Chapter 41: Proposal (3)
Professor Kim Myeong-hyun drew his sword and swung it through the air several times. His movements were exceptionally light. Despite it being just a brief swing of the sword…
An indescribable sense of dignity emanated from him.
“The Water sword technique is the lightest among the Sword Technique, which are known for their flowing, water-like movements.”
“The lightest sword?”
“Yes, precisely. Do Jae-hyun, do you know that both the Wave and Water sword techniques emulate the movements of water?”
I nodded in response to his question.
“Yes, I’ve heard about it from Professor Tak Won-ho. The Wave style represents the turbulent flow of the sea, while the Water style imitates the gentle flow of a river, right?”
Wave – the surging waves. Water – the flowing river. The two sword techniques had distinct characteristics, as their names implied.
“Correct. To be more specific, waves are like the rough waves of the sea, whereas Water can be seen as the smooth flow of a river.”
Professor Kim Myeong-hyun demonstrated the Water technique, wielding his sword with swift and fluid movements.
“Therefore, the Water Sword Technique aims to execute sword strikes with greater smoothness and lightness, emphasizing on cutting rather than thrusting.”
As he continued to swing his sword, his speed increased rapidly.
…It’s becoming hard to follow with the naked eye.
“The ultimate skill, Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword, also follows the same principle. It takes on the form of the smoothest sword while moving even faster. By harnessing the power of magic, it adds even greater force to its speed.”
“I see…”
“That’s why Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword requires the support of Rune spells from the auxiliary Rune category. Merely relying on speed alone cannot cover all aspects. Do you, by any chance, possess Rune spells of the auxiliary category, Holder Do Jae-hyun?”
“Oh, yes. I do.”
The auxiliary Rune spells were common among assassin-type Holders. As a member of the Holder clan, I didn’t have these common Runes, but fortunately, I possessed a superior rare Rune.
[Agile Agility].
Together with my charging skill [Sprint], it was the core Rune for enhancing my speed.
Suddenly, Professor Kim Myeong-hyun’s sword pointed toward my waist.
“Then, Holder Do Jae-hyun, would you like to use quarter knives on me?”
“….What?”
I was momentarily taken aback. He was asking me to throw a dagger at my master. Not just any dagger, but a derived skill of the high-level [Dagger]…
Now, with plenty of magic infused in it, it could be a rather formidable attack. A single mistake could lead to injury.
“It’s alright. You won’t hurt me. Go ahead and give it a try.”
Yet, seeing his smiling face, I immediately acquiesced.
Professor Kim Myeong-hyun was an A-grade Holder. In plain words, even if I fought with all my strength, I wouldn’t defeat him. Moreover, being an A-grade meant he had a significant amount of toughness.
My [Quarter Knives] can’t break through that toughness.
It was likely that it wouldn’t leave any significant wounds.
I drew the four daggers from my waist and held them up.
“Hyup…!!”
Now, in a familiar throwing stance, I put my energy into it…
And promptly threw the [Quarter Knives] at Professor Kim Myeong-hyun.
Aim for the arms, legs, chest, or stomach.
I tried to avoid hitting critical areas.
The daggers shot forward with menacing force.
They seemed about to hit Professor Kim Myeong-hyun and draw blood.
“Flow.”
“…Huh?”
However, something strange happened.
With a small command ‘Flow’, Professor Kim Myeong-hyun, who was calmly swinging his sword, suddenly displayed an incredible speed and deflected all four daggers of the [Quarter Knives].
His feet, which had seemed to move step by step, were now barely visible.
‘Too fast…!!’
Watching that, I realized that Professor Kim Myeong-hyun was demonstrating the prowess of the [Water Sword Dance] skill himself.
[Water Sword Dance].
It was a skill that utilized extreme speed to evade and counterattack against any thrown projectiles.
Before the overwhelming speed, none of my daggers managed to touch Professor Kim Myeong-hyun.
When he finished using the skill…
The daggers were already stuck into the ground, and he had sheathed his sword.
“This is how it’s done. Quite easy, isn’t it?”
After the situation settled, Professor Kim Myeong-hyun smiled.
It was unfair.
I hadn’t even seen how to use it properly.
The first semester at the Academy has come to an end. This semester meant a lot to me. I was fortunate enough to become the exclusive disciple of two professors, defeated a monstrous creature that appeared at the Academy, and successfully conquered the underground dungeon. Later, I even prevented a murder case that was about to be carried out by Ha Do-kwon. There were various incidents, and I gained diverse experiences as a Holder. Above all else…
What is truly remarkable is that I, who was initially in the temporary lower class as an F-grade Holder during admission, have now elevated my abilities to the level of a C-grade Holder in the upper class.
‘Even though I may have cheated a little…’
Thanks to the fraudulent performance of the [Rune Hunter] rune and the additional fraudulent rune [Effort of the Seeker], I achieved rapid growth. Of course, I put in a lot of effort as well. However, for an ordinary Holder to ascend from the temporary lower class to the upper class in just one semester through rune advancement is an impossible feat.
“Anyone interested in using the Busan Warp Gate together?!”
“Looking for a temporary party member, a D-grade Holder with a warrior background! Right now!”
“Yeah, the magic stone prices keep falling~ If I go bankrupt, that’s it~
“Take a picture, please! I want to capture the moment for memory sake!”
The bustling central avenue of the Academy signified the end of the semester. Students were either preparing to go home or making plans for their vacation, using the training grounds or library. Passing through the lively central avenue of the Academy, I found myself in a specialized building for the Special Department.
