“I don’t know what it is but I can help you. I can feel from the energy of the insane dragon iron in your hands that you have completed the mission I entrusted to you. This will be a reward.”

Biban was Grid’s benefactor. If it wasn’t for the favor he showed during the 9th’s Test, Grid wouldn’t have gained the Matchless Heart Technique. Biban even corrected the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship. Grid liked Biban. It was a short relationship but he felt absolute liking and gratitude. He just didn’t trust Biban very much at the moment because this person didn’t know what fighting energy was. In the first place, Biban didn’t recognize fighting energy. The proof was that he mistook Grid as Mercedes’ servant on their first meeting.

‘If Biban knew about the Hero King’s fighting energy then he wouldn’t have mistaken my identity.’

Could such a person help with the fusion of fighting energy and sword energy? Abellio stepped forward as Grid was feeling perplexed.

“The secret techniques that Biban left behind for an unknown genius fell into Muller’s hands and Muller became the greatest legend of all time. It was a glimpse of the Matchless Sword.”

“......”

“It can be said that Biban is the originator of the Matchless Sword and the progenitor of Muller. He will be very helpful to you.”

“What the hell is going on?”

Biban got up while squeezing the wet cloth and urged Abellio to get to the point. Abellio avoided the dirty water and pointed to Grid’s fighting energy.

“The Pioneer of this era has gained the qualification of Hero King and broke the harmony of heart, body, and skill. It is up to you to help him. Is it possible?”

“...The Hero King?”

Biban cocked his head and looked like he didn’t know. His attitude made Grid feel even more uneasy. In the end, Grid asked directly, “Biban, you didn’t know I was the Hero King?”

“Huh, you are still daring. Are you trying to test me? Don’t doubt people. I was just glad to hear that you became the Hero King.”

“You just heard about it now? I became the Hero King a number of years ago...”

“For a transcendent like me who lives for eternity, time is gratuitous. Decades ago is the same as yesterday and a few years ago is the same as now. It is pointless to discuss the past and present.”

“Then why do you keep avoiding my eyes?”

“I’ve been tasked with the great mission of purifying the tower and I’m looking for dust that might be stuck somewhere.”

‘He is really...’

Grid sent Abellio a look asking for help. Abellio smiled and reassured Grid, “Don’t think too much. He is joking.”

In fact, Abellio’s innermost thoughts were different. He noticed that Biban really didn’t know. It was understandable. The Hero King’s fighting energy was a mythical force. He didn’t know that the energy Grid wore was fighting energy when Grid had been a legend for less than 20 years. No, even if he knew it was fighting energy, he might not have associated it with the Hero King.

In Biban’s vision, the Hero King was an absolute strong person but Grid hadn’t reached that level.

“I see...”

Grid wasn’t very convinced but he had no choice but to nod. He didn’t feel the need to fight for the truth. It wasn’t important if Biban knew about fighting energy or not.

Step. Step.

Biban was descending the stairs. He held a bucket full of dirty water and a wet cloth but his eyes were deep and still, as if he was looking at the universe.

“In any case, we’ve lost quite a bit of time.”

“......”

“If ordinary people have experiences like yours, they will naturally gain insight and improve. However, your body has been swallowed up by fighting energy and this didn’t work fully. You will barely take one step while others take ten steps. It is really unfortunate.”

“...?”

Grid’s distrust toward Biban was washed away. Seeing that he gave the same explanation as Abellio, it seemed he truly was a tower member. It reminded Grid that Biban was the one responsible for the birth of Sword Saint Muller. At the same time, he felt like he had been hit in the back of the head.

‘You will barely take one step while others take ten steps. It is really unfortunate?’

Grid recalled the information from the enlightenment system that had been activated a little while ago. It was a system that allowed players to gain experience on an ongoing basis when doing class-specific activities or battles. It was the fourth class advancement (awakening) ‘public’ system. However, Grid had a warning message added.

[You are unable to enjoy the effect of Enlightenment due to the ‘fighting energy’ resource.]

‘...Ah.’

Grid felt dizzy. He realized it. If he didn’t have fighting energy, the enlightenment system would’ve activated naturally without going through the process of obtaining this information. This meant that a typical player had no problem growing after reaching level 400. Rather, it seemed that the majority of people would be able to grow faster after level 400.

The enlightenment system existed because the system itself took care of non-combat professional classes or classes where it was hard to get ‘great results.’

