Chapter 92: Arden, the Renowned Household of Swordsmanship (4)
fHgAuLBeyond the borders being protected by the Ardens was the land of tall mountains and forests inhabited by numerous demonic beasts.dNT
aqA5V0Dense layers of fog would travel down the mountains that were as tall as the clouds and drenched the lands with the aura of Yin that attracted the demons. The mountain ranges used to have a harmonious balance of territories, starting from mere beasts to the demonic monsters that ruled over their regions.todSoE2
syKBut from a certain point in time, that balance had been broken but that wasn’t because of the old swordsman living on top of a tall mountain, who was using the bones of a demonic beast as a toothpick.uc6Nt
CXaonHCHe didn’t bother tidying up his long but unkempt jet-black hair, and his martial clothes were in tatters without the semblance of their previous dignity.MKQ
5pZNThe old swordsman, who was walking on his bare feet in the forests filled with sharp twigs, poisonous plants, and venomous serpents, said after opening his mouth.GssD6C
UVgC“No matter how tall the mountains are, they are still lower than the heavens; how can you dream of swimming through the sea of skies without even climbing the mountains?”HTDY
2M7Eua“…”iHxagA
teyCWhile stroking his shortened beard, the old man gazed down at the fiend that was staring back at him with a ferocious pair of eyes.YJT
yBi6WOThe monster’s legs were as thin yet muscular as a leopard’s, and its bones were protecting its shoulders like plated armor. Meanwhile, its arms each had five fingers.i5zM8
TjCIt was a rare humanoid demonic beast, that looked more like a human than a beast. The reason they weren’t called demi-humans was that, unlike demi-humans who were born as humans, they were born as a beast with beastly instincts and tendencies.wrn9
xEF8mHowever, their wisdom and adaptability were no different from a human’s.cQD
iGS“Tch tch. Pretending like a real human now, aren’t you.”s0WwFbB
jujzThe monster was holding a longsword with a cold blade. Despite having its weapon broken time after time, it somehow seemed to have an endless supply of swords, which was probably because it raided a weapon merchant or something.cMBj
1vrP– Click!5fAzN7c
lO1Even though it was acting like a human, the fiendish monster moved with a noise that was far different from those made by humans.6dD4
gsl“So, did you heal your collarbones back up?”Uu9
vpvThe old man, Garrand Arden, asked while using the collarbone he took from the fiend to scratch his teeth. Then, he picked up one of his own swords.UVw
44IkThat sword was called the Mountain-Crushing Sword, a heaven-defyingly excellent sword that could crush through everything in existence. When used by the swordsman who was stepping into the realm of gods, it resulted in a marvelous outcome that was soon revealed for the world to see.usTmfp
j2LlXD………mbU
417……3wscm
CWx…TQu1tnn
VOHA cluster of dirt drenched by the fog crumbled down the crevice. The magnificently clean cut created in the middle of the forest continued all the way down to the next mountain.Sp9
YGDtThe slash created a wound on the world that was as straight as if it had been drawn with a ruler, and cut not only the mountains but also the sky.DsdF
tv7xIt was just from one attack.G1k2sg
s8IThe fact that this was the result of one swing of a sword was impossible to accept with the common sense of normal people. They would be too dumbfounded to explain that the reason there was only one mountain remaining behind in the mountain range was because of the sword slashes of one swordsman.6QFM
PeFk3“Tch tch tch. I ended up destroying nature again.”R35
kYV1TKThe old man acting like a mysterious hermit clicked his tongue at the sight of the crack in the sky and the mountain range. Instead of looking back at his own actions however, he inwardly blamed the weakness of nature.ttk
4DlH“What a stubborn fellow.”Uzs9i
TBCThere was a new monster who appeared like a supernova and crushed all the harmonious balance of the mountain range. He had been expecting many things from the new monster after seeing it kill all the so-called rulers of the forest one by one.xH6tTaH
oJB0If not for the request of the druid he was long acquainted with, he would have gladly watched over the growth of this fiendish demonic beast.yLyq
