Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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Cunning demons beguiled the dragons who craved wisdom, giving birth to the dragon demon race.
And when the existence of the dragon demons, combining the might of dragons and the greed of demons, became a vast darkness that stole the light from humanity, heroes rose to fight against it.
Among those heroes was a knight named Azel.
He felled countless dragon demons, saved innumerable human lives, and finally slew the dragon demon king Atein, putting an end to the calamity that had swept across the continent.
And now, the hero Azel was dying.
"You know as well as I do that magic originated from the dragon demons. Dragons, lacking wisdom, fell for the demons' temptations and fused with them, and that's how magic was born."
Kallos, the mage who had gained the greatest renown alongside Azel during the calamity, wore a pained expression. In the course of the war against the dragon demons, the two had crossed the line between life and death together countless times and become the closest of friends.
At those words, Azel asked,
"Why are you telling me something I already know? Tell me something interesting for once."
The Azel that Kallos remembered had shone more brilliantly than anyone. He had been sturdier than anyone, so Kallos could never have imagined him in a weakened state.
But reality is often cruelly harsh. Right before Kallos's eyes sat a frail Azel on his sickbed—a sight he had never once imagined. He had withered to an astonishing degree, his complexion deathly pale.
It was all the price of slaying the dragon demon king Atein.
Atein, the first of the dragon demons who had seduced countless dragons to spawn myriad more, had laid a powerful curse upon Azel as he fell to his blade. The curse's corrosive power was slowly eating away at his body, leading him toward death.
Kallos suppressed a sigh and continued.
"Listen. Magic is a technique too difficult for all humans to master, so the brutish but steadfast warriors adapted its basics into 'magic wielded by the body.' That's what Spirit Order is."
"So?"
Azel asked with a sullen expression. He couldn't fathom why his friend, who had come all this way, was reciting things he already knew. The guy had always loved lecturing on random facts like this, but why repeat what he already knew?
Kallos said,
"Now comes the main point. Spirit Order practitioners simply handle mana force differently—they're mages in another form. And in the way they manipulate mana force like the dragon demons do, they might even resemble them more fundamentally than mages."
"That's unsettling. Dragon demons, of all things."
The dragon demons believed themselves the superior beings of the world. They were fusions of mighty dragons, whose intellect far surpassed that of beasts, and demons, sly but unable to exist without possessing human souls.
Kallos gave a wry smile.
"But we use their power to oppose them. That's an unavoidable truth."
"So what's the point of this boring story?"
"Listen. The dragon demons may be different from dragons, but they couldn't change their life cycle of dormancy and activity periods."
Dragons slept every day, but like animals in hibernation, they also entered long periods of slumber. That phase was called the dormancy period. They entered it after expending too much power in their active phase, or...
"When gravely wounded."
"Exactly. In dormancy, they exhibit astonishing vitality. They forgo all activity and become defenseless, but in exchange, they heal even wounds that would otherwise be fatal, regenerating over time. It proves their dormancy is a magical phenomenon, unlike an animal's hibernation."
"You don't mean..."
Azel began to grasp what the mage wanted to say. Kallos nodded as if confirming his guess and spoke.
"I've dissected dragon demon and dragon corpses in my research. If there's any chance for you to survive, this is it. It's risky, but... if you trust me and entrust your life to me, I'll induce a state in you like a dragon's dormancy."
Chapter 1
Azel Zestringer (1)
1
Azel vividly remembered the events before he fell asleep.
At the same time, he was aware that it had happened in a distant past. His consciousness had slumbered, but his subconscious had felt the flow of time passing over his body.
Having slept for so long, even after opening his eyes, reality felt hazy. He couldn't even tell if he had truly awakened or was merely dreaming...
Boom... KABOOOM...!
Azel awoke from his long slumber due to an explosion echoing from afar.
It had been silent throughout his sleep, but for some reason, explosions rang out intermittently, shaking the ground. That had finally forced his eyes open.
"Nngh..."
The problem was that though his eyes were open, his body had no strength. His consciousness floated loosely, to the point he doubted if he was even alive, and his body wouldn't obey.
Azel calmed his mind. Confirming he was still breathing, his heart beating slowly, he willed strength into his hand.
Twitch.
His fingers moved.
Wiggle.
His toes moved.
