Dragon Order of Flame
Volume 1
Chapter 5 Part 7
As the Count asked Luke with disbelief, Luke was startled. He had no idea that the Count would see through his stage within such a short time.
The Count continued to speak.
"Different from when you control my senses to confuse me, it was clearly a stimulus that I couldn"t resist. And my father who had pa.s.sed away, and his father before him, was also able to reach the stages of being able to expend their ki outwards. During the training with my father, I had tasted this ability many times. Of course, his abilities were much stronger than yours, and was able to knock me down without even moving."
"I guess it"s normal for you to notice it then, since you"ve already experienced the power of being able to expend your ki outwards."
Luke sighed. He had no idea that he would be seen through so easily. There was no way for his father to have noticed anything if he had not experienced it before, so Luke had thought that he had the upper hand against his father.
The Count spoke.
"Hearing you say that, I guess you really did release your ki outwards. How were you able to reach the 5th stage at your level? Just looking at your physical strength, you"re weaker than even Marvin, so it would be normal for you to even be unable to reach the 4th stage."
"There are plenty of techniques out there in this world that defy your logic father. My teacher is an ascetic of the 6th stage, and the Sigma Order uses techniques that are much different to normal gangchesul, so it is definitely possible."
Luke spoke in an evasive manner. Although true, not even training from the Sigma Order would be able to make Luke advance in such a logic defying way. However, thinking that the sect might really have such a technique, the Count just accepted Luke"s words.
"I see. That"s amazing. I can see why you were so opposed to the idea of using the family"s techniques. However, Luke, although our family"s technique isn"t able to help you advance at such a bizarre rate, you shouldn"t look down on it."
"I know. I was repeatedly told by my teacher, that a technique from a warrior family has plenty of history behind it and that it"s been researched upon that much more."
As Luke nodded his head in agreement, the Count laughed with a "Haha", and got back into his stance.
"It"s funny that I"m in such a good mood. I"m supposed to be burning with fury since I got hit by my own son, but I"m laughing instead."
"Thank goodness. I didn"t think it would be so refreshing to hit you either, father."
"Ha ha ha! You really have no manners. Either way, it will be different starting from now. Knowing that you"re at the 5th stage, I won"t be holding myself back anymore. Though, it doesn"t mean that I"ll be pulling out my sword."
"You know your attacks thus far have already been strong enough to kill people, right?"
As Luke grumbled, the Count laughed. And, as the Count took a step forward, he swung his sword. It was such a sharp attack that it felt as if it would be able to cut off Luke"s neck, even though it was still within its scabbard.
Shwing!
Luke barely dodged the attack. However, he soon felt a wave brush past him and he stumbled. While the Count swung his blade, the concentrated energy from his strong sword was released, and the wave that was released was what Luke had been hit with.
Bang!
An explosion occurred below Luke"s feet. The Count had used Earth Wave with his legs, while he struck out with the sword.
"Ugh, because he has so much strength left over, even something like this is still possible!"
If it was in the past, Luke would have easily been able to deflect these simultaneous attacks and would have been able to counter attack. But, now he suffered so easily. With overwhelming physical strength, the Count could release more power at once, and at a much faster rate than Luke. And, because the Count wasn"t holding anything back anymore, his attacks were much faster than what Luke"s senses could track.
Baam!
With a gap being exposed by Luke, the Count"s sword attacked. Although Luke quickly guarded against the attack with his arm, he was flung to the side by several meters.
"Mm?"
The Count"s eyes were wide with surprise. He did not want to kill his son, so he had controlled his attack before it hit. However, having blocked with his arm, it wouldn"t be surprising if Luke"s arm was broken. Yet, Luke just shook off his arm as if he was in pain, and nothing more.
"Are you using the strong sword skill on your own body?"
"I don"t need to tell you everything, right?"
