Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

Making a Sword King By Rote (4)

Ryu Han-bin had always regarded his level due to a notation or recognition error in the Guideline.

But Leon Hart denied the speculation.

“An error is indeed the cause, but it most likely isn’t the type you’re thinking of.”

How could Han-bin’s Guideline misrepresent ‘lv. 140’ as ‘lv. 6’?

“Then why do you think other aliens see your level as six as well?”

If it were a simple display flaw, only Han-bin would see it as six.

There was no way that the measuring stone of Latna and other Aliens’ Guidelines had the same error.

Han-bin asked a question with a confused tone.

“Then what exactly is the problem?”

Leon Hart answered with another question.

“Have you ever thought about it? Where do measuring stones base their measurement of your level on?”

“… I heard it’s the strength of the soul.”

“That’s just what rookie Hunters say. What determines the strength and weakness of the soul in the first place?”

“Well, wouldn’t that be an individual’s physical ability or the four major forces?”

Though he answered, Ryu Han-bin knew he was wrong.

Through that standard, he wouldn’t be able to grasp the target’s combat experience or skill level.

Leon Hart gave him the right answer.

“The criterion for measuring Hunters’ level with the measuring stone is the target’s ‘energy’”

Energy was the source of every living being.

It naturally flowed through eating, drinking, breathing, and fighting and was fundamentally linked to life’s body and soul.

If someone had a strong body, then their energy would be stronger. If they had excellent combat skills, it would be sharper, and if they were belligerent, the nature of their energy would be intense.

“Those with a lot of battle experiences have a more flexible flow of energy, and the energy of those who have high operational capabilities over the four major forces are qualitatively purer. If the total amount of the four forces is tremendous, the total amount of their energy will equally be tremendous as well.”

It was Latna’s way of comprehensively analyzing, identifying, and quantifying the condition of all those energies.

“Oh, energy wasn’t just a collective expression for the Four Powers…”

Han-bin scratched his head.

Even though he had been giving Artis and Effir ‘energy,’ he didn’t think deeply about the concept.

Regardless, if energy was the standard that determined a person’s immediate level…

“So I lack energy? Is that why my level is so low?”

Leon Hart snorted at Han-bin’s question.

“How can that be? You still don’t get it.”

Energy was the foundation of Han-bin’s body and soul.

His physical abilities were insanely high, and his Aura had risen like crazy. There was no way he’d be lacking in energy.

“To be exact, your energy is ‘perceived’ as low. It’s not actually low.”

It wasn’t simply an error in displaying numbers.

The broken Guideline created side effects, one of which was his energy barely being exposed to the outside world.

He was seen as level 5 or 6.

“That’s how I made sense of it. I don’t think Latna’s measuring stones or any of the other Aliens’ Guidelines are broken.”

Since pure energy was the source of life, no matter how advanced the senses someone had, it was impossible to detect it from afar.

They could only sense the four forces, which were modified versions of it.

“So when using the measuring stone, you have to be in direct contact with them, and you need their permission. Aliens can navigate around that restriction, but they have to get close to you.”

And the Dungeon monsters might’ve had an ability similar to that.

“You already know that if there are a lot of humans in a Dungeon, there will be more monsters coming from external realms, right?”

They, too, could sense energy, but it seemed they were limited to grasping it in an unprecise way compared to Aliens.

“Maybe they’ve created Guidelines based on that capability, then remodeled it in a way that reduced its range but increased its precision. Well, that’s just my guess.”

As such, Dungeon monsters became aware of the presence in their territory through the Hunters’ energies.

However, Ryu Han-bin had a particularly low energy external emission.

“So if you consciously hide all your energy, what would monsters think?”

Convinced, Han-bin smiled bitterly.

“I’d most likely look like a dead body.”

* * *

All subsequent battles were fought at Leon Hart’s designated locations.

Ryu Han-bin did his best against Uto Ksarik.

He fought back, pulled out all of his Aura, and even used Valtara’s Fighting Spirit.

During those moments, he was a high-level warrior who used immensely powerful Aura.

Aura was no longer considered as ‘pure energy’ since it had been refined. Hence, it wasn’t hidden by Guideline errors.

After losing all his strength through fighting tirelessly, he hid like a rat.

During those times, he was closer to a ‘dead level 6 warrior.’

Since the gap between his maximum and minimum output was so wide, the divine beast considered him deceased.

Of course, there was also the risk that Uto Ksarik would search for Han-bin’s body through the pile of debris.

However, Leon Hart judged that the possibility was slim.

“The Three Gods of Kaltan don’t crave human blood and flesh like normal monsters.”

That was evident when the divine beast Kruse Murg escaped from the Grand Maze and massacred numerous Hunters.

It focused only on killing the people in front of it.

It didn’t eat people.

“Uto Ksarik will also be satisfied and withdraw once his killer instinct is satiated, just like how Kruse Murg went back to the Grand Maze after spilling enough blood.”

The result was as expected.

Uto Ksarik ignored Ryu Han-bin’s ‘corpse’ and just went its way, and everyone was able to return safely to the temporary shelter.

“Come to think of it, isn’t this a very good hiding skill? Why don’t other Earthlings use it?”

