Training like skinning, gouging out flesh, or being gnawed by venomous snakes and insects was routine physical conditioning for Kaelitos.
There was also Flay and Draw Tendons, needles driven between fingers and into pupils, ears pierced through, drowning and suffocation, and more.
To outsiders, these were nothing less than the most painful and brutal punishments.
But to the people of Rikaos, they were all "tempering"—of the body, and of the mind.
After all, this training method was indeed effective, and Rikaos people who had eaten Rikaos Fruit really could endure that kind of punishment.
Thus, every qualified Rikaos warrior was a nightmare to enemies on the battlefield, a ruthless figure capable of taking on a hundred opponents of equal strength.
It was easy enough to imagine the personality of Kaelitos, who had grown up in such an environment.
It was impossible for that "tempering" not to hurt. Kaelitos had not been born a Kindling Touched; his body had grown stronger step by step.
Under such circumstances, fighting to the death had instead become the thing that relaxed him most.
That was one reason why he craved battle like life itself.
At the same time, Kaelitos wholeheartedly agreed with Rikaos traditions and took great pride in them.
He firmly believed that only the cruelest and harshest tempering could turn a life's potential into strength.
Guided by that belief, Kaelitos was ruthless toward his enemies, ruthless toward those close to him, and even more ruthless toward himself.
He had risen from a child of Rikaos to an ordinary warrior, then to conqueror of Peak of Impermanence, grand commander, King of Rikaos, and now—the King of War.
The blood-red tattoos on Kaelitos's body were not an inborn gift either.
They had formed from the heart's blood of his opponents, collected and congealed.
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