Sidegrade (1)

After gifting a sword to the Heavenly Demon, I forged another one for myself. As I had mentioned before, it was strictly a spare.

Because Passing Dwarf took genuine delight in this kind of craft, both of us had spent the hours hammering away in high spirits.

Swoooosh!

"Pretty."

Looking at the blade shimmering like a phosphorescent star, I murmured a brief appraisal. It was truly a gorgeous weapon.

On top of that, it was remarkably practical—especially in the dead of night. With this blade drawn, I could secure a decent radius of visibility around me. While the Light Crystal Ball had its uses, this glowing sword proved far more efficient.

Even with just a trickle of mana, the aura billows out effortlessly.

What pleased me most was its mana consumption. Just as anticipated, even a minimal infusion made the aura surge along the edge like tongues of living flame. For someone like me, whose greatest tactical weakness was a shallow pool of endurance, this performance was like a quenching rain in the middle of a drought.

Of course, the Heavenly Demon's Sword was so absurdly overpowered that this new one would only ever remain a backup, but it was still an exceptional weapon in its own right.

It'll be a massive help for training, too.

Because it drew so little mana, controlling the energy wasn't difficult at all. It was an exceptionally beginner-friendly blade.

Leaving it tucked away without showing it off felt almost disrespectful, so I was about to snap a picture and upload it to the Gallery... before catching myself just in time.

Wait. Come to think of it, wouldn't that blow the Heavenly Demon's cover?

A sword glowing like starlight. The Heavenly Demon possessed one identical to it. While she would never post a verification photo herself, the moment I posted mine, her identity would be instantly exposed. After all, the moment even a speck of mana was channeled into the steel, it radiated that unmistakable emerald constellation. Anyone paying attention would put two and two together.

If her cover was blown and she ended up quitting the Gallery as a result, it would be an enormous disaster for me. Above all, she was one of the saviors who had kept me breathing; losing her would be an irreplaceable tragedy, extending far beyond simple inconvenience.

That was too close for comfort.

My careless complacency had nearly severed a precious bond.

For now, it was best to conceal the sword's existence entirely. If worst came to absolute worst, I could always forge future gear out of pure mithril instead of the alloy mythrecon.

Looking at the light... it's already evening.

The time spent hunting for giant crabs combined with the hours dedicated to forging tools had vanished, and dinner had crept up on me before I knew it.

Originally, I had planned to ingest the inner core earlier in the day, but crafting various tools had pushed my schedule too late. Furthermore, the Heavenly Demon had announced that she was venturing outdoors for the first time in an age just to test the blade's performance.

Hearing that had made me wonder if she truly spent all her days cooped up in a room lurking on the Gallery, but I chose not to pry.

Whatever the case, I just hope she likes it.

If she found it lacking, I was fully prepared to return the Heavenly Demon's Sword. Even if this glowing blade couldn't quite rival her ancestral treasure, it was still a magnificent weapon.

Caught between anticipation and nervous dread, I waited for her message.

It arrived just as I was about to check the CCTV surveillance feed. Since I had kept the Gallery interface open, I caught her direct message immediately. I let out a long breath. A tense moment had arrived.

She had originally owned the Heavenly Demon's Sword, meaning her mastery of swordsmanship had to be peerless. Naturally, her evaluation of my craft would be brutally objective. That was why my heart was hammering.

I understood roughly what she meant. When prepping cooking ingredients, a knife should only slice the meat on the cutting board. But the mythrecon sword I had sent her was so sharp that it cleaved through the meat, the cutting board, and the entire kitchen counter underneath. Its flaw stemmed from performing far too well.

It was an answer quintessentially true to the Heavenly Demon. Her self-esteem was through the roof. Yet those words didn't sound like empty bravado in the slightest; considering the depth of martial enlightenment she consistently shared with me, her prowess was unquestionable. Although she traded barbs with Sword Master on the forum every single day, both of them were undoubtedly transcendent masters.

With our plans aligned, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I set about wrapping up my chores. First was reviewing the security footage. Fortunately, the check confirmed that no intruders had breached the perimeter while I was away harvesting crabs. I had worried that remnants of the gorilla troop might attempt a retaliatory strike, but it proved to be an unfounded fear.

Three fish caught in the traps, too.

After finishing a hearty dinner, the hours slipped by until deep, desolate night blanketed the forest. I sent a message to the Heavenly Demon to let her know everything was ready. As if she had been waiting at the terminal, her reply arrived almost instantly.

The moment her question flashed across the screen, I looked down at my open palm. Resting upon my skin was a small, condensed inner core. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Thanks to the cold storage container I had bartered from SmartFiend, the core had preserved its pristine spherical form without losing a shred of potency.

Inside this tiny bead rests vastly more mana than in the entire body of a giant fish.

Moreover, while the fish meat diluted the mana with biological nutrients, this was an unadulterated mass of pure spiritual energy. If I failed to assimilate it properly, I could end up wracked by another agonizing fever, just like before.

The silver lining was that my body had already acclimatized to mana. Had I consumed something this potent when I first arrived in this world with ordinary human flesh, my physical vessel would have detonated into mist, exactly as the Heavenly Demon had warned.

If I assimilate this core completely, I will become much stronger.

And this wasn't the only one; I had several stored away, though a portion was reserved as emergency rations for the Fast Tree Sloth. Taking the first step was always the most terrifying, and I forced my pounding heart to settle down. While the fear of backlash lingered, my only choice was to trust the Heavenly Demon's oral formula.

The second oral mnemonic formula was, just as she had described, about surrendering oneself entirely to the celestial tide. Know thyself and know thy enemy, and thou shalt never be imperiled in a hundred battles. If one understood everything the heavens embraced, victory was assured.

