#55. Back There Again

#55. Back There Again

For humanity, Gates were both a disaster and a blessing.

Not only did they provide new territory, but also various resources, including iron ore and rare-earth elements, as well as enormous quantities of mana stones.

That was why countless countries refused to close the Gates completely despite the constant loss of human lives.

There were also rewards that rarely appeared when a Gate boss or its core was destroyed.

“This is...”

What emerged from the box was a sword with a beautiful, blue-tinged blade.

Its size and shape were similar to those of the straight sword I was currently using, but the overall design was different.

The mana stone set into the pommel was particularly eye-catching.

“It’s an artificial artifact called ‘Gilenium.’”

Thanks to the magical revolution that took place in Europe long ago, humanity learned to utilize the magical power contained within mana stones, and the tools created through that process were collectively known as magic tools.

Unlike such magic tools, artifacts could only be obtained from Gates or boss-class magical beasts, making them extremely expensive and exceedingly rare.

Around a hundred years ago, several magic engineers and blacksmiths lamented this scarcity, joined forces, and created the first artificial artifact in human history.

Of course, its performance was somewhat inferior to that of a conventional artifact, but it was also true that its performance was incomparably superior to that of existing magic tools.

“It was originally being stored in our family’s vault, but as you know, there’s no one in our family who uses a sword. Hye-na told me that you used both swordsmanship and magic inside the Gate. Do you like it?”

“...”

When I gripped the hilt, an excellent grip that far surpassed that of my old straight sword welcomed my hand.

It was slightly heavier than a straight sword, but not enough to be burdensome.

If anything, I preferred something with this much weight to it.

“You seem to like it.”

Choi Yeong-ok wore a pleased smile as she watched Kang Hyeon-woo, who was completely absorbed in examining the sword from every angle.

If she put the sword up for auction right away, it would easily fetch hundreds of billions of won.

Even so, Choi Yeong-ok didn’t feel the slightest regret.

If it meant repaying the man who had saved her granddaughter, she was willing to give him something even more expensive.

The reason she had decided to give Gilenium to Kang Hyeon-woo was that she felt his talent for swordsmanship would be a terrible waste otherwise.

It was virtually impossible for a second-circle mage to serve as the vanguard in a B-rank Gate.

Yet he had accomplished something even C-rank warrior-type Hunters would have struggled with.

Even taking into account that the party had not been a normal one and that the burden on the vanguard had therefore been lighter, this achievement rivaled the feat of reaching the second circle in just two weeks.

Displaying that level of talent in both swordsmanship and magic was extremely unusual.

Even if someone had talent to begin with, pursuing mastery in one while simultaneously practicing the other was an extraordinarily arrogant undertaking.

With ordinary talent, one would merely become a failed product who was good at neither.

Yet Kang Hyeon-woo had not only achieved the feat of reaching the second circle in a short time; he had now demonstrated talent and skill as a swordsman as well.

A second-circle mage alone wouldn’t be able to defeat a C-rank magical beast, and conversely, a swordsman of comparable ability wouldn’t be able to handle one alone either.

Nevertheless, he had been able to hunt C-rank magical beasts by himself because magic and swordsmanship had produced a synergistic effect.

It was fair to say that he had already taken his first step toward becoming a magic swordsman.

“Thanks to the mana stone embedded in its pommel, Gilenium will serve as a magical medium even better than most wands. In addition, its mithril blade is sharp and durable enough to cut through the bones of C-rank and higher magical beasts. Judging solely by its performance as a sword, it’s no worse than most famed blades.”

However, magic swordsmen were effectively an obsolete profession.

Pursuing both swordsmanship and magic with anything less than extraordinary talent was little different from digging one’s own grave.

Thus, as the times came to emphasize selection and focus, true magic swordsmen naturally disappeared.

“Mr. Hyeon-woo.”

There was something she absolutely had to tell him as he prepared to walk such a thorny path.

Even if it amounted to meddling, she had to tell him in order to repay at least a little of the debt she owed him.

“Becoming a magic swordsman is an extremely arduous path.”

Finding a teacher of magic and a teacher of swordsmanship wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible either.

However, finding a teacher as a magic swordsman was close to impossible.

For one thing, there was no one in Korea who had reached a high level as a magic swordsman. Moreover, the magic swordsmen overseas had built a closed society of their own, so without any connections, it would be difficult for him to obtain even proper information, much less find a teacher.

