I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-311

Ch311. **“Let’s Do It.”**

—

Fang.

Yet to the world at large, it was known as the **Fang Knight Order**.

The strongest knight order led by Raiga, and a name that represented the Empire itself.

However, most people did not even know what the name *Fang* truly meant, nor that such a clan even existed.

Nor did they know that the Fang clan had been sealed away within the Sanctuary of Honor.

People had heard stories about the guardians of the Sanctuary of Honor before.

Monsters so powerful that even high-tier Transcendents could not dare to hand them a calling card.

*I thought they’d be connected to an unrevealed hidden quest.*

There had been endless speculation about their true identities.

Yet no one had ever been able to uncover the truth.

Thus, most assumed they simply hadn’t been updated yet, or that their identities would only be revealed once specific conditions were met.

I had believed that the guardians of the Sanctuary of Honor were branches of an unrevealed hidden quest—

half right, and half wrong.

*No one would ever have guessed that they were Fang.*

Which meant that among all players, I was likely the first.

The only one who knew that the guardians of the Sanctuary were in fact Fang, and that they were connected to Raiga.

And moreover—

*…A human riding clouds.*

The old man who appeared riding a white cloud.

The moment he appeared, a chill ran straight down my spine.

It wasn’t simply because of his pressure, nor merely because of his immense mana.

Nor was it just because he was riding clouds like Sun Wukong’s Nimbus.

That alone was unusual enough, but what emanated from the old man was far greater.

It felt as though I were standing before the vastness of nature itself.

I nodded inwardly.

*If immortals truly exist, this is exactly what they’d look like.*

I had never seen a human with such densely concentrated natural energy.

He felt even more in tune with nature than the dryads.

“Do you know where you stand, Raiga, to be making such a ruckus?”

The cloud-riding old man spoke solemnly.

Yet his tone clearly looked down on Raiga.

“Did you ask whether I know where this is?”

A smile bloomed at the corner of Raiga’s lips.

Then, in a flat, emotionless voice, he continued.

“The place I once ruled.
The place I abandoned.
And now—
The place I will reclaim.”

Raiga had declared that he would reclaim Fang.

The old man’s gaze hardened.

“…From the beginning, you were never the master of this place.
For the same reason, you cannot abandon it, nor reclaim it.
The sealing of Fang was a choice *we* made.”

“That’s enough to make even a passing dog laugh.”

Tsk.

Raiga clicked his tongue.

What clan would ever choose to seal itself away?

What family would willingly take down the sign bearing its name and choose to be forgotten by the world?

None.

It had been forced upon them by the previous master of Fang—Raiga’s own teacher.

And yet these people were comforting themselves by calling it a *choice*.

The old man shook his head.

“Leave. There is no place for you to stand here.”

“First Elder. I told you clearly. I’m taking it back.”

“…So you insist on drinking the punishment wine to the very end.”

The old man—the one called the First Elder—waved his hand once.

Then—

WOOOOOOO!

BOOOOOOM!

Gale-force winds erupted from all directions.

Dozens, then hundreds of violent gusts crashed into Raiga, rapidly converging into a raging typhoon.

At the same time, a barrier formed in the sky, sealing Raiga within the storm.

The compressed air pressure and violent winds inside the barrier were powerful enough to grind everything within down to the cellular level.

“Do you think you can endure pressure strong enough to turn steel into dust?”

The First Elder spoke quietly.

Within that barrier, even a dragon’s hardened scales would be torn apart.

Human skin—thin as it was—would be shredded in an instant, separating flesh from bone.

Even resisting with mana would be meaningless.

Before the vast power of nature, it was only a matter of time.

“If you repent now and turn back—”

He was about to say that he would let him leave safely.

But the First Elder’s eyes suddenly widened.

Slash!

RIIIP!

The barrier split cleanly down the middle as Raiga walked out slowly.

Without a single scratch.

Completely unharmed.

“…!”

Shock and disbelief filled the First Elder’s eyes.

A human could never overcome nature.

One could not cut nature’s *grain*.

And yet—

“A sloppy grain.”

Raiga severed it.

As naturally as breathing, he sliced it apart cleanly.

Then he began walking slowly toward the First Elder.

In that instant—

“S-stop—!”

The First Elder cried out urgently.

But it wasn’t directed at Raiga.

His gaze went farther back.

The guardian of the Sanctuary.

The man who had decapitated the one who drew his sword before the chalice—

he had drawn his blade against Raiga.

But—

Thud!

The man collapsed before he could even draw it fully.

An invisible sword had pierced his vital point.

The First Elder’s complexion changed.

“Heart Sword…?”

A formless blade.

He recognized it as an attack of the Heart Sword.

A realm that even the previous master of Fang had failed to reach.

Which meant—

Raiga had surpassed his teacher.

“…My mercy ends here.”

Raiga spoke like a reaper.

Expressionless, he issued a simple command.

“Tell everyone.
That their master has returned.”

Their master had returned—

so they should bow of their own accord.

—

—

Beyond the far end of the Sanctuary, past an unseen barrier, another world unfolded.

A towering cliff.

Waterfalls cascading down, mist shrouding the land in mystery.

And atop the cliff, a single grand hall.

Around the hall engraved with Fang’s emblem, countless bizarre lifeforms coexisted.

*…Every one of them is a rare spiritual beast.*

Five-colored serpents, golden toads, turtles glowing with golden light, spiders with human faces, massive koi tinged with crimson—

All of them were spiritual beasts that appeared in Pangaenia with vanishingly small probability.

The appearance of even one would be enough to spark a war.

Condensed masses of spiritual energy beyond price.

The inner cores of such beasts enhanced mana tremendously and could not be bought with money.

