Ch.5352. Midterm Exams (6)

# 52. Midterm Exams (6)

The Kainis Empire has knightly orders.

Black, White, Red, and Blue.

Four knightly orders in total.

Each order only admits members who possess the specific abilities they desire.

And these knights use their specialties to protect the nation from different threats.

The White Knights use holy power to fight against demon tribes, while the Black Knights use the abyss to counter celestial tribes.

The Red Knights combat insect tribes with flames, and the Blue Knights, specialized in defense, protect the nation from dragon tribes using water and ice.

Each knightly order has a Grand Knight who symbolizes their order.

These Grand Knights, known as the strongest of their orders, become the center of attention wherever they go and whatever they do.

‘This will definitely make the news.’

I looked at the Black Order’s Grand Knight who was walking toward me while receiving tremendous attention.

Ray Karis.

The Grand Knight of the Black Order and also Raycle’s father approached me.

“Are you perhaps Albert?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Black Grand Knight.”

“Just Grand Knight is sufficient. More importantly, are you here to take the swordsmanship exam too?”

“Yes, I am.”

Ray spoke while looking at my waist, which had nothing attached to it.

“I heard you’re a swordsman, but where is your sword?”

Ray seemed to already know that I possessed [Sword of Pitch Darkness].

I looked at his waist, which was also empty, and said:

“Then where is your sword, Grand Knight? I understood you were a swordsman as well.”

Ray smiled and summoned his sword.

His sword emanated an incredibly deep abyss.

By nature, the abyss grows deeper the more living beings one kills.

It’s the opposite concept of holy power, which increases the more one believes in a certain entity.

“Your abyss is much deeper than I expected.”

Unlike holy power, which can be released without any medium, the only way for humans to reveal their abyss is by using abyss-type skills.

And abyss-type skills like [Sword of Pitch Darkness] are so rare they’re almost non-existent.

Even the most common abyss skills like [Blade of Darkness] or [Streak of Shadow] boast quite high difficulty in acquisition.

I do have [Blade of Darkness], but I don’t use it because it’s not very useful.

I used [Sword of Pitch Darkness], almost my only abyss-type skill.

“Huh?”

Ray seemed quite taken aback when he saw the sword I summoned.

“Impossible…”

Since the abyss accumulates in the mind rather than coming from stats or skills, my original abyss transferred completely when I regressed.

Certainly, it would be fair to say that almost no one at the age of 17 has accumulated this level of abyss.

Ray asked Gloria, the teacher in charge of the swordsmanship class:

“May I be this student’s practical exam opponent?”

“Of course.”

Ray and I moved to the center of the training ground, and everyone there stopped what they were doing to watch us.

Gloria was the first to speak.

“Skills are prohibited, but since you two are somewhat special cases, I’ll allow that skill.”

Gloria immediately gave the signal.

“Begin.”

As soon as I heard the signal, I rushed toward Ray.

I thrust my sword toward the left side of his torso.

-Clang!-

However, Ray easily blocked my attack while simultaneously swinging his sword toward my head.

Many people seemed surprised by this.

‘Usually, teachers are supposed to only defend, that’s the rule.’

With the enormous difference in stats, I couldn’t block that sword head-on.

So I turned my sword diagonally to deflect the attack.

‘Now’s my chance.’

The moment I deflected his attack, a large opening appeared, and I didn’t miss it.

-Clang!-

I aimed for his shoulder, but Ray blocked my attack with a flourish.

He had given me an opportunity to attack by failing his own, but he overcame the crisis by using the difference in agility between us.

‘Even if I was a little faster, it would have worked…’

The absence of stats was certainly painful.

After my attack was blocked, I quickly stepped back to create distance between Ray and myself.

Then I discarded the sword I had summoned and conjured a new one.

Ray looked at my new sword and said:

“A dagger?”

Holding a dagger, contrary to the greatsword Ray was wielding, I charged at him again.

-Swoosh!-

Ray swung his massive greatsword toward me as I approached.

However, with the dagger, I was now faster than before.

Thanks to my increased agility, I was able to dodge his sword, though it was a close call.

‘Got it…’

By dodging his attack, the same situation as before unfolded.

But there was one difference.

Unlike before, I no longer lacked speed.

