He did graduate 2 years earlier, but there was an issue.
His age was 15. He became a mercenary at 17 in the city close to Genavis called Behengeru.
He did survive for 3 years in Genavis. There weren't any great prizes to be had in Genavis. It was time to leave.
But was there a reason to go straight to Behengeru?
‘No.’
He didn’t know what happened in Behengeru for the next two years. Everything that he wanted or missed was 2 years in the future. The things that he never got or wanted were things that occurred when he was a mercenary.
Therefore, he didn’t have any memory of the things happening for the next 2 years.
Pak!
Sungmin’s spear broke an orc’s head. He swiftly stabbed three more times and broke three more heads.
‘First rate…’
The limit that he had never gotten in his past life. He was about there because of the power of Wijihoyun and the potion plus the grace techniques.
But it wasn’t enough.
A half a year ago when he dueled against Wijihoyun, he was in the middle of second rate and first rate.
But he didn’t manage to even hit the clothes of Wijihoyun. She wasn’t old at 13, but she already had the power of a master. The apex rate and the first rate. The difference was like heaven and earth.
‘Because of the fast growth rate of No Classes and martial skeleton, the martial techniques can get stronger quickly. The problem…’
It was Sungmin himself. His [Amethyst Cloud] level was 2 while the High Heavens was level 3. It was because of the martial skeleton and the fast growth rate of No Classes that he managed to get it this high. He would still be at level 1 struggling if it weren’t for them.’
He could increase the power of the technique. But it was Sungmin who was using them. The person who was making the decision, the person moving his body, the person deciding on his action, that person was Lee Sungmin.
‘I need time.’
There was no reason to go straight to Behengeru. Even if he did become a mercenary, the only things that he would be doing is getting requests from guilds and training and earning money.
Instead of that, he needed time to train.
He stopped his footsteps. If he crossed the forest, he would be at Behengeru. He turned his head.
He saw a mountain.
*
“It’s been awhile since such a young person had come here.’
Mush was a God in Eria that symbolized training and penance. This place, Mountain of Mush, was a place where the servants of Mush lived. It was near Geanvis and Behengeru.
“Is age an issue?”
Sungmin asked. It took him 4 days even he went the closest way. His body which hasn’t been washed in 4 days was dirty and smelly.
“No, age doesn’t matter. Suffering hardships and penance is for everyone.”
The priest who answered had dead eyes and his cheeks sunken. He smiled at Sungmin.
“Do you know about this mountain?”
“A bit.”
The trainees were protected by Mush. The trainees can not inflict harm on each other. If they were to, they would be stopped by Mush. That is because the hardships and penance that Mush stands for is only for oneself.
“Would you like to get a penalty?”
The priest asked. Sungmin stared at the priest. In the 4 days on the way here, he thought about what penalties he would take.
“Taste.”
Sungmin pointed to his mouth.
“Also, I would like to take a penalty on the weight i feel.”
“I see.”
The priest nodded. He didn’t use magic or pray. He only moved back a few steps and opened the way to Sungmin.
“We won’t give you anything. You will eat, drink, sleep...living is on your own. Young trainee.”
Sungmin didn’t answer and moved past him.
He had heard about this place before, but never actually been here. There was no reason to.
The Mountain of Mush. Everything was up to the person. He could be wasting time or could even be losing things. Usually, it was the person’s life. Mush didn’t allow others to harm others, and didn’t care about the trainees dying alone.
But there was a reward after suffering. Seeing what penalties the trainee took, the hardships and sufferings would be more intense, and if the person passed it, Mush would give an reward.
Sungmin wanted that. It would be hard to reach the limit with the same method as other who had more talent than him. Therefore, he came here.
As he passed the temple.
[I welcome you.]
A voice passed through Sungmin’s ear. Sungmin let out a sound without even knowing.
His body was heavy.
It was hard for him to even move a step. Sungmin bit his lips. He had gotten a penalty on his weight. Not only his body, but everything would be heavier to Sungmin.
‘My taste…’
He had no taste in his lips. Sungmin pulled out his pocket. It was heavy. The bread that he pulled… felt like rocks. Sungmin stared at it and opened his mouth.
Bak.
It felt like he was eating stone. No, this was...Sungmin wrinkled his face. He didn’t lose his taste. Just everything that he tasted, the taste changed. It felt like he was chewing dirt, and the bread wriggled like a corpse of a bug. The taste became worse and worse as he chewed.
“Ugkkk!”
Sungmin couldn’t swallow the bread. He thought that he had been pretty masterful at eating terrible food, but this wasn’t something that he could eat in his normal mind. Sungmin spit out his bread and retched a few times.
“HCk...Huhh…!”
After a while, Sungmin pulled out the water bottle from his pocket quickly. As he tried to pour the water inside his mouth to clean the taste away.
“Ckdf!”
It wasn’t just the food. The water… changed. It felt like dirty water. Sungmin bit his teeth. Taste and Weight. He didn’t think it wouldn’t be that hard. If he had to choose which one would be harder, he would have chosen the weight.
No.
The strongest penalty that he had gotten was the lack of taste.
He wanted to give up.
Was there a reason to continue. If he could have gone to Behengeru, he would have been a D rank mercenary. If he did a few request, he would be a C rank, and his growth would continue. Therefore, he would be expected to become a first rate soon.
If he became a first rate, then he could become a B rank. That would be better than his previous life. The opportunity that he missed before? What was that. He had already surpassed his previous self, and gotten the first step to a better life.
Not too much greed… just live. With the flow. Goal? Living happily. Isn’t that good enough? He could get money by mercenary work. He wouldn’t have to do the hard work if it seemed to dangerous. Then he would get a nice girl and marry, have kids, then live long.
Isn’t that a great life. That’s normal, but having a normal life as a No Class in this world was hard. Yes… he could live like that and be happy.
He didn’t need to have any greed.
He could just leave.
Go to Behengeru. There was no reason to suffer. The food that he would eat would be hell. His body would be heavy and he wouldn’t be able to use his martial arts. Even if he lived like that, he didn’t know what Mush would give him. He could waste his time here. He could kill himself being depressed about his lack of talent.
Let’s give up.
When he thought about that.
Sungmin thought about Wijihoyun.
His first teacher, and only friend. The promise that he made to meet in 10 years.
Sungmin pulled out the bread from his pocket. He wrinkled his eyes and pushed the bread inside his mouth. HId body had already remembered the bread’s disgusting taste. His body had already rejected the bread as it came in. His stomach was dying. He chewed the bread. He forced himself, repeatedly, to chew up the wriggling worms that were inside his mouth. HIs taste completely changed. The worms blew up with secretions and the secretions scratched his mouth.
His cheek blew up strongly. He shivered slightly as he poured the water inside his mouth. The water… was hot. As it went inside his mouth, the water turned boiling hot. Sungmin forced himself to drink it up.
“HG! Hg!”
He thought he had suffered a burn. His mouth was bitter and burning. But when he checked, there was no burn marks. It was only in Sungmin’s mind.
“Idiot...Mush…”
Even if Sungmin had wanted this penalty, he didn’t know it would be this bad. Sungmin cursed repeatedly at Mush.
[Rude Human.]
Mush whispered in Sungmin’s ear.
Apparently, this god had really good ears.