Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Episode 005 (4)
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‘Is this how it's done?’
One hand held open a martial arts manual while the other formed a blade.
Kuhn tilted his head and lightly slashed downward with his fingertips.
With his fist lightly clenched and only his index and middle fingers extended straight like a sword,
Sword Seal.
His fingertips sliced smoothly through the empty air as if they were a real blade.
—Shing!
After repeating the motion several times, Kuhn mulled over the sword traces he'd created, then lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
‘I've got a rough idea.’
It was because he could finally grasp the contents of the manual in his hand to some extent.
『Ripple Swordsmanship: Maritime Edition』
That was the name of the martial arts manual currently in Kuhn's grasp.
It had originally been the sword manual of a small family called Dorenheim, but during the Jordic Family's conquest of the North, the family was wiped out, and this sole manual ended up preserved in the Lion’s Archive.
As such, the Ripple Swordsmanship was undoubtedly of solid quality.
No, even as a mid-level sword art, its concepts and included techniques offered plenty of room for application.
‘Not for nothing did the Jordic Family select and store it in the Lion’s Archive.’
Kuhn needed to read as many manuals as possible to find the one he liked best... but even so, the Ripple Swordsmanship was far from a bad find.
After wandering the shelves for a good while and reading through the manuals he'd pulled out,
Kuhn suddenly let out a low groan and rubbed his stiffening eyes with the back of his hand without thinking.
‘Ugh.’
Long shadows stretched along his eyelids, making him look less like a person and more like one of those white-and-black bears said to inhabit somewhere in the western continent.
A panda.
As he rubbed his eyelids, Kuhn let out a small sigh.
“Hoo.”
In his previous life, he'd often gone half a month without sleep while carrying out missions, not just a single day.
Yet here he was, feeling this level of fatigue after merely twenty hours without rest.
Staying up all night with this current body just wasn't easy, was it?...
‘Even for a child's body that's not properly trained.’
It was ridiculous how much difference a single change in body could make.
A chuckle escaped him involuntarily.
Not just simple amusement, but a laugh tinged with a hint of bitterness.
Kuhn shrugged his shoulders with a self-deprecating expression and continued.
‘Well... come to think of it, it's not that strange.’
Though somewhat improved compared to the past, his body was still afflicted with the constitutional curse known as Dream of the Dead.
The fact that he'd been able to cut back on sleep for training until now was only possible by using Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits to alleviate the fatigue.
His body was still far from what anyone could call good, even as an empty compliment.
‘And with a body like this, not only staying up all night but devouring manuals nonstop...’
It was only natural that fatigue weighed on both body and mind.
“Hoo.”
His body came with problems aplenty.
With another wry smile, Kuhn roughly scrubbed his face with his palm.
A dry wash to shake off some fatigue. It seemed to work a bit; he felt the drowsiness recede slightly.
As his mind cleared, Kuhn muttered inwardly.
‘Dream of the Dead.’
The constitutional curse still gnawing at his body even now.
If he didn't raise his attainment in Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits soon to resolve this curse, incidents like this would keep happening.
‘No choice but to work diligently.’
Muttering to himself, Kuhn steadily regulated his breathing.
Thoughts of his mediocre body, the fatigue, and Dream of the Dead ended there. Perhaps because he'd refreshed his mind with those distractions,
the dull throbbing in the back of his head began to ebb away.
‘At least the silver lining is that all this pushing let me check quite a few manuals.’
As he muttered, roughly sixteen manuals lay scattered haphazardly around his feet, just as he said.
Not just swordsmanship, but dagger arts, throwing techniques, close-quarters combat, and footwork too.
About ten were Jordic Family manuals or related ones.
The rest were external works with little connection to the Jordic Family.
The knowledge and new techniques he'd gained would surely prove a great asset someday.
‘But...’
As he stared at the pile, Kuhn's nose wrinkled slightly.
‘The problem is that even after all this diligent searching, I still haven't found that one I truly like.’
Srrr, srrr...
Before entering the chamber, the sandglass he'd received from the Senior Instructor was visibly nearing its end.
‘Twelve hours per flip, and I've already flipped it once, so this is effectively the last round?’
