Chapter 365: Gentle Whirlwind, Raging Torrent (Unedited)

At the time when the Island of Beginnings was shaking by the battle of the apocalyptic magnitude, Sila—who would hear the news of the battle much later—was spending his time sharing his experience about the Sword Crowning Ceremony to goblins for two hours. He couldn’t pull himself to leave them so soon as each goblin was deeply interested in Blade Daughters since the daughters were closely related to the Goddess Igsia it worshipped. In exchange for the story, the goblin kings shared some of his knowledge with Sila. Among them, there were three things that caught his attention.

Firstly, it was the racial characteristics of members of the goblin race. The goblin race was an unpopular race among players due to the fact that changing into the race would reduce their height by ten centimeters. This change in physical appearance was similar to the undead race. Sila thought he was fortunate that the slime race didn’t have such a thing.

He discovered that the goblin race’s racial skills were very interesting, somehow resembling the slime race.

Goblins were psychic-type creatures with many racial skills. While each slime can learn three skills and have to develop them to the advanced version along with discovering their own Way of Slime, the goblin’s skills vary upon the first type of weapon they choose to wield.

For example, if they select a sword-type weapon, they will acquire a set of three skills. On the other hand, if they select a bow-type weapon, they will get a different set of three skills.

These weapon-specific skills will evolve once the user’s weapon mastery skill of that weapon type reaches transcendent rank. Goblins will obtain the ultimate skill of their race only when they have at least three weapon mastery skills at transcendent rank. It is a passive skill called ‘Triple Marvel Weapons’ that allows the user to acquire two additional sets of racial skills.

The goblins who have reached this level will be able to masterfully use their weapons. They can also confuse their opponents by swapping their weapons, using nine different racial skills in fights.

Secondly, it was about the Ten Heroes. The titles might not sound familiar to denizens of the Monster Realm. For transdimensional travelers, however, they couldn’t afford to not know such figures. The Ten Heroes were essentially gatekeepers, safeguarding the ten gates that were used to travel between the three worlds.

Each Hero had their own set of conditions for granting others the right to pass these gates. Only when travelers fulfilled those conditions that they would obtain ‘Monster Stamp’ which symbolized a travel permit for them to go through the gates.

No matter which Monster Stamp they got, they could always use it on any of the ten gates. In conclusion, there were a total of ten legit methods to travel between the New World, the Decagate World, and the Monster Realm.

The spots that got called ‘Monster Realm’s junctions’ were actually the places located near those gates.

As a side note, while the ten gates were proper ways to travel across the three worlds, there existed other ways to travel across the three worlds. For example, either Sebastian’s Soul-Reaping Scythe or Orpheus’s Realm-Crossing Gate had the ability to do so.

The goblin kings told Sila that during their evacuation from the Monster Realm, they had accidentally met Xiao Dao. The man’s personality was friendly and easy-going, so they became close to him quickly. They spent a night to exchange knowledge about their skills. It was none other than Xiao Dao who suggested the goblins use the Assassin Lord’s gate since it was the gate with the easiest conditions to fulfill, requiring only money and practice time. It was the best gate for them if they intended to travel across worlds as a group. The goblins ended up making themselves acquainted with two of the Ten Heroes in that manner.

Later on, the goblins were interested in the Ten Heroes and inquired Fowl about the term out of their curiosity. However, Fowl said that there were circumstances that forbade her to tell them such information since it might hint about the methods to obtain the Monster Stamp from other Heroes. They were supposed to either find the Heroes themselves or obtain clues that some Heroes had left intentionally.

Still, the goblins learned a few titles that belonged to the Ten Heroes. They consisted of ‘Assassin Lord’, ‘Little Martial God’, and ‘Great Sage’—all of which Sila had already known.

Each Hero was extremely proficient in their arts. They possessed methods to utilize energy and skills in a way that it was beyond most monsters’ imagination.

The third and final topic was deeply connected to one of the Ten Heroes. It was the existence of Angelic Armaments, the kind of item that Sila had never heard of before.

The goblin kings explained that they, too, had only known a little about Angelic Armaments in the past. Less than five Angelic Armaments had ever been found in the Monster Realm as far as they know, which was almost ten times fewer than the number of Demonic Armaments. They had exchanged this piece of knowledge with Xiao Dao, who loved and admired weapons as much as they did. However, the reply they got from the man was shocking.

Xiao Dao said he already knew about that. He himself was the one coming up with the way to create them.

The Little Martial God then imparted the goblins the Angelic Armament production method, happy to have them as his comrades to create a number of excellent weapons. Xiao Dao loved weapons, but he didn’t like to collect them. Every time he created an Angelic Armament, he would engrave his psychic power on it and hide it somewhere in the worlds, letting it wait for its fateful master to come across. That was how some Angelic Armaments appeared in the Monster Realm.

