Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Shadow Dance · Illusion
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East Continent.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After my date with Lucia, I secretly checked my rewards at home.
The location was the underground training hall beneath the house. In case there was something I needed to test out, this spot was perfect, so I'd come here ahead of time.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You have acquired Phantom (B+). 'Phantom?'
Ghost. A specter.
But the name alone gave no hint of its performance.
⚔ GIFT ⚔ Phantom (B+) ◇ Corrects attacks made by the user. ◇ Uses mana to summon a single shadow. The shadow attacks in accordance with the user's movements. I tried using the Phantom skill.
It sucked in mana steadily, and soon my shadow transformed into the shape of a person.
-What the hell is this?
'A new skill I just got.'
-How do you acquire skills so easily?
Ignoring the bewildered holy sword, I looked at the phantom.
'It says it corrects attacks based on my movements.'
I swung my sword lightly.
The shadow swung its sword in sync.
'The power is...'
The Thief God's near-divine ability informed me roughly of the power behind the shadow's swing just now.
'About 25%.'
Somehow more underwhelming than expected.
This time, I used the hero's swordsmanship.
The shadow flawlessly replicated the seven slashing strikes.
'...Still underwhelming.'
This would probably be better off synthesized with something else.
As that thought crossed my mind, the system proposed an option as if it had been waiting.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You can synthesize Shadow Dance (A) and Phantom (B+). Would you like to synthesize? (Y/N) 'Of course I'm synthesizing.'
And with that...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You have acquired Shadow Dance · Illusion (S+). ⚔ SKILL ⚔ Shadow Dance · Illusion (S+) Having pierced the true essence of the shadow dance, you now infuse arrows with mana to realize something greater. Activating Shadow Dance melts you into the shadows, deceiving the enemy's sight, while mana-infused arrows rain down alongside illusions. Stealth is maximized in darkness. ◇ Stealth and movement within shadows upon use. ◇ Summons 2 shadow clones to fire arrows simultaneously. ◇ Arrow mana infusion: - Penetration: Arrows pierce enemies, applying damage correction to all foes in a straight line. - Explosion: Arrows explode on impact, applying area damage correction to surroundings. - Splitting: Each arrow splits mid-air into multiple smaller arrows after firing, striking and applying damage correction to numerous surrounding enemies. ◇ In darkness, Shadow Dance grants additional stealth. Extends stealth duration, reduces enemy detection range, boosts first strike damage correction, and temporarily enhances movement speed and evasion rate. ◇ Phantom effect: User always receives darkness correction. "...Wow."
I couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration.
It felt like the effects had been piled on thick.
'...That "darkness correction" bit is nagging at me, though.'
I took a few steps. Without using any footwork technique.
-Hm?
The holy sword was the first to sense something off. I grinned inwardly.
'Roughly 50% speed boost.'
Now, the real test.
How powerful exactly was Shadow Dance · Illusion (S+) going to be?
I closed my eyes and pulled a bow and arrows from my hidden space.
And then...
'Shadow Dance · Illusion (S+).'
The arrows turned pitch black, as if darkness had swallowed them whole.
As the darkness condensed, it took on the form of arrows.
'Splitting.'
Two shadows emerged behind me in my exact form and loosed their arrows.
Piuuuung—!
Something shot through the darkness, and the arrows split. In an instant, they became dozens of shadows, splitting once more into hundreds of dark arrows.
Pabababak!
They utterly riddled one entire wall.
"...".
-What absurd power...
The holy sword muttered in disbelief.
-I thought it was a pretty decent skill not long ago.
'Yeah.'
-It wasn't that impressive.
'Nope.'
The holy sword was giving me a strange look.
It seemed to be pondering whether I'd leveled up or not.
'...My experience bar isn't filled that much yet.'
At my current level, I wondered.
Could I take down a level 7 with hit-and-run tactics?
-Impossible.
But the holy sword was firm.
-The moment they hit level 7... they gain access to their authorities.
'Authorities?'
-Sword beams. The power to shatter and cleave anything. Even you would struggle against that.
'...Yeah, anything that cleaves and shatters everything would be tough.'
My attacks would be swallowed whole.
My defenses would be meaningless.
And if they could wield sword beams...
'Protective aura's the problem, huh.'
I didn't have the power to pierce them in one shot.
-...Though I'd like to say that, you still have potential, so I can't flatly call it impossible.
'Is that so.'
-Think a bit higher of yourself. Normally, even a one-level gap is a huge hurdle.
'Right.'
Even hearing that didn't make it feel real.
I was using cheats, after all. Shouldn't I be pulling off at least this much?
Anyway, that could wait.
For now...
'Time for bed.'
I had a packed schedule starting tomorrow.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lately, the entire clan had been buzzing with activity.
We were taking on missions we would normally ignore, while Ermé and I prepared for the Hero Competition.
'The Hero Competition, huh.'
A battle to select heroes.
Talented individuals from everywhere would flock there.
