The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 55

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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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Our Town’s Strongest (55)
‘Huh? That’s Earth Qi… Could there really be a Spirit Mage in this village who can summon an Earth Spirit?’
Jang Gain, who had been escorting the slash-and-burn farmers back to their respective villages, sensed the concentrated Earth Qi moving as one and tilted his head in confusion.
After entrusting the distribution of provisions to the farmers to Bayona, his steward, he followed the flow of Earth Qi and found a familiar face.
“Well, I wondered who it was—Smith, of course.”
As Jang Gain broke into a smile, the child manipulating the spirit’s eyes widened.
“Oh? Gain, hello. But what brings you to our village?”
“I had business to attend to. But what about you? I thought you were studying Earth Spirit Magic with Tomat’ap in Howan Village.”
“Ah! My teacher said the soil I ate didn’t seem like ordinary dirt, so he asked me to dig some up and bring it back. That’s why I came to the village with my mother.”
Jang Gain’s eyes widened in an instant.
The path from Howan Village to here passed through a forest teeming with monsters.
“You didn’t come alone with just your mother, did you?”
“Oh, Ingram came along to protect us from the monsters.”
Upon hearing that Ingram had accompanied them, Jang Gain nodded and glanced around.
“Ingram came with you? Where is he?”
“Ingram brought weapons to sell to the villagers, so he went out with my mother to peddle them.”
“Ah, I see. Dwarf Weapons are expensive—I doubt any of the slash-and-burn farmers can afford them. Anyway, it looked like you were commanding an Earth Spirit just now. Have you already made a contract with one?”
“Ah! You noticed I was playing with Tomi? Other people don’t even realize when Tomi passes beneath their feet.”
“Tomi? Is Tomi an Earth Spirit?”
“Yes, it’s the Earth Spirit I made a contract with, and I named it Tomi. Tomi, this is Gain, the one who saved my life. Say hello.”
Thump, thump.
As Smith finished speaking, a mole made entirely of soil, roughly the size of two fists pressed together, rose from the ground.
Jang Gain watched the earthen mole bow its head toward him with an envious gaze.
Despite all his effort, he hadn’t managed to contract with a Wind Spirit, yet Smith, who had only recently begun studying Spirit Magic, had already made a contract and was commanding an Earth Spirit.
“Smith, could you explain in detail how you made the contract with the Earth Spirit?”
“When I made the contract? Well, I was practicing moving Earth Qi the way my teacher taught me, and suddenly I heard the Earth Spirit whispering to me.”
“You heard it suddenly? Really? No matter how hard I listen, I can’t hear the Wind Spirit whispering, but you could hear it?”
“Yes. So I told the spirit I wanted to be its friend, and it said it also wanted to be my friend and asked if we could make a contract, so we did.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
“Sigh. I envy you.”
“The Wind Spirit will speak to you someday too, Gain.”
“I hope so.”
“But how did you sense Tomi if you haven’t even learned Earth Spirit Magic?”
“Ah! That’s because I’m training in the Natural Qi Accumulation Technique. And I also know how to attack enemies using Earth Qi.”
“You can attack with Earth Qi? Oh! I can ask Tomi to grab a monster’s ankles or collapse the ground to attack enemies too. On the way here, I helped Ingram a lot in his monster fights by asking Tomi for assistance.”
As Smith boasted, Jang Gain smiled ruefully.
“My attack is different from yours—I don’t have an Earth Spirit move directly. Instead, I synchronize Earth Qi with my own Internal Energy and then release it to strike my opponent.”
“What do you mean? I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”
Watching Smith tilt his head in confusion, Jang Gain thought it would be better to demonstrate rather than explain.
“See that rock over there?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to attack that rock with Earth Qi—using the method I just described. Watch.”
“Okay.”
As Smith’s eyes gleamed with curiosity, Jang Gain spread his Qi Sense to find a thin tributary of Earth Qi flowing along the earth vein, then released his Internal Energy downward from his feet to synchronize the two energies. He then sent that energy toward the rock and, using the Cheonma Gunrimbo technique, rolled his foot to strike.
Crack.
Boom…
In an instant, the Earth Qi beneath the rock exploded, shattering the massive boulder into fragments.
“Gasp!”
Smith gasped and stumbled backward, but Jang Gain reached out and caught him.
“Sorry—did I frighten you badly?”
“Th-that was amazing! The rock was bigger than you’re tall, and it… shattered completely.”
“It’s completely different from commanding a spirit, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Then you understand what I said earlier?”
“Yes, I understand now. It’s completely different. And the destructive power seems ten times, or even a hundred times greater than Tomi’s.”
“Well, the Cheonma Gunrimbo technique was originally designed to kill multiple enemies. Its destructive power is broad and far-reaching.”
Masters who had reached a high Realm could read the flow of Earth Qi and dodge before the explosion occurred, so the Cheonma Gunrimbo was primarily used against groups of lesser practitioners.
“Huh? Tomi, what did you say? You can do it too?”
At that moment, Smith suddenly turned toward the Earth Spirit, his expression growing uncertain.
Jang Gain’s eyes widened in an instant.
“What? The Earth Spirit can do what I just did?”
“Yes. It says it can do the same thing. The only problem is my Spirit Power isn’t strong enough to match your destructive force, but it can replicate the technique perfectly.”
“The Cheonma Gunrimbo—it can copy it just from watching once? That’s impossible!”
“It really can do it.”
