I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

The midterm evaluations had taken place, and quite some time had already passed since then.

Before anyone realized it, the season of summer was right around the corner.

The World Tree, which had been scattering pink petals for quite some time, now shimmered with the fresh green of vitality.

Beneath the World Tree stood Rahern Academy.

“Ahhh!”

“Kyaaah!”

“Stop whining and get up.”

The sounds of training echoed unmistakably from the Martial Arts Department, as usual.

Meanwhile, Kraush was silently sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in an absurd place.

The location he was in? None other than one of the branches of the World Tree.

A place unimaginably high above the ground.

For the past few weeks, Kraush had been relentlessly climbing this tree.

The reason? None other than Durandal.

「The place where your training begins is atop the Sacred Tree. Start as soon as you make it up here.」

Durandal had climbed the World Tree immediately after saying those words.

The way he casually ascended with his hands behind his back made it look deceptively easy.

However, as soon as Kraush himself started climbing, he realized just how absurdly difficult it was.

The World Tree was much taller than it seemed at first glance.

While the roots sloped gently at the start, it became nearly vertical from the midpoint onward.

Even using aura to scale the wall-like trunk vertically had its limits.

As a result, Kraush drove Thunderstorm into the tree midway and used Accel to propel himself upward.

Then, he repeated the process by embedding his sword into the tree again to climb further.

‘Damn it, never thought I’d have to use Accel like this right off the bat.’

Feeling a surge of frustration, Kraush gritted his teeth and climbed the World Tree.

An ordinary person would have cursed and given up long ago, but Kraush was no ordinary man.

Whenever his stamina hit its limit, he would drive a greatsword he brought into the Sacred Tree, sit on it, and sleep to recover his energy.

Then, he would climb the World Tree again, repeating the process until he finally reached the branch.

“You’ve arrived.”

When Kraush reached the top, his face utterly drained, Durandal greeted him with remarkable leisure.

Without giving him any time to rest, Durandal immediately instructed.

“Sit down and cross your legs.”

Exhausted, Kraush trudged over and sat down cross-legged.

He was drenched in sweat, his face a complete mess, but the fierce determination in his eyes remained unshaken.

Durandal approached from behind and abruptly slapped a piece of paper onto Kraush’s back.

“The paper I just attached is imbued with the power to suppress aura.”

As soon as he heard those words, Kraush felt the aura within his body completely cease to move.

It was then that he realized an intangible energy emanated from the paper.

That power was unmistakably the energy of Calamity Dragon Fall, a secret technique possessed by Durandal.

‘So it doesn’t just suppress World Erosion.’

It seemed that if Durandal willed it, he could suppress even aura.

As Kraush was still processing his surprise, Durandal continued speaking.

“You will now learn the most fundamental force of Calamity Dragon Fall.”

“The fundamental force, you say?”

“That’s correct. Once you master this power, the paper stuck to your back will naturally fall off.”

The paper attached to his back carried that implication.

“So, it’s a kind of test, then.”

“Exactly. If you cannot pass this, you will never be able to learn Calamity Dragon Fall.”

With those words, Durandal walked forward, sat down with a thud, and crossed his legs.

Then, without saying another word, he stared at Kraush.

Under Durandal’s gaze, Kraush sat awkwardly in a cross-legged position.

Naturally, he had been waiting, expecting Durandal to offer some kind of guidance.

But Durandal simply watched him silently, saying nothing.

It didn’t take long for Kraush to understand what that meant.

‘Figure it out on your own, is it?’

To slap a piece of paper imbued with Calamity Dragon Fall on his back and then tell him to figure it out alone.

What an absurd method.

But if this was considered training, Kraush had no grounds to complain.

Resigned, Kraush closed his eyes and began to probe his own senses.

Just as Durandal had intended, the aura residing within Kraush was entirely immobile.

It was a strange sensation, as though his aura was being crushed by a massive weight.

Moreover, the power of World Erosion had also gone dormant.

Just like his aura, the force of World Erosion had been subdued.

Perhaps because of that, Kraush felt an unfamiliar stillness within himself.

Normally, his aura and World Erosion were constantly active, creating an inner turbulence.

But today, with both forces silenced, there was nothing but tranquility.

The sensation of an empty body.

Unexpectedly, however, Kraush did not find this feeling entirely unfamiliar.

‘This, this is that feeling.’

It reminded him of a curse he had once encountered.

There was a curse similar in nature to Calamity Dragon Fall, one that devoured the aura of its victim.

For ordinary people, the curse wasn’t particularly dangerous.

But for exceptional individuals, such as those of the Skyborne Generation, the curse had devastating effects.

After all, no matter how skilled someone was, fighting barehanded without aura was virtually impossible.

Thus, as part of his role, Kraush had absorbed this curse, which had once afflicted a member of the Skyborne Generation.

Had Kraush been even slightly slower, all his aura would have been drained, leaving him utterly hollow.

The curse he absorbed devoured Kraush’s aura in an instant.

However, Kraush’s inherent aura had never been particularly remarkable to begin with.

He had already abandoned the idea of mastering martial arts long ago.

With a body engulfed by curses, it was more practical to wield the curses themselves rather than attempt to manipulate aura—it was far too late for that. ℞ãℕꝊ฿Ęš

Back then, Kraush had experienced this very sensation:

The feeling of his aura completely vanishing, leaving his body filled solely with curses.

Although the curses made an uproar within him, the void where his aura used to be was eerily calm.

Perhaps that’s why Kraush found his current state oddly familiar, with no sense of unease.

Where others might panic in such a situation, he instead began to explore the world beyond his now-silent inner self.

With his inner turmoil stilled, Kraush became far more attuned to the sounds around him.

High in the sky, the strong winds rustled the leaves of the World Tree, scattering them in all directions.

