The Imperial Axe Technique
◈ Rank: B
◈ Type: Active
An axe-applied martial art created by Isra, the Continent’s Greatest Sword, by modifying portions of the Imperial Sword Style. Its incomplete state has lowered the rank.
……
You’re kidding me.
An incomplete skill sitting at B-rank was already ridiculous enough. But more than that—
“All she did was swing an axe once!”
【Indeed.】
Dame Isra answered with the same baffled look on her face. One casual little chop with an axe, and a skill just… appeared.
Even if it had been an existing skill, that would already defy common sense. But this?
It wasn’t there before. And now it is?
【All I did was conceive of a theory for adapting the sword style’s forms to an axe.】
“That’s it, then.”
【Hm?】
“The theory you came up with got transmitted.”
Just like with the Armed Zombie Warrior. By the system’s judgment, the form was incomplete, so it got slapped with a B-rank.
【It was nothing more than a theory I happened to think of.】
“Maybe it’s the knight order bonus.”
Broken. Absolutely broken. Even a theory floating around in her head gets passed on?
【Then should not my personal sword style have been transmitted as well?】
“Probably too high-level, like you said.”
Man. I was jealous.
Some people swing an axe once and suddenly know how to use it. And me? I thrash a sword until my arms nearly fall off and all I can manage is Form One. Is that for real?
Unfair.
【Strengthening your retainers’ combat power is the same as strengthening yourself, Sir.】
“I know.”
Still allowed to feel a little bitter about it, though.
Sigh. Better just get back to sword practice.
【Ahem. Ahem. Then I shall teach you Form Two.】
Form Two was a thrust. The key was stepping forward while driving your body weight and mana into the tip of the blade.
I kept thrusting, drenched in sweat, until—
Imperial Sword Style proficiency has increased.
Form Two – Flash Thrust has been added to Imperial Sword Style.
The motion settled fully into my body.
“Form Two, huh.”
【I am beginning to understand why the seniors were so shocked when I was a new knight.】
“Shocked, nothing. Someone over here got a whole skill just from swinging an axe a bit.”
Still unfair. Why am I the only one who has to sweat buckets training a sword style?
【Do not say such things to others.】
“Why not?!”
【They would find you insufferable.】
For the record, Dame Isra added, she had heard that sort of thing to her face plenty of times.
Gulp—
A long drink of cold water after sweating like a waterfall. I’d frozen it overnight and brought it along; it had thawed just enough to go down perfectly.
“Ahhhh.”
That hit the spot. The fatigue built up swinging a bone sword melted right away. My body moved exactly as I willed it—crisp, precise.
Good. Really good.
I might not get skills from a single click like somebody I know, but compared to the flailing mess I’d been not long ago, this was more than enough progress.
Wiping the sweat off, I reached for my phone. A few messages and some ad notifications. Among them was the one I’d been waiting for.
Checking the timestamp, it had come not long after I’d started training. They’d answered the second they woke up, huh.
【A gate clear, then!】
“I never said we were doing it right away.”
I’d been swinging a sword all morning. I was so wiped I didn’t have the strength to so much as lift a fing—
“—er. Wait.”
What the. Why did my body feel this fresh? A cold drink and a short rest, and my stamina had bounced back pretty hard. Did dumping a few points into Endurance actually give me real staying power?
“Unbelievable.”
Back when I was E-class, I’d poured every bonus stat point into whatever I could the moment I got it. This was the first time I’d jacked my stats up all at once like this. Maybe that was why I could feel the difference so clearly.
Wow. Look at that instant reply.
“Dame Isra.”
【Hahaha! At last, the hour of my glory arrives!】
I hadn’t even gotten to the point yet and she already knew. Before that, though—
“We’re showering first.”
I wasn’t going out looking like this.
While Minho was drenched in sweat swinging his sword, three master craftsmen on Blacksmith Street kept glancing down the road.
“Haaah.”
One of them sighed heavily.
“Is he not coming today?”
Another bounced his leg, restless. The person they were waiting for was a single man—the novice blacksmith who, a few days ago, had hammered bone like a man possessed.
