Chapter 6 (5)
Chapter 6 (5)
Seogeok-seogeok-
Seugeuk-seugeuk-
"Hmm~ Excellent~"
Looking at the bronze mirror, I cut my hair short and shaved off my beard, expressing my satisfaction with exaggerated pronunciation.
Since there were no mirrors or bronze mirrors in the Fire Artisan's hideout, I had to use a basin of water to see my reflection.
I could deal with the beard, but my hair was too hard to look at, so I had no choice but to let it grow, which resulted in a mop top I wasn't fond of. Now that it was neatly trimmed short, I felt much better.
"Jin-sohyeop."
Just then, the head escort of the... whatever-it-was Escort Agency, the guy with a name like a knock-off Gonghwachun, came looking for me.
"We have suffered too much damage, so we intend to wait here until the support team from the Escort Agency arrives. If you don't mind......."
"I'll find my own way, so don't worry about me and go on your way."
"......I understand. Then, farewell."
I could tell just by looking that he wanted to say, "I'll take care of this and that for you, and even pay you, so come with us on the escort mission."
But I refused.
A high-end talent like me, doing mere escort work?
If I didn't know the way, that might have been a decent option, but luckily, I found a map of the vicinity in this mountain stronghold, so there was no need for that.
It was a bit crude, and only Hubei and Shaanxi were drawn, but as long as I knew the direction, that was enough.
Someone might look at me and say, 'Hey, you could leave a good impression on that guy, why are you acting so rude?'
Maybe if I were a supporting character, but look at me—I'm clearly an extra character, aren't I?
Plus, I'm a male character.
A sweaty, middle-aged male character.
Isn't it fucking cruel to ask me to win the favor of such an extra male character when I've had to live in celibacy while training my martial arts for a year?
Having trimmed my hair and beard short, I took off my current clothes to put on the high-quality garments I'd acquired in the stronghold.
"Keu~ This is killer. It's a perfect mass of muscle without a single ounce of flab."
I praised myself while looking at my reflection.
Unlike bodybuilders who excessively inflate their muscles, the muscles on this body were of the ideal size and shape.
And, reflected in the bronze mirror, a tight, short-sleeved black garment, like tights, was revealed on my body.
This was my own masterpiece, created by absorbing all of the Fire Artisan's techniques and further developing them.
It looked incredibly thin, but it was still metal, after all.
And it boasted a defensive capability that wouldn't break even if struck with a hammer by someone of decent skill.
On top of that, it was crafted in a mesh pattern to prevent sweat buildup and allow for ventilation.
"Ah, right."
While I was changing, I took the leg guards and gauntlets out of my bag.
Training for a year and coming down the mountain was fine.
The problem was that since it was such a deep mountain, I had to rummage through the forest to find roads or villages, and the gauntlets and leg guards were in the way, so I had stuffed them into my bag.
Now that I'd found my way, I needed to equip them again.
In classic RPGs, there's always an NPC who says a line like this.
Equipment is meaningless if you don't equip it.
That line suddenly popped into my head.
I strapped the thin, crystal-like leg guards that went from my ankles to my knees onto my legs, and inserted my fingers into the holes I'd made in the light gray metal gauntlets.
Cheolkeok! Chwarararak!
As I equipped the gauntlets and injected my internal energy, the glove-shaped gauntlets elongated, changing from protecting just the back of the hand to covering up to my elbows.
The gauntlets had the effect of lengthening through internal energy, and the special ability of the leg guards was like a shape-memory alloy that returned to its original form when internal energy was infused.
Leg guards aside, the reason the gauntlets came out like this was because the Fire Artisan's offensive martial arts were based on brawling.
The Fire Artisan, who had been a genius blacksmith since he was young, wanted to protect himself from those trying to steal his goods, so he gifted the best weapons to the greatest martial artist of the time and asked them to create a martial art he could use.
At first, the Fire Artisan agonized over what kind of weapon he should use for the martial art, but he judged that he was most vulnerable when he was making something, so he chose brawling.
Someone might think this:
No, are you going to trade the hammer in your hand for taffy?
Fighting with a hammer is much better than using your fists.
I guarantee that if the Fire Artisan heard that, his long-discarded skeleton would jump up and crack the skull of the person who said it.
A blacksmith's hammer must always be kept in the best condition to make things, so what would happen if it got nicked or broken while fighting an enemy with it?
The Fire Artisan learned the brawling-based martial art from the greatest martial artist of the time, and since he also had outstanding talent for martial arts, he became a master no one could look down on.
Having developed a taste for learning martial arts, he became interested in other styles, and that's how the Fire Artisan's martial arts became a total of four.
The first was the brawling-based martial art I mentioned earlier.
The second was an external martial art to make the body hard.
The third was the Yang Arts to keep his hammer ready at all times.
The fourth was a movement technique for fighting multiple enemies or escaping.
In other words, there's a gap between me, who has learned all these martial arts to the 10th level, and someone who hasn't, like the difference between Krillin and Goku.
Not in Super, though.
Goku in Super isn't Goku, he's Son-yuk-gong.
At first, I was worried about how long it would take to learn all this, but with 100 in aptitude, 100 in talent, and the Peerless Prodigy effect, I learned them smoothly without any hitches.
