The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 388

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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 388
Chapter 388
“What the hell are you?! Where did someone like you suddenly crawl out from?!”
Kairon was astonished.
Not only had he cleaved through the Absolute Stone—the first trial—in a single strike, but he’d succeeded at the Waterfall Cut, the second trial, in one go as well.
How was this even possible?
And it wasn’t just a mere success.
He’d bisected the Absolute Stone, which others struggled to cut through even within the ten-minute time limit, with a single blow.
In the Waterfall Cut, where most could barely endure three seconds, he’d left a sword mark lasting over five seconds.
It was superior skill to any adventurer he’d ever witnessed.
‘What is this guy?’
I couldn’t believe it.
How could a Swordmaster who’d just entered the Swordmaster Guild for the first time display such mastery?
If this Swordmaster had joined the Guild and grown gradually from the beginning, Kairon would have been pleased.
‘This is unacceptable!’
This adventurer was different.
How dare he complete a single request and attempt to walk away with just the Sword Essence.
Even if that request was the Hydra subjugation that no one had ever completed until now, it was still unacceptable.
With that thought, Kairon—
“The third trial is a sparring match with me.”
He announced the third trial and grasped a wooden sword in his hand.
The third trial was a sparring match against himself.
“You may only use a wooden sword as equipment. There are no other restrictions. Endure my attacks for ten minutes. Last ten minutes and you pass.”
Enduring in a sparring match against him.
This was the final trial.
In this final trial, Kairon coldly evaluated his opponent’s abilities.
At first, with only the wooden sword.
If the opponent showed promise, he would employ sword energy as well.
If they endured that too, in the final minute he would unleash his Sword Essence to pressure them.
Surviving even this was the true third trial.
But.
‘I won’t let you pass in one go!’
This time was different.
Kairon, displeased that this adventurer had the audacity to claim just the Sword Essence, was determined to make Mir fail by any means.
If he made him come back two, three times or more—
Each time he returned to learn the Sword Essence, he’d have to replenish his contribution points and gold, which meant his own pocket, or rather—
The Swordmaster Guild would receive at least some contribution.
With that thought—
“Let’s see if you can endure this!”
Whoosh!
He was the very symbol of the Swordmaster.
He rushed at me with Sword Force blazing.
* * *
The third trial.
The moment my duel with Kairon began.
‘Sword Force?’
Sword Force manifested from Kairon’s blade.
It was completely different from the shimmering sword energy that rippled like heat waves rising from a blade.
Sword energy completely concentrated and solidified into a rigid form.
As if another sword were layered atop the original, it appeared like a glass coating—longer and sharper than the blade beneath it.
Having wielded Sword Force more than anyone else during my time in First, I could recognize it instantly.
That was Sword Force.
‘Is this right?’
Sword Force and sword energy.
They might appear similar, but the difference between them is extreme.
If sword energy and Sword Force clashed at the same level, the energy would be cut through so effortlessly it would be pathetic.
Endure for ten minutes against such Sword Force?
Could players actually pass a trial like this?
The difficulty was higher than it had been in First, which gave me some pause.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
With Kairon charging straight at me right now, such concerns were meaningless.
I doubted he’d go easy on me just because I complained.
I immediately took my stance and engaged Kairon.
“Three times! No, come back up five times!”
Kairon swung his sword while speaking like that.
His momentum was quite fierce.
It was supposed to be a duel, but judging by his intensity alone, it seemed like he genuinely intended to kill me.
Even if it’s a wooden sword, isn’t it genuinely dangerous to coat it with Sword Force like that and swing it?
Regardless, that’s genuinely dangerous.
– Activating skill ‘White Fish Swimming’.
I evaded swiftly using White Fish Swimming.
But the fact that my opponent was no mere coincidence—he was the Guild Master of the Swordmaster Guild, after all.
“Running away so skillfully!”
He immediately spun around and attacked me again.
