Chapter 98: On a Different Level (3)
TL: Yoni
Editor: Lesurous
To wear it while preparations were completed, it was perfect.
And Muyoung was worried. The black shadow that popped out as he used the Little Wish.
He continued to talk.
To strengthen his basic skills.
To not think so hastily.
Like a teacher, he was trying to teach Muyoung.
And he was surely qualified. He was more superior than any "human" Muyoung had faced up until now.
When he realized up to that point, Muyoung couldn"t help but laugh in vain.
"The one I need to face isn"t a human."
It was true. It was indeed true.
How did humanity collapse so easily like it did?
It was because the strength of the Demon Kings and Demon G.o.ds were beyond one"s imaginations.
Top 10 humans?
For them, it would be too much to face one Demon King.
If they desperately tried, then at most two. Even that was a 50:50 chance.
Wasn"t it obvious that they couldn"t even dream of beating a Demon G.o.d?
Just Gremory alone had 26 Demon Kings and their armies.
But, Muyoung thought only as far as the standards of a human.
Basic skills.
That might be superior to any humans.
If he used the standards of a Demon King or Demon G.o.d, then… well.
"I don"t know them well."
Muyoung had faced humans. Just the a.s.sa.s.sination of humans.
It wasn"t like he didn"t face monsters but Demon G.o.ds were truly G.o.ds.
It was unfit to consider it as a monster.
To act on the superiority of one"s stats were the limits of humans.
They acted because they didn"t know.
The black shadow was pointing to those mistakes of Muyoung.
"The world doesn"t revolve around you."
He urged himself.
Basic skills were harder to master as he gained more strength and become more powerful.
It meant that if it wasn"t now, he would have to go around a much longer path.
Instead, by fighting the black shadow, he realized that not being so hasty was the way to go through a much shorter path.
Muyoung was making a big mistake because he ran without a delay.
That the world ran with him, the only one who returned from the future, as the center.
However, the enemy was powerful, strong, and endless.
The dragon"s heart.
The treasure also called the Gem of the Sage.
Perhaps the black shadow was telling him that it wasn"t "time" yet.
To not be too dependent on outer strengths. That only when he, himself, can fully control it then would he be able to exhibit his true strength.
He continued to express that sort of will.
So, he was planning to use this left arm until he could fully control it.
"Muyoung?"
As Muyoung was deep in his thoughts, G.o.d Hand Bartas spoke as he was puzzled.
Cluck!
Muyoung escaped from his thoughts and wore the left arm.
"…it fits perfectly."
"It"s the characteristics of that Phoenix. The tendons automatically change to fit the user. Hmm, there was no need to use the tendons on the breastplate so I didn"t use it. I didn"t just leave it out."
"I know."
From the beginning, it was a breastplate that matched Muyoung"s body.
There was no reason for tendons to be included. On the other hand, this "hand" needed to move quite freely. It had a different use.
"I"m glad you know it. Now, you just need to endure it."
It was at that moment.
Rrrrriiiiiipppppppp.
From the arm, tendons sprouted out and wrapped Muyoung"s left shoulder.
And touched each and every nerve and slowly started to a.s.similate.
As if he was burnt by fire, the pain swept over him. He felt like all the heat from his body was all gathered to his left arm.
Muyoung clenched his teeth. Cold sweat dripped down from his body.
Tendons that popped out like tentacles were rooted through Muyoung"s whole body.
It settled down once the a.s.similation was completed but Muyoung kept twitching his whole body.
After watching him, Bartas was all amazed.
"Hah! I thought the a.s.similation rate would be around 90%, but by looking at you it seems like you pa.s.sed 95%."
The Azure Sky King"s Leftarm was attached to Muyoung"s left side as if it was his real arm.
Although the veins of the part that connected to his arm were more bulging, he could barely feel the difference.
Crack!
As he grabbed the side of the desk, it broke as it was.
It felt like he was touching the sand.
Although he didn"t control his strength properly, it was still strong. Then, as he looked at Bartas, Bartas laughed out loud.
"Even though the outer appearance isn"t that greatly different from your arm, the interior is completely different. To withstand the twin head ogre"s and your muscles, I used "Aurum" as its backbone."
He seemed very proud.
Twin head ogres were known as the strongest monster simply by looking at their strength.
On top of that, if it was Aurum, it was a mid-legend cla.s.s ore.
If he simply calculated, this one arm was basically worth a castle.
Even if he was the lord of the alliance, it would have been a heartbreaking expense.
However, Bartas"s expression didn"t show any signs of it being a waste.
"It"s too good of an arm."
"If you think of it as a price for helping G.o.d Hand Bartas, it is quite cheap. Just, it would take a bit of time for you to get used to it."
Muyoung nodded his head.
Truly, there was a bit of a difference.
To control his strength, it seemed like he needed to put a bit of effort.
"Not bad."
Instead, it was a problem that it was too good.
It seemed like he could quickly control his powers.
He basically added another thing to learn to control.
Also, the Azure Sky King"s Leftarm was the work only the G.o.d Hand Bartas could create.
To earn it for a bargain didn"t make any sense. It was obvious that it needed some effort.
"Strength fixed at 300…"
Fixed meant that other effects didn"t work.
Muyoung"s current strength was 221.
It didn"t balance.
But, the ends of Muyoung"s lips were raised instead.
"It should be fun."
Muyoung"s compet.i.tiveness escalated as there were more tasks he needed to overcome.
Reality clearly influenced his dream world.
As he earned the Azure Sky King"s Leftarm, his dream world would have also been projected as it was.
And in his dream world, Muyoung met "him" once again.
The black shadow. The shadow who"s deep, deep eyes were the only thing visible.
