Reunion with the Master and the Sky-Splitting Slash
The journey back to Rivil, with its clear goal in mind, passed without any particular incidents. Aside from Kir constantly rubbing her head against me, the group actually started keeping a subtle distance—more so than on the way to the Steel Fortress. I'd shaken off all the ogre hide from the subspatial pouch and bought a separate tent there to store in the subspatial space.
Thanks to that, I'd achieved all my goals: promotion to C-rank and a new suit of armor. I arrived back in Rivil safely.
"So, that's the armor you had made this time?"
"Yep."
It had been nearly a month since I'd last seen my master, Karen.
"Hmm..."
After catching up on the month apart, Karen focused intently on the armor I was wearing, lightly stroking its surface before letting out a quiet sigh of admiration.
"This is better made than I expected... and it's even got a blessing on it?"
"You can tell that?"
"Roughly. Damn. Even gear made from the same materials doubles in price if it's blessed by a god... No, it's so rare that artisans won't even sell their masterpieces. How did you..."
I'd already given her a brief rundown of meeting Brina, commissioning the gear for the absurdly low price of 100 gold, and helping with mining in exchange. Karen looked even more surprised.
"100 gold? Dwarves see price as a reflection of their skill, so they almost never cut labor costs..."
"Seemed like she needed cash in a hurry."
"From the looks of it, she's top-tier among first-class artisans. If you tried to buy this armor outright, it'd start at over 1,000 gold, easy."
1,000 gold... Now that I was C-rank, my earnings would improve, but it still sounded staggeringly out of reach.
"And with auto-repair and body enhancement to boot... It's got all the prime features. Swing your sword a bit."
I lightly slashed the armor with my blade, creating a gash, and Karen watched the regeneration process. Then she had me put the armor on and take it off while swinging.
Whoosh!!!
"Around 5 percent? Not bad."
She gauged roughly how much the armor boosted my abilities just from watching my swings.
'5 percent...'
It sounded low numerically, but gaining strength simply by wearing it—with no mana drain or side effects—was a huge merit. Especially since my current physical prowess already rivaled most beastkin. A 5 percent boost to that meant even more.
"Your sword's changed too, huh?"
"Ah, yeah. I reinforced it a bit with spare materials..."
"Good call. It was decent, but considering your growth rate, it needed some work."
I'd worried she'd scold me for modifying the sword she'd gifted me, but Karen didn't seem to mind. More precisely, she was focused on other things.
"Perfect timing with the new sword, then. Today, use it instead of a wooden one."
"For real?"
"Your skill level won't threaten me even with a real blade, so go ahead."
"Got it."
Even after our reunion, she wasn't skipping training. After some casual catching up, Karen had me draw my sword.
"If your skills have rusted, there'll be punishment."
"Punishment? What's that suppo—"
Whoosh!!!
"Ow."
No warm-up today—the spar started immediately. I'd grown familiar with Karen's patterns, so instead of complaining, I drew my black iron sword and countered.
Clang!!
"Use mana."
When I countered purely with physical strength, Karen barked a short command and ramped up her speed, swinging to slice my ankle in an instant.
'Hoo.'
It was a startling demand, but fighting random monsters on the roads to and from the Steel Fortress had familiarized me with mana use. Before her blade reached, I swiftly activated mana, circulated it through my body, and countered with my vastly improved power.
"Mana's grown a lot, as expected. With your circuits complete, it's natural."
The first time I'd handled mana, my best was dumping it all into one attack. Now, as Karen said, I could sustain it decently in combat.
But...
Whoosh!!
"Huh."
The moment I swung at her head with my boosted speed, the blade veered slightly off my intended path.
"Deduct points."
Crack!!
"Gah!!!"
Karen instantly spotted the tiny error and smacked my temple with the flat of her blade.
"Guhhh...!!"
"Enhancing your body with mana is fine, but you can't let it control you."
The beating continued. Mana should boost defense too, but Karen's strikes overwhelmed it, delivering pain. Amid the one-sided thrashing, I instinctively read her swing's trajectory and flicked my sword to deflect it.
Ting!!
"Hm?"
"I survi—"
"Where you going."
Thwack!!
Of course, she twisted the rebounding blade's path and struck again, the worst pain yet sending me rolling to the ground.
"Cough! Cough!!"
"Sorry. That last one was too hard. You okay?"
"F-Fine... cough."
