Chapter 179: Shadow Dojo (4)
When I first entered the tutorial, I was at a loss for what to do. They said there was a way to get the elixir, but I didn’t know how I was supposed to pass through it.
While I was wondering if I should just give up, I met him.
Valebich. My first friend that I hated, but was also thankful towards.
The first impression Yeon-woo’s brother got from Valebich was that he was scary.
To someone who was born on Earth and only saw humans his entire life, a half giant of 5 meters tall obviously would obviously look like a monster.
But unlike his first impression, Valebich had taught his little brother this and that in Section A while his brother was struggling.
His brother was able to learn a lot of things from Valedich. How to open the system window, and how to check your traits and get used to the Tower.
Thanks to him, his brother was able to quickly learn the superior trait Ten Thousand Immunity and use mana after he passed Section A. [TN: Psychometry changed to Ten Thousand Immunity.]
The combination of the human and half giant had been pretty famous in the Tutorial, and people like Vieira Dune had approached them with interest. This person who was the Witch of Stars, as well as his brother’s lover.
And so the team of 3 had managed to get through the Tutorial, and their team took on more members as they progressed through it.
That was how Team Arthia was created.
A small team of 9 members. Back then, no one would have imagined that they would become a clan large enough to threaten the Eight Clans.
They were a lot different from Yeon-woo, who had gotten through the 7 sections with only solo playing.
That was why Valebich and Vieira Dune were especially special to his brother.
The strangest thing was that after they cut ties, Valebich had completely hid himself.
Other members went on to live their own lives or joined high positions in the Eight Large Clans. But Valebich was only occasionally seen, and he didn’t do anything in particular.
However, one thing that was confirmed was that he was the guy who first led Arthia to their downfall.
Even though Yeon-woo didn’t know the specifics, this guy was no better than Bahal or Leonte, who literally stabbed his brother’s back.
[00:00:00_02]
[00:00:00_01]
[The preparation time has been finished. The first section of the first door is beginning.]
An invisible wall disappeared.
Valebich’s shadow lifted his bastard sword and roared.
[There he goes. That crazy shout. It’s so annoying every time I hear that.]
Shanon spoke in an annoyed tone.
<War Cry>. It was a superior skill that made his opponents feel weak. It originated from the giant species’ ‘Jotunheimr Shout.’
But to Yeon-woo, who had the Cold Blooded trait, it didn’t do much.
As if the guy had realized it, he immediately hit the ground with <Amplified Explosion>. It was a pretty well-known skill called ‘Berserker.’ He was put in a confused state of mind, but his dexterity and attack power would be increased by 300%-500%.
SInce his explosion effect was added on top of that, there was almost no one who could stand face to face with him on a battlefield.
That was also the reason why he had the nickname Sword Yacha.
A yacha was a monster that lived in hell.
War Cry and Amplified Explosion were Valebich’s trademarks, and it was quite a nuisance to his opponents.
That was also why Shanon and Hanryeong sighed in exasperation.
Hanryeong had clashed with Arthia several times in the past and had been hurt by Valebich in battle, and Shanon had lost several of his subordinates to him.
‘Magic Equip.’
But Yeon-woo didn’t seem nervous at all in front of such a guy.
If there was something he changed, it was that he also had his Magic Bayonet out. Carshina’s dagger was in his other hand.
Boom!
Yeon-woo flapped his wings of fire and soards towards him. With a force that made the ground shake, Valebich flew back.
***
Yeon-woo began to run again.
He hadn’t used Magic Equip so far, but after it released it once, he continued to spin his Magic Circuit moving through the different sections.
In the second section, a war mage called Black Skull appeared, but Yeon-woo was able to easily fight back his Holy Fire. In the third section, he met the first tail of ‘Nine Tails,’ one of the Eight Large Clans, and in the fourth section, he met the second bishop of Devil Army, Kindred, who was wearing a mask.
All the players who influenced the Tower were here.
Speeding through the first section wasn’t important anymore. He wanted to fight with all his strength, observing everything the shadows had.
And when he arrived at the 21st section, he met the shadow of Sword God.
It was before he had learned his superior skill, but his sword technique was still sharp. It was familiar to Yeon-woo as well. It was the Eight Extreme Fists.
However, only the basics were familiar. It was different from the Eight Extreme Fists Yeon-woo used.
It was a bit more neat and deep. There were steps that Yeon-woo didn’t know, so it was difficult to deal with him.
[Even though you have the same teacher, I don’t think we should consider Master’s sword technique equal to the Sword God’s. Frankly speaking, the Sword God was already at the arhat level.]
The Saber God frankly described the difference between Yeon-woo and the Sword God.
Unlike Yeon-woo, who dealt with several different areas of expertise, the Sword God only focused on his sword.
The time they invested in training their sword was different, and the understanding of the Sword God was a lot deeper. The Sword God had already made the Eight Extreme Fists his own, and he even adjusted it to how he liked it.
Yeon-woo earned the new name ‘Eight Extreme Swords,’ but he hadn’t deviated from the range of the Eight Extreme Fists yet.
[In battle, if it was limited to the sword, it is possible that even the Martial King might not be able to defeat the Sword God.]
That was the reason why the Martial King had accepted the Sword God as his disciple.
[But that is why I think you can learn a lot from him.]
Like what the Saber God said, the movements of the Sword God inspired Yeon-woo.
