episode_0022

“Fuck! Run away! Run away!”

The man who was the former leader of a mercenary group and is now the leader of a group of thieves screamed as soon as he saw Gilbert cutting down his men with cold eyes.

It’s already been more than ten years since we left the battlefield, but we haven’t forgotten the scenery of those days.

It was a desire for life imprinted in my instincts. He was able to survive today because he avoided people with eyes like that.

The leader of the bandits ran forward while shouting, without even checking whether his men were following him, and just ran without a destination. I saved even the split second of looking back and thought only about jumping forward.

In terms of time, it was only a few minutes, but if the subordinates had acted as a shield, it was enough time to escape.

Although I was slightly out of breath, it seemed quite possible for me to survive again as long as I could hide and run away.

‘a little bit…! If only I ran a little faster!’

Suddenly!

The body tilted forward with an eerie bursting sound. The left leg, unable to keep up with the body trying to move forward, was seen falling down.

The leader of the thieves, who fell forward and rolled over, had to throw himself away without even feeling the pain in his amputated leg.

Before he knew it, Gilbert, who had cut off his leg, was standing in the direction he had fled, holding a sword soaked in blood.

He felt the burning pain of his severed leg later, but the fear of imminent death consumed him. He tried to say something, but Gilbert’s sword cut off his neck cleanly faster than he could.

He was decapitated by a swift sword and died with an urgent expression on his face without even realizing that he was dead.

Gilbert swung the sword with his still emotionless eyes, brushed off the blood from the blade, and left the scene with the sword still intact.

It took him less than 10 minutes to deal with the group of thieves that attacked him.

‘It’s not a very good feeling.’

It wasn’t my first time experiencing murder, but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to kill someone by swinging a sword yourself. It occurred to me later that there might have been a better choice than not being a murderous psychopath.

But I didn’t regret it.

If he hadn’t made up his mind anyway, he might have been the one who ended up dying.

Otherwise, I might have made a fuss using my clumsy hands. Such experiences have already been experienced many times around the world, so there was no need to repeat them here.

Gilbert returned to the place where he started the battle, feeling somewhat tired. There were cut off limbs here and there, and the corpses of the thieves who had attacked him were strewn everywhere.

He shook his head as the fishy scent of blood hit his nose and approached the large old tree.

While counting the number of thick roots in the dry ground, he stroked the largest protruding rhizome a couple of times with his hand, then inserted his hand into the knothole and carefully let the mana flow in a set pattern.

Slurp!

As if a door were opening, the knothole rotated clockwise and grew to a size large enough for a person to enter. He sighed with relief at the fact that the gimmick he knew was still working and entered the door made of knotholes.

As he entered, the knothole shrunk in size and returned to its original state, and all that remained was the corpses of the bandits who had died at the hands of Gilbert.

***

The safe house where the Lion King met his end was a secret place that could only be entered by entering a certain magical array.

It was quite by chance that Therodamas also learned of the location of this place. It was one of the places he learned about when he discovered the crucial item that enabled him to become the Lion King. While he was running away due to a rebellion by his subjects, he remembered this place and hid himself for future plans.

Therodamas was the only one who knew the location of this place, and even the way to enter this place was changed to a method known only to him, so even if anyone was looking for it, it was one of the Lion King’s safe houses that had taken measures to prevent them from entering.

In the game, it was necessary to read the Lion King’s biography in detail to figure out this method, and it contained a hint of the magical arrangement that would allow entry into this safe house.

Newbies who found the location after going through a lot of trouble were once again troubled by the puzzle, but that only happened in the early days when the game had just been released.

In a situation where all information about the game had already been released to the community, all that was left was content such as concept play and time attack.

Entering the safe house, Gilbert’s darkened vision suddenly brightened. Unlike the desolate scenery of the valley, it had an atmosphere like a forest full of trees and grass.

Gilbert remembered the moment when he burst into laughter when he first saw it because it was clearly saying that something was hidden. He stepped on the grass and headed towards the large building in the middle.

As I stood in front of the building covered in green vines, the door automatically opened halfway to the side. Gilbert sighed as he watched the door half-open and then close again, as if it had caught something.

In this case, there was only one method that worked.

When the door was closing, I kicked it with my toe and the door opened as normal. Although it may seem like an old-fashioned method, it was an advanced technique that used the toes to pierce the blockage of magical power.

When I went inside, the magic stone attached to the ceiling lit up. It seemed as if not all of them were normal. Along the long corridor, I often saw magic stones embedded in the ceiling that were not lit.

I slowly walked down the hallway and headed to the room where the journal was. After passing through the central hall, the largest room on this floor was Gilbert’s destination.

This time, he kicked in the door that was difficult to open and found a skinny mummy sitting at a desk.

Long wavy hair like a lion’s mane and uncorrupted skin.

The mummy of Therodamas, the Lion King, was right in front of me.

Gilbert could feel his heart fluttering at the fact that he could finally obtain the Lionheart. When he was playing Tactical Combat, he studied all the mana training methods of the same level as Lionheart, but the one he thought was the best was the Lion King’s mana training method.

