Chapter 35 : Chapter 35
Chapter 35. An Unexpected Guest
The next day came after sleeping in the barracks.
My plan to stay in Sylvester for a few days and continue hunting Lafre was immediately thwarted as soon as the day broke.
‘…Their response is faster than I thought.’
A recall order came down from the Arena.
The fact that a large number of gladiators had been annihilated seemed to have raised an alarm.
The guide who had first led the gladiators to the vicinity of Sylvester came to the castle.
I mixed in with the other surviving gladiators and followed the guide to a nearby gate.
The Demon World before sunrise was quite chilly.
Hoo—
As I walked, breathing out vapor in the freezing cold, Lucas approached.
“Is the favor still undecided?”
When I glanced back, Lucas had an anxious expression on his face.
It seemed he too had figured out the loophole in the contract overnight.
I looked at him and put on a thoughtful expression.
“Well… I don’t really have one yet?”
“Anything will do.”
“I’ll tell you when I think of something.”
“……”
Seeing Lucas bite his lip, I looked forward again and grinned.
‘You think you can just refuse my favor and end the contract? Not a chance.’
Besides, Lucas was still being stiff-necked.
I didn't like his attitude of requesting(?) a favor.
It seemed we still needed a bit more time for a deep conversation.
As the two of us bickered and walked across the dry land, we soon arrived in front of the gate.
“Go in.”
At the guide's gesture, we passed through the gate one by one.
Lucas and I also went through the gate.
A blindingly bright light permeated my entire body, and a moment later, I opened my eyes again.
The scene of the Request Center, with a few gladiators walking around, unfolded.
After passing through the gate, I suddenly noticed something different.
“…Huh? What’s this?”
I examined my body.
Unlike when I left, I felt no dizziness at all.
With a puzzled expression, I turned my head to the side to see Lucas with his eyes closed, catching his breath.
Phew—
Seeing his deeply furrowed face, he looked like he was suffering from motion sickness.
The gate was the same as before.
If so, the cause was me.
Nothing had particularly changed, except….
‘Ah. Balance.’
I recalled the Balance I trait I had obtained by mastering the Sabla Swordsmanship this time.
⌜Trait: Balance I
Description: ‘The elegance of an unshakable body.’
Your ability to maintain your body's center of balance becomes outstanding. Your center will not collapse even during violent movements.⌟
It seemed to be related to the ability to maintain the body's center, which was written in the middle of the description for Balance.
‘Does it apply in this way too?’
Balance was about maintaining the body's center.
The more complex the swordsmanship movements became, the more important it was to maintain the body's balance.
The effect of not feeling the motion sickness experienced when moving through a gate was not something I had intended.
I briefly thought about the correlation between the semicircular canals that govern the sense of balance and motion sickness, then stopped.
‘…Well, whatever the effect, good is good.’
I checked my status window.
⌜Name: Kim Hyunwoo
Title: Super Rookie
Skills: ■Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M)(New!), ■Skirma Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M), □
Unique Traits: Swordsmanship Synthesis, Master of Copy, Swordsmanship Genius, Pain Tolerance, Oxygen Tank
General Traits: Physique I, Swiftness I, Balance I (New!)⌟
Physique, Swiftness, and Balance.
Looking at it this way, I had now learned all three basic traits for physical ability.
Physique, which increased strength.
Swiftness, which increased agility.
And Balance, which coordinated physical abilities.
The three traits had a complementary relationship.
The combined traits produced a great synergistic effect.
If the power of each individual trait was 1, the power of the three combined was 5 or more.
The synergistic effect of these three traits was a large part of why I was able to escape the forest full of Lafre.
Recalling my movements at that time, Hyunwoo shook his head.
‘…I really can't be called human anymore.’
After briefly thinking about my changed physical abilities, I looked around.
I waited for a moment, but no one came to meet me or approach me.
It seemed the Arena had summoned me urgently, but….
“Can I just go…?”
While I was cautiously observing, Lucas moved first.
His motion sickness seemed to have subsided, as he went to the counter to receive his request fee.
He didn't forget to glare at me once in the process.
That too was brief.
Lucas, seeing the Lafre's fluid stuck to his body, frowned and hastily left the place.
‘He fought outside for almost a day, so he must feel disgustingly sticky.’
The barracks at the Sylvester garrison didn't have any washing facilities.
An unhygienic and dirty field barracks.
It probably wasn't a space that Lucas, who was once a demon, could tolerate.
Not much time had passed since he had lost his status as a demon.
For such a Lucas, life in the Arena—eating, sleeping, and washing—must all be an ordeal.
Even the basic standard of living he conceived was based on a demon’s standard.
The amount of mana stones he used just to maintain a similar standard was absurdly high.
I stopped paying attention to the departing Lucas.
‘We’ll meet again on our own without me having to look for him.’
With his spending habits, his pockets would be empty again soon.
For Lucas, who was always short on mana stones, the only choice was to take on requests.
Jingle—
I fiddled with the heavily filled mana stone pouch and approached the Request Center staff to receive the request fee.
The mana stones I received from the Request Center were mere pocket change compared to what I had earned this time.
While the returning gladiators left one by one.
I stayed longer, counting my mana stones, but no one came looking for me.
‘Well, since they called for me, I guess they’ll contact me later.’
Looking at the heavy mana stones in my clothes, I smiled and headed to my quarters.
***
When I returned to my quarters, Van was sitting on the sofa.
“Huh?”
Hearing my voice, Van looked surprised and shot up from the sofa.
“You’re alive.”
“…What kind of nonsense is that the moment you see my face?”
“It’s enough that you’re alive.”