She looked genuinely apologetic, as if it wasn't intentional. The spar paused, and as I rubbed my bruised spot, Karen offered praise.
"Sorry about that. But you can take it as a compliment—your response made me swing harder without thinking."
"My response was that good?"
"Yeah. It's not like your mana efficiency improved or your sword paths got more varied... More like your 'eyes' sharpened?"
Eyes... eyes...
'Effect of the discernment Brina taught me for that week?'
It was just a week, nothing major, but hammering metals and observing changes had honed my discernment noticeably. I'd trained it for replication understanding, but it seemed to help my swordsmanship too.
"Not bad—you didn't just play around. At this rate, I can teach you how to see and cleave the cleave soon."
"Cleave?"
"Something like that. Just know you'll learn it later. For now, master controlling your body properly first."
"Yes, ma'am..."
Karen glossed over "cleave," but I had a rough idea of what she meant.
'A technique to slice hard objects without mana. That's seeing the cleave.'
The moment I'd slashed the succubus's barrier. And the slight gaps in the Evolved Beings in the Steel Fortress mines. Were those the "cleave" Karen mentioned?
'To cleave it, my sword path can't waver, like she said...'
Maybe that's why my blade slipped against the Evolved Being, or why it shook whenever I used mana—poor control. If I could perfectly harness my strength without shaking, I could cleave even those rock-hard bastards.
"Still, you're not getting beat easily anywhere now."
"Where exactly does my skill level stand?"
"With the armor... top C-rank. You couldn't beat a B-rank, but you could hold your own for a bit."
During the break, I asked my current level. Karen's cool assessment: top C-rank.
Stronger than any C-rank adventurer, but against B-rank, just enough to spar briefly.
'...Yeah, past the point of holing up scared.'
"Why the sudden question?"
"Ah... Planning to grind adventurer work hard for a while."
"Why? Freshly C-rank and already gunning for B?"
Not exactly. Higher ranks would be nice, but...
"Need to make money first."
"Ah."
The armor commission wiped my savings— I was broke now. I'd prepaid long-term lodging, so no streets yet, but I needed funds.
'And beyond money... quests for rare materials would be ideal.'
Plus, now I had a goal: via Brina, craft gear worthy of the Forge of All Things' evaluation to summon and speak with it. Supplying materials myself would speed that up. Like the Twin-Headed Ogre hide that got me this armor and the god's voice.
'Earn big to buy rares, or hunt them on quests. Bonus: I get the gear.'
"Hmm..."
Lost in future plans, I noticed Karen eyeing me oddly.
"I like that look."
"...Suddenly?"
"You've got a goal now, right? I sensed drive to get stronger before, but no clear purpose... Now you look like you've found your path."
...Purpose. Purpose...
'True. Until now, just vague goals.'
Protect myself by getting strong. Live better. Simple, vague motivations that drove me, but not with this burning drive.
'A chance to learn why I transferred here.'
This intensity rivaled only my lust-fueled schemes.
'And maybe other gods...'
Don't pin everything on the Forge—explore other churches later.
"Hmm. Good. Thought it was early, but..."
She nodded, pleased by my purposeful expression, stood, and gripped her sword.
"Spar again? Still hurts..."
"Not that. You sit and watch closely."
"Watch what...?"
"What I've taught you is sword basics and efficient body control. Crucial, but sometimes basics alone won't cut it."
Karen always got serious teaching swordplay, but today especially so. She relaxed her body, slowly drew up mana, and took calm deep breaths.
"Hoo... ha..."
Small amounts were fine, but excess mana dulled then resharpened senses painfully. Enduring it, she visualized mana vividly, manipulating it.
"What I'll show now is a technique—a sword form. For situations where raw skill won't win. I created it for that."
"Master...?"
"Watch."
Her mana writhed slowly but surely, permeating her body. Unlike full-body enhancement, it sluggishly gathered at key spots—joints and muscles for arm extension—forming spheres.
Then.
Shraaa!!!
"...!!"
The instant she drew her sword, the mana detonated like a bomb. Explosive force—beyond normal mana use—propelled her body. Amid the blast, she precisely directed it all into one blade, unleashing a skyward slash laden with momentum.
Kagagak!!!
The clear sky held no obstacles, yet it felt like something was cleaved. Stunned, I followed her sword's arc and spotted it.
'The clouds in the sky...'
They were split. As if she'd cleaved the heavens themselves.