Chapter 122: Castaway on a Deserted Island (3)

A week later, at the outskirts of Rocky Isle.

The Daphne Knights, soaked to the bone, stared intently at the reefs across from them with grim expressions.

Their drenched clothes were smeared with seaweed and clinging shells, their cheeks were sunken, and their skin had swollen and wrinkled from the seawater.

On top of that, their bodies reeked with a smell not unlike raw fish…

Grrroooowl! Rumble! Grrrng!

Their stomachs roared like rolling thunder without pause.

‘I’m going to die at this rate.’

‘Damn it.’

Their teeth gnashed as they endured.

During the past week…

 Y-Young Master… can’t we return to the port, even just for a day? We’re starving.

 Endure it! We don’t have the time, and eating will only make your body heavier.

 Nooo, at this rate we’ll die from exhaustion!

Except for Hardin, all thirty-four of the Daphne Knights had been trapped on this island without proper food or rest.

Whenever they tried to sleep, the relentless sea winds would batter them, leaving them shivering in the cold. The only things edible were shellfish and seaweed clinging to the rocks.

Some even dove into the sea, attempting to catch fish.

 Gahh! Gahhh! I-I’m being swept away!

But in the mad waves surrounding Rocky Isle, such a feat was impossible.

There were even those who attempted to escape the island under the cover of night, only to be swept back by the waves and washed ashore again.

The sorrow and despair on the knights’ faces grew ever darker.

‘I want to go home.’

‘Save me.’

Damn it, damn it all.

As they swallowed curses in silence, Hardin, standing behind them with his arms crossed, raised a hand slightly and spoke.

“Everyone, get ready.”

“Huuuuhhh…”

The knights let out a long groan.

‘This devil of a man.’

‘Does he really think… that doing this will actually raise our level?’

Countless doubts and emotions surged inside them, but what could they do?

They couldn’t leave the island… and behind them stood the devil named Hardin, eyes cold and sharp.

Their shoulders sagged, resignation filling their faces.

‘Damn it, let’s go.’

With deep breaths, a dozen knights cautiously stretched their feet toward the sea.

Their movements resembled thieves sneaking into a noble’s manor… slow and careful.

‘Here we go.’

The knights focused all their consciousness, slowly pushing the mana they had drawn up from their lower abdomen outward.

They then guided it to hover near the soles of their feet, giving it both repulsive and attractive force so that it spread evenly.

Yet, even after a short while, their bodies trembled violently.

Balancing perfectly on the mana beneath their feet was no easy task.

‘Equal force pushing away, equal force pulling in…’

‘As stable as possible, as steady as possible.’

The knights muttered the same words over and over in their heads, as if clinging to the thought of maintaining this state, and took their first step.

Sploosh!

For some, the water reached their knees, for others, their ankles.

There was variance depending on individual skill, but regardless, their bodies stood on the sea as if it were solid ground.

As for Manton, the sub-commander…

“……”

Though his body trembled, he still managed to stand with the soles of his feet pressing firmly on the sea.

‘Well, he is the sub-commander. His form is the best so far.’

Watching silently, Hardin curved his lips into a faint smile before speaking again.

“Continue.”

At his signal, the knights took their next step forward.

This time, they all managed to hold their balance. Hardin flicked his hand once more, giving the signal again.

The moment they took their third step—

Splash!

“Urgh!”

Though they seemed to endure for a moment, one knight lost balance, plunging into the sea before crawling back to shore, drenched.

Hardin jutted his lips out and said,

“How many times do I have to say it? When you switch to the next step, don’t completely release the mana from the previous one. You need to leave some behind while channeling new energy. Otherwise, you lose balance too late.”

“S-sorry. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Hehe…”

One knight, a former member of the Maw Unit, scratched his head awkwardly. Hardin placed a hand on his shoulder and sent mana flowing into him.

Buzzzzz!

“Ugh!”

The knight twitched his brow at the sudden sensation under his soles.

Hardin was directly operating his mana, replicating the state he required at the base of his feet.

