novelraw Chapter 130 : Chapter 130
Chapter 130 : Chapter 130
Chapter 130 : I'm Not Trash…
- It is right to start the search before the Inquisitors arrive. But before that, shouldn't we check your condition?
- Others can handle the search.
"Hup!"
I inhale, chasing away the idle thoughts.
Thump.
With a lightly placed foot, my heavy weight shifts.
As the giant greatsword is swung horizontally in an instant, a black line wreathed in gray flames is drawn in the air.
Flash.
Paaaaaang!
Kwakwakwakwakwa.
"Hoo…."
As soon as the Wind Slicer's strike creates a small storm inside the training ground.
Thump.
The opposite foot steps forward again with an indrawn breath.
'Now….'
My body, wrapped in the gray flames of mana, accelerates to its fullest, swinging a second consecutive strike before the aftereffects of the first have even dissipated.
Flash.
The greatsword, swung in the opposite direction of the first, once again draws a line of gray flame in the space where the trace of Wind Slicer still lingered.
Shhnnk.
A gray semicircle that wrapped around a radius of about twenty meters revealed a distinct presence as if it were consuming space, and then.
Kwaaang!
With a feeling of the air exploding rather than being pushed away, it created a much larger repercussion than the previous one.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwa.
A strike of Space Slicer.
The secret art of the Drasen family, which went beyond cutting the wind to finally severing space itself, had succeeded in a consecutive strike.
'Good.'
A smile formed on Muno's face as he saw the result.
The two sword strikes had improved significantly compared to before, but he wasn't satisfied with just their power.
'I drastically reduced the calorie consumption. I succeeded in converting most of it to mana consumption.'
And he was even using Acceleration now.
He had almost completely offset the disadvantage of the Drasen Greatswordmanship, where his body was extremely worn out every time he used the secret art.
On top of that.
Chwaaaak.
A chain that shot out the moment he extended his hand.
A single chain crossed the wide knightly order's training ground and stopped at the far end of the opposite wall.
Paaaaaang!
Brrrrr.
The power contained within it had also increased, but the increased range was more surprising.
'Almost 100m….'
At this rate, he felt he might not need a separate mid-range weapon.
Moreover, the chain wasn't limited to just that kind of use.
Thump.
The moment he stepped forward and charged, a chain that shot up from his ankle instantly pushed his body up to the ceiling.
Thud. Thud.
Cruuunch.
The chains that shot out from his four limbs successively embedded themselves in the low ceiling of the spacious training ground, aiding his three-dimensional maneuvers.
Since it could be used like this even in a place with a low ceiling, it seemed like a semi-aerial battle would be possible in an open field.
Of course, only in his imagination.
'Damn it, my weight.'
Muno's face reddened slightly as he recalled the disgraceful display he had shown in the morning when he tried to test that imagination in the field.
Unlike the training ground, which was paved with uniform and hard stone slabs, the field ground was a mix of stones and soft earth.
How many times had he tried to jump into the air 멋들어지게, only to fly off in an unexpected direction?
It was a side effect of his armor and body's weight more than doubling again during the fourth evolution.
Now he was practically a lump of iron in the shape of a human... no, it felt much heavier than that.
Of course, considering that weight was directly linked to destructive power, it wasn't all bad.
Even that drawback.
"Wow! Amazing! Sir Muno!"
Clap, clap, clap.
To those like Rauel, who were watching his three-dimensional maneuvers in the training ground, it would sound like a well-fed person's grumbling.
'I find that more amazing.'
Rauel, who not only planted an arrow in the dead center of a target 100 meters away but also fired a succession of new arrows that split the previous one and embedded themselves.
Recalling that feat, Muno smirked and landed right in front of her.
Kuuung.
"…Are you all done?"
"Yes. For me, well, tuning is easy."
"Then how about a sparring match with me?"
At those words, Rauel's expression crumpled.
"You know. The matchup is just too bad."
Her abilities certainly had a special quality that was unmatched, but her matchup with him was the worst.
Even though Rauel was of a higher class, he couldn't picture himself losing even if there were ten of her.
"I won't use my metal control."
"The same goes for that helmet. The only places to aim for are the lower face and the eyes."
"Then I won't use the helmet either."
Sshk.
As he naturally took off his helmet and pestered her one more time, Rauel let out a deep sigh.
"Still. no. way. Due to the nature of my techniques, sparring is meaningless for me. It might be different if it were a life-or-death battle."
Tsk.
Rauel was right.
Her fighting style, true to her assassin background, was to aim for a fatal blow centered on sniping.
It wasn't a style that was suited for sparring in the first place.
Of course, Muno thought they could exchange blows somehow, but since she was so against it.
"Tsk. Can't be helped."
It didn't really matter.
He had also almost finished tuning his evolved body with the current practice.
It felt as if the fierce battle he had experienced right after evolving had filled the experience points his changed body had demanded.
"It's difficult to test the other things…."
Scratch, scratch.
The new spells, 'Giant's Blade' and 'Iron Wall', would require him to crush all the weapons in the training ground to practice.
'Money is always the problem.'
It was an issue he would have to experiment with through repeated real battles.
Then, his gaze happened to land on his left gauntlet, which felt even harder than his right hand.
And something he had forgotten came to mind anew.
"Ah!"
Woong.
Mana was immediately operated.
At that, a small crossbow popped out from above the back of his left hand.
