NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: (3)
The reason he gave up his role as an attacker and followed the knight was not only to defeat monsters faster but also because he wanted to see their swordsmanship up close. However, the problem was that the knight’s strike was too fast for him to confirm with his own eyes.
“It’s too fast. I don’t know how he swung it.”
From the preliminary movement to the finishing action of swinging the sword, everything happened within an incredibly short time.
With his current visual perception, all he could see was the afterimage of the sword passing by. With that level of perception, he couldn’t even properly observe the basic movements, let alone swordsmanship.
“…Distribute 4 points to agility.”
Name: Kaiyan / Age: 15 / Class: Player / Title: None
Level: 16 / Strength: 25 / Agility: 18 / Stamina: 10 / Intelligence: 9 / Free Points: 0
(T/N: I thought that Character Status and Class make more sense than Status Window and Occupation.)
He invested all the Free points he gained from completing quests and leveling up into agility.
This time, it was for improving his visual perception rather than his senses.
He wanted to observe the Knight’s advanced swordsmanship in more detail.
‘How can he effectively slaughter monsters?’ Kaiyan thought.
Swish-
“I’m still a little lacking.”
Despite his agility increasing to 18, The Knight’s swords appeared blurry.
Well, you could say it was blurry, considering he increased his Agility by 4. With his current stats, it was difficult to properly track the trajectory of the sword.
“…I need to at least double my Agility to see it properly.”
“Kyayayak!”
“Did he do it like this?”
Unable to contain the regret in his heart, Kaiyan imitated the swordsmanship of the knight he had vaguely seen and swung his sword toward the charging monster.
Swish!
“Kyaaah!”
“….”
Instead of the sound of a successful hit, an unsatisfactory noise resonated.
Not only Kaiyan, but even the bewildered monster also stared at him with a perplexed gaze.
A moment of silence passed.
“Damn… It’s still not working.”
It was disappointing, but it was impossible for Kaiyan to learn the knight’s swordsmanship right away.
Unless there was a way to double his agility stat from its current level.
“Phew… Penetrating Stab!”
Throwing away his lingering regrets, Kaiyan thrust his sword toward the monster, killing it.
If he couldn’t learn the knight’s swordsmanship, it would be better for Kaiyan to defeat even one more monster and grow stronger. As his level increased, his agility stat would eventually improve.
“Ohoho… Have you learned swordsmanship?”
When Kaiyan pulled out his sword from the monster’s corpse, the knight who had hunted monsters together with him, forming a bond, asked with a curious expression.
“Yes? Oh, if you mean the basic movements, then yes, I’ve learned them.”
“Is that so? You seem to have put in quite an effort. The movements are simple but very clean. Your skill is impressive, comparable to a soldier.”
‘Effort… It hasn’t even been a few days since I learned swordsmanship.’ Kaiyan thought
Of course, Kaiyan had worked hard during those few days, but the effort the knight was talking about was probably far beyond what he had achieved.
The effort the knight was referring to was hundreds of days of tirelessly swinging the sword, even to the point of blistering his hands.
‘It must be thanks to the swordsmanship skill.’
Unlike when Kaiyan first obtained the swordsmanship skill, he now realizes how remarkable it is as time goes by.
Ordinary people need thousands of repetitions to grasp the sensation of swordsmanship.
But Kaiyan gained that sensation, which could only be obtained by swinging the sword thousands of times, with just one swordsmanship skill.
Thanks to that, he is now hunting monsters with ease, using the sword naturally.
“Hmm, particularly the thrusting is excellent. If only you had Aura, it would be a very powerful blow.”
“…Thank you.”
It’s good news that even the knight acknowledges the effectiveness of the Penetrating Stab skill.
Perhaps if Kaiyan’s abilities were to increase more than they were now, he would be able to launch such an attack with his skills alone, without relying on Aura.
When Kaiyan gained hope, the knight smiled and patted his shoulder.
“I will look forward to seeing you shine in this monster wave,” the knight said.
“…Pardon? Shine, you say?” Kaiyan asked, taken aback.
“Yes, shine,” the knight affirmed.
‘Huh?’ Kaiyan wondered.
It was a somewhat unexpected remark coming from the knight.
To tell a mere soldier like Kaiyan to shine on the battlefield, and that too, from a knight.
Kaiyan stared at him, thinking he might be teasing him, but the knight’s eyes were serious.
“Tarien-nim seemed interested in you and that brown-haired soldier over there earlier. If you’re lucky, you might become a knight. Of course, it won’t be easy, haha!” the knight explained.
‘A knight…’ Kaiyan’s thoughts became complicated.
If Kaiyan became a knight, he could learn the mysterious power of Aura. And if what the knight said was true, there was a good chance of becoming a knight.
As Uncle Jeff said, it was not an exaggeration to say that becoming a knight was the only way for an ordinary person like Kaiyan to learn Aura.
‘If only I can learn Aura, I can become stronger than I am now…’
A hint of greed crept into Kaiyan’s eyes, which had been filled with hatred.
Aura, the power that surpasses human capabilities.
For someone like Kaiyan who wanted to slaughter every monster, it was an incredibly tempting power.