“This feeling—just like this. Understand?”

“…Y-yes.”

“Haaaahhh.”

Hardin let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat beading on his forehead.

‘Do I really have to explain every single little detail?’

Would it kill them to figure out ten things on their own when he only taught them one?

But he had no choice.

Even if they couldn’t do it now, he had to make sure they could.

Shaking his head, Hardin spoke again.

“Next!”

Another step forward.

Sploosh! Splashhh!

“Khugh!”

“Damn it!”

This time, two of them lost balance and fell into the water.

As they crawled back onto shore, Hardin’s eyes sharpened.

“Why did you break focus?”

“Haha, well… I guess I was just a bit tired…”

“Vinson, you released your mana too quickly, that’s why your balance collapsed. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I’ll be more mindful.”

And so Hardin’s instruction continued.

Splash! Splash!

With each additional step, more and more knights toppled into the sea.

By the time they reached the eighth step—

“Uuuurghhhh…”

Only Manton remained standing on the water from that group.

“This is the eighth step, right?”

“Holy crap, is he actually going to succeed?”

The knights watching from shore brimmed with expectation.

Even if Manton succeeded, it wouldn’t count as their own success. Still, they longed to confirm that escaping this hell was at least possible.

Splash.

Manton carefully set his foot down.

‘I-it worked…’

A fleeting glimmer of joy crossed his face—

Splashhh!

His body was sucked straight into the water, sending up a spray.

“Ahhh… guess not.”

“Damn it.”

The knights, who had been holding their breath, groaned in disappointment and cursed under their breath.

“Ugh…”

Manton crawled ashore, dripping like a drowned rat.

Thwack.

Hardin flicked him on the crown of the head with a finger, making Manton blink up at him.

“Don’t lose focus until the end. From the very beginning, calculate how much mana you’ll need to reach ten steps, and how long you’ll have to maintain it.”

“Y-yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Manton nodded and stood back up.

Hardin let out a heavy sigh, gazing briefly up at the sky.

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and dusk was giving way to night.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Huuuuh… thank god.”

At that, the knights collapsed where they stood, breathing heavily.

“L-let’s eat something.”

“I’ll fetch whatever I can, wait here.”

“Did we finish all the seaweed?”

“There’s a little left.”

The knights naturally scattered, gathering clams, seaweed, and whatever else they could, then lit a fire and dried themselves off.

After repeating the same routine for a week straight, they had grown accustomed to it.

“Looks about done. Eat up.”

“Ooohhh…”

Slurp, slurp.

Crunch, crunch.

They sucked the meat from fingernail-sized clams and chewed through seaweed that wasn’t even fit for cattle.

“You know… after eating this much, it doesn’t taste so bad.”

“Right? Almost sweet, isn’t it?”

Faint traces of happiness flickered across their faces.

And at that moment—

‘These guys…’

Mikkelsen, watching the others, shook his head, then pulled out a fishing rod he had hidden behind a rock.

It was a crude thing he had made by grinding stones and carving driftwood over the past few days.

As he stepped toward the sea, one knight gnawing on seaweed called out,

“Mikkelsen, aren’t you eating?”

“You brothers eat plenty. I’m going fishing.”

“…Why don’t you just give up instead of wasting energy?”

“Give up?”

“Yeah, you’ve been at it for days and haven’t caught a single fish. Better to just fill your stomach with this stuff…”

Crack.

Deep wrinkles formed across Mikkelsen’s brow.

“Nooo! You call that food? Food? Maybe for a day or two, but how the hell are we supposed to keep training eating only that?”

Mikkelsen practically spat fire as he shouted.

Startled by his sudden outburst, the other knight blinked and waved his hands frantically.

“S-sorry.”

“Bah, don’t spout unlucky nonsense. I’ll definitely catch something today.”

“Alright, good luck. If it’s you, maybe you’ll manage it.”

“Tch.”

With a sullen expression, Mikkelsen brushed past the knight and strode toward the sea, casting his line into the water.

