The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18: The Swordsman Genius Possessed by a Spirit

* * *

At first, it felt like sinking into a deep slumber. His body seemed to float upward, then sink into the depths of sleep.

Slowly, his consciousness rose to the surface.
Allen opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a cloudless, brilliant blue sky.
Where am I?
Allen tried to recall what had happened just before.

‘I swallowed the fragment, and then—’

His consciousness had seemed to drift away all at once, and now he was here.
Allen looked around.
All around him stretched a desert, covered entirely in sand. Apart from the sand and the sky, there was nothing at all as far as his eyes could reach.
Was there really a wasteland this vast on the continent?
He felt just as bewildered as he had when he first met Question Mark in that pitch-black darkness behind iron bars.
Just then, Allen felt the gritty roughness of sand against his foot.
He immediately checked his feet.

Bare feet, with no shoes.
Not only that, but his whole body was stripped bare.
Yet what shocked him even more was—

‘Am I not me?’

These were not his feet.
Startled, he checked his hands, and they weren’t his own either.
Slender, delicate hands without a single callus.
Allen’s hands had never been this smooth and soft.

‘What on earth is going on here—’

That was when it happened.

[…… …… …….]

A voice suddenly rang out.
He couldn’t make out what it was saying.
It sounded as though it were coming through a thick wall.
There was only one thing he could tell.

‘Question Mark.’

It was simply that the being from behind those iron bars was speaking to him.
Allen strained to hear the voice.
But in that very moment—

Whoosh!

A scorching heat erupted in his chest, and Allen’s mind snapped back to himself.

“Gah!”

He gasped roughly and collapsed to the ground.
Before he knew it, the surroundings had returned to how they were at first.
The top of the altar where the fragment had been swallowed.
Allen was kneeling there.
And then, in that instant.

Hwaralarak.

A scorching heat seeped into his left eye.
The agony was like his eye was burning alive, and Allen let out a scream.

“Gah-aaak!”

It was this pain that brought him back to his senses.
It burned so fiercely that he half expected his eye to melt away entirely. It felt as though his eyeball were being branded with red-hot iron.
Yet through all that agony, the System delivered a welcome message.

[You have acquired ‘??’s Left Eye.’]
[All Stats have increased by 5.]
[You have acquired ‘Youngan.’]

* * *

For a while Allen clutched his left eye and rolled across the floor, until he finally went limp against the ground.
Thankfully, the pain began to ease little by little. Drenched in cold sweat, Allen stared at the ceiling and muttered.

“Damn bastard…”

It was impossible to tell who he was cursing.
After all, Allen still had no idea what the thing he had named Question Mark actually was.
Still, that curse wasn’t purely an expression of blame.
The pain had been considerable, but he had gained something from it too.

‘All Stats up by five.’

Even through his exhaustion, he could feel fresh strength welling up inside his body.
The change was so profound that he almost felt as if he’d swallowed a Star Flower rather than a fragment.
And that wasn’t all he had gained.

[Youngan]
[Rank 1]
[An eye that pierces through to the essence of Mana]

The explanation he read through the System was simple and concise.
Pierces through to the essence of Mana?
The description was vague, but he could sense something right away.
Still groaning from the pain, Allen sat down and immediately began cultivating.
As he did, the Mana that had been drained started recovering quickly.
His total Mana had grown along with his vessel’s capacity, yet the rate at which it refilled through cultivation was far faster than before.
There was only one reason for that.

‘I can see it.’

Youngan wasn’t simply a matter of seeing with the eyes.
Even now, as he recovered Mana through his usual cultivation, he felt as though he could actually see the flow of Mana.
How he should wield his Mana to be most effective, and where it might be wasted.
Every one of those currents lay plainly before him, as solid as if he could reach out and touch them.

Mana he had only ever been able to sense through a single faculty now seemed to be felt through all five senses at once. It was as if he had stepped one dimension beyond the world he knew.
Only then did he realize something.

‘I’ve really been using it all wrong.’

Allen prided himself on understanding the sword better than anyone.
But when it came to mana, he didn’t.
For Allen, lost in the Curse of the Vile Demon, mana was uncharted territory.
A vast amount of mana lay sleeping inside his body, but that was no different from handing a child a famous blade.

Was it the effect of Youngan?
Allen sensed the mistakes in how he channeled and released his mana, and he corrected them little by little.
To see something was no different from understanding it.
And then, the moment his cultivation ended and he opened his eyes again.

“…Ah.”

With a soft exclamation, Allen’s eyes gleamed blue.
He rose to his feet and thrust out his fist.
Pow!
The sound of the air bursting apart had changed. It carried far greater force than before.
In one fluid motion he drew his sword and swung it at the iron door.

Seongsin-ryu, Second Form.
Sonagi.

Shwaaaak!

Sword aura poured down on the iron door like a sudden downpour, carving dozens of gashes into its thick surface.
The form came faster now, and it consumed less mana.
Above all, the form had become far more refined than before.
A bright smile spread across Allen’s face.

‘Seongsin-ryu has risen to the third stage.’

This was not merely a change from his stats going up.
Gaining a large amount of mana didn’t mean one’s realm rose on its own, after all.
This was a change born from a deeper understanding of mana.
In other words, it was the effect of Youngan.

Five stats, the ability called Youngan, and on top of that, the achievement of reaching the third stage.
Just from obtaining one fragment, Allen felt that he had grown far stronger than before.

And that was not all.
The fragment had been found by sheer chance; Allen’s real reason for coming here was something else entirely.
Inside the chest where the fragment had been lodged.
A single small flower, glowing softly like a jewel, that would never wither.
Allen’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at this mysterious elixir.