For Gilbert, who mainly uses high-speed maneuvers using giant weapons, the Lionheart, which features compression and instantaneous output, gave him the feeling of wearing clothes that fit his body perfectly.

In the first place, Gilbert’s middle name, Lion, was created with the Lion King’s mana practice, Lionheart, in mind, so it was clear without saying how much affection he had for Lionheart.

He calmed his pounding heart and placed his hand on Mira’s shoulder.

Pop!

As soon as he could put his hand on his shoulder, Therodamas’ mummy grabbed Gilbert’s wrist tightly.

He was startled by the sudden development and struck Mira’s head with his fist, sending her flying. Because it was different from the game where light just flowed out and scattered as dust, I reflexively swung my fist.

Fortunately, the unique gimmick seemed to have stopped there, with light flowing from the fallen head and torso and seeping into Gilbert.

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

[You have acquired the new skill Lion Heart.]

[Achievements are updated.]

A translucent notification window appeared, and the Lion Heart practice was naturally engraved in my mind. There seemed to be no need to memorize anything because the flow of mana and how to use it came to mind automatically.

Fortunately, it was very convenient to apply the game system in this area.

First, Gilbert placed a rather thick pile of parchment on the desk where Therodamas’ mummy was sitting. Although the purpose of his coming here was Lionheart, he did not forget his promise to Professor Horizon.

I knew that Horizon would really expel me if I had an eccentric personality, so I took the diary written by Terodamas himself before I forgot it.

Gilbert roughly tidied up the dusty bed on one side and sat down there. Since this was a safe space that only he knew at this point, he decided to consume the dragon fruit he had endured.

Originally, I was going to return to the academy and go to the magic training room, but there was a slight risk of being interrupted during the mana training after consuming the dragon fruit.

On the other hand, the only person who knows about this place is Gilbert himself, so there was no better environment for eating dragon fruit.

‘shall we start.’

When you eat the dragon fruit while learning the mana training method Lionheart, you can achieve an achievement and receive a reward at the same time.

In order to obtain this, Gilbert postponed eating the dragon fruit until obtaining the prerequisite Lionheart.

Gilbert, who finally received the Lionheart, grinned and chewed and swallowed all of the dragon fruit he took out of his arms. I felt hot mana entering my body through my esophagus.

He used Lionheart’s mana practice in time to hold on to the mana that had begun to spread throughout his body and began the practice.

Mana began to circulate within the body and began to burn all waste and debris remaining in the body. The dragon fruit, which contained enormous mana, roamed around fiercely through the blood path, but was tied to Lionheart’s reins and could not jump out anywhere.

The mana that had spread and circulated throughout every corner of the body, from head to toe, down to the smallest extremities, suddenly quieted down as if all its strength had been used up, and gathered in one place under Gilbert’s guidance.

When he took a deep breath and opened his closed eyes, the light burst out and a translucent message greeted Gilbert.

[By consuming the dragon fruit, your magic power increases significantly.]

[Satisfy the special conditions to achieve the achievement Lion of Nemea.]

[Acquire the skill Nemea by achieving the achievement Lion of Nemea.]

Gilbert opened the skill window to check whether the skill he had in mind was correct.

1. Stereoscopic maneuver (+)

2. Lionheart (+)

3. Nemea (+)

As expected, Lionheart and Nemea were registered in the skill window. He first unfolded the detailed explanation of Lionheart.

Grade: Legendary (Lv.1)

effect:

– Mana recovery speed is greatly increased.

– Mana in the body is extremely compressed.

– Instantaneous horsepower output increases significantly.

– ???(Currently sealed.)

It was a reassuring explanation just to look at. Since it is a high-grade mana practice, the basic mana recovery speed is fast, and by compressing the mana in the body, more mana can be accumulated.

Even the instantaneous magical power output from the compressed mana core was perfect.

Even though the last function was sealed, I didn’t really care. Of course, the way to unlock it was in his head, but he probably wouldn’t be able to unlock that function in this life.

He closed Lionheart’s detailed description and opened Nemea’s detailed description below it.

Grade: Normal (Lv.1)

Description: Myths begin to dwell in the body that combines the heart of a lion and the magic power of a dragon.

effect:

– Body durability increases slightly.

– The body’s endurance slightly increases.

– This is a growth skill.

Skill Nemea.

The motif was the Nemean Lion in Greek and Roman mythology, and it was an important skill that allowed one to gain the stamina and durability of the mythological monster lion, which Hercules was said to be able to strangle after a 30-day struggle.

Since the burden on the body was enormous whenever controlling a high-level giant soldier, acquiring a passive skill that increased durability was very useful.

Gilbert closed the skill window, satisfied with the fact that even the skill Nemea was the same as the game.

As a result, I was able to obtain everything that could be obtained through this sub-quest.

Gilbert got up and quickly left the safe house. Seeing that the sun was already setting, it seemed like even if I continued diligently, I would arrive at Obitus the next morning.

In the original game, skills were created as soon as the dragon fruit was eaten, but in reality, it seemed that time was needed to refine the mana contained in the dragon fruit using the mana practice method.

Still, Gilbert, who efficiently obtained everything he wanted, smiled and headed toward Obitus. Even though I was homeless today, I felt like I could smile happily.