Chapter 140: The Complete Set! 1

“What in the world is going on?”

Seeing that Kent still showed no reaction whatsoever, Manda began increasing both the amount and intensity of the Battle Aura he was channeling into his master’s body. This time, he was pouring in twice as much as before.

Surely this would be enough to establish the Source of Battle Aura, wouldn’t it?

After all, the Battle Aura he was using was exceptionally pure. Under normal circumstances, it would be more than enough to establish a Source of Battle Aura capable of bringing Kent directly to the standards of a first-rank warrior, allowing him to skip the apprentice stage entirely.

Yet what happened next was completely beyond Manda’s expectations.

The moment the Battle Aura entered Kent’s body, it began dissipating almost immediately.

Manda was startled. He hurriedly examined the situation, trying to determine where the energy had gone, but no matter how carefully he searched, he couldn’t find the slightest trace of it.

Just like that, the entire stream of Battle Aura vanished into thin air.

Manda was practically on the verge of tears.

The Battle Aura used to establish a Source of Battle Aura was supposed to be the purest energy stored within one’s own source. Using such refined energy would lay a solid foundation for Kent’s future development.

But when Manda looked at Kent again, he still couldn’t detect any sign of pain or discomfort.

Grinding his teeth, Manda decided to increase the flow of Battle Aura once more.

Unfortunately, the result was exactly the same.

The energy disappeared without leaving so much as a trace.

Now Manda was getting genuinely frustrated.

If he still couldn’t establish the Source of Battle Aura, would his master blame him for his incompetence?

What Manda never expected was that he would eventually pour most of the Battle Aura stored within his own source into Kent’s body, yet the energy still wouldn’t reach the very place where the Source of Battle Aura was supposed to be established.

By now, Manda was sweating profusely.

Fortunately, as an undead knight, he had no heartbeat. Otherwise, the sheer frustration might have given him a heart attack.

Kent, meanwhile, had absolutely no idea what was happening.

All he felt was a pleasant warmth spreading through his muscles, rather like the sensation of soaking in a hot sauna.

He hadn’t even used his mental strength to examine what was going on inside his body. Manda had told him to relax and avoid becoming tense, so Kent had obediently sat still and followed his instructions.

As time passed, his body grew more and more comfortable.

The sensation was so pleasant that Kent could barely suppress the urge to let out a contented groan.

Still, he couldn’t help wondering whether the Source of Battle Aura had been established yet.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was surprised to find Manda standing motionless before him, looking utterly bewildered.

“What happened?”

Kent had no idea what had gone wrong. At first, he even suspected that he might be incapable of cultivating Battle Aura, leaving Manda in an awkward position.

He hurriedly asked what was going on.

“Master...” Manda began.

He then explained everything that had happened, describing how every attempt to channel Battle Aura into Kent’s body had ended in failure.

As he spoke, Manda sounded increasingly aggrieved, as though he had suffered some terrible injustice.

Kent could hardly believe his ears.

“You mean you’ve poured most of your ninth-rank Battle Aura into my body, and absolutely nothing has happened? Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?”

It was hardly surprising that Kent found this difficult to believe.

The greater part of a ninth-rank warrior’s Battle Aura was no ordinary reserve of energy. Its quality was vastly different from that of seventh- or eighth-rank Battle Aura. The difference wasn’t simply a matter of quantity.

Kent simply couldn’t understand how his body could possibly absorb such powerful energy without any apparent reaction.

But Manda was just as baffled.

How was he supposed to explain something he couldn’t understand himself?

In truth, the explanation was relatively simple.

Kent’s body had already undergone extensive strengthening, allowing it to accommodate far more energy than an ordinary human body could contain. Manda’s Battle Aura was simply another form of energy that his body could absorb.

Moreover, the human body possessed an inherent ability to absorb energy, and Kent hadn’t consciously tried to resist the process. As a result, every trace of Battle Aura Manda channeled into him was immediately absorbed by his body.

After all, even an eighth-rank three-headed Hellhound had been unable to bite through Kent’s flesh.

That alone offered some indication of just how powerful his physical constitution had become.

It was worth remembering that Kent’s body had originally been prepared to accommodate a soul of at least legendary rank. Several bottles of dragon blood had been used in the process of strengthening it.

