Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World
Chapter 45

Everybody Levels Up, Except Me (3)

Inside one of the dark cavities of the Rastol Dungeon, a large Wyvern crawled out of the passage and began to breathe fire.

Gwaaaarrrk!

Hundreds of monsters were burned to death mercilessly all at once.

After repeating the same sequence thrice, Effir raised her concern.

“I feel weird. Is this indigestion?”

Artis gave her an explanation.

“You’ve reached your energy absorption limit. That’s it for today.”

Looking up and down at the Wyvern, Ryu Han-bin tilted his head.

“That’s strange. Her level didn’t rise at all.”

Even after killing hundreds of monsters, Effir was still Level 27.

Confused, he ordered Effir to turn into a human then measured her again.

[Race: Human. Swordsman Lv. 20]

There was no change.

“Does level boosting not work for Wyverns?”

Artis shook his head at Han-bin’s question.

“I don’t think so.”

It was because Effir had not yet created a core unique to the Dragon Race.

“When I absorb energy, it all accumulates right inside my core. It takes time to digest and convert it into mana, but it’s immediately reflected in my level.”

On the other hand, the absorbed energy would just be scattered throughout Effir’s body without a core.

Her level would slowly rise over several days as the energy in her merged into her body.

“But her level would still rise, right?”

“It won’t rise dramatically like mine. There are limits to physical development without a core.”

Any unadjusted energy would just dissipate into the air.

She needed pure energy, which purified the Dragon Race’s turbid energy into one of Latna’s four powers.

Looking back at Effir, Artis shrugged.

“Once you’ve absorbed a lot of energy, we’ll try to see if we can use that to instill Dragon Power.”

* * *

The living room on the first floor of Artis’ wooden house.

The silver-haired girl knelt down and immersed herself in meditation.

With her eyes closed, she focused her mind.

‘Contemplate what’s inside. Look back into me and sense the energy inside my body. Lead it to where it needs to go…”

Amid her concentration, she tried to create a core using the method Artis taught her.

“To be precise, it’s not a method. It’s more of a trick. I didn’t learn how to create a core from anyone.”

It was just Artis’s way of describing his own experience.

Han-bin became curious.

“Are Dragons automatically capable of creating cores? Is it part of your instincts?”

“It’s similar but a little different.”

The Dragon’s Breath was a kind of instinct.

Before his mind had matured, Artis could already breathe flames naturally.

“On the other hand, in the case of core creation, the knowledge and wisdom regarding it are melted into the Dragon’s lineage. It feels similar to learning human mimetic skills.”

Dragon Cores didn’t make themselves. Dragons simply realized, almost like common sense, how to create one.

“It looks similar at first glance, but it’s a different story.”

Ending his explanation, Artis turned towards Effir again.

He smiled expectantly.

“It’s still not certain, but the possibility for her to succeed is quite high. In many ways, she’s special.”

The reason why Wyverns couldn’t create a core was that they didn’t have the intelligence needed to create one, even if they were taught.

Effir didn’t have that problem.

There was also the eccentricity called Ryu Han-bin.

Since she had absorbed energy enough to fill herself to the brim, she had overflowing resources to create a core.

That gave her dozens of attempts to create one before she ran out of energy.

“Even if it’s impossible right now, if she keeps trying, she’ll succeed sooner or later.

Upon creating one, Effir would be able to handle one of Latna’s four major powers.

However, she wasn’t allowed to choose her power. Her talent was the one that determined it; hence not even Artis could predict what kind of attribute she’d get.

“I wish she gets Prana.”

Ryu Han-bin muttered while looking at Effir.

“Since we already have close-range and long-range fighters, it would be convenient to have a healer.”

A Spiritist would undoubtedly be helpful to the team in many ways.

Since neither Ryu Han-bin nor Artis could use healing techniques, she would be able to fill the missing role.

But Artis shook his head.

“I hope so, but she’ll probably awaken an Aura Core.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because her talent as a warrior is outstanding. I told you, it’s not what you choose. Your qualities determine it.”

If their physical talent was enormous, the person’s probability of awakening mind-related power like Mana or Prana was relatively low.

If both talents were in balance, they could become a Magic Swordsman with the Force attribute.

“She has great physical talent, true, but her mind is equal to her physical abilities. She must be a genius that fell from the heavens.”

Artis simply giggled.

“If she’s that good, she would have finished creating her core, and she’d be radiating the light of Dragon Power already.”

Just as Artis spoke, Effir began to change.

Paaats!

Her entire body started to emit light.

It was only for a moment, however. Effir tilted her head the moment the light disappeared.

“Hey, what’s this?”

She flicked her fingers and pointed to the other side of the living room, a strange expression displayed on her face.

“I feel like I just found something incredibly soft and comfortable.”

At Effir’s gesture, a cushion on the living room sofa spontaneously floated into the air and then fell back.

Han-bin looked at each other in surprise.

“Isn’t that the Psychic Force used by the Magic Swordsman?”

At that point, they felt drained by all the surprises.

Artis looked up at the ceiling in vain.

“…The sky must have dropped something huge.”

* * *

Awakening the Force didn’t mean that she could immediately become a full-fledged Magic Swordsman.

The Magic Swordsmen’s special techniques and the magic sword techniques needed to be learned separately.

Effir couldn’t just learn those skills by herself, no matter how much of a genius from the sky she was.

“But money can solve that!”

Ryu Han-bin immediately ran to the Magic Swordsman Guild and bought a bunch of beginner magic sword scrolls.

Of course, the guild wondered why he was buying the scrolls when he wasn’t a Magic Swordsman.