Leon Hart shrugged at Han-bin’s question.

“Maybe the demon didn’t expect it? Errors can cause unintentional side effects.”

He breathed a deep sigh of relief.

“Anyway, I’m so glad it went as planned. Honestly, I was worried a lot.”

Regardless of the risk being theoretically low, they still weren’t sure if it actually wouldn’t happen.

If the worst happened, Leon Hart was determined to save Ryu Han-bin, even if it meant giving up his life.

That was what the person who came up with the plan could do at the bare minimum.

“I’ve confirmed that the divine beast is moving as expected..”

Leon Hart concluded while healing Han-bin’s wound.

“Let’s rest for a while and try again after.”

* * *

Three days later, Ryu Han-bin challenged the divine beast again.

His plan against Uto Ksarik was the same as before.

Once he figured out its route, he sneaked in.

Originally, Ryu Han-bin wasn’t good at secretly moving.

However, even those who weren’t talented could learn a lot if they had a good teacher.

Frederick, the Templar Lord of the Sorondi Church, was a master of various swordsmanship styles and a good teacher to a multitude of disciples.

With his teachings, Han-bin learned how to move in silence.

Han-bin added his unique ‘energy hiding’ ability to it.

The divine beast could only feel the sudden attack when it was already too late to block it.

– Crosscut!

Boom!

“Grrr?”

After being severely hit on the back of its head due to its absentmindedness, Uto Ksarik immediately went after Ryu Han-bin.

Han-bin ran away and moved to the promised sealing area.

Six Templar Lords, Artis, and Effir, who were waiting in advance, attacked the divine beast.

Their average levels were in the mid to late 90s. If a level 168 monster so much as scratched them, they would die instantly.

Keeping a safe distance at all times and always prepared to away immediately, all they could do was divide Uto Ksarik’s attention.

Taking advantage of the gap, Ryu Han-bin released all of the Aura he had stored within.

-Valtara’s Fighting Spirit!

For a very short time, the divine beast was put in a state of shock.

Of course, it didn’t mean much.

It was equal to Uto Ksarik’s normal blows if he were to compare it.

But at least it was enough for him to fight against the bull.

Han-bin dealt with the divine beast for a while and maximized his fighting spirit’s potential as much as he could.

And when he reached his limit, he sent the usual signal to his colleagues.

“Save me!”

It was hard to run away from it even in his best condition, and he couldn’t even stand properly after fighting with it.

The help of his colleagues was essential.

Disturbing Uto Ksarik, the others immediately hid in the nearby ruins like rats chased by a cat.

Han-bin entered a corpse-like state while it was distracted.

For the monster, that was recognized as the death of its prey.

No longer caring for Ryu Han-bin, the bull turned to hunt his remaining colleagues.

However, they had already fled too far for it to give chase by then.

They had gone so far they no longer had to be worried about being hunted down.

“…?”

Ultimately, Uto Ksarik just went on its own way, wondering what the hell they came there for.

About 30 minutes later.

Ryu Han-bin clicked his tongue as he stuck out his head from the ruins.

“Oh, I barely made it this time.”

He had done it once, so he had become a little used to it. However, it was still difficult to achieve.

“Stil…”

Han-bin subtly smiled as he looked down at his hand.

It was only the second challenge, but he already felt himself change.

He could feel the flow of the Aura more clearly.

Controlling his fighting spirit had also become much easier.

“This is worth risking my life for.”

* * *

Navigating throughout the kingdom, Hollien and the Alendia Army fought off the nightmares of the night.

The night’s major changes occurred in areas where Kybriel’s protection was weak.

The more monsters were massacred, the longer the time for them to reappear became.

Lankdot grassland, Belfos territory, Devansel mountainous region, and Rajdraphim province.

The areas where there were a lot of monsters had been stabilized one by one.

Naturally, the reputation of the Transcendental also rose daily.

Those who suspected her changed their views little by little.

-Yes, of course!

-The Fairy Queen couldn’t have betrayed the Goddess.

-The Holy Punishers must have misunderstood something!

The public sentiment changing was great news, but Hollien was nervous.

“I don’t want them to ask me to come back to the royal palace once I’m finished.”

No matter how good the results might be, it wasn’t beneficial for royals to have a queen wandering like wildlings.

In particular, the Fairy King had a good relationship with Hollien.

Although they didn’t have children yet, he would order her return if she was away for too long.

However, the Holy Punishers hadn’t shown up yet!

“What the hell are they doing?”

She thought they were scared, so she even tried to bait them.

She intentionally used up her spiritual arts and displayed herself for all to see when she was blatantly exhausted.

“Why won’t they come?”

At that moment, she even cut her troops in half.

She reduced the number of soldiers that were with her from 800 to 400.

“Will they come now?”

As expected, they didn’t.

It led to widespread rumors that the Fairy Queen cherished the life of soldiers.

As the reputation of the beloved queen rose consecutively, the Fairy King became pleased.

Allendia as a whole was also delighted since the damage caused by the changes in the night decreased gradually.

The people were able to sleep comfortably without fear of monsters again.

With everyone happy, only Hollien was getting more and more irritated as days passed by.

“No, why aren’t they showing up?”