The Hero’s Disciple Has Returned

I first told the kid it was our family’s secret technique. I lied to her, saying that if anyone found out she had two Aura Hearts, magicians would come to dissect her, so she must never let it be discovered. Honestly, I didn’t think the chances of magicians finding out were high. It’s not easy to perfectly handle someone else’s Aura Heart.

‘Unless you’ve experienced being an Aura Master before, it’s something possible only in absurd fantasies.’

The only case where this little disciple would use my Aura Heart would be when her life was in critical danger. It was literally a spare life I implanted hoping she wouldn’t die.

Well, isn’t that enough?

Being able to help when my disciple is in mortal danger.

As a teacher, it’s naturally satisfying….

“Cough! Cough! It really hurts like hell.”

There’s a reason why it’s called an Aura “Heart”. It means the life of a martial artist, and at the same time, as the Aura Heart is trained, it becomes the center of the body. In other words, when such a central part of the body suddenly disappears, the balance naturally collapses, and due to the resulting disruption, the body definitely starts to break down. In the worst case, it could lead to death.

“Haa. There’s no way I’d die easily.”

During my life as a mercenary, I faced countless life-threatening situations, but I always came back in one piece. So this time too, I was sure I could somehow adapt and survive. Therefore, there’s absolutely no chance that the kid will feel guilty because of me in the future. I’m confident I can live well enough without an Aura Heart.

“Cough! Cough!”

So everything is fine.

♧♧♧

Sera couldn’t believe it.

Accepting someone else’s Aura Heart isn’t the end of it. After all, it originally belonged to someone else. Taming it and making it perfectly your own isn’t easy, even for someone like her who has experience as an Aura Master. It should have required a considerable amount of time and struggle to barely make it possible.

That’s normal.

That’s how it should have been.

But

‘It’s warm and soft…. As if it’s protecting me….’

Taming? It wasn’t necessary. Jade’s Aura Heart didn’t resist her at all, so there was no need for it. It followed her wishes like an obedient dog. It even took care not to strain her young body. This was a miracle that even she, with her vast experience and knowledge, couldn’t have predicted.

Or maybe the Aura Heart is just as kind as its original owner, to an almost irresponsible degree.

‘Idiot….’

Even though she had obtained what she had longed for so long, and miraculously it fit so well that there was no need to tame it,

Sera couldn’t feel happy at all.

Because she knew so well, having longed for it and reached out for it for so long. What it means to give an Aura Heart to someone else, how much pain comes with it. While it doesn’t lead to immediate death, in the worst case, one has to pay a terrible price that wouldn’t be strange even if it led to death. That’s why Sera had given up on it. She never imagined that after giving up and giving up again, after a long time, it would come to her so suddenly like this.

That’s why even though it had miraculously become reality, she couldn’t just be happy.

“Cough! Damn. It got on my clothes. I need to change quickly before the kid notices.”

Sera had experienced reaching the realm of superhumans several times. This meant that even in her current state as a child, she could freely control her senses. That’s why Sera could hear very well the sounds Jade was secretly muttering. That’s why Sera always knew when Jade was secretly coughing up blood.

It seemed like this couldn’t be left alone.

‘I’ll need to prepare.’

♤♤♤

My body got worse as time went on. As if reality wasn’t so easy that it could be overcome with willpower alone. In the end, I had to lie to the kid about having a cold and become bedridden. Me, at the level of a master, having a cold…. It would have been a lie that no one could believe normally, but fortunately, since she’s a kid who doesn’t know the ways of the world, it was possible to deceive her.

But will this kid train well on her own?

It was when I was thinking about this.

“Master.”

Come to think of it, since when did this kid start calling me “Master” so earnestly? It seemed to have happened not long after I implanted the Aura Heart.

“Hmm? Cough. What is it?”
“I found something interesting.”
“Something interesting?”

What the kid brought was a book that looked quite old. As an A-rank veteran mercenary, I had various experiences. Handling the stolen goods of bandits I was commissioned to eliminate was basic. So I could estimate at a glance.

‘It’s quite old. Hmm.’

“Where did you find this?”
“I was out gathering herbs and thought I saw something, so I dug, and this came out.”
“Why were you gathering herbs?”
“I thought it might help a little with Master’s cold.”
“……”

Since it was due to the Aura Heart transplant, herbs couldn’t do much. But just the thought alone made me feel somewhat healed. Ah. Is this why everyone tried so hard to take in disciples or heirs? If I could have felt this, I should have taken in a disciple earlier….

“So what’s the content of this?”
“This? Let’s see.”

♧♧♧

“It’s about a special breathing method of the elves. Hooh.”

