Chapter 81: The Knight Seeks More Growth (4)

He really endured that pain…

Back when he was handling the medicines, Derrick could already tell…

That the Ghost King’s Heart possessed a toxicity that was on a whole different level compared to other medicine’s medical properties. Its toxicity wasn’t normal at all.

I could even say that it’s at the level of the Poison-Feather Bird¹…

The legendary bird who was stated to possess a fatal poison.

Its poison was said to be so strong that there was no way to neutralize it². In his previous world, it was a legendary poison that was only recorded in history books, but in this world, that bird really existed. In fact, he knew where it lived.

Even so, he still didn’t dare to just seek the bird out. After all, the difficulty of obtaining its poison was classified as ‘unknown’.

In other words, if he were to try to do it, he’d most likely end up dying. There was no way he’d even dream of doing it.

Despite that, the Ghost King’s heart’s poison was as strong, or maybe even stronger than the Poison-Feather Bird’s. It was unthinkable for someone to just consume it.

That was why Derrick had prepared a few things to be consumed together with it in order to reduce that particular property as much as possible. However, never in his wildest dream did he ever think that the instructor would take the medicine as soon as he passed out.

He even told him to wait before he passed out.

However…

Him being able to endure it by himself holds a significant meaning…

Derrick knew.

Just by completely consuming the immeasurable-grade medicine without any tricks, someone would gain a new trait.

He won the fight against those vicious medicinal properties. Not only that, he also absorbed all of it in what seemed to be an hour or two. It’s clear…

Originally, Derrick planned to make him ingest it in a safer way, including using anesthetics. But somehow, he absorbed all of the medicinal properties while enduring the pain with his bare body.

It was something that could be proudly called an ‘achievement.’

He must have gained either the [One Who Persevere], the [Madman], or the [One Who Enjoys Pain].

His [Poison Resistance] level should also increase…

Not only that… The levels of his other traits might have increased as well!

Someone might have said that he was being too optimistic, but he could just tell them this:

Surviving the ‘Pain of Breakthrough’ alone was that incredible of a feat.

Derrick’s body trembled involuntarily from anticipation as he tried to guess how steep the instructor’s growth curve had risen.

His level 7 traits probably wouldn’t increase in levels because level 8 and above is in its own league… But just the fact that he got a new trait and he got to increase the levels of other traits is already an incredible achievement!

To put it into perspective, getting a new trait was different from simply increasing the level of an already existing trait. Basically, it symbolized that one’s potential had increased significantly.

Using the instructor’s words, it was no different from him receiving Marrow Cleansing³.

“If he does well, he might reach level 8 this year…”

[Aura User], [Wielder of the Demon Sword], or [Successor of the Black King].

Those who had reached Lv. 9 and Lv. 10 were considered the sky beyond the sky. Since they wouldn’t move easily as if they were living in seclusion, one could even call them ‘Celestials Beings’ who just quietly watch over the world from the mountains and the sky.

In other words, they were living and breathing strategic weapons that wouldn’t move unless it was absolutely necessary.

On the other hand, ‘Lv. 8 warriors’ were different. They were like Mountain Lords who actively walked around the world and reigned as symbols of fear and power.

Although their strength is not absolute, they have enough strength to solo a thousand knights…

Mighty Hero.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were a ridiculous top-tier hero class that could change the landscape of the battlefield on their own and they could turn even defeat into victory.

The ‘weakened Ghost King’ he saw the day before was a level 8 being.

…If it was in its normal state, it would be level 9 or 9.5, though…

Even so, its strength was still among the upper side of level 8s.

That was why Derrick was looking forward to what was about to come.

A difference of one level was absolute.

But somehow, there was a knight who overcame that gap and went toe-to-toe against a top-tier level 8. And that knight was right before his eyes.

He’s already this strong. Once he finally reaches level 8…

If things were to go well…

Level 9 and Mak’gora⁴… a level 8 that can do PvP might be born?

Derrick looked at the instructor with anticipation for the future that had yet to come.

Wondering how much this man would grow in the future.

Light…

Lee Han found his body to be light. However, the lightness he felt wasn’t any ordinary lightness. It felt as if he had gone back to his childhood.

Why did he feel that way exactly?

Because he felt that he could just run without risking his knees hurting or getting tired at all. No matter how hard he rolled round, he felt that his body would be fine once the next day came.

That’s how good his current body felt.

Jump-!

He lifted his body slightly into the air, and found himself surprised. Then again, it wasn’t a wonder that he was, since even though he only kicked the ground lightly, it felt as if he had leaped for as high as 50 cm.

Which begged the question: how high could he reach if he were to jump using all of his strength?

Swish-!

The light kick cut through the air.

That wasn’t just a figure of speech, his kick actually produced the sound of a sword cutting through the air. It truly was sharp enough that he could easily cut a piece of paper in half with his feet.

This wasn’t something he could originally do.

Because I was extremely lacking in finesse…

He didn’t know whether it was because of his abysmal talent or his inclination, but he was never confident in doing techniques that required a lot of finesse.

Since he tended to rely on his senses to develop his techniques, those techniques naturally lacked finesse. To put it simply, due to his lack of knowledge, the techniques he created tended to be on the simpler side.

But now, his finesse had suddenly increased, allowing him to perform more detailed and precise movements. It felt as if the techniques that he needed to attempt a hundred times before succeeding could now be performed by attempting it once.

What the hell is this?

If Lee Han had to explain exactly what happened to his body, there were two main changes.