The goblins were willing to collaborate. However, there was a problem. To create an Angelic Armament, a weapon made of Orichalcum was required. It was a mineral that could hardly be found in the New World, so the goblins didn’t get a chance to produce even a single Angelic Armament.

It was impossible to own both Angelic and Demonic Armaments, so Sila didn’t ask for through details. Still, the goblin kings insisted on telling. To obtain an Angelic Armament, one needed to bring the Level 1,000 Emperor Rank weapon made of Orichalcum to the junction of the three worlds, located near Xiao Dao’s gate, which existed in only one place for each world. The difficult part was that the junction had a very narrow entrance, less than thirty meters radius. Unless they knew the location beforehand, it was nearly impossible to find the place.

In the New World, such a junction existed within the Transworld Lake, the place which players nicknamed it according to its characteristic as the Mirror Lake—One of the four mysterious dimensions that even the Blue Pigeon Guild had little information about. It was also the place for qi-type players to obtain Qi of Little Fish.

Among Sila’s acquaintances, Varee and Lomyok were the only people using weapons made of this mineral. Out of the two, only Lomyok had his weapon at Emperor Rank, so he intended to relay this information to the man. However, contacting Lomyok was difficult. Sila was clueless about where the man was at the moment.

This news weighed on Sila’s mind as he learned from goblins that Montra also had this piece of information. Based on his personal analysis, Sila was quite sure that creating an Angelic Armament was within Montra’s capability

This discovery put a stern on Sila’s heart. Angelic Armaments had no drawbacks, so he believed that one of them was equal to one Demonic Armament.

Zarnak had no combat abilities. It was useful as a counter against dragon’s racial skills. Thus, the Dichotomous Crucifix Sword would technically make him equal to Montra. In order for him to hold an advantage, he would have to conquer another Demonic Armament.

And there happened to be one standing in front of his mansion. The Lamentable Dragon.

Sila had very little information about the sword, which was as much as anybody would have since the weapon had only been born recently. It was a newborn Demonic Armament that no one was aware of either its abilities or side effects. Not even Zarnak could determine how useful it was, compared to other Demonic Armaments.

Sila was originally a bare-handed fighter. When he learned swordsmanship, he often imagined a sword like an extended part of his hand, so he was more comfortable wielding dual swords. His Heaven’s Dismissal Sword Art, too, was technically dual-sword arts.

In high-level battles where peak concentration was required, he wouldn’t be able to afford sparing his focus to mind the durability of his swords. Thus, the swords that were best suited to his sword art should be the two that could withstand his maximum power. A sword made of cards wouldn’t suffice, or he would feel like wielding a first-class sword in one hand while holding a sword made of paper in another.

Sila returned to his mansion, gazing at the Lamentable Dragon, who had a grimace on his face. Counting the number of days, there were only a few days left until a part of its conditions was fulfilled. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to cheat like Mamon. However, there was no way he would waste seven days fighting it. Time was extremely precious to him.

Julia appeared to greet Sila as soon as he arrived. She handed him a warm towel.

“You must be tired, Master. Miss Varee is in the dojo. Ling Ling’s condition happened to get worse, so we decided to bring it back there.”

Sila followed Julia to the dojo. “It hasn’t fully healed yet?”

“It appears so, Master. While its qi began to stable, its body that has been fatally wounded is like a broken vessel. The injuries will act up if we’re not careful.”

Healing himself was one thing, but healing others wasn’t something Sila was good at. He was fine with healing minor injuries, but fixing such complicated wounds required special treatments. He would need either both high-level Qi Transmission and medical experience or a powerful healing spell.

The entrance of the dojo was half-opened. Through the gap, Sila witnessed Varee kneeling on the floor, her hand placed on the katana on his waist. She seemed to be using focus, so he decided not to make a sound.

A wooden dummy, wrapped under straw, sprang up from under the floor (It was a function that Sila never knew his dojo had). Her psychic power rushed to clad her wrist at an unfathomable speed. The Shadow Moon Sword slid from its sheath. The dummy was severed in half.

Sila clapped his hands. “What a splendid use of power. Just the right amount. More, the cut wouldn’t have been so clean. Less, the dummy wouldn’t have been severed.”

Varee sheathed her katana and got up. Ling Ling, who had been sleeping until now, also got up. It ran to greet its master, snuggling up to his legs and almost making him fall. Sila eventually carried it up.

“Since when did you become a sword expert?” Varee asked teasingly.

“It’s not like that. I’m an amateur when it comes to swordsmanship, still studying it. Japanese swords seem interesting though.” Sila had never paid attention to the differences between each kind of sword. It was until he met Blade Daughters that his perspective toward swords changed.

“The dojo here gives a similar vibe as the one at my home. Well, your taste of decoration is quite strange. That statue looks discomforting.” Varee approached Sila, criticizing.

