Ch.83Counting Years

The sky is a realm forbidden to humans. Seo-rin felt fear as she rode her sword upward against the sky. The vast expanse of the firmament was overwhelmingly enormous.

Enough to make her feel infinitely small.

Beyond the white flowing clouds, a strange movement caught her retina. The more she enhanced her vision using mana, the more clearly she could observe that movement.

A space stained pitch black. Countless stars twinkling within it. In the past, when she lived as a hunter in the snow fields, she believed all these stars in the sky were the souls of brothers and sisters who had departed before her.

But now it was different. She had absorbed countless memories through her sword. Seo-rin realized that beyond this world, other worlds existed.

‘Space…’

In the endlessly expanding void, neither the reincarnator she was pursuing nor the empire she belonged to would amount to even a speck of dust. There was still so much of the world she didn’t know. Research on the other dimensions from which reincarnators crossed over wasn’t complete either.

Suddenly, a small curiosity arose in the girl. Where exactly did the world that reincarnators were crossing from belong? She wondered about the world among the twinkling stars, or perhaps beyond them.

If crossing over was possible, then crossing back should be possible too.

With knowledge comes longer contemplation. Just two years ago around this time, she would have been endlessly roaming the snow fields in search of good prey.

Seo-rin shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her white, rippling hair fluttered slowly in the sunlight.

Parna and Bigat stared at their small senior with dazed admiration. Today was the first time they realized that a girl could look so cool. They were captivated not by her external beauty, but by the human being herself.

The martial arts of the Ten Sword Festival, which had been the subject of many rumors, had been placed in the Cheongik Library. It was said that the martial arts techniques had been modified to be usable with mana, but few people could actually enter the discipline.

Basically, without an understanding of martial arts as a field of study, one couldn’t rashly attempt it. Being sword users themselves, Bigat and Parna could understand that much.

A sword that flies through the sky. And they were even flying through the sky on that sword. Without knowing the details, one might mistake it for magic.

“When will we ever reach that level…”

“If we work hard…”

They were flying toward the floating island on their swords when a massive bird appeared from beyond the blue sky. It had a sharp beak, talons, and strong feathers. Its overall appearance resembled common birds of prey, but its size was enormously large.

The giant bird flew straight toward Seo-rin.

-SCREECH!

“S-Seo-rin!”

“Senior!”

Parna and Bigat could do nothing. The surface area of the sword they were using as a foothold was too small. Also, their only weapon, the sword, was being used as a foothold.

Unlike the two’s concerns, Seo-rin showed no particular reaction. With her hands behind her back, she calmly gazed at the giant bird flying toward her.

At that moment, the White Dragon Sword at her waist drew itself out and shot forward rapidly.

Swoosh-!

Due to the mana wrapped around it, the White Dragon Sword left its characteristic faint afterimage. A snow-white dragon that appeared in the sky pierced through the bird’s wing.

Thud-!

Yet the giant bird did not stop. As time passed, the distance between the bird and Seo-rin rapidly decreased. At that moment, the White Dragon Sword, which had passed through the bird, quickly returned and pierced through its chest covered with stiff feathers.

Crack-!

The strength drained from its sharp beak and talons. The blade-like gaze characteristic of birds of prey lost its light. Between the scattering black feathers, Seo-rin’s expressionless face appeared.

‘Slow…’

The flying sword’s speed was very slow. More than she had thought. It was because she hadn’t mastered the advanced techniques of the Formless Flying Sword Art. The conversion of the techniques wasn’t smooth either. She needed a new core technique to weave everything together.

‘I need to be able to deploy both the Taebaek Snow Dragon Sword and the Formless Flying Sword Art simultaneously. Unifying the properties of mana and minimizing unnecessary processes…’

Only the beginning is difficult. But she couldn’t start that first process at all. She had the materials but lacked the capacity to weave them together. She needed momentary wit, a flash of inspiration.

After the first attack, no additional threats appeared. And so now.

The party arrived at the floating island, said to drift alone through the sky. A vast, sprawling forest contained a new world. The mana overflowing from the surroundings was returning to the island along a consistent flow.

‘Maintaining the flying sword…’

The flow of mana was quite strong. If they stepped onto the island, it seemed they wouldn’t be able to fly freely through the sky as before.

