Ch.22022. Nemea

“Fuck! Run! I said run!”

The moment the man, a former mercenary captain turned bandit leader, saw Gilbert cutting down his subordinates with a cold gaze, he screeched at the top of his lungs.

Though it had been over ten years since he’d left the battlefields where life and death intersected, he hadn’t forgotten the scenes from those days.

It was an instinct engraved into him—the desire to live. He was alive today precisely because he had avoided people with eyes like that.

Shouting while lunging forward, the bandit leader ran straight ahead without even checking if his subordinates were following, with no destination in mind. He didn’t spare even a split second to look back, focusing solely on sprinting forward.

Though it was a brief moment that lasted less than a few minutes, it would have been enough time to escape if his subordinates had served as shields.

He was starting to get winded, but if he could just keep hiding and running, survival seemed entirely possible.

‘Just a little more…! If I can just run a little faster!’

Slash!

With a chilling sound of tearing, his body tilted. As he tried to move forward, he saw his left leg failing to follow the rest of his body.

Tumbling forward with a crash, the bandit leader couldn’t even feel the pain from his severed leg as he trembled uncontrollably.

Gilbert, who had somehow cut off his leg, stood in the direction he had been fleeing, holding a sword drenched in blood.

Belatedly, he felt the burning pain from his severed leg, but the terror of impending death consumed him. He tried to speak, but Gilbert’s sword was faster, cleanly slicing through his neck.

With his head severed by the swift blade, he died with that desperate expression still on his face, not even realizing he was dead.

Gilbert, still with emotionless eyes, swung his sword to shake off the blood from the blade, sheathed it, and left the scene.

It took him less than 10 minutes to dispose of the bandit group that had attacked him.

‘Not exactly a pleasant feeling.’

This wasn’t his first experience with killing, but directly taking someone’s life with a sword wasn’t enjoyable. Not being a psychopath obsessed with slaughter, he belatedly wondered if there might have been a better choice.

But he had no regrets. If he hadn’t steeled his resolve, he might have been the one lying dead.

Or he might have created future problems by taking half-measures. He’d experienced that countless times in his previous world, so there was no need to repeat those mistakes here.

Feeling somewhat tired, Gilbert returned to where he had started the battle. Severed limbs were scattered about, and the bodies of the bandits who had attacked him lay strewn everywhere.

Shaking his head at the pungent smell of blood assaulting his nostrils, he approached a large old tree.

After counting the thick roots in the dry ground, he stroked the largest protruding root a couple of times, then carefully inserted his hand into a knothole and sent mana flowing in a predetermined pattern.

Swoosh!

Like a door opening, the knothole rotated clockwise and expanded to a size large enough for a person to enter. Relieved that the mechanism he knew still worked, he sighed and stepped confidently through the door created by the knothole.

As he entered, the knothole reduced in size and returned to its original state, leaving behind only the corpses of the bandits Gilbert had killed.

***

The Lion King’s hideout, where he met his end, was a secret place that could only be entered by inputting a specific mana sequence.

Terodamas had discovered this location by sheer coincidence. It was one of the places he found when he discovered the crucial item that allowed him to become the Lion King. When fleeing from his rebelling subjects, he somehow remembered this place and hid here to plan for the future.

Only Terodamas knew of this location, and he had changed the entry method to one only he knew, ensuring that even if someone found the place, they couldn’t enter. It was one of the Lion King’s hideouts that had been secured in this way.

In the game, players needed to carefully read the Lion King’s biography to find hints about the mana sequence required to enter this hideout.

Newbies who found the location after much struggle would then face another puzzle that gave them headaches, but that was only true in the early days shortly after the game’s release.

Once all the game information had been shared in the community, all that remained were concept plays or time attack challenges.

Gilbert’s vision, which had darkened upon entering the hideout, suddenly brightened. Unlike the desolate valley outside, this place had the atmosphere of a lush forest with abundant trees and grass.

Recalling how he had laughed when he first saw this place that so obviously screamed “something is hidden here,” Gilbert walked through the rustling leaves toward the large building at the center.

As he stood before the building densely covered with green vines, the door automatically slid halfway open. When it kept opening halfway and then closing again repeatedly, as if caught on something, Gilbert sighed deeply.

In situations like this, there was only one solution that worked.

He kicked the door with his toe just as it was closing, and it opened fully. Though it seemed like a crude method, it was actually a sophisticated technique that unblocked the obstructed mana flow with his foot.

As he entered, the mana stones attached to the ceiling lit up. Not all were functioning properly, as some along the long corridor remained unlit.

He slowly walked down the corridor toward the room with the journal. His destination was the largest room on the second floor, past the central hall.

After kicking open another stubborn door, he discovered a withered mummy sitting at a desk.

Long, curly hair like a lion’s mane and skin that hadn’t decomposed.

The mummy of Lion King Terodamas was right before his eyes.

Gilbert could feel his heart racing at the fact that he could finally obtain Lionheart. During his days playing Tactical Combat, he had researched all mana cultivation methods of the same rank as Lionheart, but in his judgment, the Lion King’s mana cultivation method was still the best.

For Gilbert, who mainly used spirit soldiers for high-speed maneuvers, Lionheart’s characteristics of compression and instantaneous output felt like wearing perfectly tailored clothes.

