I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 37

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (38)

Ethan’s face hardened.

Flaming liquid flowed out from dozens of fire essences.

These were clearly circulating inside his body.

It wasn’t that the essences had been distorted too quickly.

It was the perfect moment to enter the cycle.

However, what he felt inside his body was not a burning pain, but only a slight tingling sensation.

“…Could it be that the temperature of the liquid is low?”

He was so confused that such a thought came to mind.

He immediately cut his finger slightly.

A drop of blood fell, and a drop of the liquid flowed out.

Tuck.

That was the moment when the essence fell to the floor.

Chi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i

A thought crossed Ethan’s mind.

“Could it be…?”

The stages of circulation can be broadly divided into four.

Acceptance, iron man, embodiment, and understanding.

The stage of acceptance, where one accepts pain.

The stage of iron man, where one goes beyond accepting pain and overcomes it.

The stage of embodiment, where the body completely adapts to the fire itself.

The stage of understanding, where one realizes the origin of fire.

Even though the fiery liquid is circulating rapidly, he only feels this much pain.

“He must have almost reached the end of the second stage.”

There was no doubt that he had almost overcome the second stage, the stage of iron.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain this phenomenon.

“…Amazing.”

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Ethan looked at his own body.

In the history of the Duke’s family, there were almost no ones who surpassed acceptance and iron as soon as they entered the stage of circulation.

“I wonder if the first head of the family surpassed it?”

The first head of the family, Jeron Ardan.

He was the one who laid the foundation of the Ardan family and was known as the only person among all the heads of the family who had surpassed the transcendent stage and was advancing beyond it.

From the Black Flame Breath to the family’s secret techniques.

All of them were techniques created by Jeron, the first head of the family.

“He was also the only head of the family to ignite the flame known as White Flame.”

White Flame.

It was literally a pure white flame.

No one knew how it could be ignited.

From the second duke onwards, all subsequent heads of the family tried to recreate the White Flame, but it was impossible.

As time passed, White Flame became nothing more than a legend. In the end, his descendants chose to strengthen Black Flame instead of White Flame.

“If the first head of the family was known for creating a special flame…”

He might have been able to skip two stages in the cycle.

Unfortunately, there are only a few records left about Zerone, so it is impossible to say with certainty whether he truly passed through the cycle without any pain.

In any case, excluding the first head of the family, who possessed such monstrous talent.

The long history of the Duke’s family.

In that history, there was not a single head of the family who was known to have been unharmed when the flame essence flowed through their veins.

Even if they were able to enter the cycle, they would become critically ill patients who needed absolute stability for at least the first week.

The first two stages of the cycle were so painful that they could only be completed by enduring immense suffering.

“I don’t have to go through this.”

His ultimate goal today was to overcome the first stage.

With the power of the elixir, he endured immense pain and overcame the sudden rush of agony with his willpower, trying to get through the first stage.

“I’ve almost made it through the second stage.”

It was such good news that he couldn’t help but smile.

No matter how much he had experienced the realm of transcendence, he couldn’t laugh off the burning pain he felt in his veins all day long.

“I have to test it.”

If he had skipped the first two stages in the cycle, the fire mana burning inside his body would surely be completely different from before.

He immediately stood up from his seat.

* *

Ethan arrived at the training ground inside the inner castle and drew his sword.

The Nefron Greatsword.

It was a light and sturdy weapon that absorbed fire mana very well.

He covered the weapon with mana.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

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A tremendous wall of fire enveloped the sword. Previously, the mana had only burned around the sword, but now it extended about a meter beyond it.

The mana had increased significantly.

His control had deepened.

On top of that, the mana emitted heat so intense it could burn.

The burning mana took on various shapes. Ethan nodded in satisfaction.

He had definitely surpassed the first two stages of the cycle.

“In my previous life, it took me five years to reach this level.”

This time, he had reached this level in just three months.

It was a tremendous achievement.

“However.”

There was one thing that bothered him.

“The black flame is the problem.”

In order for the black flame to be generated, powerful burning pain was necessary along with the breathing technique.

If he had overcome the first two stages of the cycle while feeling pain like the previous heads of the family, his mana would have turned dark red by now.

However, Ethan’s mana was burning red as if it were pure flame.

“I’m sure my fire power has increased significantly.”

What happens when you skip the first two stages without experiencing intense pain?

Except for the first head of the family, who left almost no records, everyone else had records of a certain level or higher.

According to the records, everyone from the second duke to his father, the 17th duke, had suffered through the cycle.

It meant that it took hundreds of years from the second head of the family before someone was able to take the first step on a new path.

That was when Ethan was testing his mana.

His burning mana began to grow in size in an instant.

A huge passageway was created in the large flames.

“A passageway of fire?”

It was when Ethan looked at the passageway.

“Did you call me?”

It was a powerful voice that he had heard somewhere before.

He immediately remembered what had happened in the past.

“…Lolothia?”

A girl made entirely of flames burst out from between the giant fiery passages.

[You… You’re a descendant of the Ardan family I saw back then. Did you call me?]

“I didn’t call you.”

[Then why…

The girl of fire, who had been staring at Ethan’s flames, showed a hint of surprise in her eyes.

[I see. It was because of this fire mana. It’s extremely pure. Even I was naturally drawn to it… Yes… The descendants of Ardanaga had this phenomenon…]

The spirit lord was right.

There was a passage that said that very occasionally, when his ancestors practiced sword dancing, a fire spirit would suddenly appear.

It was the same for Ethan in his previous life.

