Tale of the Fake Hero

Chapter 19 – Origin, Kaisen Alter Aradamantel (2)

“Here.”

The Fake Warrior training period was usually three years.

The chief training instructor, Olliere started explaining the Fake Warrior lessons with the following question: “What is fundamentally different between Fake Warriors and other knights?”

Clang—!

Kaisen, who barely managed to block Olliere’s blade, tilted his head. “The difference between a Fake Warrior and a regular swordsman is that they are more powerful than any other swordsman.”

“That’s true, but what I’m asking is a different question. Why do you think they have such power?”

There was no time to focus on the question. Kaisen repeatedly retreated at the sudden onslaught of continuous sword strikes.

“Kaisen, you were Kamila’s student. Do you remember what Kamila’s goal was?”

“Her… goal?”

Her goal… He couldn’t remember anything in particular. As he remembered, Kamila was always fighting. For humanity.

“Yes! Fake Warriors have a mission. It is to protect humanity. Because of that mission, being a Fake Warrior is honorable. That is why they qualify to be ‘made’ strong.” Olliere’s tone seemed harsh but kind. It was different from Kamila’s pushy, inaffectionate tone.

“At the end of the third year of training, trainees swallow something called a ‘dragon spirit stone’ to imbue their bodies with the power of the dragonkin.”

‘Dragon spirit stone…’ Yes, he remembered. He’d heard of it before. Even if one of Kamila’s limbs were blown off or an organ was damaged, she was able to recover in an instant.

That was thanks to the dragon blood serum, which she always carried with her, and when she injected it into her arteries, she gained the super regenerative ability of a dragonkin for a moment.

He had heard Wolf explain that, in order to use that power, she had to ingest a dragon spirit stone.

“It is a stone engraved with the saying, ‘Converts life force into physical ability’ in dragon tongue. It is the crystallization of the power of the Fake Warrior. Nine out of ten people die in the process.”

“Only one survives?”

“The power goes out of control as it enters the body. Only the cadets who can endure it survive.”

“I see.”

“Even if you survive, there is a high probability that you will not be selected by the holy swords, so you will not be able to become a Fake Warrior. Don’t be surprised. Even if there is only one graduate per class, that is a lot.”

That was it. Olliere’s blade hit the bottom of Kaisen’s, causing the sword to slip out of his hand and fly into the air.

“There is an extreme probability that, even after completing the graduation ceremony, you only receive general officer training and are sent to the battlefield or remain at the Imperial Court and become training instructors. Just like me.”

Whether or not they could become Fake Warriors, they would be cut off from the world from the moment their education began to become tools in the fight for the survival of humanity.

“Nobles who come here in search of fame and glory usually leave the ‘Temple of the Sword of Bravery’ after hearing this. How about you?” She wondered if he would be just as perplexed as them, but Kaisen’s face was just blank.

Death and war were constant occurrences in the boy’s life, so he had nothing to fear. He had the same expression as Kamila, who stood next to Olliere all those years ago.

‘Okay, so this kid is really your disciple, huh…?’ Even if no one told her, she could tell just by looking at his eyes. ‘Hehe, then I guess I’ll keep my promise too.’

* * *

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Translator – Rainypup

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* * *

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「Did you say you want Kaisen to skip a grade?」

Chief instructor Olliere Dune Jeraye headed to the Dragon Spirit Hall on the 99th floor, the highest floor of the Imperial Court.

The Five Wise Dragons, the pillars of the Imperial Court, lived in the Dragon Spirit Hall.

Only the Light Dragon, Haraderimann, who was recuperating, dwelled on the 100th floor, which was called the Heavenly Palace.

In short, Olliere entered this space, which even the princes of the empire dared not enter, to make an exceptional report.

“No, it’s not just skipping a grade. I want to have him take the physical strengthening course that the third-year cadets will soon receive.”

Cardinal Yoshhar carefully stroked his long white beard.「The physical strengthening process, was it?」 With a dragon’s head and a dragon’s tail, she was covered in golden scales, though she was humanoid.

「Olliere Dune Jeraye, do you wish to inject that child with a dragon spirit stone so soon?」

“Yes, Your Excellency. Already, I have nothing to teach him when it comes to the sword.”

「Is it as Yohan Wolf Frost said?」

“He is better. No, I can’t even guess where his talent ends. Any further training is meaningless. I don’t have anything else to teach him. His talent is one that needs to be sent out to the battlefield as soon as we are able.”

Except for Raminea, there was no other candidate in nearly 100 years who had been so praised by a chief instructor.

「What about his scholarly pursuits?」

“Honestly, I can’t say they’re perfect, but I will take responsibility for educating him further.”

Cardinal Yoshhar turned his gaze to his comrades.

