The Past That Can’t Be Left Behind 

Yexi had said the gear was flexible, but Ard was using every ounce of his strength just to stretch the sweater’s opening a tiny bit. It was nowhere near large enough to accommodate his body; at most, he could fit his head through. After several attempts, he had nearly exhausted himself.

Utterly defeated, Ard had no choice but to ask Yexi for help.

A mischievous smile played on Yexi’s lips as she looked at him. He was standing there, bare-chested. His physique was quite good, clearly the result of regular training, with muscles and abs that would surely attract a following of swooning admirers. Unfortunately for him, Yexi was not one of them. She said languidly, “Although the Moreian Behemoth’s materials are flexible, that doesn’t mean you can knead it like dough. It requires a little… finesse. What’s wrong? Not feeling so shy anymore?”

Ard, knowing when to admit defeat, conceded, “I was wrong. Please, help me.”

“Hmph!” Yexi didn’t keep him in suspense. She took the sweater and, with a light application of Ki, stretched the opening wide. “Well, what are you waiting for? Put your head and arms through.”

Ard felt a strange sense of deja vu. Wasn’t this just like a mother dressing her stubborn child? He decided to play the part of the good boy. After all, Yexi was no mother, but a stunningly beautiful woman. He wasn’t entirely opposed to the situation.

After he had put his head and arms through, Yexi leaned in close to pull the collar open, allowing him to pop his head out. He hadn’t expected that when his vision cleared, her face would be less than ten centimeters from his own.

Her light, clear fragrance filled his senses. Her cool, delicate features, and her golden eyes, which shone like the sun, were a stunning visual assault on his newly-restored sight.

Seeing him dazed, Yexi didn’t show any impatience. Instead, she gave a sweet smile. “Are you ready?”

Ard still hadn’t processed the situation. “Huh? Ready for what?”

“For this.”

Yexi let go of the collar. Ard suddenly felt a crushing weight descend upon him. Unprepared, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“In our previous world’s standard, this sweater weighs about 725 kilograms. In this world’s standard, that’s 1450 kali,” Yexi said, lightly prodding the struggling Ard with the toe of her boot. “How does it feel? Come on, big man, jump up. You’re not going to say you can’t, are you?”

Ard felt as if an elephant were standing on his chest. He asked with great effort, “You… you moved around in this when you were a child?”

“Yes, but I could use Ki to support myself. The purpose was twofold: to train my stamina and endurance, and to constantly put pressure on myself to temper the Ki in my body. By constantly pushing my body to its limits, the quality and quantity of my Ki would increase.”

Seeing Ard shakily get to his feet, Yexi smiled. “But aren’t you a Black Dragon half-blood? I’ve looked it up. The physical strength and endurance of a dragon hybrid far exceed that of an ordinary person, with Black Dragons being the most extreme. But you haven’t developed that advantage at all. You’re lucky you met me. Come on, there’s the rest of the gear. The remaining pieces add up to about 2900 kali.”

Ard’s vision went dark. Even the joy of wearing Yexi’s old clothes had vanished. “Isn’t it a bit much to put it all on at once?”

Yexi raised an eyebrow. “Too much? Not at all. Hey, want to give up? I won’t force you.”

“I’ll wear it!” Ard decided to go all in.

“Next, put on the trousers.” Yexi was all business, holding out the heavy wool pants.

“…” This time, Ard was genuinely embarrassed. This was different from being bare-chested.

“Um…”

“You’re not going to say something stupid like you’ll put them on yourself, are you? You can barely stand. Stop acting like a bashful maiden. I’ve been to public bathhouses in my past life. I’ve seen things far more revealing than you. And you’re getting shy with me now?”

Seeing Ard’s hesitation, Yexi simply pushed him over. Ard, as fragile as a candle in the wind, couldn’t resist her assault. In a few swift movements, she had stripped off his pants and forced the weighted gear on him. She did the whole set at once, including the boots and the rings.

But Ard did not enjoy being dressed by Yexi at all. With each piece of equipment, his body grew heavier. When the full set was on, he felt as if his body was no longer his own. He tried to lift his arm, but the reaction was incredibly sluggish, like he was moving in slow motion, his time slowed to a tenth of a normal person’s.

He gritted his teeth and forced out the words, “What’s next?”

Yexi said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Next? We travel, of course.”

Ard froze. His arms, weighed down by the rings, were difficult to even lift, let alone point at himself.

“Travel… like this?”

