Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

Practice, and Practice (2)

Ryu Han-bin’s three skills, which were regarded as Swordsmen’s first basic skills, couldn’t hit properly due to his weak overall swordsmanship capabilities and poor Aura operational ability.

Stab, Crosscut, and Vertical Cut.

Those had been corrected while fighting against the divine beast Uto Ksarik.

At least he was better than when he used to miss even the level 100 Aliens when using those skills.

Nevertheless, Han-bin still had a long way to go.

The battle was to strengthen his fundamental abilities.

He had to equalize all of his lagging traits and master the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit.

That way, he could stand against the Top Three.

* * *

It had been 28 days since Han-bin and his party started staying in the Grand Maze.

Artis and Effir bombarded Uto Ksarik with magic and mana swordsmanship.

“Melt my enemies, Incinerating Flames!”

– Magic Swordsmanship: Roaring of Thunder!

The six Templar Lords were also hovering around the divine beast, generously using their strongest skills.

The struggle of his colleagues barely bought him a few minutes.

Ryu Han-bin concentrated his mind and let his Aura erupt.

-Valtara’s Fighting Spirit!

Bleeding, he attacked Uto Ksarik.

“Grrrr!”

He wasn’t sure if it was a shout or a scream.

At that time, the completion of his Valtara’s Fighting Spirit had only risen to 80 percent even though he’d been practicing a lot.

Even though he was benefitting from the divine beast’s Aura, it was taking too long to reach 100% completion.

No matter how durable Ryu Han-bin was, he couldn’t stand it.

No, even if he held out, his colleagues wouldn’t be able to.

The more he gambled, the more likely he would fail, and he couldn’t expect to succeed continuously by repeating the same actions dozens of times.

Hence, he purposely specified his goals.

In the given situation, he needed to increase the completeness of only the targeted skills!

Approaching from Uto Ksarik’s left, Ryu Han-bin released a dark red flash, delivering a Stab using the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit as the foundation.

– Valtara’s Pierce!

Han-bin gave Utuksalik a shot, retreated right away, and took advantage of the opportunity to blow cross-cut…….

– Valtara’s Cross!

Han-bin avoided Utuksalik’s attack again and then blew the vertical cut!

– Valtara’s Hack!

Collectively known as ‘Valtara’s Three Swords,’ those were the three basic skills revolving around Valtara’s Fighting Spirit.

By deliberately naming the skill, differentiation was made to solidify their individual reputation and increase accuracy.

Explosions and roars ceaselessly reverberated.

Boom!

Ryu Han-bin went around Uto Ksarik and continued to attack.

He dealt with the divine beast strategically using only the ‘Valtara’s Three Swords.’

The Aura flow was also specialized that way.

His fighting spirit’s power got closer to 100% faster when using those three techniques in repetition.

‘Fight against the divine animal, and get out alive.’

‘Find a way to survive against absolute power.’

‘This is the only way you can complete the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit now.’

Recalling everyone’s advice, Ryu Han-bin raised his fighting spirit even more.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

* * *

It had already been 45 days since Han-bin started fighting against the divine beast.

Currently, Han-bin and his group managed to escape from Uto Ksarik and return to their shelter safely.

“Oh… I’m dying.”

“How long has it been since we had such a prolonged fight?”

“That was the longest fight for my life I’ve ever gone through.”

Ryu Han-bin smiled bitterly at the chants of the Templar Lords.

“Everyone’s having a hard time.”

Still, the reward was substantial.

Forty-five days could be considered as a long time, but it was also an absurdly short time when desiring to be stronger.

Nevertheless, the completeness of Valtara’s Three Swords had increased considerably.

Ryu Han-bin himself could feel it.

Suddenly curious, Han-bin asked.

“But why is this considered an anomaly? It seems like a plausible enough training.”

Sabine Asil answered instead of Leon Hart.

“It’s because this will create even bigger weaknesses.”

He practiced nothing but basic skills continuously, leading them to completion.

At first glance, it looked extremely worth it.

But why did fighters regard such a method as an anomaly?

Why did they have to master various skills evenly?

“Do you think you’ll always be able to knock your opponent down using a Stab you’ve practiced for a hundred days in pursuit of an invincible blow?”

If the opponent got hit, Han-bin would’ve killed them already.

But what if the opponent avoided it?

Then, Han-bin would allow for a counterattack and could die in one hit.

“If you practice your skills evenly, you’ll have more chances to fight back no matter the situation.”

Shaking her head, Sabine continued.

“There are some masters in the world who reached the top with basic skills, but it’s not just the basic skills that they learn in reality.”

That was the case for Stab.

There were countless derivative movements based on it, such as Stab to advance, retreating Stab, diagonal Stab, upward Stab, downward Stab, and rotational Stab.

He could say that he mastered Stab, but it wouldn’t mean just a single skill.

Rather, it meant he had mastered ‘all kinds’ of stabbing skills for ‘all situations.’

If that wasn’t the case, then numerous boxing techniques could be labeled as just ‘a punch.’

“Han-bin, on the other hand, your Valtara’s Three Swords include just three skills, right?”

Those were Stab, Crosscut, and Vertical Cut.

He didn’t have time to learn the whole thing without narrowing the conditions like that.

