The Path of Radiant Ascension
A small city lay ahead.
I stopped mid-stride, grass crushed beneath my boots, and drew a scroll from my robes. Unrolling the map, I checked the city's landmarks against what I saw.
The river running west of the city — I've come to the right place.
This was the third trial of the Heavenly Demon Cult's Ipmaso. Each recruit had been assigned a personal mission, to be completed and reported back within a set period. Fail to return in time, or fail the mission itself, and you were demoted — or expelled outright.
Missions were distributed according to each recruit's performance. The easiest were errands: deliver this, carry that. Not dangerous so much as punishingly tight on time. Simple work, but you had to cut sleep and move without rest to finish them.
Mine was different. I was to kill a guest retainer named Chu Jeo, the de facto power behind Seonga Manor — the true masters of Haga City.
Chu Jeo had been sponging off Seonga Manor for two years. His real identity: a traitor of the Heavenly Demon Cult. During a battle against the Righteous Alliance, he had abandoned his comrades and fled. He changed his face and went to ground, but the Cult's professional trackers had eventually sniffed him out.
His cultivation sat at the second stage of Chulji. Too awkward a rank for a full combat unit of the Cult to bother with — which was why the job had fallen to me.
Different from the original. Yeom Gu-seok was supposed to hunt down an assassin operating near the Heavenly Demon Cult.
I'd outperformed the original Yeom Gu-seok, and the mission difficulty had scaled up accordingly. For the same reason, Yeon Ye-ha's assignment had changed too. She would be out there somewhere near the Cult right now, purging monsters.
The situation isn't bad. No — it's better than bad.
Haga City was tied to the missions of Cheon Yu-un, Jegal Mo-sun, and Seomun So-ryeo.
I double-checked the mission text on the scroll, then called up a crackle of lightning. Blue-white current raced along the parchment, bloomed into flame, and reduced the whole thing to ash. I brushed the soot from my palm and set off toward the city.
Five martial artists controlled the gate. Dark-blue uniforms, the character for Seon stitched across each chest — men of Seonga Manor. They were logging every person who entered. The city was under tight management.
I had no interest in making a scene, so I queued up quietly and waited my turn. About an hour later the merchant ahead of me was waved through, and I stepped up.
"A martial artist, I see. Where do you hail from?"
A clean-cut warrior approached — the sort of face that put people at ease. The energy rolling off him put him around the sixth stage of Ipsik. Young for that level. Respectable.
"Do I have to say?"
"Please understand. We've been keeping these registers for twenty years."
"Something big happen twenty years ago?"
"It's a humiliation for Seonga Manor, but the story's long since public knowledge, so I'll tell you. The Shadowless Divine Thief. You've heard the name, I trust?"
"Of course."
I knew the face, too.
"Twenty years ago, Seonga Manor was hit by the Shadowless Divine Thief. We've kept rigorous entry logs ever since."
"Word is the Shadowless Divine Thief retired."
"A new one will appear soon enough. That's how the martial world has always worked."
The martial world had a long history — tens of thousands of years, if you traced it back. The absurd part was that civilization had barely advanced in all that time. No revolutions. Science and technology still treated like a joke. The martial world simply repeated itself, flowing on and on.
The title of Shadowless Divine Thief went to the greatest thief of any given generation. The next man to rob an emperor's private vault would wear the name in turn.
"You really think a guest register is going to stop the Shadowless Divine Thief?"
"Hardly. But the list has its uses. Just recently it helped us catch a merchant embezzling from a trading house, and another trying to smuggle goods. Among other things. It helps more than you'd expect."
"…Fair enough."
That was when a sour voice barked from behind me.
"Hey! Hurry it up! Can't you see people waiting back here?!"
A middle-aged merchant — though "merchant" undersold him. Broad-boned, a knife scar across his face, third stage of Ipsik. A trader who'd learned martial arts.
"You talking to me?"
He glared.
"Who else is standing here?"
"I challenge you to a life-or-death duel."
"…"
The gate went silent.
He clearly hadn't expected me to demand a duel out of nowhere. He looked me up and down, then scowled hard.
"You joking? I'm a merchant. I trained once, sure, but I washed my hands of it years ago."
"So you're not a martial artist? You trained — that makes you one. The sword on your belt is proof enough. Draw it."
"Why the hell should I duel you?! I'm telling you, I'm not a martial artist!"
"I refuse your refusal."
I set my hand on the saber at my waist. The merchant's face twisted. With the air of a man who saw no way out, he gripped his sword hilt.
