Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World
Chapter 40

The Second Partner (1)

Alejandro crashed onto the ground as his blood spilled all over the ground, creating a pool of crimson fluids.

He had a deep, gaping wound on his chest. It was a canyon that displayed his internal organs for all to see.

He had no chance of survival.

The life in the middle-aged man’s eyes gradually faded.

“Lord, I don’t want to die… In a place like this…”

After a while, his breathing stopped.

At the same time, he disappeared from this world.

The only thing left was the twin blades he had and the clothes he was wearing.

Ryu Han-bin watched the Earthling’s death with a bitter expression.

‘I killed him.’

He wanted to capture Alejandro to get more information out of him.

However, he had no other choice. The situation became a race against time.

‘I couldn’t control my strength.’

However, it was easier said than done since, for 20 years, he fought against Demon Dogs without holding back.

He overdid it out of fear of letting Alejandro escape.

He didn’t feel guilt since their enemy had nothing but bad intentions for them, but he couldn’t help but regret not getting what he wanted.

“Well, there’s no changing the outcome now.”

There were more than just two Earthlings in this world anyway. He knew he was going to get another opportunity to gather information sooner or later.

Han-bin turned away from the scene, vowing to increase his control over his power in the future.

“I wonder if Artis is okay.”

* * *

The red Dragon rose from the ground as he gritted his teeth.

“Ah, that jerk, he just threw me without any warning.”

It was fortunate that he wasn’t hurt.

In his Dragon form, Artis easily withstood the strength of the impact even though he was thrown far too high into the air than he was comfortable with.

Ryu Han-bin also knew that, so he threw Artis without any doubt.

“Hey, Han-bin! You seem to be getting too arrogant!”

“All thanks to your teachings. Didn’t you tell me to be a great Valtara warrior?”

“… Tsk.”

With his mouth pouting, Artis released his dragon form.

Paaats!

He immediately went to his backpack to find another robe. He had torn apart two robes in a single battle.

“I wish there’s an indestructible robe out there.”

Finally covered in clothes, Artis began to carefully investigate the items Alejandro left behind.

Among the torn and tattered clothes, he found a familiar emblem.

“He was a Great Earth member, as I thought.”

Artis clicked his tongue.

“I can’t doubt it at this point. Great Earth is still alive and doing well.”

They decided to hand over the emblem to the Highten Mages Guild.

Doing so would alert the authorities of their continued existence, and unlike when they fought the Lich, they couldn’t think of any problem arising since they didn’t leave any evidence like Dragon Blood. Han-bin’s level problem had been solved as well.

“The high-level members of the guild will take care of the investigation.”

He also took Alejandro’s twin blades.

“These weapons were quite powerful during the fight.”

Artis looked at the swords, surveying every inch of them.

Han-bin could only sigh in return.

“They’re definitely convenient weapons, but their level requirement is too high.”

“What are their terms of use?”

“Level 65.”

“Can you still use it, though?”

Taking the twin blades from Artis, Ryu Han-bin swung the duo without any issue.

The level requirement only suppressed him from using their abilities, not the swords themselves.

And even without their abilities, they were still quite masterly crafted weapons. They could still be useful to him.

“I can’t feel any energy from it. My guess is its effects only appear when someone who meets the level requirements wields it.”

None of its abilities or unique ability could be activated by Ryu Han-bin.

Regardless, his black greatsword was still leagues better than the twin blades anyway.

“Even with their magic effects, I’d still rather use my weapon right now.”

Even after hitting the twin blades at their fullest potential, Ryu Han-bin’s greatsword remained unchipped.

Artis was dumbfounded.

“What the hell is that sword made out of?”

It was neither a Magic Tool nor an Artifact.

It was just extremely durable. It had no other features.

That was why not even measurement Magic could identify it.

“Is it stronger than level 65 Artifacts?”

Han-bin scratched his head.

“It’s made out of the leg bones of a giant Demon Dog.”

Thinking back, it took him days before he could properly turn the bones into a full-fledged sword, even with his tremendous strength.

To put it into perspective, his power was enough to rip and damage Artifacts off of someone’s body with his bare hands.