"You earned quite an amusing toy."
The man"s sword was still slow.
Sometimes he approached him like a river, like a lake, or like a vast ocean.
But, Muyoung was still unable to block him.
"Did you think you could find a way if you used two arms?"
"I just wanted to check the gap more clearly."
No matter how strong he was, even when he used the Azure Sky King"s Breath, he wasn"t able to reach the man.
Muyoung already knew that he couldn"t do it.
But, he realized something as he used two arms.
"So, did you realize the difference between you and me?"
"A bit."
"Ho…"
The man was in awe.
"What is it?"
"The sword."
"The sword?"
"You know the sword better than me."
It was true.
Muyoung knew that their understanding itself was different.
The man was a sword master. Who surpa.s.sed the limits.
It felt like he even knew the breath of the sword.
It was an impossible artistry as a human.
To know the breath of the sword and to move as if he was one body with it.
However, that wasn"t all.
Muyoung had no idea how that sort of artistry was possible.
The man smiled.
"It is difficult to accept something that is out of their perception. It is an amazing talent for you to know even that. So, I will specially give you some advice."
And spoke quietly.
"You can"t hear the sound of a sword?"
The sound of a sword?
A sword did not have any sound. No, it wasn"t alive.
There were specific sounds that a simple lump of metal could produce. However, it didn"t seem like he was referring to that sound.
"I have died 8 times."
However, the man didn"t reply to Muyoung.
Instead, Muyoung was swept by a huge tidal wave.
The man could become a mountain, a sky, and even an ocean.
"Kauu!"
Muyoung let out a cry as he lifted his upper body.
"It seems like you had another bad dream."
Beside him, Tacan spoke.
Kalmooh stayed at the castle to raise his skills.
So, only Muyoung and Tacan rode on Cerberus and were headed to the deeper parts of the North.
"Tacan, have you heard the sound of a sword?"
"If it"s a sword possessed by specters, I have heard them often."
"No, it"s not those. The sound of a sword itself."
Ting-!
Tacan smacked the side of a sword.
"You mean this sound?"
Muyoung shook his head.
The evil spirit predator. It seemed like even Tacan, one of the three sovereigns of Asura"s Path, also didn"t know.
It meant that the black shadow was that much more extraordinary.
Muyoung rubbed his chin and pondered before he thought of a possibility.
"The sound of a sword. The Swordmaster skill had similar words."
As he remembered the skill, information regarding it appeared.
Skill t.i.tle: Swordmaster (E)
Description - The one who walks the path of a sword. A unique power only given to the King Slayer who has surpa.s.sed everything, honing his sword skills.
*Understanding of sword drastically increased.
*You can find out about a sword"s hidden story.
*It pulls out the pure performance of a sword.
His understanding itself had rose but the hidden story… He had never once checked the story.
Of course, he didn"t know what the part, "it pulls out the pure performance", meant either.
Muyoung raised Anguish.
He held it still, placed it near his ears, and even made a scratch.
"Finally, it seems like you"re mad."
Tacan clicked his tongue as he looked at Muyoung but Muyoung didn"t care.
Rather, it was more important to figure out the "sound of a sword" the man talked about.
Twenty times.
It was the number of times Muyoung was killed by the man.
It was the first time in his life that he had felt this hopeless.
Up until now, if he was stopped, he somehow made a way but the problem he was currently facing was beyond that scope.
In the position where he was the a.s.sa.s.sin, he had already died twenty times.
He thought he could do it.
However, a wall blocked him.
"What you do want from me?"
Motionlessly, Muyoung looked down at Anguish.
He thought he had a higher chance with Anguish than the Wicked G.o.d"s Sword since he used it longer.
In reality, Anguish was the weapon he grew fond of.
However, there was no reply from Anguish.
It was expected.
"I"m crazy."
Muyoung quietly laughed.
Then, Tacan spoke.
"From here, you need to walk. This ice wall has the power to drive out the specters."
Muyoung raised his head and looked at the frozen wall that shot up towards the sky.
As he approached closer, the wings that were made of specters were getting weaker.
"The land of G.o.d-King Oris."
In the past, there was an elf called the G.o.d-King Oris.
He became the world tree itself and planted his roots in this barren ice land.
However, there were only a few elves who knew of this place.
It was his priority to find the "gatekeeper" who protected the world tree.
Muyoung and Tacan made a detour to walk around the ice wall.
Then, due to a sense of someone"s presence, the two stopped without having to say who first acted.
"Someone"s here."
"Bug?"
"No, monsters. Like us, there are three of them."
The trio who wore black clothes and tilted their black broad-brimmed hats forward.
They also noticed Muyoung and Tacan.
"Hyung-nim, what should we do?"
"I think it might be better for us to get rid of them before we move on."
"We need to find the world tree as fast as we can. Let"s go."
The three turned their backs.
And they climbed the ice wall as they started to run up towards the sky.
A way to run on water, it was the extended version of perfect water walking.
After recognizing them, Muyoung couldn"t help but knit his brows.
"Sword Bone Trio of the Lawless Clan."
One of the Five Great Clans, the Lawless Clan.
Among them, there was a trio called the Sword Bone because they were the ones who were crazy about swords.
Sword Bone.
Especially the oldest brother "Sword One", he was in the top 10 humans, one of the strongest people.
"They clearly spoke about the world tree."
Muyoung held Anguish tightly.
However, the one who possessed the Oris"s Throne was a completely different person.
What happened.
"Did the past change?"
He had no idea why the Sword Bone Trio was currently here.
However, he was certain about one thing. That they were both after the same thing.
Muyoung"s heart started to beat faster.