Ascension Through Skills

Taesan moved his arm gently. There was a naturalness in the sword’s movement that was not there before.

‘Is this how it moves?’

He traced the trajectory in his mind and moved physically. He corrected the movement of the sword in real-time.

It was crazy. Swordsmanship was something that needed to be perfected slowly through countless training over long periods of time. Suddenly changing it during a fight would not bring meaningful changes but rather endanger one’s life with clumsy movements.

But the ghost said nothing, and Taesan also corrected it as if he was certain.

He pulled his elbow and shook his wrist. The hand that held the sword until now had been moving roughly like a beast. It wasn’t bad, but it was dull and heavy, like ink splashing on blank paper.

But the swordsmanship unfolding from now on was the exact opposite.

The tip of the sword trembled like a dance of the sword. But it became lethal.

Smoothly passing by like a dance, each of its trajectories was a deadly attack.

Clang.

Sparks flew as the swords collided. Taesan’s sword gently slid down the knight’s sword and scratched the armor.

Scrape.

The solid armor was cut as if it were a cloth. Taesan gently deflected an attack heading diagonally by gripping the sword in reverse.

The knights were disturbed by the completely changed movements, and it was reflected in their movements.

Taesan did not miss that gap and pressed on.

When he moved both hands, the knight blocked with his sword.

Taesan twisted the trajectory of his hand momentarily. The sword grazed past and pierced the knight’s chest.

He blocked an attack aiming for his back as he pulled out his sword.

Clang.

He slid down along the blade in that position. Moving like flowing water, he bent his arm, shoulder, and armpit.

The knight could do nothing and lost an arm.

‘A bit more.’

A bit more smoothly. But not to lose the characteristics of the sword.

He moved both hands at the same time. Like another person’s hand, he performed a completely different movement smoothly. He struck with the sword and counterattacked smoothly.

The knights began to waver greatly. The pressure that had been effective until now changed so that it didn’t work at all; hesitation and disbelief seeped into their movements. There was no chance of winning in such a situation. Finally, one more knight fell to Taesan’s sword stroke.

Only two were left.

The knights’ confusion subsided. They perfectly aligned with each other to target Taesan. Taesan moved his fingertips. The same dance-like sword attack as before unfolded.

Clang!

The sword made a loud sound. There was no wavering from the knights as before. They moved their swords in response to Taesan’s changed movements.

They began to press with force. They tried to trample away the dance with violence.

Taesan rolled his feet.

He rotated his body, pulling his left hand to the right. He pushed his right hand further to the right.

His body turned to the right side. The sword of the knight on the left missed. The knight on the right was off balance, and the force didn’t hit properly.

He channeled the force into the dance.

And the sword attack changed.

He drove toward the knight on the right. The movement was more like a storm, a beast-like momentum, rather than a dance.

The first sword, Wolf’s Fang, cuts down the knight. If the knight remembered the swordsmanship he first encountered and did not panic, he could have blocked it.

But the knight could not block the trajectory of a completely opposite style of swordsmanship. He desperately moved his sword, but injuries were inflicted all over his armor.

Just as the knight barely managed to respond, the movement changed again. As smooth as a dance, like a dancer.

Clang!

The knight could not withstand the constantly changing swordsmanship and fell.

Catching the remaining knight was not difficult at all.

He attacked with movements like a dancer. The knight desperately blocked, but alone, both the power and speed were lacking. Especially the level of swordsmanship. Taesan was superior; the knight could not last long and fell.

“Sigh.”

Taesan looked down at his own hand in amazement.

A completely different swordsmanship had come from his hand than before.

“Skill window.”

[Advanced Skill: Storm Scar's Sword] [Proficiency: 22%] [A swordsmanship handed down from a destroyed world. Now only one person has learned it. You can be confident that you have just started.]

It had already reached 22%.

The specter who was watching could not hold back his admiration.

[I was thinking of teaching you slowly, but I couldn't imagine you would figure it out yourself.]

“What is this?”

The swordsmanship unfolded itself as if this was the right answer from the beginning. The specter explained.

[The second sword. Dancer's Dance. If Wolf's Fang is a striking sword, Dancer's Dance is to approach softly and cut off the head. It minimizes the roughness characteristic of swordsmanship and cuts off with the optimal movement. Not bad, right?]

“Quite.”

Neither could be said to be superior.

Wolf’s Fang was good when facing lower-ranking enemies, and Dancer’s Dance was good when facing equals or multiple enemies.

But it was a great advantage that both swords had completely different styles.

If he had used Dancer’s Dance from the beginning, the knights would have responded to it.

But during the battle, the style completely changed. They were momentarily confused and were defeated.

If they were completely devoid of intellect, it wouldn’t matter, but since they had a shred of intellect, it definitely made a difference.

This made a huge difference in battle.

[Do you always have to be pushed to your limit? I was thinking of teaching you complex swordsmanship step by step... You're impressive.]

Leaving the constantly admiring ghost behind, Taesan stretched his body.

He had defeated all the monsters in sight, but still, monsters remained.

“They don’t even attack now.”

The invisible monster that had been bothering him all this while. It was time to catch that one.

During the battle, out of annoyance, he gradually tracked it down and was able to find an approximate answer.

‘It’s not one that goes to another dimension.’