“I couldn’t sharpen them with stones, so I had to use the bones against each other.”

Artis was blown away.

“Is that harder than a Dragon Bone?”

“Are the Dragon Bones that hard?”

“Do you think humans are making a fuss about hunting Dragons? My bones, which are still not mature, are harder than steel.”

Anyway, this double sword was not that useless.

“Let’s sell it.”

“Where? It will be a huge trouble if we sell these items at Highten.”

The only place where they could sell such a high-level weapon was at the Four Major Stations.

“Damn, that means no money for us.”

Han-bin had no choice but to take the twin blades until they’ve reached the aforementioned city.

“We’ll have our chance to sell it later.”

He also looked at the other Artifacts.

Han-bin’s aggressiveness permanently damaged Alejandro’s armor and pants, but the rest was intact.

Artis burst in joy after examining the items.

“Like the Aliens who aimed at the Goddesses, all the Artifacts he possessed are high-tier.”

There was no need to mention the Unique Item.

The so-called “healing items” were all level-70 Artifacts.

Regardless of how great they were, Han-bin thought they didn’t matter, though.

Ryu Han-bin couldn’t use them even if he wanted to.

“This is such a stupid game. Looting items should be fun.”

Still, he suggested not to sell any of the healing items.

“We can’t use them right now, but they’ll be useful once you reach level 70, Artis.”

While they were looting the remaining items, Ryu Han-bin’s eyes suddenly shone brightly.

“Huh? We can use this right away.”

It was a small pouch Alejandro was wearing throughout the entire battle.

[Space Compression Pouch (Artifact)

Function: Compresses items and safely stores them.

Terms of use Lv. 40. Number of uses: 21/40 times a day.”

“We’re lucky. Space Pouches can only be obtained at the center of the continent.”

Artis took the pouch with delight.

He then opened up it up to check if there was anything inside.

“Not much.”

There were only rations, miscellaneous household items such as knives, and a few books.

Han-bin giggled while looking at the booklet.

“Was reading his hobby? That’s a bit surprising considering he didn’t look the part.”

He could understand why, however. In a world without TVs or computers, people’s only way to keep themselves entertained was through books.

As he was flipping through the booklet to see if anything was interesting in it, Artis’s face suddenly hardened.

“This…”

“What’s wrong?”

Looking back at Ryu Han-bin, Artis picked up a book.

“… It says Maxbrid’s Dictum?”

* * *

There were three famous swordsmanship styles across Latna Continent.

Basarada, the Style of the South.

Ascalon Arts of the West.

Maxbrid Martial Arts of the North.

A booklet containing the Maxbrid Martial Art, one of the three major swordsmanship styles on the continent, was now in Artis’s hand!

Han-bin was thrilled.

“Really?”

He quickly snatched the booklet and examined it.

It was written in Coulin, so the contents were understandable.

Pictures and explanations about different martial arts movements were drawn and written on each of its pages.

Artis was a little puzzled.

” The three major swordsmanship styles never let their books slip out of their reach, so how did this Alien get it?”

“The owner must’ve been killed with this book in their possession.”

The booklet certainly didn’t look like it was fake.

Han-bin was no longer a stranger to sword-fighting. Based on the contents of it, he knew it was real.

“I’ll take a closer look at it after we get home.”

He carefully packed it in his backpack.

They hoped it contained a way to awaken Aura.

Even if there was, it still wasn’t certain if Han-bin would be able to learn it.

“I know I complained about not having fun while collecting items, but at least I got something out of it.”

After collecting all the useful items Alejandro had, the two moved to the other side of the forest to get a closer look at the Wyvern.

The monster was still unconscious when they reached it. They even thought it was dead, but its heaving chest told them otherwise.

Ryu Han-bin examined the Wyvern.

“What about this guy?”

* * *

The Wyvern’s consciousness returned little by little.

“Aaaaargh……”

Effir groaned.

Even her groan was muffled because of the gag strapped across its mouth.

Opening her eyes, he could see two individuals staring at her; a copper-skinned giant and a red-haired young man.

“It gave you a lot of trouble, huh?”

