Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Swordsmanship Genius Who Transcends Through a Pact Chapter 6

After dispatching the Snowfield Wolfbears in an instant, one thing became increasingly obvious as I fought them one by one.

‘Easy.’

They were strangely easy to deal with.

Considering their reputation as newbie killers, and how frequently encountering them early in the game resulted in death rather than an easy victory...

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. This is great.”

Only now could I truly feel how much I'd grown.

My growth had been steeper than in any game run I'd ever experienced.

“I think I understand what you meant about developing real combat instincts.”

How the enemy moves, and how I need to respond.

I had to move while thinking about all of it.

‘And these guys use mana too.’

I paused to think while watching how naturally they used mana.

-More, more! Kill them and take their blood!

Exactly what you'd expect from a blood-crazed iron sword.

‘At least it isn't some demonic sword.’

Well, I agreed that we needed to kill them.

Fighting these beasts seemed like it could help me sense mana as well.

“I should keep at it for a while.”

“Hah. You're training even out here?”

I smiled lightly at the soldier's exhausted expression.

“What are you talking about? You're training too.”

“...What?”

“Do you think we're done once we clear the dungeon? Obviously we should deal with anything nearby that might pose a threat as well.”

The soldiers' expressions changed at those words.

They looked exactly like they had back when they first sparred with me.

Without hesitation, I led them into a hunt for Snowfield Wolfbears.

Cut.

And cut again.

We eliminated every aggressive beast we encountered.

After several hours had passed.

“Hah, haa, please, that's enough...”

“Tsk. Shame.”

“Young Master, the soldiers are exhausted.”

“Still, I guess all that training together wasn't wasted.”

Aside from fatigue, we'd suffered practically no damage.

Compared to before, their actual skill had clearly improved.

‘Improving the soldiers is important too.’

There was no way I could stop the massive northern invasion with my strength alone.

Besides, these soldiers would eventually become the force protecting the territory.

They were useful in plenty of ways.

-Amazing! So much blood!

-Hehehe, I'm satisfied.

And that wasn't all.

I continued sharpening my combat instincts while also trying to sense mana.

‘Not easy.’

I could vaguely tell that something was different, but I still couldn't quite grasp it.

[You have successfully completed your Pact with the Blood-Crazed Iron Sword (Normal).]

[The proficiency of ‘Cold Heart (C+)’ has increased.]

Still, it wasn't as though I'd gained nothing.

As the proficiency increased, my understanding of the skill deepened as well.

It would take some time to completely internalize that understanding...

‘But I just have to keep doing this.’

Northern Swordsmanship, then Frost Step.

Once proficiency reached a high enough level, I was able to embody them directly through my body.

“Hoo. Looks like we've cleared almost all the demonic beasts nearby.”

“At this point, I'd call it a massacre.”

I slowly looked around.

It wasn't only Snowfield Wolfbears. There were also common low-level monsters like goblins and slimes.

Every one of them lay cold on the ground.

“All right. Let's collect the loot and rest.”

Snowfield Wolfbear pelts were tough and durable, making them quite valuable.

And there was plenty worth harvesting from the other monsters too.

“Hmm. So, what do you think of my combat instincts?”

“Better than I expected. Most people would be nervous in their first real battle.”

I hadn't exactly asked for praise, but hearing I was doing well still felt good.

At this level, there shouldn't be much trouble once we entered the dungeon.

With that thought, we continued toward its location.

“Is this it?”

“The amount of mana contained within the dungeon itself appears ordinary.”

Hearing the relief in his voice, I glanced around.

“Everyone ready?”

After collecting the spoils and taking a short rest, the soldiers looked better than before.

“Yes!”

“Then let's enter.”

With the soldiers and Tarian, I stood before the enormous gate.

A massive iron door had appeared in the middle of the snowy wilderness, surrounded by dense trees.

We slowly opened it and stepped inside.

“What kind of atmosphere is this...”

The moment we entered the dungeon, a chill swept through my entire body.

I'd thought I'd grown accustomed to the cold after spending time in the North, but this felt different.

‘Completely different.’

In the game, entering this place came with descriptions of suffocating demonic energy.

But the aura I felt now wasn't the same.

‘Death.’

An atmosphere perfectly suited to a place called the Tomb of the Ancient Warriors.

“Tarian.”

“Yes.”

“Unless it's actually dangerous, don't interfere.”

“...Understood.”

Apparently he'd fully figured out my personality by now, because Tarian nodded without protest.

Satisfied, I slowly continued forward.

Before long, a large chamber came into view.

Several stone coffins were lined up inside.

“Young Master.”

“Yeah.”

The coffins looked suspicious at a glance. Remembering what enemies would emerge from them, I immediately gripped my sword.

