Chapter 18

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 18

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At first, it felt as though he had fallen into a deep sleep. His body seemed to float upward, then sink into the depths of deep water.

Gradually, his consciousness rose toward the surface.

Allen slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a clear blue sky without a single cloud.

Where was he?

Allen recalled what had happened moments earlier.

‘I swallowed the fragment, and then—’

His consciousness had suddenly begun to fade, and the next thing he knew, he was here.

Allen examined his surroundings.

He was in a desert filled with sand in every direction. Apart from sand and sky, there was nothing to be seen as far as his eyes could reach.

Was there a wasteland this vast anywhere on the continent?

He was as bewildered as he had been when he first encountered the unknown entity amid pitch-black darkness and iron bars.

Just then, Allen felt the rough texture of sand beneath his feet.

He immediately looked down at them.

Bare feet, without shoes.

And that wasn't all. Allen's entire body was naked.

But what surprised him even more was—

‘This isn't me?’

These weren't his feet.

Startled, he examined his hands, only to discover that they weren't his either.

They were slender, delicate hands without a single callus.

Allen's hands had never been this smooth and soft.

‘What on earth is going on—’

It was then.

[.........]

A voice suddenly sounded.

He couldn't understand what it was saying.

It sounded as though someone were speaking from behind a thick wall.

There was only one thing he knew.

‘The unknown entity.’

The being he had encountered behind those iron bars was trying to speak to him.

Allen strained to hear its voice.

But at that moment—

Whoosh!

A burning heat surged through his heart, and Allen's consciousness suddenly returned.

“Gasp!”

He collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

Before he knew it, his surroundings had returned to normal.

He was atop the altar where he had swallowed the fragment.

Allen was kneeling there.

And at that moment—

Fwoooosh.

A scorching energy seeped into his left eye.

Allen screamed as an excruciating pain, as though his eye were burning in flames, struck him.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

It was this very pain that had brought him back to his senses.

The heat was so intense that he feared his eye might actually melt. It felt as though a piece of red-hot iron were being pressed against it.

Yet despite that agony, the system delivered a welcome message.

[You have obtained the ‘Left Eye of the Unknown Entity.’]

[All stats have increased by 5.]

[You have obtained the ‘Reflecting Eye.’]

_________________

After rolling across the floor for some time while clutching his left eye, Allen finally collapsed limply.

Fortunately, the pain gradually subsided. Drenched in cold sweat, Allen stared at the ceiling and muttered,

“You goddamn bastard...”

It was unclear whom he was addressing.

After all, Allen still didn't know the identity of the being he had named the unknown entity.

But at least his curse wasn't entirely an expression of resentment.

He had gained something in proportion to the pain he had endured.

‘Five points to every stat.’

Even in his exhausted state, he could feel new strength welling up within his body.

The transformation was so tremendous that he almost wondered whether he had consumed the Flower of Stars rather than a fragment.

Moreover, that wasn't all he had obtained.

[Reflecting Eye]

[First Star]

[An eye that sees through the essence of mana.]

The description he read through the system was simple and concise.

An eye that sees through the essence of mana?

The explanation was vague, but there was something he could immediately sense.

Still groaning from the pain, Allen sat up and began cultivating.

His depleted mana began recovering rapidly.

Although his total mana capacity had increased, making his reserves larger, the speed at which his mana replenished through cultivation was now far greater than before.

There was only one reason.

‘I can see it.’

The Reflecting Eye did not merely allow him to see things with his eyes.

Even now, as he recovered his mana through cultivation as usual, he felt as though he could actually see the flow of mana.

How he should circulate his mana to make it more effective and avoid wasting any of it.

Every movement of that flow was clearly visible, as though it possessed a physical form.

It was as if he were sensing mana, which he had previously perceived through only one sense, with all five senses at once. He felt as though he had stepped into a world on an entirely different level.

Only then did he realize something.

‘I've really been using it terribly.’

Allen prided himself on possessing a deeper understanding of swordsmanship than anyone else.

But the same could not be said of mana.

For Allen, who had suffered from the Curse of Mana Deprivation, mana had always been an unknown territory.

Although an enormous amount of mana lay dormant within his body, it had been no different from placing a treasured sword in the hands of a child.

But perhaps thanks to the effects of the Reflecting Eye—

Allen could now perceive the flaws in how he circulated and released his mana, and he began correcting them little by little.

To see something was no different from understanding it.

And when he finally finished cultivating and opened his eyes again—

“...Ah.”

With a quiet exclamation of admiration, Allen's eyes gleamed blue.

Rising to his feet, Allen thrust out his fist.

Bang!

The sound of the air bursting was different. His fist carried far greater power than before.

He drew his sword in an instant and swung it toward the iron door.

Celestial Star Style, Second Form.

Rainstorm.

Whooooosh!

Sword energy poured toward the iron door like a rainstorm, leaving dozens of sword marks across its thick surface.

The speed at which he executed the technique had increased, while its mana consumption had decreased.

Above all, the technique had become far more precise than before.

A bright smile spread across Allen's face.

‘The Celestial Star Style has advanced to the Third Star.’

This wasn't simply a change caused by his increased stats.

After all, obtaining more mana did not automatically raise one's level of mastery.

This change had come from deepening his understanding of mana.

In other words, it was the effect of the Reflecting Eye.

Five points to every stat, the ability called the Reflecting Eye, and even his advancement to the Third Star.

By obtaining a single fragment, Allen felt that he had become considerably stronger than before.

And that wasn't all.

He had discovered the fragment by chance. The reason Allen had originally come here was something else entirely.

Inside the box where the fragment had been embedded—

A small flower that shimmered faintly like a jewel and would never wither.

