Outside Dmitri Castle.
Kevin was born there.
He lived in a shabby shack that could hardly be called a home, and from a young age, he followed his parents around, helping them with work to make ends meet.
There was no task he hadn’t done, starting from simple errands.
Such was the life of a poor commoner, and he dared not dream of achieving great things as a man.
He simply wanted to live like everyone else.
Not the life of a hero from fairy tales, but a life where he didn’t have to worry about his next meal.
And so.
Shiver, shiver.
"Huff, huff."
His hands trembled.
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, and his vision blurred as dizziness washed over him.
His arm—should he really cut it off? Roman didn’t force him to make a choice.
Following Hans would align with his dreams, but Kevin couldn’t shake the memory of the day he first met Roman.
Roman was strong.
He was a man who took responsibility for his words, and he had effortlessly taken down a Blood Fang, a being Kevin could never hope to face.
It was awe-inspiring.
The idea of having power—something Kevin had always been deprived of—made it impossible for him to turn away from this moment.
‘Young Master Roman promised me a new life.
So, I must become someone he needs.’
He clenched his teeth.
And then.
Crunch!
"Gah!"
He chopped off his arm.
The sensation of the sharp blade cutting through flesh made his mind reel, even though he thought he was accustomed to pain.
The problem was that he hadn’t completely severed his arm yet.
The sword Roman had thrown him was dull, and as a weak young boy, it took dozens of sawing motions to cut through the hard bone.
Scrape, scrape.
A dull sound echoed.
The sound of forcibly cutting through bone was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
Kevin’s face turned red as if it might burst at any moment, and he barely registered what he was doing.
He simply acted.
Roman had said it.
That he could become strong.
For the first time, Kevin felt something like a "dream" forming, and he suppressed the pain over and over again.
And finally.
Thud.
He cut off his arm.
His body completely lost strength, and Kevin collapsed into a pool of blood.
At that moment.
Everything disappeared like a mirage.
The blood pooling on the ground.
The arm rolling away.
Even the pain that had been tearing through his mind.
He didn’t know how it happened, but one thing was certain—he had passed the third trial.
"From now on, you will live as a sword in my place."
The world had changed.
Kevin, still not fully recovered, pushed himself up and prostrated himself before Roman.
"I will follow your orders, my lord."
Roman.
Following him was the only direction Kevin’s life would take from now on.
After parting ways with Kevin, Roman returned to his room, where Hans rushed out in a fluster.
"Ah, Young Master! Are you hurt? There’s blood on your sword!"
"It’s nothing."
"But…"
"Hans."
Hans, who had been anxiously inspecting Roman’s body, quietly withdrew his hands at the firm tone.
Roman was a strong man.
He hadn’t even flinched after taking down a Blood Fang, so Hans realized he had been overreacting.
And there were no visible wounds.
That meant the blood on Roman’s sword belonged to someone else.
Chuckle.
‘What a ruthless guy.’
Roman smiled.
The incident with Kevin.
Roman hadn’t actually intended for Kevin to cut off his arm.
He had planned to test his resolve with an illusion, but Kevin had slashed his arm before even falling into the illusion.
The result was the blood on the sword.
Fortunately, the sword hadn’t fully cut through the flesh, but if the illusion magic had been even slightly weaker, his arm would have been completely severed.
He was a stubborn one.
Not the kind of genius people often spoke of, but his willpower was unmatched.
And as Kevin swore his loyalty, Roman spoke in a calm tone.
"The mana cultivation method I will teach you is extremely dangerous. The pain isn’t severe at lower levels, but the stronger you become, the more you’ll have to endure the pain you just experienced. The reason I’m teaching you this is simple. It’s the fastest way for a teenager who knows nothing about mana to grow stronger. If you master this method, you’ll gain the power to protect those around you."
The Ghost Soul Demon Art.
Since it couldn’t be fully explained in this world, Roman had wrapped it in the plausible packaging of a "mana cultivation method."
Hearing this, Kevin was moved.
In this world, mana cultivation methods weren’t something a lowly commoner could access.
Though the risks were great, the fact that Roman was personally teaching him a cultivation method made Kevin doubt reality.
Roman was a good man.
He had saved Kevin from being beaten, taken down a Blood Fang, and offered him a future he could never have imagined as a mere commoner.
Why? Why did he trust him so blindly? Kevin couldn’t understand why Roman would trust him so much, even though he might run away after learning the cultivation method.
So he asked.
"Why do you trust me?"
Roman smiled.
Kevin’s words reminded him of the Demon Lord.
Once, the Demon Lord had been an ordinary boy, and he hadn’t been given the chance to learn ancient martial arts.
He too had mastered the Ghost Soul Demon Art through Roman.
At first, he hadn’t taken Roman’s care seriously, but after years of conquering the martial world, the Demon Lord had asked why Roman had trusted him so blindly.
The answer was simple.
‘To receive blind trust, I must first trust the other person.
Even if I’m betrayed.’
Trust.
It’s blind.
