‘My senses are sealed?’
Eurius’s face showed a moment of panic.
The force that had filled his body until a moment ago had completely disappeared.
It was enough to make him scream in horror.
‘Hey! This is ridiculous!’
[…]
There was no answer from the Yellow Dragon Sword.
Eurius stared at the sword with a dumbfounded expression.
“Is there a problem?”
“…”
He could barely reply to Jegal Unhyeon’s voice, as he was in a serious situation.
He was a superhuman-level expert who had become a mere mortal with a healthy body due to a system message.
‘I’m going crazy. If I don’t clear this quest quickly, my life could be in danger.’
He had more than one or two enemies in the Order and even the Empire.
No matter how strong his escort was, the reason why Eurius had been confident until now was because he trusted his own strength.
“How do I reach the Divine Spear Fusion or the Divine Sword Fusion?”
“As I said before, there is no definitive answer. Didn’t I mention that it usually depends on the amount of training?”
“Even so, wouldn’t there be some secret techniques in the prestigious martial arts families?”
Eurius was anxious.
If he didn’t clear this damn quest given by the sword, there would be a huge setback in his future plans.
“Hmm…”
After pondering for a while, Jegal Unhyeon opened his mouth.
“It’s not so much a secret technique as an advice based on experience.”
“What is it?”
Eurius’s eyes sparkled.
He was desperate to grab any straw he could.
***
A few days later.
Buzzing.
The knights of the Scharnos Knight Order looked at the Eles Palace with worried eyes.
“He hasn’t come out of the training hall for a week now.”
“Did he achieve some enlightenment? But it seems like too much time has passed?”
“I’m worried that he might hurt himself.”
As they said, Eurius had locked himself in the training hall as soon as he returned from the capital, and he didn’t let anyone in, saying that he was training.
His week was nothing but training.
Clang!
“Huff! Huff!”
Eurius lay sprawled on the floor of the training hall, soaked in sweat.
The Yellow Dragon Sword also rolled around in a corner of the hall.
In one corner of his vision, a number was displayed.
[Stage 1 Proficiency: 0.0%]
‘What are the clear conditions for this quest?’
He didn’t even have the energy to be frustrated and annoyed anymore. Eurius tried to recall what he had learned.
“In our world, it is said that one can enter the realm of Divine Spear Fusion when one masters the Harmony Divine Spear, which is a martial art that is passed down with the breath of the Azure Dragon.”
If the White Tiger Martial Arts School had Baktoosul, which was a martial art of life and death, along with Hoshinki as their secret techniques, then the Jegal Family had a spear technique called Harmony Divine Spear.
Of course, it was very rare for someone to master it as much as Ichungmun’s martial art, and even Jegal Unhyeon, who was one of the top absolute experts in the East, was still at nine stars.
“Then does it mean that the proficiency of the sword technique or spear technique that I am learning is the problem?”
“That’s right. Your sword technique seems to be a very well-made sword technique of ascension, from what I can see.”
‘Of course it is. It’s the sword technique of the Emperor…’
The knights of the Empire usually learned the Imperial Sword Style as their basic sword technique unless they learned martial arts from a prestigious martial arts family.
‘But what’s wrong?’
Shiiik!
He couldn’t draw out even a speck of force right now.
His muscles were screaming from repeated training, but he tried to perform the movements of the Imperial Sword Style from the beginning anyway.
“Ugh!”
But the result was the same as before.
He dropped his sword while swinging it fiercely until halfway through and Eurius rolled on the floor.
[Stage 1 Proficiency: 0.0%]
He sighed as he lay on the ground.
“How can I train if I can’t even unfold the latter part of the sword style?”
The Imperial Sword Style was not a basic sword technique for nothing.
The Imperial Sword Style consisted of seven sword styles in total, and only three of them, which belonged to the latter part, were accessible to the knights who joined the Imperial Guard, the elite of the Empire.
And there was a good reason for that.
‘The last three sword styles require a certain level of force to connect the movements. It’s impossible without it!’
Eurius knew that fact better than anyone else, as he had trained in the Imperial Sword Style for thirty years in his previous life and ten years in this life.
