[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 130
Woooong!
The aura of light enveloped Zeke like a curtain.
At the same time, a part of the aura seeped into Zeke and Felix.
Felix, who was reading the letter next to him, felt refreshed the moment the light seeped into his body.
"W-what is this, my lord?"
A message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Health partially recovered due to the Light's Barrier effect.]
It seemed to be a skill that provided health recovery to surrounding allies.
Zeke asked Felix,
"Felix, tell me what changes you feel in your body."
Felix moved his body around.
"I don't feel any major changes. Just a refreshed feeling and easier breathing?"
It didn't seem to have a dramatic recovery effect like the Healing or Infinite Stamina skills.
When Zeke deactivated the skill, the aura of light disappeared again.
Zeke, swinging the Orichalcum sword, suddenly had a question.
'Can other people use this skill besides me?'
Zeke called Felix.
"Felix, hold this sword, infuse it with aura, and shout 'Light's Barrier.'"
Felix did as Zeke instructed, even though he didn't understand why.
"Light's Barrier."
Despite infusing it with aura, the sword showed no reaction.
He tried several more times, but it was no use.
Felix said to Zeke with an awkward expression,
"Uh, it's not working."
"Hmm. I see."
Felix said with an excited expression,
"My lord! Maybe it's like in those legends, where a sword chooses its owner!"
"Stop with the nonsense and let's go. I think we've found everything your grandfather left behind."
Zeke and Felix took everything Fab Valencia left behind and came out of the catacomb.
Then, they covered the stone coffin as it was to prevent others from discovering this place.
As night had fallen, Zeke and Felix decided to stay at the village headman's house for the night. Felix's house was too old and dusty to stay in.
Even after dinner, Felix continued to read and reread the letter his grandfather left behind.
Zeke decided to give Felix some time alone.
'It must have been a big shock.'
It wasn't easy to accept the fact that Fab wasn't his biological grandfather and that his parents were killed by the Holy Kingdom.
While Felix was reading the letter, Zeke went out to the backyard with the Orichalcum sword.
And he examined the book that was with the sword. Felix had left it to Zeke to dispose of, saying it was something he couldn't handle.
Zeke was surprised to see the contents of the book.
"This is... a secret manual containing the enlightenment of an Arch Paladin."
It was a secret manual containing the insights of Arch Paladin Fab Valencia.
Zeke quickly scanned the contents of the manual.
It contained some very unconventional content.
"Wielding swordsmanship without a sword?"
It meant that once one reached a certain level, they could wield swordsmanship with their whole body as a sword, without needing an actual sword.
At first glance, the book might seem to refer to physical techniques, but it claimed to be different from ordinary physical techniques.
It argued that using one's hand and arm as a sword to unleash an aura blade was different from attacking an enemy with a punch.
'...Isn't it the same thing in the end?'
At Zeke's current level, he couldn't fully grasp Fab Valencia's insights.
Fab Valencia named his secret manual, containing his insights, 'Infinite Chain Link.'
"Does it mean being able to use all movements connected without interruption?"
The core of this technique was a series of chain attacks, not by swinging a sword, but by enveloping the whole body in aura blades and attacking the enemy by swinging hands, feet, or even colliding with the body.
Imagining the Infinite Chain Link, it seemed like it could unleash much more powerful force than he thought.
Fab Valencia wrote the following at the end of the secret manual:
<I ask that those who are destined to find this learn the Infinite Chain Link, and if they cannot learn it, pass it on to someone with a good heart and potential.>
Zeke felt a slight pang of conscience at the part about a 'good heart,' but he rationalized that he could learn it since he had found the secret manual by fate.
'I'll learn it and teach it to Felix too.'
As Zeke aimed to become the strongest on the continent, he could use anything that could make him stronger.
Zeke scanned the entire contents of the secret manual and saved it in the Random Stuff folder.
Since the part about insights required enlightenment, it would inevitably take time, so he decided to study it slowly.
Zeke first tried out the movements described in the secret manual one by one.
He still found it difficult to distinguish the difference between turning his hands and arms into swords and punching.
"Wow, you need to be at least a Blue Knight to learn this."
Since every movement required an aura blade, even Felix, a Purple Knight, wouldn't be able to use it even if he was taught now.
Around the time he was learning the basic movements of the Infinite Chain Link, Felix came outside.
Zeke stopped practicing and approached Felix.
"Felix."
Felix's face was quite haggard, unlike usual.
But his eyes were much clearer than before.
'It seems he's coping well.'
Zeke, who had Steadfast Mental Defense as a passive skill, rarely experienced mental breakdowns.
However, Felix, although strong and talented, was an ordinary person, so he was inevitably greatly affected by the mental shock.
Felix approached Zeke and suddenly burst into tears.
"Boohoo. My lord."
Zeke patted the shoulder of Felix, who was crying his eyes out.
'I was mistaken.'
Felix, who had been sobbing for a while, finally regained his composure.
"Sniffle. I'm sorry for showing you such an unsightly side, my lord."
"It's okay. It's not like it's the first time you've been unsightly."
Zeke didn't have high expectations for Felix in the first place.
Seeing Felix looking gloomy, a thought occurred to Zeke.
'I wonder if I can transfer Steadfast Mental Defense with Area Buff?'
Zeke pondered and tried casting Steadfast Mental Defense as an Area Buff.
Woooong!
An Area Buff was cast around Zeke.
Then, Felix, who had been gloomy, suddenly lifted his head.
"My lord, this is not the time for me to be depressed."
Zeke closely observed Felix's sudden change.
Felix clenched his fists and shouted,
"I will avenge my parents! And I will definitely complete the mission my grandfather left behind!"