By his rough estimate of the sand, a little over an hour remained.
Which meant...
‘If I don't find one I like within the remaining time, I'll have to settle for a decent one and take it out.’
Of course, he'd already picked out two or three backups for that scenario.
Still, if possible, he wanted to walk out with the absolute best that caught his eye—human nature.
As if mirroring that sentiment, a flicker of impatience began creeping into Kuhn's gaze.
Srrrk...
But only for a moment.
Noticing his own shift, Kuhn hurriedly shook his head.
His expression soon settled, impatience somewhat shaken off, and he spoke aloud.
“No rushing.”
Impatience only clouded judgment.
Not just here, but in pursuit of revenge as well.
With that, Kuhn moved both hands.
And slapped his cheeks with a sharp smack!
—Crack!
‘Ugh—!’
For an instant, a stinging shock like stars bursting lit up before his eyes and rattled his skull.
The unexpected happened a beat later.
“...?”
As Kuhn reached to pull out one book, another attached to it came tumbling down to the floor.
Riiip, thud—.
The impact had torn the cover a bit; something must have gotten between them, gluing the covers together.
‘Poor storage condition?’
As he muttered and reached to pick up the fallen book—
Suddenly, his heart sank with a thud—.
At the same time, the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits hummed to life out of nowhere.
Wrrrr—!
‘Why all of a sudden...?’
Frozen in place by the abrupt reaction, Kuhn unconsciously picked up the fallen manual as if drawn to it.
Fwaaah...
Then, from the fingertips touching the manual, an inexplicable sense of relief spread through his entire body.
A perfect unity, like slipping into clothes tailored just for him.
Simultaneously, the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits—which had been humming moments ago—quieted as if it were a lie.
Kuhn gripped the manual with tense eyes.
‘What the hell was that just now?’
His brow furrowed as his other hand unconsciously rubbed his sunken chest.
‘Something to do with this manual?’
Srrk—
Caked in dust here and there, its surface so badly damaged and worn that he had to focus to make out the title.
Not just weathered by time, but bearing clear traces of many hands all over.
Frowning, Kuhn traced the cover and read the name aloud haltingly.
“Night... mare?”
『Nightmare Sword
凶夢劍
- □□ Jordic』
Though faded with age, the remaining surname clearly marked it as a Jordic sword manual.
And like many ancient manuals with deep history, its title was written in archaic script.
‘Then the question is, why did Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits react to this...?’
Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits was a breathing method passed down by the powerhouse named Myeong from a different world than this one.
A method with no ties to this world, so it shouldn't react to anything here.
‘And yet it did...’
Squinting unconsciously, Kuhn glanced down at the manual in his hand and muttered.
“Is it telling me to pick this one?”
As if answering his voice, the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits hummed briefly once more.
Wrrrm...
Well, he'd know for sure once he checked the contents.
The fatigue and tension from before had long since fled in the wake of that heart-sinking sensation.
Kuhn's fingertips slowly turned the page.
And...
His eyes, scanning the Nightmare Sword's contents, filled with shock in an instant.
Fwaaah—.
‘Nightmare Sword.’
As the name suggested, the Nightmare Sword was a sword manual encapsulating nightmare-like dreams arising in pitch-black darkness.
‘Twilight cloaked in darkness, the death of stars, the fall of dead stars...’
As such, the depth of the swordsmanship contained within was far from shallow.
‘...What kind of sword art is this?’
It felt like peering into an endless abyss.
With each page turned, an inexplicable chill crawled up his arms and spread through his body.
Even to Kuhn, who had once reached Sword Master realm, its profundity was hard to gauge.
‘A sword manual of this completion...’
Calling it top-tier was an understatement.
Then the question was why such a gem was stored here.
‘A handling mistake during transport?’
Nothing else explained its exceptional quality.
He could hardly believe it was for trainees.
‘In that case...’
Whatever the reason, this would have to be it.
Right then, as if on cue, a knock echoed from outside the chamber.
—Bang bang!
A rough pounding on the iron door.
The sand in the hourglass he'd brought inside had run out, and the knocks signaling the end of the allotted time pierced his ears noisily.