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nAfter the energy had created a solid base in what Raze assumed was his dantian, the energy started to spread throughout his body, and now it felt like it was ripping him from the inside out. 𝒩𝒪𝐕𝔩xt.𝗰𝒐𝓂

nThe dark, almost black-colored blood was quite the sign to say that he was probably right, and when he could see it going for his heart next, he needed to act fast.

n“Shrouded heart,” the skill that used up all his mana to create a shield around his mana core, which was linked to the heart in the first place. Raze could feel the energy trying to attack it, almost as if it was alive.

nHowever, the skill Shrouded heart was pushing it away. It continued to hit, and he could feel his whole body shaking.

n“Kuk, Kuk!!” Raze continued to cough, and blood was flung out of his mouth violently. It wasn’t just being coughed out but was being propelled all over the place.

n‘Am I going to die?’

n—

nBreakfast had ended for the children, and with them busy putting away the plates and washing up, Kron had decided that he would wake up Raze. Although it was important that he rested, it was also important that he didn’t miss a meal.

n“ARGHH!”

nTurning his head, noise could be heard, and it was coming right from Raze’s room.

n‘Is it an assassin… I thought we were safe in the temple, and with no incidents happening so far, I let my guard down!’ Kron sprinted right to the room and slid the door open, with his fist ready to go up against anything that was inside, but instead, he soon lowered his fist.

n“What in the heavens happened in here,” Kron said.

nSimyon, walking by, could see the teacher standing there still; he decided to take a peek into the room, and he almost fell to his knees.

n‘What is all that… is that blood?’

nThe entire room was covered in blood. The flooring had splatters of the dark substance, the walls from left to right, and even the ceiling was covered in it. It looked as if someone had splattered buckets of paint all over the place; it was hard to even believe that a person had so much blood in their body.

nHowever, what Kron’s eyes had been drawn like a magnet to was the boy sitting in the center of the room on his own. His body was shivering once in a while; it was shaking, his eyes were sunken, his pupils barely visible, as they looked to be closed. His mouth was open, and he was repeatedly mumbling the same words over and over again.

n“I… will… not die… I… will… not… die.”

n‘I’ve never seen such a strong will to live before,’ Kron thought. ‘His presence, it is like that of a dangerous beast; even I was too afraid to get close.’

nSnapping out of it, Kron acted quickly as he turned around and could see Simyon.

n“Make sure no one goes into this room; it’s off-limits. In the meantime, I’m going to let Raze take your room.”

nRushing over, Kron lifted Raze, holding him in a cradling position with his two hands, and rushed him to Simyon’s room. He then placed Raze on the bed and shut the door behind him.

n“Raze, can you hear me? Is everything okay? Can you still feel the energy in your body?” Kron asked.

nHe could see Raze’s lips moving; he was no longer saying the same words but sounded as if he had said something else. Pressing his head closer, Kron could eventually hear what Raze said.

n“Don’t… touch… me.” Raze managed to let out before passing out completely.

n—

nSome time had passed, and Raze was able to open his eyes again. The first thing he realized was how comfortable he felt as his back was up against something relatively soft and how much closer the ceiling looked.

n‘Wait, why am I lying down, wasn’t I cultivating from that manual before, and then I used shrouded heart… but I’m alive.’

n“You’re awake,” Kron said, sitting in a chair that was just by Raze’s side. “You can keep resting for a while, but if I’m correct in my thinking, you won’t feel like you need to.”

nThe comments confused Raze. He had just been through a torturous session with his own body, and was constantly spewing blood. How could he feel… fine?

n‘I do feel fine, I feel absolutely fine, no, I feel better than fine.’

nWhen breathing, there didn’t feel like a foot was on top of his chest. His body, it felt more responsive than before, something that he didn’t even think was possible, and even his own body composition, the muscles seemed fuller and larger.

nFinally, he could feel it; his Magic core was still there, and in his stomach, there was the basis of Qi.

n“Right now, you might be extremely confused, and you have every right to be,” Kron explained. “What your body went through was something similar to a cleanse. It was getting rid of all of the impurities in your body.

n“But it wasn’t a normal cleanse; every muscle in your body, to your very bones, even your organs. It was getting rid of everything that affects our body in day-to-day life, what harms the cells that make up all of our body.

n“That black blood that spewed out from your body, that was you going through the cleanse. It was black in color because it was everything bad that your body didn’t need. The only thing was, you had an extremely abnormal amount. I’ve never seen someone have so many impurities in their body before.”

nHearing what Kron was saying, and feeling the effects on his body, he could only believe that what he was saying was true right now.

n“Does this mean I have Qi now, and I can learn martial arts?” Raze asked.

nKron chuckled.

n“The difference between a regular civilian and a Pagna warrior are the impurities in their body. Now that your body has gotten rid of all of this, it’s now stronger, can move faster, and last longer; you are almost a superhuman compared to them.

n“Raze, what you just went through isn’t just someone who has learned to use Qi. You are now officially a stage 1 Pagna warrior.”

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