“In a one-on-one situation, you’ll be dead if your opponent just dodges your attack and throws a counterattack.”

Confused, Ryu Han-bin looked back at Leon Hart.

“Wait, then why are you making me do this?”

“It’s not a one-on-one situation.”

Leon Hart replied.

“Do you think you’re fighting against the divine beast one-on-one, Han-bin?”

Ryu Han-bin’s skills alone couldn’t deal with the Uto Ksarik.

No matter what he did, it was too much for him at the moment.

Six Templar Lords, Artis, and Effir stood by him to fill the gap.

“Oh, I see.”

Han-bin understood.

If the counterattack was the problem, they could interrupt the bull to prevent it from launching one.

In team combat, they could cover his weaknesses.

The goal of Ryu Han-bin was to become a blade that could pierce everything.

It wasn’t to be an absolute master who could cope with every situation.

“And you have high basic physical abilities. It won’t be easy to kill you in one hit.”

He could make up for his weak points after defeating Hollion the Transcendental.

Although the six Templar Lords’ levels were lower than Ryu Han-bin’s, they were the best in their areas.

If everyone were determined to stick together and teach him, he would gain good results no matter how slow he was.

“Of course, it’s expedient, but…”

“Practice what I’m good at first and fill in the gaps later, I guess.”

It looked like a shortcut, but it was more of a detour.

It’s better to do it evenly from the beginning looking at it from the long-term perspective.

“But you won’t lose anything.”

Compared to Latna’s warriors, he was derailing from the right path.

But what if he was compared with normal Aliens?

How many high-level monsters would a normal level 140 Alien have to hunt if they wanted to raise their level by 1?

At Ryu Han-bin’s current level, no matter how much he took the long path, he would get to his destination much faster than ordinary Aliens.

So Leon Hart affirmed.

“Trust me and follow me. You will become stronger for sure!”

* * *

It had been 51 days since he followed Leon Hart to the Grand Maze Kaltan.

Though he had gotten used to it, the battle against the divine beast was still harsh.

Every day was a series of hardships and adversity.

Whenever human beings were having too much difficulty, they would often want to do something else like cleaning up ahead of the exam or cooking unexpectedly before the deadline.

Ryu Han-bin was also a human being.

“Hey, Leon Hart. By any chance, isn’t there a way for me to not deal with the divine beast for now?”

Of course, Leon Hart was dumbfounded.

“You said you believe in me and would follow me. It hadn’t been that long, yet you’re already talking about something else now?”

“No, I believe you, but I keep wondering if there’s a different way…”

There was also a lot of monster above level 100 at the bottom floor of the Grand Maze.

What if he hunted those monsters and collected experience points instead?

“That way, if I get to level 7, there might be some other way.”

Leon Hart snorted.

“Don’t focus on gaining experience points.”

Ryu Han-bin’s stats were as followed when he just fell into Latna.

[Strength 25 (+1,364), Stamina 21 (+1,364), Endurance 15 (+682), Defense 16 (+1,364), Intelligence 7 (+341), Reflexes 9 (+341), Agility 10 (+341).]

As a level 6, it was as followed.

[Strength 27 (+1,364), Stamina 23 (+1,364), Endurance 17 (+682), Defense 18 (+1,364), Intelligence 7 (+341), Reflexes 9 (+341), Agility 10 (+341).]

Including additional points, Ryu Han-bin’s original strength level was 1,389. It had risen to 1,391 after he leveled up.

“Did you feel anything stronger?”

“No, well, it’s not like that, but…”

Even if his ability level rose by two more, the ratio was only 0.14%.

If he added another 14 grams to a 10-kilogram dumbbell, he would feel nothing.

To further calculate, when an Alien warrior of level 140 reached level 141, their strength stat would usually rise by 44.

In other words, even if Ryu Han-bin calculated an additional increase, at least 20 to 30 levels had to be gained to earn a significant figure.

“How long would that take? If we could afford it, we could have just become stronger in a regular way.”

However, he didn’t even have time to increase his level by one.

Because of the damn error, the necessary experience points to reach level 7 were enormous.

The demand was extremely high, but little could be gained.

“It won’t help if your level is higher. Didn’t you embarrass level 100 Aliens?”

Leon Hart calmly continued.

“Han-bin, what you have to focus on is the real ‘experience.’ It’s not just a number.”

Ryu Han-bin scratched his head.

There was another reason why he concentrated on leveling up.

“I was just wondering if there would be another absolute skill.”

“Don’t ask for such luck.”

He didn’t intend to deny the existence of good luck in life.

But it was silly to cling to it.

“As I often say, luck doesn’t come according to one’s expectation.”

Han-bin asked again, nodding his head.

“But wouldn’t it be okay to experiment?”

“What kind of experiment?”

“Didn’t I gain a new skill? The Skill of the Absolute: Lord throughout Heaven and Earth.”

“That again? I’ve already told you to ignore it…”

“No, let me just give it a try at least.”

He had used it in many situations against his colleagues, but he couldn’t figure the usage out yet.

However, there was one situation that he hadn’t tested it in.

“I’ve never used it on someone far stronger than me. I’ve been wondering if we’ll get a different result.”