New Sword-Rearing Method (1)
A whole new world seemed to have opened up before him.
His heart pounded.
There's still something I didn't know.
After twelve years of grinding away at Raise a Sword.
By all common sense he knew, something like Chaos couldn't exist.
There were only two directions: utmost good and utmost evil.
The way to raise a sword was to pick one extreme disposition and reinforce specific concepts within it.
Chaos.
Yet a new concept had appeared.
In a bizarre form where good and evil coexisted, no less.
A smile crept across his face unbidden.
His mind buzzed with thoughts of new builds.
How do good and evil mix?
It was a question he naturally had to ponder as the sword's master.
This was about raising his small, precious sword, after all.
He had two guesses.
One's probably the NPC issue...
The reason swords' dispositions skewed to extremes was largely because of the NPCs who wielded them.
"Sword, you want me to slaughter all those meatbags, right? And that'll make me grow taller? Yeah?"
Most NPCs were raving lunatics with no middle ground.
"Kuhahat! Sword, humans are iron. Let me hammer 'em strong! Whoops—hand slipped. Brain's all burst now!!"
Normal people?
They couldn't even get near a sword.
"Eek! Something terrifying... "
Only those skewed to one side could grasp the swords he assigned and reach the limit.
It's a bit like the mental state of natural awakeners.
With data from over ten thousand runs, he was certain.
Now for the second reason.
He had a hunch there, too.
My awakening must be the second reason.
He was the sword's master, the Sword Master.
And not some NPC, but a real-world Awakener.
Plus, he'd absorbed the experiences of his other swords to gain enlightenment.
With him wielding the baby sword, couldn't that balance both sides?
A natural Awakener with a sound mind awakening as Sword Master makes it possible.
Anyway.
He now knew why the impossible had become possible.
After this deliberation, he decided on his sword's rearing method.
You have selected 1. Chaos.
He chose the new option without a second thought.
It must possess power stronger than any sword so far.
He was convinced.
Every time a new sword unlocked in Raise a Sword, an extraordinarily powerful rearing method appeared.
Now that it was real, the same held true.
Bzzz———.
The Baby Sword trembled as if thrilled by his choice, its blade quivering.
Pure white light and pitch-black light spiraled over the blade.
This was chaos.
The harmony of good and evil.
Infinite possibilities had opened for his baby sword.
Meaning harmonies like holy sword and demon sword could come later.
For example—
Chaos Holy-Demon Sword
—Ep. 04 New Rearing Method
The sword's trembling stopped.
The Baby Sword, a bit shorter than his forearm, had grown slightly larger.
A subtle change.
But his eyes clearly registered the baby sword's growth.
Aura.
He could now draw out aura infused with chaos attributes.
The status window had changed, after all.
—Sword Summon (Authority):
Status— Baby Sword / Name— Undecided (Lv.2)
Disposition: Chaos.
—Ego Sword Summon (Authority):
[Communication Ability]
1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid. [4/100]
2nd Sword, Yuria Lanestia. [0/100]
3rd Sword, Jun. [0/100]
4th Sword, Muratan. [0/100]
5th Sword, Iris Luzvela. [0/100]
6th Sword, Bellatrice. [0/100]
The disposition listed here referred to the aura.
For now, only the broad 'disposition' was recorded, but as he raised the sword and solidified its power, more diverse and specific abilities would bloom.
Of course, the sword would provide him, its user, with various abilities in turn.
Things I as the player originally had to do myself...
The baby sword had clearly said 'nya!'
A soul might already exist within the sword.
Meaning the power for its user—him—would come from the baby sword.
A complementary structure.
He'd unintentionally delayed for a moment.
Composing himself, he calmly assessed this gate's boss.
Hiss———
The Red Sea surged toward the sky.
At the split end of the Red Sea, a massive serpent coiled into view.
This was the gate's boss he had to handle.
A small Red Gate.
A water serpent about 2.5 meters tall and 10 meters long.
Difficulty low enough for a solo B-rank hunter to clear.
