Neo-Joseon Cyberpunk

Chapter 105: Unknown Intent

“HAHAHAHA!”

Thud……! Thud……! Thud……!

Sparks scattered in all directions.

From the training sword made of lightweight special alloy.

It was a tool made to be quite sturdy, but even so, tremendous physical force was being exchanged.

And yet, not a single scratch appeared on the blade.

“Yes! That’s it exactly! Maintaining mana not just on the blade, but across the entire sword body! That is the secret that allows swordsmen called first-rate to cleave corporate weaponry even with tree branches!”

A power that could slice even iron as if it were tofu.

Among enhancement arts, the hardest to maintain—‘Force Aura’.

It was an extremely advanced magic that strengthened objects rather than one’s own body.

Fssss…….

From the practice sword, which was closer to a club than an actual blade, a blade of Black Ice surged upward.

“Ohh……. Your level of Force Aura is quite respectable!”

It was not on the level of a Black Ice Sword made entirely of ice, but it possessed cutting power enough to easily slice ordinary alloys.

Even so…….

“But not even close!”

‘It doesn’t even budge.’

The practice sword held by Tae-oh Barosi was clearly made of the same metal as Diesel’s.

Yet despite countless exchanges of offense and defense, not even the smallest nick appeared.

Because that tool, too, was wrapped in Force Aura.

A level of Force Aura not even comparable to Diesel’s.

Pajijijik……!

High-purity lightning-type mana raced across the smooth alloy surface.

A realm that could truly be called perfection.

As if it had been a single piece of metal from the very beginning, mana wrapped around the sword body without the slightest gap.

“Swordsmanship is the sum total of everything a swordsman possesses! It means pouring your entire life into a single strike! But your movements look like those of a child who has just begun to walk!”

“…….”

A child.

At Tae-oh Barosi’s provocation, Diesel unfolded a new sword technique.

‘It seems he didn’t recognize Gongryu Sword’s ‘Modified Skull-Cracker’…….’

That wasn’t strange.

My older brother left behind not even a proper photograph, let alone records of his swordsmanship.

Then would he recognize the derivative work modeled after my brother’s swordsmanship—Offensive Swordsmanship?

With keen anticipation over what reaction he would show upon seeing it, as a die-hard fan of Supreme Swordsman Lee Hamin.

Pajijijik……!

I raised the sword high with the power of Leigong.

“Hmm……?”

A sword technique copied from Gongryu Sword’s ‘Modified Skull-Cracker’.

‘Skull Crusher.’

Unlike the original, which suppressed the enemy’s momentum to block their attack route in advance,

Offensive Swordsmanship’s version was nothing more than a straightforward downward smash meant to crush the opponent’s head.

From merely the opening of that form, Tae-oh Barosi noticed something.

“That sword technique is…….”

“Do you know what this is?”

“How could I not.”

The Half-dragon’s expression tightened slightly.

“Offensive Swordsmanship.”

Then he looked at Diesel with sharp eyes.

“A crude work made by imitating the movements of the great hero Lee Hamin.”

Along with Tae-oh’s muttering.

A brutal strike headed toward the Half-dragon’s skull.

But.

“That cheap trick is an insult to Lord Lee Hamin.”

Tae-oh Barosi neither dodged nor raised his practice sword to block.

He simply stretched his hand upward and grabbed the strike Diesel unleashed.

“Why…….”

Crunch……!

When the Half-dragon tightened his grip, the hard composite metal bent like taffy.

Although Diesel had released his Force Aura just before the strike, it was still an astounding display of strength.

“Why would you lay hands on such an imitation when you possess a perfect body.”

Pure fury that he had not shown until now.

That kind of emotion burst forth from Tae-oh Barosi.

Was it because Offensive Swordsmanship was an inferior art?

No, that couldn’t be it.

Public evaluation of Offensive Swordsmanship was extremely positive, and objectively, that was a clear fact.

Rather, the point that angered Tae-oh Barosi lay elsewhere.

‘He really must be one hell of a fan.’

No matter how generously one viewed it, Offensive Swordsmanship was a technique that stole the knowledge of Supreme Swordsman Lee Hamin and turned it into profit.