He only knew 5 of the 8 Writings of Divination, and he saw methods to open the remaining three.
This was the reason why he extended the battle with Sword God. To see how he had made his own path.
But of course, victory was Yeon-woo’s.
The blade of the Magic Bayonet was planted in the neck of the Sword God. When he twisted the sword, the shadow’s head fell right off.
[You have finished the trial of the 21st floor.]
[You are being transported to the next section.]
***
As hard as Yeon-woo was going, it was chaotic outside.
“H, he’s crazy.”
[21st Floor Ranking]
1st. Bivasbat
2nd. Nayu
…..
8th. Unrevealed
“W, Wasn’t he 15th just a while ago?”
“But he’s already 8th? Damn…..!”
Everyone knew that ‘Unrevealed’ meant Yeon-woo. Their interest was solely on how high Yeon-woo’s rank would reach.
And today. Yeon-woo’s rank continued to climb ridiculously.
It had only been a day. No, to be exact, half a day.
While others took a few days, or even a few months, Yeon-woo was clearing through the 5 doors without any rest.
And of course, the system recognized these accomplishments as Karma, so it was also exponentially increasing.
“What if he actually gets 1st place on the 21st floor too?”
“No way…..”
At what someone said, the players all had ‘what if?’ faces.
The meaning of the hall of fame on the 21st floor was different from the other floors.
The first place, Bivasbat. It was the name of the wall that blocked all high rankers and clans. It was Allforone’s name.
Even the 2nd place, Martial King, hadn’t been able to climb that mountain. But what if Yeon-woo climbed that? Then all the rankers and clans who had looked down on him because he was a lower floor player would have to move their attention to him again.
Because that meant that there might be someone who could climb the wall of Allforone.
So the players thought that even though he was the Hoarder, he wouldn’t be able to do that.
However, even when they were saying that, their eyes showed something else. Since it was the Hoarder that had done impossible things, he might do something impossible again.
“Heidi. What do you think?”
Because Dylan was thinking the same thing, he looked back at Heidi.
“I don’t know.”
Heidi complained with her lower lip stick out.
“If I knew that, I would set up a psychic shop, wouldn’t I?”
But Heidi’s Fairy Eyes didn’t lose their tension.
***
The shadow that Yeon-woo saw on the 24st floor was someone he hadn’t seen before.
It was someone that he hadn’t seen in the diary.
It definitely wasn’t someone from the past.
‘Was there a new skilled player?’
If it was someone who recently made it onto the hall of fame, Yeon-woo needed to take note of him. It was possible that he might see this person later in the future.
With a lithe body, the person gave off an overall weak impression. It was hard to tell if it was a girl or a guy.
But when the person grabbed their sword, Yeon-woo felt an invisible threat. There was a sharpness in that smooth movement.
And somehow, it was familiar.
‘Seseung-nim?’
No, to be exact, it was somewhere between the Martial King and the Sword God. He could see that it was a bit different from the Eight Extreme Fists.
Suddenly, Yeon-woo thought of what the Martial King had said. That he was the 3rd disciple. The first was the Sword God, and the second was someone he wouldn’t know.
Could this person be the 2nd disciple?
Yeon-woo checked the name of his opponent again.
11th. Nocturn
‘Nocturn…’
They were originally 10th, but they were pushed down because Yeon-woo was now 8th. Seeing how they were above the Sword God, did it mean that they had even more potential than him?
Yeon-woo began fighting the shadow he saw for the first time with the Eight Writings of Divination.
***
The 28th section was the old leader of the Elohim, Hayate, who was known to be dead.
Yeon-woo heard that his speciality was lightning because he was the apostle of a god named Thor.
To Yeon-woo, who had a similar skill called Fire Rain, there was a lot to learn.
As lightning gathered above him, Yeon-woo attempted to awake his Dragon Blood for the first time.
Dragon scales slid up his skin while Fire Rain flashed up.
***
Boom-
“Pant, pant…..even though it’s a Draconic species, this is a bit unfair.”
He narrowed his Draconic Eyes. The navy scales heaved up and down.
As if reacting to that, a being that was far away frowned at her own injuries.
A length of 10 meters. She had fierce eyes and wings, and her tail shook violently.
The Summer Queen released her fury at the person who dared to injure her.
Boom!
Although she was smaller than the Summer Queen he saw in the war with Cheonghwado, the Dragon Fear that she was exuding was enough to make him shudder, even though he had the Cold Blooded trait.
It was only a shadow, but because it was made with data from the Summer Queen, her personality was the same.
The arrogant eyes looking down. It was a gaze that only Draconic species could have.
The Summer Queen spat out her Breath.
Yeon-woo shoved Carshina’s dagger and the Magic Bayonet into Intrenian and pulled out Vigrid and Aegis.
Now, he really had to use everything he had. If not, his life would be in danger.
Above all…..
‘Behind this…..he’s there.’
After the 5th place Summer Queen, it would be 4th place Cha Jeong-woo.
So he had to get through this. Even though it was only a shadow, it was an image of his brother when he was climbing the Tower.
He wanted to see it with his own eyes and not through the diary.
As soon as he could. But at the same time, he wanted to see it as late as possible.
***
[The 33rd section’s trial is beginning.]
[Soon, your battle with 4th place ‘Cha Jeong-woo’ will take place. Prepare for battle in the remaining time.]
[Considering your current condition, you are being given longer time to prepare.]
[00:30:00]