Chapter 73: Underworld Guest (1)

Underworld Guest (1)

He stood in the dark. In his hand, he held the sword with a dragon's heart embedded within it, cutting down the disgusting monsters rising from his shadow.

Godslayer Sword Dance.

The form which bore such a name was unfolding around him in its perfect form. The last time he had seen it was as if it were through foggy glass, but now he was wielding it himself. No, rather, his body was moving it regardless of his own will. Because of that, it was flawless.

'Let's remember.' The structure of his body and the strength of it was completely different from his own. It was perfectly memorized in this body. Each sword swing and footstep, each minor movement of the waist, and where the eyes landed, how the energy flowed from the heart to strengthen it all, it was incomparable to his own practice so far.

'Is it Janus? It probably is.' He couldn't even examine his own face, which made the experience feel stuffy. All he knew was that the master of this body had trained to the extreme and used spiritual power.

'I can feel the flow of the sword mixing with spiritual power. The movement starts in the physical realm but slowly shifts into a realm beyond sight.' It was a transcendent sword that was based on spiritual power. Even a simple motion with no power to back it could produce tremendous results. Swordsmanship that unfolded with spiritual power was an important thing for Kang Shin-hyuk. It wasn't based solely on destructive power, nor was it only a replacement for using mana. It went beyond that, somehow, though he struggled to know how. It started here, the moment when the possibility of pushing his own skills beyond was opened up to him.

-Struggling is useless.

As he tried to interpret the movement of the sword, a voice came from the man's shadow.

-Nothing changes. Because you are here, so are we.

It was the cold voice of a woman. The man put the Godslayer into his own shadow as if to try and cut it off. The dragon heart flashed gold, amplifying the man's spiritual power in the sword. As a result, the power of a dragon that could rival the gods emerged.

'Is the Godslayer originally like that?' In the message that had arrived at him before he lost consciousness, it had said the sword became A-rank and could use a new ability. Probably that new ability was something like this, which utilized the dragon heart at its core.

'But finding the dragon heart again...like that will be easy.' But it wasn't that it had to have the dragon heart as a core. Kang Shin-hyuk didn't have to kill a god in the first place, so maybe it didn't matter if he just found a core that could work to strengthen the sword. As he considered this, a voice cut off his thoughts.

-A fun weapon.

-The last work of a friend, how painful.

The woman's voice came out once more, weakened, and cracking. The shadow burst out, overflowing from all sides. The world shook and became distorted as the Godslayer emitted light to cast out the shadows.

-Janus. Janus. Stop this stupid struggle.

The man refused to listen and plunged the sword deeper into the darkness, causing a huge shock to run through the world.

-You, us...just...

The darkness began to collapse from the blow, reaching its limit. But, in one final act, it swallowed the sword whole.

-Oh.

The man reached out with a voice that recognized his own errors, but there was nothing left for him. In a world where nothing existed but him, he mumbled a curse and placed a hand on his forehead. And Kang Shin-hyuk fell into the darkness with the sword that lost its master. As he fell through the endless dark, filled with a sense of fear, his eyes opened wide.

-You gained some enlightenment while experiencing a profound level of skill. The skill proficiency of Dragon's Fan Dance (S+) has increased to A-rank.

-You've gained a deeper understanding of spiritual power's uses. Spiritual power has grown to A-rank.

"..." Kang Shin-hyuk grabbed the sword and jumped up without time to read the message. He felt like he had to swing the sword right then and there. Fortunately, since moving to the Royal Class, there was a separate room for exercise in his lodgings, so he had no need to leave his room.

-Vwoom

As soon as he entered the spacious training room, the sword began to respond to him. He filled it with his spiritual power but couldn't quite replicate that unique flow he had seen in the dream.

'Fuck, it's difficult.' So far, he had yet to use his spiritual power delicately. He would just let it flow wildly, doing what he had seen in the dream had never occurred to him.

'I can follow the sword movements to an extent...but I need to practice the use of spiritual power to replicate it.' Fortunately, the memory remained vivid in his head. Now he just had to practice to make it possible.

'I thought I had grown quite a bit, but I've only taken one step forward.' Until now, he had been wielding his sword as a pale imitation of that hazy memory. Rather than just wielding his spiritual power as a way to strengthen his sword, he had to learn a proper sword technique that harmonized with his power.

-Thank you, Janus.

-Janus's whisper: What, why so suddenly?

-Thanks to you, I realized I could go further.

