Chapter 143
– “So…”
The Elder who appeared crossed his arms.
– “You need to upgrade one of your skills, but you’re agonizing over which one to choose. Is that it?”
‘Yes, Elder.’
I explained every skill I had in detail.
I also told him, without hiding anything, exactly what I was struggling with.
‘Hmmmm. Elder, what about raising Resurrection of the Dead or Wail of the Dead to SS-rank? The others are S-rank, but those are A-rank. That’s skipping two ranks at once. Isn’t that a huge win?’
I even threw out thoughts like that.
“……”
But the Elder’s expression stayed grim the entire time.
What was this?
Did I do something wrong?
‘Ah, then maybe I should upgrade Ten Thousand Arts? That’s A-rank too. An SS-rank Ten Thousand Arts… I’m honestly curious what that would feel like.’
Still.
He looked extremely displeased.
‘Elder?’
– “……”
‘Hey, Elder…?’
He kept his mouth shut, like he was sulking, and just as I was about to ask again—
“You brat!”
The Elder shouted.
‘Whoa, you scared me. What’s with you all of a sudden?’
I grabbed my temple.
He yelled so loudly it gave me a headache.
– “You insolent punk! To think you’d call that a dilemma. Aigoo, it seems it’s my fault for only teaching you techniques because I was so desperate to raise a single disciple!”
‘Yes…?’
– “It means your character is rotten! Huh? In a word, you have no manners!”
‘……?’
I stared at him with wide, innocent eyes.
The Elder pounded his chest in frustration.
– “Hah, you punk! You call that a dilemma? You should have chosen ‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ without even asking!”
‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts…?’
– “Yes! You ungrateful brat! After everything I taught you, after everything I told you—how could you even look at other skills!”
So…
He was sulking because I didn’t immediately say I’d upgrade the skill that summons him.
With his lips sticking out like that.
– “Look here! Pain Resistance, Supreme Azure Mind Method, Immunity to All Poisons, and Ten Thousand Art! They all originated from me. Isn’t it obvious which skill is the strongest? It seems only your body became a genius, but your head still has a long, long way to go. Ah, how foolish. So foolish! Aigoo! My disciple is a fool!”
‘No, Elder. That’s going too far…’
– “Silence! Hmph!”
Huh?
Now he even turned his head away sharply.
They say the older you get, the more you become like a child…
No, at this point, isn’t this less “child” and more “sulking lover”?
‘Damn it.’
– “What? Damn it? Did you just say that to me? The words you say in front of a teacher who is like the heavens to you is daaaamn iiiit?”
‘Ah, I get it! I get it.’
I raised both hands and shook my head.
‘To be honest, I was planning on choosing Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts!’
– “Hmph, as if. Are you lying to your teacher now?”
As expected.
He didn’t let things go easily.
‘No, think about it, Elder.’
But I wasn’t backing down.
‘That’s why I didn’t choose on my own and went out of my way to summon you. If I was going to choose whatever I wanted, would I have bothered calling you?’
– “……”
‘Besides, you know how much I rely on you. This time too, every time things got difficult, I instinctively called for you. And you really helped.’
And one more thing.
‘No matter how much I think about it, the best skill in my life is Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts.’
It might sound like I was just saying whatever came to mind.
But it was also sincere.
If the Elder hadn’t been there, forget becoming a ranker.
I wouldn’t even be standing here right now.
Did that reach him?
The Elder turned his head back toward me.
– “You punk. Is that true?”
‘Ah, yes. It is.’
I let out a sigh.
He finally got over it.
His sulking.
‘Elder! Let’s do it. Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts. Should I upgrade it right now?’
To be perfectly honest, the skill I was most drawn to was Summon Skeleton Lord (S-Rank).
If that became SS-rank, my greatest forces—Sun Spear and Eldrin—would get a huge boost.
And it was obvious my subordinates’ unique abilities would evolve beyond ‘Skeleton Lord’.
‘Hmm.’
Would it become King above Lord?
If my subordinates became Skeleton Kings, would my title change too?
Would I, ruling over Kings, become a Skeleton Emperor or something?
‘Actually.’
I’d thought about this before.
That [Skeleton Lord], lower than my current title [Skeleton King], somehow sounded cooler.
That was another reason I craved it.
‘But.’
I decided on Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts (S-Rank).
I’d been agonizing over it anyway.
And the Elder—someone I genuinely owed—wanted it that badly.
‘Of course I should do it for him.’
You can’t live only by receiving.
And who knew?
It might even turn out to be the best choice.
From the [Owned Skills] window glittering in the air, I selected [‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ (S-Rank)].
[You have selected ‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ (S-Rank).]
[‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ (S-Rank) will be upgraded to ‘Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts’ (SS-Rank)!]
“Keuk.”
An SS-rank Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts.
The moment I acquired the first SS-rank skill of my life.
[Skill: Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts]
[Rank: SS]
[Effect 1: By using 20 Energy, summon the absolute being who conquered another world, the ‘Master of the Ten Thousand Arts’, for 12 hours.]
[Effect 2: The summoned ‘Master of the Ten Thousand Arts’ cannot exert physical force in this world. You can only receive his knowledge for a limited time.]
[Effect 3: The cooldown for this skill is 24 hours.]
[Effect 4: Only the skill user can perceive the ‘Master of the Ten Thousand Arts’.]
The change was simple.
What had been a one-hour summon per day became twelve hours per day.
– “……”
The Elder’s lips twitched.