Zeke looked at Felix's burning eyes and pondered for a moment.
'Did I cast the buff incorrectly?'
Felix, who had been seriously talking about how he would take revenge on the Holy Kingdom with a resolute attitude for about thirty minutes, suddenly became gloomy again as soon as the buff wore off.
"...My lord, I'll go in and sleep now."
It seemed that the gloominess intensified after the buff's effect ended.
Zeke, looking at Felix, realized that passive skills could also be buffed.
"Skills related to the mind are dangerous. I need to be careful when using them."
Zeke thought he should also test out buffing Infinite Stamina and Combat Sense when Felix recovered.
Fortunately, the next day, Felix shook off his gloominess and returned to his usual self.
"My lord, I want to complete my grandfather's mission."
"You mean saving the Lubern bloodline?"
"Yes. After thinking about it carefully yesterday, everything finally clicked into place."
Felix said in a serious voice,
"Saving the Lubern bloodline and bringing down the pro-Pope faction. My grandfather must have wanted to save the Holy Kingdom he loved from its increasing corruption and depravity."
Zeke nodded at Felix's words.
"Well done, Felix. It was worth giving you the buff."
"Huh? What's that?"
"It's nothing."
Zeke also had a quest to deliver the light magic book to a descendant of Lubern, so their goals aligned in that aspect.
Zeke and Felix returned to the castle.
But when they arrived, someone sent by Kay was waiting for Zeke.
The Syndicate had found traces of the Lubern bloodline.
Zeke was surprised to read the information the informant brought.
"You're saying there's a descendant of Lubern in Tempel?"
The informant replied with a tense expression,
"Yes, that's correct, Boss. There's an underground organization that has been established in Tempel for a long time. According to informants from the Holy Kingdom, a secret paladin unit is constantly tracking this organization. It's highly likely that this organization is related to the Lubern bloodline."
"What's the name of the organization?"
"They're only known as the Rose Society."
"Rose Society."
Zeke recalled the chair from the Lubern dynasty that he saw in the cradle.
'There was definitely a rose engraved on it too.'
The blue rose was the symbol of the Lubern dynasty.
Zeke thought the Syndicate's reasoning made sense.
The problem was the secret paladin unit dispatched from the Holy Kingdom.
Even after Fab's death, it seemed that the Holy Kingdom was constantly searching for the descendants of Lubern and imprisoning them in the church.
'They keep searching for the descendants of Lubern because they can perform miracles. Could it be that those miracles are...'
Zeke ordered the informant to find out about the 'miracles' in the Holy Kingdom.
Then, he called Felix.
"Felix, I found traces of Lubern. Get ready."
"Yes! Understood."
Zeke decided to take Felix and Liam to Tempel.
Leaving the Knight Order to Decker and Farel, Zeke headed straight to Tempel with the two.
***
"Wow."
As soon as they came out of the station, Felix and Liam were speechless at the sight of Tempel.
Atlas was a sophisticated new city, and Mycenae was an old-fashioned city.
But Tempel's landscape was completely different from both cities.
Large mercenaries and warriors were openly carrying weapons on the main streets, and there were many rough-looking people drinking from daytime.
Crash!
A loud crashing sound came from nearby.
"I'll kill you, bastard!"
A fight broke out between people who were drinking and got into an argument.
Zeke didn't seem to mind, as if he was used to it.
In fact, it wasn't that unfamiliar to him because the north, where he spent a long time in his previous life, was mostly like this.
Zeke said to Felix and Liam,
"Tempel is the base of the Thorne clan."
Hearing that, the two immediately understood why the city was like this.
The Thorne clan, known as the former royal Family of the Northern Continent, were rough, rugged, and worshipped warriors.
As a result, fighting was an everyday occurrence for them.
The people who had been fighting just now were already clinking beer mugs again, singing songs and putting their arms around each other's shoulders.
Liam had a pleased look on his face as he watched them.
Zeke looked at Liam with renewed interest.
'Well, he is the future Mercenary King, so this might suit him better than being a knight.'
Zeke took Felix and Liam to the lodging that the Syndicate had arranged in advance.
It was located on a street that was both Thorne's main street and a hub for the underworld.
As Zeke and his party finished changing and came out, a Syndicate member approached them.
"I received a message from above. I'll guide you to the Rose Society."
Since the Rose Society was also an underground organization like the Syndicate, it seemed they had channels to communicate with each other.
Zeke followed the member towards a hidden underworld street.
They walked along the winding alleyways.
Thugs and gang members with menacing tattoos all over their bodies glared at Zeke and his party.
No matter how intimidating they tried to appear, they were no match for Zeke and his party, who had undergone formal knight training. However, since they were concealing their identities, they avoided eye contact and quietly followed the guide.
The guide led them through the maze of alleyways for a while and then pointed to an entrance leading to the basement of a building.
"This is the place."
"Aren't you coming in?"
"A lowly member like myself is not allowed to enter. I'll wait here until you come out."
Zeke and his party left the guide and went down to the basement.
Downstairs, they found a warehouse with a musty smell.
'Is this where they store leather?'
Wooden boxes filled with fur were piled up everywhere.
The gang members there, after hearing that Zeke and his party came through the Syndicate, guided them inside.
Zeke noticed that the gang members had rose tattoos on their wrists.
As they went deeper into the warehouse, they saw a woman with short hair, tattoos on both arms and her neck, sitting on a chair and shelling peanuts.
Behind her, large men were lined up.
The woman sitting on the chair chewed and spat out the peanut shells.
Then, she looked at Zeke and his party and opened her mouth.
"You guys are from the Syndicate? Bullshit. Hey, kill those bastards."
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]