Sweeping the Academy with a Wooden Sword

Sword energy bloomed on the wooden sword.
I unleashed the desire I had been suppressing until now.

I cut.

I swung the wooden sword down.
The wooden sword drew an arc along with the sword energy.

And then.

Crack!

“…”

The wooden sword broke.

It wasn’t just split in half. It shattered into pieces as if it were tree bark rather than a wooden sword.

[Seeking solution to this problem.]

[Please equip another wooden sword.]

I picked up another wooden sword.

[By the authority of this ego, a characteristic is granted.]

I felt something leaving, not from my dantian, but from my heart.

‘Is it Mistilteinn’s power leaving, not my mana?’

[It won’t break.]

As Mistilteinn finished speaking, a blue-green light enveloped the blade of the wooden sword.

“So it won’t break now?”

[I’ll display an information window for your understanding.]

【Wooden Sword
Granted Characteristic: Unbreakable
Characteristic Duration: 24 hours】

“One day?”

[The characteristic duration only counts the time of actual use in the sword energy manifestation state.]

It meant that the wooden sword would withstand the sword energy for 24 hours of actual use time.

However, there were only two wooden swords left in my father’s workspace now.
I couldn’t keep buying new wooden swords every time one was destroyed.

[According to this ego’s knowledge, there are trees that harmonize with sword energy. Such trees are called superior trees.]

Trees that can withstand sword energy?

[Such superior trees might exist in this world too. This ego will list the superior trees it knows.]
[If you acquire a superior tree, you might be able to activate the power inherent in this ego through resonance with it.]

That meant superior trees were not just about maintaining wooden swords, but essential items.

A transparent window appeared in front of my eyes again.

[World Tree, Adamantine Wood, Blackwood, Keter Wood, Purification Tree.]

There are quite a few.
I searched for each tree one by one.

They were sites with information related to raids and the hunter world.

Hunter.com, RaidWiki.

The only one mentioned was the World Tree.
Even that World Tree’s existence was uncertain.

“I’m sure they exist in this world too.”

Trees that withstand and harmonize with sword energy.
As Mistilteinn said, it seemed quite possible they exist in this world too.

Since dungeons started appearing randomly in this world.

It has been continuously proven that stories called ‘folklore’ and ‘myths’ might not just be legends.

I searched for ‘Mistilteinn’ on Google.
A document popped up under the category of Norse mythology.

“Is this your story?”

Until now, answers to questions came immediately, even if they weren’t solutions.

But this time, the answer didn’t come right away.

[This ego is forbidden from talking about this.]

If it was a story dangerous enough to be forbidden, I had no intention of pursuing it.

“I won’t breathe a word about what just happened. Let’s talk face to face.”

No matter how I thought about it, talking face to face seemed like it would progress faster.

It was also a situation where I needed to recover again.

The answer was a bit delayed this time too.
It seems I keep surprising her.

[Get ready.]

Ready?
What was the common point when I talked face to face until now?

Ah, I was unconscious and lying down like a sunfish.
I obediently lay down on the floor.

With light, I heard the sounds of nature.
The smell of grass tickled my nose.

Green eyes were staring at me.

“You’ve overdone it, master. I think it’s time for you to sleep now. Your body is saying so.”

It seemed she could perceive the state of my body as much as she had seeped into my heart.

Given her nature as a divine tool, she probably perceives it more directly than I do.

“I’ll just discuss about the wooden sword and then sleep.”

“We could discuss sufficiently even in the Advice Ego state.”

“Communicating like this is faster, isn’t it?”

And it would be faster for getting closer to Mistilteinn too.
I’m very grateful to Mistilteinn.

“I want to get closer because I’m grateful.”

Mistilteinn’s eyes widened at my words. She seemed flustered, chewing her lips for a while before finally speaking.

“…You don’t need to say such things. I can neither betray nor disobey you, master. That’s the nature of an ego divine tool.”

I meant I was purely grateful, regardless of all that.
I decided to get to the point, as it seemed she might tell me to leave her world if I added more words here.

“If there are trees in this world that can withstand sword energy as you said, who might have them?”

Actually, the most certain way to get an answer would be to request information from an information guild.

They provide accurate information as much as they charge a lot of money. But I can’t make requests to information guilds.