His body, unmoving for so long, had hardened like a fossil. Animals awakening from long hibernation are half-dead at first, and he was no different.
Warm blood began circulating through his rigid body, stirring vitality. Deadened senses revived, and he felt the air touching his skin.
It took great patience and effort to progress from wiggling fingers and toes to noticeable movement. After an hour of struggling, he could finally lift his arm.
'Good. At least it moves. But...'
He had no idea where he was.
'Kallos, you bastard, where did you leave me?'
It was pitch black all around; he couldn't see a thing.
The place he lay was soft like a bed, but he could tell it was a narrow space. Reaching out, his hand touched a wall blocking the way.
'Is this a coffin?'
Its structure suggested a spacious coffin in which they had placed him.
Putting a living person in a coffin wasn't a pleasant thought. But it must have had some magical purpose. Azel thought so as he reviewed his memories.
He was Azel Karzark, the hero who had defeated the dragon demon king Atein and saved the continent from despair.
But due to Atein's curse, he was dying, so at his friend Kallos's suggestion, he entered a long slumber—like a dragon's dormancy—to overcome it.
For that, a powerful ritual was needed. Kallos himself and several other mighty mages had gathered in secret to perform it.
That was where Azel's memories ended. Everything after Kallos's sorrowful gaze looking at him faded to darkness. The fragmented memories surfacing afterward were likely aftereffects of wandering in dreams, not real experiences.
Thus, Azel had no way of knowing where he had slumbered or his current state.
'First, I need to get out.'
No amount of thinking here would reveal anything. So deciding, Azel pushed against the coffin's lid.
It didn't budge.
"..."
After pushing for a while, Azel lowered his arm, exhausted. From the reaction when he pushed with all his might, it didn't seem like it would open from the inside alone. Perhaps it was designed to open with some magical mechanism?
'Ugh, damn it, Kallos, pulling this unnecessary stunt!'
Azel gnashed his teeth.
During the magical slumber mimicking a dragon's dormancy, being confined like this was fine. But now that he was awake, being unable to exit was a problem. Air circulated, so he could breathe, but wouldn't he starve like this?
'Alright. I'll force it open and get out.'
Azel closed his eyes and focused his mind.
Originally, his body harbored power transcending human limits—an immense strength. With it, shattering this coffin would be...
'Huh? What's this?'
Observing his inner self, Azel panicked.
It was gone.
The power that had flowed through his spirit veins, making him superhuman, had vanished entirely.
'No way... Did it all get used up maintaining the dormancy?'
Beasts gorge before hibernation to stockpile nutrients, then awaken having depleted them. Azel's situation was similar. He didn't know how long he had slept, but if it had all gone to sustaining his life, it made sense.
'No, this isn't the time to accept it!'
Azel sharpened his focus even more. If he couldn't find a way out, he'd starve here. After mimicking a dragon's dormancy to beat the curse, dying of starvation would be a joke.
'Alright.'
Azel sensed the fragments of power latent in his withered spirit veins. With strong will, he gathered them.
Thump.
His heart beat.
Proof he was still alive. Each beat sent vibrations through his body, stimulating the spirit veins. Mana force flowing through them amplified the vibrations, granting superhuman strength.
Spirit Order, the secret art of warriors, stemmed from this heartbeat.
'I can manage it once.'
Having gathered the remnants of power in his body, Azel judged carefully.
It was feeble. An average practitioner couldn't accomplish anything with it.
But as Azel, he could amplify it once using his heartbeat and blood vessel vibrations, unleashing tremendous destructive power—enough to shatter the coffin no matter how thick!
'Here goes!'
Azel opened his eyes. He spread his fingers wide.
That was when it happened.
Wooooong!
Suddenly, immense power flooded into Azel's spirit veins from around him. Startled by the unexpected event, Azel was shocked.
'Damn!'
Of all times, new power pouring in at the moment he had gathered his nonexistent strength to maximum amplification! And far more immense than his own!
'Urk!'
It was a situation that could lead to self-destruction, but Azel displayed astonishing reflexes. He dispersed the power he was about to unleash, recirculated it through his spirit veins to mix with the influx, and expelled it before it rampaged!
Azure lightning burst from both hands. Dazzling light burned away the surrounding darkness, exploding upward.
KABOOM!