Watching Jade immersed in the book as if fascinated, Sera felt that her efforts had paid off. Of course, this book was Sera’s creation. For Sera, who had accumulated various experiences and knowledge through countless regressions, creating such a plausible work was as simple as drinking cold soup if she had enough aura. And that amount of aura was more than sufficient thanks to the Aura Heart Jade had given her. Therefore, creating a perfect work wasn’t such a difficult task for her.

The content was, as Jade said, “Elven Breathing Method.”

One of Sera’s various experiences was with elves. As a reward for helping an enslaved elf, she was able to live in an elven village hidden within the barrier of the World Tree and learn their culture and special techniques. Elven breathing was one of them.

It’s not that elves are never born with disabilities or weak bodies from childhood. But they all grew up in their best physical condition and lived their lives well. What enabled this was the elven breathing method. A special breathing method that guides even weak bodies to become strong. It was a very special breathing method that allowed the absorption of natural mana, which exists everywhere, into the body.

She had prepared it for someone who would become weak from giving her their Aura Heart. She never expected that such a person would actually appear and that she would be able to pass this on to them, but
it was fortunate.

“Hmm. This would be helpful for you too.”
“……”

‘No, why are you thinking about how it could help me first rather than using it for yourself?’

How could someone so kind-hearted have lived as a mercenary and earned a nickname like “Jade of Steel”…. Sera couldn’t understand it at all.

♤♤♤

They say that while teaching a disciple, the master also learns?

Jade could clearly feel that sentiment.

If Sera hadn’t been by his side, he would have certainly struggled a lot to master the elven breathing method alone. Thanks to having Sera beside him, who grasped things quickly in one go, I was also able to learn the elven breathing method faster than expected. But while I thought she had crossed the line, Sera seemed to be a genius far beyond my expectations.

‘To entrust such a person to me. It seems the imperial officials didn’t do their job properly.’

With this level of talent, she should have been entrusted to someone at the superhuman level, not just a master like me. This young child wouldn’t have hidden her talent. The officials must have done a sloppy job. Well, thanks to that, I was comfortable having a child who learns ten things on her own when taught one.

“Master, your breathing is off.”
“Ahem. I made a mistake.”

Now she was even teaching me.

I didn’t feel hurt in my pride. The fact that this child was a genius meant that her mortality rate would be lower. Rather, I thought it was a good thing. Isn’t it natural for a master to be happy that the disciple’s mortality rate is lowering? Even if her talent is incomparably greater than mine, to feel jealous or envious about it would disqualify me as a master, as an adult.

If there was a problem

‘It’s that I’ll quickly run out of things to teach.’

But that too would be a good thing.

The faster this child absorbs everything I have, the more rapidly her survival rate increases, so there was nothing bad about it.
It just meant that the time of farewell would come a bit faster, that’s all.

♧♧♧

Sera is a disciple expert. It might sound strange, but there’s no more accurate expression. She had countless masters. Of course, they don’t know that she was their disciple now. She had all sorts of superhumans as masters. Sword Masters were basic, and she even had a Great Sage as a master. She was called a future Sword Saint under a Sword Master, reached the position of Sword Empress, and even surpassed a Sword Saint to take their place. Her master was that very Sword Saint she had defeated. She had become a Great Magician as a disciple of a Great Sage. And she had even walked completely different paths with different masters.

Her masters walked paths of light, and some walked paths of darkness. As such, she was literally the best disciple expert who had experienced numerous masters.

For her, Master Jade was

truly a disciple fool to an absurd degree. Of course, it’s because he’s that kind of person that he implanted his Aura Heart, the crystallization of his lifelong martial arts, into his disciple. She had never seen a master who genuinely rejoiced in their disciple’s growth.

And isn’t that natural? If there’s someone who easily runs through the path you walked with difficulty, as if it’s nothing, and closely follows behind you…. Even if they’re your disciple, it’s unavoidable as a human to feel some resentment.

Of course, thinking that Jade wouldn’t like it either, she was holding back her strength to some extent. But Jade was the opposite. He seemed to prefer seeing her rapidly absorb what he had and grow insanely fast. And Sera could easily read that the reason for this was that it increased the disciple’s survival rate.

He was truly a disciple fool to an unbelievable degree. This man who was her master.

♤♤♤

I perfectly mastered the elven breathing method. As a result, my life improved significantly. Now I could even be a sparring partner for Sera.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

“Yes! That’s how you do it!”
“Yes!”

Honestly, rather than feeling like I was giving Sera sparring practice, it increasingly felt like Sera was adjusting to my training. Despite not being properly taught, Sera kept growing. She was growing on her own without being taught. What a terrifying talent this is? If she were someone for whom martial arts was not just a means but life itself, like myself, it wouldn’t be strange to curse such an overwhelming talent, even if she were my disciple.

From my perspective, she was just a thankful person who increased my disciple’s survival rate.

And that also meant

that the farewell with my disciple was rapidly approaching.

For me, that was

certainly

not a welcome thing at all.