How to Live as a Martial Arts Writer in a Fantasy World

29 – Ups and Downs

29.

[Schuren Chronicle is a fictional novel of fantasy and has no relation to reality.]

This was the first time Adonel Publishing had included such a warning.

As a small to medium publishing company, many people did not know about Adonel Publishing. But those who often bought books published by Adonel Publishing said the same thing – they’ve never included such a warning before.

The fact that Adonel Publishing, which had been more selective about the books they published due to their small to medium size, had included this type of warning was unprecedented.

Readers, intrigued by the warning stated in the newspaper, provided the momentum for all copies of the third volume to quickly sell out.

The answers people sought were purely inside those three volumes.

***

“Revenge is not a simple emotion, human. Revenge is more sacred than anything. It’s an absolute vow to stake your soul and life to destroy the target.”

He was a man of strong build.

The sunlight spilling over his shoulders colored his green skin a rosy hue and made his large fang-like protrusions on either side more prominent.

His muscular arm full of scars, the bulging muscles down to the grip holding the axe were streaked with sunlight like dripping water droplets.

Each bundle of muscle pulsed as if containing a great force, seemingly rhythmically with the surrounding mountains.

Among those Shuren met in this continent, Krazena, his appearance was the most alien.

“An absolute vow, huh?”

“Yes. That’s how we, the orcs, learn.”

Called orcs, the strange beings of Krajena Continent.

The warrior who held on to the wildness of the wilderness, where they were ostracized for being called monsters and not human, looked down at Shuren with cold eyes.

“I do not know how you got hurt like this. But I can sense your fate.”

“Fate… are you talking about fate? Even a green demon like you?”

“Green demon? A fascinating term. Doesn’t sound imperial. Where are you from? From the mystical lands across the sea?”

The massive orc warrior, intrigued by his new companion’s words, sat on a freshly cut stump.

“I’m Kranish, son of Krandar. Agansh-tar, star of vengeance.”

“Star of vengeance?”

“That’s what we call those who are born with the fate of walking the path of vengeance. Revenge is pain and hardship. Yet, that’s why it’s the holiest.”

The eyes of Kranish, the orc warrior who rested his hands on the handle of his axe, seemed to pierce Shuren.

His eyes, hidden in the darkness, flared like the sun.

“I’ve seen many who take the path of revenge, but few possess such a fierce thirst for it as you. What have you lost?”

“Everything.”

Shuren looked down, teeth gritted on his worn and tattered cloak.

It was the only thing left in the world from Shana, who is now dead.

It was also the only thing that kept his fading humanity tied to this world.

“…My family and my master died protecting me. Their hatred lies heavy on my shoulders. If not for that old knight blocking my way, by now…”

“A knight, you say. Seems the Empire’s old swordmaster is still alive.”

“Do you know this?”

Shuren was easily drawn into the conversation, but he felt no discomfort.

He could count on one hand the number of people who had listened to him like Kranish.

“Wolf Knight Shubert. Shubert Woelbelm. That name sends chills down the spines of myself and my kin.”

“Shubert Woelbelm…”

“He disappeared from the Empire over forty years ago. It’s shocking that he’s still alive. He must be over a hundred years old in human years.”

“Over a hundred years old? He had white hair, but he didn’t look that old.”

Shuren found himself thinking about the old knight who had been blocking his path.

He remembered the strong swordsmanship of Shubert, who didn’t look over ninety years old. His injured arm ached at the memory.

Kranish spoke.

“They say that those who wield the aura reach a certain level where the body’s time regresses. In human terms, body change. It seems that’s what they call it.”

“Transformation. To say there are those who have reached that level even in the western regions…”

“I don’t know what all the incomprehensible words mean, but if they refer to a body change, it might be somewhat similar.”

Kranish spoke seriously.

“It seems that you have not yet reached that level. I feel a strong aura within you, but you haven’t passed the wall.”

“You don’t know anything, you…. Ah!”

Shuren gasped and faltered as he tried to rise.

Kranish’s words struck him like an arrow.

“You dare to oppose your current body in the path of vengeance. It’s foolhardy. You will lose your life before you reach the object of your vengeance.”

Shuren swung his sword at Kranish.

With a slight movement of his axe handle, Kranish blocked Shuren’s attack.

“Do not soil the name of sacred vengeance, human,”

The massive orc warrior stood up.

It felt like a skyscraper rising.

The fighting spirit emanating from the orc shook the air.