The moment I stepped closer.

Grrrrr—

The stone coffins opened, and something white rose from inside.

“Skeletons?”

“S-Skeletons!”

Skeletons.

Monsters whose bones moved through magical power supplied by a core.

Unless the core was destroyed, they were troublesome creatures that continued regenerating until its mana was exhausted.

The soldier sounded shocked, but I was even more surprised.

‘Skeletons?’

Looking more closely, I could see circular cores embedded around their chests.

“That seems to be the core.”

“Looks like it.”

There were only five of them.

But each carried a different weapon.

‘Sword, bow, spear, axe, and hammer?’

I couldn't help laughing at the sight.

I was surprised, but pleasantly so.

-Judging by their stances, they're proper northern warriors.

-Can you defeat them in a fair fight?

[Defeat the skeletons alongside the Heavy Northern Iron Sword (Normal)]

[0/1]

“Skeletons in my first dungeon. I like it.”

“You like it? Skeletons are monsters most people hate. Unless you destroy their cores they keep reviving, and they sometimes retain memories from when they were alive... Don't tell me?”

Tarian trailed off and stared at me in surprise.

I chuckled.

Shouldn't he be used to me by now?

“If they keep reviving, doesn't that mean I can keep fighting them?”

“Hah. Young Master, you really are insa—no, a genius.”

“Didn't you basically say it anyway?”

The perfect training dummies that wouldn't break were right in front of me.

The enemies before me started looking like nothing but experience points.

Without hesitation, I charged toward the sword-wielding skeleton.

Clang-

It blocked easily.

I'd expected that, so I used Frost Step to slip to the side.

At the same instant, an arrow buried itself in the spot where I'd been standing.

“Oh.”

They definitely weren't easy opponents.

But neither were they impossible.

If this were the game, they would've possessed proper flesh and attacked infused with demonic energy.

Right now, they didn't.

“This is fun!”

I dodged a spear thrust with Frost Step, then drove my sword toward the neck of the axe-wielding skeleton as it raised its weapon for a heavy swing.

Crunch!

Bone shattered, and the skeleton's head went flying.

Judging by the result, it seemed regeneration took quite a while.

“S-Sir Knight. Shouldn't we help him...?”

“The Young Master?”

“Ah. Hmm. Right.”

I could see the soldiers and Tarian talking among themselves in the distance.

I couldn't really hear what they were saying.

Just enough tension.

A heated body.

And opponents that refused to stay down.

‘Perfect.’

These were ideal training conditions.

A massive axe came down as though to split me apart, a spear stabbed into my opening, and a sword collided with mine head-on.

Arrows flew between them as well.

‘The archer.’

I immediately chose my target and moved to eliminate it.

I slid across the floor, firmly enduring and deflecting the incoming attacks.

‘Two.’

Then I dismantled the limbs of the archer skeleton before me.

Unlike before, I had no problems with stamina or strength.

The only disappointment was.

‘I still can't sense mana.’

I knew they were reviving through the mana in their cores, but I had no idea how those cores actually worked.

Still, it wasn't a problem.

‘If I can't do it, I'll keep trying until I can.’

I simply had to repeat what I'd always done.

I knocked aside the spear and cut off both arms.

I met the sword head-on, then split its skull vertically.

I chopped straight through the shaft of the axe.

“Hoo...”

Then I looked down at the skeletons scattered around me.

Judging by the hammer skeleton whose bones were only now beginning to reconnect, they really did need quite a while to regenerate.

“Well done, Young Master.”

“Hah. I knew you were impressive, but still...”

Tarian praised me while the soldiers stared in awe.

I shrugged.

Still keeping my guard up, I backed away and asked Tarian.

“Think we can take these guys home?”

“Are you telling me you still aren't satisfied?”

Tarian looked at me as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

I inspected the skeletons.

“No, I just thought that if they keep regenerating like this, they'd be better than ordinary training dummies.”

“Skeletons as moving training dummies...? Then what exactly have you been calling everything we've done until now...”

“But if we take those home, doesn't that mean we won't have to spar with each other for a while?”

“That's true! You're a genius!”

The soldiers whispered among themselves, their expressions brightening.

“The mana will probably run out eventually, and then they'll stop regenerating.”

“...”

But at Tarian's words, the soldiers immediately sank into despair.

“So that means we can still use them for a while, right?”

Tarian pressed a hand to his forehead.

“There's something I want to confirm here first.”

“What is it?”

“Mana. I think I'm beginning to get a sense of it.”

The skeletons couldn't manifest aura or anything like that, but they were naturally using mana.

In particular, it felt as though the mana in their cores was strengthening their bodies.

“To understand that clearly...”

I would only know after fighting them all the way to the end.