episode_0009

Drip.

At first, it was a gentle wave.

It was so calm, it seemed not like the sea at all.

However, that gentle wave was one hiding something, like the calm before a storm.

Drip.

When the second droplet fell from the tip of the sword, the wave began to churn more and more.

With each droplet that fell from the sword’s tip, the wave grew larger.

Its size swelled, growing into a wave large enough to easily swallow a single golem, circling around the sword.

And within that wave, two colossal eyes glared at the coalesced golem.

The golem seemed to recognize him, its red eyes fixing on him.

“Cetus Style, First Form.”

Cetus,

One of the sword arts of a constellation that was called overpowered in this game before I possessed this body.

Though it was a sword art modeled after a whale, it was truly overpowered because it summoned what was almost the sea, forming a force that looked like a real whale, overwhelming opponents with its immense size.

Even if the sword didn’t connect, if any one of the strikes, represented by the waves, hit, it carried enough power to shatter bones.

Furthermore, with many existing constellations, there were many techniques that could adequately deal with opponents even without a whale directly appearing, so in terms of versatility, no other constellation could match this sword art.

[Rumble…..]

The whale hidden within the wave slowly began to move.

Its cry made it feel as if one were underwater.

‘With Cetus Style’s First Form, I can’t even summon a small whale…’

‘I wonder if I need to level up more, to the Second Form, to create an orca…’

“Deneb Algenubi.”

As soon as the name of the technique left my lips, the greatsword behind me swung widely towards the golem.

Then, the massive slash, which had taken the form of a colossal wave circling around me, flew towards the golem.

It looked as if a massive tidal wave had struck the golem,

And indeed, the golem suffered significant damage, its entire right arm being torn off.

‘It’s a little…difficult…Is it because it’s my first time…’

Mind Sword is a skill based on mental power.

So, for me, with 999 mental power, using *only* Mind Sword isn’t a big problem.

However, imbuing a sword art into the Mind Sword is a slightly different matter.

Because I had to compensate for my extremely lacking physical strength and agility with mental power alone, it was bound to be a bit strenuous.

Of course, the more I used this technique, the less mental power it would require, so it would be fine, but since this was the first time, it was inevitable that it would be somewhat difficult.

“Second…”

I slowly drew a line towards the golem’s left side, and the colossal wave moved towards the golem’s left once more.

The massive wave again engulfed the golem’s left side, pulverizing everything it passed through.

‘I shouldn’t use this sword art on most people…’

Of course, if you were to ask if golems were so strong that they suffered like this, I would answer no.

They are not particularly strong.

Their durability is made of earth and bricks, and they can only perform physical attacks.

Moreover, their intelligence isn’t even that great; they would fall to a goblin horde.

However, considering the skills of people my age, it was still an incredibly powerful technique, so I resolved not to use it unless I was fighting monsters.

The power I saw in reality was too different from what I saw in the game.

With a flash,

Once both sides were completely destroyed, several cores began to appear inside. I released the sword art and the two transformed swords, directing them to deal with all the cores.

Then, the Mind Swords emerged from the waves and began to run wild this way and that, as if their restraints had been removed.

Having cut down too many cores and now making an art out of it, a sudden worry crossed my mind.

‘Hmm… In the game, breaking this place automatically returned me to the entrance… Is there nothing here…?’

As I looked for an exit, standing before the golems’ wreckage, I discovered a magic circle where a book had been placed.

This magic circle was very different from the ones I had entered through, but it was undoubtedly a passage out of this place.

“This… will it be safe…?”

I was about to place my hand on the magic circle.

Until I saw the door behind that magic circle, which in the game was blocked by a gigantic pillar.

That door, unlike in the game, was perfectly intact.

Various pictures were drawn on it, like a wall from a myth, and there were also monsters I could recognize.

Creak….

Curiosity led me to enter through the door, and I was soon disappointed.

Inside were pillars that seemed to belong in a Greek temple, and a single sarcophagus in the center.

“Hmm… What in the world does this mean…?”

I deployed my magic to survey the area, but there were no special trap mechanisms.

I then tried to break the sarcophagus with my Mind Sword, but it remained undamaged.

‘There’s a substance that even the Mind Sword can’t affect…? Then what in the world is this holding…?’

Filled with curiosity, I gathered all my magic and focused on exploring inside the sarcophagus, and I found something within.

‘What is it…? It’s similar to a Mind Sword…?’

A weapon, similar in material to the Mind Swords floating beside me, existed within the sarcophagus.

And as soon as I discovered it, a blue window appeared before me.

[There is a @#% that can be stored in the Mind Sword.]

[Would you like to store it? Yes/No]

***

“Ray…?”

“Ray….?”

Aris pushed past several people, searching for the person she had just been linking arms with.

Golems with severed joints lay motionless in the hallway, being dealt with by the Teacher-nims, but she couldn’t rest easy.

Because she had lost her benefactor, her first friend, and someone who made her heart flutter a little.

The Teacher-nims were dealing with all the golems and the students were calming down, but Aris, she alone, was still unsettled.

She asked people around her, but everyone replied that they hadn’t seen a boy leaning on a staff with his eyes closed.

“Oh… If it’s that person, I think he went into where the golems came out… I think I saw him jump into that magic circle… Well, I must have seen wrong. Who in their right mind would go into a place like that?”

While inquiring around, she finally got a lead on where he went, but she couldn’t go there herself.

All she could do was stroke the wall where the golems had emerged, and where Ray had entered.

Standing in front of that wall for a long time, she couldn’t even hear what the teacher, who was clearing up the golems, was saying.

“…dent…Student! This place could be dangerous, please return to your dorm at once!”

Someone behind her violently shook Aris, who didn’t respond no matter how much she was called.

“Yes… Yes…?”

“No, what on earth happened for you to be staring at that wall so wistfully?”

The teacher pressed Aris with an annoyed tone, and Aris just kept apologizing repeatedly as she trudged back to the dorm.

‘Hmm… Ray is strong, so he must have gone in there with some plan… Of course he would…’

Aris comforted herself by thinking of him, who had cut a bear in half, but her imagination about the space beyond the magic circle, where any kind of situation might have unfolded, only grew larger.

“I… I… said I’d help…”

Imagining that place might be a dragon’s lair, she opened her dorm door.

“Oh, Aris, why are you so late?”

A gentle, calm voice that put others at ease greeted Aris.

The Ray she had worried about was sitting perfectly fine on the dorm bed.

Tapping the floor with his staff.

“Ray….”

“Yes?”

“Ray…..”

“Yes?”

“No, how could you just leave without saying anything?”

“I was worried!”

She ended up grabbing Ray’s head with both hands and shaking it, venting her frustration.

Ray, who was being shaken for a moment, seemed to realize something and raised his head towards her.

“Uh… I apologize…”

Despite Ray’s apology, Aris’s anger hadn’t subsided, and she continued to shake his head.

“Aris, I’m starting to get dizzy.”

Ray spoke in a consistently composed tone, and Aris, filled with more frustration, shook his head harder from side to side.

“Uh… then as an apology, shall we go sightseeing in the capital together this weekend?”

As soon as those words came out of Ray’s mouth, Aris stopped shaking his head.

There were a few tears in her eyes, but she was smiling slightly.

“Really?”

“Yes… Really…”

Ray spoke as if he couldn’t resist, and Aris let go of his head as if all her frustration had been released.

“Hmm, okay, I should have some memories with my first friend.”

She was delighted, and Ray, whether pleased that he could perform his quest, or if he truly liked Aris, or if there was something else good, looked at her with a bright smile.