Cardinal Hargon spoke in a worried tone. 「Though we tried to inject dragon spirit stone into male children long ago, they all died. Yoshhar, will you be alright?」

「Why ask me such?」

「The blood of the child you cherished… no, it’s nothing. Do you think it is possible, Olliere Dune Jeraye? There is a high possibility that the boy will die.」

In response to the cardinal’s question, Olliere immediately responded politely. “Kaisen will show you the answer, not me, but I can assure you, it will be possible for him.”

Cardinal Enricht took a long breath. Among the five cardinals, he was the only one in the form of a yellow dragon. He gazed up at the distant sky.「Summer is in full swing. The Fake Warriors who barely survived and took their swords are only four in number. The fight looming over the Children of Light is extremely urgent, Olliere.」

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

「Among those learning to be heroes, there are two disciples of Fake Warriors. If you include Kaisen, there are three.」 Enricht’s next words were not addressed to Olliere, but to his fellow cardinals. 「If we could just send them all out into the summer, the situation would change. This Enricht will accept your advice, Olliere Dune Jeraye.」

* * *

“Hmm, I believe you have a rough idea of what changes the dragon spirit stones cause to the body after three years of classes.”

The blacksmith who came as a representative from the Sacred Workshop of the Imperial Court was a tall, straight-backed old man.

He said his name was Stan. Having spent his entire life looking at fiery ovens, his eyes were sunken, but he was the continent’s leading expert when it came to Fake Warrior weapon engineering.

“A dragon spirit stone is a stone with a total of 68 words in the dragon tongue engraved, and the stones have power that surpasses that of humans in many areas, including physical ability, reflexes, and recovery speed. Can you show a demonstration, Dame?”

Kelly Dune Jeraye, the instructor in charge of class 997, was an irritable-looking woman in glasses.

It was the 997th class, a third-year class.

Kelly caught the cadets’ attention with a clap. “What do you think will happen to my hand if I hit this steel plate without using my mana?”

“It will break.”

“In general, yes, but…” When Kelly hit the steel plate with her fist, the steel plate was deeply dented, following a horrifying metallic sound. “If you are a Fake Warrior with the power of a dragon spirit stone, common sense does not apply to you.”

“Of course, that’s as long as you don’t die in the process of accepting this power. Fake Warriors are humanity’s strongest soldiers, but even the slightest mistake can kill them in the process of becoming one.”

“What would you say falls under the slightest mistake?”

“You will find out little by little. Don’t forget that there was a simpleton who didn’t realize how to control the amplified power and almost broke her spine while scratching her back.”

Laughter broke out here and there. The door to the room where class 997 was in progress was opened.

“I think you left out that that idiot was you, Kelly.”

‘What…?’

Chief Instructor Olliere Dune Jeraye entered, and the cadets quickly responded.

Kelly tilted her head and asked, “Chief Instructor, is something the matter?”

“Oh, didn’t you receive the message? It was decided that this one would also take the first dose of a dragon spirit stone today.”

“A first-year student?”

At Olliere’s nod, the black-haired boy, Kaisen, entered the room.

It was a boy, a boy… The top cadets of class 997 looked intrigued by the thick jawline, strong shoulders, and appearance of an unfamiliar member of the opposite sex.

“Aha, him…”

“He’s Kamila’s disciple, so he has a similar vibe.”

“Does that mean he is the disciple of the disciple of the Crimson Lotus, Raminea?”

It was already a well-known story that Kamila’s male student had entered the ‘Temple of the Sword of Bravery’.

When the Inferno Line was broken through, many Fake Warriors died, and in the 997th class, there were two direct disciples of Fake Warriors.

“Stan, you got the message, right?”

“Of course, I prepared it.” Stan took out a work of beehive-shaped pottery filled with long glass bottles. He took one of them out; inside was a black and turbid liquid that seemed to wiggle.

“This is nothing more than a dragon spirit stone that has been liquified and dissolved as much as possible. There is a high mortality rate in the process of injecting the dragon spirit stone.”

“!”

“In order to lower the mortality rate, we conduct trial injections a total of five times. The concentration is gradually increased, and by the fifth injection, the concentration will be about 50% of the original solution.”

It was during the process of injecting the dragon stone that Kaisen’s solid path to being a Fake Warrior was filled with doubt.

Olliere brought out a glass bottle, and then she placed it in Kaisen’s hand. The stopper was tightly closed. She made eye contact with Kaisen. “Honestly, I’m not sure what the outcome will be. No man has ever survived this process.”

“…”

“I’m sure it might be different for you. The choice is yours, Kaisen.”

“I’ll take it.”

The attention of the cadets in Class 997 was drawn to Kaisen. He’d made the decision so quickly, though he could die.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Olliere asked.

“I’m not afraid.” Death was like nature. It was always in the boy’s life and had never left his side. The boy uncorked the bottle, releasing a fishy smell akin to melted-down, rusty iron.

