Chapter 25

Chapter 025

After leaving Arachne’s Nest, we returned straight to the city.

We used the Lift Platform in the plaza that I always rode.

There was no particular reason. It was simply because going all the way to the Lift Platform on the royal capital side was bothersome.

“A-A total of 504,220 Rune.......”

Because the two of us had cleared out an entire Demonic Region, the income was quite substantial.

The earnings were divided exactly in half, and after taxes were deducted from there, it came out to roughly 200,000 each.

Inwardly, I had thought that, as a noble, she would have no interest in money, but she was thorough about this kind of thing.

Instead, Gordon did not take a share, nor did he charge me for the Potions, Antidotes, and other things he had used.

Most importantly, the secret manual became entirely mine, without any division.

“Can I really take it?”

“Do you think I am that stingy? And even if I take it, it is useless to me.”

Was that so? Well, she was a Magic Power user. Mysticism-type secret manuals did not sell particularly well either.

After we ended that smooth transaction, I returned to the temple, received treatment from Robin, and fell asleep as if I had passed out.

There was a treatment fee, but thanks to the benefits of the Platinum Token, I only had to pay a small amount.

And so, the next morning dawned.

***

“About two weeks left until the expedition now.......”

I had entrusted the expedition application and party recruitment to Persica’s side.

In any case, I could not even apply, let alone recruit anyone.

The fact that my opinion would not be reflected left a bitter taste in my mouth, but until I removed the apprentice label, there was nothing I could do.

“Before that, resolving this comes first.”

I silently stared at the secret manual placed on the table.

The Mysticism-type secret manual, “Introduction to Victory Studies.”

It was an early core skill of my Mysticism-Parrying build, and it had been inside the box we discovered in the nest.

‘This makes it certain.’

The secret manual I needed had been placed there precisely.

That told me she had seen my guide, and that she had been waiting for me.

Perhaps even the Engraving Stone had been part of an arrangement she left behind.

“What exactly is going on?”

Unique Ability.

Great Master.

And on top of that, the Possessor Enlil.

Too many questions had been fed into my mind in a short period of time.

“You think so too, do you not?”

I grasped Ishara, who had been placed beside me.

The secret manual was one thing, but she had also caused something strange.

‘It was definitely a Unique Ability.’

Back then, the awakening of the Unique Ability had seemed strange no matter how I looked at it.

Rather than me awakening it, it had felt more like Ishara had used it for me.

The energy itself had also felt as if it extended not from me, but from the sword.

“......There is no need to agonize over it.”

I gripped the sword hilt and focused my mind.

First, I concentrated on the energy within my body.

‘As expected, nothing feels different.’

The only thing I could sense was the Mana I had originally possessed.

The only manifestations were the three major Traits, and no matter what I did, any other operation was impossible.

It was not that I could not use it. I did not have it at all, so I could not even feel it.

“Then...... Ishara.”

This time, I focused my mind on the sword.

I pressed my forehead to the blade and strongly poured Thought-Force into it.

A fierce desire to use the same power as back then.

Thump─In that instant, I felt a great vibration from the sword.

A deep, majestic resonance, as though responding to the sound of my heart.

Immediately afterward, I felt a strange sensation flow through the sword.

“This is.......”

It was a kind of Mana I had never felt before.

It was such a peculiar feeling that I immediately understood why Persica had described it as “strange.”

At the same time, I thought I understood why other people could not feel it.

“......I see. Because she is a fairy.”

The power used by fairies was fundamentally undetectable.

Starting with their very existence, all the actions fairies performed, such as conversation and Thought-Force, consumed Mana, yet no one except the fairy and the contractor could feel it.

I thought this might work on a similar principle.

“So that was it.”

The Unique Ability had not disappeared. Through the reset, Ishara had taken it with her.

By changing the subject of activation to herself, who would become a fairy, she had prevented my identity from being exposed.

I smiled faintly and stopped the Unique Ability that was about to activate.

‘Now I understand why the ability suddenly awakened.’

At that moment, I had truly been in danger.

Gordon had been there, but the sleeping Ishara would not have known that.

She had awakened the Unique Ability in that instant to protect me.

The reason she had saved it until the very end was probably because it was that dangerous a technique.

“In that case, I can more or less guess its effect too.”

This Unique Ability was likely something that overlaid the realm Ishara had reached onto me.

The abilities and senses she had accumulated through thousands of regressions.

If something like that entered me, of course my body would be unable to endure it.

“You intended to do this from the beginning.”

Even after falling asleep within the sword, so that I could use the power of a Possessor safely.

Ishara had already seen that far ahead.

I put the sword down and looked at the secret manual beside it.

<Mysticism: Introduction to Victory Studies>

The first core skill of my build.

Its original drop location was the second floor, and its market price was around 400,000 Rune.

Since it was Mysticism-type, it was very cheap for a secret manual, but because my earnings were so poor, I had thought I would not be able to obtain it.

‘Thanks to that person named Enlil, I obtained it early.’