But the sound didn’t belong to the World Tree alone.

The sky, the earth, and the sea.

All were moving with their own unique sounds and forces.

Because Kraush’s inner self was quiet, he could feel the forces of nature more vividly than ever before.

Just as he sensed their power, those forces, in turn, seemed to sense Kraush’s presence.

Perhaps that’s why they appeared curious about the void within him.

Slowly, as if testing the waters, they began to seep into Kraush’s empty inner space.

This sensation was unmistakably familiar to Kraush.

It was the same feeling he experienced when absorbing the power of World Erosion.

‘The power is different, but the method is the same.’

The moment Kraush grasped this, he began absorbing the forces at a rapid pace.

Before long, his inner self was filled with that unknown energy.

This was a power distinctly different from aura or World Erosion.

As that power filled Kraush completely, he felt an intangible energy enveloping his body.

Then, as his eyes slowly opened, the scenery before him had changed.

Just as he once felt immense power while absorbing the strength of World Erosion within its domain, now, within the world itself he felt a different kind of vast and boundless power as he absorbed its forces.

“Ha…”

A breath tinged with awe escaped Kraush’s lips.

Swish—

At the same time, the paper on his back fluttered free and was carried away by the wind.

Right in front of him, Durandal was staring at Kraush with wide eyes.

Surprise was written all over his face.

Well, that was natural.

Durandal had offered Kraush no guidance whatsoever, simply leaving him to sit atop the World Tree.

This was because the power Kraush had just experienced could only be mastered by directly feeling it himself.

Aura is the inherent energy of living beings.

It is a force that grows through innate talent and diligent effort, a privilege exclusive to living organisms.

In contrast, the power of World Erosion originates from another world.

It is violent and turbulent, born from the act of eroding one world to transform it into another.

At first, World Eroders didn’t understand this power.

But as they crossed over into other worlds as eroders, they came to realize its nature.

They discovered that the power of their eroded world differed fundamentally from the power of the outer world.

Thus, World Eroders mastered the ability to wield the power of World Erosion freely.

The act of creating servants was, in essence, drawing others into the domain of their eroded world.

It was from this understanding that Durandal realized one crucial possibility.

If the power of World Erosion exists, could it be that our own world also possesses its own inherent power?

When this thought occurred to him, Durandal began to empty his aura—the innate power of living beings.

He spent entire days exhausting every drop of his aura, repeatedly driving himself into a state of collapse.

Only after painstakingly draining his aura entirely did he finally sense the power of the world.

The world itself, a realm where everyone lived, held an inherent power that no one had ever truly recognized.

Durandal referred to this power as the Aura of the World.

Through this aura, he developed the secret technique of Calamity Dragon Fall, which propelled him to the pinnacle of the Four Above the Heavens.

Durandal had Kraush climb the World Tree for this very reason, to help him sense the World’s Aura more easily.

The World Tree was an ideal location, as the Aura of the World could be felt there more strongly than anywhere else.

Moreover, the act of climbing the World Tree depleted Kraush’s aura, making it easier for him to perceive the World’s Aura.

Although Durandal had expected it to be effective,

‘I didn’t think it would work this well.’

Durandal’s astonishment was clear.

‘Is this what talent looks like?’

As someone who had reached the pinnacle of talent and skill to ascend to the Four Above the Heavens, Durandal could only watch Kraush with wide-eyed amazement.

In reality, Kraush’s ability had nothing to do with talent; it was simply the culmination of countless experiences.

“Is this it?”

Before long, Kraush was freely manipulating the Aura of the World.

Having previously mastered the power of World Erosion, he found it easy to handle aura as well.

‘No wonder the prophecy of Sephira mentioned his star.’

Durandal observed Kraush, mistakenly assuming him to be an unparalleled prodigy, unaware of the truth behind Kraush’s abilities.

“Yes, as you said, that is the power known as the world’s aura. It is the innate force of the world, distinct from aura generated by living beings. It is also the same as the power behind the curses you wield.”

Perhaps because Kraush had infused so many curses into his body recently, even to Durandal, Kraush’s World Erosion power appeared as though it were a curse.

Not that it was incorrect, so Kraush simply nodded in agreement.

“And with that aura as your foundation, you will now learn Calamity Dragon Fall.”

“I see.”

Kraush gazed at the aura swirling in his hand.

The aura was clearly different from the power of World Erosion.

Where World Erosion was a force of destruction and consumption, aura was a power meant to protect.

Perhaps because of this distinction, Kraush decided to test something.

He tentatively clashed the power of World Erosion with World’s Aura.

Crackle!

In that moment, black and white sparks erupted simultaneously within Kraush’s body, freezing him in place.

For an instant, he felt as though his body had been split in half.

Had he not held himself back, he might have screamed aloud in front of Durandal.

‘As I thought, it’s impossible to use both at the same time right now.’

But this outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Though the revelation of the world’s inherent power was surprising, Kraush had been contemplating methods from the start.

Even if it meant risking his life, he was determined to master Calamity Dragon Fall.

‘I’ll use everything I have at my disposal.’

This had always been Kraush’s guiding principle, from the very beginning.

“Take the rest of the day off. You’ve had quite a rough time climbing up here.”

Durandal said casually, turning away with a calm demeanor.

“I’ll head down and bring something to eat.”

Despite Kraush’s weeks of grueling effort to climb the World Tree, Durandal descended effortlessly, as if it were nothing.

Watching him disappear below, Kraush collapsed onto the spot, sitting with a heavy thud.

Far below, past the distant clouds, Rahern Academy came into view.

Kraush looked at it with a faint wish in his heart.

That, at the very least, no trouble would arise down there while he was stuck up here.

Even though he knew full well how futile such a wish was.

Translators note:

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!