Hero of Darkness-Novel

Unbeknownst to him, the Hero of Time was planning to kill Kahn with the knowledge of future events while making enough preparations to trap the latter. 

Meanwhile, Kahn kept training in Conceptualization and his grasp over this technique started increasing steadily. 

Inside the Chamber of Exaltation, Kahn managed to perform the technique on one weapon within a minute after 2 weeks of hard effort in increasing his proficiency. 

"Phew!" 

Kahn exhaled in an exhausted voice as he leaned on the floor. 

"This is still so taxing on my mind.

If the old me from Rakos Empire was doing this, he wouldn't have even managed to reach this stage in half a year." he said and sighed. 

Unlike Harnessing, the complexity of Conceptualization, especially when changing different elements into one another while reforming the shape of the weapon was simply too demanding. 

Although he shortened the time required by tons, he was still unable to stop the excessive consumption of his world energy reserves. 

Kahn met Romulus the next day and showed him the results of his training. 

"This is way faster than I imagined. But still, you have a long way to go." spoke the heavenly king while perfectly hiding his surprise from seeing this result. 

"How are you doing this?" he suddenly asked with a curious gaze.

[I'm teaching the kid.] suddenly, Rathnaar spoke in the wolfkin's mind steps 

The peak saint decided to step in and cover up for Kahn at this moment. Because this was the only safe and believable reason they could come up with. 

The Chamber of Exaltation was a secret that not many people in the world knew of. And they couldn't wholeheartedly trust Romulus even if he was an ally. 

In the real world, everyone had their own secrets. 

Secrets that even blood brothers, husbands and wives as well as most trusted confidants shouldn't know about. Some secrets were meant to be taken with you inside the grave. 

Thus, Rathnaar gave an acceptable 'truth' to Romulus. 

After hearing the reason, even the wolfkin was convinced. Because Rathnaar was the Peak Saint of Vantrea whose knowledge and prowess exceeded everyone else in the world at one point in history. 

And if he was also helping Kahn at the same time, then his drastic and successive progression of the mastery of Harnessing and Conceptualization would be least surprising. 

Hell, if Kahn couldn't even do this much, then Rathnaar's name would be tarnished instead. 

[Good. At this rate, I can teach him everything before the time to depart comes.] thought Romulus. 

Although he was doing it out of obligation and coercion by the Revenant Sovereign… He too had a few expectations of his own and hadn't held back in grooming Kahn to become a Fearless Warrior. 

----------------

1 MONTH LATER. 

Kahn showed up one day and gave a demo of his mastery in the same dimension with the vast metallic floor. 

He summoned a sword and turned it into a shield by expanding size while turning this earth elemental sword into a darkness elemental shield in just 5 seconds. 

But this wasn't the end of his newly achieved mastery either. 

One after another, he summoned up to 5 weapons. 

Sword, Dagger, Bow, Spear and Gauntlet.

"I'm only proficient in using these many." he spoke and displayed his proficiency. 

"I need to learn other weapons and their combat techniques to Conceptualize them properly." he iterated while swiftly changing their shapes and size within a couple of seconds. 

Although he wasn't on Romulus' level… This result was something many couldn't achieve even after practicing for 2 to 3 years. 

Kahn had entered the 'zone' again for Conceptualization in the past month. This time, it wasn't his body that did the work but his mind. 

Because of this hard training regime, his mind and comprehensive abilities also enhanced greatly. 

Romulus nodded in approval as this was more than enough. 

"Good. But now… I will halt your training before I teach you the next technique." he declared somberly. 

"Why?" asked Kahn with a puzzled expression. 

"Because your foundation is extremely solid now. 

But the next technique requires you to have at least Saint Rank mastery and skills in all the weapons I can teach you. 

Until you become a Saint Rank fighter in all of them… I can't teach you the next steps." he revealed in a stern tone. 

Kahn nodded as he understood that some steps couldn't be skipped. 