He didn’t say it out loud, but I could read him perfectly.
‘Hoo. You’re that happy…?’
He was clearly delighted.
Genuinely thrilled that his time to see this world had increased twelvefold.
– “Hmph.”
His cheek twitched as he snorted.
– “It’s all for your sake. How can a punk who wants to become the world’s strongest with Ten Thousand Arts get by learning for a mere one hour a day? It has to be twelve hours, like now. Besides, the thought of getting stronger by upgrading other skills? Hmph! That thought is fundamentally flawed.”
‘……’
– “It might seem good for now, but you must look long-term. True strength becomes yours only when you achieve it through your own effort. Don’t rely on things like skills. Think about building your abilities through training and experience. Do you understand?”
‘Right, right. Everything you say is correct, Elder.’
I agreed.
I’d been moving around too much lately—doing this, doing that.
It was true I’d neglected Ten Thousand Arts.
Now that the time had increased, I could train in more diverse techniques.
Just as I was bantering back and forth with him—
“Um, Hoon?”
The party, led by Olena, approached.
“Have you collected your thoughts? We really don’t have much time left.”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
Myoi Hana stepped up beside her.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
“Mm.”
I rolled my joints.
Then I scanned my whole body with my senses, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet.
No pain.
Muscles fine.
If anything, I felt refreshed—as if I’d woken up from a deep, sweet sleep.
‘She’s definitely a master physician.’
No matter how I looked at it, Myoi Hana was an all-time master physician.
“Thanks to you, I’m in great condition. I think your medical skills improved even more since coming here.”
“Of course.”
Myoi Hana let out a small laugh.
“I upgraded my S-rank healing skill to SS-rank. Now it provides perfect healing and even condition management.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
If that was true, Myoi Hana might redefine the history of healers.
A healer was already rare.
If she became a ranker on top of that—
‘Keuk.’
Her value would be absurd.
People would be grateful just to have a connection to her.
“Hey, Team leader. Sorry, but we don’t have time to chat like this.”
“Ah, is that so?”
At Vladimir’s words, I looked around, expecting a system window.
“There’s nothing like that. Luka came by before you woke up and said Theme 4 would start in thirty minutes, so…”
“Hah.”
Right after waking up?
When the hell do I get to rest?
Of course, my body felt so refreshed it was like I’d rested for over a week, so it didn’t really matter.
“Is there about one minute left now? Or maybe the time already passed.”
The team members had already drawn their weapons.
Myoi Hana, Olena, and Capu took the center.
Judgment Spear, Maximilian, and Vladimir held the perimeter.
A basic combat formation.
“What did they say about Theme 4?”
“We don’t know either.”
Vladimir shrugged.
“You know how the examiners are. Unhelpful at the beginning. They don’t explain anything.”
“That’s true.”
I got my head in the game as well.
I warmed up and checked my weapon.
Thwock!
The first setup was, of course, the staff.
I prepared it to summon Skeletons instantly.
– “Good.”
The Elder laughed beside me.
– “Training again as soon as you wake up. Isn’t this the perfect environment for becoming strong!”
‘Elder, help me out a lot in this Theme.’
“You got it.”
A grin.
His smile deepened.
– “The footwork you just learned, and the martial techniques we’ve fallen behind on. We’ll focus on them intensively for twelve hours.”
Yes, of course.
If a Theme appears where I can actually use Ten Thousand Arts properly.
Swish!
‘Hm?’
It was then.
A certain movement brushed my senses.
‘What is that?’
I looked around, but the team members didn’t react.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
‘Did no one else feel it?’
Swish, shhh!
There it was again.
Someone was definitely in this space.
“Everyone, focus!”
I shouted.
“Huh?”
“Hoon? Why?”
“Hm?”
Vladimir and Judgment Spear frowned.
Like me, they had sensed something.
“There’s something here.”
“You’re right. Shit. Since I can’t see it well, is it an assassin type?”
One by one, the team members tightened their focus.
– “Kekeke.”
The Elder laughed.
‘Why, Elder. Do you see something?’
-“By the looks of it, the previous Theme was practice for dealing with these things.”
‘These things?’
– “Look. You discovered it first, then that spear wielder, then the kid who uses spatial magic sensed it, right? Isn’t that exactly the order you passed the last Theme in?”
‘That is… true, isn’t it?’
Grrr!
At that moment, something like a dog’s howl came from the side, and something leaped out.
“Hup!”
I instinctively changed my staff into a sword and—
Klaang!
Deflected a claw swung at me.
“Keuk!”
A heavy impact rattled through my body.
Pain flared in my wrist.
“Hmph! What the hell! So sudden!”
“A dog?”
The others moved on instinct as well, twisting and blocking.
Grrr, woof! Woof woof!
In the distance, black dogs rose out of black smoke, faintly visible.
They looked like ferocious shepherds, drooling, and unnervingly real.
Fangs.
Blood-red eyes.
Even rough, bumpy protrusions along their bodies.
Then—
[Ting!]
[A mission is arriving.]
[Stage: Eliminate the Shadow Shepherds.]
[From now on, the ‘Dragon Slayer’ team must cooperate to eliminate the Shadow Shepherds.]
[Team contribution will be calculated based on the number of eliminations.]
[Contribution will be calculated differently depending on the type of Shepherd.]
[Each team member will be eliminated if they sustain near-fatal damage.]
[The theme will proceed until all team members are eliminated.]
[You will acquire rewards based on your contribution.]
The official start of Theme 4 had begun.