Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Clue (1)
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Yohan cleared his throat.
“So why did you ask about that thrust?”
“Ah……!”
Yuri snapped out of her reverie at Yohan’s question and answered.
“That thrust in their spear arts rides the deflection of the Demonic Flow and climbs right up it.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Don’t you know anything about it?”
“Of course I do.”
Her eyes lit up slightly at his response.
“What is it?”
“What do you think?”
“……?”
“Heh heh heh, I’ll give you two pieces of homework.”
“Homework out of nowhere?”
“Listen first.”
“…Try me.”
“First, complete a demon sword within the next year.”
“Demon sword? What’s that?”
“Strong sword, refined sword, fire sword, and demon sword. Commonly called strong-refined-fire-demon, they divide the stages from official 1st dan to 4th dan into these fine skills.”
Though Yohan called them fine skills, that wasn’t quite accurate.
Unless it was a famous noble house’s magic body technique, there weren’t many ways to emit mana externally through ordinary magic body techniques.
And among them, this method was the most widely known.
It also served as a benchmark for distinguishing stages alongside magical power for officials.
In other words, Yohan was now telling Yuri, who hadn’t even reached official 1st dan yet, to climb to official 4th dan within a year.
Anyone else hearing this would have clicked their tongue at how absurd it was.
But even after hearing all that explanation, Yuri just nodded calmly.
“Got it, sure, whatever.”
Yohan smiled inwardly at that.
‘Mid-to-short-term goals are set at this level, then.’
Up until now, Yuri had been charging blindly toward the grand goal of perfecting the Demonic Flow.
It was a goal with no telling when it might be achieved.
But if you only looked that far ahead and ran, you were bound to miss something along the way.
So Yohan planned to hand her smaller goals like this from time to time.
Not too short, not too long.
Specific, achievable ones.
This would surely help her growth immensely.
And the goal Yohan was giving her didn’t end there.
No, in fact, what came next was the real homework he was assigning her.
“Second piece of homework: complete the Demonic Flow—Seize.”
“Demonic Flow—Seize?”
Yuri tilted her head.
What she had learned of the Demonic Flow so far was two things.
First, read the Demonic Flow.
Second, flow out the read current.
So the sudden mention of a seize came out of nowhere, naturally puzzling her.
Yohan added an explanation.
“Hmm… let’s see, if reading the flow is Form 1 and flowing it is Form 2, then this seize is about Form 3.”
“So how do you seize the flow?”
Up to now, Yuri had been controlling the flow using the mana circuits Yohan had created in the Demonic Flow.
But truthfully, calling it control was a bit of a stretch.
What Yuri did was pull out a few small strands from the massive flow and redirect them.
To put it crudely, it was like wielding a pickaxe in a huge river current to carve out a few small waterways.
That was the essence of the technique called ‘deflection.’
It might seem unimpressive at first glance, but with just those small waterways she created, she had deflected Moochi’s attacks.
And furthermore, even the Sword Lord’s pressure could be flowed away with it.
However, Yuri couldn’t say she had mastered it perfectly.
She had only just started getting a feel for deflection, so a seize out of the blue?
It was only natural that it didn’t click.
And to her question of how to seize the flow, Yohan grinned and replied.
“Who knows? I don’t really know either.”
“…What kind of bullshit is this?”
Yuri’s face crumpled.
The more it did, the thicker Yohan’s smile grew.
“I’m saying that because I don’t know how to explain the seize properly. I grasped it pretty intuitively myself.”
“Wasn’t the Demonic Flow itself a supreme art that relies heavily on intuition anyway? The deflection was like that too.”
“At least those two had completed theories and a systematic framework, but Demonic Flow—Seize doesn’t even have that.”
“That means……?”
“Demonic Flow—Seize is an incomplete technique with only a theoretical framework so far; it hasn’t been fully realized yet.”
Yuri’s mouth fell open slightly.
Her eyes wide, she grumbled right away.
“You’re telling me to learn that now?”
“Of course not.”
“At least you have some conscience……”
“Not just learn it—I’m telling you to complete it.”
“…Where’d that conscience go, seriously?”
“Pfft, wasn’t that our deal? I save your life, and you help perfect my technique.”
“I said I’d help, not do it all myself?”
“Hey now! I’ve half-completed Demonic Flow—Seize, so technically you’re not doing it all!”
“Yeah, yeah, sure you did.”
Yuri jutted her chin out in exasperation, then asked as if something had occurred to her.
“Then what comes after Demonic Flow—Seize? There’s more, right?”
“What comes after……”
A hint of bitterness touched Yohan’s lips.
“I’ve only got the concept sketched out so far.”
“…Long road ahead.”
The Demonic Flow that Yohan had created through long experience was still a supreme art lacking in detail.
The reason was a lack of time.
Years to awaken a method to defeat the Sword Lord.
Years more to gather data and build the theory.
And furthermore, years to refine it into new mana circuits that didn’t deviate from the Redner family’s mana operation methods.
He had poured 15 years into it.
For one person to accomplish in 15 years what a typical house needed decades or centuries for was proof enough of Yohan’s genius.
But no matter how great, there were limits.
That was why he needed Yuri.
A user to verify and apply his theory in real combat.
And furthermore, a genius to point out the flaws.
Yohan poked at Yuri’s puffed-up cheeks with his index finger.
Just like demonstrating a spear thrust.
“Among the Winchester family’s spear arts, that thrust you experienced is a technique that applies ‘deflection.’”
Ordinary deflection that sends generated force flowing away.
And Demonic Flow—deflection that touches the very source generating the force, the mana flow itself.
In a way, ordinary deflection was included within Demonic Flow—deflection.
Yuri made a puzzled face.
