Chapter 6

=Dragon King's Perspective=

It was the first day of the young monk's training.

Having been thoroughly trained by the Demon King, the monk, now in tatters, came to me.

“Hii, hii”

“Kukuku. It seems you’ve been thoroughly drained.”

“I, I don’t have a single shred of magic left… If I use any more magic, I’ll really die…”

Indeed, the magic I can sense from the young monk is like a flickering flame. If he uses even a little more, he will surely die.

However, this means the training is going well. The closer one gets to death, the greater the increase in magic when they recover.

…It seems the Demon King is doing a good job.

As his archenemy, I cannot afford to lose.

“Alright! Next is training with me! You must give it your all, even if it means dying!”

“Eh!? I don’t have any magic left!?”

“I know that! What we will do next is not magic training, but ‘Qi Gong’ training!”

“Qi Gong… technique?”

The young monk’s head is filled with question marks.

Hmm, I guess I need to explain what Qi Gong is first.

“Listen, Qi Gong is a power inherent in living beings, different from magic. Mastering it allows even a weak human to attain a body comparable to ours, the dragon race!”

“S-Super! There’s such a technique!”

The young monk looks at me with sparkling eyes full of admiration.

Hmm, it feels good. It’s been thousands of years since anyone has looked up to me like this.

“But if it’s such an amazing technique, why doesn’t everyone use it like they do with magic?”

The young monk asks with a curious face.

Good observation. It’s more about his strong admiration for power rather than intelligence.

Indeed, he was exhausted just a moment ago, but now he’s completely focused on the new power, forgetting his fatigue.

Kukuku, it seems he has the potential to be trained well.

“The reason humans don’t use ‘Qi Gong’ is that it’s difficult to master.”

“Difficult…? So that’s why it’s not used?”

“Yes. Conversely, the reason magic has spread is because it’s easy to learn. Even someone without magical talent like you wouldn’t understand, but ordinary humans can use basic magic without any training. However, ‘Qi Gong’ requires rigorous training to use even simple techniques.”

“I see, so for me, it’s as difficult as magic!?”

“Indeed. To learn Qi Gong, talent is not necessary. Only blood, sweat, and tears will suffice.”

“I see…! I’ll do my best!”

“Good attitude.”

It seems he’s motivated to try.

However, talent does matter. Though I said it doesn’t, that’s not entirely true.

While effort is undoubtedly required to master Qi Gong, there are still differences in how quickly one can learn it.

Well, how many hundreds of years will it take this young monk?

I hope he can master it within a thousand years. That would be faster than mastering magic.

I can’t afford to lose to the Demon King!

=End=