They were waiting with their necks craned for Minho to show up.
Clang!
“Whoops. Hammer slipped.”
The hammer that had been working the steel struck the wrong spot. The blade warped. Master Baek moved his arms in a blur.
“Hooo…”
He barely salvaged it. Hours of work had nearly gone to waste.
“Heh heh. Master Baek. Looks like it’s time to retire, eh?”
“Shut it. I’ve got another thirty years in me easy.”
“Making beginner mistakes like that?”
“I’m still spryer than you, old man. Mind your own business.”
“Spry? You little punk! Get out here! A duel of men!”
Across the single street between them, the two masters snarled at each other. The other craftsmen and apprentices thought, They’re even more unhinged than usual today, and left it at that. After Han Yohan, owner of Hanil Blacksmith, these three were the next-highest masters on the street—and their bickering was nothing new.
But a few of the apprentices who’d been at the rental workshop, along with Nam Jinwoo, knew exactly what the tension was about.
I already made them keep quiet about it…
Nam Jinwoo, chief apprentice of Hanil Blacksmith, also kept glancing outside. With master craftsman Han Yohan away, he was the one in charge. And if Minho showed up again, he fully intended to rope him in as an apprentice—even if it meant borrowing Han Yohan’s name to do it.
Responsibility? He’d carry that himself, no question.
Once Master sees him, he’ll recognize it too.
That dazzling talent. The delicate hands. The almost uncanny control of force. You simply could not call him a beginner. Most astonishing of all had been the superhuman focus he’d shown once the work began—eyes that looked like they wouldn’t flinch even if a bomb went off beside him.
That man was the real deal. And Nam Jinwoo was certain: once you’d tasted the hammer, you always came back to Blacksmith Street. Sure enough, Minho had returned after only two days to pound more bone.
Name. Contact info. They knew nothing. But Nam Jinwoo believed they would meet again.
Once you’ve felt that hammer-hand, how could you stay away from a forge?
For men who had beaten steel for long years, that was simply the law of the world.
Still… he was running a little late…
The three masters and Nam Jinwoo kept stealing looks down the road whenever they had a free second, waiting for Minho—who might arrive at any moment.
Our future master craftsman. You are coming, right?
Come on. No way someone that good with a hammer would skip learning the blacksmith’s trade just to go hunting in gates… right?
12:55 p.m.
I’d come downstairs, washed up, gotten ready, and headed straight out—and still arrived five minutes early. Let’s see. Those guys should be here any—
“Good afternoon, sir!!”
They were already here. The Makgong Hunters from last time spotted me and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
Yeah. That was a little much, friends.
“You don’t have to go that far.”
“You’re a man with a bright future ahead of him. The honor is ours.”
“People are staring.”
This was getting embarrassing. Let’s keep it reasonable. Folks were glancing over.
“Ah—”
“Our apologies.”
I waved both hands. I hadn’t said it to make them apologize.
“Crowded here again today.”
“Hunter-nim, this is easily twice the usual crowd.”
“Is that so?”
Only my second visit, so I hadn’t noticed. I’d just figured the Challenging Realm was popular enough for that.
“Something going on?”
“There is.”
…Why were they staring at me like that?
A brief silence.
“Me?”
The party leader, the melee DPS, leaned in and whispered.
“An SSS-rank clear came out of here, didn’t it?”
“Ah. Right.”
So this whole swarm of people was here looking for me. Should I start wearing a mask?
【Hahahaha! You’ve become famous, Sir!】
Don’t laugh. Once word gets out that I’m the SSS clearer, things are going to get annoying.
【Is that not rather a good thing?】
Hmm. I figured I couldn’t dodge it forever. Still hated the hassle, though.
“Let’s head in.”
“Yes, sir!”
Greetings done, we formed a party and entered the gate at once.
This time a bright light slammed into my retinas. Not a corridor layout, then.
“Tsk.”
Shame.
“Is something wrong?”
“I came because I need Fractured Soulstones.”
Somebody had been screaming at me to make more Armed Zombie Warriors, after all.