I did not know what her objective was, but it was true that this benefited me.

It saved me a tremendous amount of money and time.

The meaning of a skill was extremely significant, and for that reason, one should not learn them carelessly.

‘At first, I did not know that, so there were many times when I ended up with a ruined character.’

First, skills had something called Proficiency, and if one used them consistently, one could fill it to 100 percent.

And if one had two or more skills with full Proficiency, it was possible to combine them into a higher skill through “Synthesis.”

That was [Skill Synthesis], which could be called the flower of Ethrana Exodus.

Depending on the combination formula, one could synthesize countless skills, and the higher the grade became, the more exponentially powerful the effect became.

‘The problem is that it also costs a tremendous amount of materials and money...... and once you do it, you cannot undo it.’

However, Synthesis had an irreversible structure, and skills used once in a Synthesis could not be learned again.

Because higher skills included the effects of lower skills, acquisition became blocked.

What did that mean?

It meant that if one made even a single mistake in Synthesis, the build could be completely distorted, or the character could be ruined forever.

“Truly a damned game.......”

The process of raising Proficiency was difficult, and Synthesis had to be done carefully as well.

Since it consumed enormous time and resources, learning and using just anything caused no small amount of loss.

For that reason, 「Counterattack」, the skill that could be learned through Introduction to Victory Studies, was perfect as my first skill.

Not only was it a core part of the combination formula, its effect itself also had excellent compatibility with my Parrying.

For reference, the in-game description was like this.

It was a kind of counter skill.

The reason this was good was because the strengthening value was proportional to the damage blocked.

In other words, the stronger the enemy’s attack was, the stronger my counterattack became.

Even large techniques that normally had to be avoided could be turned into attack chances with this.

‘And Parrying nullifies all damage.’

Ordinary guard skills had an upper limit on the damage they could block in proportion to one’s Trait value, and anything beyond that caused reduced damage.

The stronger the attack was, the greater the burden of blocking it became.

‘But unlike ordinary guard skills, Parrying nullifies all damage.’

Not only that, it could even block Aura.

On top of that, since it received Mysticism correction, in theory, the harder the enemy hit, the harder I could hit back.

Of course, there was the condition that Parrying had to succeed.

‘The moment this was left here, it means she knows me.’

Enlil knew me.

She did not even seem to be trying to hide it.

I did not know what she wanted from me, but if she was going to slip benefits into my sleeve on her own, there was no reason to refuse.

“......But how do I learn this?”

In the game, I learned it automatically just by clicking, but was it similar here?

Since holding it in my hand caused no particular reaction, I opened the pages.

“Oh...... So this is how it works.”

Each time I turned a page, the knowledge on that page poured into me.

I knew the knowledge itself, but this was different in that it was knowledge carved into the body.

Unlike my knowledge, which was purely 100 percent theory, the secret manual engraved the sensation itself into me.

“I feel as if I can use it right away...... but where am I supposed to use this?”

Since it was a counterattack technique, I needed an opponent who would attack me.

Who should I ask? Should I ask Persica to be my sandbag?

That brief worry was resolved by a knock that followed.

“Lord Isran. A person named Gordon Lansher has come to see you.”

Gordon had come looking for me.

***

Gordon Lansher.

Captain of the White Night Knights, a 6-star adventurer, and Persica’s teacher.

He was an impressive person, but he did not have much connection to me.

Even if there was one, it was only that we had gone down into the dungeon together once.

Honestly, I was a little surprised because I had not expected him to come find me personally.

“What brings you all the way here, Captain?”

“The expedition date has been set. It will be fourteen days from now, and although we are still recruiting members, the party is scheduled to consist of five people, including Lady Persica and Lord Isran.”

“Will you be joining too, Captain?”

“No. I have another mission, so that is impossible.”

That was a little unfortunate.

More importantly, we had parted only yesterday, and he had already finished the application and was proceeding with recruitment?

As expected of Ortanis.

Perhaps because it was a noble house, their handling of work was certainly reliable.

“Did you come here to tell me that?”

“.......”

At those words, Gordon stared at me.

As if that was merely an excuse, and there was another reason.

“I watched you.”

“Pardon?”

“I was curious about you from the moment I heard my lady’s story. In truth, I also went on this dungeon trip because I was curious about who you were.”

The trigger that had allowed Persica’s skill to improve by leaps and bounds.

After hearing of my existence through her story, he had been curious about me all along.

Persica, whom he had taught for years without much progress, had been changed by me in only two weeks.

“You are a strange person. You also possess skill that I cannot understand.”

His sharply opened gaze turned toward me.

“You used Aura back then.”

His voice cut sharply into my nerves.

I used Aura?

For a moment, I wondered what he was talking about, but after thinking briefly, I had an idea.

‘Was it when I defeated Aragos?’

I remembered the radiance of Mysticism that had flashed like an explosion in the blink of an eye.

The amount of light had been clearly different from when I normally used Mysticism.