That meant Kang Hyeon-woo would have to reach the level of weaving magic and swordsmanship together on his own, without a suitable teacher, and become a magic swordsman. She could say with certainty that it was impossible.

“Even after devoting their entire lives to magic, only a tiny number of people reach the sixth circle. Swordsmanship is the same. Those capable of using sword aura aren’t respected for nothing.”

Choi Yeong-ok wanted to stop him.

She wanted to tell him how important it was to choose one path and focus on it.

To exaggerate only slightly, he had been born with the talent to become both a grand mage and a sword master.

She hoped he wouldn’t waste such talent.

Even if that meant giving up magic and becoming a swordsman.

Yet despite Choi Yeong-ok’s heartfelt concern, Kang Hyeon-woo didn’t so much as change his expression after hearing everything she had said.

“...I’m going to be a mage, though?”

What the hell was that old lady talking about?

Why was she suddenly bringing up magic swordsmen?

Did I look crazy enough to choose a profession that only people with middle-school syndrome wanted?

While mages had the enormous backing of the Mage Tower, swordsmen and magic swordsmen had nothing like that.

‘There’s a massive corporation called the Mage Tower right there. Why the hell would I?’

You could dress it up as being a lone wolf, but in reality, they were no different from jobless bums whose only affiliation was the Hunter Association.

“Is that really true?”

“I’m a mage to the bone.”

Swordsmanship was strictly for self-defense.

As I had said before, I was absolutely not fated to sit comfortably in the back and fire off magic.

Between the underground dungeon and this Gate incident, I had decided that I needed to be capable of handling the vanguard to some extent on my own, which was why I was learning swordsmanship. I had no intention of taking it any further than that.

Of course, if I could whip out sword aura like the dojo master, I would seriously consider it, but who knew?

At Kang Hyeon-woo’s response, Choi Yeong-ok wore a smile she couldn’t hide.

In truth, whether he chose the path of a mage or a swordsman, or even stubbornly declared that he intended to become a magic swordsman, Choi Yeong-ok planned to support him.

After all, nothing was more important than his own wishes.

Even so, she couldn’t help feeling pleased by the confidence in the voice of her prospective grandson-in-law as he boldly declared his goal of becoming a mage.

“Mr. Hyeon-woo, could you wait a moment?”

It was a grandmother’s instinct to want to give even more to such a fine future grandson-in-law.

***

The chaotic banquet at the Seongbuk Choi family had already become a story from a week ago, and today, as always, I was swinging a sword at the dojo.

Quite a lot had happened over the course of the week.

The media, which had been churning out articles about the isolated Gate almost every day, had gone quiet.

I didn’t know why, but I cautiously guessed that the higher-ups, including the Seongbuk Choi family, might have intervened.

With the news quiet, public interest naturally faded as well, and the week I had spent in that perilous Gate began to feel as though nothing much had happened.

I had done all sorts of things to survive, so I felt a little bitter and relieved at the same time, but what bothered me more was that Choi Hye-na hadn’t contacted me even once over the past week.

-I’m pregnant, so take responsibility.

After suddenly frightening me with a pregnancy attack, she had gone quiet for a week, which made me feel nervous for no reason.

But I didn’t have the courage to contact her, so I had no choice but to wait for her to reach out.

It had been a mentally complicated week, but I felt relatively at ease whenever I swung my sword or meditated, as I was now.

Perhaps because of that, I naturally ended up spending the week devoted to training in magic and swordsmanship.

Smack!

“Your wrist’s stiffening again.”

As time passed, not only did my stamina and muscles improve, but the time it took me to swing the sword ten thousand times grew shorter as well.

Of course, since I also had to cut and thrust, it actually took a little over six hours to complete thirty thousand strokes.

As a result, my hands were covered in blisters.

However, the blisters had burst and turned into calluses, making it much easier to grip the sword than before.

Moreover, with my increased stamina, I was able to concentrate much better during meditation.

Although I hadn’t found a clue leading to the third circle, my overall ability seemed to have nearly doubled compared to when I escaped the Gate.

‘At this rate...’

I was confident that I could easily face the Lizard Warrior, the gatekeeper of the first floor of the underground dungeon.