Even I had rarely seen such creatures.

Yet here, they were everywhere.

《You have entered ‘Fang’s Sanctum (???)’.》

《Achievement Acquired: ‘First to Step into Fang’s Sanctum’.》

It was truly a land of immortals.

A place I had never seen.

I had stepped into an unknown domain no player had ever reached.

Creeeeak—

Following the First Elder’s guidance, we approached the hall, and its massive doors opened on their own.

Beyond them stood seven elders and one young man.

The elders were the Eight Elders of Fang, including the First Elder.

All of them bore natural, elemental appearances.

Some rode clouds of flame, others clouds formed of water.

Only one—the young man standing on his own two feet—stood apart.

He stood at the center of the elders, greeting Raiga with a relaxed smile.

“It’s been forty years, Raiga.”

“Indeed, Grand Elder. It has been a long time.”

The young man was the Grand Elder.

The one who led all the elders.

The true power currently ruling the Fang clan.

“That little child has grown up at last.”

The Grand Elder smiled.

Raiga’s eyes, as he looked at him, carried a hint of tension.

Unlike the other elders, the Grand Elder alone seemed difficult even for Raiga.

【???】

…He was clearly different.

I could discern nothing.

Nothing visible, nothing tangible.

Yet one thing was certain—despite his youthful appearance, he was not young.

If he had seen Raiga forty years ago, he had to be at least that old.

“Well then. A guest after forty years—shall we at least share some tea?”

“I didn’t come back to drink tea leisurely, Grand Elder.”

“Heh heh. No need to be so hasty.”

Unlike the smiling Grand Elder, the other elders’ expressions were openly hostile.

Disdain filled their gazes.

The Grand Elder waved his hand.

In an instant—

Whoosh!

The scenery changed.

A large table now stood before us.

Wooden chairs, and tea neatly arranged atop the table.

The Grand Elder sipped his tea and spoke.

“Hm. You must have a reason for returning to Fang after forty years. Let’s hear it.”

“…You already know, don’t you?”

“To become Fang’s true master? Come now—there isn’t much time left for you, is there?”

“….”

Raiga’s brow furrowed.

Though he tried to hide it, the Grand Elder had seen through his condition at once.

The Grand Elder continued.

“Your teacher also failed to overcome the death of the Five Gates. And just like now, he stood before me with a child—skin and bones, barely alive.”

The Grand Elder’s gaze shifted to me.

He clearly knew why Raiga had brought me.

“The child was a slave. And yet, to verify his qualifications at the true ‘Sanctuary of Honor’ within the sanctum, your teacher brought him there despite everyone’s opposition.”

“….”

“Yes. Unfortunately, the sanctum rejected you. You had killed people—masters—even as a child. Perhaps that rejection was inevitable.”

“…Shut up.”

Anger surged across Raiga’s face.

But the Grand Elder remained unfazed.

“We did not choose sealing because we feared your teacher. Human time is short. His time was even shorter—there was nothing to fear.”

“So you continued the sealing because you refused to acknowledge me?”

“Of course. Raiga, we do not recognize those rejected by the sanctum as true masters of Fang.”

“Then I’ll erase everything and rebuild it from scratch.”

Wooooo—

A dark aura surged from Raiga’s entire body.

He pointed his Heart Sword at the Grand Elder’s throat.

“Heart Sword… still shallow.”

The Grand Elder reached out and grasped it.

The direction of the Heart Sword changed.

The will contained within the formless blade shifted—

toward Raiga.

Slowly, the Grand Elder spoke.

“To face me, you would need to open the Five Gates. But if you do so again, you will die on the spot.”

“It doesn’t matter. A Fang that doesn’t acknowledge me isn’t worth having.”

“Hm. Even your teacher did not openly oppose me…”

A hair-trigger moment.

Tension so thick that blades could clash at any second.

Then—

The Grand Elder suddenly smiled.

“Then let us do this, Raiga. You will once more have your qualifications verified by the sanctum.”

Raiga’s pupils trembled faintly.

“…Re-verification is possible?”

“Of course. The result rarely changes—but it isn’t impossible.”

Thud.

Raiga’s killing intent vanished.

He wanted re-verification as well.

Even now, the memory of being rejected by the sanctum in his youth bound him like a shackle.

…But perhaps now, things could be different.

With a lifetime of accumulated honor, it might be possible.

After all, he had nothing left to lose.

“However, there is one condition.”

“What is it?”

“That child must be included as well.”

The Grand Elder’s gaze turned to me.

“Both of you will have your qualifications tested. Whether you are suitable to be masters of Fang. If both are accepted, then we will lift the sealing and place Fang in your hands.”

“And if we are not?”

“That would be unfortunate.”

“….”

Raiga fell silent, deep in thought.

The temptation was immense.

But for both to be accepted as honorable—

that was nearly impossible.

And hadn’t the Grand Elder himself said it?

That results rarely changed.

Then perhaps—

it would be better not to do it at all.

Better to destroy everything as originally planned.

“Let’s do it.”

“…!”

A sudden voice broke the silence.

Everyone turned toward it.

There stood Hyun.

The one who had remained silent all this time.

He may have looked pressured by the atmosphere—

but he spoke clearly.

“I will have my qualifications verified. Whether I am worthy of Fang. Wasn’t that why you came to this wretched place after forty years, Master?”

“…Wretched place?”

“What did that brat just say—?!”

The elders erupted.

Raiga, meanwhile, was inwardly shaken.

Not by the insult.

But by the word—

*Master…?*

It was the first time he had ever heard it.

Unaware—or perhaps uncaring—Hyun smiled brightly, confidence overflowing, as he looked straight at the Grand Elder.

Meeting his eyes directly.

Without the slightest hesitation.