Kang Seol-ah noona must have thought he was a Transcendent and given him an A-rank hunter license, but his actual skill fell short.
He hadn't fully absorbed all the swords' enlightenments yet.
That's why I have this.
There was a reason he'd come here despite knowing his limits.
The reward from conquering the Tower.
SSS-rank Random Box
Time to use it.
What if the reward sucked?
Then summon Reinhardt.
Time limit...
4 seconds even in a gate.
Ego Swords seemed summonable only in time units inside the Tower.
Still fine.
This gate's boss was weaker than B-rank mage Park Chang-seok.
One second to instant-kill.
He pulled out the Tower conquest reward at the edge of the boss's aggro range.
As mentioned, the Tower was unique and singular.
A space recreating Awakeners' trials to open paths to greater strength.
The SSS-rank Random Box would yield something Sword Master-related.
Probably... a technique one of the swords used?
Ding-a-ling———!!!
He opened the box without hesitation.
Countless letters flashed before his eyes.
The speed slowed, and one word floated up.
Skill: One Annihilation, Horizontal Slash.
—The transcendent technique first created by Reinhardt Euclid.
The final sword's NPC, Reinhardt.
The first transcendent technique he'd gained after ten years of early-game training.
Reinhardt was the first NPC that obediently listened so well.
Normal NPCs would demand weird methods and flop down when told to train for ten years...
Reinhardt did everything ordered.
Anyway, he could now use that first transcendent technique as a skill.
Swish—.
He raised the baby sword, aiming at the boss.
Time to kill the boss, claim the reward, and close the gate.
The true nature of the Red Sea was a monster spreading gates across eroded land, endlessly growing its forces.
A desire to dye the world in a red ocean.
He raised the baby sword and approached the coiled serpent.
A massive serpent made of red liquid.
It uncoiled, glaring at him.
Kieeeek—.
The serpent's tongue flicked out.
Moments later, its head shot toward him like an arrow.
Stay calm—.
He swung his sword-holding right hand back to his left waist.
Lowering his stance, he gathered power fully.
Instinct guided the skill's use.
He felt it.
Bzzz—.
Pure white aura and pitch-black aura spiraled and rippled over the blade.
The mark of a master knight: aura.
Drawing it forth, he swung the sword.
One Annihilation, Horizontal Slash
The enlightenment dwelling in his body perfectly manifested the skill.
Straightforward and utterly honest.
A straight horizontal line from his left waist.
And thus—
Craaaaaack————!!!
A deafening roar like the world tearing, and a long line etched across it.
A simple, straightforward motion: horizontal slash.
Honed to the extreme by 1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid.
He and the baby sword had executed it.
Crackle—.
A long wave spread along the sword's trajectory.
The massive serpent split apart.
Losing form, it melted into Red Sea waters.
The sword's afterimage lingered in the air.
Tsss—!!!
Even the serpent's remnants were sucked into his One Annihilation slash.
Absorbing is chaos's trait?
1st Sword Reinhardt was, strictly speaking, a holy sword lineage.
Specializing in obliterating evil.
Yet his Baby Sword had absorbed the red serpent using the lingering sword energy.
This seemed the hallmark of a Chaos disposition.
Definitely dead.
He looked around.
As proof of slaying the core boss, the gate's environment began to change.
Shhhrrrr—.
The red seas surging to the skies on either side of him.
Draining of power, they poured to the ground.
Water filled the parted path between seas, and he swiftly approached the boss's spot.
Vmmm—.
A multicolored glowing stone fragment appeared.
The driving force behind the Gate.
Mystery.
Possibility—.
Just as all humanity wielded WorldNet.
As artificial Gates were created underground at the Awakener Management Agency.
This stone fragment was humanity's secret to survival.
Mystery.
The driving force sustaining humanity.
The power expanding human potential.
And insanely expensive.
This size should fetch about 100 million.
For reference, this was the smallest kind.
Solves my real estate cash bind in one go.
With trembling hands, he picked up the stone fragment.
You have cleared the Gate.