Once I had that confidence, I found myself smiling without realizing it.

Just as strengthening one’s character in a game motivated one to play harder, reality worked the same way.

“...Did I push him too hard? This is the first time I’ve seen someone smile while training.”

“I’m smiling because Master is so pretty.”

Jeon Seo-ha let out a deep sigh inwardly as she watched Kang Hyeon-woo swing a wooden sword with a silly grin on his face.

Over the past week, her assessment of Kang Hyeon-woo had been that he was unquestionably exceptionally talented, but strange overall.

No matter how much she hit him, he immediately called her Master, and hitting him more would only make her arm hurt.

“I’m done with thirty thousand! Can I go now?”

Instead of answering, Jeon Seo-ha waved her hand halfheartedly.

Having grown accustomed to her indifferent response over the past week, Kang Hyeon-woo didn’t say anything more and quickly headed for the changing room.

Even after changing his clothes and coming back out, Jeon Seo-ha was still leaning against a corner of the dojo, staring blankly.

She was always like that except when she was teaching him.

She didn’t seem to use a phone or have any hobbies like other people.

She simply sat there endlessly guarding the dojo.

She didn’t even seem interested in attracting members by handing out flyers or anything.

After watching Jeon Seo-ha like that for a week, Kang Hyeon-woo felt a sense of kinship with her.

He had glimpsed his own past in Jeon Seo-ha’s eyes.

She looked like someone with no particular goal or desire in life, living vacantly simply because she was still breathing.

Although they had never had a personal conversation, it was undeniable that he had grown somewhat attached to her over the week.

“Anyone who saw you would think you were an abandoned dog locked in a shelter.”

Jeon Seo-ha looked up at Kang Hyeon-woo.

The lifeless gaze of Jeon Seo-ha, seen up close, stirred memories of Kang Hyeon-woo’s own past.

“Here.”

“...?”

Jeon Seo-ha was looking at Kang Hyeon-woo as though asking why he was still lingering instead of leaving when something wrapped in paper dropped in front of her.

It was jerky made for beastkin.

And it wasn’t cheap stuff, but a fairly high-end brand sold at department stores.

“You don’t seem to eat properly, so I bought this for you.”

“I don’t need it.”

“It can’t be returned, so throw it away if you don’t want to eat it.”

With that, Kang Hyeon-woo left.

Left alone, Jeon Seo-ha stared intently at the jerky.

It smelled good.

“...What a pointless thing to do.”

Except when teaching him, Jeon Seo-ha kept her words to an extreme minimum. On this rare occasion, she inspected the jerky while muttering various things to herself.

Most of her thoughts concerned Kang Hyeon-woo and the jerky.

Even so, the dojo was so quiet after Kang Hyeon-woo left that her muttering couldn’t possibly fill it.

It was strange.

Although a full week had already passed since he registered at the dojo, she had never once felt this way during that time.

Frowning at the strange emotion, Jeon Seo-ha quietly brought the jerky to her mouth.

Crunch-

It was salty and delicious.

***

After hurrying home, I took the sword I had carefully stored in my inventory out as usual.

‘Damn, look at that.’

It was Gilenium, the artificial artifact Choi Yeong-ok had given me as a reward a week ago.

[Information on the newly acquired item is being collected]

[Gilenium]

[Grade: Epic]

[Swordsmanship effects increase]

[Swordsmanship power increases]

[Cutting power increases]

[It contains a faint anti-magic aura]

[Magic power increases]

[Magic casting time decreases]

Even though I looked at it every day, I never got tired of it.

It always seemed new.

Whenever I held Gilenium, I felt like fighting so strongly that I wondered whether I had always been such a battle maniac.

Honestly, even though it was a reward, I had never imagined I would receive something this expensive.

I hadn’t even tried it yet, but I already knew how enormous an advantage it was to be able to use magic while swinging a sword, just as I would with a wand.

This was the power of gear.

“You’re dead.”

[Name: Iris Lemeria Baiart Pelledia]

[Age: 524]

[Species: High Elf]

[Affiliation: EB-17]

[Occupation: Grand Mage]

[Disposition: Saintly, Pacifist, Devoted, Vegetarian······]

[Would you like to rematch?]

[Y/N]

My mind was filled with only one thought.

Beat the crap out of that shitty lizard and go see Iris as soon as possible.