“What did you think? Also, from now on, you’d better control your eating and… excretion schedule. I will help you take off the clothes for one hour each day, at 6 in the morning, 12 at noon, 6 in the evening, and midnight. At all other times, you’re on your own. Of course, if you can take them off yourself, I won’t interfere.”

Ard’s face turned green. It seemed the training Yexi had in mind was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

He asked with a hint of suspicion, “Is this how your so-called ‘teachers’ trained you back then?”

“Them?” A flicker of a memory crossed Yexi’s mind. A group of children, around ten years old, their bodies laden with weighted rings, running desperately on a giant track. Behind them, a pack of mad dogs, starved for three days, charged at them. The track was littered with obstacles and traps, all of them lethal. A moment’s hesitation, a single misstep, meant a gruesome death. But if you slowed down, if you fell behind, you would be caught by the dogs and torn apart. The dogs had been raised on human flesh since they were pups, trained to kill their prey as quickly as possible.

Yexi remembered the scene clearly. The track was covered in foul-smelling blood. There were no complete corpses. Her goal was not to maintain her speed, but simply to be faster than the others. The training ended under only two conditions: either you reached the finish line before being eaten, or only three of you were left alive. The first condition was a cruel joke. Under the pressure of the weighted rings, a ten-year-old’s stamina could never last to the end. So, out of dozens of children, Yexi had to ensure she was always one of the three survivors.

This training continued until they were old enough, their stamina sufficient to reach the finish line. Only then would this particular exercise stop, and they would leave that man-eating track, only to be thrown into the next hell.

“Yexi? Yexi? Are you alright?”

Ard’s anxious voice pulled her back to the present. She looked at him quietly. “They were far worse than this.”

With that, she walked away to lead the two drakes.

Ard, knowing he had said the wrong thing, was filled with regret. He had unintentionally touched upon a past Yexi did not wish to remember.

Dragging his heavy body, Ard moved forward, step by agonizing step. Each footfall left a deep imprint in the ground. Sweat dripped from his brow like rain.

Yexi waited for him up ahead. Only when he had caught up did she begin to walk, matching his slow pace, the two drakes in tow.

“I’m sorry,” Ard said. “I feel like I said something I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t know. Besides, that’s all in the past. I am the master of my own life now. I am no longer controlled by those people.”

Ard tried to lighten the mood, to distract himself from his own exhaustion. “That’s because you became strong, Yexi.”

Yexi looked down. “That’s right. I became strong. So strong that the cost of controlling me exceeded what they were willing to pay. I broke free from their control. Or so it seems.”

“‘Seems’?”

“The past is still the past, but it has also become an unchangeable fact. No one can escape the entanglement of their past. Even in this world, I can’t forget that time. The fear is gone, but… I still can’t let it go.”

Yexi turned to look at Ard. “I’m actually surprised I agreed to your deal so readily. Perhaps I’m also longing to leave, longing for a chance for myself.”

“A chance to break free from the past?”

“You’re quick on the uptake now. That’s right. Living under the protection of the Lord and Lady, I can never find the answers or the methods I need. This is my own inner demon. I have to exorcise it myself.”

Ard smiled. “It feels strange to hear you say you’re being protected.”

Yexi shot him a sideways glance. “Strength of body does not mean the heart has no weaknesses. They just aren’t exposed because one doesn’t wish to expose them.”

“That’s a bit convoluted. Can you put it in simpler terms?”

“From the past until now, the weaknesses in my heart have never changed. But when I was an assassin, no one could ever detect them. Not because they weren’t smart enough, but because…” Yexi paused. Ard looked at her, puzzled, and saw that her eyes were now as deep and dark as the abyss.

“Only a living being with emotions has weaknesses of the heart. An emotionless assassin has no such weaknesses. By sealing away all emotion, one becomes flawless. That was the me of the past. And the me of the future you spoke of. Do you want to meet her?”

“No!” Just from her gaze, Ard could feel a bone-chilling cold that instantly dispelled the heat from his exertion. A primal fear welled up in his heart. There was no killing intent in her eyes, but an endless, profound indifference. The cold apathy of a being that sees all life as insignificant. Just as one would feel nothing when stepping on a blade of grass, Ard felt that in that moment, he was just a blade of grass in her eyes, something to be crushed underfoot if necessary.

Ard was beginning to understand why the Krass Order had suffered such a great loss at her hands in his past life. An assassin who had cast aside all attachments and emotions, a meticulous mind with extraordinary skills… the methods she could employ were unimaginable. As long as the goal was achieved, nothing else mattered.

Thankfully, her god-like gaze only lasted for a moment. Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned and continued walking forward.