I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-307

Ch-307. **Another Destruction**

—

Weapons.

Weapons, by their nature, are used differently depending on their purpose.

Even the same type of weapon must be handled slightly differently depending on the craftsman who forged it.

For example, suppose there is someone holding a sword.

He is a master swordsman.

But if he were to wield a sword different from the one he usually uses, then naturally, he wouldn’t be able to display the full bearing of a master from the very first moment.

No matter how skilled he is, even if it is still a sword, no two swords are ever truly the same.

Their length, the width of the blade, the shape of the hilt—everything differs.

*He should have held it for the first time.*

The weapons in this training ground are like that.

All of them are different.

There isn’t a single weapon of the same standard.

They were crafted in all sorts of irregular ways so that one could draw out a perfect stance under any circumstances.

If you held one for the first time, even adapting to it would be difficult.

*And yet he drew out perfect form and usage…*

He cut the wind.

He found the wind Raiga had cut, and severed its grain.

In a moment as fleeting as an instant, aiming precisely for a perfect opening.

This is something only possible when one can use a weapon as naturally as their own hands and feet.

Naturally, doing such a thing with a weapon held for the first time is nearly impossible.

*Is it talent?*

Talent.

What is talent?

Something innate. A gift bestowed by heaven.

Being more capable, more skilled than others.

There are many perspectives, but in the end, talent is the culmination of skills that can be honed and refined.

All of it.

People say effort is important, but in Raiga’s eyes, effort itself was also a form of talent.

Thus, to excel efficiently at anything, talent is required—and those who quickly find a talent suited to them are the ones who succeed.

Something completed from the very beginning is not simply dismissed as “talent.”

And yet—

*It’s complete…*

What Raiga saw in the Hyun of Adrium was completion.

The series of motions—thrusting with the spear, cutting with the blade—flowed as naturally as water.

At the very least, he had surpassed the form Raiga himself had demonstrated.

The fundamentals were flawless.

There wasn’t a single flaw to pick at.

*He wasn’t this good when I saw him in the Tower of the War God.*

When Raiga had seen the Hyun during the tournament in the Tower of the War God, he hadn’t been like this.

He was strong for his low level, but the techniques he was showing now could not be described with a simple word like “strong.”

*…Something has changed.*

There was no doubt that he had changed while climbing the tower.

Only then did Raiga’s gaze settle on the Hyun’s body.

*Subtle, but the overall musculature has changed. Balanced, shaped to store more power. His face looks sharper too…*

It was strange.

His muscles were in perfect symmetry.

But a human body can never be truly symmetrical.

Because of unconscious habits and daily use, the body inevitably becomes asymmetrical.

No matter how high one’s realm, no matter how transcendent one might be—even then, creating a perfectly balanced body is impossible.

Yet the Hyun of Adrium was different.

His body was perfectly symmetrical.

There was no muscle on either side that was lacking or excessive.

No matter how carefully Raiga examined him with his keen eye, the result was the same.

Was this even possible?

Moreover, the Hyun’s face had become sharper, and his skin smoother.

There wasn’t a single blemish.

Simply put—he was handsome.

*So the maids were sneaking glances not at me, but at this guy?*

Raiga recalled the moments before coming to the training ground.

Come to think of it, the maids passing by had been casting furtive glances.

Apparently, they hadn’t been looking at Raiga himself, but at this man.

“Who did you learn from?”

He couldn’t help but ask.

The Hyun of Adrium answered.

“…From someone who was my family, my friend, and my teacher.”

There was longing in his voice.

A tone of farewell embedded in his words.

Raiga nodded.

“Sounds like he was a good person.”

“Yes.”

“Did you learn the usage of all weapons from him?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“I learned only the sword.”

…Only the sword?

“And the spear and the dao?”

“I didn’t learn them separately.”

“……”

He really didn’t learn them separately?

The answer still made no sense.

So verification was needed.

“…Next is the bow.”

The bow was quite a difficult art.

If one hadn’t learned it, even imitating it would be hard.

Creeeak.

Raiga took a bow and drew the string toward the sky.

And then—

Thud!

Whiiing!

The arrow sliced through the air—

Thump!

—And lodged itself into the ground right in front of Raiga.

If it had been just a little closer, his head would have been pierced.

“Try it once.”

Raiga handed over the bow he had used.

Taking it, Hyun easily assumed a stance.

Whiiing!

Thump!

…Just like Raiga, the arrow embedded itself precisely right in front.

But on closer inspection, it was different.

Raiga’s arrow had struck in front of his feet.

Hyun’s arrow struck *between* his feet.

An angle that would be impossible if one simply shot into the sky.

Not merely closer than Raiga’s—but an angle that was generally impossible.

Raiga’s pupils shook violently.

“Did you read the wind? No… did you predict it?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t learn this either?”

“I’ve used a bow a few times.”

…That wasn’t the skill of someone who had used a bow just a few times.

Shooting an arrow into the sky—

and then predicting the strength of the opposing wind as it fell vertically.

This was a technique even a lifelong archer could not replicate.

Because predicting an opposing wind afterward is something an ordinary human simply cannot do.

And that wasn’t all.

Axes, daggers, clubs, and every other weapon—

Hyun displayed mastery over every existing weapon at a perfect level.

In the end, Raiga had no choice but to admit defeat.

All the weapon techniques one must learn before inheriting the Eight Houses—

there was no need to teach him any of them.

“…Take a sword.”

But one final confirmation remained.

If he had learned only the sword, then Raiga needed to see how he wielded that sword.