Below the towering mountain were traces of human presence. No movements that appeared to be human were detected. Surely, these were the ruins left by ancient magicians. The flow of mana was moving toward that place. The girl’s enhanced gaze comprehended the direction of the flow.

Seo-rin guided her flying sword to land on the island.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Seo-rin gripped the Black Dragon Sword. This was a place where a reincarnator could appear from anywhere at any time. The reincarnators weren’t the only danger.

The floating island was a space isolated from the outside. This meant the island itself formed an independent ecosystem. Like the giant bird of prey they encountered while ascending, monsters that could threaten humans were rampant. The monster records created by magicians weren’t much help, they said. This was because the monsters here repeatedly evolved and went extinct.

And that cycle was excessively short.

“Let’s go.”

“Y-yes!”

“Yes!”

Seo-rin looked back. Unlike before, she was now in a position to take care of her juniors. It was different from the past when she only had to think about her own safety. Now she had people to look after.

The burden Parna and Bigat felt grew increasingly. Youngest to pass, fastest to advance in rank, favored by the vice-captain. The face of Cheongik. A senior as lofty as the sky, with numerous accolades.

The person they would someday have to surpass seemed too distant. The movements she occasionally showed were imbued with refined martial prowess. Yet such a person was still a mid-level member. How strong must one be to reach the position of a high-level member?

Parna and Bigat sighed deeply, thinking of the distant future.

Seo-rin taught her two juniors many things as she led them around. It wasn’t much different from teaching children in her tribe. What she focused on teaching were survival-related skills like finding paths in the wild or distinguishing drinking water.

The two, who initially looked disappointed that she wasn’t teaching them swordsmanship, soon began following Seo-rin with sparkling eyes.

The island maintained quite a cool climate. Moderately cool and moderately humid. Perhaps because it was an island placed alone in the open sky, the air felt excessively clear.

Generally, places untouched by human hands are beautiful in every way. Seo-rin’s party climbed a large tree to view the entire island.

“It’s farther than I thought… We won’t reach it today.”

Seo-rin said as she looked into the distance. There was a big difference between looking down from the sky and experiencing it directly.

‘Or perhaps the space itself is distorted, like the Fairy Forest.’

Either way, the fact that they needed to move diligently remained unchanged. Seo-rin hurriedly moved toward the mountain range with her two juniors.

The monsters they occasionally encountered charged at the party regardless of their size. Since it was an environment where they couldn’t encounter humans, many monsters didn’t know the strength humans possessed.

It wasn’t a big problem. Just a slight delay. When Seo-rin stepped forward and swung her sword, the monsters were all cut in half regardless of their size.

Slash-!

Seo-rin examined the monster she had defeated. The deeper they went into the island, the larger the monsters became. Also, the mana they possessed was increasing.

The girl’s gaze turned toward the far side of the forest. What purpose did the reincarnator have in seeking this island? Even the magicians of the current era couldn’t unravel the island’s secrets.

Seo-rin’s party reached the foot of the mountain range late in the evening. The temperature change was extreme. As the sun set, the entire island exuded a chilling cold.

It wasn’t a big problem for Seo-rin, but it was for the other two. Despite using mana to strengthen their bodies, Parna and Bigat were shivering.

Looking up at the mountain range, Seo-rin said:

“Let’s take a short rest.”

“O-okay… I’ll prepare the campfire…”

“I’ll prepare the meal.”

Conveniently, there were collapsed ruins nearby. There was no roof, but there were walls to block the wind. Seo-rin’s party prepared their campsite using the half-collapsed wall as a reference.

Having left all preparations to her juniors, she found herself with nothing to do. Seo-rin left the campsite alone and walked through the night. In the ruins intermingled with nature, she could glimpse the past.

There must have been large bridges and towering towers. Seo-rin lightly jumped up and landed on a small protruding rock above the flowing river.

As she brushed back her hair in the cool breeze,

Suddenly, her sensitive sense of smell caught a familiar scent.

Seo-rin’s gaze naturally turned in that direction. From the dark forest beyond, a silver thread of light quickly disappeared.

The girl’s form dashed toward the pitch-black darkness.