That’s why no matter how much he practiced other movements, they would always break off in the middle. He thought that this was the only reason why his proficiency didn’t increase at all.
One, to clear the quest, he had to train the Imperial Sword Style more perfectly.
Two, to unfold the Imperial Sword Style perfectly, he needed force.
Three, he couldn’t use force right now.
Logically speaking, this was an absolutely impossible condition to clear.
[…]
But the sword didn’t answer his question. He clenched his forehead.‘Fine, let’s see who wins, you or me.’
Eurius started to swing his sword, forgetting about corrosion.
Anyway, what he was swinging was this damn sword. A day… two days… a week… time kept flowing.
He repeated his fruitless training for half a month.
Of course, his proficiency didn’t increase at all, but he had a different intention.
Clang!
Crack!
Bang!
How could the sword be fine when he kept falling?
The Yellow Dragon Sword, which rolled on the dusty floor of the training hall with him, finally began to react.
[Stop it.]
[You have no talent.]
He kept swinging his sword silently, regardless.
If he went out like this with his force sealed, he would be exposed to danger right away.
‘All I can do is what I can do now.’
Besides, he could also give this annoying sword a hard time.
How desirable was that?
Clang!
After falling so many times, he eventually learned how to throw his sword hard on the ground when his posture collapsed.
[You crazy bastard!]
‘You’re reacting well. That’s good!’
Eurius decided to focus on researching this technique(?).
Two days later.
Tatatadak!
Clang!
“I did it!”
He rolled on the floor with a bright smile.
He finally managed to bounce his sword five times on the ground while falling!
[…]
Swoosh
‘Huh?’
At that moment, he felt his consciousness flying somewhere.
What he saw in his eyes was a scene from somewhere else, just like when he saw the Yellow Dragon Palace.
Eurius smiled inwardly.
‘As expected, there was something when I squeezed the sword.’
How could there be no hint for a quest given by the sword itself?
From the beginning, his primary goal was to break the sword’s stubbornness.
‘There must be some decisive clue.’
Eurius focused on observing the scene in front of his eyes.
‘Is that really the first prince, or just a ruffian?’
The scene he was watching looked very majestic on the surface.
Flags were fluttering everywhere, and knights in armor were lined up orderly.
The identity of the knights was none other than the first Sharnos Knight Order.
Of course, the Emperor who stood in front of them also exuded an extraordinary aura, but the problem was what he said.
“Ha! I can understand if you’re not a player! But how can you not master it when the system gives you proficiency?”
“…”
‘I’m sorry.’
Eurius, who was watching, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. But what could he do if it didn’t work even after practicing?
“Watch carefully! This is the last time.”
After spitting out such rude words, the Emperor slowly moved his sword.
As Eurius expected, it was the Imperial Sword Style.
‘His movements are so smooth that they can’t be compared to mine.’
He might look like a ruffian, but he was a legendary hero after all.
The Emperor demonstrated each movement slowly, and his sword was much smoother and sometimes more refreshing than Eurius’s.
‘I’ve learned one thing that I lack.’
Eurius was also a martial artist who could be counted among the top ten in the continent, even though there were many monsters around him.
He realized his first problem by watching the Emperor’s demonstration.
‘It’s not important to unfold each sword style accurately. They have to be connected smoothly as if they were one movement.’
It didn’t seem like a big problem. He had already seen the most ideal movements, so he could achieve it with effort regardless of talent.
‘But the most important thing is next!’
His eyes were already looking at the Emperor who was unfolding the latter part of the sword style.
How would the Emperor unfold the last three styles without force?
“Did you see it? Now disperse!”
“Huh?”
Snap!
His consciousness returned to the training hall, and Eurius had to stand there stupidly for a while.
After a while, he picked up his sword and shouted.
“Hey, even if you’re a great guy, isn’t that too much for your lord?”
As expected, the Emperor used force for the last three styles, even though he unfolded them with an ideal posture.
[Stupid.]
Swoosh
“…”
Eurius prepared to throw his sword again.This time, he planned to challenge six times.
[Wait!]
“What?”
[I never said don’t use it.]
“…!?”
[That’s it. No more.]
‘Can I use force? But how?’
Eurius was puzzled, but he also nodded his head.