Even now, apart from Swordsmanship, Kahn didn't have a single weapon skill and mastery at Saint Rank. Thus, he was already not utilizing his blessings. 

But since he never had a proper teacher to begin with, his training in other weapons halted at Grandmaster level and couldn't progress any further. 

"However, you no longer need to train day and night. Only 3 to 5 hours per day as your body gets used to the combat technique and weapons with time." said the red wolfkin with glowing red archaic tattoos all over his torso. 

"So now, you can allocate your time to the dragon when you aren't practicing the weapons." he commended. 

In a way… He meant that it was time; for Kahn to learn Magic. 

----------------

Kahn returned to his villa where Vildred was meditating quietly. 

"Romulus says it's time for me to start studying the Law of Magic." he informed the royal dragon. 

"I see. I thought it would take longer for you to master those techniques. Anyway, before we begin… I need to make the bond." he spoke. 

"Bond? What bond? Aren't we already bonded through the Contract of Familiarity?" asked Kahn in a confused voice. 

However, Vildred shook his head and spoke. 

"We dragons have our own customs. We can't take in a disciple just through mere words. 

For us, a mentee is a lifetime commitment." he revealed. 

"First, I need you to make the offering. 

Only then I will be your 'master' and you will be my 'disciple'." spoke the Sage of Preservation in a solemn tone. 

"What is the offering then?" queried Kahn. 

Just then, Rathnaar informed in Kahn's mind… 

[The offering is the one thing that Dragons see as their sign of pride. 

I don't know the details but Dragons don't usually take disciples even in their own species or families. 

They don't have some sort of magic academy or a system to train smaller dragons or their descendant species. 

Mainly because their species and even those who carry their bloodlines have naturally strong physiques and affinity to mana and world energy.] explained Rathnaar. 

[Vildred never had one either. 

But there is a ritual called 'Oath of Pride'. 

And the offering he speaks of requires you to give something you take the most pride in. 

Only that would be seen as the acknowledgment of the bond between a Mentor and a Mentee.] revealed the peak saint. 

"How do you know this?" asked Kahn with a suspicious tone. 

[When I was a 2nd stage saint before the Rakos Empire was even formed, I came across a Superior Dragon who was a swordsman in his humanoid form. 

But back then… I had nothing to offer him because I was just a military officer for a Noble.] explained Rathnaar while revealing some of his past. 

"What do I take the most pride in?" Kahn asked himself because he too was lost. 

"I don't have anything I'm prideful of. I don't have a clan, family or something I feel connected to the most. 

I'm a young man in his prime who got rid of his previous life's traumas and insecurities just a few months ago. 

So pride is the last thing I can possess." he said in a reluctant voice. 

This was the truth. 

No matter how strong Kahn became and how greedy or materialistic he was… He didn't attach enough value to anything or anyone else in his new life so far. 

There was no object or even person he took pride in having. Simply, he was never a prideful person to begin with. 

Since he always acted based on circumstances to protect himself first. 

He thrashed his opponents when he could afford to do so without having dire consequences and bowed to someone many times stronger to avoid getting his identity exposed or his life getting sacrificed because of some foolish ego. 

"What do I take pride in?" he asked himself again with conflicted emotions. 

Even his Legendary rank weapons and armors didn't fit the bill and nor did something like Rathnaar's core or Tablet of Arcana was close to his heart. 

After almost 10 minutes of deep thinking, Kahn's eyes gleamed with confidence as he came to a final conclusion. 

In front of Vildred, he knelt on one knee and summoned Lucifer in his right hand. 

"My most prized possession…" spoke Kahn in an adamant tone but the very next second… 

Swing! 

Kacha! 

He swung Lucifer over his neck. 

Thud! 

His headless body dropped on the floor after this greatsword made a clean cut. 

In the upcoming moments, Kahn used Psykokinesis and his head floated towards Vildred as drops of blood sprayed over the floor. 

Vildred on the other end revealed a pleased countenance and smiled, content with this offering. 

"Is my Intelligence."