After the meal, I told everyone to get ready. I also told them to come to my room after they were prepared.

"Alright, if you're ready, I'm opening the portal."

Aiden: "Dude, I still can't believe you're the king of a kingdom made of monsters, and second place in the tournament? You've achieved great things in such a short time."

Malik: "He kept talking about how he had to keep saving you, you should appreciate all this."

Aiden: "You're right, thanks again for everything. Daichi, you'll be very powerful, and I'll always be by your side, my friend."

"Thanks, guys, let's go then."

[Portal]

I opened the portal and we all entered, heading to the Monster Kingdom.

Malik: "Wow, this place is so crowded and different."

Aiden: "By different, do you mean full of monsters everywhere? If so, I can't help but agree."

Malik: "Goblins, lizard men, half-humans, and monster animals..."

Aiden: "A-Are those dragons?"

"No, they're just wyverns."

Aiden: "J-Just wyverns? Ahh, my head is starting to hurt really bad."

"Anyway, let me introduce you to the people who will help you in your training."

I took Aiden and Malik to the training grounds. I had previously requested the Barbarian Goblin, the Wizard Goblin, the Healer Goblins, and Dagger to come here.

"These individuals are highly skilled in warfare, magic, healing, and assassination. I don't know how much time we have, but it would be good for you to train with them until our next mission or any danger we encounter."

Malik: "Are you sure these people can train us? They seem quite weak."

Malik said this while particularly looking at Dagger. The other goblins were 2-3 meters tall and seemed stronger than normal goblins, but Dagger was a normal goblin, so he seemed weaker. However, Malik didn't know one thing...

Suddenly, Dagger appeared above Malik, pressing his knife against Malik's throat.

"That's enough, Dagger."

Malik was scared and out of breath.

"So, do you still think they're weak?"

Malik: "M-Maybe they're a bit strong."

I left Malik and Aiden for their training and went to talk to Lilith.

"Lilith, I'll be with the king for aura training for a while. There are some things I need from you during this time."

Lilith: "Sure, whatever you need."

"While I'm away, I want you to completely explore the forest we're in, even go deeper and to different places to add more monsters to our kingdom. Currently, what we lack fundamentally are craftsmanship and trade. We need artisans in blacksmithing, tailoring, potion-making, and similar fields. I want you to find people who can fill these gaps and add new talents to our kingdom. There's no rush for now, but we should be prepared for anything we might encounter as our kingdom's name starts to spread. Also, I want you to get stronger on this journey. I know I'm asking a lot, so if you don't want to..."

Lilith: "No, I want to. As I said before, I'll always be by your side and support you. You should also get stronger. And while I'm gone, stay away from the women in the kingdom, or I'll come and kill you."

"Just out of curiosity, will you eat me or just chop off my head? Or maybe you'll do both, do snakes eat bones?"

After getting punched in the head by Lilith, I said goodbye and opened a portal to my room in King Charles's castle and entered.

"Here I am, I will become even stronger and bow to no one."

I left my things in my room, put on something comfortable, and went to the training field. Charles had said he would be here at this time, but he seemed absent. After waiting for another hour, King Charles finally arrived.

"I've been waiting for you for an hour."

Charles: "Hm? Why did you come so early?"

Early? Somehow, this guy reminds me of someone, I think I understand why he got along so well with Arthur...

Charles: "Anyway, are you ready for your aura training?"

"Yes, what are we doing? Am I going to release all my aura and attack you with all my strength? Or will you touch my body, open my meridians, and then I'll suddenly become super powerful?"

Charles looked at me as if he didn't understand what I was saying.
Charles: "I don't know what you're talking about, but no aura use yet. The aura you possess is probably the strongest ever. So, to control that aura, you first need a strong body."

"I thought we'd do something cooler."

Charles: "A famous war and strategy genius once said, 'A sound mind in a sound body.' We know you have a sound mind, but I can't say the same for your body."

"Don't I have a strong body? Can't you see these muscles?"

I was showing my arm muscles to Charles. But Charles suddenly tensed all his muscles, and his clothes burst, revealing all his massive muscles.

"How much longer are you going to show off those massive, disgusting muscles?"

Charles: "You say that because you're jealous of my massive muscles, aren't you? Don't worry, if you work for many years, maybe you can achieve a body like this too."

I responded in a low voice.

"You can only say that you used medicine."

Charles: "What did you say?"

He seemed to have heard me and looked quite angry.

"N-nothing, let's start working."

