The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 126

As Lee Shin hummed a tune and went to the [Tarka] clan, the orcs noticed his arrival and waved their hands.

"Ooh, it's the human who fought the master back then! It's been a while."

"Ah, I remember! That was fun!"

"You gave us plenty of alcohol and meat! That was great."

"Right, when the other two left, this guy came in."

"Hey! How about a fight with me?"

The orcs, who had recalled the heat of battle they had forgotten through their fights with Eun Yeonwoo and Lee Hyunseok, were full of vitality.

"Yeah, yeah, let's do it later~ But do you know where Tarka is?"

"Hm? You mean the clan master? The clan master is probably in the middle of training right now."

"Where is that?"

"That way. If you keep going, you'll see the biggest building, and if you look in the backyard of that place, he'll be there."

Lee Shin gave a perfunctory wave to the orc who had shown him the way and walked to the place the orc had told him.

The orc village itself wasn't that big, so he was able to find it quickly.

Hwoooong-! Hwoooong-!

As the orc had said, Tarka was in the middle of training, swinging his greatsword.

He was slowly swinging the greatsword once at a time, cutting through the air, and as I quietly watched him, the memories of fighting Tarka until I was a bloody mess came back to me.

'That was fun back then.'

While Lee Shin was on his trip down memory lane, Tarka, who had noticed his arrival, stopped swinging his greatsword and smiled lightly at him.

"It's been a while."

In his tone towards Lee Shin, there was a mix of friendliness and goodwill.

But unlike his tone, Tarka's body was so ferocious that the term "living weapon" seemed fitting.

His huge body, which would have been believable even if he were called a troll instead of an orc, was filled with writhing, angry muscles, and something like steam was rising from it.

"Were you training?"

Even in front of Tarka, whose appearance would not be strange for an ordinary person to faint just by seeing, Lee Shin acted as usual, as if nothing was wrong.

"Yes, ever since I fought you, my combat instincts have been constantly rising, so I'm relieving them through training."

Tarka, who chuckled at Lee Shin's appearance, poured the water from a gourd over himself to wipe away the sweat.

Then, he looked at Lee Shin as if appraising an object.

"It seems you haven't been just playing around all this time. Did you gain something?"

"Well, I was certainly able to get a sense of which direction to go. It's a bit ambiguous to call it a fortuitous encounter, though."

At Lee Shin's words, Tarka chuckled.

"Just knowing the path one must take is a huge gain. There are so many who wander because they don't know the path they should take that you could trip over them."

"What, you seem to have gotten stronger than when you fought me last time, but you're only saying that to me?"

At Lee Shin's words, Tarka's eyes widened.

"You can feel that? I'm trying to compose my aura to calm my combat instincts."

"I wonder? If you ask me to explain, I don't know for sure, but I can feel it without realizing it. How should I put it… Ah, a feeling like 'he's become harder to kill~'?"

At Lee Shin's words, Tarka laughed loudly, as if he found it absurdly amusing.

Lee Shin spoke as if it were nothing, but this was originally something beyond comprehension.

It is natural to be able to look down from the top of a mountain.

But can one see the top from the bottom of a mountain?

Let alone when the mountain says it doesn't want to show its peak and intentionally hides it with clouds?

'I felt it from the first time I saw him, but he's a guy who defies common sense in many ways.'

"By the way, how were those guys?"

"Hm? Ah, you mean your younger brother and his friend?"

"Yes, I sent them to fight with the orcs of your clan, but I was curious if they fought well."

Tarka thought for a moment and then nodded his head.

"I only saw them briefly, so I don't know the details, but from what the other orcs said, your younger brother and the other humans are guys with potential."

"Huh? Other humans? Other guys came here too… Ah!"

Lee Shin realized something and let out a small exclamation.

The fact that Cheon Yuhwa also knew about the existence of the World Dungeon came to mind.

'Well, there's no way that guy would leave a World Dungeon that he can use so freely alone.'

"Do you know who came?"

"Hmm, I don't know his name, but he was a man who used a peculiar fighting style of turning his body into steel."

'Choi Seokho.'

Lee Shin nodded once at the fact that his prediction was correct and moved on.

It seemed like he could create an interesting situation if he used it well, but for now, he decided to ignore it.

He had a separate purpose for coming to the World Dungeon.

"So why are you here?"

Just then, Tarka changed the subject.

At that, Lee Shin smiled widely and said.

"Ah, I want to organize what I've gained, but I'm having trouble because there's no suitable place. Could I possibly get some help? I don't think I'll use it for long."

"Hmm, I see. I understand. If that's the case, there's a good place."

"Oh, really?"

"But is there no price?"

"Hm?"

"You didn't think I would listen to you for free, did you?"

Tarka's smile as he said that was utterly provocative.

At that, Lee Shin, who had noticed what Tarka wanted, smiled widely.

"Is it enough if we fight again after I've gotten stronger?"

Grin-

"It's more than enough."