“I buy them because I want to buy them!”

No reason or excuses required!

If he flexed his muscles, presented her money, and demanded something, no one doubted him!

“Why the hell do Valtara warriors even behave like that?”

Of course, after he bought it, he got scolded by Artis.

“Hey! Han-bin, you idiot! Valtara warriors avoid Magic Tools! Scrolls are also Magic Tools, so you shouldn’t buy those yourself!”

“What? What do I do? Will they suspect me?”

Fortunately, Artis taught him how to cope wisely.

“Just say you didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?”

“When someone asks, just insist that you didn’t know it’s a Magic Tool and you thought it’s just a piece of paper.”

“… Will such an excuse work?”

“Works for Valtara warriors.”

“Do Valtara warriors only have muscles for brains…”

That being said, the total price of all the scrolls from level 5 to level 20 was terrifying. It was almost over 20,000X.

“It’s about 200 million in Korean Won.”

The savings he had been accumulating was immediately cut in half, but Han-bin didn’t care.

He went in and out of Dungeons so often that money wasn’t a problem for him.

The Magic Swordsman Guild, feeling like they just hit the jackpot, gave him a big smile as Effir got tired of seeing the bulky scrolls piled up in front of her.

“Didn’t you spend too much money, Han-bin?”

“It’s okay. I have nowhere to spend it on anyway.”

If his level had been measured correctly, he would have purchased Magical Tools or Artifacts.

However, despite having enough power to split the skies and sunder mountains, Ryu Han-bin was still Level 5. He couldn’t even open the fridge.

To him, Magic Tools were all useless.

“I think of it as an investment. Effir, as you level up, you’ll be able Tools.”

Inspired, she became even more motivated.

“I’ll do my best to run the washing machine!”

“No, that’s not why I want you to level up…”

Effir devoted herself every single day to training.

Her talent supported her, she never lazed around, and she was motivated beyond belief. Her progress was as fast as could be.

Within a few days, she had already mastered Maxbrid Martial Arts basics and learned all the magic sword techniques he purchased for her.

Likewise, her level had also risen steadily.

It wasn’t because she raised her level herself, but rather Ryu Han-bin made her level up.

“Effir, are you done digesting all the energy?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go to the Dungeons, then.”

Every time she finished digesting the energy, he dragged her into the Dungeon.

Since her level was much lower than Artis, the regular digestion time was relatively short.

Fifteen days later, her status had changed tremendously for the better.

[Race: Wyvern. Lv. 33]

[Race: Human. Magic Swordsman Lv. 29]

“It’s getting higher.”

Ryu Han-bin was pleased as he watched Effir become stronger day by day.

He complained that he didn’t have fun collecting items or leveling up, but what he was doing still made him happy.

“It feels like playing a nurturing simulation game.”

It had been a month since Effir joined the group.

Eventually, she succeeded in reaching Level 30.

“Wow! I can finally run the washing machine!”

“Is that the only feeling you have after reaching the advanced hunter level?”

Speechless, Artis looked at Han-bin.

“It’s about the time to register Effir as a Hunter.”

Han-bin was worried, glancing at Effir, who was still only a cute teenage girl.

“Wouldn’t they be suspicious if she were already level 30 at that age?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

Artis wasn’t concerned.

“There are many geniuses in the world which had reached that level at that age.”

The existence of geniuses, prodigies, and brilliant talents was unusually common in this world.

Across the continent, hundreds of unique talents poured out every year.

And a lot of those people died young because they overestimated their talents.

Geniuses were common, but surviving ones were rare.

Han-bin stuck out his tongue.

“Are you saying that there are many cases like her?”

“If you look at the entire continent, yeah. Well, it would be rare enough for a developed-area like Highten.”

Looking at Effir, Artis spoke seriously.

“So, don’t be overly confident, Effir. You certainly have superior talent, but just because you can grow faster than others doesn’t mean you can grow farther.”

Effir gave them a genuine reply as she sheathed her weapons.

“Yes, Mr. Artis. I’ll keep that in mind.”

* * *

If a countryman who had no connections and lacked common sense asked to be a Hunter simply because his level was high, he was likely to be suspected of being an Alien.

However, Effir had a guardian named Artis and was equipped with Latna Continent’s common sense.

She wasn’t actually an Alien, so there was no reason for others to be suspicious of her.

She disguised herself as a distant relative of Artis and made an alias after his last name.

Highten Hunter Guild: Advanced Hunter, Lv. 30 Magic Swordsman, Effir Venitian

“Looking at you two, you do look related, though the relation seems to be really distant.”

Effir gave Han-bin a really shocked look.

“Somehow, I became a Hunter, too.”

Han-bin smiled as he remembered his old days.

“Come to think of it, Effir, didn’t you have a bad image of Hunters?”

“The Dragon Knights hated the Hunters. It wasn’t good for me to get involved with them.”

They used to say that Hunters was the cancer of society, but it felt strange to be a part of it.

When they got home, an unexpected guest waited for them at the front gate.

“It’s been a while, you two.”

He was an Althea Church priest who served the Goddess of Light, the Diocese of Highten, and the city’s strongest Spiritist, Priest Emil.

On behalf of Felard Bean, the less talkative Valtara warrior, Artis, responded to him.

“It’s been a while, Priest. What’s brings you here?”

Priest Emil smiled awkwardly and stated his business.

“I want to ask for help from the partners.”

It seemed that there were more cases to increase the Church’s contribution.

Taking the opportunity, Artis replied.

“We’re happy to help. What is it?”

Emil replied with a sigh.

“It’s an evil spirit haunting. I’m sorry for bringing you so much trouble.”