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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: A Hands-On Lesson
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“When are we finally going to make some progress?”
“You shouldn't neglect the basics, Prisoner Helios.”
“That damned ‘prisoner.’ I’m sick to death of hearing it. I know I’m a prisoner without you tacking it on.”
“A guard calls a prisoner one of three things: ‘prisoner,’ ‘stray dog,’ or ‘son of a bitch.’ So, would you perhaps prefer to be called ‘son of a bitch’? I respect personal preferences.”
“…‘Prisoner’ will do just fine.”
Helios answered, grinding his teeth.
His neat, handsome eyebrows were raised high.
He had a very handsome face when you looked closely, but it was always creased with a frown.
I found it fascinating at first and tried to touch it, only to get slapped away.
It didn't hurt, but I learned my lesson not to touch people without permission and decided to be more careful from then on.
‘You’re not supposed to go around touching people, after all.’
The prisoners here, whether exhausted by loneliness or driven mad by curiosity, tend to get lost in some kind of frenzy and do whatever they please. I wasn’t much different.
When common sense disappears, things like this really become a problem.
“Kia is like fuel, you see. It can move a train, or it can become a fire and harm people.”
Kia is the power to do anything.
You could say it’s like the mana that mages use in fantasy novels.
Though it’s probably more common than mages, since half of humanity can use it.
“There are five ways to use Kia.”
“If I hear it again today, that’ll make it exactly ten times.”
“Keeping count and everything. The perfect attitude for a disciple.”
Helios wore an expression that said, ‘Who’s whose disciple?’, but he kept his mouth shut.
Experience seemed to have taught him that saying anything more would only delay the information he wanted to hear.
“You want to learn ‘Kia’ from me, right?”
“…What if I do? Surely you don't intend to teach me everything from start to finish?”
Helios had only asked me to teach him how to make a shield.
But that was no different from a child who hadn't even memorized their multiplication tables asking to be taught calculus.
“You may call me master while you learn Kia from this instructor.”
“Like hell.”
“Ah, one of my colleagues used to curse when he was overjoyed. Are you one of those types?”
“…”
Helios reacted quite enthusiastically to my offer to teach him.
Honestly, from what I could see, he had only just awakened his ability to see Kia. He was far too lacking.
‘If he goes on like this, he’ll die the moment he gets to the 11th floor.’
He looked like he could die at any moment. That wouldn’t do.
He was going to become a formidable master someday anyway, so there was no harm in teaching him the basics.
Of course, it didn't matter to me if my actions caused the novel to unfold differently from what I remembered.
As long as I get out of prison, that's all that matters.
I had no interest in anything else.
“First, the basics of handling Kia are…”
“First, you see the Kia spread throughout nature. Next, you touch it. Then, you gather it in your hand, right? And the weapon I held on the first floor was a tool to help with these basics.”
“Excellent.”
“As I've said repeatedly, if you can't memorize something you've heard for a whole month, you're just plain slow as a human being.”
When I’d taught some new prisoners a few years back, there were some—no, many—who couldn’t even understand, let alone memorize, the material after a month of teaching.
That was why I’d spent a whole month on just the basics.
‘Just because he's smart, he shouldn't assume everyone else is on his level.’
I nodded and continued my explanation.
In truth, by moving up to the 4th floor, Helios had already cleared the basic stage.
“Anyway, there are five ways to handle Kia. ‘Musculoskeletal,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘Material,’ and ‘Mental.’ And for anything that doesn't fall into the previous categories, ‘Miscellaneous.’”
“…”
“Every person is born with one of these five types, and with innate talent or effort, one can use up to two attributes.”
“…”
Helios looked down at me with a disgruntled expression.
Ah, I think I know that look now.
It was an annoyed expression that said, ‘I already know this, so what?’
He was certainly on a different level from the new prisoners I’d taught back when I was an inmate. In that case…
“Get up.”
Helios’s eyes widened.
With his violet eyes wide, he looked… how should I put it? A little more alluring, yet innocent. Well, well.
‘He has a face that could bewitch people just by existing.’