Allen's eyes sparkled as he looked at the mysterious elixir.

‘The Flower of Stars.’

The legendary elixir was finally in his hands.

“It's nice to meet you, little flower.”

__________________

After giving Baudon emergency treatment with medicine and magic, Yusia waited for Allen in front of the altar.

Baudon had made a fuss about escaping while they had the chance, but Yusia firmly shook her head.

“I haven't even received my payment yet. Are you going to pay me?”

“Well, that... Mikel over there was supposed to...”

“And you're the one who's afraid of Mr. Allen, not me. If you really want to leave, go by yourself.”

“How am I supposed to go anywhere alone in this condition?”

Although they had barely managed to stop the bleeding, Baudon was in no condition to move on his own.

“How was I supposed to know this would happen... Ugh...”

Baudon shuddered as he looked toward the altar with the demon statue. Mikel's corpse still lay there.

When Mikel had transformed into a demonic human, Baudon had truly believed they were all going to die.

But who could have imagined that Mikel would be killed so easily?

The swordsman from Vishken, whom Baudon had only heard about in stories, was far stronger than he had ever imagined.

‘There's only one way.’

In the end, after nervously biting his nails and racking his brain, he came up with only one way to survive.

‘Beg for forgiveness. Beg and beg until my hands might as well be feet!’

What wouldn't he do to stay alive? If he was told to crawl, he would crawl. If he was told to bark, he would bark. He would even eat dirt.

And so he waited anxiously for Allen to return.

How many hours had passed?

The eyes of the demon statue on the altar, which had gone dark, lit up once again.

And in the next instant—

Whoooooosh.

Allen, who had disappeared, reappeared atop the altar.

“Mr. Allen!”

“Y-you've returned, sir! Urgh.”

Baudon sprang to his feet and bowed deeply toward Allen.

The wound in his abdomen reopened, sending pain through his body, but this was no time to worry about that.

“I sincerely apologize for everything I've done! I'm an ignorant fool who failed to recognize the person before me!”

Baudon's voice echoed loudly throughout the cave.

The wound in his abdomen, which had been folded painfully as he bowed, split open again, and blood began seeping out. But he endured the pain for the sake of survival.

‘I have to make a good impression. No matter what!’

His heart pounded wildly.

He felt as though Allen might draw his sword at any moment, approach him, and sever his head while saying, ‘What was it you dared say to me?’

However—

“You'll reopen your wound if you keep doing that.”

The voice of Allen, who had seemed like a demon in Baudon's imagination, sounded unbelievably kind in reality.

Had he misheard?

Baudon raised his head in disbelief and saw Allen's expression.

Allen seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

With his cheerful smile, he looked as though he had everything in the world. It was difficult to believe he was the same swordsman who had cut down the terrifying Mikel in an instant.

Just then, Baudon noticed the shabby pouch hanging from Allen's shoulder.

‘There really was treasure!’

It was a pouch he had never seen before.

But judging from Allen's delighted expression, Baudon could guess what the pouch contained.

And Yusia, being a mage, immediately recognized the pouch Allen was carrying.

“D-don't tell me that's a spatial storage pouch?”

“That's right.”

“Eeeeeek!”

Yusia was so astonished by Allen's answer that she actually screamed.

A spatial storage pouch.

An artifact enchanted with spatial expansion magic, a spell of the highest rank.

Not only was a spatial storage pouch worth whatever price its owner demanded, but obtaining one was nearly impossible in the first place.

“I've never seen one in person before. Wow, that's incredible...”

“How much were you promised for this expedition, Miss Yusia?”

“Five gold if there was no treasure, and twenty gold if we found any.”

“Then it's twenty gold now.”

Allen reached into his pouch and pulled out a round gemstone.

It was a large, finely cut gem, impressive even at a glance.

“Here you are. You should be able to get more than fifty gold for it.”

“N-no! If it weren't for you, Master Allen, I would have been killed by that demonic human too. I couldn't possibly accept something like this on top of everything else.”

“I've already taken plenty. Besides, I'm taking that man's share as well, so this is my gift to you.”

Having said that, Allen approached Baudon.

Baudon, who had been staring blankly at Allen's spatial storage pouch, flinched and lowered his head.

He tried his best to avoid drawing Allen's attention. He hoped Allen would simply be satisfied with his spatial storage pouch and walk past him.

‘I'm air. I'm a rock. I'm...’

It was then.

“What are you doing? Aren't you going to take it?”

Startled by Allen's voice, Baudon raised his head, his eyes widening.

“Y-yes? Pardon?”

“Take it. You'll need money for your treatment.”

What Allen held out to Baudon was a small lump of gold.

It was large enough to be worth at least ten gold coins.

When gold came toward him instead of a sword, Baudon felt all the tension drain from his body.

The money was welcome, but right now, the fact that he had survived was far more important.

“A-are you sparing my life?”

“It was despicable of you to try to steal credit for someone else's accomplishments, but that's not a crime serious enough to deserve death.”

Allen placed the gold in Baudon's large hand and patted him on the shoulder.

“But from now on, live without being so greedy. Your desire to earn just a little more money might cause you to cross paths with someone truly dangerous. You're not still feeling greedy, are you?”

“N-no, sir! Of course not!”

No matter how greedy Baudon was, he understood the situation he was in.

After all, it was Allen who had uncovered the dungeon's secret and eliminated the dangerous demonic human.

Without him, clearing the dungeon would have been impossible, and the entire party would have been wiped out.

Wasn't it already fortunate enough that they could leave with a piece of gold or a gemstone each?

“Then let's get out of here.”

With the light but generously filled pouch slung over his shoulder, Allen smiled broadly.

“I'm rather busy.”