0lkHowever, no matter how strong of a demonic beast it was, it didn’t stand a chance before the Sword Emperor Garrand Arden, who had stepped into the realm of gods.Q0mla
2Wau7The first time he realized its talent was when he fought against it with a light heart and took one of its bones out.zlxeyg
POSTTalent.I9hKc0W
YohZmeThe inborn talent of having the ability to take a step forward in a suspended world.dTbeOv
Uo8zSeeing that unpolished gem that had so much potential, Garrand Arden was awestruck and ended up letting the monster go. He was in the middle of blaming himself for being too old but that was when the demonic beast picked a fight with him again.j4oY
VQK6vDespite constant repetitions of defeats and escapes and defeats and escapes, the monster did not give up.DqZV9
wAE7hHnSitting on the hills of countless bones, the old man was reminded of his granddaughters after seeing the unending challenges of the fiendish monster.ienSOEk
aN1zOne of them was talented but didn’t have the spirit, while the other had the spirit but no talent to back it up.JRm
VhP798And after seeing the perfect form of talent that had both the spirit and innate talents, he couldn’t help but eye for it.yZcI
XI9A“Kukukukuk… No wonder it looked different today.”caDC
mIJOD9Turning around, he looked at his swords that were sticking into the hill.OnBbsN
kINOMOut of the five heavenly swords, the dual sword – Dual Dragon Sword was gone. He did think that the monster looked slightly different today, and that must have been because the swords had been its objective from the very beginning.gTqeo
hT65Drk“I see. The reason it was twitching all the time whenever I used my dual swords was because of its interest in those swords, huh.”cBb
US3doIt was very interesting to see that a demonic beast was showing intrigue in swords.CIt
39Ly5QYThat was probably because of the Sword Emperor himself though. After hundreds of consecutive defeats, the monster must have realized that it needed a better tool to kill the Sword Emperor.HtMfaDx
SPU3R“Right. Swords… Swords, huh. A demonic beast learning swordsmanship.”IRrx2dS
CkBK7rA proper guardian with a sense of duty would have beheaded the monster immediately to get rid of any future trouble.t6sktGt
oSLGyHowever, he was the Sword Emperor; a fiend of swords. He naturally couldn’t make himself kill a demonic beast that was rapidly becoming stronger through swordsmanship.RqZR
jh2The challenges and defeats continued without an end. Several days went by with the Sword Emperor being the only one who thought of their relationship as that of a master and a disciple.qfvYp
QHuTfT8He personally gave a name to the demonic beast and called it the ‘Sword Fiend’.U6r
uNmQJ3“Make Alicia Arden the captain of the 5th Sword Squad. No objections will be permitted.”2Swz
RJDThat was before he came down the mountain.Vq5
HaNRfVh****7Y4Gh
Q7JEIt was already the 9th day after we arrived at the main headquarters of the Arden family, which in turn was the start of a new year.xO6hH4g
M8vz“Huaaahm~”lYvHK
jPhwqTDA green-haired girl gave a big stretch with an exhausted look on her face even though it was already past noon.C8hCW
Nb4e“You look tired.”HP0
0Ip“It was a while ago that I last attended a new year’s event.”vxJR
Aldd6Last night, we attended the New Year’s Ceremony that took place at the Arden family. It was similar to the ones that you saw on Earth.CXXj
FHvUirN“Both of your clothes looked nice. I guess it was worth spending money for them,” I said.tM6fFlJ
ob79“Really? It felt a bit heavy for me though,” replied Yuel.N4Nlw
TyvbBy the way, the traditional clothes of the Arden were the same as Korean ones, except they were fancier and had more skin exposure. Thank you Korean Devs! I know it’s just a strategy to make players buy transmog[mfn]Transmogrification (commonly referred to as transmog, tmog, xmog or simply mog) provides the ability to replace the appearance of your armor and weapons with those of other items, or to hide certain pieces of armor[/mfn] packages, but still!t2shz
dBGc“More importantly, Yuel. Did you hear something from the forest?”Uot
wZkzRT“I was actually just about to talk about that. A spirit came over just today.”Ilo2G
CnPWMJThe reason we had come to the east in the first place was to visit Findias, the secret land of druids. However, Findias was past the borders that were under Arden’s jurisdiction, and we had to go through various procedures before crossing borders.AcqKm3