Given such an extraordinary foundation, it was hardly surprising that his body could absorb an immense amount of energy without suffering any ill effects.

“Then why don’t you try channeling it into me one more time?”

Kent asked Manda in confusion. He simply couldn’t believe that something like this was possible, yet he had no evidence to prove otherwise. So he decided to let Manda try again while he used his mental strength to observe what was happening inside his body.

“Yes, Master.”

Manda answered in a rather dispirited voice. He had never encountered anything like this before. In fact, he had never even heard of such a situation, so all he could do was try again and see what happened.

Kent kept his eyes open, watching as a grayish glow emerged from Manda’s skeletal hand. This was a distinctive characteristic of necromantic Battle Aura.

Manda pressed his hand firmly against Kent’s lower abdomen, and the visible stream of Battle Aura slowly approached his skin.

The moment Kent examined the process with his mental strength, he was utterly stunned.

“No way!”

This time, Kent clearly saw what was happening. The instant Manda’s Battle Aura entered his body, it was absorbed by his flesh, just like water being soaked up by a sponge.

Even stranger, the process felt remarkably comfortable.

Kent finally understood where that pleasant, sauna-like sensation had come from.

But he still couldn’t figure out one thing: how was his body able to absorb and process Battle Aura as though it were ordinary energy?

“Master?”

Seeing Kent staring wide-eyed in astonishment, Manda cautiously called out to him.

Although Manda was a high-ranking warrior, the amount of Battle Aura stored within his Source of Battle Aura was limited. Moreover, the energy contained within it was the purest and most powerful form of Battle Aura a warrior possessed.

Ordinary instructors rarely used the Battle Aura stored in their own sources when helping their students establish theirs. Only in exceptional circumstances, such as when a father was teaching his son, would someone consider doing so.

The reason was simple: the Battle Aura within a warrior’s source had been refined through countless cycles of cultivation and training.

It was much like the difference between ordinary iron and refined steel. The two might look similar on the outside, but their internal qualities were worlds apart.

“I’m... I’m fine. Keep going.”

Kent couldn’t afford to worry about Manda’s concerns right now.

With a mere thought, he discovered that his body had stopped absorbing Manda’s Battle Aura.

That realization came as a tremendous relief. Just moments earlier, he had been frightened by the possibility that his body was no longer under his control. Now, however, he understood that the absorption had merely been an automatic response of his physical constitution.

“Yes, Master.”

Manda was deeply reluctant to continue, but he had no choice but to obey his master’s command.

Gritting his teeth, he increased the flow of Battle Aura.

To his astonishment, the energy reached the intended location with almost no resistance this time.

But once it arrived, Manda suddenly found himself at a loss.

He simply stood there, motionless and bewildered.

Kent could sense that Manda’s Battle Aura had stopped moving. After waiting for quite some time without seeing any further progress, he finally asked impatiently, “What’s wrong? Why haven’t you established the Source of Battle Aura yet?”

“Right away! Right away, Master!”

Manda was thoroughly shaken.

Establishing the Source of Battle Aura was supposed to involve one of the most important steps in a warrior’s cultivation: creating a space within the lower abdomen capable of accommodating the source, then leaving behind a small seed of Battle Aura. From that point onward, the practitioner could gradually absorb magical elements and transform them into Battle Aura.

Yet what astonished Manda was that the space where Kent’s Source of Battle Aura should have been established was already empty and open, as though it had been prepared in advance.

Normally, creating this space was an extraordinarily difficult process, accompanied by pain that few people could endure.

The location of the Source of Battle Aura lay just below the heart, near the junction of the spine and several vital internal organs, including the lungs, liver, stomach, and heart. It was a particularly sensitive region of the human body, and forcing open a space there could inflict excruciating agony.

Anyone undergoing the process had to endure that pain while the Source of Battle Aura was being established.

If a person lost consciousness during the procedure, their future achievements as a warrior would generally be limited.

Unlike becoming a mage, cultivating Battle Aura did not place nearly as much emphasis on innate talent. What mattered most was perseverance and diligent training.

Even so, Manda had never heard of anyone whose Source of Battle Aura could be established without first having to create the necessary space.

Could it be because his master was already a mage?

Manda couldn’t help wondering.