I had killed Aragos in a single blow with an attack clad in that light.

‘No wonder it died too quickly.’

At the time, I had also been in a trance, so I did not remember clearly, but could that have been Aura?

If that was true, the effect of the Unique Ability became certain as well.

It was indeed borrowing Ishara’s power. There was no way I would have the experience or sensation needed to use Aura.

“At that moment, I thought you were a Possessor.”

“......Is that so?”

Was he going to report me to the temple?

As I tensed and moved my hand toward my sword, he suddenly threw out a strange question.

“Lord Isran. What does Lady Persica mean to you?”

“Pardon?”

“I am asking what value my lady holds to you.”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Please answer me.”

I wondered what kind of absurd thing he was saying, but Gordon was serious.

What was Persica to me?

What did that have to do with the current situation?

“A friend...... I think. For now, she is also my benefactor.”

Since he suddenly asked, I did not have a good answer. I had not thought about it either.

At least, was she not a friend?

Whatever her character might be like, it was true that we had exchanged many things.

“I see.”

As though choosing his words, he paused for a moment before continuing.

“The reason my lady is descending through the dungeon is because she is searching for someone.”

“Someone?”

“By any chance, do you know of the Vityaz Expedition?”

I knew that much.

Was it not the first expedition, excluding Possessors, to descend all the way to the seventh floor in history?

The fact that the map in the plaza could be updated to the seventh floor was all thanks to their expedition.

“The leader of that expedition was ‘Hildegard Ortanis.’ She is my lady’s mother.”

“.......”

“That day, we encountered a Possessor on the seventh floor. Lady Hilde remained on the seventh floor to stop that person, and she never came back up.”

“Wait, ‘we’?”

“I was also part of that expedition. My lady does not know that, however.”

Then did that mean he was not a sixth-floor adventurer, but a seventh-floor adventurer?

No wonder I had thought it strange when he blew away an entire forest with one sword strike.

‘More importantly, so that was what happened.’

I roughly knew about the relationship between Hildegard and Persica, since it had appeared in the original work as well.

What surprised me was that a Possessor was involved.

Hildegard had gone missing in the original work too, but the reason had never been revealed.

“My lady is heading downward in pursuit of Lady Hilde. Following in that person’s footsteps exactly.”

“Then the Guardian’s Room we are going to this time is also.......”

“It is a place Lady Hilde passed through. Since her mother did it, she believes she must do it as well.”

I had felt that she had been preparing steadily, and there had been this kind of background story behind it.

It was interesting, but I also had a question.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I wished to ask you to take good care of my lady. It seems Lady Persica relies on Lord Isran considerably.”

It did not particularly seem like she relied on me...... In any case, was that why he had asked about my relationship with her?

Because he needed to know whether I was Persica’s enemy or not.

“Can you not do it, Captain?”

“My lady is wary of my help. She fears being trapped beneath my shadow and becoming unable to grow.”

Suddenly, I remembered Persica grumbling that she could do it alone before we headed to Arachne’s Nest.

At the time, I had thought it was a joke, but it seemed Persica had been seriously pushing him away.

‘So that is why he came to me.’

She did not refuse my help.

Since we also had the connection of being peers from the Selection Grounds, he must have thought I was an excellent substitute.

“I thought you would be able to do better than I could.”

“Hmm.......”

I thought it over for a moment.

Depending on the progression, Persica could become either an enemy or an ally.

Whether I accompanied her or not, I had no choice but to meet her again later.

‘Perhaps this might be related.’

In the game, the relationship with Persica was completely random.

What if I could fix that relationship in the form of an ally?

Her existence would be a great help to me.

“Fine, I will.”

“Thank you. Even if it is for a calculating purpose.”

“.......”

He was sharp.

If he was going to say that, why had he asked? It made me feel awkward.

“I said earlier that I suspected you of being a Possessor.”

He smiled faintly.

It was the first smile I had seen from him.

“Now I do not.”

“Pardon? Why?”

“Because my lady said you were not.”

“.......”

Because Persica had said I was not, to him, that meant I was not.

That was how he answered.

“There is still a little time left.”

He brought a wooden sword from nearby.

“For the next two weeks, I will come here every day.”

“Every day......?”

“The secret manual you obtained in the dungeon. And ‘your other power’ as well.”

“.......”

“I will be your training partner.”

So that was what this was ultimately about.

In the end, the questions and answers from earlier were not very important.

It seemed he had already reached his own conclusion before coming here.

In other words, he had come here intending to do this from the beginning.

“I wondered why you did not bring a weapon.”

“Lord Isran, you are so weak that if I used a real sword and failed to control my strength even slightly, you would die.”

“.......”

Was this the same logic as a burly action star being afraid of a chick......?

It was absurd, but I raised my sword with a smile.

The process had been a little strange.

But I had obtained both a secret manual and a teacher.

And so, for two weeks.

Until the day of the expedition dawned.

Under the name of training, I was beaten within an inch of my life.......