In fact, it raked in an enormous amount of money under the catchphrase ‘The Ultimate Swordsmanship for Duels’.

“Fine.”

Was he feeling pity for Diesel, who had learned such a sword technique?

Or did he have some other ulterior motive?

Tae-oh Barosi declared.

“You’re wasting your talent learning that trash of a sword technique with such a fine body, so I’ll personally give you a piece of advice.”

“…….”

“That said, I won’t tell you the method for Leigong. That is not something that can be taught.”

Whatever it was, it was worth hearing.

After all, it was advice from a Melee Mage who came from the Brain Dragon Magic Tower.

“Earlier, I spoke about the mana core. That a properly trained Melee Mage can use magic even without a mana core.”

“Right.”

“The reason that’s possible is because of the ‘mana circulation’ technique.”

At the appearance of a new term, Diesel listened closely.

“Originally, mana is not a power newly born after heaven and earth were sundered. It has been with us for an extremely long time; mortals simply had their eyes covered and failed to notice it.”

The enormous Outer Space Whales that once orbited Earth.

Those mighty beings were said to have sealed countless surreal phenomena held within the planet.

But the ‘Awaken Wave’ triggered by the fall of the Outer Space Whales caused all kinds of dormant surrealities to return.

‘The important thing is that magic didn’t come into being because the Outer Space Whales fell—only that the magic they had been blocking finally returned.’

In that sense, one could say that the history of magic was unimaginably ancient.

Though that was only when viewed not from the perspective of mortals like humans, but from that of transcendent races such as dragons and Western Dragons.

“Long in the distant past, the concentration of mana flowing through the world was more than ten times higher than it is now. Because of that, mages who handled the power of so-called Melee Mages didn’t really need mana cores.”

“Ambient mana concentration, huh…….”

For a mage, the mana concentration of the surrounding area was extremely important.

Once they had exhausted the mana stored in their mana core, they either had to inhale mana from the air or forcibly administer liquid mana.

Of the two, the latter method was not recommended unless the situation was truly urgent.

If one continued to use such ‘shortcuts’—artificially taking in mana without the intake process—their ability to handle mana would gradually deteriorate.

That was why a dense ambient mana concentration was the most important environment for a mage.

But.

“No matter how dense the mana concentration is, you still have to manifest mana into magical power to cast spells, right? And for that, you need a mana core.”

“That’s true. If mana manifestation were only possible through the core.”

“What do you mean by that?”

It was a tone as if there were an entirely different method.

At that, Diesel asked bluntly.

“Don’t tell me you can manifest magical power in another organ?”

At those words, Tae-oh Barosi smiled at the corner of his lips and replied.

“That’s exactly it.”

“…….”

If that were true, it would cause such an enormous upheaval that every magical thesis in the world would have to be rewritten.

With that thought, Diesel looked at Tae-oh with suspicious eyes.

“You look unconvinced.”

“It needs to be at least plausibly new information.”

“Then see it for yourself with your own two eyes.”

After saying that, Tae-oh Barosi closed his eyes.

Then, to make the flow of mana easier to see, he shrugged off his upper garment and began pulsing his mana core.

“……Didn’t you say a core wasn’t necessary?”

“Shh. This is just the ‘ignition’ step. Focus and watch carefully.”

Fsssst…….

Lightning-type mana manifested from the Half-dragon’s mana core flowed smoothly along his mana channels.

It didn’t take long for the unusual change occurring within him to become apparent.

‘…….’

The initially generated magical power acted as a primer, drawing the mana that had been stored into the channels.

As mana ‘circulated’ through the channels like that, an unbelievable phenomenon occurred.

Pajijijit…….

Lightning-type magical power was manifested not in the core, but in the channels.

“What in the…….”

Normally, mana channels were nothing more than pathways through which mana and magical power passed.

Yet now magical power was being manifested directly there.

It was like tap water being purified inside the pipes themselves.

“They say that in the past, when ambient mana was abundant, there wasn’t even a need for a core to ignite it. Simply inhaling mana was enough.”