“I will drink.” Kaisen took one look at Olliere, and then he tilted his neck and poured the solution into his mouth.

“Kaisen!”

In conclusion, Kaisen’s first attempt to inject the dragon spirit stone failed.

In the midst of intense pain that made it feel as if his blood vessels and pancreas were burning and freezing at the same time, something thick and hot poured endlessly from his eyes, ears, and mouth.

The blood clotted and blocked his breathing. Kaisen fell to the floor, struggling to breathe, and passed out before being taken to the medical unit.

“What happened, Stan? Are you sure you diluted it properly?” Olliere asked.

“Of course. The other cadets didn’t have any problems.”

“Chief Instructor,” someone said, “maybe it’s just impossible to turn a man into a Fake Warrior? It’s a failure from the start.”

“No… he’s not dead yet.” He hadn’t died. Yeah, he hadn’t died—though that was it.

When he woke up in the hospital two days later, the world seemed blurry, as if paint had been smeared over his eyes.

Most of his sight was gone.

Olliere spoke. “Kaisen, Kelly also lost her eyesight during the injections, but she regained it all during the final injection. You don’t need to be too upset.”

“That was the fifth, not the first,” Stan interjected.

“Stan, be quiet, and temporarily test him for glasses. Take a break from sword training until the second injection, Kaisen. Continue receiving theoretical training.”

Every situation and every environment seemed to be telling him that he couldn’t be a Fake warrior.

* * *

The Light Dragon, Haraderiman, had not been able to leave the Heavenly Palace for hundreds of years.

People revered the top floor, which was so high that it reached the clouds beyond the sky, calling it the Heavenly Palace. The Light Dragon had lived there alone at one point, but wyvern priests were there to care for him.

「Yes, the whole world is crying… Yoshhar.」The Light Dragon was the leader of the Yellow Dragon Corps. As one of the Three Divine Dragons, he was five times larger than the Sage Dragons. The golden dragon shone brightly as he reflected the sun.

Sage Dragon Yoshhar bowed.「It is the disloyalty of the gods.」

「Don’t worry about it. Can this world be expanded with loyalty alone? How is Raminea Alter Aradamantel?」

「That child died five years ago.」 Tears formed around Yoshhar’s old, wrinkled eyes.

Light Dragon Haraderimann let out a deep, sorrowful sigh.「Is that so?」

「Yes. Now, that child’s next of kin is working hard to succeed in wielding Aradamantel.」

「The news you delivered is painful.」

「My deep apologies.」

「Has the Kingdom of Dragons fallen?」

「It collapsed half a year ago.」

The Light Dragon coughed and vomited blood, and the wyvern priests quickly came over and wiped the corners of the dragon’s mouth.

The Light Dragon’s dementia scared Yoshhar. If even the Light Dragon passed away… humanity would not be able to unite, and the abyss would once again spread across the land, taking advantage of the gods’ departure… Ah, the world was collapsing.

The Light Dragon could not move—he always lay on his back and basked in the sun and moon. The deep and vicious illness left behind by the King’s Abyss had been insidiously destroying the Divine Dragon’s body for hundreds of years.

「What about the Ark of the Covenant rescued by Kamila Alter Aradamantel and Sharon Alter Tas Alfo? Did the descendants of the gods wake up safely?」

「Both are awake. The moon wants to walk the path of the sword here, but I am worried since her body is very sick. The sun stayed for a while and then left, but no one knows their whereabouts.」

「How can we know the will of the gods? My condition is deteriorating. I have to do what only I can. There is no time.」

「Your Holiness, what do you wish of me?」

「I will share more fragments of my soul with you.」 The Three Divine Dragons divided their souls equally, and each gave birth to Five Wise Dragons, but he wanted to share more?

「Your Holiness, your body is not well. How can you…?」

「I want you to convey it when you give your soul to the child of Raminea.」

「Your Holiness…」

「I will die soon, but I will leave behind this power. Although it is only a very feeble fragment, I hope that it will cause great ripples in the human world in the future.」

Yoshhar had no choice but to shed tears once again at the Light Dragon’s display of power. He knew what he was going to do. He was the Father of the World who thought of the land until the end, just as he had learned from the Black Sun, Karenden.

「As your Holiness wishes, I, Yoshhar, will serve you with all my might.」

Yoshhar retreated.

Bel’Dakidun, who was called the Fire Dragon among the Three Divine Dragons, died a long time prior after erecting a wall of flames around the continent of Adrion.

Water Dragon Yericelica was becoming one with the World Tree, so they could no longer appear in the world.

The gods who were said to have brought light to the land were nowhere to be found, and the Three Divine Dragons, who represented the gods, were all dead or dying.

It was the beginning of midsummer.

A thousand years after the Golden Age, the world was collapsing helplessly on all fronts.