“Yeah. Even though its level’s low, it was quick and agile.”

Effir’s vision became hazy while looking at the red-haired young man.

‘Dragon…’

Capable of living for hundreds of years, transforming into a human, and had a broad arsenal of magic and special abilities.

Effir had always admired the existence of Dragons.

“What should we do, Artis?”

“Based on its flying skills, it’s not a wild Wyvern. It’s been properly trained to become a Saddled Wyvern.”

“Is it useful to us?”

Artis shook his head.

“Saddled Wyverns are like well-trained fighting dogs. They’re only loyal to their owner. From what I’ve seen, it looks like it’s been raised by Great Earth.”

Looking at the Wyvern’s appearance, it definitely didn’t look like a threat.

However, when combined with a powerful Magic Swordsman, Spiritist, or Mage, it became a bomber aircraft with the same speed as a fighter aircraft.

“It might become a real headache if we let it go and another Earthling rides it.”

“Right. It would be better to kill it.”

Effir’s eyes widened.

‘Kill, you say?’

She became confused.

‘Why? Why kill me? I didn’t do anything.’

All she did was avoid the attacks coming for her in order to survive.

Springing up, Effir shrieked fiercely.

She had to let them know somehow that Great Earth hadn’t trained her. She was just an innocent Wyvern who got caught up in a crossfire.

“Eep, Eep, Eep!”

However, it couldn’t speak because of the gag on its mouth.

Ryu Han-bin unsheathed his sword.

“Is this guy running wild again?”

Artis nodded.

“Its owner is dead. It’s only natural for a loyal Wyvern to be enraged.”

Effir turned pale.

She was going to die if the situation kept up.

The beings in front of her seriously misunderstood her.

She wasn’t anyone’s trained Wyvern!

The magical gag she had was making matters worse.

In a hurry, Effir clasped its front paws together as if to plead that there was absolutely no connection between her and Great Earth.

She was just a selfless Wyvern who would willingly bend her head to anyone who would save her life.

In an attempt to converse with them, she tried to make gestures and relied on her body language.

She moved her front and rear feet hard, rolled her eyes around, and made the saddest expression she could muster.

Just as Han-bin was about to stab the Wyvern, he was hit with a strange feeling.

‘What are you doing, Wyvern?’

Was it just his imagination?

For some reason, he thought he could understand what the monster was trying to say.

“Eep!”

The Wyvern flapped its wings and let out a groan.

She then pointed to Alejandro’s clothes, then pointed to its gag and collar, her expression that of pure resentment and anger.

Han-bin felt like it was telling them that it was forced to wear the gag and do Alejandro’s bidding.

“Eeeeeep!”

It then laid down on the ground, making a sad expression.

The vicious Wyvern now gave off a pitiful aura, almost like a tranquil wildflower.

Han-bin thought the Wyvern was dragged around and had been subject to terrible abuse.

“Eep, eep!”

Next, she bowed her head toward Ryu Han-bin as she made a bright expression, her eyes shining innocently.

‘Is it saying that it’s thankful to us for defeating Alejandro?’

It was a soundless pantomime that was genuinely artistic.

The Wyvern conveyed emotions and told stories just using its facial expressions and gestures, but its appeal was so strong it moved their hearts.

When the Wyvern fell, he could see the image of torment coming from the evil Earthling, Alejandro.

It had a natural talent for acting.

Even Artis burst into admiration.

He never thought wyverns could express feelings and communicate such rich emotions.

“When I’m a dragon, I can’t convey my emotions as well as that Wyvern…”

Artis and Ryu Han-bin had to talk about it.

“What is this…”

“Isn’t it saying that Alejandro dragged it against its own will and that it’s not loyal to Earth Great?”

“It’s ridiculous, but I felt that way too.”

“So, it turns out this guy…”

Ryu Han-bin suddenly tilted his head the moment he got a closer look.

Somehow, the Wyvern felt incredibly familiar to him.

“No way you…”

It wasn’t likely, but he had to confirm if his suspicion was real.

“Effir?”

Overflowing with joy, The Wyvern nodded frantically.

“Eep, eep, eep, eep!”