Charles: "Then, first, we shall begin with some warm-up."

"Warm-up? This seems like it will be easy."
Charles: "Start with a 50-kilometer run, and make sure to carry this 100-kilogram massive rock all the way. Since it's your first day, I won't push you too hard."

Not push me too hard? I hate training with these two muscle freaks…

After a whole day of physical training, I could barely drag myself to bed. We continued this routine for a few weeks, and finally, it was time for a different kind of training.

Charles: "Alright, today we're going to do a different kind of training."

"Are we going to do long jumps off a cliff on one leg while carrying a 1-ton rock? Come on, you can challenge me more than that."

Charles: "I've never heard of such an exercise before; I should take note of that."

I'm sure he will actually make me do it…

Charles: "Today, we will start working on aura. I need you to focus on breath control and feel all the blood circulation in your body. Aura is about using one's mental strength, emotions, and physical capabilities together to project the pressure they possess outward."

"Pressure? What's that?"

Charles: "Don't think too much, just focus on the feeling you get while fighting and try to relax. For some, this feeling might be fear or stress…"

The feeling I get in battle? It's true I feel fear and stress, but the most dominant feeling isn't that, it's...

Daichi's intense red aura began to emerge around him while he was fighting in the tournament, stronger, more intense, and bigger than before. It was so intense that even the small force he generated just by thinking about using his aura caused fierce winds.

Charles: "Or for some, this feeling is excitement."

"How's it going? I'm a bit excited so I closed my eyes, should I open them?"

Charles: "Don't open your eyes! You're successfully releasing your aura, now focus your mind and try to compress this aura as much as possible! You can think of it as something wrapping around your body!"

Something wrapping around my body, huh? I guess I can do that…

Charles' inner thoughts: "This level of Aura for a kid who just got acquainted with aura is truly incredible. Not to mention his physical strength developing at an unbelievable speed, and that's not all. Controlling such a power requires a very strong and well-trained mind, what has this kid been through…"

Charles: "Very good, your aura is enveloping your whole body and it's not as fierce as before. You can open your eyes now."

"Wow, is this red thing enveloping my body the aura? It seems a bit too shiny."

Charles: "Yes, as you get more skilled, you'll be able to compress your aura even more and these glows won't bother you."

"Is it normal for my aura to be red? It seems like your aura is a different color, and the aura of the wizard boy I fought was white."

Charles: "Auras are personal, but generally, they have some meanings. Yellow aura, like mine, is often seen in those with holy powers. Green aura is related to nature, and blue to oceanic powers. I think purple was related to dark magic, and the white one you saw on the wizard boy is known as the purest and most powerful type of aura. There are other colors of auras too, but these are the most known ones."

"What about my red aura? Also, if I remember correctly, my aura later turned black."

Charles: "As for your red aura, well, I suppose there's no point in hiding it from you."

"Hiding?"

Charles: "Red aura signifies a malevolent aura, what is considered evil depends on how you define it. For most people, killing is evil, but is killing a murderer who has killed thousands evil? Or is turning a man who rapes women into a woman through magic and making him work in a brothel evil? Discussing what is evil can take a lot of time, so I'm not sure what to say."

"I think I understand what you mean, what about the black aura?"

Charles: "I don't know about that, it was the first time in my life I saw a black aura and I had never heard of anything related to a black aura before. The fight ended quickly, so you didn't have time to use the black aura, we have to wait until it appears again."

"You're right, I have no choice but to do my best."

Charles: "Don't frown, you've done quite well so far. I thought it would take at least a few months for you to learn to control your aura, but you've already learned how to compress it."

Charles' inner thoughts: "It took me 4 months to control the aura, and almost a year to learn how to compress it…"

Charles: "There are a few things left to learn, splitting the aura and transferring the aura. Splitting the aura means focusing the aura on a certain part of your body. For example, by gathering the aura in your fist, you can greatly increase the explosive power of your punches, or by gathering it in your legs, you can move faster. Transferring the aura, as the name suggests, is transferring the aura to an object, like transferring your aura to your sword to make it very sharp and durable."

"I kind of understand what I need to do."

Charles: "There's nothing left for me to teach you, you have to learn the rest on your own. It seems like no one will come to this training ground for a long time, so don't hesitate to use it."

[New Mission Approaching! 2nd Mission The Tournament of the Dispatched starts in 1 month!]

Charles: "It took me a full 10 years to learn and master all this, but with the speed of someone as talented as you, I guess it can be done in a few years."

"One month, one month is enough."