NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 8 - Thirst (3)
Chapter 8. Thirst (3)
Yuri blinked at Johan’s response.
“…Dragon’s Cradle? Why there?”
“Why do you think? You passed the test, so of course you have to go.”
“Wasn’t that test for the Cradle just a trivial thing?”
“Trivial? Trivial, you say?”
“Yeah, trivial.”
“Are you crazy? You think I’d waste that precious Dragon Plaque on some insignificant nonsense?”
Yuri wore an expression of confusion at Johan’s now sarcastic tone.
Tilting his head, Yuri asked, “If I’m supposed to be the old man’s…”
“Experiment subject?”
“…Yeah. If I’m to be his experiment subject, isn’t entering the Cradle out of the question? If I go there, we won’t be able to meet.”
“Oh? Not bad, thinking that far ahead.”
“…Who do you take me for, an idiot?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle that problem.”
Johan, who had been smiling mischievously, wiped the grin off his face and continued.
“Also, you must go to the Cradle for the experiments.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no better place to build up your capabilities.”
Yuri blinked, not quite understanding, causing Johan to smile again.
“Do you know why those geniuses around the world are so desperate to get into the Cradle?”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no place where the strong take everything like the Cradle.”
“……!”
“In the Cradle, dozens of precious elixirs that are hard to obtain even with money are released every year. Not only that, but various legendary swords and the secret Magic Body Techniques of the great masters of the past are abundant.”
“Wow.”
“All these can be claimed only by those who win fair competitions. But what if one person stood out as the unrivaled champion in those competitions?”
“That person would take all the benefits the Cradle offers.”
“Exactly, complete monopoly by the strongest.”
Yuri’s face slightly hardened as he listened to Johan.
At the same time, a voice from his childhood echoed in his mind.
[The weak are trampled and eliminated, while the strong… crush and evolve. That’s… the era of the Sword Master.]
The words of a knight who had laughed while on the brink of death.
The world Yuri had wandered through over the years was not much different from the story told by the dying knight.
‘And the Dragon’s Cradle is nothing less than a symbol of the current age.’
In other words, the Cradle was a place where the present era’s reality of the strong monopolizing everything was intensely concentrated.
Thus, Yuri understood Johan’s words to some extent.
‘As the old man said, it is indeed a good place to build up capabilities.’
But there was one precondition.
The prerequisite of ‘unrivaled strength.’
For the Cradle to be a ‘good place to build up capabilities,’ Yuri had to have the strength to win all competitions.
In that respect, Yuri was confident.
“So, I should enter the Cradle and suck up all the sweet benefits without leaving a drop? Sounds like a good plan.”
Yuri’s muttering was full of confidence, causing a slight gleam in Johan’s eyes.
However, the smile on Johan’s lips was clearly one of ridicule.
“Pfft, what nonsense.”
“…?”
“A day.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you entered the Cradle now, it’d only take a day for you to be thrown out, even if you managed to walk out with all your limbs intact. The odds are nine out of ten that you’d be carried out in a coffin.”
“…What?”
“Why are you so surprised? Do you think the Cradle is a place for neighborhood kids? It’s a place where the best talents from around the world gather, those who have been thoroughly trained as prodigies from a young age.”
“……”
“How long do you think your feeble body, which hasn’t even accumulated mana, let alone learned Magic Body Techniques, could last among those geniuses?”
“Even if I use my curse… no, the Avatar?”
“That’s counting the Avatar. Without it, you wouldn’t last a minute, let alone an hour.”
It was a harsh assessment.
As Yuri’s brows slightly furrowed, Johan snickered.
“What? Did I hurt your pride?”
“……”
“The Avatar is indeed an amazing skill. But no matter how good a sword is, if it’s wielded by a novice, it’s just a tool to chop firewood. You haven’t properly used the Avatar. You’ve merely crushed your opponents with its power.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Up until now, that method may have worked. Whether it’s swordsmanship or Magic Body Techniques, you haven’t felt a lack because you didn’t train in them. Hence, you haven’t paid much attention to them.”
It was true.
Learning basic swordsmanship required consistent attendance at a dojo.
Moreover, even the lowest grade Magic Body Techniques cost a fortune, unaffordable for commoners.
‘But even so, it wasn’t better than using the Avatar.’
