The Quest Is Complete
The quest in Boa Village has been completed. That means the village is finally back to normal. All it took was deploying a single knight order, and a quest that had remained unfinished until now was marked complete.
“This should be enough, Kael. Starting today, we begin mana training.”
“You might as well pick up a few more useful sword techniques while you’re at it. I’ll help as well.”
The training instructor and the Swordsmanship Guild Master both confirmed the teachings they had promised as quest rewards. The special stat, mana, is great, but I’m also looking forward to the swordsmanship side. It’s a chance to learn proper active skills. Until now I’d relied on hand-to-hand combat and gear, so this opportunity feels especially fresh.
“Thank you.”
The knight order’s visit, which had brought so much talk and trouble, was finally over. Eden had survived, and thanks to the training instructor and the spirit tamers, my own treatment had passed without incident. Of course, I didn’t think every problem had been perfectly solved. After all, the man named Calix had never looked the least bit tolerant toward outsiders. I had no choice but to be satisfied that I wouldn’t be harassed inside Boa Village.
“For the time being, the training grounds will be managed by the knight order. That’s probably for the best, even for outsiders. Opportunities to learn weaponry from professional knights don’t come often.”
“The Swordsmanship Guild will be closing its doors. Until you gain enlightenment, that is. Head over there.”
“Yes.”
We headed straight for the Swordsmanship Guild. After several rounds of management, the training hall had become quite clean. The environment couldn’t have been better.
“First, mana. As I said before, we’re skipping the whole process of normally sensing mana. It’s faster to learn it with your body.”
At that moment, the training instructor swung his wooden sword straight at my forearm. Whoosh! I instinctively knocked it away. Ever since entering the Swordsmanship Guild, the instructor’s gaze had been so murderous that I’d already prepared for a surprise attack.
Thud!
“……What are you doing?”
“I blocked it.”
“No. You’re supposed to take the hit. I told you to feel the mana.”
The absurd part was on my side, yet the instructor looked baffled instead.
“You mean I have to get hit to feel mana?”
“Obviously? That’s how I learned it too.”
“Ah.”
“Even though I swung with control, it’s troublesome if you block it.”
His expression grew serious, as if his pride had been wounded. That was actually fine. The more serious the instructor got, the more it would double as real combat practice.
“Looks like I’ve got myself a troublesome disciple.”
This was as much resistance as I could offer. I had openly coated my wooden sword with mana.
Wham!
True to his title of former Sword Demon, the instructor’s genuine strike was on a level I couldn’t block or deflect.
“Shouldn’t the poison have been cured by now?”
“If it had, I wouldn’t have been able to control my strength, you idiot.”
Whoosh!
Once again, the wooden sword flew at me along an unpredictable trajectory.
Thud!
“A swordsman must learn to wrap mana from shoulder to fingertips. If you keep getting hit, you’ll eventually feel the mana. I’m precisely stimulating your mana circuits.”
Whoosh! Thud!
The instructor’s striking points were certainly consistent. Every hit brought an enormous wave of pain along with a subtle refreshing sensation.
“You already look like you’re feeling something. You’re not just pretending because it hurts, are you?”
“I really can feel it, okay?”
For some reason, I felt like I could swing the sword even harder, so I attempted a counterattack.
“Instructor, you should try getting hit too.”
Whoosh!
Thud!
“A-are you insane?”
“I told you it’s real. Take a hit yourself.”
I liked communicating through the body as well. In my previous work, there had been far too many barbarians who couldn’t communicate otherwise. When it came to teaching, I’d done my fair share too.
“My strength is only 33. It won’t be much of a threat.”
◈ Attack Power: 24~44
◈ Durability: 310 (Cannot be repaired)
◈ Resentment-Infused: Has a chance to activate “Rend”
◈ Rend: Leaves wounds on the target that cannot be healed for a certain period of time.
What I had overlooked was that a weapon swung with 33 Strength had an attack power of 24~44.
Boom!
“You idiot! If you swing a resentment-infused weapon that hard—!”
Boom!
“On second thought, this might be good?”
Boom!
As expected, the training instructor was a tough guy. He seemed to have decided this would help me too.
“You really can feel mana now?”
“I told you it’s real.”
“Fine. Let’s keep going.”
“Yes.”
The force behind each strike was different. It felt as though dozens of points had been added to my Strength stat, similar to the sensation of using Dark Affinity with Shadow Assimilation. For some reason, if I brought the wooden sword down with full power right now, I felt like I would understand something.