A message announcing conquest complete, and an exit portal appeared before him.
This world would now collapse, the Gate vanishing.
Before exiting, he took in the sight.
My first solo gate conquest.
Roooaaar————.
The sea that had pierced the heavens now crashing to the earth in an instant.
Majestic, nothing less.
A chilling fact suddenly hit him.
This sea was human blood?
The Red Sea's redness was blood.
Human blood, specifically.
A fact learned as the baby sword absorbed it.
Hmm...
His mind flashed.
Diligent Reinhardt awakened through proper swordsmanship.
The Baby Sword had drunk blood.
Drinking blood might awaken a brutal demon sword from his childhood creations.
Like a vampire demon sword.
That ending NPC's name was Iris Luzvela.
Yet no change occurred.
Regret flickered at not seeing a new sword, but he quickly regained composure.
Might be a blessing—.
His level was too low to handle that terrifying sword.
Best to prepare mental barriers first.
As he moved to exit the gate.
Thud——.
Vibration from the sword.
Red afterimage rippled from the gem at the hilt's end.
"Hm?"
That was it.
The gem settled quickly.
No further changes.
He left the gate as is.
Shh—.
In Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin's office, a shadow rippled.
Forming into human shape, it bowed to Kang Mu-jin.
"I have a report."
The shadow was Kim Jung-hoon, leader of Korea's Special Task Force Geommu.
Kang Mu-jin smiled brightly, welcoming the shadow.
"Oh, has Patriot returned?"
If the Geommu leader came personally, it had to involve Patriot.
"Patriot is investigating gate anomalies."
But the shadow delivered the opposite of what Kang Mu-jin expected.
Patriot hadn't emerged from the gate for days, unknown how long it'd last.
"What gate takes over a day? Conquering the Red Sea or something?"
"It's..."
Geommu leader Kim Jung-hoon cautiously uttered one word.
"Black."
"Black?"
"A new type of gate appeared."
All existing gates were Red.
Now Black had shown up.
Humanity hadn't even conquered Red Gates yet...
"Internal status?"
"Unknown. Just that the black gate was pitch-dark, like peering into an abyss..."
Patriot's business.
No worries there.
The issue was current Korea.
"You saw the report on demon worshipers corrupting Awakeners, right?"
"Yes."
"Any progress on that investigation?"
"Not yet... haven't even found a shadow of the demon worshipers."
Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.
Just a regular person.
But more devoted to Korea than anyone, bound by true justice.
He fixed the shadow with a steely gaze.
"WorldNet's blowing up over Yeouido right now."
Since WorldNet's advent, opinion manipulation was nearly impossible.
Era of personal accounts verified by Mystery.
Corrupt media got Patriot's iron fist.
Meaning most videos and data here were truth.
"You see this?"
"Yes."
Kang Mu-jin approached the shadow.
"Thanks to Patriot assigning me a constellation, it resolved well, but demon worshiper threats linger."
He'd hidden Shin Si-woo's identity for precautions.
That it wasn't Patriot's constellation will come out soon, but—.
If Shin Si-woo was a true SSS-rank Transcendent, they needed time for him to grow.
Regardless, Kang Mu-jin pressed Geommu's leader.
"Why come to me with no progress?"
Didn't he have work now?
That was the implication.
The shadow met his eyes.
Now for the main point.
"...In Goyang City's Red Gate, intense killing intent was detected."
For a split second.
Vibration rippled from the massive gate mothering the Red Sea.
"That Red Sea... moving again?"
"Seemed to react to something. Maybe demon worshipers meddling..."
The red ocean, Red Sea.
But Kang Mu-jin knew its nature.
"Sea of blood stirring—."
It was made of blood.
A recent report came to mind.
Hope nothing's up.
Goyang's Red Sea.
The gate Shin Si-woo headed to.
And Shin Si-woo, awakened as a Transcendent, was vital talent Korea must protect.
"Dispatch investigation team to Red Sea immediately! Secure A-rank hunter Shin Si-woo's safety first!"