‘The higher the level, the more the gap between players will decrease. Is this one of the reasons?’

Grid let out a deep sigh. His red face was back to normal. His anger had quickly subsided. In fact, the enlightenment system was convincing when he looked at it. The traditional way to level up was to clear high difficulty quests or defeat high level monsters and NPCs. This was too cruel for the relative underdogs who made up the absolute majority of the two billion players.

‘I didn’t think the experience required to level up was appropriate.’

It was definitely a tough game if it required leveling up in the usual manner. Grid sighed as he recalled all the hardships and adversities he experienced to reach level 408. ‘I had fighting energy so I was able to defeat the yangbans and my level went up...’

Don’t be too sorry. Don’t think that he was the one who suffered disadvantages alone. From the time when he gained fighting energy, he gained a strength above his level. Due to fighting energy, he was able to reach this position very quickly...

Grid organized his mind and politely asked Biban, “Biban, please teach me how to curb fighting energy.”

“Um...”

Biban didn’t respond quickly. He didn’t care about the dirty wet cloth touching his forearm and thought hard with crossed arms. Grid gulped. Biban’s silence felt like it lasted an exceptionally long time.

“Hrmm...”

What was bothering him? Biban was distressed by his inability to come up with an answer and blew his nose with the wet cloth. He wiped his nose and then spoke with a complicated expression, “In my view, the only way to suppress fighting energy is to fuse it with sword energy and weaken the inherent effects of fighting energy. However, in order to accumulate a sword energy that can bear this mythical power, you need to master the Matchless Heart Technique...”

Biban’s face darkened as he peeked at Grid’s sword energy. “Your Matchless Heart Technique is still Level 1.”

Level 1. This was the current state of the Matchless Heart Technique that Grid had learned. It only had 50% of the experience bar filled.

“How much time will it take for me to reach the mastered level in the Matchless Heart Technique?’

The good news was that the formula for acquiring experience with the Matchless Heart Technique was the ‘recovery of sword energy.’ After Grid consumed sword energy, the experience would increase in proportion to the amount of sword energy restored with the Matchless Heart Technique. This meant that he could intentionally gain experience. However, as with most skills, the experience gain rate would decrease as it leveled up. It might take years to reach level 10.

“Hah...” Grid gave a deep sigh and eventually lowered his head. Unbearable despair struck him.

Biban patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be too frustrated. This is the Tower of Wisdom. It is the place where the geniuses of each era are gathered. It is also a mysterious place that runs on a dragon’s heart. There will surely be a good method.”

“......”

“First, let’s go see the other tower members. I’m sure that everyone will welcome your arrival after finishing your first mission successfully.”

“...Thank you, Biban.”

Grid didn’t do anything special for Biban but he was very moved because Biban was kind to him. Thus, he couldn’t say anything. Grid, who was following behind Biban up the stairs, stopped in place and stood beside Abellio. He walked as far away from Biban as possible.

Biban couldn’t hide his sadness. “What is it? Our relationship is deeper. Why are you walking beside Abellio instead of me?”

“That...”

Grid couldn’t speak candidly and Abellio replied on his behalf, “It is because you smell.”

“Smell?”

“You rubbed your face with the wet cloth and the stench has spread.”

“Shit! Why are you only saying that now?”

Biban threw the wet cloth away and rushed up the stairs. He was embarrassed to show off this ugly appearance.

Abellio told the sorry Grid, “Biban is a wonderful man. It is just that compared to the relatively ordinary tower members, he has very good concentration. Once immersed in a situation, he often can’t look around. Please understand.”

“Ah... I already know it.”

“Huhu, I’m glad you know. I was afraid you would be disappointed.”

“Haha...”

There was nothing to feel disappointed about. The first impression was already the worst. Grid shook his head and walked alongside Abellio to the top floor of the tower, the 10th floor.

“The seventh seat, Abellio, presents the Pioneer of this era.” Abellio guided Grid into the room and bowed politely to the people sitting at the round table.

Everyone at the round table got up, bowed to Abellio, and then turned to Grid.

“I can feel Pagma’s energy.”

“Is this Braham’s magic power?”

“The Hero King’s fighting energy! It’s great!”

The other tower masters were completely different from Biban. From the first meeting, they saw many things about Grid and showed great interest. However, only one of them penetrated Grid completely.

“The power of a god.”

The 1st seat, Hayate—only he was paying attention to Grid’s heart.