance.

 

“That’s good to hear. Thank you for letting me know.”

 

“W, What?”

 

Although he had numerous concerns, he remained unfazed. Russell was the one who caused worry, not the other way around, and that would continue to be the case.

 

“I’ll get going, then.”

 

“Where are you going? Don’t you need to rest?”

 

“I need to exercise now that I’ve eaten. My body is in terrible shape.”

 

Evelyn shook her head.

 

“Typical warrior. The training grounds are behind the dining hall.”

 

Russell nodded and left the dining hall. With a tired expression, the head chef, recently released from his cooking duties, bid him farewell.

 

“I  ate well.”

 

“Haha, fortunately. You really do eat well.”

 

And Russell left with an unforgettable request to the head chef.

 

“Then please continue to serve me the same way.”

 

“W, What?!”

 

Russell patted him on the shoulder, then left the dining hall. Head Chef Barnes collapsed into a chair.

 

“He’s going to eat like that every day. . .?”

 

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

 

Russell was training on the castle’s grounds. His thin body had already filled out. He looked much better than he did a few days ago.

 

He was swinging his sword. He repeated the same steady breathing pattern as he did so. Russell’s training would look peculiar to others.

 

He moved his entire body as fast as a whirlwind, slashing at imaginary enemies to the point that dust swirled around the training ground, but his speed gradually slowed down until he was almost completely still.

 

Moving quickly was a training method that even knights and soldiers would approve of. There was no guarantee that they would be able to move in a similar way on the battlefield as they did when they practiced. Speed and accuracy. They were important factors in any situation.

 

His upper body was bare; only his pants were on, but his body was glistening with sweat. He was sweating more now than when he had been moving quickly.

 

He was purifying the mana he had just absorbed into his body, increasing its purity and quantity.

 

It would have been helpful to sit still and reflect on his inner self with his breathing, but Russell chose to stand up and exercise.

 

The floor of the training ground where he stood was already wet with his sweat. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to stop. However, Russell ignored their pleas and swung his greatsword again.

 

The sword he had wielded for two weeks felt different than before. It felt heavier, but it also felt lighter.

 

After the battle, Russell was experiencing changes in his body. The muscles that had been slack for two weeks had become tense, as if they had never been slack.

 

He felt every step he took, every twist of his waist, every movement of his shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and the grip of the Nahilnir hilt in his hand.

 

There were movements worthy of measuring in minutes, not seconds. If a passerby saw him, they would wonder why he was thrusting into the air in such a strange posture.

 

Russell had his right foot forward and his left foot behind him, his waist bent and his upper body straight, and his greatsword held in both hands and extended forward.

 

His muscles trembled and his head throbbed, but Russell continued to move from one movement to the next, very slowly but steadily.

 

In static movements, the body’s control shines more than in dynamic movements. It was natural that it was harder to sit and stand up slowly than to do it quickly.

 

Russell looked at his body, which was much easier to control than before, and estimated how much stronger he had become.

 

It hadn’t been easy. The being, presumably his mother or something similar, had breathed mana into him, preventing him from dying despite being under a veil of darkness for two weeks.

 

His body, which defied all norms, hadn’t died from that alone. He had lost some muscle, but that was inevitable. Did they expect him to just lie still for two weeks?

 

Russell clicked his tongue inwardly as he looked at his arms and wrists. They were much thicker than when he had woken up three days ago, but they were still thinner than his original body.

 

Even after eating an amount of food that would have made the head chef faint for three days, it didn’t immediately turn into flesh and muscle. However, thanks to his almost murderous training, he was building his body at a rate that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

 

It wasn’t all bad, though.

 

His mana quality and quantity had increased to an undeniable level. Intense battles inevitably led to mental and physical exhilaration, as well as mana.

 

During such battles, mana seeped into the warrior, helping them gain a stronger body and mana. Russell’s body was currently in that process, and he knew that he would become even stronger in the future.

 

Once he had built enough of a body, he would be able to unleash an output that was incomparable to before.

 

Before the battle with Iscalia, how would he compare himself? Russell thought that he would probably be able to settle the score within twenty moves. Of course, he thought he would be the victor now.

 

However, it remained hypothetical as the strength of the individuals involved did not solely determine the outcome of a battle. Strength accounted for ninety percent, but the remaining ten percent could easily determine the outcome.

