"You're also leaving after today?"
I ask the old man in front of me who is actually the Fist King, Brady. After today training which is also the last day I will train him and the others because I'm going to leave to recruit other people to the clan, he told me that he's going to leave after today's training as well.
He's a King. Not a monarch but a title given to someone who is the best at one thing. And his thing is punching so he's called the Fist King.
Even so, he has power in political world. Even if he wants to have his freedom, being given the title of a King means to have a responsibility as well.
There is another way to gain that title. For being the Fist King, someone just has to defeat him in punching. Be better than the current Fist King to be the next one. In this sense, I have completed the condition to be called as the Fist King. Though I don't want to, let's talk about what if I become a King who doesn't want to be involved in political matters.
The answer is easy. Being wanted as a criminal.
If someone reported the fact that I defeated the Fist King with my punches leaked to other Kings, including monarchs of some countries, but I don't belong to any country, then they will label me as a criminal to be hunted down. No one wants someone strong to not belong to anyone.
That's why I can't become a King yet. And if I want to be a King one day, I have to be really strong. Stronger than anyone so they won't question my strength and they don't have the power to hunt me down. For that, I need power. Not just fighting prowess but also political strength. And for that, a clan is necessary if I don't want to be involved with any country.
The fate of humanity is at stake. Why should I care about joining a country for that country to be seen better than other countries? Though if I have to, I will join Vassel because that's where my home is. But I don't want to. I only care about few people and not everyone in Vassel. Not even the King.
Anyway, that's why I told everyone repeatedly to never leak the fact that I defeated the Fist King with punches. For Roland's party who knew that I defeated the Fist King, they don't know yet how I defeated him so it should be fine even if they tell someone.
And now, if we fight seriously, I will have some problem. As expected of someone talented. Just in a few days I can tell that his techniques are already at least as good as mine. So next time we meet, if someone ever asks whether the fact that I defeated him was the truth or not, we can just fight and I will probably lose rather quickly if we just fight using punches. And if I win using other methods, I won't be a King anyway.
"I actually overstayed because of you. It's worth it but as a King, I can't leave for too long. Even if I was the weakest, if one King has been missing for far too long, other countries might use that chance to invade. So I will leave but I won't forget to train every day. Thanks to you, I know I can win against those who use weapons," the Fist King says.
I think for a moment. He has trained according to my instruction. Unlike many people of this world, he no longer trains just to be stronger and faster anymore. He learned the usefulness of good techniques.
I suppose this is the time to teach him one other thing.
"Then this is a parting gift for you to be much stronger next time we meet. Everyone, pause your training for a while and watch."
Even Sabine and Felix who are free today are training. I still don't think they're good enough to fight monsters or regular bandits but they should be strong enough to defend themselves and stall for time during emergency. They trained well. And they stop their training after I tell them to stop.
"Since I will also be leaving after today, I'll show you all something. It's only for the Fist King alone today but who knows? Maybe you can do it as well. My last training is Aura control."
And I manifest my Aura for the first time in front of everyone. Before, I just do it in my training alone.
The light came out brightly from my whole body. And it shocks everyone except for Sabine and Felix who already knew that I'm an Aura user.
"You're an Aura user!? How!? Your talent is only in magic, right!?" Cornelia is the one who is shocked the most. From how she didn't expect it, after seeing my Aura, she must be thinking that I lied to her for telling her that I only have one talent related to magic and not physical combat.
Did I forget to tell her that I'm an Aura user? If so, then sorry.
"I told you many times that talents don't equal skills. Even if you don't have talent in physical strength or combat, that doesn't mean you can't use Aura. It took me one and a half year to manifest my Aura. This is also the reason why I was too late for the exam this year," I say.
"Just one year and a half? It took me decades to learn to use Aura!" the Fist King shouts.
"Let's say that I was in the position where it would be really bad if I couldn't manifest my Aura. I was forced to train in it though I voluntarily agreed to start the training. Then those who train me made a situation where I have to manifest my Aura no matter what. I could do it because I was that desperate but it's not a training where I will teach any of you because it will make you hate people. Mostly, just hate me though," I say.
"Does that mean it's related to how Pearl considers you as evil?" Cornelia asks.
"Hmm… maybe. Though I believe it's more innate thing with me rather than because of the training because I was already desperate enough before I agreed to do the training. Anyway, let's talk about this training. It's only for the Fist King but the rest of you can listen so if you learn to manifest Aura in the future you can train according to my demonstration," I say.
Then I gather my Aura to cover my whole body. It makes the light from the Aura shines my body.
"Controlling Aura will make you stronger. Doing this will make your defense stronger. Concentrating it to your fists will make your punch stronger. But doing that will weaken your defense. With Aura control, you can increase the strength of your punches without reducing your defense power. And if I do this—"
Stopping mid-talk, I turn my body towards a tree around ten meters from me. Then with a right straight, I throw a punch to that tree from where I'm standing. And it's as if a bullet of Aura is shot from my fist.
The Aura hits the tree and the tree gets destroyed. Just one hit.
"See? Previously during our duel, the Fist King did similar thing. But his control over his Aura was too weak so that punch, even though it hits distant target, wasn't as strong as his real punch using his fist. But if I use Aura properly, the strength can remain the same," I say.
"…Unbelievable. I still don't believe that you don't have talent in combat," the Fist King says.
"Then if you have an even better control over your Aura, you can do this."
Controlling my Aura, I made the light dims until it disappears. No more light coming from my body.
"With this, no one knows that I keep manifesting my Aura all over my body. Fist King, you can try punching me with all your power. Use Aura as well," I say.
Without hesitation, he throws his strongest punch. A right straight that I taught him. Using his whole body to punch, it's stronger than his punches when he fought me before.
Even then, I'm totally unharmed. My control over my Aura is better than his so his punch didn't deal any damage on my body.
"This is perfect if you're in a situation where you can't show off that you're an Aura user. All of you, listen to me how to train your control over your Aura. One day when you learn to use Aura, you can be stronger than most Aura users out there."
And I start giving my lecture on how to control Aura. It's even something I taught Keith, Jaden, and Sven back before I could use Aura myself. And it worked on them.
Then after learning Aura and continued my training even after leaving the Training Zone, I improved the training method.
Melly, Anne, and Alice are talented fighters. Polearms, kicks, and punches. If they can be Aura users, they will be able to fight stronger demons in the future.
For Cornelia and others who are not talented fighters, they can still learn other things. Like magic. Or simply helping from behind is also helpful.
"That's it for now. It's still a subject I wish to learn more but those all what I know at the moment. I'll teach you more if I learn more about this in the future. Or it can be better if any of you will learn something new about Aura and teach it to the others," I say.
"What about magic?" Cornelia asks me.
"You're already better in more magic than me. Just smoke more every day and increase your mana. Your talent is studying so you should be able to learn about magic more than anyone. You can continue your training today. I'm going to prepare for my departure tomorrow. If you have anything you need from me, come to my inn later because I'm going to leave right away in the morning."
I'm sure that the three girls at least will train harder knowing that I'm an Aura user. That is good. That's my intention of creating this clan.
Now, it's time to recruit new members.