A mana core also served as a warehouse to store mana.

But if mana were abundant everywhere, there would be no need for such a storage facility in the first place.

‘Hmm……. Now I get it.’

Diesel muttered as he read Tae-oh Barosi’s mana flow.

‘The magical power drawn out like that has absurdly high purity.’

Magical power manifested in the channels felt slightly different from that of the core.

Perhaps because mana was refined as it moved along the channels, the purity itself was exceptionally clear and pristine.

‘That’s probably why there’s a downside, too.’

However, when it came to sheer ‘output’, it couldn’t keep up with magical power manifested from the core.

‘That kind of thing isn’t all that important to a Melee Mage.’

For those who primarily used enhancement arts, high-output magical power could sometimes be poison instead.

Unlike Spellcasters who routed high-output magical power outward, Melee Mages used it to reinforce their own bodies.

It was the same principle as the body being unable to withstand the powerful output of Leigong.

So rather than output, ‘mana purity’—which acted quickly and effectively on the body being enhanced—was far more important.

“……Just how did you do that?”

That was a technique that even Diesel could not imitate.

Was it, as Tae-oh said, a secret art passed down only to Brain Dragons?

In the end, unable to suppress his curiosity, Diesel asked, and Tae-oh Barosi replied with a smile at his lips.

“Do you really think I’d tell you that so easily.”

It might have been based on a similar principle to the ‘Lightning Baptism’ that Betty Barosi had performed.

The Breath of the Brain Dragon—an ability permitted only to dragons, a transcendent race.

“Is there something you want?”

Diesel once again asked about his business.

Just what did this Half-dragon want from him?

By Diesel’s sense, the obscene condition proposed last time didn’t seem to be what he truly wanted.

“What I want……. You really do like deals.”

“They’re the cleanest.”

“If I had to say, there’s only one thing I can tell you.”

“What is it?”

“That you enter into an engagement pact with my younger sister.”

At such an utterly single-minded answer, Diesel was momentarily left speechless.

“……Do you really want that?”

“Even if I do.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask. I’m just an ordinary older brother who worries about his younger sister.”

Even when asked for the reason, the same answer as last time came back.

‘This is just stirring up trouble.’

Most likely, that Half-dragon’s true intent was one of two things.

Either he was cleverly hiding what he really wanted, or he genuinely wanted his younger sister to marry Diesel.

Diesel narrowed his eyes and stared at Tae-oh Barosi.

The Half-dragon then shrugged his shoulders shamelessly.

“What is it?”

“Ha…….”

At that brazenness, Diesel felt as if he were starting to form a fixed preconception about the Half-dragon.

“You did come properly prepared, right?”

A secluded alley in Seoul Sector 1.

Diesel was conversing with the Oriental Medicine Doctor ‘Mr. John’.

“I told you, that woman is incredibly picky. If things rub her the wrong way even a little, she’ll ditch everything and run.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Hm…….”

At Diesel’s reply, Mr. John looked at him with an unconvinced expression.

“But who’s that elf behind you?”

“…….”

“Are you referring to me? As for who I am…….”

As the two men’s gazes focused on him, Tae-oh Barosi, who had been leaning against the wall, began to introduce himself.

But before he could go on any longer, Diesel stepped in and stopped him.

“He’s a clan member of mine.”

“……Well, if you say so.”

Despite his words, Mr. John did not withdraw his suspicious gaze as he guided the Ghostcatchers deeper into the alley.

Following behind, Diesel muttered to Tae-oh Barosi, who was walking alongside him.

“I definitely said there wouldn’t be any job payment.”

“Do I look like someone who covets wealth?”

“…….”

At present, Tae-oh had insisted on coming along to help the Clan Leader, even though Diesel had firmly stated there would be no compensation.

There was only one reason.

Because it seemed like it would be fun.

‘It’d be better if he just wanted money.’

A Ghostcatcher who didn’t want money.

Compared to that, even Kali—who went crazy for money—would be easier to read.

‘Just what is this Half-dragon, really.’

Muttering those thoughts, Diesel moved his body deeper into the dark alley.