Before the end of the semester, I came here to receive the equipment I had purchased from Choi Yoo-min.
“Here…!!”
Inside the building was a study lounge where Choi Yoo-min was seated, and she raised her hand. She seemed to have brought the prototypes in advance, as a considerable number of heavy equipment was stacked next to her.
I smiled and shook her hand, then sat down in front of her. “Hello. It feels like it’s been a long time.”
“Yeah. You didn’t come to purchase equipment for a while.”
Our agreement allowed me to request equipment five times a month. After losing one during the previous dungeon conquest and receiving a new one, I hadn’t visited her even once, so I had to get more than ten pieces of equipment from her.
I understood why there was so much equipment piled up next to Choi Yoo-min. “Have you been working hard all this time?”
“Yes! I even gained a new rune this time.”
“Really? You don’t have to tell me about that kind of thing.”
Information about possessed runes, skills, and stats was an implicit rule among Holders. While it was possible to estimate rough power levels using machines and some tests, the specific runes a Holder possessed were known only to the Holder themselves. Since runes represented the Holder’s strength, even though I could grasp the runes of the main characters, it was different from them telling me directly.
The same applied to Kang Juyeon and now Choi Yoo-min. Why did everyone keep doing this to me?
“Hehe, it’s alright. Thanks to you, my workshop runes have grown, and I gained a lot from it. Thank you. Your investment was a huge help.”
Choi Yoo-min chuckled and brushed her brown hair. Apparently, the new rune she gained was [Iron-Blooded Night Field], which would become her trademark in the future.
‘That’s fast.’
She had acquired it faster than I expected. I thought she would gain it after her first year, but gaining a rune in just one semester was a considerably rapid progress.
‘As expected of blacksmiths, something comes out when they go through the process, huh?’
[Iron-Blooded Night Field] was an epic rune that is highly regarded even among blacksmith-type Holders. To think she gained it so quickly just with a few supports…
Choi Yoo-min seemed to be a talented individual comparable to Park Jin-woo or Kang Juyeon. With her continuous growth, she would likely show even greater achievements as a blacksmith in the future.
“With your skills, you’ll have more than enough even after getting that rune. Now that you start making advanced equipment, the investment fund will seem insignificant. I was lucky to sign a contract with you cheaply.”
“Hehe. Thanks for saying that.”
“Enough of the pleasantries. Should we take a look at the equipment now?”
“Yeah!”
Choi Yoo-min took out a sword from the stacked equipment and handed it to me. Did she carry all that herself? The magic bag couldn’t be that expensive. I should get her one as a gift when the opportunity arises.
“Seems like as my rune level went up, I can now see item information.”
As soon as I received the sword from her, the information window appeared before my eyes.
<Item Information>
◎Name: Well-Forged Longsword
◎Type: Sword
◎Grade: Normal
◎Toughness: Normal
◎Craftsman: Choi Yoo-min
◎Special Effects: –
–
◎Details: A reasonably crafted longsword made by a beginner blacksmith. It is solid and sharp.
Finally, the item information for Choi Yoo-min’s creation appeared. Previously, none of the items she made had any information, just like ordinary weapons created by regular people. As a blacksmith-type Holder reaches a certain level, their creations are recognized as actual items, and Choi Yoo-min, who had shown steady growth lately, finally stood on the same level as them.
Moreover, even though it didn’t have significant meaning, it had a modifier of ‘well-forged’. It meant that the longsword was slightly better than an ordinary one. Although it was still at the initial stage with no special effects and a normal grade, the fact that her equipment was now recognized as an ‘item’ was essential.
“Congratulations! You’re now a respectable blacksmith-type Holder.”
“Thank you. And that sword, even though I made it, it’s really good! I used a B-grade magic stone for the core magic stone.”
“What? Why would you use something so expensive?”
“Hehe. I just gained a new rune, and it was the first thing I made after that, so I wanted to do it properly.”
I could understand why a modifier was added to a regular longsword, after listening to what she said. With a B-grade magic stone, the market price was 42 million won. Better materials naturally improved the quality of the equipment.
‘But still, using half of the support fund for that…’
Choi Yoo-min had her quirks in some areas, which was probably why she would become a famous blacksmith in the future.
With that, I nodded and admired the hilt of the sword. “I guess I should use this later.”
Upon hearing that, Choi Yoo-min looked puzzled. “Huh? Why? Isn’t it better to use it right away?”
“Well… I have to use ordinary weapons first.”
Currently, my stats are at the level of a C-grade Holder. However, in official terms, I was still an unregistered Holder. After becoming a Holder and registering, I didn’t have any opportunity to renew my grade by entering the Academy immediately.
‘But that’s different now.’
The reason was simple. I needed an official C-grade Holder grade.
My participation in hunting for the S-grade monster, Swirl Leviathan, has been delayed for a while now. Because a minimum of C-grade is required for Holders who want to participate in raids that hunt large monsters appearing as field monsters. And since I had all my primary stats scores around 30, there was no chance of my ability being anything lower than a C-grade. All that was left was achievements. I needed to show achievements in dungeon conquests or field hunts.
‘I have three days, right?’
If I delay it any further, the Swirl Leviathan might appear first. I needed to accomplish all my achievements and update my Holder grade before that happened.
For the next three days, I planned to go hunting relentlessly with all the equipment Choi Yoo-min had provided me… without any rest.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