For Yuri, who struggled daily to make ends meet, it wasn’t a feasible option.
Yuri and Johan locked eyes.
“You’re quite skewed right now.”
“I know, my soul is swollen…”
“No, not that.”
“Then what?”
“You have the power to kill your opponent in one blow. But you lack the power to protect yourself. If you can kill all your enemies in one go, that’s fine. But if you can’t?”
“……”
“What if, like today, you collapse and pass out… and one enemy is still alive?”
Yuri clenched his fist tightly.
Seeing this, Johan spoke coldly.
“The ones who step into the Cradle… are like ravenous beasts. To them, you, who collapse after using the Avatar, are nothing but easy prey.”
Yuri had never considered such things.
No, he had unconsciously avoided thinking about them.
Johan’s words revealed truths Yuri had not deeply pondered, causing his face to harden slightly.
‘Me… prey?’
It was a thought he had never seriously entertained.
Ever since he awakened the curse, or rather, the Avatar, he had always been the predator.
A fighter who flaunted his strength in any area.
A mercenary who had learned Magic Body Techniques and survived numerous battles.
Even an unregistered knight.
He had met and faced many people while wandering the world, but never once had he thought of them as a threat.
Moreover, recently, he had even taken down the infamous Black Sword Corps.
‘And I’m supposed to be prey?’
The word ‘prey’ scratched at Yuri’s pride, and he retorted with a defiant voice.
“Isn’t this Gunther, who passed the Cradle test, not that impressive?”
“That insignificant Gunther could kill you with a flick of his finger without using the Avatar.”
“Why do you keep excluding the Avatar? It’s my ability too. If I use it properly…”
“Are you planning to keep using the Avatar, which eats away at your life, even in the Cradle?”
“……”
“If that’s your plan, bring a coffin with you when you enter the Cradle. If you rely on the Avatar every time something happens, your life will be cut short before you complete the five years there.”
Yuri bit his lip hard.
But he couldn’t find words to refute.
Because Johan’s words were painfully accurate.
Seeing Yuri’s silence, Johan’s voice, still laced with a mocking smile, continued.
“As you said, that Gunther is indeed a novice. Just a baby beast.”
“……”
“And that baby beast… grows strong by devouring prey like you. Pffft.”
Johan repeated his earlier statement, emphasizing it.
He watched Yuri with a hidden smile.
‘I need to break this guy’s spirit to a certain extent for the future.’
Yuri was like a wild beast with strong vigilance.
If provoked, he would bare his teeth and growl, and if he felt threatened, he would mercilessly bite.
Moreover, his pride was so high that he would ignore even attempts to heal his wounds.
So, how should one tame such a wild beast?
By building closeness and bonds and slowly approaching?
Of course, that was one way, but Johan didn’t favor such a leisurely method with Yuri.
‘To handle a wild beast, you must break its pride and make it submit.’
Instilling a sense of overwhelming power to make it follow.
That was Johan’s preferred method.
Johan grinned.
“But don’t worry! There’s plenty of time until the next intake for the Cradle!”
“……”
“If you keep working hard under me, you’ll be able to become a King of Beasts in the Cradle. That much is necessary to be considered human!”
Johan waited as he taunted Yuri with a grin.
Waiting for Yuri to take the bait.
‘He should be ready to explode by now.’
And, sure enough.
Fire sparked in Yuri’s eyes as he silently listened.
“Old man.”
Yuri’s golden eyes glowed with a fierce light as he glared at Johan.
“…How strong are you?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t care about being a King of Beasts. If I’m going to get stronger…”
Yuri paused for a moment.
Looking at Johan, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“I have to be at least stronger than you.”
“Oh?”
“Only then can I punch that annoying face of yours.”
Johan’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Yuri, who was now exuding hostility.
‘Got him.’
He needed to reel him in quickly.
Johan smiled with his eyes.
“Are you curious? How strong I am?”
Ssssk—
Without waiting for Yuri’s reply, Johan disappeared.
He reappeared right behind Yuri.
“…?!”
“Then I’ll have to show you.”
Johan, who had grabbed the nape of Yuri’s neck, burst out of the cave.
Terrified, Yuri shouted.
“Old man?! What are you doing?”
But Johan’s movements were faster than Yuri’s cries.
By the time Yuri’s voice echoed, both of them had already been thrown out of the cave.