—

—

Late evening.

The Hill of the Eight Houses.

A secret place within the Imperial Palace, where the former masters of the Eight Houses were buried.

Gazing at the graves beneath the lush greenery, Raiga spoke.

“I pay my respects to the great masters of the Eight Houses.”

After bowing deeply in courtesy, Raiga spoke again.

“…I will die soon.”

He spoke of death calmly.

That before long, he would be buried here as well.

“The long-cherished wish of the Eight Houses—the death brought by the Five Gates—I, this unworthy one, could not overcome.”

Of course, no one had overcome it.

It is said that even the founder of the Eight Houses died after opening the Five Gates.

Raiga had thought he would be different.

But he was not.

He was no different.

He believed himself the greatest, prided himself on being the strongest—

…Raiga looked toward the last grave.

The grave of the previous master of the Eight Houses—his teacher.

“My master always said that we must find the vessel of the War God.”

Raiga closed his eyes.

He himself had not been the vessel of the War God.

Even the one brought in against the opposition of the Eight Houses had failed to fulfill their wish.

Slowly, Raiga opened his eyes.

“I have found him, Master.”

There was no longer gloom or sorrow in his eyes.

At last, he had found it.

The vessel of the War God.

The one who is the War God itself!

But Raiga clenched his fist.

He was indescribably happy.

Yet he couldn’t be happy without reservation.

Was it because he had found someone superior to himself?

No.

Raiga had already let go.

He had accepted that he was not the strongest—that the world was vast.

Wilhelm, Randolph, and perhaps even other “skies” beyond them might exist.

He had already acknowledged that somewhere in his heart.

It was just—

“…That’s why it’s regrettable. That I have to die.”

…That regret.

That he had to die like this.

That he had to leave without teaching properly.

“My master sealed the Eight Houses to take me in. Even if he had to be condemned and isolated, even if he had to cut down all who opposed him—he did it all for me alone.”

It was an immense sacrifice.

He severed ties with family, friends, with everyone—just for Raiga.

To make Raiga the successor of the Eight Houses.

But the Eight Houses were sealed, and Raiga roamed the Abyss.

…To be acknowledged.

To prove that he was dedicating himself to the Empire!

If not for that, Raiga would have roamed the world instead of the Abyss.

He would have earned fame, established himself as the one and only Knight King, and perhaps even launched a Grand Expedition.

But he was never acknowledged.

“I will make them acknowledge him. Before I die—even if I have to cut down every last one. Even if I must rebuild the Eight Houses from the ground up.”

With his resolve hardened, Raiga bowed his head.

“I will go to the *Sanctuary of Honor* and force the procedure.”

The procedure to declare the official successor of the Eight Houses.

The place sealed by the Eight Houses, where all “honorable ones” gather.

Because he was a slave, Raiga had been unable to undergo the proper procedure.

Thus, he had never received the Eight Houses’ acknowledgment.

To a slave, honor did not exist.

But no longer.

This time, he would force the procedure.

No matter what others said, it no longer mattered.

At that moment—

“Hm…?”

Raiga’s expression stiffened instantly.

Gooooooo—

A massive presence could be felt from somewhere.

A colossal evil so immense it made one’s skin crawl.

More dreadful than the curse he had experienced in the Tower of the War God.

*Don’t tell me… has an evil god been summoned?*

Raiga hurriedly turned and moved his feet.

—

—

 

The subject.

The center of it all—is me.

Park Hyunmyung.

But Randolph is also me, without a doubt.

Because we have become wholly one.

And Wilhelm, too, is a being worthy of being called family, friend, teacher—and “another me.”

“The Path of Light…”

Returning to my assigned quarters, I looked at a sword displayed there.

The Path of Light.

The unique-grade sword Wilhelm once used.

I slowly took it from its stand and held it.

It fit my hand as if it had always belonged there.

And not just that.

Another piece of equipment beside it.

“The Holy Path.”

A crimson cloak that formed a set with the Path of Light.

After going around in circles, they had finally returned to me.

These two were the most symbolic pieces of equipment that represented Wilhelm.

It felt as if Wilhelm were still by my side.

As if, by gathering the rest of the equipment, Wilhelm himself might be revived again.

I caressed them for a long while, then returned them to their places.

*There’s no one watching anymore.*

The gaze that had been there until just moments ago was gone.

As if a decision had been made to leave me alone—they had all vanished at once.

If anything, that worked in my favor.

*Now I can finally try transforming.*

I had confirmed it in text, but to be sure, it was best to transform myself.

Into Randolph.

Into the form of Randolph—now *Another Destruction* and a *Primordial Heavenly Demon*.

Thanks to the Glove of Omen and the Glove of Ash, switching between Park Hyunmyung and Randolph was now possible.

I looked at the Glove of Omen.

And then—

《You use the ‘Glove of Omen’.》
《Transforming into ‘Randolph’.》

Shuaaak!

Darkness surged forth, and in an instant, my form began to change.

On a level entirely different from appearance-altering potions—everything changed, not just the exterior.

And when I became Randolph—

Gooooooo—

Magic power poured out like madness.

A terrifying demonic aura billowed from my entire body!

With the class *Successor of the Star* gone, there was no longer any brake—this was my true, unrestrained form.

…No, it was more than that.

Even the evil form possessed by the “other Randolph” I had seen at the summit of the Tower of the War God could not compare to me now.

It wasn’t even possible to compare this to how I was before climbing the tower.

And so, the words slipped out of my mouth on their own.

“…This is insane.”