Level up with swords (19)
Two days later, Leon left the forest and started training at the same time. He felt dizzy when he heard that it could be more difficult than ‘how to see’, but he had a greater desire to be reborn as a full-fledged warrior as soon as possible.
To be honest, Leon’s growth rate was very slow.
Although he had been growing rapidly since meeting El Cid, those who could be considered truly strong had reached the stage of typifying Aurors at that age.
Like Lian, the prince who hid his identity.
‘If Rian had chosen El Cid… .’
It must have shown a much more impressive growth rate than that.
Leon thought about that and gritted his teeth.
If you lack talent, just work harder. As long as he had a holy sword in his hands that could reward his efforts, he would be able to go as far as he could as long as he didn’t give up.
okay.
It certainly must have been so.
[Wrong. One step back.]
“Tch!”
Leon took a step back again.
Although he had been walking since dawn, he had not yet progressed even a hundred steps. This was because the ‘step method’ taught by El Cid himself was that difficult.
Bobeop (步法).
Simply put, it means ‘how to walk,’ but to discuss its principles in depth, an enormous amount of knowledge was needed. How to move your waist, how to utilize your knee joints, how to adjust your ankle angle, how to distribute your center of gravity… .
For the first time in his life, Leon was realizing how complex a skill ‘walking’, which anyone could do without any problem, was.
[I lost strength in my big toe. One step back.]
“like this?”
[This time, the heel touches the ground.]
“shit!”
It takes dozens of minutes just to take one step.
Go forward and step back.
It is only after repeating the repetition to double digits that one succeeds. By El Cid’s standards, even that was far from enough, but it was clear that if things were to be stricter than this, they would stand still until the sun sets.
Leon was covered in sweat and trying to catch his breath.
“I guess it wasn’t for nothing that I said it was harder than the original method… .”
[Sounds obvious.]
El Cid said as if he understood the complaint.
[If you roll your eyes a little too much, it will sting, but walking in an unfamiliar way will cause fatigue in itself. This is because ligaments, joints, and muscles that are not normally used resist. Aren’t your calves still throbbing a lot?]
“a little?”
[hmm… . You’ve already walked over 2,000 steps, but your body is really strong. Still, if your muscles get tangled, you have to loosen them, so tell me in advance if you feel like you might get cramps.]
Leon tried to nod without thinking, but then felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding and asked.
“How are you going to release me?”
[huh? You’ve experienced a lot.]
“… … .”
It was only one phenomenon he had ever experienced. Leon’s concentration increased explosively as he remembered that terrible pain. The torture that felt like tearing at his muscles was something he did not want.
I thought that even if I failed to walk, I could just back away, but who would have thought that there was a trap like this lurking around?
In an instant, Leon’s feet moved as he entered a trance.
―.
A noise close to silence.
It was the most perfect ‘step’ out of thousands of attempts. It perfectly accepts the repulsive force at the moment the foot touches the ground, and even succeeds in redirecting that force in a completely different direction.
<Rodrick’s Stepping Method>, which allows one to freely control one’s body regardless of environmental conditions, has been unfolded for the first time in 300 years.
[After all, hawks are medicine.]
It was a sound that would have made Leon’s blood rush if he had heard it.
It seems that his success fueled El Cid’s passion for education in a bad direction. If you were to judge it based only on the results, it wasn’t wrong, so he deserved to raise his eyebrows.
If you had trained in the right way, it would have taken you three weeks to master the basics, but didn’t you succeed in just half a day? Although it was truly terrible that the method was a trauma caused by extreme pain.
[…] two… three… four… five… ]
How many more steps did we take?
Leon eventually exhausted his mental power by successfully completing ten steps in a row. I was so focused that I felt dizzy for a moment.
But he couldn’t be purely happy.
El Cid, who figured out the reason, was the first to chuckle.
[What, why did you stop?]
“Okay, let’s rest for a moment. “You continued to succeed ten times.”
[Why does the warrior have such a long tongue? Are you… ?]
The Holy Sword whispered, laughing like a devil.
[Isn’t there a cramp in your leg?]
“no! “No!”
Leon desperately shook his head, but his legs were stuck to the ground and he didn’t know how to fall. Not only my calves but also my thighs were twitching, showing that I had a real cramp.
And El Cid put strength into those muscles.
[Bite your molars tightly. Chews his tongue.]
“Oh, no!”
[Okay!]
After blocking Leon’s resistance with a single word, El Cid’s will pulled dozens of muscle fibers.
As powerfully as possible without causing harm.
“Egga-ga-ga-ga-gak!”
Immediately after that, a loud scream rang out.
* * *
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Blaine, Free City.
As its name suggests, it is a city that pursues freedom. It had access to trade with three neighboring kingdoms, and was also a place where people could find work regardless of nationality or race. Since several languages are used, an interpreter is often needed.
It is a land ruled by the 4th generation Earl Blaine, and a land where adventurers and mercenaries come to seek fame and fortune.
The fortress-like walls greeted him.
“… at las.”
Leon, the young man who finally faced Blaine’s gate, muttered in a dying voice.
It was literally a long journey.
Breaking the expectation that he would be able to arrive in a week, he arrived in this city in a whopping 15 days. I could never have imagined that my choice to practice footwork would lead to such results.
Only 300 steps on the first day.
500 steps the next day.
1,000 steps again the next day.
By the time I managed to regain my normal walking speed, a week had already passed.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have packed more food… .”