‘Star Flower.’

The legendary elixir had finally come into his hands.

“Nice to meet you, little flower.”

* * *

Yusia, having tended to Baudon’s wounds with medicine and magic, waited for Allen in front of the altar.
Baudon kicked up a fuss, insisting they run away while they had the chance, but Yusia firmly shook her head.

“I haven’t even been paid yet, you know? Are you going to pay me?”
“Well… that’s, um, Mikel over there…”
“And it’s you who’s scared of Allen, not me. If you’re so eager to leave, go alone.”
“How am I supposed to go alone in this state?”

Baudon had managed to stop the bleeding, but there was no way he could move on his own.

“Did you think it would end like this? Ugh… ugh…”

Baudon stared at the altar where the demon statue stood, and his whole body shook. Mikel’s corpse still lay on the altar.
When Mikel had turned into a Ma-in, he’d been certain they were all dead.
Yet who could have guessed that Mikel would fall so easily?
The swordsman of the Bishuken, whom he’d only heard about, was far stronger than Baudon had imagined.

‘There’s only one way.’

In the end, chewing on his fingernails, he came up with only one way to survive.

‘Beg. Grovel until my hands become my feet, and then keep begging!’

What wouldn’t he do to survive? If they said crawl, he’d crawl; if they said bark, he’d bark. He’d even eat dirt if he had to.
So he waited anxiously for Allen to return.
How many hours had passed?
The demon statue’s eyes, which had gone dark, flickered back to life.
And in the next instant—

Whoosh.

Allen, who had vanished, reappeared on top of the altar.

“Allen!”
“Y-you’re back! *Hic.*”

Baudon jumped to his feet and bowed deeply toward Allen.
His wound tore open again, sending a jolt of pain through him, but this was no time to care about that.

“I sincerely apologize for everything that happened! I was never taught any better, and I misjudged you!”

Baudon’s voice rang out, echoing off the walls of the cave.
The neatly folded wound in his belly split open, and blood seeped out again. But he bit down on the pain, determined to survive.

‘I have to make a good impression. No matter what!’

His heart pounded wildly.
It felt as though Allen might draw his sword any second, stride over, and cut his head off for what he’d said earlier: ‘What did he say to me?’
But then—

“You’ll tear your wound open like that.”

The voice that had sounded so demonic in his head now came across as impossibly kind.
Had he heard wrong?
Baudon lifted his head, unable to believe it, and his eyes found Allen’s expression.

Allen looked somehow pleased.
His bright smile seemed to suggest he had the whole world in his hands. Was this really the swordsman who had cut down that terrifying Mikel in a single stroke?
Just then, Baudon noticed the shabby pouch slung over Allen’s shoulder.

‘So it really exists!’

It was a pouch he’d never seen before.
Still, from the delighted look on Allen’s face, Baudon could tell what the pouch was.
And true to her profession as a mage, Yusia also recognized the pouch’s identity at once.

“W-wait, you don’t mean that’s a Subspace Pouch?”
“That’s right.”
“Eeeek!”

At Allen’s answer, Yusia jumped. She was so startled that a scream slipped out.

A Subspace Pouch.
An artifact infused with Space Expansion, a magic of the highest order.
A Subspace Pouch was more than priceless; obtaining one was next to impossible.

“I’ve never actually seen one before. Wow, this is incredible…”
“For this raid, how much were you promised, Miss Yusia?”
“Five gold if there was no treasure, twenty gold if there was.”
“Then it’s twenty gold now.”

Allen reached into the pouch and pulled out a round gemstone.
Even at a glance, it was large and beautifully cut.

“Here you go. I’d imagine you could get more than fifty gold for it.”
“Oh, no, no! If it weren’t for you, Allen, I would’ve been killed by that Ma-in. I can’t shamelessly accept something like this.”
“I already have plenty. I’m giving it to you because I’ll be taking the share of whoever’s standing over there anyway.”

With that, Allen turned and walked toward Baudon.
Baudon, who had been staring blankly at the Subspace Pouch in Allen’s hand, flinched and bowed his head.
He tried his best to stay out of Allen’s sight. He prayed that Allen would be satisfied with the pouch and simply walk past him.

‘I’m air. I’m a rock. I am…’

That was when it happened.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take it?”

Baudon jerked his head up at Allen’s voice, his eyes going wide.

“W-what? Me?”
“Take it. You should pocket the medical fee.”

What Allen held out to Baudon was a small lump of gold.
It was the size of something he could easily sell for at least ten gold.
Seeing gold instead of a blade, Baudon felt the tension drain from him all at once.
The money mattered, but what mattered more right now was that he was still alive.

“You… you’re letting me go?”
“I’m annoyed you tried to steal someone else’s credit, but that’s not a crime worth dying for.”

Allen pressed the gold into Baudon’s broad palm and patted his shoulder a few times.

“But from now on, don’t be greedy, and stay alive. Chasing one more coin could land you in the path of someone truly dangerous. Are you still being greedy right now, by any chance?”
“N-no! How could I be?!”

Greedy as Baudon was, he knew exactly how things stood.
It was Allen who had uncovered the secret of this dungeon in the first place, and who had eliminated the Ma-in, a dangerous being.
Without him, the dungeon could never have been cleared, and the whole party would have been wiped out.
Under the circumstances, being able to walk away with a bit of gold and a gemstone was hardly something to complain about.

“Then let’s head out.”

With a light but heavy-looking pouch slung over his shoulder, Allen grinned from ear to ear.

“I’ve got things to do.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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