Chapter 122
Sidegrade (2)
I stroked my chin as I stared at the aura, which had grown far larger than before.
According to SwordMaster, this kind of development resulted in tremendous inefficiency.
An aura billowing like flames and an aura refined into a sharp edge.
Even a rough comparison between the two made it obvious which was more efficient.
However, he had also said that an incredibly high wall stood between those two stages, making the latter extremely difficult to reach.
Anyone who managed to reach it would possess enough combat power to be recruited by the government, so talent played a major role.
‘It hasn’t even been a month. I can’t expect talent to carry me.’
Even if my body was gradually adapting to the Forest of Four Seasons, talent was a separate matter.
The technique taught to me by Passing Dwarf—casting—could be performed simply by following his instructions.
But aura and internal energy cultivation techniques were entirely different. They were powers that depended completely on intuition.
Therefore, no matter how much my mana continued to increase, it would be meaningless if I couldn’t grasp the proper feeling.
‘I should ask SwordMaster first.’
Aura Blade—or Sword Aura, as martial artists called it.
Did I have to keep fighting with this inefficient aura until I reached that stage?
If there was no other way, then so be it. But it could potentially cause problems, so I wanted to hear an expert’s opinion.
‘The Heavenly Demon will probably offer advice too. I should also ask whether falling asleep immediately after hearing a chant is normal.’
Rather than asking them separately, I would upload a post to the gallery.
That would make it easier for them to exchange opinions.
Perhaps I could even receive advice from others.
└ Heavenly Demon: A dream of flying through the sky...
└ Wild Grylls: What are you talking about?
Title: My Aura Got Bigger
Wild Grylls
(Photo of an aura far larger than before)
Yesterday, I consumed an inner core and fell asleep immediately after reciting the chant taught to me by the Heavenly Demon. I had some kind of dream afterward, and when I woke up, the amount of aura I could produce had increased.
Is this normal? I thought I’d achieve Aura Blade, but my aura just got fucking huge;;
└ Heavenly Demon: You fell asleep immediately after reciting the chant? How fascinating.
└ Wild Grylls: Is that not normally what happens?
└ Heavenly Demon: Normally, one’s mind becomes clearer upon attaining enlightenment. However, this is also the first time I have heard of someone falling asleep.
└ Wild Grylls: Then I suppose the dream is difficult to explain too.
└ Heavenly Demon: What did you dream about?
└ Wild Grylls: Just a dream where I flew through the sky? The same thing happened when I had that fever last time.
└ Heavenly Demon: Are you truly certain it was a dream?
└ Heavenly Demon: Rather than a dream, it may have been a phenomenon in which your soul left your body.
└ You mean an out-of-body experience?
└ Sounds like it. Isn’t that something only immortals experience?
└ Is Grylls becoming an immortal?
└ He’s escaping into the heavens. He’ll leave only his body behind, kekeke.
└ Sir Grylls... why has only your soul come to visit us...?
└ Wild Grylls: You bastards;;
That possibility sent a slight chill down my spine.
Perhaps my soul really had popped right out of my body.
However, nothing had been confirmed yet.
Just as I was thinking that—
└ Necromancy Is Love: Inducing an out-of-body experience is easy. This king can teach you.
└ How do you do it?
Who was this guy?
I had never seen that registered user before.
└ There’s some guy doing a weird role-play. He claims he’s the Immortal King and that he’s sealed inside Kadir’s refrigerator.
└ What kind of bullshit is that? Kekeke.
└ He even claims Allfather is Kadir, kekeke. They’re probably just friends in real life.
└ So, old man, how do you do it?
└ Necromancy Is Love: Wait. I shall soon teach you the method.
└ Necromancy Is Love: How unfortunate. It appears I cannot inscribe the spell through the gallery. Had this king possessed a physical body, I would have written it directly upon paper.
└ People come up with the strangest role-playing gimmicks, kek.
└ He’s even talking like he’s genuinely been sealed away, kekeke.
└ Ask your friend to do it for you.
└ Necromancy Is Love: He says he will lower the refrigerator’s temperature even further. What an insolent wretch.
Necromancy Is Love had appeared out of nowhere and claimed that out-of-body experiences were possible.
His credibility was rather low, but everyone acknowledged that the phenomenon itself was possible.
If so, I had to consider the possibility that it hadn’t been a dream at all, but an actual out-of-body experience.
└ Wild Grylls: It’s not exactly a good thing, is it?