Sword Force sliced through the very air as it approached sharply.
I wanted to block with my wooden sword, but even I couldn’t stop Sword Force with mere sword energy.
Crack!
“You brat!”
I struck upward against Kairon’s blade.
By striking the flat of the sword to alter its trajectory, I evaded the attack.
At this, Kairon’s expression crumpled as he unleashed a barrage of consecutive attacks.
Since these were attacks wielding Sword Force, I couldn’t afford to clash blades or allow even a single strike to land.
“Stop running like a loach! If you call yourself a Swordmaster, face me with honor and dignity!”
Conversely, as long as I didn’t clash blades or permit his attacks to connect, I would be fine.
After all, the objective of the third trial wasn’t to defeat Kairon—it was to endure his assaults for ten minutes.
With that in mind, I refused to engage his strikes directly and maintained a meticulous distance between us.
He was attacking me with genuine intent.
‘I can withstand this.’
My stats, elevated through All Master’s abilities, Luke’s predation, and elixirs, were in no way inferior when compared to Kairon’s.
Moreover, wasn’t my weapon mastery skill considerably higher as well?
Because of this, I could evade Kairon’s attacks with ease.
“How is a Sword User wielding Sword Force supposed to face a Swordmaster wielding Sword Force with honor?”
“Silence! Back away now!”
As I grew accustomed to Kairon’s attack patterns, I found myself with leisure to respond to his words.
“That’s right! That’s right! Keep coming!”
For reasons unknown, Kairon was furious with me.
Just as with boss monsters, NPCs too become predictable when their anger exceeds reasonable bounds.
His attacks remained threatening, but thanks to his intense rage, discerning his patterns and evading them became increasingly effortless.
‘I think I could counterattack now.’
Kairon’s attacks had become far too monotonous.
There was only one thing to be cautious of.
Sword Force.
If my Sword Force collided with his, no matter how solidly I hardened it, both my wooden sword and the force would be severed.
Therefore.
– Activating skill ‘White Fish Swimming’.
I evaded his attack using White Fish Swimming.
Simultaneously, I exploited an opening in his defense.
– Activating skill ‘Black Insect Flash’.
I thrust my Sword Force-imbued blade forward with full force.
“You wretched—!”
So this was the Guild Master of the Swordmaster Guild?
He detected my attack, twisted his waist desperately to evade, and attempted to strike down my wooden sword.
A faint sound.
My Sword Force left a thin line across his flank.
His Sword Force failed to sever my wooden sword.
The moment I wounded his side, I anticipated his counterattack and withdrew my body.
In that instant.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Kairon’s fury erupted.
Then.
– Kairon uses the skill ‘Blade Rush’.
Sword wind erupted from his body.
A Swordmaster’s skill that continuously inflicts slashing damage to the surrounding area while greatly increasing attack speed.
But that wasn’t all.
– Kairon uses the skill ‘Sword Drive’.
Whoosh!
A movement and attack skill where he rushes at his opponent with his sword thrust forward.
Sword Drive.
Using it, he closed the distance between us and unleashed a thrust.
Naturally, with a sharp sword aura layered over the wooden sword.
An overwhelmingly threatening attack.
Even evading with White Fish Swimming, I couldn’t completely avoid it, and it was too dangerous to parry, so I hardened my sword aura firmly.
– I use the skill ‘Jade Stone Bastion’.
Using a defensive skill, I deflected his thrust.
Even though I deflected it, a sharp sword mark was carved into the wooden sword.
If I had deflected it even slightly less, or hadn’t used Jade Stone Bastion, the wooden sword would have been severed by this alone.
And then.
– Kairon uses the skill ‘Sword Burst’.
– Kairon uses the skill ‘Gale Slash’.
….
He displayed the full extent of his power—the caliber of someone capable of becoming the Guild Master of the Swordmaster Guild.
No matter how I thought about it, this wasn’t a proper test.