A small crossbow shimmering with an auspicious gray light, loaded with three arrows simultaneously.
"Damn it…."
The artifact gifted by Count Enoch Trian, Headshot.
"…How stupid of me to forget this."
It was probably because he wasn't used to it.
Since it was a weapon normally hidden inside the gauntlet, it hadn't caught his eye in urgent situations, so he had probably just used the techniques he was used to repeatedly.
He had forgotten the fact that he even had such a weapon.
"What a waste of a treasure. Hah…."
A hollow laugh escaped him as he examined it carefully, but.
'It's definitely an outstanding item….'
Nevertheless, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a bit of a white elephant.
It was said to be able to pierce a steel plate from 300m away, wasn't it?
But whether it was a bow or a crossbow, it was a weapon he wasn't familiar with, and.
'My chains can now reach 100m.'
Compared to the chains that he could use like his own limbs, its versatility was questionable.
'How can I use this effectively in battle?'
As he was engrossed in that thought, he suddenly felt a gaze staring intently at the back of his hand.
"…Rauel?"
"Ah, no! It's just that the artifact is cool…."
Rauel waved her hands dismissively, but her gaze was still fixed on Headshot.
Come to think of it.
"You can handle mana now, right?"
"Yes? Yes! For now, just a little bit. You saw."
"Yeah. I'm saying this because I saw. Wait a minute…."
Rauel's specialty was sniping. And the mana she had come to use only after reaching the 5-Star level was blue, non-elemental mana.
Anyone could use a non-elemental artifact.
And a non-elemental mana user 'can' use an artifact of any element.
As long as they supply the mana of the element required by that artifact.
'Though the efficiency would drop….'
It meant that it wasn't impossible for her to use Headshot.
On top of that, considering Rauel's trait, 'The Piercer', which he had heard about while tuning today, a drop in mana efficiency was not a problem.
'The master was right here.'
Thinking so, Muno casually tested her.
"Want this?"
"Ah, no. How could I possibly receive such a treasure…!"
Rauel waved her hands again, but the drool trickling down the corner of her mouth was honest.
Slurp.
"Ah. Th-this is because I'm, I'm hungry…. Yes, that's it!"
"We ate before coming to the training ground."
"I'm more of a pig than I look…."
Seeing her make excuses while putting herself down made him laugh even more, and he wanted to play a prank on her.
"Really? I was thinking of giving it to you if you asked. But since you hate it so much…."
"Ah, no!"
"Huh?"
"Th-that is, it's more than I deserve, but if you give it to me, I might accept it…. No, I mean, I'm sorry, I'm shameless…. No, but I still want it…."
It felt like her inner desire and reason were at war.
She began to ramble, her pretty gray eyes darting back and forth.
It was truly ironic that a woman who was a former assassin would show such a cute side.
Of course, it wasn't bad.
"Well, alright. I decided to hire you but haven't paid you a wage yet, so let's call it even with this. Deal?"
"Yes? Yes!? Deal! Absolutely a deal!!"
Muno smirked at Rauel's passionate reaction.
It was a matter of course.
The value of an artifact like this would be at least several thousand gold coins.
A house in the expensive central district of Ironheart, no, several houses…….
‘No, is thinking like this too materialistic?’
Anyway, it meant that it was more than enough as a hiring fee.
Tang.
Muno detached Headshot, which was stuck to his armor as if it didn't want to leave, and threw it to Rauel.
"You'll have to make and carry small arrows. If you wrap a metal bracer around your arm, it will usually be absorbed into it to increase its strength…."
"I know! I was next to you when you got that, Sir Muno!"
"Ah…."
Rauel, who joyfully caught Headshot, immediately equipped it on her left bracer.
And.
Woooooong.
It took some time, but she succeeded in absorbing it into it as well.
"Hyaaa…!"
Right after that.
Woong.
Tak.
Woong.
A smile never left Rauel's face as she practiced summoning and storing Headshot repeatedly.
And Muno, who was watching her, was also smiling similarly.
‘Looking at her like this, she can be quite pure.’
Was it because she had lived trapped in a narrow worldview until now?
Seeing her, who used to call herself a tool and whatnot, show such an innocent side at times made him feel strangely pleased.
It also made her look even prettier, so sometimes, more than Karina…….
‘Gasp!?’
Startled by his own thoughts, Muno slapped his own cheek with a 'slap!' without realizing it.
"Aghh…."
"Sir Muno?"
"Ugh…. Ah, it's nothing."
"Are you okay?"
The face that had come right in front of him in an instant and was looking at him with worried eyes was even more burdensome.
So.
"Ah, ah. I'm a little sleepy. I think there was a mosquito, too."
"…Yes?"
He turned his gaze away while spouting nonsense.
While doing so, Muno recited a spell inwardly with a feeling almost like a prayer.
'I am not trash. I am not trash….'
He hadn't done anything directly yet, but to have such idle thoughts when he had an implicitly promised future lover(?)
"Sir Muno, did something go wrong during your evolution?"
Ugh.
As Rauel placed her hand on his forehead as if to check his temperature.
His face turned red for no reason.
‘I must endure. I must endure….’
As I shut my eyes tightly from the guilt.
"I have to endure…."
"Yes?"
Damn it…….
I was startled once again by the words that had slipped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
- Sir Muno!!
Thud. Thud.
A voice of salvation was heard from outside the training ground.
After a short break, the time to chase the enemy had returned.