“Actually, it’s Burapha who chose the design. I simply asked for a wide space to train. I wouldn’t mind even if it’s outdoors. As for the statue... there is a long story behind it. I will remove it soon enough.” Sila shrugged, his gaze staying on Varee’s katana.

“You may take a closer look at it.” Varee unsheathed the katana and gave it to Sila. “This Shadow Moon Sword is made of Orichalcum. Thanks to your Soul Crystal, it’s currently at Lord Rank. In addition to its ability to extend its length, the blade can switch its form between being sharp and dull. Both forms are very identical, however.”

Varee demonstrated changing its forms. The only difference that Sila could spot was the thickness of the blade increasing by two millimeters. The change was subtle compared to Lomyok or Montra’s weapons, which the two forms differed greatly.

“I’m good at using katana only, so I see no benefits of switching to a different type of weapon. After discussing with Mister Zeref, he told me preserving the originality of the katana was a good idea since he could focus on option enchantments. In the sharp form, the katana will reduce the target’s physical defense by 40%. On the other hand, the target’s energy resistance will be reduced by 40% when it is in the dull form. When changing forms, I can adjust the blade’s length. I excel at high-speed psychic power reinforcement, so it appears as if I can adjust the length anytime I want. Lastly, it will decrease the target’s level by 400 upon killing them.”

“What about the sword art that you used just now?” Sila knew Varee inherited her swordsmanship from her mother since her childhood, so her mastery of swords was excellent.

Varee felt glad that Sila was interested in something about her, contrary to the past when he always ignored her, so she was happy to share her story.

“Unlike your dojo which is a school, our dojo is a small private property. The sword art is what my mom personally invented and imparted it to me, verbally and demonstrably. It is called Gentle Whirlwind Raging Torrent Sword Art, a contradictory sword art regarding the speed of swordplay being fast yet slow. The principle is difficult, so she broke it into two parts, imparting Big Sis Vata and me each. She wanted us to combine them in the future. The part that I inherited is called Raging Torrent. It’s about speedy swordplay.”

Sila was tense, though he didn’t let it show on his face. The real Vata had died, so the first part of the sword art—Gentle Whirlwind—was technically lost.

Varee believed Sila was thinking about the topic that everyone always thought of when she mentioned the name of the sword art. “I guess you must be wondering whether my mom named her daughters after the name of the sword art, right? You’re right about that.”

Sila honestly didn’t think about that, but he concurred. He shifted the topic, talking about Varee’s father.

“Come to think about it, what kind of job Uncle does for a living? Do you know how he became Teacher Mora’s close friend?”

“They becoming friends isn’t related to his current work. My dad is the CEO managing all the hotels under the Heavenly Cloud Group. It’s my mom’s family business. Unfortunately, there was an electric accelerator explosion accident in our largest hotel. It was big news. The family members of my mother’s side all died. The business was on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s thanks to my dad who worked hard, taking on problems after problems, that the group can recover from it. It’s the story before my mom passed away.

“About Mister Mora, I don’t know much either. I recall he is my mom’s friend. My mom was the one introducing him to my dad, and they became friends since then.”

Sila’s body shivered. He hardly heard the last part of Varee’s explanation. “...That hotel.”

“Yes?”

“The hotel where the accident occurred. What was its name?” Sila asked, hoping he would get a different answer from the one in his mind.

“It’s Blue Sky Palace.”

The truth struck Sila. The one responsible for that mass-murder, masked as an accident, was none other than the Demon God Zenga—who invaded the place to rob the Heavenly Reservoir Qi scripture to recover his disciple’s crippled profound veins.

Knowing the truth, Sila couldn’t bring himself to reveal it to Varee.

The Sky Tower Clan was a large family, yet almost all of their members had died. Their only descendants left in the world seemed to be Kawin and Varee.

Sila felt like he greatly owed the Sky Tower Clan people a huge blood debt since the Flaming Cloud Dojo was responsible for their tragic ends.

Would it be better if he was unaware of all this?

“What’s wrong, Sila?” Seeing Sila become unusually quiet, Varee was worried. “You look pale. You must be tired. How about taking some rest?”

Sila moved his gaze to Varee. His mind changed.

No... knowing is naturally better than not. The past cannot be undone, but it can be a lesson for the valuable present.

“It’s nothing. I just have many things in my mind.” Sila showed a smile before donning the Thief Lord’s Mask to hide his change of expressions from Varee.

“Why do you have to put on a mask?”

“I’m about to show you an interesting place—the 99th squad’s secret base. Everyone must be waiting. I will introduce you to my new friends.”

“New friends?” Varee was doubtful. She always thought Bluebird and Burapha were all the friends Sila had. “Since when did you become a sociable person?”

“Quit it and get ready. I’m sure you’re going to like that place. It’s very suitable for you.”

Varee asked no further questions. Sila put down Ling Ling, who was quite dissatisfied by the fact that no one paid him attention, and held Varee’s left hand. The two soon vanished from the Mansion of Secrets.