10. Metamorphosis

The finger moved.

Basrak.

A sound like a shell breaking echoed through the quiet room.

From noble mtl dot com

“Oops…”

It was difficult to move. I felt like I was trapped inside an egg.

I opened my eyes.

Something had changed.

No, the room in the under dormitory hasn’t changed.

My eyes have changed. Vertically narrowed pupil. A view that looks bright even in a dark room with the curtains closed.

A wave of sleeping magic.

The magic of sunlight, wind, desks, and the earth dazzled the eyes as each possessed its own color.

Woke up in bed.

Charrr.

The skins that run down the flesh.

Listened to it and confirmed.

[Human frame]

The shell of one who has cast off the limits of the race.

‘It’s beyond the limits of the species…?’

There are usually two types of messages like this.

When you break the wall of ‘humanity’ beyond the realm of talent. In other words, if you stand at the peak as a force.

Another thing is when you reach the pinnacle as a talent.

Then I must…

‘I must have reached the limit of my talent area.’

– You woke up. L.

“Grandel?”

I heard Grandel’s voice in my head.

– I was surprised that it hadn’t happened for quite some time. Apparently, he swallowed the elixir he received the other day.

“Right. How much time has passed now?”

– A day has passed.

A day. Does that mean it took a lot of time?

Fortunately, it was the weekend, so the academy didn’t have to worry.

I got out of bed and opened the curtains.

The bright sunlight that signaled that it was morning flooded the room.

The peel of the skin glistening in sunlight.

A terrible stench from the body stung my nose.

‘I’ll have to clean the room first.’

***

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

[Status Window]

[Name: L]

[Gender: Male]

▼ Stats

[Strength: 27]

[Agility: 21]

[HP: 16]

[Aura: 40]

▼ Traits

(NEW!) Earth Dragon’s Soul, Guinea Meltdown, Mountain-Like Being, Revolutionary’s Heart, Nature’s Friend, Dexterity,

▼ State

[Swordsmanship] : 3 Stars

[Marriage] : 1 Star

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

I made a dramatic change.

I was able to witness the strange thing that my stats, which used to be single digits, broke through to double digits as well as those in my 20s before I knew it.

‘Even though he only has 16 stamina, it must be something to take into consideration due to the nature of the articulation artery.’

The same goes for Aurors.

It’s a body that can’t use auras, but that’s a part that can change as much as you like depending on your level of swordsmanship.

I realized something after swinging a sword in Professor Durahan’s class.

‘This world is a game and not a game. I can cover the designated route with my talent.’

It will be a huge gamble instead.

Carrying the aura while avoiding the narrow veins of the oral artery is like finding a needle in the desert.

Even the slightest mistake could lead to the worst situation, in which the energy was damaged and the aura could not be used.

‘I’ll have to try it when my swordsmanship level rises further.’

The biggest benefit of eating Jiryongpogeunsan this time is, of course, its characteristics.

The soul of the earth dragon was obtained.

– It’s a strange thing. The fact that a mere human obtained a dragon soul is a legend even among us druids.

“Are the druids unable to handle dragon souls?”

– Can handle. As far as ‘theory’ goes.

As Grandel told me about marriage, druids are a race whose strength lies in manipulating the soul.

Limits of talent to individuals. Just as there is a wall like genius, beomjae, and dunjae, there is a vessel that is set for that person.

Druids also have a vessel that can handle the soul, but whether or not this becomes a vessel that can contain a dragon is to be judged.

– Your vessel is now holding a dragon. The power of the Earth Dragon, which is said to rule the land. This is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Rather, it is non-ideal.

“…Does that mean that I don’t like having a wyrm?”

– You’ll have to check the details. But now I can say it’s not very good. If done wrong… The bowl could burst.

Grandel muttered in a serious tone.

If the bowl burst, it was like turning into a vegetative person with only the body intact.

– Don’t worry too much. Being sane right now means that the bowl itself is never small. Maybe i don’t know Like our druid ancestor, ‘Zillan’, it could be a vessel to hold a dragon.

“I wish I could.”

