Chapter 5: Regression of the Catastrophic Death Knight

Chapter 5. Training (1)

"Victor! What on earth is going on here!"

Count Hausen, the head of the Hausen family, grabbed Victor and demanded to know what had happened.

Victor recounted the events in the city with a voice lacking confidence.

As expected, Count Hausen did not believe Victor.

"Where are you lying?"

"It, it's true!"

"Damian has never held a sword in his life! How could such a boy kill dozens of people, and even an apprentice knight?"

Victor felt utterly wronged.

What made it even more frustrating was that even he found it hard to believe.

"I can't stand this! I must send someone to verify it myself!"

Count Hausen immediately sent his steward to Landwalk City.

The steward, who left at dusk, returned the next day at noon.

"How did it go?"

The steward hesitated to answer. Only after Count Hausen urged him did he speak.

"Victor's story is true. A massacre occurred at a tavern managed by the Black Snake. The rumor is spreading throughout the city that the culprit was a single nobleman."

Count Hausen clutched his head.

He felt so confused that his vision seemed to spin.

"Thank you for your efforts. You may leave now."

The steward bowed and left the room.

As soon as the steward was gone, Count Hausen turned to his wife.

"Did you hear that? It seems the boy has caused quite a stir."

Count Hausen knew the Black Snake well.

It was often a topic of conversation among the nobility.

"This is serious. If we've offended the Black Snake, they won't let us off easily."

It was a humbling admission, but the Hausen family was a minor one.

They lacked the strength to withstand the retaliation of a massive organization like the Black Snake.

"I can't understand it. From what I know, Damian has never learned swordsmanship. How could he...?"

His wife approached and held his hand tightly.

"Even if we don't know the details, at least he didn't come back injured, right?"

"Are you saying it's fortunate? What do you mean?"

"At least he didn't come back beaten up, right?"

Count Hausen looked bewildered.

He was about to say it was no time for jokes, but his wife's expression was serious.

"I'm just as confused. But it's better that he came back after fighting rather than being beaten up."

"This time, it wasn't just a fight..."

Count Hausen said with a bitter smile.

"Don't worry about the Black Snake. How could a bunch of thugs touch nobles?"

He thought of several counterarguments but held back.

He knew it was right to show empathy to his wife at this moment.

"We'll ask the boy about it later."

"...Understood."

Count Hausen sighed deeply.

"By the way, what is he doing now?"

"He's running, they say."

"Running?"

Count Hausen looked puzzled.

His wife dismissed it as nothing.

"He says his stamina is too weak, so he's been running around the estate since dawn."

* * *

The morning after the steward returned from Landwalk City.

Damian Hausen got out of bed at dawn.

His body, accustomed to laziness, wanted to sleep in, but he endured with superhuman patience.

Damian Hausen changed into comfortable clothes and went outside.

"How long has it been since I felt the morning air?"

During his time as a Death Knight, Damian Hausen was confined to his body, deprived of freedom.

Thus, the coolness of the morning air felt very refreshing.

Before starting his morning training, Damian Hausen took out a glass bottle he had prepared.

It contained the potion he had stolen from Andersen Home.

He brought the bottle to his lips and drank the potion.

The potion immediately transformed into vitality, spreading throughout his body.

"The effect is better than I thought."

Now, Damian Hausen's task was to absorb all the vitality gained from the potion.

The best way to absorb vitality was to move his body.

The more he pushed his body, the faster the vitality would be absorbed to help it recover.

"Huff, huff."

Damian Hausen started running along the estate's perimeter.

His body, which had never trained before, ran at a pitiful speed.

He was slow and quickly ran out of breath.

"Huff, huff."

Despite the discomfort, Damian Hausen did not stop running.

The more he suffered, the more he felt the vitality being absorbed quickly.

In truth, Damian Hausen knew little about training a human body.

This was merely a reenactment of the training methods he learned from the captain during his mercenary days.

'At least it was a training method from a knight family.'

The captain of the mercenary group he served in a past life was surprisingly a former apprentice knight.

Everything he learned was from a knight family, known for its efficient training methods.

'The captain said that the foundation of all training is running.'

He emphasized that nothing was better for building stamina and endurance than running, making the mercenaries run every morning.

At the time, they had many complaints, but soon they realized the captain was right.

'What I need now is stamina.'

Swordsmanship is important, but his top priority was stamina.

With his current poor physical condition, he couldn't do anything with just swinging a dagger.

'Once I build up my stamina, I'll focus on swordsmanship.'

In his past life, Damian Hausen defeated countless strong opponents and absorbed their techniques and levels.

Based on this, he reached a new level.

A level that no one in history had ever achieved.

Damian Hausen named this level 'Divine Sword.'

'Some might call it arrogant if they heard it.'

However, he had no intention of changing the name.

The level Damian Hausen reached deserved such a name.

The proof was that he instantly destroyed the powerful entity, Arclitch.

However, it was currently impossible to manifest the 'Divine Sword' level.

'My body is too weak.'

The higher the level, the more strain it put on the body when manifested.

With a body that tires from a few swings of a sword, he couldn't manifest the Divine Sword.

'And I need to create a new swordsmanship technique.'

In his past life, Damian Hausen refined his swordsmanship based on his Death Knight body.

Thus, he couldn't use the techniques he created back then in his current human form.

He needed to create new swordsmanship techniques suitable for a human body to manifest the Divine Sword.