There were monsters that hid their bodies in the so-called second dimension and made surprise attacks. He first thought it was them, but the possibility was quite low.

Perhaps due to the advantage of hiding in another dimension, their other abilities were often insignificant.

Moreover, it was unlikely to have both stealth and dimension movement.

Even if they existed, they should only exist deeper down. It wasn’t the kind of monster that would appear like this.

Then it was simple. The spatial movement was a lot lower in rank than dimension movement skills. Therefore, quite a few monsters were using both stealth and spatial movement.

‘High-ranking succubus was one of them.’

Taesan activated his magic. Frost arrows began to fill the space one by one.

In no time, twenty frost arrows filled the room. Taesan clenched his fist.

[You have activated Magic Explosion.]

Whoosh!

The frost arrows exploded all at once, and shards of ice struck the room.

Magic Explosion caused damage indiscriminately.

Taesan was at risk, too, since his health was considerably low, but he didn’t care.

[Your endurance has been activated. The attack leading to death has been nullified. All damage becomes 0 for 1 second.]

Endurance was a skill that made even suicide tactics feasible to use. Taesan’s prediction was spot on, and a scream erupted.

“Argh!”

[43 damage to Goblin Shaman.] [44 damage to Goblin Shaman.] [You have defeated the Goblin Shaman.]

The moment he defeated the last monster, system windows appeared one after another.

[You have passed Maria's trial. You will be rewarded based on Maria's assessment.] [Maria is very pleased with your honest choice and performance. Maria wishes to give you a deserving reward.] [Maria's influence area has decreased.] [Maria rewards you. You received [Shape-Shifting Weapon].] [You have cleared the enhanced trial. Additional rewards follow.] [You received the special activation skill [Freedom of Choice].]

As always, the rewards were weapons and skills. Thanks to the fight against the limit, the proficiency of some skills significantly increased. Their contents changed, and he also gained new skills.

Even before he checked those, an offer came in.

[Maria proposes to you the Apostle's Contract.]

“I won’t accept.”

As always, he refused. He had no intention of accepting becoming an Apostle yet. It felt as though he could hear stifled laughter.

Suddenly, the power from beyond seemed to have made a decision and stopped fluctuating.

“Hmm?”

Taesan hesitated.

The atmosphere suddenly became ominous.

Something enormous was beginning to encroach into this space.

[Uh-oh.]

“Hold on.”

[Maria's irrational choice activated. Maria's influence area decreases.] [You have been invited. You are given choices. Respond to the invitation. VS Respond to the invitation.] [Forced selection. You have responded to the invitation.] [Pantheon welcomes you.]

The world flipped over.

Everything began to be covered as if painted over with a thicker color. His body was forcibly pulled into the transformed space.

The instantaneous spatial movement made his head dizzy. Taesan, who momentarily settled his nausea, lifted his head.

And then he let out a hollow laugh.

“What is this?”

It was as if he was in the void of space as utter blackness spread around him. It was a completely black space where nothing could be seen, no matter how far he looked.

[...This is impossible.]

The ghost let out a gasp mixed with shock.

[No, this isn't right. How could a god... invite you here? Invitations like this are impossible.]

The ghost kept murmuring. It was as if he had witnessed the end of the world.

“Damn it all.”

In the empty space, there was only one magnificent temple standing tall.

“It’s huge.”

Looking up, he couldn’t see the end of the ceiling. It was as big as a mountain.

As Taesan approached the temple, the ghost was startled.

[Wait, hold on. Don't rush in recklessly.]

Seeing the ghost desperately trying to stop him, Taesan felt a strange emotion. It was the first time he had seen the ghost so frightened.

“Didn’t they invite me? I should see a pleased face.”

There was no point in just standing still. Entering was the right answer. Even though the ghost seemed reluctant to acknowledge it, it didn’t say anything more.

Creak.

The massive door opened smoothly, causing Taesan to gasp in awe at the temple’s interior.

“What is this again?”

Gems were spread out like a colorful flower garden.

Black gems, golden gems, white gems, and more. There was an overwhelming amount and variety that would hurt one’s eyes. The ghost, who had been keeping its mouth shut, let out a sigh.

[Those...]

The ghost’s gaze turned toward a peculiar gem with a mix of silver and gold colors.

“What is that?”

[... It's a gem compressed from a meteorite that fell from the stars. There was only one of its kind in our world and a sword made from it... destroyed an entire continent.]

It destroyed a continent, not just a country.

There were thousands of such gems here.

[The Archmage managed to seal them together by gathering their heat, but...] [How amusing that you're surprised by such a trivial toy.]

A voice mixed with laughter echoed.

[Indeed, to you, what could be more precious in this place? Even a pile of rusted iron would be something you could never see again.]

A majestic voice reverberated within the temple.

Taesan turned his head.

He saw the figure of a woman with long hair that reached down to her ankles.

Her rich golden hair made a strong impression.

She looked down at them with a somewhat languid expression.

She had a human form.

But it didn’t feel like a human at all.

First of all, she was enormous.

There was a size difference between Taesan and the woman, similar to that between a kitten and a human.

If the woman had been upright, the height difference would have been so great that looking up would have caused severe neck pain.

And the immense power emanating from her.

The woman smiled.

[It's nice to meet you, child.]

Along with the greeting, countless evaluations were attempted.