NSE-Chapter 051

Chapter 51

Sky Mountain.

It was a distance that would take ages on foot. He got a carriage and boarded it.

[A special mission field inside the Gate opens!]

[You can move to Sky Mountain!]

A message appeared.

‘It works.’

The range one could move within a Gate wasn’t unlimited.

Because if you moved beyond the designated range, the area turned into a grayish-white fog zone.

‘Going in is the end.’

Out of curiosity, he had gone in about 3 times. A passage that continued infinitely with no exit.

In the end, he had starved to death.

Be that as it may.

The movement range had limits, and it was a structure that grew wider as the Gate’s rank rose.

‘Sky Mountain would originally have been somewhere you couldn’t go.’

Even by carriage, it took a week.

On top of that, it was in the exact opposite direction from where the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was held.

That was why he had roughly guessed it would be blocked. For even a space like that to be fully open, it would have to be at least A+ or so.

But what if you found a special Gimmick, like receiving a mission as now?

The fog zone would sometimes open up.

Heading to Sky Mountain like that, they got out of the carriage once every 6 hours for a maintenance break.

Seo Ye-rim looked at Kim Min-woo.

“About your skeleton. Can I try sparring with it?”

“You mean Cedric?”

“Yes. That one.”

“Go ahead.”

He summoned Cedric.

Just as Seo Ye-rim and Cedric began sparring,

he looked at Jang Sam, who sat huddled in a corner reading the Martial Art manual.

“Sam. Have you memorized it?”

“T-To some extent?”

“Recite the mnemonic verses.”

After mumbling a few lines, Jang Sam’s voice shrank to the size of an ant.

“This won’t do. You need to get hit a bit.”

“……Pardon?”

“If your head can’t do it, you have to learn with your body.”

He threw a punch.

Whack!

As expected.

Jang Sam’s face caved in around the fist.

Blood streaming from his nose, the fellow showed a wronged look.

“No, if you hit me suddenly like this……!”

“If you’d used the Ghost-Slaying Footwork just now, you’d have dodged it.”

“……Young Lord? It’s only been 6 hours since I got the book, though?”

“I know. If you had studied the Martial Art in that time, you’d be living comfortably somewhere respectable by now.”

“Then why……”

“No time. We have to take the shortcut. Catch.”

He took a suitable sword out of the Inventory and tossed it.

“T-This is…….”

“It’s yours. Hold that and stab me.”

“Pardon? You, Young Lord?”

“Yeah. You won’t hit me anyway, so don’t worry.”

Soon a sound like a pig being slaughtered rang out. It was the sound of Jang Sam being beaten like a dog. And so hard that it stirred his survival instinct.

‘He’ll learn it as he gets hit.’

That’s how Martial Arts originally were.

They had been made in the first place to be good at fighting. So actually fighting was the fastest way to learn. At least up to a certain level.

He threw a Potion at the limply collapsed Jang Sam.

“This is…….”

“Chug it down.”

Gulp!

Jang Sam’s body recovered in an instant.

“Feeling fresh, right?”

“Yes! I thought I was going to die a moment ago, but I’m perfectly fine now! Thank you, Young Lord!”

“It’s nothing. Now, let’s get hit again.”

“……?”

Kwaaaaagh!

* * *

Nearly a week passed.

Educating through the body really was effective. Jang Sam, who had been getting beaten into a limp heap on the first day, was now delivering counterattacks of a sort.

‘He’s not a dullard at all, then.’

He’d thought the guy only knew how to giggle, but he had some fighting spirit.

His perseverance was decent, too.

If he were to evaluate his overall talent…….

‘Roughly upper-middle?’

He was late in age, but if he diligently learned high-level Martial Arts from now on, he might still go on to great success later.

“Now you’re somewhat usable.”

“Heh heh, when I was young I used to run around brawling a bit. I was the alley boss, in my way.”

“Right. At this level, you won’t die on the road somewhere. So, leave the mountain.”

“……Pardon?”

“I’m telling you to leave the mountain.”

“Leave…… the mountain, you say?”

Jang Sam’s eyes quivered.