“If you wish for death so desperately, then Krandar’s son, Kranish will accept your challenge in the name of Great Warrior!”

The roar of the nomadic orc warrior shook the air of the wastelands.

***

As soon as the third volume of Shuren’s saga was published, it brought about a greater impact than the second.

If the development of the second volume had been somewhat less noteworthy, the third was a development that shattered the common sense of the imperial citizens.

The orc, who had previously only been described as a mere monster.

The characterization of this orc as an intelligent being capable of communication with humans, and furthermore, the assertion that the creature could manipulate aura, provoked intense backlash.

-An orc using aura, no matter if it’s fiction, it’s unacceptable.

-A monster handling an aura is beyond comprehension, it’s a disgrace to the pride of knights and even magic itself. A member of the Mueller family should not write such.

-Immediately stop the publication of this disgusting novel that tarnishes the name of the Mueller family.

Not only in the literary world of the Empire, but there was also a problem that it provoked an aversion among the knights who practice swordsmanship.

-The third volume of Shuren’s saga is a disgrace to the pride of the knights and an insult to the sacred aura.

-The Mueller Duke family must apologize for this.

-Allen Edga Von Mueller should pay the price for insulting knights with such a novel.

The high intensity criticism of the third volume of Shuren’s Saga continued.

It was a caricature to have the protagonist of the novel be a Kunryong, a character that no other novel in the Empire has addressed. However, depicting the orc as an intellectual being capable of manipulating the auras sparked the controversy.

While the empire of Tiranto was turned upside down in response to the third volume, Allan’s book had spread through countless routes and reached even the barren lands of the East.

The heart of the barren lands, Ursuna.

Compared to the Western or Eastern Empires, the city filled to the brim with a rough vibe is filled with primordial wildness.

The colossal edifice established at its core was the dwelling place of the Grand Lord of the Osirian Union.

“A human wrote a book about us…. interesting.”

His hand looked rough.

A lump of sheer power, the muscular fist could tear apart the paper book held in it with just a hint of excess force.

“It’s interesting. I heard there’s a human studying our culture.”

“I think this is the first historical precedence where a human from the empire doesn’t refer to us as monsters.”

The one who spoke was a troll, his skin a pale blue, with jutting tusks.

The Grand Lord of the Osirian, wearing a wolf pelt as if it were a helmet, let out a soft chuckle at the troll advisor’s words.

“It’s peculiar. From the looks of it, bringing this here must have been surprisingly shocking.”

“It must have been shocking for the Barbarois.”

Within the Osirian Union, the humans held a significant ratio. They were called Barbarois in Osirian. These easterners, were notable figures in many areas within Osirian.

The Osirian script was created by the Barbarois based on the Western Empire’s script, and all kinds of records were also the responsibility of the Barbarois.

In commercial aspects, they competed with Goblin money-gods, in power dynamics they competed with the innately-born warriors Orcs and the hunters Trolls.

Even though they were born with the weakest bodies in the Osirian Union, they seized their place with tenacity and effort.

And so, in the Osirian language, they were called ‘the ones who seized’, Barbarois.

The troll advisor said,

“The Barbarois know at least about the Western Empire’s common knowledge, so the shock must have doubled, wouldn’t it?”

“It’s an interesting thing. Surprising even.”

The Grand Lord laughed.

Even knowing that what was common sense to them was not common sense in the Western Empire, the fact that this novel, the ‘Legend of Shuren’, reached the Grand Lord is what brings out such surprise.

“Interactions between the great warrior dealing with ‘Aura’ and a human who desires revenge. It seems like the book drew upon Osirian culture in its writing.”

“Duels and fights contribute greatly to building friendships. At least in Osirian.”

“It’s interesting. Weren’t all humans of the Western Empire filled with prejudices?”

“The shocking part is that the youngest son of the Sword King wrote this.”

At the troll advisor’s words, the grand lord laughed, as if intrigued.

“The Sword King’s youngest son, huh.”

The giant diagonal scar on the chest of the Grand Lord writhed.

This is a vestige from when the Sword King of the West Kingdom and I crossed blades in our youth.

Although saved only through the sacrifice of countless comrades, I never forgot my reverence towards the Empire’s Sword King.

A smile spread across the face of the great warlord as he brushed off his wounds with his hand.

“How interesting. Very interesting indeed.”

The warlord’s remaining eye shone brightly.

“The youngest son of the Sword King, you say. I would like to meet him once. I wonder what kind of person would write such thoughts.”