Chapter 4 The Ultimate Secret Contained In All Sword Techniques
After parting ways with Lion and going solo, I continued to delve into the labyrinth.
I kept hunting the same monsters on the 1st floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor. For the first 2 years, I stuck to that pace and didn't head to the 4th floor.
The reason was that from the 4th floor onward, monsters basically formed groups. So, it was dangerous to go solo. In contrast, while it wasn't impossible for monsters to form groups up to the 3rd floor, it was rare.
I was a solo explorer who continued to hunt small fry in relatively safe areas.
Moreover, on my left hand was the distinctive black crest that indicated I had reached the Talent limit with "Beginner Swordman" ―― the "Basic Limit Crest".
So, it was inevitable that my name would spread throughout the explorer community.
Before I knew it, I had earned a "Two-Name" title.
Explorers who achieved extraordinary feats were sometimes called by a "Two-Name" title.
It was an honorable title.
But the "Two-Name" title I received was not that.
――"Talentless"
That was my "Two-Name" title.
It was a straightforward and clear title with no room for denial.
I was ridiculed and laughed at by other explorers, which was frustrating, but I made an effort not to let it get to me.
I'm an adult. I'll become an adult, Aaron Gale. Those guys will probably die soon in the labyrinth anyway. It's pointless to get angry at them, so I'll just show them my adult composure.
I would tell myself this while drinking cheap liquor at the tavern.
"Hey, look, you guys. The talentless, useless explorer is drinking away!"
"You're so pathetic! Die! already, you trash!!"
――It would often escalate into a brawl, and I even got banned from one of the taverns. Good times.
Anyway, I didn't care what others called me; I continued to delve into the labyrinth.
The magic stones and materials dropped by monsters on the lower floors were cheap, so I had to hunt them in large quantities to earn a living. I relentlessly searched for monsters, striking them down with a single, sure blow using [Slash].
If I had a job correction like "Intermediate Swordsman," I could take down low-level monsters with a single hit without using skills. Unfortunately, I'm not that lucky.
Useless counterattacks. Useless risks. To eliminate them as much as possible, I had no choice but to take them down with certainty using [Slash].
However, using skills consumes magical energy. If I had to consume magical energy for every attack, my ability to fight continuously would decrease. The number of monsters I could hunt in a day would also be limited.
I could have chosen not to use skills, knowing the risks, but I continued to use [Slash].
Even if it's just small fry, if I keep taking down monsters, my magical energy will increase on its own. In the labyrinth, those who tolerate avoidable risks will end up dead.
And in conclusion, my choice was correct.
Of course, my magical energy did increase, but that's not the point.
Continuing to use [Slash] itself made me stronger.
There's a phenomenon called "Skill Mastery."
When you repeat the same skill multiple times, the magical energy consumed to activate it decreases, or its power increases. That's what it means.
Skills aren't just uniform techniques that anyone can use to produce the same effects.
I've heard that skills are originally techniques used by heroes from the age of gods, adapted so that anyone can use them regardless of talent.
It's a technique, and there's room for mastery.
As I use skills more, my understanding of them deepens, and I can modify and apply them.
Even with a basic Sword Technique like [Slash], it's the same.
And then, a year passed.
Because I only had one skill, [Slash], and continued to use it, a clear change had occurred in me.
At first, if I hunted around 30 monsters, my magical energy would be depleted.
However, around a year later, I no longer ran out of magical energy even after hunting a hundred monsters.
This was because I continued to defeat monsters and absorb their magical energy, which increased my maximum capacity. However, the increase in magical energy varied greatly depending on the amount of magical energy the monsters possessed.
As someone who only hunted weak monsters, I didn't expect such a huge change to occur.
So, there was only one remaining reason.
By mastering [Slash], I reduced the amount of magical energy required for it.
Compared to other genuine explorers, it was a small change. But it was a certain and steady progress.
I continued to [Slash].
And 3 years passed.
I got quite used to fighting alone.
Against weak monsters, I could defeat them with a single blow. Even if they were in a group, I could win without a hitch by using clever tactics.
After 2 years, I advanced to the 4th floor and was able to hunt 150 monsters in a single day.
I still had some spare magical energy.
I made the 4th and 5th floors my main hunting grounds and continued to hunt monsters daily to make a living. It was a dangerous but monotonous life.
But [Slash] was certainly evolving.
Normally, [Slash] is a skill that enhances the cutting power and force of a slash by covering the sword with a magical energy aura at the moment of the attack.
The sword is only covered with the aura for a brief moment during the attack.
But I succeeded in consciously prolonging that time.
I kept the aura on my sword at all times, not just during the attack. It might seem like a waste of magical energy, but it wasn't.
The longsword covered with the aura repelled anything that touched it, not just the blade.
It wasn't just the rocks and arrows thrown by goblins. Even the magic attacks cast by the occasional high-ranking goblin, the Goblin Mage, were repelled by the aura.
That was equivalent to the [Parry] Sword Technique, with almost the same effect.
With the increased methods to counter magic attacks, which had been unavoidable until then, battles became much easier.
I advanced to the deepest part of the 5th floor, and defeated the Goblin King with its subordinates.
And 6 years passed.
By this time, I had become quite "free" in using [Slash].
By storing more magical energy in the aura's blade, I succeeded in greatly increasing the power of my slashes.
I could also separate the aura's blade from my sword and send it flying towards the enemy.
Those would normally be called [Heavy Slash] or [Flying Slash].
But I didn't have those skills. I was still using [Slash], after all.
However, as I mastered [Slash], I realized something.
[Slash] contained the essence of all sword techniques.
In other words, Sword Techniques were just applications of aura-based skills.
Releasing aura outside my body, sometimes holding it back, or further enhancing and separating it from my body to control it.
Sword Techniques were just variations of those skills.
By mastering [Slash], its performance was enhanced, and my ability to control aura expanded, allowing me to mimic unknown Sword Techniques.
It was like manually activating a skill that would normally trigger automatically.
I was able to master the technique because I had grasped the sensation of controlling aura through [Slash].
With enhanced power and long-range attacks, and even [Parry] possible, it was more than enough.
I was now advancing through the floors alone, which I had previously done with my friends.
From the 6th floor to the 10th floor, I was taking down monsters in the "Ruins Floor" area, which were previously unbeatable, with a single blow, just like the small fries on the 5th floor and below.
It was strange, but I was clearing the floors more easily than before.
And now, I stood before the Minotaur once again, 6 years later.
"Long time no see, my dear Minotaur."
"――MOOOOOO!!"
The thrill of reopening.
With my passionate greeting, filled with all sorts of emotions, Minotaur expressed its joy of reopening, shouting energetically as it swung its massive iron axe, eager to kill me.
In response, I simply stood my ground and swung my sword once.
My unique sword technique, [Heavy Blade], [Flying Blade]――a combined technique, [Heavy Flying Blade].
In other words, it's a combination of [Heavy Slash] and [Flying Slash].
A giant blade, created from my aura, flew out, cutting through the air, with a speed that made it impossible to dodge.
The blade struck Minotaur, who was charging straight at me.
The slashing line, like a Buddhist priest's surplice, ran across Minotaur's massive body, and immediately after, its giant body was cut in 2.
Minotaur exhausted its strength before it could even reach me with its axe, and its massive body split into 2, rolling onto the stone floor with great momentum.
As I gazed at Minotaur, whose reduced to magical energy, I finally thought, "I've made it this far," and reminisced about the past.
On this day, I descended to the 11th floor for the first time in 6 years.
To the floor where the grassy plains stretched out, a place I had only seen once with my friends back then.
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