Chapter 160 : Chapter 160
Chapter 160 - Above the Water's Surface
The growth system of <Arche> wasn't much different from other RPGs, and the same was true for the required experience points.
At lower stat ranks, the required experience was small, so growth was rapid, but upon reaching higher stat ranks, the experience requirement increased exponentially, slowing down growth. That kind of system.
That system applied to me in the same way. What would that mean?
‘The more I grow, the longer the intervals between growth bearing fruit become.’
It was a more frustrating problem than I thought. Even though I knew I was moving in the right direction, distrust would blossom within me as I experienced those countless deaths.
‘Is this really the right path?’
There was no denying that the method I was trying was working effectively. However, that was in the realm of reason.
In the realm of emotion or spirit…… I realized that such a clear fact didn't have much of an effect.
Not that I gave up, though.
[ System : deaths have been overcome. ]
[ System : Strength increases to [B]! ]
That was because whenever distrust flickered in my heart as my spirit wore down, the evidence of growth was shoved in my face.
To call it by another name…… yes, something that could be called hope.
Despairing at the lack of progress in reality, therefore distrusting, and then seeing hope again…….
Such a ridiculous farce of distrust repeated itself.
There certainly exist enemies that you cannot win against even if you stake your entire soul and life.
That was truly a renewed thought. Doesn't this world assign a value to a life and soul from the moment of its existence's birth?
It was only natural that one born with a low value could not defeat one born with a high value.
‘It's not a statement that applies only to this world, but it's undeniable that it's harsher here.’
Offering Rain Enlight's life and soul just once is, of course, not enough to defeat the First Astros, Grændal, Salvatio, and Akmandar.
Because Rain Enlight. That is, my soul and life, did not have that much value.
Therefore, I repeatedly offered my soul and life to the world. It was something that couldn't and shouldn't happen⋯⋯ but who cares.
I died ten times.
[ System : deaths have been overcome. ]
I felt the pain of death a hundred times.
[ System : deaths have been overcome. ]
Even that was not enough, so the time of my pain and death eventually exceeded a thousand times.
[ System : deaths have been overcome. ]
By the time I surpassed a thousand regressions in this incident alone, I looked back on myself, and there were certainly remarkable achievements.
[ System : The rank of 『Combat Sense』 increases to A+! ]
『Combat Sense[A+]』
: The degree of sensory understanding of combat.
: You gain a bonus on all combat-related checks.
The first thing that caught my eye was the growth of 『Combat Sense』, which had been stagnant at A-rank.
In the case of this trait, unlike other stats that simply required accumulating experience, it demanded a ‘high level of enlightenment’ about combat for growth.
‘That's why even in the original work, it wasn't a skill raised through simple leveling, but grew each time a certain story branch was passed.’
Looking back, that was certainly the case. Drawing out an appropriate level of power to block the enemy's attack with optimal strength, deflecting the enemy's interception with optimal movements⋯⋯.
It was a situation where the most fundamental sense of coordinating combat couldn't help but be trained.
And the stage I reached was A+, just below the trait's maximum of S-rank.
I had accumulated combat experience that even renowned Senior Knights, and furthermore, Master Knights, would find hard to follow. That's how it could be interpreted.
『Origin Magic Proficiency[C+]』
: The degree to which Origin Magic is mastered.
: Currently proficient in Origin Magic at the [Senior Knight] level.
It wasn't immediately useful, but⋯⋯ there was definite progress in visionary magic as well.
It meant that as a result of intentionally training Origin Magic by pouring all my magic into 『Space Perception』 with every death, it had become a reasonably useful rank.
‘Or maybe⋯⋯ it was trained in the process of dying a lot like before.’
Considering that the initial trigger for obtaining Origin Magic Proficiency was the repetitive deaths from 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』, there would be an influence from that side as well.
Anyway, what I had was an ability that could be described as nothing short of transcendental.
And although there was certainly remarkable growth due to it, the goal I aimed for by utilizing that ability was truly shabby.
Just to escape this situation.
That was a realistic goal. To put it differently, it was a story that in this situation, I couldn't guarantee that I could overwhelm and kill those three even if I died ten thousand times.
I was aware of that, and so I thought.
‘Pathetic.’
That even with a stroke of heavenly luck, it was only this much, I had no way to handle the shame of my own incompetence.
Yes, it was definitely pathetic.
“I was somewhat surprised, but⋯⋯ is this all you could come up with?”
