Chapter Seven

“Curious, are we, boy?”

“Khhh…” A groan escaped Ren’s lips.

A massive, suffocating aura enveloped the mysterious chamber, almost bringing Ren to his knees. He barely managed to stand up straight; even breathing seemed hard.

Before Ren could say anything, the mysterious figure cut him off with a sneer, “Oh, my bad, boy. I forgot just how pitifully weak you are.”

As he spoke, the overwhelming aura dissipated slightly but still lingered in the air, leaving Ren still finding it hard to breathe or even move.

"Who are you?" Ren asked, his voice barely a whisper, struggling to cut through the lingering, oppressive aura.

“Hoo… You’ve been living in my castle without even knowing who the owner is.” A chilling chuckle escaped his lips, reverberating through the room, leaving Ren's mind in a haze.

‘Owner of the castle?’

Ren’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. This was no ordinary being. He was standing before the true master of the castle—the Demon King himself.

"You're the Demon King?" Ren's voice wavered slightly.

"In the flesh. Now tell me, how did you come to this room?" the Demon King asked, his voice carrying the weight of centuries-old wisdom and power.

"I, um... I-I came across this chamber on my way to my room," he stammered, his voice betraying his nervousness. "Curiosity overcame me, and I-I had to... had to see for myself. I, uh… apologize for entering this room without permission, sir."

“It’s fine, but I’ve been observing you for quite a while and have been wondering one thing. What do you see reflected in the mirror?” he asked, his piercing gaze boring into Ren.

“Um… I saw nothing. The mirror was enveloped in shadows, then it shifted, and standing in the middle of the mirror was myself. But it was strange; it was like I had been corrupted and driven mad. What does that mean, sir?”

“That’s definitely peculiar… I got this mirror as a gift from Heaven, a token of peace. It is said to reflect the fate of whoever it reflects.”

‘Fate? Is being driven to madness my fate?’

“So… am I fated to become a monster, sir?”

“Who knows what the future has in store for us, Ren? We shouldn’t waste time worrying about the future but focus on the present. Now, boy, off you go. I heard tomorrow’s training will be torturous, so it’s best to get some rest.”

‘Huh, look at that, he does know my name after all.’

***

Entering the training ground, Ren fell into deep thought.

While he wasn't too sure what arrangements Mrs. Lee had in store for him regarding training, he was certain it would focus along the lines of combat and sword manipulation.

This worked in favor of Ren as better sword control was needed in order to improve his swordsmanship. As long as he could improve his strength further, Ren was going to be pleased.

Especially considering the fact that he was not going to be able to manipulate mana anytime soon.

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"You're already here?"

With her hair tied in a ponytail, which was usually down, and wearing a sports bra and tight black leggings, Mrs. Lee nonchalantly entered the sparring grounds.

Although Ren called her an old coot, she didn’t look anything close to her age. If anything, she looked very youthful despite the fact that she was still close to more than a hundred years old!

Staring at Mrs. Lee for a quick moment, he lowered his gaze and greeted her.

"Good morning."

"Hmm."

Nodding her head faintly, Mrs. Lee proceeded to walk towards the center of the training ground. After doing a couple of stretches, she glanced at Ren and started speaking.

“Ren, from now on, the intensity of our training sessions will drastically increase. I had been too soft on you these last couple of months.”

Manifesting something out of thin air, Mrs. Lee proceeded to throw an object resembling a light suit in his direction.

"Put it on."

Heeding her order, Ren quickly wore the suit over the clothes he had on. As soon as he put the suit on, Mrs. Lee disappeared from where she was standing a moment ago.

Subsequently, launching a vicious kick toward his solar plexus, Mrs. Lee’s visage reappeared before him.

Bang!

"Khh..."

It was too fast!

Caught off guard and because of how fast the attack was and how unexpected it was, he was unable to react on time, causing Ren to groan out loud as he felt a couple of his ribs on his left side crack a little.

Staggering back and clutching onto his chest, Ren viciously started coughing.

"Cough...cough...damn that stings!"

As expected of the Demon Lord’s retainer, just a simple kick and Ren was already on the verge of passing out from the pain. The power she exerted in that kick felt as if a gorilla had run at him at full speed.

Moreover, her speed... let's not talk about her speed. It was as if they took the best characteristics of a gorilla and a cheetah and gave them to Mrs. Lee.

Although she was obviously not going all out, she was still several times faster than the class president or Kenta, whom he thought was fast.

“Twenty seconds of rest! Heal up quickly, I won’t wait for you,” she said with an unfazed expression on her face.

‘She’s too strong!’

Gulp!-Gulp!-Gulp!

Grinding his teeth and taking out a potion, Ren quickly downed it and felt his cracked ribs heal quickly.

Taking a stance, he observed her intently, determined not to lose her like before. This time she wasn't going to catch Ren off guard like before…

"Immature."

However, before Ren could even react, appearing next to his ears and lightly whispering, he suddenly felt his body fly towards the other side of the room.

Bang!

"khhh..."

Ren felt his back become numb due to his body impacting against the wall. It took him a couple of seconds to recover from his daze. Looking up, Ren soon found Mrs. Lee’s crimson eyes deeply staring at him from above.

"You’re too naive and lack experience, but it makes sense since you only started a couple of months ago."

"Look here, you're not using all of your senses. Don't just rely on what you perceive in front of you and actually use your other senses like hearing. You rely too much on your eyesight and thus why you fell for a simple illusion I had set up with mana. Anybody can manage to conjure a simple spell like that. If you fall for such stupid tricks on the battlefield, you die.”

Listening to Mrs. Lee’s explanation, weakly standing up, Ren proceeded to nod his head.

‘Hmm… makes sense. I rely too much on my sense of sight, creating fatal flaws in technique.’

A simple illusion and he was already a goner.

Gulp!-Gulp!-Gulp!

Taking out and flicking the lid of a potion open, Ren quickly downed it and proceeded to heal his injuries yet again.

Taking his stance again, he stared intently at where Mrs. Lee was. This time, rather than just observing her, he also made sure to keep his ears alert.

Combat training was tough but straightforward. After Mrs. Lee explained what he lacked, no words were exchanged between Mrs. Lee and Ren. Understanding her intentions, he said, "Let's go again."

Faintly smiling, she nodded her head in approval for his persistence.

"Good!"

Bang!

For the next two hours or so, Mrs. Lee ruthlessly beat Ren up like a punching bag.

At the end of the two hours we had set beforehand, Ren was completely exhausted and covered in bruises. His face was black and blue, and if not for the healing potions that Mrs. Lee provided him every ten minutes or so, Ren would've long passed out.

After ending their hellish sparring session—it’s an overstatement to even call it a sparring session since it was so one-sided—Mrs. Lee spoke.

“Ren, prepare yourself for tomorrow. You’re going to have a heartwarming reunion with people back at the academy!” She had a sly smile on her face, almost teasing him.

‘Reunion with those stuck-up bastards? No thanks, I’m good.’

That was what Ren wanted to say, but nothing came out of his mouth except an obedient nod. Upon seeing this cute display of behavior, Mrs. Lee came close to him and ruffled his hair with affection for her new disciple.

“Take a nice, relaxing bath before going to sleep. It’ll help with the soreness,” she said in a gentle tone.

‘You’re the reason why I’m sore, goddamnit!’

Since being abandoned by his own parents, Ren had never been shown such a display of parental affection. This took him quite aback and didn't know how to act being shown such affection. Not knowing what to do, he gave her a grin before leaving for his room. Even though his actions showed one thing, he was quite fond of that old coot. She was like a parent he never had.