“Here I come.”
I felt something surging from my heart. My entire body grew hot, and it felt as though I had to pour this energy solely into the sword. I entrusted everything to the blade.
Whoosh!
“You really are a monster.”
Crash!
The training instructor blocked my sword head-on. The considerate part was that he didn’t stop me from pouring power into the blade; he simply blocked it.
Crash!
“That’s it! Draw out that exact sensation!”
Crash!
While locked in a contest of strength, I began to feel as though something was draining from my heart.
Thud!
The moment the status window appeared, my strength left me. It seemed all the newly generated mana had been consumed.
“……Normally this would have taken a month of pounding. You’re the second person after the Second Prince to awaken mana this quickly.”
The training instructor looked at me with a stunned expression. If that was the case, then other players treated as outsiders should be able to do it too. The game characters’ talents really were special.
“It’s all thanks to you, Instructor.”
I could only be grateful.
“Whew. Taking a full-power strike while injured is exhausting. I’m going to rest, so go learn some swordsmanship from that old man over there.”
“Yes.”
Next was the Swordsmanship Guild Master’s turn. He was the typical image of a narrow-eyed old man, but the dense, corded muscles on his not-so-thick forearms and the numerous scars carved into them gave off an intimidating aura.
“Your specialty seems to be putting all your strength into a single strike. How about learning a technique of the opposite nature?”
“Opposite nature?”
“A sword style that pursues the ultimate speed—swiftness.”
Flash!
Before I knew it, the Guild Master’s sword was resting against my neck. There had been no preparatory movement whatsoever. It was literally a flash strike.
“What do you think? The technique is called ‘Instant Slash.’”
Instant Slash. That was the technique the Swordsmanship Guild Master intended to teach me. Even the skill name was incredibly appealing.
“Wow. That sounds amazing.”
“You don’t need to load it with power. What matters is either hiding your presence until the moment you strike the opponent’s neck, or swinging so fast that the attack itself becomes invisible.”
“Perfect. I’ll learn it.”
The Swordsmanship Guild Master smiled in satisfaction and nodded.
“There are no divided movements. The core is simply extending a single strike toward your target with the intent of ending it in one blow.”
He remained completely still. It was the classic upright stance—uncomfortable for loading power and inefficient for striking.
“You don’t have to put all your strength into it. Only the minimum force needed to cut down the target, and the most optimal trajectory.”
Whoosh!
This time the sword was visible, perhaps because he had slowed it down. Even so, I didn’t dare try to block it. It was an extremely tricky sword.
“Did you coat it with mana as well?”
“Not at all. If you put mana into this technique—”
This time the target wasn’t me, but a training dummy.
Boom!
The dummy’s neck was severed in an instant.
“It becomes like this. It’s not a technique suited for sparring.”
This was the skill of the village’s strongest NPC. He had reached this level with only a single life. It was a clear reason why players could never conquer NPCs.
“I’ll try it. Does the stance have to be only the upright position?”
“No. The key is to activate the technique from any stance.”
“Understood. I’ll give it a shot.”
I had memorized what kind of technique it was. As fast as possible, along the most optimal path.
Bang!
“You put too much power into it. Even half that strength would be enough to cut through a neck.”
“I’ll try using less force.”
Having my strength boosted by buffs was also a problem. It would have been the right level of force for my real body, but this wasn’t a superhuman physique.
“Hoo.”
I relaxed the strength in my arms and swung the wooden sword like a whip.
Thwack!
“The trajectory was off this time.”
“Got it.”
Crack!
“Accurate, but you pulled too much strength out of it.”
Instant Slash was a skill where the middle point mattered. It required an overwhelmingly longer learning process than mana training.
“Huff… huff…”
“You’re finally tired. Now you don’t have to hold back your strength. Focus on the sensation.”
“Hoo……”
My stamina had probably dropped to single digits. At this point, nothing existed except the dummy. I had no choice but to focus purely on sensation. I swung the sword.
Flash!
The impact felt good. Just enough force to sever the neck had gone into it. This strike needed no further reply.
Active Skill “Instant Slash” acquired!
Instantly slashes the opponent’s vital point.
If your Agility is more than twice the target’s, it is treated as instant death.
Consumes a large amount of Stamina when used.
The skill’s effect can be amplified by consuming Mana instead of Stamina.
Agility +1
Luck +1
I was so exhausted that I couldn’t see the Swordsmanship Guild Master’s expression. But I could feel what kind of face he was making.
“Congratulations.”