 

Surpassing oneself was an extremely difficult task. Even if you made a promise to yourself the night before to ‘wake up at 6 AM sharp!’, you would usually end up compromising when the time came, saying, ‘Just a little more sleep’. Even if it wasn’t a promise to yourself, people constantly fought with themselves at every moment, winning and losing.

 

‘It would be convenient if there was a status window.’

 

Russell smiled when he thought about it.

 

As a weakling, there weren’t many hobbies to enjoy. When he wasn’t earning money or planning his travels, he played games or read novels. There weren’t many other hobbies he could enjoy.

 

He liked protagonists who overpowered their opponents. In games, he always chose a male warrior, and in novels, he liked protagonists who used strength to overcome obstacles.

 

Because of that underlying psychology, he couldn’t put down his sword, even though he could use magic. The feeling of being able to wield a lump of metal that he wouldn’t have been able to lift, let alone swing, was something he couldn’t understand unless he experienced it firsthand. And Russell liked that feeling.

 

Anyway, he thought about how convenient it would be if there was a status window. Because it was intuitive.

 

In novels, the status window was a convenient element that allowed the protagonist and their enemies to intuitively see how strong they were.

 

Moreover, if only he could see the status window and not his opponents, it would be easy to tell who was stronger. Information superiority was power.

 

However, this was a different reality, and there was no sign of a game system anywhere. The people and monsters living in this world weren’t well-crafted AIs or NPCs. They were living beings with brains and hearts.

 

And Russell was also a human living in this world. Despite the subtle differences within him,

 

Just then, a butterfly landed on the tip of his obsidian greatsword, Nahilnir. It was proof that his movements were slow. Russell moved his body slowly so that the butterfly wouldn’t fly away.

 

As he looked at the butterfly, he recalled the battle he had fought recently. Ever since he had left home, he had thought that he would be able to travel without much difficulty if he was this strong.

 

He had a strong body from birth, outstanding talent, and even a strange magical eye. That was why Russell thought it would be okay to go on an adventure alone.

 

However, this time, the fight with Iscalia instilled in him the fear that he might have lost or died if Aellasis hadn’t been there.

 

And the being he had met in the Abyss had also left him with meaningful words. The boundaries of the world were blurring, and he had to prepare.

 

It must have been a warning that hardships or enemies that he couldn’t handle alone would appear. Without Aellasis’s Dragon’s Breath, he couldn’t have surmounted the crisis this time.

 

That fact made him think a lot. Just then, someone spoke to Russell.

 

“Interesting movements. Do you train by moving that slowly?”

 

Russell didn’t stop his slow movements; he only turned his eyes. The person who had spoken to him appeared before him.

 

Rough, brown skin, rivaling Russell’s size, covered the muscles. He occasionally displayed black tattoos. He had long, braided hair that was different from his exposed scalp.

 

It was Kai, the orc he had met for the first time at the Black Barley Inn, with whom he had gotten into a heated argument.

 

“Yes. I can move faster.”

 

“Why would you do that?”

 

“Because extremes meet.”

 

Russell relaxed his posture and shook his hair. The butterfly, which had been sitting on his sword, fluttered away. His sweat-soaked hair sparkled in the sunlight as the droplets of sweat flew off.

 

“Here you go, Russell-nim.”

 

Jirach, who had been waiting with a towel on the other side, ran over and handed him the towel. Jirach, who had regained his life thanks to Russell’s blood, was fine even in the sunlight.

 

He was no longer able to gain vitality or mana from the blood of the living as before, but he seemed happy just to be alive again and to be able to serve Russell as his master.

 

Russell roughened his hair with the towel and spoke.

 

“Long time, no see. Do you always wear your hair tied back?”

 

“I’ve been tying it back every day since that day. You’re the one who should be tying your back.”

 

‘Look at this punk.’ Russell chuckled.

 

“You seem to have something to say to me.”

 

“I do.”

 

Kai took a deep breath and exhaled. Russell suddenly noticed that one of his molars was gleaming. A steel cap covered the molar that Russell had broken.

 

“I, Kai Granson, would like to have a warrior’s conversation with you, Russell.”

 

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• The Unmentionable Truth About Anime Waifus: Why They’re All So Smooth
• Naruto and Sasuke: Bro-mance or True Love? The Ultimate Anime Bromance Debate
• Is Your Cat Plotting Your Demise (While You’re Face Down, Drunk)?
• Yo, What If China Invaded Japan? Would Yokai Help Out?
• From Page to Screen: The Grim Reality of Novel to Netflix Adaptation