“If you go to Sky Mountain with your skills, you’ll die.”

“……Then, couldn’t I just wait here?”

“If you go to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, you’ll die.”

“I-I can wait. If I stay at the Unorthodox Alliance……”

“If you stay there, you’ll die.”

“…….”

“Sam.”

“……Yes, Young Lord.”

“You saw the warning notice posted in the room. That anyone who interferes with us gets 3 generations wiped out.”

“I saw it.”

“So the guys who’d try anything underhanded haven’t attached themselves yet. The only time you can slip out in one piece is now.”

“……B-But…….”

“At best, there might be an elder watching from nearby. Don’t worry. They’ll let you go alive.”

Clearing the Human-Faced Spider was extremely important to the Alliance Master.

Naturally, he’d have attached a tail just in case of any unforeseen situation.

Probably someone at least of elder level.

Would that elder kill his loyal retainer just for having been taught a B-grade Martial Art?

Anyone who could see the future would simply let him go alive.

It wasn’t an S-grade Martial Art whose leaking was utterly taboo, or even an A-grade one.

They wouldn’t risk making an enemy of a future Supernova by killing a mere servant.

“Go as far as you can. And don’t show off your Martial Arts too much, live quietly. If you keep training, you should be able to become a local notable.”

“……Asking you to protect me would be too shameless, wouldn’t it?”

“You know well. I have no faction. I can’t stay glued to you 24 hours just to protect you alone.”

Though they had met in this Gate, Jang Sam was someone who had devoted loyalty and made his own effort for the Fifth Young Lord, who had no connections.

Thanks to that, he’d gotten information easily.

That was why.

He could do this much, exactly this far.

But anything beyond this?

It would get in the way of the clear.

‘I’m busy enough surviving myself.’

If he looked after Jang Sam too, it would be a level where not dying before reaching the Middle Zone would be lucky, let alone clearing.

He tossed a pouch at the fellow.

“There’s preserved food and a few gems in there. Now really go.”

“……Thank you for everything, Young Lord.”

“Right. Thanks for your hard work attending me.”

He waved a hand.

Right now, while Jang Sam knew nothing about the plan.

This was exactly the timing when he could send him off comfortably as well.

If he kept staying with them and learned of the plan to run off with Ascension, Jang Sam would be unable to leave even if he wanted to.

He could only get free by dying.

Being spared seeing that, and parting on good terms, was the best outcome. Jang Sam’s figure slowly receded.

He looked at Seo Ye-rim.

This past week.

All the way here, she had been sparring with Cedric.

He remembered her hearing quite a lot of harsh words.

“Cedric, may I summon him?”

“No, why are you asking me that? Just do it.”

“In case it bothers you.”

“Hah! It doesn’t bother me at all?”

“Then I’ll summon him?”

“Go ahead.”

He called Cedric.

Right after, the fellow looked at her.

―Another sparring session today? As I said, there is no more room for your swordsmanship to grow. Unfortunately that is the realm of talent. What separates the real from the fake.

Flinch!

Soon Seo Ye-rim glared straight at him.

“……Do you take me for a fighting cock? I’m not the reason you were summoned, you know?”

“Right. We’re going to hunt the Human-Faced Spider. That’s why I summoned him.”

―Is that so? Good. I was just thinking it was a pity to waste time.

“…….”

Seo Ye-rim hung her head.

“Hey, you. Couldn’t you at least say it more gently……”

―At times like this, it’s better to speak bluntly. Otherwise that woman will keep idling her years away.

“Shut up.”

He gave the fellow’s head a smack.

Even so, Cedric didn’t know how to stop talking.

―Her ambition is excessive compared with her talent. I have seen many such striplings. In the end, every one of them collapsed. Devoured by a bloated ego.

Perhaps because he had a lot pent up, Cedric’s pupils were blazing.

Soon the fellow looked straight at him.

―Master. I do not think you will deliver clumsy comfort. That would be deception instead. Surely you of all people know that?

Ah, this bastard.

He really puts people in a bind.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know.

He had already declared her a mediocrity, after all.

The problem was that the situation then and now was very different.