FVHuL“Mr. Korin, we are almost finished with all the preparations. I said to the Eastern Guardian Alliance that we were going there to investigate the organisms of the mountain ranges beyond the borders!”LjkzC7
KoUjThe land past the eastern front of the kingdom was a broad landscape of nothing but nature. They were untouched pieces of lands with a bunch of demonic beasts and mountain ranges that rarely saw any human visitors because of just how dangerous they were due to the sheer number of monsters there.goag9Y
1BJpnWe had to cross the borders though, so we needed to receive permission from one of the border ministers of the kingdom or the one in charge of this side of the kingdom’s border.Ugx
loro“Our family is in charge of looking after this side of the border after all! All we need to do is get our permission slip signed!”5ttsjM
UAb“Oh, really? Who do we need to get it signed by?”z2Wsh3
VS2AOM………WScJS
U6vh6……9NOJLbG
b2bZPH…5ZvjNJ
fNwn“No you cannot.”liqv9
ctFbIt was rejected immediately.Q2mgozh
ziZQqbU“Uh… umm.”rIp
O5yThe one in charge of the eastern border was none other than the strongest contemporary knight of the east in front of us, the likely future successor of the Arden family, Lunia Arden.1iG
7Rt“I didn’t know you were in charge of the borders as well.”vt8bi9
RPz“This royal family does not like looking after these bothersome lands of demonic beasts; not that they can either.”HsivF5N
YNGCHikThe royal family took charge of normal borders but it was a different story for this side, because the eastern front was directly connected to hordes of demonic beasts, and was one of the only two places in the entire continent that had a risk of ‘monster waves’.nzleo
0RlSwqThey were so tough that the player even had to protect the Northern and the Eastern front from monster waves with all their fully-nurtured party members near the end of the main storyline.4UpjU
B7wwqqF“Why are you even trying to cross the border in the first place?” Lunia asked.937
tOGU“U, umm… To investigate the life-cycle of demonic… beasts?”1Kd1k
bhK15xLSeeing Alicia reply with hesitation, Lunia heaved a sigh before tightly pinching her by her cheeks.D5EwKQ
Q8JeV“If you are going to tell a lie, straighten your back and be proud like you are telling the truth. If you cannot, then make it into a situation where they have to accept it even if they know you are lying.”X0MLO
ULs1Rww“Auhh, okayy…!”kO9V
EmOTkB6Her hands rose up so high that she almost picked Alicia up from the ground. She soon let her go but Alicia still looked like she was about to tear up while patting her swollen cheeks.nnrpC
WNE91t“So Korin, why are you trying to cross the border?”Vrya
T1aWbDAs expected, she had figured it out.enYpS5g
aYwYa4Y“There is the hidden land of druids beyond the border. My plan is to go there and as for the objective, that will have to come with a fair bit of cost.”l2Uy7a
kXAYAzConsidering her dry and business-like personality, she probably wouldn’t mess with us but we were still trying to get our hands on one of the 4 great treasures. Besides, there was no telling that her subordinates would stay quiet even if she herself didn’t mind.7qaWaP
o3v0“Well, fine. However, you are still underage and you need 2 more years till you turn into adults. Although you are guardians, it is not right to send teenagers across the border without any supervision.”G2YX
WR5“Are you coming with us?”SkH
fg2“Well, my fiancé is the one going, so there is nothing stopping me from being the guardian.”vCfv
AX8“What about your subordinates?”2i1z7
1Sud“Hoh. Did you want it to be just the two of us?”tA1X
S2hNk6“That’s not bad either, but what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want our numbers to go up unnecessarily.”G3W
BsaeIt wasn’t a bad story for us. Hua Ran and Marie had yet to arrive, so having Lunia, who was almost around their level, joining us would be a huge plus to our combat potential.YBGlBd
L0LMost half-assed guardians would only drag us behind in the mountain range of demonic beasts though, so it was better off for us to keep our numbers low. That was something I realized through first-hand experience last iteration when going out on expeditions.3z5
a7m9wD9“Then that will be the…”NGZ
qHo5H“S, Sister…!”m6Hm
f6uBr“Mhmm?”DnEBj
aNiIt was rare for Alicia to raise her voice, but she carefully continued her words while unconfidently keeping her eyes low as usual.zz7