└ Necromancy Is Love: It would be one thing if the soul remained close to the body. But if the two were permanently separated, the soul would wander endlessly while the body ceased to function. Moreover, because only the soul had departed, the body would not die and would technically remain alive.
So I would end up in something similar to brain death or a vegetative state.
I understood the general idea.
A dream was definitely preferable to an out-of-body experience. I would be in serious trouble if my soul became permanently detached.
└ SwordMaster: No, wait. What’s wrong with that aura now? Why is it so huge? I’m sure I told you how incredibly inefficient that is;;
└ Wild Grylls: I know, but it just got bigger on its own. I’m using the same amount of mana.
└ SwordMaster: It grew that much even though you’re feeding it the same amount of mana?
└ Wild Grylls: Yes.
└ SwordMaster: And it consumes the same amount of mana?
└ Wild Grylls: Yes.
└ SwordMaster: It seems its efficiency improved in a very strange direction;;
└ What a sidegrade, damn.
└ It really is a sidegrade, kekeke. Nothing changed except the size of his aura, kekeke.
└ Has anything like that ever happened before? I don’t think it has.
I was curious about that too.
Had anyone ever experienced the same thing as me?
Even SwordMaster couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
Fortunately, all manner of strange things had occurred throughout history.
Before long, an anonymous user appeared who remembered a case similar to mine.
└ The Sword Saint who couldn’t cut through space but had fucking insane destructive power, kekeke.
└ Wasn’t his secret technique to compress every last bit of his aura into a single thrust?
└ Yeah. I think he destroyed an entire castle with that alone.
└ Wild Grylls: So you’re saying I’m stupidly strong?
└ That man’s fundamentals were at least on the level of a Swordmaster.
└ He defeated other Swordmasters with his fundamentals alone. That’s why history remembers him as a Sword Saint.
└ Wild Grylls: Then what am I?
└ Just stupid?
└ Wild Grylls: You bitch;;
└ SwordMaster: I know about that man too. First, test what your aura can actually do. It might only look impressive on the surface.
└ There was someone like that. About three hundred years ago, I think? The Sword Saint of that era was apparently similar to Grylls.
└ Ah, I remember him. What was his nickname again? I’m pretty sure it was incredibly memorable.
└ The Stupidly Strong Sword Saint?
└ That’s right. That was genuinely his nickname, kekekeke.
└ No, he was a Sword Saint. Why did he have such a ridiculous nickname? Kekekeke.
└ He was a swordsman who never reached Aura Blade and whose aura just kept growing to absurd proportions, exactly like Grylls, kekekekeke.
I followed SwordMaster’s advice and decided to test whether the flame-like aura actually had any effect.
Aura wasn’t merely intangible energy. It possessed a tangible form.
Its effects also differed depending on the tool it covered.
With a sharp weapon such as a sword, it increased cutting power. With a sturdy blunt weapon, it made the weapon even harder.
Reaching the Aura Blade stage would produce effects beyond those, but that was a matter for the future.
For now, I needed to determine whether this aura—which had advanced from a mere heat haze into flames—had any practical effect.
‘This tree should do.’
I stood before a group of moderately tall trees.
I needed to produce an enormous amount of charcoal anyway, so I could consider this logging.
I gripped the sword, its flaming aura billowing around it, with both hands and slowly raised it. I didn’t need my shield.
‘I should start recording too.’
Since I planned to upload this to the gallery, I didn’t forget to record it.
Once the sword was in position, I swung it diagonally with all my strength.
Swoosh!
Perhaps because it combined the Heavenly Demon’s sword with my aura, the motion felt smooth.
But what mattered was the result.
I quietly waited for it.
Crash! Rumble!
The result soon unfolded before my eyes.
The towering trees toppled along the line of my slash.
Given the sword’s abilities, the cut surfaces were perfectly smooth as well.
‘The aura did the same thing.’
The portions struck by the aura had been cleanly severed too. Even the trees behind my immediate targets came crashing down.
My aura wasn’t merely for show. It possessed genuine cutting power.
I felt conflicted, unsure whether I should be pleased.
For now, I should upload it to the gallery.
Title: Video of Me Cutting Trees with Aura
Wild Grylls
(Video of a sword burning with aura and the trees struck by it toppling over)
It seems the aura isn’t just for show. Its cutting range is literally as large as it looks;;
└ Heavenly Demon: What a clean strike. Why not take this opportunity to abandon your shield? Considering that even a gorilla capable of using an internal heavy-hand technique exists there, I do not believe it would be a poor choice.