'I can create decent swordsmanship techniques now, but I can't be satisfied with that.'

He didn't intend to be satisfied with just regaining his past strength.

He planned to create an absolute swordsmanship technique that surpassed his Death Knight days.

And he wanted to reach a level even higher than the 'Divine Sword.'

'I also need to learn a new mana cultivation method.'

A mana cultivation method refers to the technique of absorbing external mana and storing it in the body.

To become a knight, one must learn a mana cultivation method.

'The only mana cultivation methods I know use dark mana.'

Dark mana and mana are completely different forces.

Therefore, he needed to learn a new mana cultivation method that uses mana.

The method he learned from the captain during his mercenary days was basic.

Despite being a former apprentice knight, the captain was expelled during his training and did not learn advanced techniques.

'There's a lot to do, but time is short.'

Damian Hausen had a reason for his urgency.

Besides his family's happiness, he had another goal to achieve.

'Dorgo.'

Since he had returned to the past, Dorgo must still be alive.

Dorgo's goal was to destroy humanity and build an empire of the dead.

Without dealing with Dorgo, he couldn't talk about his family's happiness.

'I need to reach the Divine Sword level as soon as possible to kill him again.'

Dorgo had prepared for centuries to destroy humanity.

This time, without Damian, he wouldn't achieve his ultimate goal.

But he would undoubtedly cause harm to the world in some way.

'I can't talk about peace without killing him.'

Dorgo mastered all dark magic, especially excelling in creating undead.

The undead he created were not only powerful but also possessed strange abilities and intelligence.

They could think and learn like humans and had special abilities.

Their danger was beyond imagination.

'Especially the three great demon lords he created were disasters.'

Dorgo boldly named his three masterpieces demon lords.

However, no one could say the name was exaggerated.

Each of the three great demon lords had the power of a nation.

'But they were still weaker than me.'

During his Death Knight days, Damian Hausen was so strong that he could overwhelm them.

Even if all three great demon lords attacked him, he could handle them.

But that was only during his Death Knight days. He couldn't be complacent now.

'Dorgo will soon show his true colors.'

If Damian's memory was correct, Dorgo's creations would appear in the world in a few years.

They would start gathering materials needed for war.

He sent his creations to gather all kinds of materials from around the world.

During his mercenary days, he met Dorgo while on a mission to eliminate undead.

'I need to build the power to kill Dorgo before then.'

Returning to the past didn't mean his emotions returned to the past.

Hatred for Dorgo still burned in Damian Hausen's heart.

'I will definitely kill him.'

Thinking this, Damian Hausen quietly gritted his teeth.

* * *

A few days had passed since Damian Hausen started training.

During this time, he had changed remarkably.

"Huff, huff."

At first, his running was so slow that it was hard to tell if he was walking or running.

But now, his running speed was much faster.

"Huff, huff."

His stamina had improved so much that he could run for over an hour without getting too tired.

This was evidence of his dedication to training. Of course, the potion played a significant role.

If he hadn't absorbed the potion's energy, his stamina wouldn't have improved so quickly in such a short time.

The morning run ended when it was time for breakfast.

"Now it feels like running."

Damian Hausen sat under a tree and caught his breath. He opened the water flask he had prepared and took a drink.

"Ah, refreshing."

After running for over two hours, his training wasn't over yet.

Today, he planned to add a few more exercises to build his stamina, all methods he learned directly from the mercenary captain.

"By the way, why is the Black Snake so quiet?"

Since that day, the Black Snake hadn't caused any trouble.

"Are they up to something?"

He planned to clean up the Black Snake once he built up his stamina.

Now that his potions were almost gone, he needed to replenish them. He planned to visit Landwalk City soon.

"I've rested enough. Let's start."

Damian Hausen stood up and resumed his training.

* * *

Damian Hausen's training ended around lunchtime.

As he headed to the mansion, drenched in sweat, he saw several luxurious carriages parked in front of the mansion.

'Where did these carriages come from?'

They clearly weren't for ordinary people.

As Damian Hausen approached to check the seals, Victor ran up to him.

"Master! Master!"

Victor stopped in front of Damian Hausen, panting.

"It's a disaster! You need to go to the parlor right away!"

"What's going on?"

"L, Lord Ryanblume's family has sent someone!"

Ryanblume.

At the mention of the name, Damian Hausen felt a foreboding sense.

"Surely, it's not Lord Ryanblume himself?"

"How did you know? Lord Ryanblume and his bodyguards have come to our estate!"

Damn.

Damian Hausen rubbed his forehead.

His head started to throb.

'I thought it might happen, but I've already offended Lord Ryanblume.'

One of the biggest incidents from his past life had already occurred.

"Thank you for letting me know."

Damian Hausen thanked Victor and ran to the mansion.

He immediately opened the parlor door and entered.

The first thing he saw were his family's faces.

His father, mother, sister, and brother were all gathered.

"Damian?"

His family called out in surprise.

Without a word, Damian Hausen shifted his gaze.

"Y, you're here?"

On the opposite side where his family was seated, an unwelcome face sat.

"I'm sorry for coming without notice, but I couldn't wait any longer."

A playful expression.

A smaller build than Damian Hausen.

But surprisingly well-built muscles.

The name of this man came to mind without hesitation.

"Damian Hausen, how do you plan to pay for hitting me?"

Lord Ryanblume's second son, Erwin Ryanblume, asked Damian Hausen.