Celestial Bloodline

One year later, the night sky above the No mana land was starless and moonless as usual, but the air was illuminated by the shimmering grey flowers scattered throughout the land.

It was a quiet night, yet Hubert's eyes snapped open as he caught a faint noise coming from outside the house. He closed his eyes again with a yawn and decided to go back to sleep, thinking the noise belonged to a passing monster.

But as he turned his head, even in the darkness, his blue eyes shimmered slightly when his gaze fell upon the empty bedding on the floor, a short distance away from him, inside the house, which consisted of only one large room and a bathroom with just the essentials.

"What in the world? Don't tell me Kyle went out to train so late at night again."

"I know he has made progress and can pull all-nighters, but continuous training isn't healthy for his body."

He grumbled because even though his student was diligent, he didn't appreciate that diligence at all. Throughout the year, his life had become too busy, and he didn't even have a single quiet moment because Kyle would finish every task he gave him without any complaints and immediately come back to ask for another task.

Hubert tossed the blanket aside and stood up from the bed to search for something to wear on his feet before leaving the house with big strides and slamming the door loudly behind him.

"Just where is that training maniac? I told him to take a break for a few days because his body needs time to adjust to the power imbalance. Even though his physique had reached the divine-rank, he still has not broken through to the divine-rank because this land lacks divine energy."

He scanned the area, all set to drag Kyle back to rest as soon as he spotted him, but he soon discovered that the noise that had woken him up was actually coming from a monster that had somehow climbed the mountain. It turned out to be a wild goat, the kind that usually stayed behind the mountain and rarely came up.

Slowly, he crept toward the goat and captured it before tying its limbs to ensure a good meal for tomorrow. After throwing it toward the house, he started descending the mountain to look for Kyle.

"I'm going to make him stand upside down on his hands for a whole day to at least keep him in one place for a while. He really knows how to get on my nerves."

Hubert let out a sigh as he recalled how, in just a year, Kyle had achieved perfection in the first three moves of his art and was on the verge of reaching perfection in the last one without the use of mana and any other type of energy. Not to mention, the young man effortlessly mastered the concept he shared with him in just a few months and became adept at using everything in his surroundings to display his art with precision and grace.

"He has also been giving his all to enhance his physique. Sometimes I feel like he's not human because even a dragon's body can't bear this much pressure."

The air was chilly, and he noticed that the further he descended the mountain, the colder it became.

Hubert furrowed his brows with a serious expression because it was unusual for the temperature to drop so drastically, and no one could describe his shock as he paused above a wide protruding rock in the middle of the mountain and saw the half-

naked man, who was supposedly his disciple, sitting cross-

legged on another protruding rock a little further away on his right.

Kyle's eyes were tightly closed, and he seemed to be meditating. However, what shocked Hubert wasn't the man himself but the thick layer of ice enveloping the land around. The icy landscape was glistening under the dim light radiating from the gray flowers in the surroundings, similar to Kyle's silver hair, which had grown long enough to reach his shoulders in just a year.

His hair was tied in a ponytail, with only a few strands gently swaying around his serene face, giving the impression that he had entered a state of concentration.

There were many scars on his exposed upper body, a testament to his hard work and persistence.

Not to mention, Kyle's muscles had grown more defined, glistening under the layer of ice that had slowly crawled up from his torso, now reaching his neck and steadily advancing towards his face.

Hubert noticed the iron sword that was stabbed into the ground behind Kyle. He had been the one to give the sword to Kyle after the wooden sword broke. But when he gazed at the deep slash marks that scarred the landscape beneath Kyle's spot, he took in a deep breath because he noticed that many of the sword marks on the land exuded a hint of... spiritual energy.

'No way...! Did he learn to grasp the spiritual energy? When? I didn't teach him that! Also, where did the ice come from?'

'The ice is not emitting spiritual energy and the land clearly doesn't have mana or divine energy either-!'

Hubert's eyes widened slightly as he remembered that this very same ice had healed Kyle's injuries before, but he couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the ice to know just how it is spreading on Kyle's body and the land around him without any type of energy.

In the distance, Kyle opened his eyes and exhaled a chilly puff of smoke after his bloodline obediently went to encircle his heart under his command. It had been doing whatever he thought after that incident, a memory he was certain would forever remain fresh in his mind. But now, even though he used his bloodline from time to time to increase his strength, he never relied on it completely.

'I am never going to put hope on it when I need help... because it can simply run away to hide inside my mind space to save itself.'

Kyle let out a faint snicker as the bloodline attempted to comfort him with a refreshing sensation that coursed through his body.

'It took a lot of time to wake up after that incident. I suppose it also needs rest to sustain itself.'

His green eyes were shining faintly in the darkness, not completely lacking their luster, but one could clearly see they had turned a lot colder and detached, unlike before, almost as if he had started to not care about his surroundings.