“Ah—those drop here too.”
“They do?”
The forest-type boss monster was an Orc Mage. Kill it, and Fractured Soulstones dropped every so often.
“That’s a relief.”
“There’s a clear route for this place.”
Forest terrain made it easy to stay hidden, they explained. Kill only the boss and you clear. There was an optimal path that let you avoid the orcs scattered through the woods and go straight for the mage.
“We’ve cleared it a few times ourselves.”
“It’s a longer walk, but it’s the safest way.”
A mapped clear route. Everyone looked reassured.
“How much of a detour to reach the boss?”
“About thirty minutes in a straight line. Going around takes roughly two hours.”
“Then we go straight.”
“Excuse me?”
Why bother with a long way around? Longer clear time just drops the grade.
2/10 → 1/10
Dame Isra rose abruptly from the shadows.
【Well met again, fledglings.】
“Ah—hello.”
“Looking forward to working with you again today.”
The hunters were thoroughly cowed by Dame Isra. The performance she’d put on last time must have left quite an impression.
【You men have no spirit.】
“I’m a woman, though?”
【Gender is irrelevant! What matters is grit!】
Excuse me. Dame Isra. You can’t just flip your words like a pancake.
And why was one of them missing?
【Come forth, Tempest Knight Order!】
At Dame Isra’s loud call, a white figure likewise surfaced from the shadows—the Armed Zombie Warrior now sworn to the knight order.
“Guuuuhk.”
【You are to say, ‘Sir!’】
“Shiiiiir.”
【A salute without spirit. Again!】
At this rate we’d waste the whole day on call-and-response drills.
“That’s enough.”
【A proper knight order must maintain strict discipline.】
“Dame.”
【Understood.】
If she’d made me say it a third time, I seriously would have considered stuffing her back into Death Space.
【Which way is the straight path?】
“This way.”
The melee DPS pointed to a narrow trail between the trees.
“Kurrrrk!”
Three orcs blocked the path. The next instant—
Imperial Axe Technique
Crrrack!
Thunk!
Two of them were split clean in half and died.
Imperial Sword Style (Modified) — Isra Form
A single head traced a neat parabola through the air.
“Guuuuhk. Cut. Split.”
【Maintain your dignity. You are a member of the Tempest Knight Order.】
“Guuuuuuhk!”
【Kyah!】
That Armed Zombie Warrior… almost looked like it was enjoying itself. Must have been my imagination.
The two of them cut down every orc pack that tried to bar the path in succession.
【Forward! Forward!】
“Huff—could we slow down a little?”
“Orcs might come in from the flanks.”
【If more come, we simply cut more.】
Your level has increased.
Dame Isra and the Armed Zombie Warrior combo never tired of cutting orcs. Their coordination was even tighter than when they’d fought in the swamp.
【Front.】
“Guuuuhk.”
【Widen the gap.】
Whoosh!
A broad axe swing. The charging orcs hesitated. Dame Isra slipped into that opening and cut one down.
“Incredible.”
Dame Isra’s short commands—and the Armed Zombie Warrior understood every one of them on the spot. A seamless combo, like a single body.
In under thirty minutes, the frontal breakthrough was complete. The boss monster stood right ahead.
“Be careful. The Orc Mage dual-casts.”
“Kurrrk! I’ll burn you all!”
Fireball
A crimson sphere of flame tore straight toward us. An exploding orb—powerful enough magic that a direct hit could wipe the entire party.
“Guuuuhk.”
BOOM!
The Armed Zombie Warrior took the blast alone. Same as against the Electric Projection—Dame Isra slipped wide around the flank and unleashed her mana.
“Kurrrk!”
Ice Bolt
The dual-cast the melee DPS had warned about. A chunk of ice dealing both physical and cold damage shot forward. The mage hunter panicked.
“Too far to cancel it out!”
Slash!
That ice chunk was cut clean in half by a bone sword.
“Kurrrrk.”
【There will be no third.】
Slash—
Thud. Roll…
Well?
Gate clearing. Pretty easy, right?