It’s not about having a reason; it’s about trusting because you choose to.
But Roman didn’t explain this to Kevin.
Blind trust loses its value the moment you try to justify it.
And Roman had never worried about betrayal.
The stronger those who followed him became, the more they would realize how dangerous it was to betray someone like him, the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk.
So.
He simply ended the conversation with a casual remark.
And now, Roman stared at the sword.
In the blood-stained blade, he saw the Demon Lord, and from now on, he would form a bond with Kevin, a boy who resembled the Demon Lord.
"It’s going to get busy from now on."
Two weeks until the party.
About six months until the war.
There was much to teach Kevin.
Time is relative.
While Kevin began to live a fierce life, Chris spent his days in boredom to the point where he wondered if this was even acceptable.
"Boring."
He yawned for what felt like the hundredth time.
From a distance, Chris watched Roman and Kevin.
"Everything starts with the basics."
"Do even one thing correctly."
"Don’t lose focus."
It was truly pitiful.
He understood what they were doing, but he couldn’t comprehend why.
‘Why did he pick up some random kid and start teaching him swordsmanship?’
If Kevin were some kind of genius, he might have understood.
But Kevin wasn’t a genius, nor was he of such high status that he deserved to be taught.
He was just a commoner.
And completely ignorant of swordsmanship.
Chris sighed.
When he had decided to follow Roman, he never imagined things would turn out like this.
‘I thought following Young Master Roman would teach me the secret to becoming strong quickly.
But what is this? He’s never taught me anything, treating me like I don’t even exist.
If this is how it’s going to be, I’d be better off staying with my master and swinging my sword even once more.’
His anger simmered.
As the wind blew through his teeth, he wanted to run to Roman and shout at the top of his lungs.
But he held back.
Because he had chosen to follow.
He thought that if he endured and waited, Roman would eventually notice him.
But.
"Damn it."
Thud!
He threw his gloves to the ground.
It had already been a week.
Unable to suppress his anger at being ignored while Roman focused solely on Kevin, Chris approached Roman.
"Young Master Roman."
"…?"
"It’s been over two weeks since I started following you. One week was wasted in seclusion training, and the other week I’ve been pushed aside to watch Kevin train. If it’s because I acted rudely at first, I sincerely apologize. So, please, teach me something, just like you’re teaching Kevin. I’ll learn anything with all my heart."
His determination was impressive.
As Chris expressed his resolve, Roman turned his gaze from Kevin and stared at Chris.
"Didn’t I tell you? To watch and learn from those around you."
"…Are you seriously telling me to just ‘watch’ and learn? Not to teach me anything special?"
Chris was shocked.
What kind of nonsense was this? He had thought "watching and learning" meant receiving guidance, but he couldn’t accept this reality.
"Young Master! Even though I was utterly defeated in our spar, I’ve reached the 2nd Star level by my mid-twenties. I can’t let my talent, which people call genius, go to waste like this."
His resistance was fierce.
As Chris raised his voice, refusing to back down, Roman suppressed a laugh.
It was as expected.
He hadn’t thought Chris would endure being ignored forever.
Roman spoke.
"Everyone has their own path. Kevin is ignorant, so he needs someone to guide him step by step until he reaches a certain level. But you’re different. Even if I were to teach you something, you wouldn’t truly understand it. You’d just force yourself to swallow it because I defeated you. And your talent would backfire."
"…So you’re telling me to keep watching?"
"No."
Roman waited.
For Chris to rebel.
Now was the time to show those who had chosen to follow him the reality.
"To accept reality, you need clear results. How about this? Spar with Kevin as a proxy. If you still think you’re right after the proxy spar, I’ll start teaching you directly."
Roman’s proposal was beyond common sense.
A proxy spar.
It was an unfamiliar term.
Chris’s confusion was quickly resolved by Roman’s explanation.
"The meaning of a proxy spar is simple. Kevin will be your opponent, but during the spar, I’ll tell Kevin how to defeat you. So, you’ll have to defeat Kevin, who’s acting as my ‘avatar,’ to prove your resolve."
Roman’s words were absurd.
And infuriating.
‘…Does this bastard really think I’m an idiot?’
He had accepted his defeat to Roman.
Every morning, as he looked in the mirror, he remembered that moment countless times as he stared at his missing teeth.
But this was different.
His opponent was a complete novice who didn’t even know the basics.
Whether it was a proxy spar or not, his defeat made no sense.
‘Fine, breaking my teeth wasn’t enough, so now you want to completely tame me, huh? What you want is blind loyalty.
But I’m not that easy.
Even if I have to punch the face of the son of Lord Dmitri, I can’t just accept this kind of treatment.’
His eyebrows shot up.
He wanted to do well.
He had left the knight order after making a solemn promise to his master, and he wanted to achieve something before returning.
And.
Two weeks had passed with no gain.
The frustration he had barely suppressed exploded at Roman’s audacity.
"Fine. Let’s do it. I’ll show you that I’m not someone to be taken lightly."
Chris thought.
This time.
It would be different from the last spar.