What kind of examiner could withstand these attacks with just sword aura and endure for ten minutes?
Even trying to think positively, I couldn’t understand it.
Because of that, I could come to a conclusion.
‘This isn’t a test.’
This wasn’t a test at all.
He intended to fail me no matter what.
But why?
Because I wasn’t a member of the Swordmaster Guild?
Or was he feeling jealous toward me for easily passing the first and second tests?
I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t have good feelings toward someone who was showing me such baseless hostility.
Still, facing him as he unleashed his full power using sword aura was quite difficult for me as well.
[ You have successfully endured against Kairon for 10 minutes. ]
[ You have completed the skill Quest ‘Sword Aura’. ]
[ As a reward, you can now use Sword Aura. ]
Just as our sparring match exceeded ten minutes.
The skill Quest I had received from him was completed, and I automatically acquired Sword Aura.
Since Sword Aura was a different concept from ordinary skills and required time and practice to use initially.
Whooom—.
As I mentioned, through my experience in First, I’ve already perfectly memorized how to use Sword Force.
As I applied force to my grip on the wooden sword, the sword energy that had been flowing like heat shimmer coalesced into a single mass.
The sword energy materialized and hardened further.
The blade sharpened to a keen edge.
And its length extended far beyond that of the wooden sword.
“Wait, Sword Force? You realized Sword Force during combat? No, even if you did, you’re using it immediately after learning it?”
Was this what “anger management” really meant?
Kairon, who had been swinging his sword in a fury, was startled when he saw my Sword Force.
But he had no reason to be surprised yet.
Whoosh!
Recalling my memories from First, I honed my Sword Force even sharper.
I compressed the mana infused into the blade further and extended its length.
My Sword Force, created that way, was.
“This can’t be!”
Larger and longer than Kairon’s Sword Force, and it appeared sharper as well.
Moreover, the Sword Force compressed to its limit was no longer transparent like glass.
A Sword Force so darkened that its interior was invisible.
As if recalling Luke’s Black Flame, over the darkened Sword Force.
[ Using Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of the Black Flame Dragon, Luknir Desperato Ignockton. ]
Real Black Flame began to ignite.
“Since we’ve already started this sparring match, we should see it through to the end, shouldn’t we?”
[ Entering Black Flame Rampage state. ]
I charged at Kairon while using Black Flame Rampage.
True to his skill, Kairon instinctively sensed the danger and retreated backward.
However, my speed, using even White Fish Swimming in Black Flame Rampage state, had already far surpassed Kairon’s.
“M-monster!”
I swung my sword at Kairon.
Sword Force clashed against Sword Force.
Even if both were Sword Force, a newly acquired one could never withstand one that had been honed with experience.
Crunch!
The result was the opposite.
My freshly learned Sword Force cut through Kairon’s Sword Force.
Along with the wooden sword within it.
Sensing the danger and desperately regenerating his Sword Force, I sliced Kairon’s wooden sword into five pieces along with the Sword Force itself.
Tap.
I brought my Sword Force to Kairon’s neck.
Though he was someone I disliked, I couldn’t simply kill him without reason.
So.
Whoosh.
“…!”
I revealed my true identity, concealed until now by the Ring of Mist, the Veil of Secrets, and the Shadow of the Silent Lord.
Naturally, he recognized who I was.
“M-Mir, Count Mir!”
Ordinarily, I would never expose myself, but circumstances like these demanded otherwise.
I am, without question, a noble of the Empire.
Moreover, a noble favored by the Emperor himself.
And yet he had wielded his blade against such a noble, attempting to kill a challenger by exceeding the bounds of the test?
This was no trivial matter.
I decided to leverage this to my advantage.
“I could go directly to the Imperial Palace right now and report this incident. What will you do?”
“Anything! Anything at all! Please, I beg you—spare my life!”
I resolved to extract appropriate compensation for the damages from him.

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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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