That was what Grændal had said while killing me in the early stages of the regression, after I had put all my strength into a single blow.
“Hoho, did you panic? To think you'd break your own body to somehow get us off you.”
In the middle of the regression, seeing me deliberately carry out unreasonable attacks to train myself, Salvatio muttered so.
“To think of deflecting them all, know your place.”
In the latter half of the regression, when I was getting used to the enemy's attack patterns, Akmandar would often send me such a cold smile.
Well, it's true. It was a natural reaction from their perspective.
They were living only one life, and in that one life, my actions were contextless nonsense.
The same as a self-destructive move that invited death.
But regardless of their justification, it could not be denied that it was a humiliating thing for me.
A mocking expression as if looking at something pathetic.
Or an expression as if they had expectations for my level but were disappointed.
I'll admit it, watching them, I would feel a sensation as if my insides were twisting.
Perhaps those sensations were what pushed me to survive.
Disbelief, misery, contempt.
The over one thousand regressions were riddled with negative emotions.
『Iron Will[S]』
: The owner of a strong mentality.
: You receive a bonus to resistance to mental abnormalities and pain tolerance.
‘If this trait didn't exist, I might have gone mad long ago.’
But even amidst such negative emotions, there was still no great progress to be seen.
Even though I knew their patterns of action, even though I had raised my stats by repeating a thousand times, I was still struggling to even buy a few minutes of time against them.
I knew there was progress, but weren't there still countless deaths left?
[ System : deaths have been overcome. ]
Living my 1,493rd life, I was still lost in such thoughts.
Just how much value did my efforts have, I wondered.
Do you know the saying ‘effort never betrays you’? That saying is certainly true. It's just a cheapskate.
Because of that, effort often feels like it betrays people. It's because it's virtually impossible for someone without talent to break through a situation or become surprisingly strong with a moderate amount of effort.
But.
Sometimes, it happens.
The debris of effort, which seemed to be scattered on the floor as if not properly accumulated at all, piles up, and piles up again⋯⋯.
A time when, without you even realizing it, that achievement bursts forth.
***
Clang-!
Until I met Grændal's sword strike with my own and prepared for the subsequent deflection, it was the same as usual.
A blow of the same level as before had entered me, and the stamina consumed was also of that extent.
It was just that some stray thoughts remained in my head, that was all.
‘Why am I repeating this damn thing?’
A question that I had thought about for over a thousand deaths but couldn't find an answer to.
Therefore, a question I had neatly folded away somewhere deep in my mind. It was slowly starting to surface again.
The answer to that almost unconscious question was, naturally, unknowable.
Swish-!
Then, before Grændal could use a trick to deflect my sword, I deflected the clashed sword first.
As I always had.
I say it so calmly, but I was deflecting it much more smoothly than a few hundred times ago.
And at the same time, the scene progressed.
Fwaat-!
Ah, it's the same scene.
The scene where I make Grændal readjust his posture, taking him out of the front line for just a few seconds, and then Akmandar's magic arrows come flying.
Those dozens of magic arrows, in the shape of eagles, were still blocking my path forward.
It meant that even after hundreds of battles, I just couldn't properly deflect that barrage.
In that situation, there were two options.
Either Salvatio would charge in during that opening and crush me.
Or if I moved toward Grændal on the opposite side to avoid him, Grændal, who was now closer, would quickly regain his stance and stab me to death before I could finish dealing with the arrows.
Well.
The point was that I had to deal with these magic arrows cleanly.
Although their ever-changing trajectories were still not properly captured by my eyes.
Shhhk-!
The magic arrows floating in the air begin to fly at me.
And.
Unlike before. I start to feel like time is flowing a little slower.
‘Ah.’
It was a realization.
A realization that something had changed from before.
No, was the expression wrong? Perhaps it was just that what I had built up until now was finally starting to be felt.
And, at the same time as I saw through the trajectory of those flying arrows⋯⋯ I thought.
An unsatisfactory answer to the question I hadn't been able to answer until now.
The deaths so far were like grabbing my head and pushing it under the water's surface.
The world that had bestowed those deaths upon me made me feel my spirit and even my will to live grow faint, and wanted me to give up.
Through disbelief, contempt, misery, and pain.
But looking back now, it was like that.
‘Were all those things that tried to drown me, actually what kept me alive?’
My mind felt clear.
The path forward was also clearly visible.
If so, what was left?
“⋯⋯Shall we go and end this.”
It was time to raise my head above the water's surface.
Well.
That was the story.