Luke grumbled. Just as the Count had said, Luke had concentrated his ki onto his arm, and utilized something very like strong sword, and a technique that he had learned from the Sigma Order called Spiral Stream. If his physical strength was 3 times more than it currently was, Luke would have easily been able to deflect the sword attack and counter attacked, but all he could do now was block without breaking his arm.
As Luke caught his breath, he took light steps and started to encircle around the Count. He wasn"t doing this just to investigate if the Count had an opening or not. It was meaningless to do so in front of the Count, because the Count"s senses and physical strength was much higher than Luke"s.
Luke"s intention was simply to change locations. As he pranced around the outside of the Count"s attacking range, Luke got closer to the burning fire.
Volkar Suddenly spoke.
"Don"t talk to me right now. You"re going to break my concentration."
As Luke grumbled softly, he got even closer to the fire. As he slowly distanced himself away from the Count, the Count slowly got that much closer to Luke.
"Now, this is my last gamble."
Since the ability to expend the ki outwards had been seen through, Luke could not win if he fought normally. He had to win by attacking the Count with his attribute ability, and creating an opening with it.
"If I prolong this fight, I will definitely lose. I must defeat him here."
Luke sharply stared at the Count and slowed his breathing. As he inhaled, then exhaled, the Count rushed in and swung his sword toward Luke"s stomach.
It was not an attack that would decide the victor. Luke instantly dodged backwards, and as he did, the Count took a huge step forward and swung his sword to Luke"s head. As Luke ducked his head to evade, the Count stepped forward even more and swung his sword straight down.
"Keuk!"
Not given any chance to breathe, Luke barely dodged the attacks. Because of how quickly the Count"s movements were, Luke had to look at the movement of the Count"s body as a whole to dodge the attacks. There was no more room to distance himself from the Count.
Luke was eventually cornered with his back against the fire, and he stood there unmoving. Seeing that Luke had nowhere else to go, a light could be seen within the Count"s eyes as he swung his sword toward Luke"s arm.
Wooosshh!
At that moment, the fire exploded. The fire behind Luke"s back exploded out and swallowed his body whole. And, as if it was also trying to destroy the Count, it rushed forward.
The Count"s eyes grew wide with astonishment. The fact that the fire had exploded out for no apparent reason and seeing his son being engulfed by it, the Count was filled with unrest. He stopped his sword that was aimed at Luke and rushed to extend his arm forward. At that moment, Luke rushed out from within the fire.
Wooooshhh….Bang!!!
An explosive sound reverberated as Luke"s fist, which was wrapped within flame, landed against the Count"s body. The flame that swept forth stormed against the Count"s body and shook the surrounding area.
Hooooooooo!
Immediately after, because of the sudden changes in temperature and shock, an intense turbulence hit. As Luke felt the flame that was wrapped around him dispersing, he showed a wry expression. A slight groan could be heard from his mouth.
"Ughhh………."
The sound of bones popping could be heard from Luke"s body. Being hit with severe pain, Luke glanced over to look beside him. As he did, the sword that the Count was using could be seen.
Not being able to move because of the pain, the Count spoke with a shaky voice.
"You good-for-nothing brat…….."
The moment Luke rushed out from the fire to attack the Count, he had known that everything was planned. Who would have thought that Luke would wrap himself in flames to induce confusion onto himself?
Feeling that it was difficult to breathe, Luke forced himself to speak.
"You too father…….you"re supposed to get hit and just knock out in situations like these. You"re really bad at reading the atmosphere."
Although the Count"s attack was completely interrupted and had exposed an opening, he did not just let himself get hit. As he was being attacked, the Count focused his strength to receive Luke"s attack, then swung forth and attacked back with one arm.
With similar faces, the father and son"s battle finally came to a finish.
"Cough………"
Suddenly, the Count"s face unfurled and a smile could be seen. He stumbled backwards, fell down, and coughed up blood.
"Father!"
"Ugh, you really have a useful fist. I"ll be in big trouble if I don"t recuperate for a while."
