The silence of Kaiser's bedchamber was broken only by his ragged, shallow breaths.
He sat cross-legged in the center of his massive bed, the leather-bound manual for the [Basic Abyssal Breathing Technique] open in his lap. For the past three hours, he had been attempting to grasp the fundamental concepts of magic in this world, relying heavily on the inherited memories of the original Kaiser and his newly acquired [Otaku's Insight].
In the Vesperian Empire, and indeed the world at large, power was dictated by the Mana Core—an ethereal organ located near the heart. Cores were ranked from F (the weakest, barely able to light a candle) up to S, and theoretically beyond. The original Kaiser was stuck at a miserable F-Rank, his mana channels brittle and blocked.
Normally, mages absorbed ambient elemental mana—fire, water, wind, earth. But the Abyssal Breathing Technique was entirely different. It didn't ask the user to harmonize with nature; it demanded the user devour the empty spaces between the elements. It was a dark, consuming force.
"Alright, System," Kaiser muttered, closing his eyes. "Let's see if this kills me."
He followed the manual's instructions, altering his breathing rhythm. Inhale for four seconds. Hold for seven. Exhale for eight. He visualized his F-Rank mana core not as a fragile glass orb, but as a black hole.
At first, nothing happened. Then, a sharp, freezing pain shot through his chest. It felt as if tiny, icy needles were piercing his veins, traveling from his lungs to his heart. Kaiser gritted his teeth, sweat instantly beading on his flawless forehead. He wanted to break the rhythm, to gasp for normal air, but he forced himself to endure it. He had beaten games on "Nightmare" difficulty that required frame-perfect inputs for hours; he could handle some phantom pain.
Suddenly, the pain shifted. The icy needles melted into a heavy, intoxicating warmth.
Kaiser's inner vision exploded with dark purple and pitch-black hues. He could feel foreign, dense energy rushing into his frail mana core. It was violently expanding, cracking the brittle shell of his F-Rank core and rebuilding it with something darker, something heavier.
[System Notification: Host has successfully initiated the Abyssal Breathing Technique.]
[Mana Core is condensing... Core density increased by 12%.]
[Warning: Prolonged use at current Vitality level may cause internal tearing. Recommended daily limit: 2 hours.]
Kaiser snapped his eyes open, gasping for air as the technique broke. He fell backward onto the silk sheets, his body trembling, drenched in sweat. But he felt alive. He clenched his fist. The +5 Strength and +5 Vitality he had earned from surviving Seraphina were already making a difference. His muscles didn't feel like wet paper anymore.
He climbed out of bed and walked over to the silver mirror. He activated his disguise—raven-black hair, sapphire eyes—but noticed a subtle change. His physique was slightly more defined. He wasn't exactly a bodybuilder, but the gaunt, sickly look of the original Kaiser was fading, replaced by a lean, athletic foundation.
"A solid start," Kaiser grinned at his reflection. "Time for round two."
The next morning, the dining hall of the Warborn estate was a tense affair.
The dining table was made of a single, massive slab of polished mahogany, long enough to seat thirty people. Yet, only two individuals occupied it.
Seraphina sat at the far end, furiously cutting into a thick, rare minotaur steak. She was in her academy uniform today—a striking ensemble of black and crimson with gold trim that hugged her curves and screamed high-class lethality. Her golden eyes kept darting down to the other end of the table, where Kaiser was committing a cardinal sin against high-society etiquette.
He was eating like a starved beast.
Fueled by his new vitality and the grueling drain of the Abyssal Breathing, Kaiser was on his third plate of dragon-bird eggs and smoked boar bacon.
"Must you eat like a common goblin?" Seraphina finally snapped, her fork clattering against her porcelain plate. "You're embarrassing the family name even in the privacy of our own home."
Kaiser swallowed heavily, taking a long sip of chilled elven nectar before dabbing his mouth elegantly with a silk napkin. He looked up, flashing her a dazzling, utterly shameless smile.
"My apologies, dear sister. I merely discovered a newfound appetite for life. And besides," he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, his sapphire eyes gleaming with mischief, "I need to build up my stamina. I can't very well have you pinning me to the floor again today without putting up a proper fight. People might get the wrong idea about our relationship."
CRACK.
The handle of Seraphina's silver butter knife snapped cleanly in her grip. Her face instantly flushed the color of her hair. The memory of the previous day—the terrifying, magnetic pull of his eyes, the proximity of his face, the heat of his breath—rushed back to humiliate her.
"You—!" she sputtered, completely losing her aristocratic composure. "You are delusional! I was subduing a sparring partner, nothing more!"
"Of course, of course," Kaiser waved a hand dismissively, enjoying the show immensely. [Otaku's Insight] told him exactly what buttons to press. "Though, I must say, your method of subduing is highly... intimate."
[Target: Seraphina Warborn. Emotion detected: Extreme Embarrassment, Rising Fury.]
[Affection updated: -5% -> -3%. (She hates you, but she can't stop thinking about yesterday's encounter.)]
Two percent up just from teasing her. The Tsundere archetype is so predictable, Kaiser thought, inwardly cackling.
"Courtyard. Ten minutes," Seraphina hissed, standing up so abruptly her heavy oak chair scraped loudly against the stone floor. "I am not holding back today, Kaiser. I'm going to break both your legs."
She stormed out of the dining hall, a trail of aggressive red mana practically leaking from her form.
"Ah, young love," Kaiser sighed theatrically, finishing his last piece of bacon.
The obsidian courtyard was baking under the mid-morning sun.