‘I’m going to check on my condition.’

Weekends are, in other words, personal maintenance time.

I headed to the special institution in Orion Academy, the training ground.

***

The arena of Orion Academy was so huge and wide that it even had a separate building.

Should I say that it feels like another mountain is waiting for you when you enter the mountain?

A wide gray floor.

There were various artifacts for training, a wooden sword for sparring, a building that restores fatigue when you get tired and hungry, and even a canteen.

It was the influence of the academy that treats everyone based on their skills.

‘Theo is there too.’

I could find Theo snooping here and there, probably because it wasn’t a very crowded time.

As soon as he confirmed who he was looking at, he burst into laughter.

‘Is it Leatis Penrose, the eldest daughter of the iron-blooded swordsman? Like Theo and I, he’s in the same first year, but he’s an outstanding, excellent student who doesn’t listen to basic swordsmanship theories.’

It’s easy if you think of it as a skipping class system.

Provides a higher level of education for students with higher levels.

However, the fact that Theo, who will become the swordsman in the future, has not yet skipped a grade shows how high the wall is.

“……”

Leatis didn’t even look at the other people as if he didn’t care at all.

A simple action of silently drawing a knife vertically. However, when the unrealistically pretty appearance was added to it, the result was completely different.

Be dazzled.

There were dozens of people watching her at her place of sparring and practicing.

Non-decorated black hair and plain uniform. Her tall nose was like a blade, and her nonchalant eyes were transformed into charisma.

Especially, Leatis’s red eyes are frightening enough to make you shudder when you see them in the middle of the night.

To the point where a student who bumped into Leatis at night ran away saying ‘I’m a vampire!!’.

For reference, on the next day, a student who was in class with Leatis said that he fainted after foaming at the killing blow (?) That Leatis spewed out.

However, just as there are people who pluck even poisonous roses, there are more than one male student who likes Leatis.

And that… Theo was the same.

“Les, Leatis. Hello?”

“……?”

Leatis looked at Theo and narrowed his eyes.

Theo’s emotions will wear out in the future. Now, as a young student, he was at the age of dreaming of love.

“……”

“Aha, ahahahaha! Sorry!

“……”

But apart from that, Theo couldn’t help but be ignorant.

Leatis said nothing. So it was more scary.

The increasingly sharp eyes and life.

The sword, trembling as if in rage, approaches as a silent threat to stop talking to you.

No matter how ignorant Theora was, he lowered his tail at Leatis’ bloody expression.

“Hey, I think I was interrupted as expected? I didn’t mean to interfere… Ah! Practicing alone won’t be fun. If that’s okay, how about sparring together?”

“…Dalian?”

A low and charismatic voice like the eldest daughter of an iron-blooded swordsman spread.

Theo’s face turned red at the thought that he had finally answered.

“Yes!

“I’m not interested.”

However, the corner of Theo’s mouth cracked at Leatis’ concise answer.

‘It’s still a long way, Theo.’

It’s true that Leatis handles the sword well and has a deep understanding, but that wasn’t the result he wanted.

‘Leatis has only wielded a sword since he was a child. She’s a tender girl who prefers cute things like other girls rather than swords.’

Of course, the perception of the sword was very bad.

For that reason, if you want to approach Leatis, you must first rule out the ‘sword’. But Theo is an idiot who knows nothing but a sword…

It was like an impossible love.

“…So pretty by the way.”

I’ve seen it hundreds of times in the game, but Leatis’ appearance is unrivaled.

She’s to the point where, if you were to pick first place in the heroine rankings, she would take it easy.

Looking at it in real life, I was staring at it without realizing it.

‘I can understand why Theo likes it because he’s a good swordsman and he’s pretty.’

Theo returned, drooping, and began to swing her sword. She was so full of emotion how sad she was.

After obtaining the Earth Dragon’s soul, her vision changed.

‘Can you see the sword?’

She could clearly see where Theo would swing and how her next attack would fly.

Originally, her talent mass was predictable to a certain extent because it was El’s body, but when she started to see it, it seemed like she could avoid it even with her eyes closed.