Information guilds don’t accept requests from minors.
Because minors can’t become hunters according to what’s called the Hunter Law.

“Blacksmiths. People who make things with superior trees, so they would have them.”

Hearing that, I realized that even here, master craftsmen who have reached national treasure level would likely possess superior trees.

Trees that withstand sword energy would have countless uses.

Even thinking simply, they would be very useful for making defensive equipment like shields or greaves.

Though there probably isn’t anyone who wants to use them as wooden swords like me.

Just then, the only national treasure level craftsman I had a connection with came to mind.

Choi Cheolhyeon.
An SS-rank blacksmith and my father’s teacher.
Surely someone of this level would possess superior trees, or at least know about them.

Master Choi Cheolhyeon would probably meet me once.
‘Contact me when you need help. I’ll help you once.’

He said so himself at my father’s funeral.

“You said we could draw out your inherent power if we get a superior tree, right?”

Mistilteinn nodded.
“Yes, if we interact, we can draw out the abilities I possess.”

“There must be differences even among superior trees. If it’s the highest grade tree, an amazing ability would come out, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then if you had to name one tree at the very top, what would it be?”

Mistilteinn answered my question without a moment’s hesitation.

“That would obviously be the World Tree. It must exist here too, in some form or name. Because the World Tree is essential for a world to be constructed.”

I see.
If I get to meet Master Choi Cheolhyeon, I must definitely ask about the World Tree too.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I remembered there’s a blacksmith I can try contacting.”

Mistilteinn slowly nodded.

“That’s good. Now please get some sleep.”

“Oh, I will.”

It would soon be a full day of being awake, so I did need sleep.

Back in reality, I sent a text message to Master Choi Cheolhyeon. Saying I wanted to meet him.

The reply came surprisingly quickly.

-Come in 3 days, on Wednesday.

At the bottom of the message was an address. The master’s forge was in Paju.

I slept deeply and woke up. Going into town and having a bowl of hot soup made me feel a bit more alive.

On the way back home, I bought about a week’s worth of groceries.
Cleaning the refrigerator and kitchen and filling them with food gave me a fresh feeling.

Now it was time to train again.
I had to refine this sword energy so I could use it in actual combat before going to Paju.

“Does my mana accumulate in the dantian?”

[Once mana is formed in the dantian, it doesn’t evaporate. However, in your case, the dantian is only activated when you equip a weapon that interacts with this ego.]

“Do you know any mana cultivation methods?”

Mana cultivation methods.
Techniques to control the mana accumulated in the dantian and increase the total amount of mana.

Just as a car doesn’t start smoothly if left idle for a long time, if you don’t practice mana cultivation regularly, you can’t draw out mana as you wish when you need it.

According to dungeon relic scholars, there are dozens of mana cultivation methods, and each has different efficiency and effectiveness, but the number of cultivation methods that have appeared in this world so far is not many.

[This ego has no knowledge of substantial ‘martial arts’.]

Well, it’s my greed to expect Mistilteinn to be able to act as a teacher too.

[If you get a wooden sword made of superior wood, we might know a way to obtain an advanced mana cultivation method then.]

It meant I had to get superior wood somehow.

“But then do I have to hold a wooden sword every time I do mana cultivation?”

Since the dantian is only activated when I hold the wooden sword.

[You can equip a tree branch.]

Tree branch?

Ah, considering Mistilteinn’s original form, it was natural to interact with a tree branch.
To experiment, I first put down the wooden sword.
As expected, I felt nothing, as if all the mana that had been abundant in my dantian had disappeared.

Emptiness.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
But until two days ago, this body couldn’t use mana even when holding a wooden sword.

Now I’m in a state of tremendous blessing.

I went outside the house and picked up a tree branch scattered under a tree behind the house.

Tingle…

I felt the mana that had been quietly crouching in my dantian activating again.

I couldn’t resist the curiosity.

I infused mana into the tree branch.

Whoosh!

Before I could think, the branch burned with colorless sword energy and scattered as ashes.

“…”

[It turned to ashes and disappeared before I could even grant the unbreakable characteristic.]

So it’s possible to be sarcastic even in Advice Ego state.
Or is it just my ears hearing it that way?s who have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship wouldn’t burn even a tree branch so miserably.

I have a long way to go.