jY1H“I think you should… avoid using words like a f, fiancé.”jAUwq
Z47lz“Why is that?”vojQ
yPoOh“Like, umm… the people around you might not like that…”aRRix
9hUGfT“The opinions of other people do not really matter to me.”NXEPd
Bg9“You’ll put Mr. Korin in a tough spot as well…”A8H
xnDD“That is not for you to worry about.”8KmsMhq
ONd“I… am his friend though. There are strange rumors spreading about Mr. Korin already…”5wL
LYeIYWell, even though I wasn’t really going to marry Lunia, there were talks about how I was a smooth-tongued gold-digger who deceived Lunia in a flash. That might be nothing strange though, because the story of an Academy freshman suddenly seducing the future successor of the Arden family was an appealing story for many.L3A
whmFQRAlicia seemed to have been discontent by such rumors. She was a very nice girl as always.YuTG
w3H70“S, Sister…! Y, you’re not going to take responsibility for him anyway, so I think it’s not right for you to interfere… with his marriageeee…”yH8eQXe
0C9cmn9For a split second, Lunia’s eyes flickered with a sharp light. Instead of hostility, those looked like the eyes of a predator that was seeing something unexpected.HASl
TfNURN“Sure, I shall refrain myself. More importantly, ready yourself for the journey. We will cross the border with a small number of us.”Xx37OY
vOhZNIn spite of promptly following her suggestion, Lunia was wearing a rather… crooked smile on her face.k6K8
Ym09****njhcRLw
86u2dsInside a building located at the center of the Arden’s headquarter, an elegant lady sitting on the floor of the living room poured tea from the teapot to a cup placed on the small table.gYgNYH9
VXd1Sophia Arden, the wife of the current family head, Jade Arden, who was famous as the greatest swordswoman of the east during her youth, offered tea to her one and only daughter.O1m
b9lCy“There you go, Lunia.”teDv
Ti2CG8Unlike her, who was sitting down in a comfortable posture, Lunia Arden was sitting on her knees as she carried her cup of tea to her mouth. After taking a small sip, she slowly put it back down on the table.SE8C
Eh3Nb“I heard you are spending a lot of time with a certain boy these days.”Tbw3NO
IoV“He is someone I have fortunately come across.”3gEAx
R3p“You could have left the night amusement for later.”QzvdRO
BzJ“…”zyzT
hdPSophia scolded her for finding someone early before getting herself a marriage partner. It was questionable whether that should be called an open or a wrong view of marriage.Bm6xMzP
ukbFShe seemed to have pretty much given up after the extramarital affair of Lunia’s father, Jade Arden.2WIEwX
0J6qThe undeniable proof of dishonesty – Lunia’s younger sister was like a thorn in the eyes of Sophia. Although her father never had any other illicit affairs since that incident, it was such a shocking event to Sophia and one that crumbled all the trust she had in her spouse that it ended up changing her entire view of marriage.dzbNg3
gyg“Lunia. A man is nothing but a tool that increases the status of the family. You must pair yourself up with the one who will give you the most in return.”dfq1tD
yia“I am somewhat in agreement with your words, mother.”MqfXPy
vDTJips“Somewhat?”SxPCMNA
vJTn“Yes. Surely you would not have been so overconfident that I would be 100% in agreement with your opinion.”eXyLj29
iheBr“…”5P5yt
vKaWSophia indifferently accepted Lunia’s argument. That was her opinion and the wisdom of an adult as one who wished the best for her daughter, but also understood that it was possible for her daughter to have a different opinion for herself.bj02Q
VOv3vLEven so, the one thing they had in common was that both of them were extremely certain that they were more correct than the other.1Dx
bqwq“You do not need to worry about it. I am certain that he is a lot more valuable of a warrior than the random nobodies on the pamphlet of marriage partners.”L1xn0
biAIvdc“Hoh… Is he that much better?”M4NvHD
TWAV1Sophia was also one of the strongest swordsmen of the east in her era. Her standards weren’t too different from Lunia’s either.JkTaj
SQkc“He entered the Domain at the mere age of 20. His talent as a warrior does not fall short even when compared to grandfather.”atNBB
Ugf“…Lunia. Your grandfather’s talents…”bVojH