"You crazy bastard! Fine! It's been a while — let's dance!"
He roared and let his aura explode outward.
No one moved to stop us. Even the Seonga Manor guards at the gate simply watched. The merchant had accepted the challenge. Duels in this world worked much like medieval trials by combat, and brawls between martial artists were everyday business in the jianghu.
The idiot had misread my level. He'd pegged me for early Ipsik. Keeping my strength hidden paid off at moments like this.
"Good! Today I go back to the man I used to be — and feed my beloved blade your blood!"
He shouted for the crowd's benefit. Everyone watched with bright interest. I drew my saber in silence.
Charna
Remaining stacks: 6
I became the wind and passed through him.
A beat later, a thin red line opened across the merchant's throat. Body and head hit the ground separately.
A duel so one-sided it was almost embarrassing.
The onlookers didn't jeer. They stared at me with something closer to awe. In the modern world this would have meant screaming and police and chaos. This wasn't the modern world.
"…Remarkable."
The Seonga Manor guard spoke with genuine admiration.
"It was nothing."
"I'm not flattering you. Embarrassing as it is to admit — I couldn't even see Young Hero's… no, Great Hero's movement. That cut was pure lightning."
"Kind of you to say. Mind handling the cleanup? Keep whatever valuables he was carrying, as payment."
"You've transcended even greed. We'll take care of it, Great Hero. May I ask your name and origin?"
I hesitated for a fraction of a second. Was it safe to give my name? I ran the mission conditions again. Nothing required me to hide my identity.
"Yeom Gu-seok. Of the Heavenly Demon Cult."
"…The Heavenly Demon Cult. After seeing that skill, I'd be a fool not to believe it. Great Hero — what brings you to Haga City?"
"Do I have to answer that too?"
"If I've given offense, I apologize. But it is part of my duty…"
"Travel. I hear Haga City has courtesans of exceptional beauty."
"Ah. Yes — our courtesans are fine indeed. Especially a river cruise with them… it's practically the sport of immortals."
I licked my lips at that.
A river cruise with top-tier courtesans? Absolutely not something I was going to pass up. Plan revision: play tonight, handle the mission tomorrow afternoon.
"May I go in now?"
"Ah — normally there's a toll, but…"
He glanced at the dead merchant. His colleagues were already stripping the corpse of its luggage. One of them held up a heavy coin pouch and grinned.
"We've already collected more than enough. Go right ahead."
"Understood. Good work."
"Ah, Great Hero — do you have a title?"
"I don't."
"Then may I bestow one? Plenty of people just witnessed your skill. A title will attach itself whether you like it or not. I'd prefer to be the first to give you one."
"…Got a good one in mind?"
"Lightning Flash Blade. From this day forward, that is what the world will call you."
"Sounds oddly familiar."
If he'd stuck me with something garbage I would have challenged him on the spot. But the name sat well enough, so I walked into the city without comment.
He didn't leave it there. He jogged up beside me and dropped his voice.
"Great Hero. Head for the building by the river. That's Boyiru — the finest pleasure house in Haga City. Far too expensive for common folk to even look at, but the women are worth every coin. Beauty and talent both, and they know how to play hard."
"Appreciate it."
Excellent intelligence. Anticipation swelled in my chest as I made straight for the place he'd pointed out.
I spent the night carousing on the river with Boyiru's finest courtesans and finally passed out toward dawn. By the time I opened my eyes it was noon. Half-dazed, I looked around. Food, wine, and naked women lay scattered everywhere. The bodies of five courtesans were streaked with my seed.
Truly the best house in the city. Not a night I regret.
I had the boatman take me back to shore.
Boyiru's people were waiting on the bank — rough-looking types, clearly from some underworld sect tied to the house. The moment they saw me they bowed at the waist.
"Did you enjoy last night?"
"I was satisfied."
I tossed them a coin pouch. I'd already paid in advance; this was a tip.
"Our deepest thanks, Great Hero! Please honor Boyiru with your presence again!"
"Ah — this may be out of line, but have you considered changing the name?"
"Pardon?"
"Boyiru makes a man think of boys. Call it Girlru instead. Better branding."
"That's…"
"Don't like it? Molru works too. Has a nice ring to it."
"Changing the name now would create… various complications. Please understand — I mean no disrespect to your suggestion. I'll pass your thoughts along to the proprietress."
"Last thing. Fastest route to Seonga Manor?"
"Take that main road straight into the city center. The largest, most lavish estate in Haga City — that's Seonga Manor."
I walked the way he pointed.