***

Lee Shin, who had arrived at the place Tarka had told him about, looked at his destination with a strange expression.

"How should I put it… training martial arts in a cave where not a single ray of light enters is so typical."

The place Tarka had told Lee Shin about was a cave Tarka had discovered in the past.

After examining it, it was sturdy, spacious, and quiet, making it suitable for meditation.

Lee Shin, who had sat down in a suitable spot, was satisfied with the atmosphere exuding from the cave and recalled two memories.

The memory of the final moment when he had thrust his spear when he first fought Tarka.

The memory of the moment when he had perfectly deflected the bullets of the [Dawn] members.

It was these two.

The moment when he had handled the [Flame] and [Lightning], which he had used separately, as a proper single entity.

It was the memory of the moment when what could be called a special move was created.

Thanks to that, he had gotten a hint on how he could become stronger, but for now, it was difficult to handle [Flame Lightning].

The [Flame Lightning Tree God Art] was a basic heart art that focused on safely handling [Flame] and [Lightning].

To draw a comparison, it was as difficult as having to write a novel on a small phone with a tiny screen instead of using a computer.

When in the [Mad Dragon] activation state, where information processing ability increased dramatically, it was somehow possible with ease, but in a normal state, his brain trembled so much that his nose would automatically bleed.

'The goal is to elevate the current [Flame Lightning Tree God Art] to a level where it can be used as a technique other than a special move.'

If that happened, it seemed he would be able to use techniques using [Flame Lightning] much more comfortably.

He was confident.

He had obtained many of the necessary materials for remodeling the [Flame Lightning Tree God Art] from [Wonderland], and he had been continuously thinking about ideas on how to do it on his way here.

'Now all that's left is the practical application to see if my thoughts were correct.'

Lee Shin closed his eyes, raised his concentration, and slowly dismantled the [Flame Lightning Tree God Art].

The dismantled [Flame Lightning Tree God Art] soon revealed its core.

A core that emitted a red radiance and a core that emitted a golden radiance.

Chwararak-

Lee Shin, leaving only that, rummaged through the knowledge he had obtained from [Wonderland] and added conviction to the hypothesis he had made on his way here.

'So it was because I had awkwardly put two things that don't even get along into one heart art?'

Honestly, he had expected this kind of problem to occur even before he made it.

But his past self had passed the work on to his future self and ran after romance.

And now, Lee Shin was in the position of having to clean up the shit his past self had spread.

'If the problem is that I forcibly put two things that don't even have a relationship of mutual generation and restraint into one heart art, then the answer is simple.'

Lee Shin felt a sense of joy pulling at the corners of his mouth and began to prepare for the work.

'I just need to create two heart arts that each fully contain one, and make them resonate with each other.'

Operating two heart arts simultaneously with one body, and the two become a pair that stimulate and amplify each other.

Then it could already be called a single heart art.

In fact, it wasn't a completely absurd idea.

The internal energy accumulated through the heart arts learned by the masters of the North Sea Ice Palace and the South Sea Ice Palace has the power to amplify their internal energy for a moment by resonating with each other's internal energy.

Baekma (White Demon) and Heukma (Black Demon), two of the elder masters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, always travel together and adopt a tactic of protecting each other's weaknesses and utilizing their strengths.

Of course, there were two problems that were generally difficult to solve.

One was the problem of whether two heart arts could be unfolded simultaneously with one body.

The other was the problem of whether [Flame] and [Lightning] could be melted into a single heart art.

But thinking about it quietly, Lee Shin came to the conclusion that it seemed quite possible.

Of course, if he unfolded two heart arts at the same time, his body might not be able to accept it and he could fall into qi deviation, but Lee Shin's body was already trained in the [Flame Lightning Tree God Art].

What he had used for [Regeneration] was also internal energy refined through a heart art, so if it was internal energy related to flame and lightning, his body could withstand it enough.

The rest was a matter of the mind, and since the conclusion was that it was possible with ease, he passed.

On top of that, Lee Shin had experienced more qi deviations than anyone else in this world and was well-versed in how to deal with them, so there was no problem.

And the other problem, whether [Flame] and [Lightning] could be melted into one.

He was thinking of trying various things as several methods came to mind for this.

"Hoo…"

Of course, there might be other various problems besides these, but it didn't matter.

Lee Shin had become so fascinated by this idea that he had completely lost interest in anything else.

Seup- Hoo-

A dark cave.

Lee Shin focused on his breathing and sucked the dense ki in the cave into himself.

At that, a small flame and a flash of lightning flickered over Lee Shin's body.

Kyuuuu-

And Yireu, who had been feeling an extreme sleepiness since Lee Shin's battle with Tarka, curled up its body according to its instincts and breathed evenly just as Lee Shin was doing.

In that state, it focused, entrusting its body to the change.

Hwareureuk-

Pajijik-

As if resonating with Yireu's breathing, its scales and horns began to slowly glow, sucking in and spitting out the flames and lightning of the Flame Lightning Tree.

(End of Chapter)