xNLB“Yes. I am aware that his talents are otherworldly, but that is the same for him. His skills are not only limited to destructiveness and have reached the Domain… Most importantly, he has a miraculous talent for leading fights to victory. That is the type of talent he has.”hCOmJUO
HfU77Sophia was sincerely moved by Lunia’s acknowledgement. She wasn’t expecting there to be another one with such talents in this world.1FNp
Wfm1MnGarrand Arden had an exceptional talent that was incomparable to anyone despite Sophia having seen countless warriors during her 50 years of life. He was the pinnacle of a generation who had even stepped into the realm of gods.Bp9c
DsBasLSophia also had a great amount of trust in Lunia’s eyes and if Korin Lork really had that level of talent, she wouldn’t even care about families that could give diamond mines for Lunia’s hand in marriage.vIooCH
CyGi“And…”3KO
2939“And?”svcjKtv
UY2BYT6It was very rare for Lunia to slur her words so Sophia focused on her upcoming words. Those next words, however, made her doubt her ears.wRdc
j0QEf“He is handsome.”M9v2rcc
aQcxH9“…Sorry?”BJRB6r1
rW2CsA“I like his face. And besides… there is also the excitement of stealing what my younger sister wants.”nnoT
xSJ3d0“????”4IF0j
EjUFDv7Sophia was puzzled and confused after seeing this side of her daughter for the first time in her life and didn’t know what to say in response.Xiw
vLD“Umm… I do not believe it is morally correct to steal someone else’s lover.”Zb1CVto
FnfThe words that she barely managed to forge out were extremely sensible words as a parent.rwJx5B
vZmset****lUcy6
LM3MUYuel, Alicia, Lunia who was here as our guardian, and me – the four of us crossed the border and headed into the mountain range but the journey through the mountains wasn’t as bad as I thought.Hxt
9NVzda“Thank you. Would you like some snacks?”Un8Q
kGOYuel said while carrying a cookie in the air. The cookie disappeared as if it had been eaten by a spirit as Yuel flashed a faint smile in response.TLP
Fnz“It is surprising that we are not losing our bearings in this sea of forests. It is definitely very convenient with the help of a druid,” remarked Lunia.jZGlz
6Gta1Wherever Yuel the druid was going, even the branches made way by moving out of her path. The dangerous roads weren’t even in consideration, and the spirits guided us down the safe path.iKHwL
kq8zrXrThat was truly the one who was loved by nature from birth, but that goodwill of nature was only because they were grateful for the consistent hard work of druids to protect and maintain nature.4YijZ
XyWxS“I am only being guided and it is thanks to the spirits. We’ll be there very soon.”nud
bXCg0MAfter walking for who knows how long, we made our way into places that normal people wouldn’t even be able to find, and finally…Uhjz
AApOC—————3PbcsWp
idrFor a split second, I felt something off. It was clear that I had entered through some sort of boundary.ONF7
KET3f“…I see.”cztTH
AK3cTurning around, I couldn’t see Alicia, Yuel, or Lunia anywhere.pyWoFai
ZZO“It is a common trick, but…”lVCFv2
AzezPIt was an illusionary trick that dazed and confused people upon entering it, and it was similar to the Eight Gates Formation that we experienced at the festival.cAM
HCNI guess it was natural for there to be a deterrent spell like this for a secret land that was being protected by a druid sage. Even demonic beasts would probably be dazed and returned to other places.Rir
jhH5However, this was probably a different application of that same formation.BF1My
QkKd5hgAs proof of that, my party members were nowhere to be seen. If their plan was to simply daze us and make us go away from their village, there was no reason for them to mess with our sight.mLI1
U4euwThis was a kind of test – one that tested whether those accompanied by a druid had the right to enter the secret lands or not.oSyITq
qhb‘I believe these generally test one’s fear, trauma or conviction…’1N6Oik3
BwWd3Since I had gone through several similar experiences in the last iteration, I steeled myself and looked around. I didn’t rely on my five senses. The only thing I could trust was my sixth sense – instinct was the only thing I could rely on.xcN
5jj“Come. I will be fine with anything, whether it be illusions or monsters or…”eJZ7FDR
4V8DJBro.ZVlfPd
EL0jqFJ– Holy shit!ufm
Y4Y8NI felt goosebumps immediately crawling up my skin.8Ou
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HaydenZeMan
VIP Qi RefinementOh hell naw