Plus, my Geungol and Ganggong were also 100, so my physical ability to learn the Fire Artisan's martial arts was in the optimal state.
Anyway, thanks to mastering everything the Fire Artisan had researched his whole life, I had also made many fun tools.
Especially training tools, tools for coaching, or for SM play.
They were actually high-tech, like modern training equipment.
Though they had the slight restriction of requiring internal energy.
Keu~ I can't wait to use these tools~
Since I was already looking inside the bag, I should organize it.
I had been so happy to hear the sounds of the Escort Agency and bandits fighting that I ran around like a madman, and the situation inside the bag was enough to make the God of Dogs smile while wiping his nose.
Training tools, blacksmithing tools, various ingots for repairs, a set of medical acupuncture needles and emergency tools, a folding iron bow, a folding iron fishing rod, and.......
"Ha-yeon's gift, I need to make sure I keep this safe."
A gift to give when I reunite with Ha-yeon.
Red gloves that protected only the fingers and were as sharp as a hawk's talons.
When we talked before, she said that because of her claw technique, which involved attacking with her nails, her nails would split and annoy her whenever she fought a master.
With these, she could unleash her martial arts more powerfully without damaging her nails or fingers.
She's a woman who will definitely, absolutely, 100 percent be on my side once we reunite, so this much effort is the least I can do.
With all my equipment on, I put on my clothes.
I had made the leg guards thin enough that they wouldn't look out of place even under my pants, so that wasn't a problem.
But even though they looked like this, they were made by infusing internal energy into Hongcheolgwang, a unique mineral that only exists in this world.
Basically, they were harder than iron ore and had flexibility, so even if I got hit by sword energy, it wouldn't even hurt.
It was just a bit annoying because they got caught on small branches more often than I thought when moving through the dense forest.
Wearing the weapons I had made, I put on the handmade backpack made of bear skin.
A handmade backpack made by wrapping several layers of bear skin so it would never tear under any reasonable weight.
The only problem was that it was heavy, but to me, having learned the Fire Artisan's martial arts, it was lighter than a feather.
Even with all sorts of tools inside, I didn't feel like it was heavy at all.
Long live external martial arts!
Finally, I put the silver and gold coins from the stronghold that I had set aside into my bag and finished preparing to move again.
As I walked out of the building, I could see the people from the Soun Escort Agency who had taken over the stronghold and were treating the wounded.
"Are you leaving now?"
And at my appearance, the knock-off Gonghwachun approached me.
Ugh~ Look here~ I don't want to see you anymore, old man, so could you just get lost?
"But what is that......?"
He looked at my gauntlets and showed confusion.
"It's the gauntlets I use."
"Hmm......."
Hearing my answer, the knock-off Gonghwachun made a strange expression.
To be precise, it was the expression of,
'Why use gauntlets when you use fist techniques?'
This world of martial arts is truly strange.
Even when they have good items, they don't use them.
They say things like, if you have a strong weapon, you become dependent on it, or you get swayed by it, or a true master shouldn't be constrained by weapons, and other such plausible-sounding nonsense, but in my opinion, that's all bullshit.
Humans have basically evolved to use tools, right?
If it were a sport, fighting only with honed abilities and techniques would be fine, but in a fight where you kill or be killed, good spears, swords, and good armor are essential elements.
But seeing them act like, 'I don't need good weapons! My martial arts are the best! Armor? It gets in the way of performing martial arts!' makes me feel really weird.
They'll only realize what kind of bullshit they were spouting when they get their heads pierced by a divine weapon-grade weapon that can withstand sword energy or sword intent.
What? How do you fight if you suddenly lose it?
Excuse me, if the weapon you always carry around is lost or destroyed, that means you're already in a fucked-up situation, you know?
At that point, it's a problem beyond worrying about weapons.
I wanted to brag that these gauntlets would only get scratched even if hit by sword energy, but I had no intention of blabbing such important information to someone not worth the effort.
"Make good use of this money. Well then, take care."
"Wait-"
With those words, I jumped high and descended to the bottom of the mountain, ignoring whatever the knock-off Gonghwachun was trying to say.
He was probably just trying to struggle to keep a connection with me somehow.
'The next destination is Hunan.'
Currently, I am in Shaanxi.
To get to Hunan, I have to pass through Hubei and go far south.
Honestly, since this land of China is ridiculously huge, I don't know when I'll arrive.
Still, since I've become this strong, let's not be chased by time and travel leisurely.
Being impatient only makes you feel frustrated.
I've been in the mountains for a year, so shouldn't I loosen up a bit?
"Hmm....... I wonder if he'll be okay......."
Sang Woo-chun wore a worried expression.
"With the Zhuge Clan in Hubei being attacked by the Demonic Cult, the atmosphere there won't be normal......."
He was worried about what kind of trouble might arise if someone with that personality went to Hubei, which was like poking a hornet's nest, but seeing Jincheon, who had already gone so far that he couldn't catch up, Sang Woo-chun shook his head.
"Well, he'll figure it out."
He had done everything he could for him, and he had even given him compensation.
Besides, he had to keep watch around this stronghold until support arrived from the Escort Agency, so as the person in charge of the escort mission, he began to take care of urgent matters with the escorts.