Leon said with a truly regretful expression.
Before leaving for Blaine, I made a mistake by taking it with me, thinking it would be enough for 10 days. Because his body was trained, he needed more calories, and the stamina he used while practicing footwork was considerable.
So, starting on the tenth day, he quenched his hunger by picking nuts from trees or slaughtering animals. It was a journey that anyone could see as having climbed over a difficult mountain.
[Man, back in my day, traveling was training! Then, I grew up eating poisonous plants and catching and eating monsters!]
“Can’t you eat monsters?”
[After starving for a week, I somehow got over it.]
It wouldn’t be a problem to just skip it… ?
Leon was lost in the nonsense, but came to his senses when the guard told him to present his ID.
The academy’s student ID card was quite credible.
“Pass!”
After passing the checkpoint, Leon hurried his steps.
It was just past noon, but the 15 days of training had left his mind and body in tatters. A warm meal and a cozy bed were beckoning ahead.
As I passed through the gate, a panoramic view of the city unfolded.
“and… .”
Leon was amazed by the sight, even though he was embarrassed by the amount of information that made his eyes sting. A plaza with hundreds, if not thousands, of people coming and going and towering buildings filled the field of view.
The Academy was a fairly large facility, but once it was located in Blaine, it would be difficult to find without a sign.
[It’s a gangster village.]
Of course, El Cid’s evaluation was harsh.
Leon asked back with a puzzled expression.
“No, this is Gangchon?”
[Even 300 years ago, there were dozens of cities of this size. It’s not small, but it’s not big either. And the structure is messy compared to the size of the city. Public security is not very good.]
“… “My eyes are still blind.”
Unlike him, whose eyes were throbbing from not being able to digest all the information, El Cid immediately understood the structure of the city.
It was evidence that the difference in capabilities was enormous.
Leon entered the road in the direction with as few people as possible and looked at the words on the large sign. It was because he wondered if there was a destination for him among them.
[Where do you plan to go? motel?]
“No, I’m going to go to the guild first. “There is no need to rush, but I think it would be better to register quickly.”
[hmm.]
El Cid thought about something about those words and then asked.
[Now that I think about it, I made a distinction between adventurers and mercenaries. In my time, the distinction between the two occupations was vague, but is it any different these days?]
“It’s very different.”
Leon soon found his way to his destination. And as he walked in that direction, he answered El Cid’s questions.
“First of all, mercenaries can participate in territory battles, but adventurers cannot. Any conflict against humans falls under the jurisdiction of mercenaries, not adventurers. On the contrary, exploring dungeons or specific areas is usually left to adventurers.”
[Then you must be quite sensitive to each other’s territory, right?]
“Well, that’s right. There are many things where it is unclear which one it is. In the case of upper-level guards, you can either deal with monsters or robbers, so both types participate.”
Unless the areas of expertise were completely different, a fight over food was bound to break out when they overlapped in some way.
It is the guild’s role to coordinate that.
Even though the buildings used by mercenaries and adventurers were different, there was one guild. The guild, which is close to a public institution, acted as a deterrent in itself to prevent conflict, and also had the role of monitoring if its members showed subversive movements.
[Leon, you will be an adventurer, right?]
“huh.”
Leon nodded immediately.
According to what I learned at the academy, mercenaries were more suitable, but unlike adventurers, mercenaries had a narrow scope of activity. Also, he had no intention of participating in the nobles’ battle for power.
Above all, in order to utilize the ‘Hero’s Privilege’, the best way was to become an adventurer in charge of monster subjugation requests.
But I had no intention of being hasty.
“But for the time being, I’ll focus on training the basics like you said. <Bobeop> is still in the beginner stage, and I don’t have much experience.”
[OK. All you need is that mindset.]
El Cid grinned at what he said, seeing through my worries.
Leon’s skills are still immature.
If it was a goblin, it would be okay if they came in double digits, but it was difficult to guarantee a sure victory even against a group of kobolds or gnolls, not even trolls.
It might not be a big deal if you use the power of the holy sword, but… .
“It’s still a while until your seal is released.”
It was just as Leon said.
Because he came down a year earlier than the oracle, most of El Cid’s powers that he could exercise as a holy sword were still tied up.
A holy sword is not something that simply emits light. It restores the owner’s body to near immortality, provides enormous strength, and deals a fatal blow to demonic beings. Strengthening the aura with divine power and amplifying it several times was a bonus.
[It’s difficult. The lack of safety measures is still unsettling, but we can’t just waste time. Should I grow you as much as possible until my seal is released, while avoiding too dangerous methods?]
“Even if there is a safety device, please avoid it… .”
[Have you never heard the story of a lion?]
“Throwing my baby off a cliff? “When was it last revealed that that was a lie?”
[what? really?!]
El Cid shouted in genuine shock, but Leon was already concentrating all his attention on the building in front of him.
Guild.
It is an organization with global influence, with branches in as many as 10 countries. Not only did it have a history, but its power was also great, so it was said that it was impossible for even the Clyde Empire to threaten or give orders to the guild.
‘So what?’
Leon, who was nervous for a moment, laughed.
No matter how great a guild is, is it any more powerful than a warrior? If you are thinking of becoming a warrior, there is no reason to shrink from guilds or anything like that.
After regaining his confidence, he pushed open the gate.
Sigh.
Guild, Free City Blaine Branch.
It was the name that would mark the warrior’s first mark.
