FANSiA Originals and KakaoPage
I Became the Genius Bastard of a Noble Dark Clan
[Author/Original: Yuin]
[TL: Dekor]
[PR: Spades]
Episode 37
—————————
As he left the manor, a stubborn little boy blocked his path.
"Big brother."
"Title."
"…Esteemed King Emperor Majesty Big Brother."
"What's up?"
"Duel me."
Chris studied Tern.
His eyes were markedly different.
Tern had grown a step.
'2-star mid? Fast.'
Tern was thirteen.
Even for noble bloodlines, reaching 2-star at thirteen was swift.
Not just low-tier, but mid-tier, a seasoned stage, was genius-level progress even in the Dark Mana Clan.
"We'll duel after my training."
"…It'll be different this time. Prepare yourself."
"Fine, if that's what you want, I'll thrash you soundly."
"Big brother!"
"Title."
"…Esteemed King Emperor Majesty Big Brother."
Chris chuckled and held out a fist.
Tern huffed, then met it with his own.
Their fists bumped, and Chris entered secluded training.
---
Half a month.
That was Chris's real timeframe.
Too short for most achievements.
But time is relative.
For Chris, it was plenty to accomplish one goal.
'First, reduce sleep.'
He used a technique.
In his past life, he was a medical master.
He'd learned many mystical healing arts.
One allowed maximum recovery with minimal sleep.
Long-term, it strained the body, but for the next half-month, less than two hours of sleep would keep him in top shape.
'Time to consume the Black Pill.'
He took out the pilfered Black Pill.
Its glossy obsidian hue gleamed like a starry night.
'How do I guide its energy?'
Chris paused, thinking.
Each elixir had an optimal method to absorb its energy.
Without the right method, you'd waste it or, worst case, fall into energy deviation.
The issue: the Black Pill was a Dark Mana Clan secret, its method undisclosed.
Normally, a main house elder would guide the process.
But Chris shrugged it off.
"I'll do it my way. Guiding methods are all similar at their core."
It wasn't his first elixir.
Traveling with the Hero's party, he'd encountered many treasures.
He'd consumed elixirs as potent as the Black Pill.
'Guiding comes down to channeling energy to the core and absorbing it. Expel harmful energy.'
Others would scoff at such a crude explanation.
Absorbing an elixir's energy was far more complex.
But stripped down, Chris was right.
It was about absorption.
If you could perfectly control the energy, no guiding method was needed.
Methods existed because controlling an elixir's wild energy without one was impossible.
'I can do it.'
Chris lay on a bed in the training chamber.
Cross-legged?
No need.
Comfort was best.
He swallowed the Black Pill, and it melted, seeping into him.
A surge.
Dark energy rampaged like an untamed colt.
Not one colt.
It raced to his head.
His organs.
His limbs.
Dark energy spread chaotically through his body.
Now he had to wrangle it all and guide it through his meridians.
'Stronger than I expected.'
Eyes closed, Chris frowned slightly.
Worse, a foreign energy mixed with the darkness.
Light essence.
'Light in the Black Pill?'
He recalled the pill's creation.
The Karazov, in forced joy, sacrificed itself for its master, forming the Black Pill.
Though coerced by Demon Training, overcoming Gehenna's fear with loyalty and sacrifice seemed to infuse light essence.
'Now I get why absorbing it's risky.'
He'd heard the Black Pill's high deviation risk required at least three main house elders to guide it.
Light essence made it dangerous.
For mages, light was anathema, untouchable.
But not for Chris.
Light essence was familiar.
'Darkness first.'
He exerted control.
Using the Dark Mana Clan's mana flow technique from the Kazar family.
Unlike the main house's, branch families got an inferior version.
No matter.
A dull blade in skilled hands could outshine a masterwork.
The wild dark energy began to calm, one by one.
He guided it through his meridians.
'Light too.'
Normally, the light essence was an impurity to expel.
Chris shook his head.
'Why waste it?'
He'd absorb both dark and light.
He moved the dark energy while guiding the light.
Dark Mana Clan's method.
Swordsmanship Clan's method.
Both unfolded in his body simultaneously.
Achieving the theoretically impossible.
The shock didn't end there.
One meridian carried both energies.
Like water and fire, they should've clashed catastrophically, but they didn't.
Chris controlled them perfectly, keeping them separate like oil and water.
A single misstep would cause grievous injury, but he didn't falter.
With extreme focus, he tamed the wild energies racing through his meridians.
'Now, strengthen the meridians.'
Just absorbing energy into the core was a waste.
Running it through meridians could fortify them.
Risky, though.
Failure meant meridian damage.
Especially since Chris was handling two opposing energies.
Maybe settling for core absorption was wiser.
But he took the gamble.
'I can do it.'
Dark and light energies surged through his meridians.
From the lower core to the heart.
Heart to throat to head.
Out to limbs.
Back to the core, repeating.
Countless precarious moments.
At every twist, the energies wavered, threatening to mix.
A single drop blending would trigger disaster.
He stayed calm.
He dominated both energies.
Eventually, they spiraled together, racing as one yet never mixing.
An unbelievable feat.
His meridians, stimulated by both, strengthened. At some point, an unexpected miracle began.
Crack, snap.
Beyond fortifying meridians, his body transformed.
Impurities seeped out; his bones subtly shifted.
'Rebirth?'
Chris's eyes widened slightly.
Not quite rebirth.
His meridians, hyper-stimulated by both energies, triggered a bodily evolution.
Already optimized from past rebirth, his physique became even finer.
His meridians would now channel mana and dark mana more powerfully, his body honed like a master's blade.
'Finish it.'
The racing energies entered his core.
Pain hit, but he clenched his jaw, guiding dark energy to the outer core and light to the inner.
Finally.
"Haa."
Chris exhaled deeply, opening his eyes.
Deeper, sharper gaze.
'Dark mana-wise, about 3-star level?'
3-star!
Astonishing.
His current realm was 2-star.
But his dark mana was below even that.
Strictly, it hadn't surpassed 1-star.
He'd climbed realms fast with talent, but lacked time to build mana.
One elixir had boosted him two stages.
'Not just that. My light mana for the Starlight realm hit 3-star too.'
His light mana had been lacking too.
Though at 3-star skill, his mana was embarrassingly low.
Now resolved.
'Think I got handsomer too.'
He checked a mirror.
A smug, noble youth stared back.
Another pseudo-rebirth had refined his looks, making him even smugger.
'Can't stop here.'
The Black Pill was just the start.
His goal: realm advancement.
He aimed to surpass his current stage.
Raising a realm in half a month? Others would laugh.
His current stage: 2-star low.
Freshly 2-star.
Normally, 2-star to 3-star took over five years.
Even low to mid-tier took a year at best.
Genius Tern took one and a half years from low to mid. Without Chris's push, it might've been longer.
But.
'Before the Black Sanctification, I'll hit 2-star high.'
A stage near 3-star.
Even prodigies needed two years.
Half a month?
He'd show them.
'Let's begin.'
A burst.
Dark mana surged, and serious training started.
---
Time flew.
The day to end training neared.
"…"
A stubborn boy stood guard outside the training chamber.
'Annoying.'
Tern waited for Chris, scowling.
'Irritating brother.'
He'd once despised Chris.
Natural.
The old Chris was a contemptible wreck.
But at some point, Chris transformed completely.
A new person, showing unbelievable feats.
Tern found that change… infuriating.
'You could change, so why not sooner? Why stay a fool until Mother died?'
Tern clenched his fists.
He didn't fully grasp his emotions.
Just angry.
He wanted to knock Chris down a peg.
'I can win.'