Jang Gain heard Smith’s words but couldn’t quite believe them, yet he found himself unable to outright deny it either.
“Perhaps Spirits see things differently than we do. I don’t believe it, but if it’s possible, tell it to try.”
“Tomi, want to give it a shot? Yes, understood. I’ll draw on my Spirit Power as much as I can.”
Suddenly.
As Smith nodded toward the Earth Spirit, it dove into the ground, then rushed forward at high speed toward the rocks.
“What! It’s telling me to gather all my remaining Spirit Power in my feet and strike the earth like this?”
Thud.
Crash!
As Smith brought his foot down and struck, an explosion erupted from beneath the rocks that Jang Gain had just destroyed moments before, sending stone fragments scattering in all directions.
Jang Gain’s jaw dropped involuntarily at the sight.
Smith’s Spirit Power was, in terms of Internal Energy, less than one-hundredth of a single level. Therefore, without the principle of the Cheonma Gunrimbo—which worked by colliding two opposing forces to create an explosion—such destructive force should have been impossible.
‘The Earth Spirit just reproduced the Cheonma Gunrimbo, the secret technique of the Main Sect, perfectly! How… how can this even be possible?’
It had taken him three months to learn the Cheonma Gunrimbo through the Sect Leader’s favor and barely manage to execute it.
Though the Cheonma Gunrimbo that Smith and the Spirit deployed together lacked the raw power of his own, the fact that they could replicate it after seeing it just once suggested boundless potential for growth.
“Wow! Gain, what Tomi did was incredibly destructive too. At this rate, we could take down just about any monster!”
“Y-yes, that’s true. But it looks like you poured out all your Spirit Power at once… are you alright?”
Jang Gain silently marveled at Smith’s condition.
“Ah, I’m a bit dizzy, but I’ve practiced draining my Spirit Power completely before, so I’ve gotten used to it. I can manage.”
“You’ve drained your Spirit Power to empty before? You haven’t had your contract with the Spirit for long, have you? What could have required you to use it all up like that?”
“After I made the contract, my master told me that to develop Spirit Magic quickly, I should repeatedly drain my Spirit Power to empty. He called it a secret method.”
“Ah! Is that so? There’s a method like that, I see.”
In the distance, Ingram and Smith’s mother Rahena came running toward them at speed.
“Smith! Smith!”
“Oh! Mother.”
“Smith, we heard an enormous explosion a moment ago… eh? G-Gain.”
Rahena slowed her pace upon spotting Jang Gain.
“Hello. Ingram, Rahena.”
“Yes, hello to you too, Gain. But… did you perhaps break those rocks?”
“Yes. I was showing Smith something, so I broke the rocks.”
“What were you showing him?”
“The way I use Earth Qi differs from how Smith does it, so I explained the difference.”
“Ah! Is that so? We heard such a loud explosion and came running, thinking something terrible had happened.”
“I didn’t expect it to be so loud. I apologize.”
“Well, these things happen. By the way, earlier I noticed that some of the village people who were taken as slaves to Johansen County have returned, and the Count’s steward is distributing grain and supplies on behalf of you. What did you do at the County?”
“Ah, well, I negotiated with Count Johansen about the Sentron Mine…”
As Jang Gain summarized what had happened, the eyes of the three listening widened in surprise.
“…so the Count’s people are distributing the grain and supplies I purchased in his stead.”
Ingram was silent for a long moment after hearing Jang Gain’s words before finally opening his mouth.
“S-so to gain recognition of autonomy from the Smed Kingdom, we’ll need to visit every village in this mountain range and persuade them.”
“That’s right. Any faction is weak when small, but gains strength when many gather, and we need that strength to negotiate with the Smed Kingdom.”
“You’re the center of that strength—without you, there can be no negotiation. Count Johansen himself brought up autonomy because you’re the Sword Master who crossed into the Demon Gate alone and slaughtered hundreds of Demonic Beasts and Magical Creatures.”
* * *
Kurel, who had lived as a slave and returned to his village thanks to Jang Gain, wept as he embraced his family.
“…that’s how Gain was able to lead me and the other slaves out of the County.”
After weeping for some time and explaining how he’d returned to the village, not only his family but those gathered nearby widened their eyes in astonishment.
“Y-yes! If not for Gain, you would have lived out your days as a slave under that merchant!”
“Yes. Had Gain not rescued me and the others, that’s exactly what would have happened. And Gain has now negotiated with Count Johansen to unite the various villages in the Crerarion Mountain Range and…”
Kurel explained how Jang Gain would gather the villages of the Crerarion Mountain Range, become their representative, and then negotiate with the Smed Kingdom to obtain autonomy. He also told them that once autonomy was granted, hunters and mercenaries would no longer be able to freely enter the mountains and kidnap people.
“What! If we can achieve that, our village should openly support Gain becoming the representative of the Crerarion Mountain Range!”
“Yes. That way, not just I but others too can live without fear of hunters or mercenaries.”
“Then we must gather the village people immediately and spread the word. Everyone else, help us assemble the villagers.”
“Understood.”
As Kurel’s father and those nearby began to move, the villagers gathered quickly.
Soon after, when Kurel told the assembled villagers what Jang Gain intended to do, most agreed, though a few expressed concern.
“We live in this barren place precisely to escape the rule of nobles and excessive taxation. Are we now to establish this man called Gain as another noble to govern us?”
It was Korhwan, the herbalist, who stepped forward to voice the concerns of those gathered.

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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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