One was that his body became lighter, as if an old man had been rejuvenated and became a young boy again. But that wasn’t all. He also felt ten times more energetic than when he was a teenager.

His current body far surpassed the level of his body before the injury.

Second was the delicateness. Up until now, when Lee Han used his body, he just used it ignorantly without thinking. But now his movements had become more delicate. This was just a guess, but he thought that maybe this was because his body’s potential had increased.

It feels like I could just stop using my head since my body had turned this good.

Before, he’d need to do countless trial and errors to organize the theoretical parts of his techniques, but now with his body becoming better and stronger, and he had gained the delicateness in using his techniques, he could probably just ignore those theories completely.

However, such a good thing didn’t come without a price.

This shouldn’t be happening…

In exchange to that, there was a huge possibility that his ignorance would just grow.

This is bad…!

He had just made a breakthrough, yet he almost ended up in a pit while putting on a show.

Lee Han had always wanted to avoid the possibility of him turning into a dumbass, so he had been planning to use his head more. But now, as his body got better, it was clear that he didn’t even need to use his head anymore.

“Ugh… Maybe I should consider studying from now on…”

He thought that his IQ might increase a little if he were to read some books. After all, he couldn’t risk getting called ignorant or uneducated.

“Haa… Fuck my life…”

There was also one problem that left unsolved even though his body had become significantly stronger.

Sure, my body got better and stronger but…

…It still doesn’t budge…

After checking on his little brother, which still didn’t respond to his calls, he let out a sad smile.

Even a Ghost King’s Heart couldn’t heal this curse… This incurable disease…

Not even a monk’s little brother would be this still…

A sadness that bordered depression could be seen in his eyes at that moment.

“…I-Instructor, do you feel anything different?”

The boy, who had been quietly waiting for Lee Han to finish checking his body, asked after a while.

At that, Lee Han nodded.

“It’s as good as it gets.”

“…What does that even mean?”

“Hmm, it’s like… No, never mind that. Let me just show you.”

Crunch-!

“My body’s gotten so good that I can do this now.”

“…?”

Perhaps due to his curiosity as an Alchemist, Timid wondered what kind of changes had Lee Han’s body undergone.

Meanwhile, the knight just willingly accepted the prospective assistant(?)’s curiosity and demonstrated it himself.

He chopped one of the pieces of wood that were lying around the workshop—they were probably leftover materials from when the boy was setting up the place—and this prompted Timid to open his eyes wide.

While the act of cutting wood itself wasn’t a big deal…

“D-Did you just do that with your bare hand?”

“With my thumb and index finger to be exact. Also, I didn’t really cut it, I hollowed it out. It’s similar to how people carve wood with chisels.”

“…Alright, but how does that work exactly?”

“Well…”

“…”

It sounded like Lee Han was teasing him, but that was the only way to explain it. After all, the only thing he knew was that his finesse and controls had grown five times smoother than before.

“I can also do this.”

Although, even though he couldn’t explain it, he could demonstrate as much as he wanted. So, Lee Han lightly threw his fist into the air.

But unlike how lightly he threw his fist…

Paang!

“…??”

The result was anything but.

Once again, Timid became dumbstruck when he saw what happened.

J-Just now… D-Did he…?

“D-Did you just hit something that was thirty steps away from you? W-With fist energy?”

“That’s right. Originally I could only hit something that was ten steps away from me, but now I can hit something that’s thirty steps away from me.”

“…H-How…?”

“That’s my question too.”

Hundred Steps Divine Fist.

When he first introduced it in Vulcan, it was merely a martial art that could only hit objects that were ten steps away from him, but now, it was different.

Thirty steps.

He could hit something that was thirty steps away from him and could even destroy it. There were a lot of things that he could break by just swinging his fist lightly. If he were to put his strength on it, he could probably hit an assassin targeting him from a distance away.

Of course, Hundred Steps Divine Fist wasn’t the only technique that got upgraded.

Right now, I think I can use the Sun Piercing three times in a row and the Plum Blossom Swordsmanship twice in a row.

This was the effect of having better finesse.

It prevented him from wasting his strength unnecessarily, making it possible for him to use his strength more efficiently and cleverly.

To the point that…

He started to think that with his current body, he’d be able to fight against the Ghost King without the need to receive any help from others like before.

How ironic…

I became the Ghost King’s equal only after eating its heart…

It was truly an ironic situation, but that was how the law of the jungle worked.

The winner took all.

Whoever it was that stayed alive in the end was the winner.

Not the strongest, but rather the one who had the last laugh.

With that, Lee Han was finally able to completely shake off the feeling of helplessness he had felt during the monster subjugation. The bastard he had been fussing about was dead. And he had become nothing but nourishment to his growth.

He let out a satisfied smile.

“Look carefully. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’m gonna try it once.”

“Huh?”

“…I wonder if it’s gonna work…”

He then proceeded to show a performance out of his joy.

-Tak.

“…Ah, it does!”

“…”

“How is it? Interesting, no? Haha!”

“…”

However, Derrick couldn’t even reply to his words and only stared at him blankly.

No, rather, he wondered if what he was seeing was real.

A-Airwalking?⁵

Then again, who would blame him for reacting like that? After all, he was watching Lee Han climbing to the empty air as if he was climbing stairs.

W-What…?

C-Could it be that he’s not from Earth but, but an actual martial artist of Murim…?

M-Maybe he was the Shaolin’s leader in his past life…

Derrick was momentarily taken aback, thinking that he couldn’t be more unreasonable than this.