“…?!”
The cave was located on a 20-meter-high cliff.
With their bodies hurtling out of such a cave, the dizzying view below was inevitable.
Yuri’s face turned pale at the daunting height.
But it didn’t take long for his expression to change to one of amazement.
“…Huh?”
Yuri’s eyes widened.
And it was no wonder.
“He’s… walking in the air?”
Johan, who was holding Yuri by the nape, was walking in the air.
Stepping leisurely as if descending stairs, Johan calmly walked through the sky.
Finally, when his feet touched the ground, he tossed the stunned Yuri aside.
Even then, Yuri quickly adjusted his stance and looked at Johan.
Facing Yuri, Johan spoke.
“You want to land a punch on me? Then watch carefully. You’ll need to be at least this strong to get close to my face.”
With that, Johan turned towards the cliff.
At the same time, something murky and cloudy began to rise from under his feet.
‘…What is that?’
White smoke? Mist?
No, it was neither.
What was rising from under Johan’s feet was none other than ‘clouds.’
White clouds, floating in the sky, appeared beneath Johan as if supporting him.
Yuri realized that it wasn’t just an ordinary cloud.
Because he had something similar as well.
Though it looked different.
‘Is that the old man’s Avatar?’
While Yuri’s Avatar looked like a fearsome monster, Johan’s Avatar was a white fluffy cloud.
As Yuri stared blankly at the cloud-shaped Avatar.
Sssss—
Johan drew his sword and lowered it diagonally.
Then, a stream of air rising from the cloud wrapped around Johan’s calf, thigh, body, and arm, finally converging on his sword.
The white cloud, coiled around the sword like a snake, writhed.
Woooong—
The cloud, coiled around the sword, vibrated intensely as if it wanted to be unleashed.
Wooong!
Johan lightly shook off the cloud that seemed ready to burst forth.
Sak—
From bottom to top, he swung the sword diagonally as if cutting through the cliff.
Though it was a simple swing, what happened next was far from simple.
The white stream, which extended with tremendous force, expanded to dozens of meters in an instant and transformed as it reached the cliff.
Kugugugugu—
A dragon’s head with deer antlers.
A snake’s body with four pairs of legs.
It resembled the legendary dragon from ancient eastern mythology.
Kuaaaaa!
The cloud dragon opened its massive maw and roared.
Kwaaaa!
It struck the cliff.
And then—
Kwaaaaang!
With a tremendous sound, the cloud dragon vanished, and so did the cliff.
Not only the cliff but also the mountain behind it was completely gone.
As the mountain, which had been blocking the sunset, disappeared, the bright red sun beyond was revealed.
Yuri stared at the gaping void with wide, shaking eyes.
‘This…’
It was a single strike.
With a casual swing, the cliff and the mountain had evaporated.
‘…Was this really the work of a single person?’
As that thought crossed his mind, Yuri realized.
He had been using the Avatar incorrectly all along.
He hadn’t even been able to tap into one-thousandth… no, one-ten-thousandth of its power.
‘I wasn’t wielding the Avatar. I was just being dragged around by its power.’
Yuri looked at Johan’s back.
What had seemed like a small figure now felt immensely large.
‘Is this… the power of a Master?’
He had heard countless times about the fame of Masters.
But he had never truly realized.
How formidable the power they had accumulated was.
‘My God…’
At only fifteen years old.
And having never experienced defeat.
That youthful arrogance had now cracked.
Trembling—
Yuri regretted it.
‘I was a frog in a well.’
The instant he perfectly recognized reality, the arrogance and disregard within Yuri shattered.
And in its place, a spark of desire was ignited.
‘This is true strength.’
The world created by the Sword Master, Luke Ryder.
The absolute power held by those who ruled within it.
“Ah…”
Yuri’s eyes grew hazy.
His mind was filled with only one thing.
‘I want it. That strength…’
The power Johan Redner had shown.
A craving for it.
That alone swirled in Yuri’s mind.
‘No, I want to grasp a power even greater than that!’
At seven years old, Yuri harbored hatred along with an unfitting strength for his age.
At eight, realizing he had limited time, he replaced his hatred for the world with a will to live.
Today, at fifteen, worn down by an aimless and uneasy life…
‘I’m… thirsty.’
For the first time, Yuri felt a burning thirst born of pure desire.