Van let out a sigh of relief, then looked at me and quickly began to manage his expression.
“I heard most of the Silver gladiators died. They don't tell a low-ranking person like me who survived….”
“So you were worried about me?”
“Worried? What worry…!”
As if I had hit a nerve, his tongue was especially long today.
“If you died, I might get demoted from Silver Administrator again. And also….”
“So you were worried.”
“……”
When Van couldn't continue, I chuckled— and sat on the sofa.
“I get it, so go get me some food. I’ve been walking all morning, I'm hungry.”
“…Alright.”
Van scratched his head and went outside.
‘Now I have someone who worries about me when I get back.’
Although the person worrying was an ugly, dark-skinned man, it didn't feel too bad.
After Van left, I was alone in the quarters and looked around.
Perhaps because I had been outside, the quarters looked truly cozy.
It even felt like I had returned after being away for quite a long time.
I leaned back comfortably on the sofa and checked my status window.
First, the swordsmanship.
⌜Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M)⌟
I was able to master the Sabla Swordsmanship through this request.
‘The timing was impeccable.’
The Master Event unfolded while I was frantically crossing the forest carrying Lucas and wielding the Sabla Swordsmanship.
I recalled that moment.
‘I felt like I had become a single spinning top.’
The Sabla Swordsmanship, which utilizes centrifugal force.
The axis of the mastered Sabla Swordsmanship was none other than myself, the one wielding it.
With myself as the central axis, I could unleash a continuous barrage of attacks.
The enemies in the Master Event were masked assailants.
Even those nimble assailants couldn't evade the mastered Sabla Swordsmanship, so there was no way the sluggish Lafre could dodge my sword.
The swordsmanship, using continuous rotation, drew an unpredictable trajectory.
Thanks to the mastered Sabla Swordsmanship, I was barely able to break through the forest.
I had gotten out in such a frenzy that I couldn't clearly recall the sensation of that time.
‘It’ll take some time to get used to.’
Even I, the one using the swordsmanship, couldn't control all the movements of the advancing sword.
The mastered Sabla Swordsmanship was that free-spirited.
Recalling that moment, I headed to the training room I had newly remodeled in the room.
The scenery of the training room, unified in a refreshing sky blue, welcomed me.
‘I really like it.’
Of course, it was Pierre who had wallpapered the walls and tiled the floor.
‘I wonder what Pierre is up to now.’
Since the Lafre had started to run rampant, the prices of items must have risen.
I imagined his mouth was probably split from ear to ear right now.
I shook off my thoughts of Pierre and raised my Cheonbyeondo at an angle.
The secret of the Sabla Swordsmanship was in maintaining one's center.
That was why Balance I was attached to the mastered Sabla Swordsmanship.
Upon reaching master level, I could swing the sword stably in any posture.
And that was the same when rotating.
Whoosh—!
I rotated my body once and instantly unleashed the sword's momentum.
The sword that cut through the air aimed for a full 360 degrees around me.
Although I was spinning frantically, my center was very stable.
I was now able to perform continuous rotational attacks without rest.
I was momentarily reminded of when I was cutting down the Lafre swarm in the forest.
‘One strike was enough.’
With a single rotation, the Lafre surrounding me were cleanly swept away.
If I were to go to Sylvester again, I would be able to slaughter them much more easily.
Reviving the sensation of that time, I swung the sword a few more times.
It took more effort than I thought to focus the tip of the sword on the desired target.
“Phew… my whole body is tingling.”
Deciding that this was enough, I lowered my sword and wiped away my sweat.
As I plopped down to rest, the training room felt empty.
‘Something feels empty.’
The sky-blue backgrounds, tailored to his taste, were clean and I liked them.
However, they were too clean.
Because there was nothing there.
As I was pondering what to fill the empty training room with, I heard a voice from outside.
“Sir Hyunwoo. Are you there?”
At the call, I narrowed my eyes.
‘Who is it?’
Van had left after putting down the food earlier, and if it were Pierre, he would have knocked on the door instead of calling for me.
‘Did someone from the Arena come looking for me?’
But the voice was familiar.
I tilted my head and left the training room to open the door.
I had expected someone from the Arena to come looking for me, but the person who came was an unexpected individual.
When I opened the door, Verian, the Dark Elf from Lotus, was standing there.
‘Why is she here…?’
Verian saw me and smiled brightly.
“It’s been a while.”
“What brings you here?”
“Shall I tell you here?”
“Ah, please come in for now.”
I opened the door wide and guided her to the living room.
His mind raced.
‘What business would Lotus have with me?’
And it was her, who seemed to be a mid-level executive, coming here in person?
As I guided Verian to the sofa and we sat facing each other, she smiled and took out a mana stone pouch from her clothes and handed it to me.
“This is the remaining balance for the information from last time.”
“…Has it already doubled in price?”
“It hasn't reached the doubled price stipulated in the conditions yet… but yesterday's events have proven the credibility of the information.”
It seemed the news of the forest where the Lafre were multiplying had already spread.
‘Well, with so many gladiators dead, there’s no way they wouldn't know.’
With so many Silver gladiators deployed for the Lafre request dead, not only the Arena but also outsiders must have known.
After that, it was a natural process for the prices of fire-attribute items and poison resistance items, which were said to be highly effective against the Lafre, to rise.
But still, there would be no need for Lotus to rush to pay the balance….
“Is this why you came to see me?”
“Well, I came for this and other things.”
Judging by her reaction, the balance was only a part of it, and it seemed she had a real purpose.
At Hyunwoo's reaction, Verian smiled, crossed her legs slightly, and said.
“I came to give you some necessary information, Sir Hyunwoo.”