Using my enhanced agility, I tried to thrust my dagger toward his shoulder.

Of course, I would stop midway to avoid actually injuring Ray.

Ray looked into my eyes and said:

“Excellent.”

“No! Ray, how could you attack?!”

Ray explained to Gloria, as if making an excuse:

“I was going to stop like the student did earlier, but he responded very well.”

“You’re too kind.”

Ray looked at Gloria and said:

“His skill is certainly hard to believe for a 17-year-old.”

“That’s only because you were going easy on me.”

“Going easy doesn’t mean a 17-year-old can beat me. I can see why the notoriously picky princess took a liking to you.”

Ray spoke to his son who had somehow approached his side:

“Looks like you’ve made a good friend.”

“He’s a monster, isn’t he?”

“That abyss of his… even ‘monster’ is insufficient to describe it… By the way, how do these friends handle group combat?”

Gloria replied in a straightforward voice:

“Albert will participate in group combat with second and third-year students, and Elizabeth will be among them.”

Ray asked me:

“Who would win if you fought the princess?”

“I would lose.”

“Very honest.”

Ray smiled and continued:

“Would you perhaps consider joining our knightly order?”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright, I already knew.”

Despite saying it was alright, Ray’s expression showed considerable disappointment.

“Let me know if you ever change your mind.”

“I will.”

Raycle, who had been listening silently, said:

“That won’t happen.”

“Son, you never know about these things.”

“There are some things you can know without even looking, though it’s rare.”

Looking at the father and son, particularly Ray, I suddenly had a curious thought.

‘What happens if I use [Regressor’s Privilege] and get [Sword of Pitch Darkness]?’

I wondered what would happen if I obtained the same skill twice.

I didn’t know how many skills Ray had, but he probably had plenty of good skills besides [Sword of Pitch Darkness].

‘It’s a gamble worth taking.’

I carefully approached Ray and lightly touched his hand, using [Regressor’s Privilege].

[Using Regressor’s Privilege.]

[Target designated.]

[You will randomly acquire one skill from the designated target (Ray Karis).]

Unlike before, this time I couldn’t predict which skill I would get.

I had become the Black Order’s Grand Knight after Ray, but I didn’t have much connection with my predecessor.

Since we rarely fought on the same battlefield, I didn’t know what skills he possessed.

[Congratulations!]

I checked the identity of my newly acquired skill with a calm expression.

[You have acquired the skill [Sword of Pitch Darkness].]

I couldn’t believe it, so I read the status window message again and again.

But no matter how many times I read it, the words [Sword of Pitch Darkness] remained unchanged.

And a few seconds later, the status window responded again.

[You already possess this skill.]

[When acquiring the same skill multiple times, the skill evolves into a higher-tier skill.]

[The skill [Sword of Pitch Darkness] has evolved into [Sword of Unfathomable Abyss].]

I checked the effect of the newly acquired skill [Sword of Unfathomable Abyss].

[Sword of Unfathomable Abyss (Unique)]

[Your abyss itself is summoned in the form of a sword.]

[The depth of your abyss is reflected in the sword.]

Ironically, the skill had no rank assigned to it.

‘Does it depend on the depth of the abyss?’

Unable to contain my curiosity, I tried using the skill.

-Woong!-

When I used the skill, a sword materialized in my hand.

The sword, containing an endless darkness, changed the surrounding air as soon as it was summoned, and goosebumps covered my body as I breathed in that air.

I checked the performance of the sword that was even absorbing light.

[Sword of Unfathomable Abyss (One-handed Sword): S-]

[Increases the wielder’s strength by 70 and agility by 70.]

[Allows the wielder to release their abyss.]

[This sword, which is the abyss itself, grows stronger by consuming the souls and mana of living beings.]

I stared at the message with my mouth agape.

‘Is this even possible?’

The strength and agility boosts of 70 each would be enough to call it insanely powerful, but the descriptions that followed caught my attention even more.

I had never seen a skill that allowed one to release their abyss.

Even for abyss-type skills, they only revealed one’s abyss or coated weapons with it.

But this skill’s description clearly stated “release.”

It meant I could use it like mana or holy power.

While I was blinking at this insane weapon, Ray asked me:

“What… what kind of skill is that?…”