Turning Point (4)
'This guy's underwhelming.'
After the opponent, who had been focused solely on evasion, suddenly closed the distance and began swinging his sword first, disappointment soon clouded Yun-seok's eyes.
'Did I expect too much?'
He wasn't utterly incompetent or lacking basics. If anything, he was like a seasoned swordsman with both talent and experience.
But was that all? There was nothing particularly impressive, like how he'd dodged the Time-Eye Black Barrier.
Whoosh!Thwump!
Yun-seok watched a few more exchanges, wondering if some hidden trick was in store, but the conclusion remained the same.
There was nothing noteworthy to learn from his swordsmanship.
The only thing still puzzling him about this swordsman was one thing.
'How did he see it?'
He couldn't figure it out. So Yun-seok kept staring. At the elf swordsman's eyes.
Gazing into them with enough intensity to pierce to the bottom, he relentlessly questioned and answered himself.
"……."
Where was his gaze directed? At the sword? Or at the point the sword was targeting?
If he could truly see where the strike would land, then precisely when? The moment the sword was drawn? Or after the slash ended?
Thwump!Thwump!Whoosh!
Once, twice, three times... As the same techniques repeated, the questions unraveled one by one.
It didn't take long.
In the end, this was just another form of inner arts manipulation.
'Now I get it.'
Qi, aura, force, mana. The names varied by rank, but among C-rank and higher techniques, some allowed the use of qi.
Yun-seok already had a related unique skill, so he hadn't needed to spend AP on one, but ordinary challengers required such techniques to form sword qi or enhance their bodies...
'Why didn't I know this?'
Infusing qi into the arms let you shatter rocks with bare fists; into the legs, leap several times higher than normal. For the eyes, it extended visual range.
But... there were other uses beyond such simple methods.
The irony was that he'd been doing it naturally with his sword all along, without realizing it.
'So sword qi and this are basically the same?'
For example, when he'd first achieved Sword-Body Unification and cloaked his blade in qi. Back then, it only made it harder or sharper.
But by shaping the qi and infusing it with various principles, he'd unlocked higher realms.
'...Interesting.'
Yun-seok smirked.
In the end, it was just shifting the tool of qi manipulation from sword to eyes—no major difference.
Now that he'd grasped the rough theory, it was time to embody it physically.
Vmmm!
Without hesitation, Yun-seok infused qi into his eyes.
It felt the same as always. Nothing but clearer, farther vision.
But success comes after trial and error. Yun-seok persisted undeterred.
When he hit a wall, he glanced at the mana flowing around the elf swordsman's eyes.
"What are you... what are you doing right now?!"
Finally sensing something off about Yun-seok, the elf swordsman shouted.
Yun-seok ignored him, focusing on his task. And soon, he grasped the essence of the 'way of seeing.'
"So that's how it works."
It wasn't about observing invisible entities.
More precisely, it was like seeing what he hadn't been able to before.
"Like peeling away a veil..."
That shift in perception was the turning point.
The world entering Yun-seok's eyes transformed.
Everything turned black and white, moving slowly as if time itself had slowed. Not only that, but cracks spiderwebbed everywhere, like a world on the verge of shattering.
Of course, they weren't mere cracks.
They were just the angular edges where molecular divisions naturally aligned and became visible.
"……."
Yun-seok quietly looked up at the elf swordsman.
His face, too, had rigidly defined lines, like a plaster statue. Suddenly, a Picasso painting from a museum came to mind—one interpreted as flattening 3D forms onto a 2D plane.
Of course, that painting and this sight were fundamentally different.
If anything, this was like a 2D plane revealing its 3D structure.
'So this is qi...'
Yun-seok reached out to the colorful, hazy wisps drifting around.
They weren't tangible, but thanks to Heaven Breaking Divine Art, they seeped into his body on contact.
"Fascinating."
Yun-seok slashed the air once more, as before. The trajectory cleanly severed the targeted line.
Because everything was so clearly outlined in lines, executing the Time-Eye Black Barrier felt several times easier than before.
Yun-seok nodded deeply, as if it all made sense now.
"You saw these lines too. That's how you dodged."
"W-What...?"
The elf swordsman, finishing his evasion, tilted his head. Spotting the mana pooling and rippling in Yun-seok's eyes, his body stiffened.
No need to look further—that was undoubtedly the 'way of seeing' he'd learned from a past challenger.
"N-No way... You learned it just by watching?!"
Yun-seok's tone implied as much.
But the muttering elf swordsman shook his head vehemently in fierce denial.
Even after kind instruction, it had taken days just to take the first step. And years of honing to reach his current level.
Yet he'd done it in mere minutes?