Observe the finer movements of the sword.

Bending wrists.

Tighten and loosen muscles.

From the steps to swing the sword to the gaze.

Read and absorb all.

‘Shall I try it too?’

I went to an inconspicuous space with few people.

A wooden sword given by the academy. However, it was very heavy with an iron core embedded in it. When I held it with one hand, I noticed that it was very well balanced.

Close your eyes and concentrate.

How I hold my sword.

Are your legs ready to move in advance for the next sword path?

I thought and judged like a doll with a thread on each hand, wrist, and fingers.

I contemplate my body.

L’s talent made that possible.

In the black space, El’s body begins to be seen in the third person.

In the past, the turtle neck protruding from a stooped waist has disappeared.

The length of the arms and legs has become much longer. After eating Jiryong Pogeunsan, his body completely changed.

The balance of the body itself is the pinnacle of human beings. The tightly knit muscles proved this.

‘But it’s not necessarily good.’

A problem arose as the body split and disintegrated.

The coldness that was originally inside her body spread like a spider’s web.

Now, his body is so damaged that it doesn’t matter if you call him a corpse.

But the reason why I can stand still.

‘The Earth Dragon’s soul… The aura wriggling on the Danjeon side is eating away the cold.’

The aura in the form of a dragon was burning and eating away the chill that tried to invade the heart, perhaps struggling for survival.

The inside of the body warms up, then quickly cools down again.

‘It’s hard to live long like this. Maybe two years is not enough, not four.’

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the sword. He was trembling and crying, as if he was sympathizing with me.

I remembered the things I had learned.

Quick sword and dull sword.

I had only seen the quicksword, but I still remembered the swordsmanship Isabel Altair showed.

First, the blunt sword.

I didn’t swing fast. I moved through the process of getting to know my body in order to think about everything slowly and deeply.

The already slow blunt sword descends more slowly.

It flows so slowly that if you don’t look closely you won’t even know it’s going down.

L’s eccentricity was easily exposed to other students.

“Hey, look at the ashes. Are you swinging like that as part of it now?”

“It’s like holding a sword and meditating.”

A part of her who likes to raise her own status by ignoring and looking down on others laughs at L.

I couldn’t hear any of the extremely heightened concentration.

“That’s also training, so it’s great to come here. I’ve seen it somewhere.”

“It’s funny. It looks like you’re at the circus.”

Five minutes until the sword goes out of the sky to the ground. It took 5 minutes to draw a stroke.

The student I was ignoring also stopped making fun of me and left.

The speed of the sword gradually increased.

One time as slow as sand.

A normal once like flowing water.

A quick one, like a bird snatching its prey.

But all of this was ‘normal’ at Orion Academy.

From noble mtl dot com

Quick sword.

Quick Sword is a swordsmanship that drives the opponent with a quick swordsmanship.

Fast is the key.

Then, what is the standard for ‘fast’ here?

‘Speed that the eye cannot follow.’

Compress the muscles.

It pours everything into its arms and legs for a single cut.

You don’t need to quickly swing your sword dozens of times to drive your opponent away.

Because mass and acceleration are proportional to force.

“Write…”

The air that fills the inside of the body. Even that air is stored in the lungs and turns into chilly air.

The coiled dragon in the dantian shakes.

Cut.

A speed that the eye cannot follow.

‘Stance is feet. Put the sword in I draw my sword for one attack.’

It reminded me of ‘light’.

When all forces are finally at their peak.

Suddenly ㅡ !

Cut it down.

Imagine the invisible opponent and let out a flash.

At that moment, a strong wind blew and the students who were practicing were perplexed.

“Surprised! What kind of wind is this all of a sudden?”

He brushed off the chills by stroking both arms.

However, simply ‘the wind blows’ was familiar not only to students but also to humans. That there is no need to make a fuss about it.

The reason the students felt strange looking at the wind was because the wind was so sharp.

As if cut by a sword.

“……”

Leatis Penrose was watching it all.

With his mouth wide open, not befitting his nickname of iron-blooded swordsman.

… There was also Theo watching her from afar.

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