Back then they hadn’t had much of a relationship, and since she herself had been the first to talk about dying instead of clearing, he had just dropped a pointed remark.

But now she was someone who had come to help, risking her own life, wasn’t she?

‘What are you going to do about this mood?’

Unsummoning him would only leave the 2 of them alone, which worried him even more.

A chilly silence continued.

Soon Cedric looked straight at Seo Ye-rim.

―You, let me give you 1 piece of advice. If you are going to hold a sword, do not aim beyond it. Impatience dwells in your body. Someday it will devour even your mind.

“That’s enough. The Sword Immortal must know that already.”

―The Sword Immortal? Ah, you mean the human who brought my skull.

“Yeah. He’s her grandfather.”

―Then he must have said this much to her. Did he not?

“…….”

She hung her head low.

―I understand. That because you have already become a Swordsman, there is no clear method. Even so, it cannot be helped. In my view, that is the only way.

“Got it, so that’s enough.”

―As you wish.

Cedric nodded refreshingly, as if he had said all he had to say.

Thanks to that, only this side got screwed.

‘Damn.’

Could they even go hunt the Human-Faced Spider like this?

Awkward silence.

And it wasn’t like he could toss out some clumsy words of comfort either.

That was a problem with no answer.

‘What am I supposed to do about a Class that’s already decided?’

5 playable characters.

Of them, 2 had a choice of Class.

Park Si-woo and Han Si-a.

A ‘Recommended Class’ appears in the starting window. Since the Class is undecided, you can pick to your taste.

Naturally, to match a swordsmanship genius and a magic genius, you’d go Swordsman and Mage.

The ones from 3 stars up were different.

Their Class was already decided from the start. That it didn’t fit their talent was basic.

It was one of the main reasons the difficulty spiked.

The 5-star Kim Min-woo.

That one was a bit unusual.

He simply had no talent at all, so he went through hell.

Seo Ye-rim, on the other hand, did have talent.

‘Her talent is…….’

An archery genius.

A bow master.

But her Class was Swordsman.

The only mercy was that with the sword, she wasn’t at a no-talent level like Kim Min-woo.

No, if anything, it was high.

She had a talent that would at least rank among the top of the ‘fakes’ Cedric had mentioned.

‘The problem is she’s aiming beyond that.’

To reach there, she had to throw away the sword and take up the bow.

But her Class was already Swordsman?

Of course a Swordsman could use a bow too, but naturally there were many restrictions.

To begin with, starting from the Achievement Skills, all the Skills she had gained so far would turn hollow.

And that wasn’t all.

Every time she got a Bound Skill Book in the future, she’d have to weep tears of blood.

Because those were determined to match Level and Class.

She also couldn’t learn archer Skills.

Then why did she have to take up the bow to go higher?

Because there was a way.

A true genius creates Skills even without Skill Books.

Han Si-a, who goes to the Academy, looks at the textbooks, and learns magic in a flash, was an example.

Seo Ye-rim was the same.

Even if she could no longer gain the power of Skill Books, with her talent she could create Skills.

If she looked at a Martial Art manual related to the bow and practiced a bit, it would become a Skill. Or she’d just shoot an arrow with a twang, and a Skill would be generated.

So in the long run, only by holding a bow could she go high.

Of course, there were many hang-ups about saying that right away.

The Seo Ye-rim now was not controlled by a player.

She had a personality and a self, plain and simple.

If he suddenly told her, a girl devoted to her grandfather, to throw away her sword and take up a bow, would she take it kindly?

He hadn’t said anything because there was no need to stir up trouble for now.

‘I did mean to say it someday……’

It was a topic that he should have brought up at least once, if only because of Achievement Points.

Because if Seo Ye-rim held a bow instead of a sword, Achievement Points might pour in.

But he hadn’t wanted to say it in a mood like this.

“Um.”

“……No comfort needed. I…… I know it too.”

“No, that’s not it. Why not just take up the bow?”

“……?”

“Since it’s true you can’t use the sword, let’s not get hurt anymore and just take up the bow.”

Cedric was right.

Clumsy comfort was just deception.

So taking this chance, he had no choice but to throw a blunt shot.