His tone grated, like he'd only just learned the 'way of seeing' today, but the hypothesis that the Heavenly Demon had taught him long ago seemed far more plausible. Plus, there were unfamiliar terms mixed in.
"Lines...? What lines?"
The elf swordsman bit his lip hard.
The 'way of seeing' he'd learned wasn't like that. No lines existed.
It only let him observe the opponent's mana flow as hazy mirages.
"What is it?! What the hell are you seeing?!"
Why he shouted that, even he didn't know.
Perhaps it was inferiority—he couldn't accept that Yun-seok, whom she'd bluntly rejected as unteachable, was her disciple.
But Yun-seok gave no answer.
He just stood there blankly, lost in deep thought—and indeed he was.
'No way she didn't know this method, right?'
Yun-seok pondered the Heavenly Demon... more precisely, why she hadn't taught him this 'way of seeing.'
This technique he'd learned from the elf swordsman paired almost perfectly with Time-Eye Black Barrier, like a set.
So doubts kept rising. An expert of her caliber not knowing such a simple application? Or deliberately omitting it? Neither sat right.
Of course, no immediate answers.
'Whatever. I'll ask when I see her again.'
Yun-seok snapped out of it and looked at his opponent.
His sword hand trembled violently—he seemed intensely agitated for some reason.
Yun-seok didn't know why, but he was glad he'd fought only with the sword this time.
Otherwise, he never would've learned this.
"Were you toying with me?!"
The elf swordsman charged straight ahead.
He looked almost suicidal at a glance.
Pulling out all stops to his limits—techniques, gear effects, everything.
Yun-seok dodged or parried, observing a bit longer.
But...
Schwick.
After learning the 'way of seeing,' there was nothing more to see.
* * *
Moving to the 15th Floor Administrator Area.
After claiming victory rewards and selecting skills and gear via Predation, his vision flashed.
'Oh right, now I'm on the 15th floor.'
Normally, administrators were met every 5 floors.
But after using the special reward 'Thread of Contract,' Yun-seok could meet Elle anytime, making things ambiguous.
Less than an hour had passed in real time since the last meeting.
"You're here?"
Hearing Elle's familiar voice, Yun-seok opened his eyes.
She'd prepared a lavish spread again—the table overflowed with tea and treats.
'No wonder she let me go without lingering. She knew I'd come back.'
Yun-seok sat with a hollow chuckle.
Since last time, she no longer bothered hiding her face, wearing only a simple eyepatch.
"Did your foresight tell you I'd return so soon?"
"Even without foresight, that's obvious, right?"
Elle giggled.
Yun-seok couldn't argue. After finishing the long 14th-floor mission, what else would he do first?
'Still feels like she's treating me like a simpleton...'
To soothe his wry lips, Yun-seok sipped the sweet tea she'd prepared.
Elle tossed out casually, watching him.
"And now, I can't see the future."
"...Did you lose your authority?"
Yun-seok set down his cup hastily, asking in earnest.
"No, the Tower's authority is intact."
"...?"
Yun-seok tilted his head.
If her 'foresight' authority was the same, why couldn't she see the future?
Listening further, the reason lay with Yun-seok himself.
"Heaven Breaking Divine Art, right? I was surprised at C-rank, but to think it'd unlock something like this..."
Escaping predetermined fate.
That was the A-rank effect of Heaven Breaking Divine Art, synthesized from multiple unique skills.
He'd figured it'd be useful, but...
Not like this.
"So you can't see my future anymore?"
"No, I can if I try. It's just... there are so many futures, I can't pinpoint one thread. And many are invisible altogether."
"I see."
Yun-seok rubbed his mouth, nodding.
Should he be glad or regretful? Her occasional advice had sparked deep dilemmas but proven immensely helpful.
Elle, unsympathetic to his quandary:
"Why that face? This is really amazing!"
"Amazing? Care to explain how?"
"Well, obviously, because you and I..."
Elle started, then faltered, frustratedly thumping her soft chest.
"The restrictions again?"
"Y-Yes? R-Right, yeah. The restrictions prevent me from saying."
Her response felt off, lacking conviction, but Yun-seok paid it no mind.
Something else had nagged him since earlier.
"You said you were surprised at C-rank too? Do you know what that effect means?"
It must exist. The Middle Dantian opens.
That was Heaven Breaking Divine Art's C-rank effect.
He knew what 'Middle Dantian opens' implied, even if unused.
But 'It must exist' eluded interpretation.
Who'd have thought Elle held the clue.
"Oh, that?"
Unhindered by restrictions this time, she beamed at his curiosity and explained.
And as her words flowed, Yun-seok realized anew.
If there was a turning point in his fated path,
it was undoubtedly the day he'd acquired Heaven Breaking Divine Art.