Not just the Empire, but kingdoms of other heteromorphs, and across the entire West Continent.
'The East Continent's coming too, right?'
They were joining as well.
A world called the labyrinth-liberated realm.
Its danger level was said to be beyond imagination.
Even Volkan said venturing there solo would require serious resolve.
'The Empire lost half its forces trying to conquer it.'
In practical terms, the East and West Continents weren't that different.
Though the West had the Labyrinth, so given time, it might tip further one way—but a single high-level mishap could flip it back.
Anyway, that was the East Continent.
Like a wuxia world in my past life, crawling with monsters and yokai.
That was the East Continent.
And they were sending candidates for hero selection too.
-Well, their goal's just better weapons like us and skills.
'Yeah?'
-Yeah, their mindset's different from ours. More extreme. Most would throw away their lives for a higher realm or skill... what they call martial arts.
'...Psychos.'
-Plenty on the West too, but the East has even more of that tendency. They're all lunatics.
If the holy sword said that much, I needed to stay sharp.
With that in mind, I scanned the group.
"Hehe, reminds me of when we first came to Cradle—just the two of us, off on a trip somewhere."
Ermé said with a sly giggle.
Yeah, back then it really was just us two.
Starting from some other village.
'Met that Hanul guy too.'
Honestly, I was a bit relieved.
For a mage, that guy sure talked a lot and got way too close.
Even then, things felt sticky...
'Compared to back then, everything's totally different now.'
A strange nostalgia welled up.
As I waited by the carriage, familiar faces appeared.
Soyeonhwa, the genius slayer and top Sword Hero candidate.
And.
"Humph humph humph."
Veronica, looking inexplicably pleased. Her smug grin at Soyeonhwa made me want to smack her.
"Pisses me off."
Soyeonhwa didn't bother hiding her feelings.
"Must suck, huh? All because of who, the Sword Hero title's completely gone now."
Veronica smirked, not hiding her glee.
Ah.
Come to think of it, Veronica never liked Soyeonhwa.
Back when we first met her.
She'd started things by rubbing Soyeonhwa's nose in it with a bet.
-That's why she's so happy?
'But isn't she already the Saintess?'
-She's still entering the competition. Good for networking, and to crush any hero candidates challenging her there.
'...So win the competition to beat the current heroes?'
-Exactly. You knock down the previous-gen heroes who're their symbols. Lose, and you forfeit your weapon.
'But I've got the holy sword.'
-...They might've overlooked it since no one knew it was a holy sword.
'...'
-I know nothing about that.
'Then just tell me about the previous Sword Hero.'
-Previous gen, like I said last time, Philihart... the guy who moved to wipe out Lucia's family. You know that, right?
'Yeah.'
That's what worried me.
For him to try wiping out a whole family solo, how strong could he be?
-Strength-wise alone, you'd be stronger than him back then.
'Huh?'
-He could wipe out a family because he awakened the holy sword. He wasn't inherently that strong. The issue is it's been about 50 years since.
'...'
Could I even beat that?
Sudden worry hit me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ To prepare for the Hero Competition, we hustled.
Ermé and I, with our subspatial storage, crammed in food supplies.
"No need for cooking stuff anyway—just pack spices. We can hunt meat from nearby villages or forests if needed."
Guess I'm on cooking duty.
Of course, that's why I included Cheongju.
📜 CHEONGJU STATUS 📜 [Troubled]
Cheongju subtly hints that she wants to enjoy a long-overdue holiday.
"No helping it. Guess I'll have to make Cheongju No. 2 and No. 3 to share the load..."
📜 CHEONGJU STATUS 📜 [Troubled]
Can't accept little sisters stronger than me.
"Then come along."
📜 CHEONGJU STATUS 📜 [...]
Tears
I brought along the fake-crying Cheongju and looked around.
Quite a crowd had gathered.
Were all these people competing?
"Fewer people than I expected. Especially on the sword side."
"...This is few?"
"Yeah, this is the hero candidate competition, right? Normally it'd draw at least three times this many, but not this time."
"I see."
Made sense a festival-like event would pull bigger crowds.
"Most of 'em won't even reach the arena anyway. They'll drop out first."
Volkan had sidled up beside me at some point.
"What's with that one?"
"This guy? Just tagging along for the competition."
"...Forcibly?"
"Yup."
I glanced at Burkan.
The pitiful orc whose parents named him after the Volkan he idolized.
He looked gaunt compared to when I'd first seen him.
"What kinda brutal training did you put him through...?"
"Nah, nothing like that."
"Come on, he looks half-starved at a glance."
"Not it. He set out alone and got ambushed by elves—that's what did it."
"...".
I spotted Rishiel subtly hiding among the group.
"I-It wasn't me!"
"Didn't say it was."
"An orc wandering outside alone is dangerous anyway! Elves are hazardous, and with that body, going solo...! Shameless!"
"...".
Elf and orc.
Was this really okay?
I pondered seriously.