The Count spoke as he wiped the blood off his mouth. Although he had withstood Luke"s attack with his physical strength, Luke had broken 4 of the Count"s ribs and had caused quite a serious injury. If the Count did not receive proper treatment, his life could be in danger. Seeing the Count hurrying to control his inner body, Luke spoke.
"I admit that it was a bit cowardly, but I felt that I would have lost if I did not do this."
"Excluding the fact that it was cowardly, it was quite underhanded. I"ve never fallen to such evil schemes in my whole life. Where in this world would you find a father, who would not be agitated when seeing his son being engulfed in flames?"
"Thanks to it, I"ve been able to see how you felt towards me as well, so let"s just say that I was killing two birds with one stone."
As Luke walked forward while stumbling, he picked up his traveler"s cloak and put it on. Seeing this, the Count asked.
"…….Are you leaving?"
"Yes."
"You"re not going to be gone forever are you?"
With the Count"s question, Luke was silent for a moment. However, he soon smiled and turned to look at the Count.
"Of course not. You"ll hear from me here and there."
"Make sure you often let me know how you"re doing. Especially if you decide to marry a gentle lady……..I won"t forgive you if you don"t tell me."
"I promise to keep in contact. Oh, and father."
Luke reached inside his traveler"s cloak and pulled out a piece of paper. He infused the paper with his ki and flicked it towards the Count. The Paper flew over and the Count caught it with his hand.
"What"s this?"
"That"s where my mother is buried."
"This is where Rinal is buried?"
"Yes. There"s one thing that I"d like to request of you."
"What is it?"
"Because I did not have much money when mother pa.s.sed, I was unable to give her a proper burial, so I hope father can move her to a better location. That"s the only thing that I request."
Listening to Luke"s words, an indescribable and complicated feeling arose within the Count"s heart. For a while, he looked at the paper that showed the location of Rinal"s grave, then nodded.
"Alright. I will move her grave to my castle. And………although late, I will accept her into my family."
"Will that be okay? I think that"s overdoing it. I don"t think your wife will like that."
"It doesn"t matter. Who will oppose my decision?"
"Geez, I"m telling you to get rid of that att.i.tude. Your wife is also human, and so are your other followers. You need to think of your people before you make such decisions. We had to go through this whole process because I wanted to relay that to you, right?"
"Huhu, how dare this young child admonish his father. But, I"ll keep that in mind. Either way, make sure you stop by often to at least visit your mother."
"I will."
Luke nodded his head and wrapped his rucksack onto his back. He then looked at the Count one last time, and spoke.
"Father, please be healthy."
"You too. When you come back, let"s have another proper fight."
"When that time comes, you"ll really regret it."
Luke gave a slight nod, left the area, and walked further into the forest. Watching his son walk away, the Count rubbed the spot where Luke was just standing, as he let out a bitter laugh.
As Luke walked away from the Count and went deeper into the forest, he staggered and leaned against a tree. He was sure that he was out of the Count"s sight.
"Ugh! It, it hurts so much."
"Don"t make me laugh. How can I just be like "I"ve received some damage so I"ll recuperate before I leave"?"
Luke tried his best to look cool, but it would"ve killed the mood if he told the Count "Oww, my ribs hurt. Let me go back to the castle and receive some healing from a priest before I go on my journey.", right? If he died from his wounds, that was it. He wouldn"t do something so embarra.s.sing like that.
Volkar spoke as if it was absurd.
"Shut up."
Luke spoke with stubbornness as he sat on the ground, and closed his eyes. Utilizing his ki, he checked the status of his body and found the ribs that were broken.
Crack!
"Ugh! I, I feel like I"m going to die."
Although Luke could miraculously fix his ribs with his ki, his ribs would still be filled with pain. Luke"s body trembled and tears could be seen, as he aligned his ribs back together. Once they were aligned, he released a deep sigh of relief.
"Now, I should leave before I freeze to death. I need to stop by the nearest temple……."
"I told you to shut up."
As Luke released his temperament on Volkar for his chiding, he began to move his body towards a direction.
Chapter 5 Part 7 Completed.