└ Wild Grylls: My shield has saved my life many times. Besides, that one is just monstrously strong. I can still handle the others.
└ SwordMaster: Now that we know the aura isn’t just for show... what should we do next?
└ Wild Grylls: Why are you asking me? You’re SwordMaster. You’re supposed to teach me.
└ SwordMaster: How am I supposed to teach you when I don’t know...?!
└ It really is hard to teach something when you genuinely have no clue, kekeke.
└ If he messes with it carelessly, he might screw everything up~
└ Starlight Princess: How should I put this? Your strength resembles a magical formula, Mr. Grylls. The process is strange, but it still works properly.
└ Wild Grylls: What’s that supposed to mean?
└ Starlight Princess: Birds normally fly with their wings, right? But imagine one flying by spinning its head around in circles. It still flies, so everyone just accepts it.
└ Wild Grylls: That doesn’t sound like a compliment.
└ Starlight Princess: Even if the process is strange, isn’t it fine as long as it produces a good result?
└ Wild Grylls: I suppose that’s true... Ah, fuck, kekeke. I don’t know either, kekeke.
└ Just stop worrying and keep increasing your aura. That would probably be best.
└ Aura Blade depends on talent anyway, so ignore it and become stupidly strong.
└ That might actually be better, kekeke.
└ SwordMaster: But you said you attained enlightenment after hearing the chant taught to you by the Heavenly Demon, correct?
└ Wild Grylls: Yes.
└ SwordMaster: Didn’t she perhaps teach you something strange?
└ Wild Grylls: That sounds slightly dangerous.
└ Wild Grylls: Sir?
└ Wild Grylls: What? Where did he go?
└ Heavenly Demon: This lady has delivered heavenly punishment. I can tolerate anything else, but I cannot forgive him for slandering a divine art passed down through generations.
└ Yeah, SwordMaster deserved it this time, kekeke.
└ Fuck, he really asked whether the cultivation technique taught by the deputy moderator was defective, kekekeke.
└ How many days did you ban him for?
└ Heavenly Demon: Since the opportunity presented itself, I exiled him for six hours so that he might practice filial piety toward his parents.
If that was the case, it couldn’t be helped.
I closed the gallery.
All kinds of speculation had been thrown around, but one thing was certain.
The chant taught to me by the Heavenly Demon had undoubtedly worked. The problem was that it had produced an effect in an entirely different area.
For example, imagine taking medicine for hair loss only to have your beard grow wildly instead.
Meanwhile, the hair you wanted to preserve would continue falling out as before.
‘That’s depressing in its own way.’
If that happened, wouldn’t you want to turn your head around by 180 degrees?
After entertaining that pointless thought, I looked at the sword.
‘But I can’t exactly reduce the amount of mana either.’
Producing aura required a certain amount of mana.
To put it simply, mana was like oil.
Oil would instantly burst into flames when ignited.
However, unless it reached its ignition point, it was nothing more than an ordinary liquid.
“In my case, the ignition point has stayed the same, but the amount of oil has increased dramatically.”
That raised another question.
‘How much more fiercely will the Mithricon sword burn?’
I checked the time.
There was still a little while before breakfast.
I picked up the Mithricon sword and infused it with mana.
Shhhhh!
‘...I really can’t understand why it does this.’
The Mithricon sword sparkled like a green galaxy. It was beautiful no matter how many times I saw it.
After staring at the glow-in-the-dark blade, I manifested my aura.
I had expected it to increase by about fifty percent at most.
Fwoooooosh!!!
“Whoa.”
An enormous amount of aura erupted from the sword, forcing me to tilt my head back to see its full extent.
The sword’s efficiency might be excellent, but wasn’t this far too effective?
‘The Heavenly Demon wasn’t exaggerating.’
Even I could produce this much aura with it. There was no telling what a genuine expert could accomplish.
It consumed very little mana too.
If I mishandled it, I might even injure myself.
I quietly withdrew the aura.
It seemed best to avoid using it until I could properly condense my aura.
‘Should I use it for ranged harassment instead?’
The idea seemed utterly ridiculous, yet strangely effective. All I could do was laugh.
Meanwhile, at around the same time, SwordMaster—Ash—had been banned by the Heavenly Demon.
“What’s gotten into you? You’re actually helping your mother.”
“I just... felt like I should practice some filial piety.”
“If you have nothing better to do, bring home a good husband. That would be true filial piety.”
“Yes...”
Thanks to the Heavenly Demon’s benevolence(?), she was practicing filial piety for the first time in quite a while.