Just once.

While performing the sword dance, an elemental appeared. At that time, he encountered Ignis, one of the highest-ranking fire elementals.

There had never been a case where the elemental lord himself appeared in person like this.

“This is already our second encounter.”

It was when Ethan looked at Lotorita.

[Well done.]

The girl of fire reached out and stroked his head.

He felt a warm heat.

“What did I do well?”

[You created a pure flame that has not fallen into corruption.]

“…Corruption?”

[Isn’t that what your kind has always done? You mixed negative emotions into pure flames to create the flames of corruption. It started when the previous ruler ruled the land of fire, and it continued until my reign.]

“Is that a bad thing?”

[It corrupts the essence of fire. Eventually, it will reach its limits. It means continuing to carry imperfection within oneself.]

“…”

Black flames, stronger and more greedy than any mana, capable of consuming anything.

Thanks to the technique of black flames, the Duke’s family rose to become the greatest swordsmanship clan in the Western Continent.

To describe it as a fallen fire.

However, what truly surprised Ethan was what followed next.

“…Limits.”

After becoming a transcendent being in his previous life.

Ethan encountered a huge wall.

It was a wall that even his talent could not easily break through. Looking at that wall, he felt an intense sense of hopelessness.

He realized that something was wrong. But he didn’t know what it was.

“Could it be…?”

Was it because of the black flame’s breath?

Another thing that came to mind was the white flame.

The first head of the clan, who was said to have surpassed the transcendent level of a 10-star knight by igniting the white flame.

“Perhaps white flames are the key to overcoming the wall of transcendence…”

Once I began to doubt, many things began to bother me.

“Do you sense something?”

“Perhaps.”

I was born into the continent’s most prestigious swordsmanship family and lived a life of adoration.

I believed that everything I learned from my family was the best.

That was why he never doubted the martial arts techniques.

It was his foundation, his pride, and the way he had trained to establish his identity.

But today.

An indelible doubt arose in Ethan’s mind.

“The breath of Black Flame.”

It was not a perfect breathing technique.

It meant that it was incomplete, that there was still more to learn.

His flame had not yet been corrupted. It meant that he could continue to maintain his purity.

“Spirit Lord.”

“Why are you saying that?”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I realized something important.”

[Hm. I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I was able to be summoned to the human world. I heard that even the previous lord only descended to the human world a few times.

Soon, the fire girl flying around gradually became smaller.

[Descendant of Ardan. I hope you continue to nurture the pure fire within you. I hope to see you again someday.]

The girl slipped through the narrowing passageway. Her encounter with the Spirit Lord had come to an end.

* *

The training ground inside the castle.

Two knights were practicing sword fighting there.

They were Ethan and Fulton.

Every time their swords clashed, Fulton felt a sense of horror. He had guessed that the elixir would increase his mana.

However, the Grand Duke had gained more than just mana.

[Red Flame Style, Chapter 1]

[Flame Dance]

Flaming swords began to pierce every direction.

His counterattacks were too neat, from his attack speed to the way he pierced his opponent’s openings.

Fulton hurriedly gathered his mana. He used the sword technique passed down from the Besos family to block the prince’s attacks.

However, as the sword dance continued, Polton’s hands and feet gradually became more and more chaotic.

“I can’t stop him…!”

Soon, his defense was broken.

He blew mana into his feet and summoned all his strength to raise his sword.

He thrust his sword forward, and the sword energy flew toward the Grand Prince’s sword dance.

However, there was no explosion. The dizzying sword dance suddenly changed into a precise defensive stance, and the sword energy was easily deflected.

Meanwhile, Fulton stepped back and smiled bitterly.

Just a moment ago.

He had used his sword energy because he knew he couldn’t defeat the Grand Duke with sword skills alone.

The only advantage he had left was his mana.

“…Grand Duke. From now on, I will treat you as if this were a real battle.”

He was a being that could never be defeated with sword skills alone. Foltin acknowledged this completely.

Now, he felt that he could only maintain a level playing field by facing the Grand Duke as an enemy, rather than as a knight facing another knight.

Ethan nodded readily at those words.

“As you wish.”

He took the elixir and his mana increased.

He leaped over two stages of the cycle at once, and his control over his mana became much stronger, along with his physical strength.

He was now basically ready to make full use of his experience as a transcendent being.

So it was no wonder that Fulton was struggling.

“As I thought. With the use of the Red Flame Technique, even elite knights are no match for him.”

The Vision Sword Technique was divided into four stages.

The first stage was “Fire Sword.”

This sword technique can be used if one possesses the essence of fire within their body.

The second stage is Hongyeom.

Even in the stage of circulation, one must surpass the first stage of acceptance before they can fully utilize this sword technique.

Now, Ethan had entered the stage where he could use the second sword technique.

He had gained the skills to defeat even elite knights.

Whoosh!

“Krah!”

Just like now.

The sparring between the two men that began in the morning continued into the evening.

* *

After the sparring ended.

Ethan called out to Silvia.

Elite knight Fulton.

He had grown to the point where he could fight him to a draw.

Before attacking the second branch of the family.

You have acquired the skills to face an elite knight.

Your internal preparations are complete.

“I plan to attack the Romenton Baron.”

“I see. How about using this method?”

Silvia immediately handed him a document.

The document contained information on how to attack the Romenton Baron.

‘While taking care of the baron.’

It was a way to secure a justification. This approach was far superior to simply relying on brute force.

It was a decent plan.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

Soon after, two uninvited guests set off toward the Romenton family.