# Chapter 16: 16
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In his previous life, Radis' body was left in a horrible state.
The miasma that entered his system was extremely poisonous to humans.
Those who were exposed to it had to take the necessary time to rest while waiting for the miasma to disappear on its own. Otherwise, they would have to go to a temple and pay a considerable sum to receive a purification ritual by a priest.
Back then, Radis had no choice but to endure it all alone.
His skin, which had also been exposed to monster blood for so long, turned dark purple, and some parts of his body were even already rotting.
It wasn't just his skin.
The misama deeply permeated every part of his body.
His eyesight gradually deteriorated and his body became weaker.
In that terrible situation, he overcame the limitations of the human body and mind that he thought he could not endure.
He discovered how to transform miasma into mana.
As a result, he did not die, but rather became stronger.
But that was only a temporary measure.
And there were side effects.
Although he gained strength from the miasma, he had to live with the torturous pain of a body completely poisoned by the miasma.
His vision became blurry and even when his skin was touched just a little, he felt like his bones were being crushed.
There were times when the black crystals mixed with the blood she coughed up. Every time that happened, she thought that her death was not far away.
So now that he had returned to his sixteen-year-old body, Radis felt maximum comfort for the first time in a long time.
—I can't believe it feels so good to be healthy.
The door to her bedroom was locked from the outside, so she managed to escape to the roof through the window.
She had no problem moving.
Those lithe limbs and light body were foreign to him, but they felt good.
Without his body aching, he practiced his swordsmanship even if he did not have a sword in his hands.
He could feel the burning clay tiles of the sunlit roof with his bare feet.
The roof was sloped, but to her it was like flat ground.
She was someone who once wandered nimbly through the harsh forest of monsters.
He climbed the steep roof with bare feet and hands.
Its basis was the basic knowledge of imperial fencing that Armano taught him.
Without a sword, he assumed the position of a knight.
Of course, during battle, there was no time to adopt that stance perfectly, but whenever he could, Armano's voice seemed to echo in his ears.
—There are enemies in front of you and there are people you must protect behind you. In the middle of both is your sword. You must observe everything.”
Armano looked into the eyes of the young Radis, who was still in the knight's stance, and continued.
—There is something you must never forget: behind your sword there is someone whom you must also defend with all your strength. You are yourself, Radis. You have to protect yourself.”
Armano never said those words to David, and that always piqued Radis' curiosity.
Why did Armano say that only to her?
His feet stepped on the bricks.
His footwork was the basis of his movement.
Fast, slow. Strongly, gently.
She moved forward like a fluid current.
As he lunged, he didn't forget to keep his back defended.
The basis of imperial fencing was defense.
A knight should never lose control of emotions that were like a raging wave.
There must always be space to protect what was behind a knight, so his form was ready to return at any moment, like ripples on the surface of a lake.
Many things had happened since she learned imperial swordsmanship from Armano, and her technique had changed, but she never forgot that foundation.
She had often practiced that fencing technique dozens or even hundreds of times in a single day.
Regardless of whether he was on dry land, in an arid forest, or in the middle of a vast darkness.
Sometimes he lost his balance and collapsed to the ground, but he got up without fail.
For it was through his sword that she lived.
—Huuu…!
Drenched in sweat and now unable to move a single muscle, Radis lay down on the ceiling.
The blue sky above her was endless.
The white clouds dispersed in some places, then merged again in others, spreading as far as they could.
—The sky… is so beautiful.
In his previous life, he couldn't even afford to look at the sky.
Only before he died, on his deathbed, was he able to look up.
However, by then he had lost almost all of his vision.
At this moment, he could clearly see even the edges of the fluttering clouds.
That alone made her cry tears of joy.
Valiz