-Janus's whisper: Grandpa, is your hair, okay?

Janus replied plainly as always, but Kang Shin-hyuk knew of his greatness. After all, the Hero Universe was a space where people like him gathered.

-Up until now, I was just swinging my sword with spiritual power. But thanks to the memory of you in the sword, I've realized what real swordsmanship is.

-Janus's whisper: What? Are you enjoying my backstory at will? Wait a minute; you read the flow on my spiritual power? It's not like swordsmanship, but...oh, well. What happened?"

Janus seemed to be hesitant.

-Janus's whisper: Yes, let's do it! If grandpa understands my sword, the next one will come out even better!

-Okay, I'll definitely make it someday.

His enthusiasm quickly subsided as he remembered what had just happened. Janus, blissfully unaware, pushed on.

-Janus's whisper: If you have the ability to understand swords, then one day, you might even become stronger than me.

-Understand...

-Janus's whisper: Huh? What is it, grandpa? Did I say something weird?"

-Well.

-Janus's whisper: Oh, right. Someone was looking for you on the free board. I didn't know you had an interest in that stuff.

-Stop acting like I'm a snob.

There were several bulletin boards in the Hero Universe. Among them, Kang Shin-hyuk solely used the transaction board, but other members frequented the free board and the tip board. Kang Shin-hyuk was interested if there was anything there that could help him, but the free board was like a multi-chat, and the tip board had names of monsters and habitats that he couldn't even recognize.

'Like a novel, I thought a master would teach me some special training method or magic.' However, if you thought about it, there was no way he could teach others his own vision or skills. Moreover, the Hero Universe was a place for those who had already proven their abilities. Since it was that sort of place, none dared to learn from others.

'...Well?' Kang Shin-hyuk tilted his head while he thought about it. Something about his previous life in the Hero Universe. Anvil had proved himself as the best blacksmith, and he was a reincarnation of that very same Anvil. Yet he had only recovered his ID upon awakening his spiritual power...

'Well, I don't know.' If it were important, he would remember later. Kang Shin-hyuk checked the tip board, reconfirming none of it was useful to him and laid down in bed. He decided to head over to the other board and found the article looking for him.

[The King of Jijoo is looking for the blacksmith Anvil. Our world desperately needs help!]

Kang Shin-hyuk doubted his own eyes. There was a guy here who courageously used such a childish name. When he checked the comments, it seemed no one else used a silly nickname.

[Ascaldin - If you want to talk to Anvil, you have to buy his work first. Are you new?]

[Miyang - It's been 20 years since Anvil was active, what bullshit is this? Are you making fun of the deceased?]

[Rocky - Get it straight. Anvil started back up again.]

[Miyang - What?! When?!]

[Rocky - Just a while ago. I guess he lost a lot of skills. I still tried to buy his work, but some guy took it with a higher bid.]

[Eunah - I should've bought it. If I catch them, I'll kill them.]

'Eunah...'

[The King of Jijoo - I wanted to contact him somehow, but he didn't post anything new. Does anyone have personal contact with him?]

[Tsukuyo - I think a girl named Eunah should shut her mouth a bit. What's Anvil to you? No, are you a woman?]

[The King of Jijoo - What?]

[Janus - Now, this is funny.]

The comments were cut off there. Kang Shin-hyuk was a bit worried about it but decided he would write a comment.

[Anvil - What is it? I don't think I'll be able to help much with my insufficient ability.]

The reply came right away.

[The King of Jijoo - Oh, thank you! Thank you! I heard that you are the only blacksmith that can perform this dimensional quest! Could you please come to our world?]

[Miyang - What? This crazy newcomer commissioned a quest from this board? How cocky.]

[Rocky - Did the administrator approve it? Wait, can Anvil do dimensional quests? Are you a VIP? Damn it!]

[Janus - Think of the weapons he's sold; of course, he's a VIP. By the way, Jijoo, what are you planning with grandpa Anvil?]

Only

[The King of Jijoo - Our world really needs the help of a blacksmith! We have the resources, so please!]

[Anvil - Dimensional Quest...]

In a world with no blacksmith, they needed the help of one.

"Administrator?"

-It's dangerous. It can be helpful enough for you, but the reason why I didn't offer it...

-Eunah's Whisper: Grandpa, if you're going, go with Eunah! It's dangerous, so don't go alone!

"Well, can I go with Eunah?" It was said that some of the quests allowed for additional Hero Universe members. The administrator replied with a short message.

-Cheh.