If I hadn't become his dedicated guard, he would have likely been harassed quite often.
Because among the high-ranking prisoners, there were plenty of bastards who treated beautiful people like him as their playthings.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Training, and a real fight. I thought I'd finally show you what you've been wanting so badly.”
“…Suddenly?”
Even as he said it, he seemed to welcome it.
I didn’t think my theory lessons were boring. Was the repetition the problem?
“This instructor has had the opportunity to teach people before.”
“I’m not the first?”
“That’s right.”
“…”
Helios made a strange face but told me to continue.
“What's wrong? Wouldn't you be better off with someone experienced? Teaching isn't something just anyone can do.”
“No… It’s nothing. You just look quite young, so I found it strange that you've taught someone before. That's all.”
Is that so? I nodded and brought one hand behind my back, as if in a parade rest stance.
“What are you doing?”
“This instructor has learned from long experience.”
Familiar faces flashed through my mind.
The faces of the high-ranking prisoners I’d lived and breathed with, Ramona and Deril.
“…Hey, take my advice. If he was the type to listen to reason, he wouldn't be in here.”
“Oh my, why’d you have to tell her? We could have had more fun watching!”
I took a step back.
“I will now demonstrate the five types of Kia in person.”
Interest and focus filled Helios’s eyes.
“From now on, I want you to focus on gathering Kia over your stomach.”
“What…?”
“That alone should provide a minimal defense.”
“Wait, explain it properly!”
“Learn with your body.”
I planted my feet and raised one hand.
“It’s the most effective way. And for the record, I'll only be using one hand.”
The moment I threw the punch, I saw Helios quickly raise his hands and conjure Kia.
Just as I thought. The corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
*CRACK!*
My fist slammed into Helios’s stomach.
“This is ‘Musculoskeletal.’”
I explained calmly.
“It’s the ability to gather Kia in one part of the body to maximize offensive and defensive power.”
“*Cough, cough…!*”
“Of all the types, it’s the easiest and simplest for both offense and defense, and it can produce above-average attack and defense power. It’s also the easiest power for a beginner to handle.”
“…”
“Those born with this type of power, regardless of gender, tend to have large, broad builds.”
I said, looking at Helios, who had fallen to the floor.
“Like you?”
To my surprise, Helios was kneeling on one knee.
I was planning to knock him flat. I let out a small whistle.
Of course, he was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
* * *
Crazy, crazy!
She was definitely crazy.
Helios glared at Mint as if he could kill her, but he felt a cold sweat run down his back.
And for good reason—that attack could have easily killed him.
‘If I hadn't blocked it, I would have died.’
Of course, Mint had the ability to stop just before impact if she judged he couldn’t block it, but there was no way for Helios to know that.
“Hmm, you seem to be fine.”
Fine where!
Helios felt a throbbing pain in his stomach.
If he lifted his shirt, there would probably be a perfect handprint there.
Judging by the extraordinary pain, it would likely turn into a deep bruise by this evening.
“…You are weak.”
His father's voice seemed to boom and echo in his ears.
Thanks to his childhood experiences, he was very accustomed to pain.
As Helios stood up, Mint watched him with satisfaction.
She looked as if she truly believed he was fine, which left Helios dumbfounded.
‘She has the gall to look as if she believes a man is made of steel.’
Although Helios wasn't a Kia user, as the son of a duke, he was very well-versed in the fundamentals.
In other words, he knew everything even without Mint’s tedious theoretical explanations!
And yet, even he knew that discovering and learning one's own attribute wasn't something you could do so suddenly.
He was someone who had only awakened his Kia a month ago.
This was like being pushed off a cliff and told to walk a tightrope.
Helios gritted his teeth and endured it.
‘That guard… she’s proficient with Kia.’
Even to his untrained eye, that guard was strange, bizarre, and overwhelmingly strong.
If there was something he needed, he would bow his head to get it. He wanted to survive.
“Get up. Next is ‘Elemental.’”
Until the day he could leave this prison, return to the father who sent him to this hell, and take his revenge.