In fact, Gilbert had chosen “Lion” as his middle name with the Lion King’s mana cultivation method, Lionheart, in mind, which showed just how attached he was to it.

Calming his pounding heart, he placed his hand on the mummy’s shoulder.

Snap!

As soon as his hand touched the shoulder, Terodamas’s mummy firmly gripped Gilbert’s wrist.

Startled by this unexpected development, he instinctively punched the mummy’s head, sending it flying. This was different from the game, where light would simply flow out and scatter into dust.

Fortunately, that was the extent of the unusual mechanism, as light flowed from the separated head and body and seeped into Gilbert.

[You have acquired the Lion King’s Mana Cultivation Method.]

[You have learned the new skill Lionheart.]

[Achievement updated.]

A translucent notification window appeared, and the Lionheart cultivation method was naturally imprinted in his mind. The mana flow and utilization methods automatically came to him, eliminating the need to memorize anything.

It was incredibly convenient that the game system applied in this aspect.

Gilbert first collected the thick pile of parchment from the desk where Terodamas’s mummy had been sitting. While his purpose for coming here was Lionheart, he hadn’t forgotten his promise to Professor Horizon.

Knowing that the eccentric Horizon would truly expel him, he made sure to collect Terodamas’s personal journal before forgetting.

Gilbert roughly cleared a dust-covered bed in the corner and sat down. Since this was currently a safe space known only to him, he decided to consume the dragon fruit he had been holding onto.

Originally, he had planned to return to the academy and use the mana training room, but there was a small risk of being interrupted during mana cultivation after consuming the dragon fruit.

In contrast, since he was currently the only person who knew about this place, there was no better environment for eating the dragon fruit.

‘Let’s begin.’

By consuming the dragon fruit after acquiring the Lionheart mana cultivation method, he could achieve an achievement and receive a reward simultaneously.

This was why Gilbert had postponed eating the dragon fruit until after obtaining Lionheart, which was a prerequisite.

Having finally obtained Lionheart, Gilbert smiled and ate the entire dragon fruit he had taken from his pocket, chewing and swallowing it completely. He could feel the warm mana entering his body through his esophagus.

Without delay, he used the Lionheart mana cultivation method to capture the mana that had begun to spread throughout his body and started his cultivation.

The mana circulating inside his body began to burn away all the waste and impurities. Though the dragon fruit, containing massive amounts of mana, fiercely traveled through his blood vessels, it was bound by Lionheart’s reins and couldn’t escape.

The mana spread to every corner of his body, from head to toe, reaching even the tiniest extremities. After a while, it seemed to exhaust its power and calmed down, gathering in one place according to Gilbert’s guidance.

As he opened his eyes after taking a deep breath, a gleam burst forth, and a translucent message greeted him.

[Your mana ability has greatly increased from consuming the dragon fruit.]

[You have achieved the achievement “Lion of Nemea” by satisfying special conditions.]

[You have acquired the skill Nemea for achieving the Lion of Nemea achievement.]

Gilbert opened his skill window to confirm if the skill was what he expected.

<Skill Window>

1. 3D Maneuver (+)

2. Lionheart (+)

3. Nemea (+)

As expected, both Lionheart and Nemea were registered in the skill window. He first checked the detailed description of Lionheart.

<Lionheart>

Rank: Legendary (Lv.1)

Effects:

– Greatly increases mana recovery speed.

– Extremely compresses mana within the body.

– Greatly increases instantaneous mana output.

– ??? (Currently sealed.)

The description was reassuring just to look at. Being a high-rank mana cultivation method, it naturally had fast mana recovery speed and could store more mana by compressing it within the body.

The instantaneous mana output from the compressed mana core was also perfect.

Although the last function was sealed, he wasn’t particularly concerned. The method to unlock it was certainly in his head, but he doubted he would need to unlock that function in this lifetime.

He closed the detailed description of Lionheart and opened the detailed description of Nemea below it.

<Nemea>

Rank: Normal (Lv.1)

Description: Myth begins to dwell in a body that has fused a lion’s heart with dragon’s mana.

Effects:

– Slightly increases body durability.

– Slightly increases body stamina.

– This is a growth-type skill.

Skill Nemea.

Its motif was the Nemean Lion from Greco-Roman mythology, a monstrous lion that Heracles could only kill by strangling after a 30-day struggle. It was an important skill that allowed one to gain the stamina and durability of this mythical beast.

The strain on the body when controlling high-rank spirit soldiers was considerable, so passive skills that increased durability were very useful.

Gilbert was satisfied that the skill Nemea was exactly the same as in the game, and closed the skill window.

With this, he had obtained everything he could from this sub-quest.

Dusting himself off as he stood up, Gilbert quickly left the hideout. Seeing that the sun was already setting, he realized that even if he hurried, he would probably arrive at Obitus the next morning.

In the game, skills were created immediately upon eating the dragon fruit, but in reality, it seemed time was needed to refine the mana contained in the dragon fruit through the cultivation method.

Nevertheless, having efficiently obtained everything he wanted, Gilbert headed toward Obitus with a smile. Even if he had to sleep outdoors tonight, he felt he could do so with a smile on his face.