Gulp—

I swallowed the inner core and immediately dove into the Internal Cultivation Art. I began with the foundational breathing exercises I had practiced daily. But because I had introduced an unrefined vortex of raw mana into my core, the internal current—already rushing like a torrent—began thrashing with violent ferocity.

My instinctive reaction was to seize the wild mana and clamp down, but every attempt ended in stinging failure. It felt like pressing bare hands against a spinning grindstone, peeling away skin in an abrasive burn.

Don't force it to a halt. Abandon yourself completely to the current.

I recited the Heavenly Demon's mnemonic formula deep within my consciousness.

I stopped trying to catch the flow with an iron fist. Instead, I let my awareness drift into the stream, floating along its contours to decipher its intent. What did this power seek? Rather than pacifying the energy through sheer physical endurance, I synchronized my meridians to the crashing waves.

Like a wisp of vapor riding drifting clouds. Like a dry leaf gliding upon running water.

Just as my vessel began to adjust to the surging internal tide...

"*Snore...*"

Without realizing it, my consciousness drifted into deep slumber.

I dreamed.

A dream of swimming weightlessly through the boundless, towering sky. I had experienced this once before—back when I was delirious with fever and recited the Heavenly Demon's first oral formula, collapsing into unconsciousness just like this. The only difference now was my reaction. Rather than feeling awe, an unsettled wariness took precedence.

Don't tell me I'm going to have this dream every time I receive a new formula?

The timing was far too coincidental to dismiss. I would need another instance to confirm it, but for now, it was wiser to make practical use of this unexpected aerial vantage point.

Let's see. If the ocean is that way...

I swept my gaze across the sprawling canopy of the wilderness. Hovering in midair made reconnaissance easier than I could have ever dreamed. Was I certain this was the Forest of the Four Seasons? The sight of my shelter planted directly beneath my feet banished all doubt. Seeing that darkness smothered the canopy below, the time aligned with when I had drifted off.

I can move freely, but...

Unlike my previous dream, an uncanny sensation gripped me. Even while hovering motionless, it felt as though something was tugging at my invisible body. The memory of the Heavenly Demon's formula flickered through my mind, and I closed my eyes to focus. I wondered briefly if one could practice breathing meditation within a dream, but the stray thought vanished in an instant.

...Something is moving.

Though I remained perfectly still, a minute, rhythmic displacement brushed against my senses. It wasn't the clouds, nor the wind, nor the nocturnal predators stalking below. It was the very sky in which I floated. I could feel the faint, tectonic movement of the atmosphere itself.

Wait... this is wrong.

The movement was an untangled mess of contradictions. It didn't follow the planetary rotation; instead, it warped and fractured along arbitrary boundaries. In any normal realm, such an atmospheric anomaly would be deemed impossible, but this was the Forest of the Four Seasons—a primordial cradle where space itself folded. It was simply another absurdity to accept.

Still... each zone seems to maintain its own consistent flow.

Comparing the cracked wasteland across the river to the perimeter around my shelter yielded absolute chaos. Yet, when evaluated independently, the currents within each territory flowed in a stable, uniform direction. Still, knowing this did little for me right now; I was far from unraveling the mystery of this forest.

Flash!

Hardly any time seemed to have passed, yet the dawn horizon suddenly blazed with the morning sun. Time appeared to accelerate at an abnormal pace, catching me completely off guard. Simultaneously, a subtle gravity anchored itself to my dream form, dragging me inexorably downward. It was an alarm: the physical vessel was stirring, commanding the wandering soul to return.

As I flailed against the unseen tether pulling me back toward the earth, something caught my eye.

"...Wait?"

I saw it with crystalline clarity.

Standing solitary and colossal in the unfathomable distance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was an immense, singular 'tree.' Even amid the boundless, ancient expanse of the four seasons, its silhouette possessed a terrifying, undeniable presence that dominated the horizon.

I strained to burn its image into my mind, but my time was up. My consciousness plummeted straight down toward the stone roof of the shelter.

"Ah."

The moment my eyes snapped open, a dazed sound escaped my lips. I felt as though I had just witnessed something monumental, yet the memory was already slipping through my fingers like sand. All I could recall was the vague impression of a colossal tree. The boundary between dream and reality was so blurred that my head spun.

...Why did time move so fast?

There was too much to ponder. Taking a deep breath, I sat up and surveyed the cabin. It was still the break of dawn, and Bbarmbo and Wonmo were sleeping soundly side by side. Treading softly so as not to wake them, I slipped out the door, making sure to carry the Heavenly Demon's Sword with me.

Let's see what changed.

The spiritual energy of the inner core had been fully assimilated, digested down to the last drop without leaving a trace of turmoil. Given how bizarre that skyward dream had been, my internal state had to have evolved significantly. With a mixture of nervous excitement and curiosity, I channeled mana into the Heavenly Demon's Sword.

FWHWOOOOSH!

A roaring aura of flame erupted along the blade, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far larger than anything I had produced before. Previously, the sheath of crimson fire clung tightly to the steel; now, it billowed outwards to nearly twice its former volume.

The consumption of the inner core and the meditation formula had clearly borne fruit. The only problem was...

Wait, didn't Sword Master say that simply bloating the aura's size is useless?

Sword Master had scathingly criticized that exact pitfall, claiming that inflating the sheer volume of an aura was the pinnacle of energy inefficiency. Yet, I was currently pumping the exact same baseline amount of mana into the blade as before. The efficiency of mana conversion had undeniably increased, but the manifestation had scaled entirely in the wrong direction.

...This is a literal sidegrade?!

Was I supposed to just comfort myself with the fact that my attack range had gotten longer?