[MANDATORY QUEST: The Second Beating]
[Objective:] Survive for exactly seven minutes. Land at least one physical strike on Target [Seraphina Warborn].
[Reward:] +10 Agility, +50 System Points (SP).
[Failure Penalty:] Two broken legs, concussion, Affection drops by 15%.
Seven minutes, and I have to hit her? Kaiser twirled his wooden practice sword, feeling the improved balance in his grip. The System is ramping up the difficulty. Good.
Seraphina was already waiting, her wooden sword drawn. Her aura was flaring, a visible distortion of heat around her body. She wasn't playing around today.
"Draw your weapon, parasite," she commanded.
"Ladies first," Kaiser replied, falling into a basic defensive stance he had memorized from his combat manuals.
She didn't waste a breath. Seraphina exploded forward, moving even faster than the day before. The courtyard echoed with a thunderous BOOM as she broke the sound barrier, closing the distance in an eye-blink.
Kaiser didn't try to track her with his eyes; she was too fast. Instead, he relied on [Otaku's Insight] and the subtle shifts in the air currents. Overhead strike, feinting to a low sweep.
He sidestepped instantly, feeling the rush of wind as her blade crashed into the obsidian floor where he had just stood, sending stone chips flying like shrapnel.
"You're quicker," Seraphina noted, her voice dangerously calm. She didn't pause. She used the momentum of her miss to launch into a spinning horizontal slash.
Kaiser ducked, but the edge of her wooden blade clipped his shoulder. Pain flared brightly, and he stumbled sideways. Before he could recover, a flurry of thrusts pushed him back toward the edge of the courtyard.
He was breathing heavily, actively employing the [Basic Abyssal Breathing Technique] mid-combat. It was risky, pulling dense, dark mana into his F-Rank core while under extreme physical stress, but it was the only way to keep his stamina from entirely bottoming out. His wooden sword was a blur as he desperately parried the lighter strikes, letting the heavy blows glance off by angling his blade.
[Time remaining: 3:12]
He was losing ground. Every block sent shockwaves of agony up his arms. Seraphina was a monster of pure physical prowess and refined technique.
"Stop dodging and fight back!" she yelled, frustrated by his slippery movements. She raised her sword high, gathering a massive amount of red mana for a crushing overhead strike. The blind spot! Kaiser's eyes narrowed. He remembered yesterday's analysis. When she committed to a heavy overhead, her left flank was exposed for exactly 0.4 seconds.
He didn't retreat. He stepped into her attack.
Seraphina's eyes widened in surprise. It was a suicidal move.
Instead of raising his sword to block, Kaiser dropped to one knee, sliding across the smooth stone under the arc of her devastating swing. The wind pressure from her attack ripped the sleeve of his tunic to shreds, but the blade missed his head by an inch.
Using the momentum of his slide, Kaiser channeled a fraction of his newly condensed abyssal mana into his arms, ignoring the burning warning in his veins. He swung his wooden sword upward in a sharp, precise arc.
Thwack.
It wasn't a powerful blow. It wouldn't have cracked a normal person's ribs, let alone an aura-shielded knight-in-training. But the wooden tip of Kaiser's sword tapped solidly against Seraphina's exposed left ribcage.
The courtyard went dead silent.
Seraphina froze, her sword still extended from her missed swing. She looked down at Kaiser's wooden blade pressed against her side, her golden eyes wide with utter shock.
He hit me. The F-Rank parasite bypassed my guard and hit me. Kaiser looked up from his kneeling position, flashing her a breathless, triumphant smirk. "Tag. You're it."
The shock lasted only a second before it was entirely consumed by explosive, volcanic rage.
"KAISER!"
She spun, faster than he could react. The flat of her wooden blade slammed into his chest like a battering ram. The force launched him entirely off the ground. He flew backward ten feet, crashing violently into one of the obsidian pillars.
His vision went white. Pain exploded in his chest, and he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood. His wooden sword clattered uselessly to the ground.
As he slumped against the pillar, struggling to maintain consciousness, the translucent blue screen flashed in front of his dimming eyes.
[TIMER STOPPED: 7:02]
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[Rewards distributed: +10 Agility, +50 System Points (SP).]
[Target: Seraphina Warborn. Emotion detected: Fury, Shock, Reluctant Respect.]
[Affection updated: -3% -> 0% (Indifferent / Neutral).]
[Milestone Reached! Target no longer actively wishes for your death. Congratulations, Host.]
Kaiser wheezed, tasting iron, but a faint, victorious laugh bubbled up in his throat. He had hit zero percent. He was no longer in the negatives.
Seraphina stalked toward him, her chest heaving, her expression a turbulent mix of anger and confusion. She looked down at him, her wooden sword resting on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to hurl an insult, to tell him it was a fluke, a lucky shot.
But before she could speak, a massive, terrifying shadow swept over the courtyard, plunging them into sudden darkness.
A deafening roar split the sky, a sound that vibrated deep in the marrow of Kaiser's bones.
Seraphina immediately dropped her aggressive stance, her face draining of color. She snapped to attention, her posture rigid and perfect.
Kaiser forced his heavy eyelids open and looked up. Hovering above the estate was a gargantuan, crimson-scaled Wyvern, its wingspan easily covering the entire courtyard. And sitting gracefully upon its back, exuding an aura of bloodlust so thick it made it hard to breathe, was a woman in dark, spiked armor.
"Mother is back," Seraphina whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
The Blood Iron Duchess had returned. And Kaiser's survival odyssey had just entered hard mode.