In fact, those three sword styles were so difficult that they couldn’t be performed with human strength alone, no matter how hard they tried. Therefore, they needed to enhance their body with force.
‘That’s right. I was wrong from the start.’
He had assumed that he couldn’t use force at all. But the system message said that his senses were sealed, not that his force was gone.
As his connection between sword styles became smoother, he unconsciously drew out force and linked it with the last three styles that he had been familiar with.
‘So this is what he meant by realizing it while swinging a weapon!’
And he also realized why this training existed as a quest.
If one relied on the system, one would grow faster than one could control their force finely with their output and quantity.
It was like pouring liquor into a small glass too quickly and spilling it over.
All this time, Eurius had been wasting his force by solving his lack of control with his output and quantity that depended on the system.
As a result, he ended up becoming an unbalanced martial artist who only had a lot of inner force, as Jegal Unhyeon said.
‘I’ve grown another step!’
Only now did Eurius realize that he had entered the threshold of becoming a true expert.
Perhaps his enemies who he would have to fight in the future had already surpassed this realm.
A week later
“Hooh… You want me to check your skills?”
“I’ve gained some insight this time.”
Jegal Unhyeon looked puzzled.
He had only checked Eurius’s skills a month ago.
How much could he grow in such a short period of time?
Besides, Eurius added this.
“Unlike last time, don’t hold back and attack me.”
“I see.”
But Eurius’s expression was not a joke.
He held his spear and advised him in a serious tone.
“You’d better be careful this time.”
The two of them stood still with their weapons drawn, facing each other.
And after a little time passed, Eurius felt that Jegal Unhyeon’s spear shook slightly.
“…!?”
At that moment, the shadow of the spear that reached the sky fell on Eurius like a shower.
“Ah!”
Jegal Hwayeong, who was the weakest martial artist among the people in the hall, couldn’t even see when Jegal Unhyeon moved his spear.
Clang!
Surprisingly, the sound of the explosion came after the shadow of the spear touched Eurius.
The speed of the spear was much faster than the speed of sound reaching his ears.
The floor of the sturdy training hall was shattered mercilessly by the aftermath of the force from the spear.
“Isn’t uncle being too harsh on his lord, even if he’s a great martial artist?”
Clang!
Eurius blocked the spear with his sword and counterattacked.
The sound of metal clashing echoed in the hall.
[Proficiency increases. Stage 1 Proficiency 50%]
‘Yes, I can’t feel it, but it’s not gone!’
He had finally awakened his force.
“Lord must have something in mind.”
Jegal Geon and Jegal Hwayeong widened their eyes and watched the situation in the training hall.
The dust that rose from the shattered floor cleared up, and Eurius’s figure, who had been exposed to the fierce attack, was revealed.
“Huh… I congratulate you on your achievement. It’s truly amazing.”
A sincere admiration came out of Jegal Unhyeon’s mouth.
Surprisingly, Eurius was not injured at all, except for being covered in dust.
“I don’t mind being ruthless, but why did you have to aim for the floor? I need to wash up first.”
He grumbled with his mouth, but Eurius also had a smile on his lips.
He was able to withstand Jegal Unhyeon’s sincere attack without any wounds.
‘It’s a pity that I couldn’t counterattack.’
But that would be solved by time.
He still had a long way to go to become stronger.
“Wait a moment.”
Jegal Unhyeon stopped Eurius, who was about to leave the training hall covered in dust.
And then he bowed his head and assumed a posture of respect.
“I pay my respects to your lordship’s achievement.”
“We pay our respects!”
Jegal Hwayeong and Jegal Geon quickly followed suit.
It was a courtesy that they showed as the Azure Dragon Martial Artists of the Four Gods Conference.
And it was also the first sincere greeting that he gave to Eurius, who had a keen eye for martial artists.
He had many suspicious points, but he acknowledged his talent as genuine.
Of course, Eurius could see that clearly.
‘I’m not a real genius, so I’m a bit sorry… But I’m close enough, so it doesn’t matter.’
[You have cleared the quest – Yellow Dragon’s Trial Stage 1.]
[Your achievement increases.]
[A trait – Divine Sword Fusion (A rank) is created.]