“…That was deflection?”
Yohan smiled faintly at her expression, which seemed to say it didn’t make sense.
He knew why she was making that face.
“What, you can’t accept that the thrust is deflection?”
“A little. It feels different from the deflection I know.”
“If you figure out that difference, you’ll understand how the thrust climbs up the Demonic Flow—deflection.”
“No, so in the end, what does that thrust have to do with the homework you gave me? Why beat around the bush like this? You’re confusing me.”
“Tsk tsk, you dullard. What do you think Demonic Flow—Seize grabs?”
“The mana flow, obviously.”
“Then, among ordinary techniques, what interferes with the flow of force?”
“Deflection, obviously… Ah!”
“Finally got it?”
Yuri nodded.
“So, you’re saying to practice Demonic Flow—Seize using the Winchester’s thrust?”
“Yeah, that’s it! Perfecting Demonic Flow—Seize right away would be tough, but something a step down, interfering with the flow of force… with effort, you could manage it to some degree.”
“I see…….”
It was a pretty plausible idea.
No, it was something with real potential.
If she built up experience like that, she’d eventually find a clue to Demonic Flow—Seize.
Yohan added a note.
“The Winchester family’s thrust is a very unique deflection. And it’s extremely suitable for practicing Demonic Flow—Seize.”
“Unique how……?”
“You’ll know when you experience it yourself. But as a hint… it bounces around, you could say.”
Yuri nodded.
‘I’ll need to increase the sparring sessions.’
There was no other way to encounter the thrust more often.
‘But the problem is how to ramp up the spars without showing I want it.’
If she seemed desperate, Theresia might cancel the 10,000 points per session she’d promised.
Plus, Theresia seemed pretty sharp.
If she caught on even a little, it’d definitely cost her.
So she needed a way to coax her gently.
‘Hmm… nothing beats pure goodwill, right?’
While Yuri pondered her approach.
“Urp, well then, I’ll be off, so have that homework done by next time.”
Yohan got up from the bed, shuffling along.
Just as he was about to leave the cave.
“Ah, right! Old man!”
Yuri urgently called him back.
She pulled out the pendant hanging around her neck and showed it to him.
“Old man, do you know what this is?”
Yohan approached, took the pendant, and examined it.
A seemingly precious crystal necklace containing a deep green liquid.
The moment he saw it, a remark burst out.
“Where’d you steal it from?”
A vein bulged on Yuri’s forehead.
“Steal it?!”
“Then where’d a precious thing like this come from?”
“I bought it with points!”
“Hoo? Really?”
Yohan turned the pendant this way and that, inspecting it.
‘Doesn’t look ordinary.’
The craftsmanship of the pendant, the crystal’s sturdiness and hardness—they weren’t something you saw every day.
Whoever made it was at least worthy of being called a master craftsman in the field.
And the deep green liquid inside such a pendant was surely no ordinary stuff.
‘Green… green.’
Yohan recalled the rare green potions he knew.
Then Yuri’s voice cut in.
“The item name was ‘Bone Tribe Secret.’”
“……?!”
Yohan froze in shock.
He blinked at Yuri.
“…What secret?”
“Bone Tribe Secret. But the Bone Tribe has a lot of famous stuff, right? Roughly speaking, it’s either poison or medicine…….”
“Foolish nonsense!”
Yohan cut her off and bellowed.
His eyes blazing, he unleashed a tirade.
“Do you know why the Bone Tribe Secret poison is famous? Because it’s colorless, odorless, and tasteless! The darker the color of Bone Tribe poison, the more low-grade it’s considered!”
“Oh, so since it’s called a secret, this must be medicine? Assuming the catalog wasn’t lying?”
“Yeah, and not just any medicine! The only medicine the Bone Tribe calls a secret is… just one. Namely…….”
“Namely?”
“Elixir!”
“Oh! Elixir!”
“Yeah, this is that famous elixir……!”
“What’s it do?”
“…….”
“What’s an elixir?”
“You ignorant… Ah!”
Yohan, about to curse her, quickly changed his expression and grinned broadly.
Though he changed his face, he couldn’t hide his bobbing Adam’s apple.
“It’s nothing special. Elixir’s just a slightly unusual medicine, that’s all.”
“…….”
“So, what I’m saying is, wanna sell this to me?”
Yuri’s expression toward Yohan turned extremely, extremely sour.
‘Don’t know what an elixir is yet, but one thing’s clear.’
Seeing this old coot failing to hide his greed like that, it’s gotta be something amazing.
“Hey! Get your filthy hands off my elixir right now!”
Yuri swiftly snatched the elixir from Yohan’s hand and tucked it back into her clothes.
“Smack…….”
Yohan smacked his lips as the elixir slipped from his grasp.
Yuri, clutching her chest with both hands, backed away and asked.
“So what is an elixir?”
“…To think a barbarian who doesn’t even know what he’s holding gets something this precious… Ugh, tsk tsk tsk.”
“Hey! So what is it?!”
At Yuri’s urging, Yohan sighed.
And as if bestowing a great favor, he opened his mouth.
“Sigh, you ignoramus. Listen well—elixir is…….”
* * *
The explanation about the elixir went on for quite a while.
And finally, Yuri understood what the elixir was.
Tremble tremble—
With shaking hands, he carefully pulled out the pendant.
Was the deep green liquid in the crystal shimmering beautifully just an illusion?
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
At this moment, nothing in the world was more beautiful or radiant than the pendant in his hand.
A small mutter escaped Yuri’s lips as he stared blankly at it.
“…Fuck, yeah, the jackpot of a lifetime.”
Overwhelming emotion welled up in the eyes of Yuri, who had struck it big.