Slurp, slurp.

Meanwhile, Hardin, who had been standing nearby nibbling on a few clams, watched the scene with a faint smile.

‘Well, things are going smoothly.’

This training was meant to sharpen their control over mana.

To achieve that, it was best to empty the stomach and heighten the senses, which made this rocky island the perfect environment.

Think about it. Even if Mikkelsen thrashed about like this, with waves like these, what could he possibly catch?

“Rest up.”

“Yes, sir.”

Waving a hand to the knights, Hardin headed toward the opposite side of Rocky Isle.

---

Not long after, on the far side of Rocky Isle.

Step, step.

As Hardin walked slowly, he lifted his head.

“……”

In the distance, silhouetted against the night sky, loomed the shape of a massive black giant.

One corner of Hardin’s lips tugged upward naturally.

‘Progressing nicely.’

The stone tower that Beryl and the Cockatrice had been building on the far side of the island had already risen that high.

At this pace, it would be completed just as the knights finished their training.

Nodding to himself, Hardin approached.

And then—

–Screeeech… screeeeeech…

The Cockatrice, tongue lolling, lay sprawled out asleep.

“Zrrrrhhh… phuuuuhhh.”

Next to it, Beryl snored, half-buried against its massive body.

A small campfire burned nearby, making the scene almost comfortable.

They must have worked nonstop during the day, piling stones, and were now sleeping it off.

Tap, tap!

“Get up.”

Hardin poked Beryl’s side with his toe.

“Mmmhh? Y-Young Master, you’re here?”

“Training. Start.”

“Can’t I sleep for ten more minutes?”

Hardin silently raised his foot as if to kick.

“Haah! Haha, just kidding, just kidding.”

Beryl sprang upright and began twisting and stretching his body.

Once he felt fully loosened up, he walked toward the shore and began stepping onto the water.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Despite his massive, mountain-like frame, Beryl stepped lightly across the water.

But the moment he placed his seventh step—

Splash!

“Gah!”

His body plunged straight into the sea.

Watching quietly, Hardin shook his head.

“You’re too hasty. Slow your tempo and just align the flow of mana correctly.”

“Ah… understood.”

Beryl scratched his head and bowed.

Since he spent the day stacking stones under Hardin’s orders, he had to make up for missed training now.

To put it nicely, it was almost like receiving personal tutoring from Hardin. To put it bluntly…

‘Damn it, why am I the only one being worked twice as hard…’

He was simply being pushed beyond the others.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask.”

“Yes, sir… understood.”

With that, Hardin sat down.

As Beryl continued throwing himself into the sea—quite literally—repeating his training…

“Huuuuhhh…”

Hardin straightened his back, shut his eyes, and began deep breathing, sharpening every sense while focusing his consciousness on his lower abdomen.

It wasn’t clearly visible, but with each breath he took, he could feel the faint particles of mana emitted by the sea being absorbed into his body.

Blue Hole.

It was the secret cultivation technique of the Grand Blue Knights, drawing in the abundant mana surrounding Rocky Isle with all his might.

As he continued, he became increasingly aware of the thumb-sized core within his lower abdomen.

Hardin let out a sharp breath through his nose, furrowing his brow.

‘At this size… about a 2-star Master level.’

That was the current limit of the mana his core could contain.

He had reached this point by relentlessly cultivating for nearly two years, compressing progress others would take much longer to achieve, and even pouring the elixir Heart of the Sea into himself.

Of course, even with this, he was confident he could overwhelm mana users of the same rank, and believed he could contend with knights of the next tier as well… but—

‘For this battle, this won’t be enough.’

This battle was different from all the ones before.

No matter the strategy he had prepared, no matter how much his subordinates grew—

It wasn’t enough against this opponent.

He couldn’t count on support from Princess Medeia, and they were outnumbered and outclassed in terms of troop quality. It was an absurd fight.

To actually make it possible, in the end…

‘I, too, must break through the wall.’

Hardin’s eyes sank into a heavy, solemn depth.

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