Chapter 11 - A Foothold (3)
To repeat the basic sword forms ten thousand times in 25 days, how many times did I have to swing the sword in a day?
A simple calculation gives 400 times a day.
It takes about 2 minutes to perform the basic sword forms once.
If repeated without rest, it takes about 13 hours and 30 minutes.
However, humans are not golems, so we grow tired as time passes.
The muscles all over the body scream, and blisters burst on the hands gripping the sword and shield, dripping with blood and pus.
Naturally, repeating it 400 times required much more time than 13 hours and 30 minutes.
No, on the first day, I started in the afternoon and couldn't even complete half of the 400 repetitions.
On the 180th time, I collapsed while swinging the sword and fell asleep right there.
The next day, I woke up, roughly finished my meal by chewing on the beef jerky I had packed, and continuously swung the sword.
The next day, and the day after that, I swung the sword and shield toward a physically impossible goal.
The sword forms, only five of them, called the basics, were engraved into my bones.
‘But this is where the fraudulent nature of the Trait revealed itself.’
Equivalent Exchange of Effort and Talent.
It showed me its efficacy, just as its name implied.
The more I moved my body, the more the proficiency of my physical abilities rose.
The increased proficiency was immediately applied to my body.
It was a new world.
No matter how much I overworked my body, it felt as if the increased Stamina stat was changing my body into a new one in real-time.
The Trait, true to its name, converted my effort into skill.
The reason why those who got ahead of others despite putting in the same effort were said to be talented.
I felt that keenly through the Trait.
In my past life, what I could learn and acquire with 1 unit of effort was at most only about 0.01.
But in this life, I gain a full 1 unit of experience.
Glad for that fact, I diligently performed the ten thousand repetitions.
“Are you ready?”
The D-rank qualification test examiner in front of me asked.
I cleared my thoughts.
I looked at my hands gripping the buckler and shortsword.
As if Eric had taken special care to get them, the buckler was glistening, having absorbed plenty of high-quality oil.
The shortsword was also well-maintained, to the point that my face was reflected on the blade.
“Yes. I'm ready.”
The examiner before me undoubtedly possessed the skill of a D-rank mercenary.
‘Will it work?’
It wasn't that I didn't believe in the Trait and the time I had put in, but I couldn't help being nervous.
This past month.
I had truly devoted myself to sword form training without rest, but that was literally just simple repetition against thin air.
It wasn't like now, where I was directly crossing swords with an opponent.
To stop the trembling in my hands, I gripped the handles of the sword and buckler tightly.
The examiner, who looked rough like he had eaten his fair share of sword-meals, raised a giant bastard sword with both hands.
“You know the rules, right? If you fight me and last for more than 30 minutes, or, though it's unlikely, if you subdue me before 30 minutes, you will acquire the D-rank mercenary qualification. Then, let's begin.”
I nodded.
At the same time, another office employee assisting with the test flipped over a 30-minute hourglass.
Thwack!
As soon as we started, the examiner swung the bastard sword down at me with all his might.
That movement was filled with the examiner's irritation.
I immediately angled the buckler to deflect the bastard sword.
The examiner's eyes widened as if he was surprised I had blocked his attack, and he took two steps back.
‘What is this guy?’
And I, too, was bewildered.
Why?
Because the examiner was stronger than I thought?
Because the examiner's movements and swordsmanship were more wondrous and faster than I had expected?
No, it was the exact opposite.
A movement so slow a slug would yawn.
Then it should at least have great power behind it, but it was an attack so light it could be parried even with a small buckler.
A needlessly large motion filled with irritation and anger.
‘Is he showing an opening to test me? No, it definitely felt like he was striking with all his might.’
I immediately raised my shield and charged at the retreating examiner.
It was the 5th form, charging at a retreating opponent with the shield at the forefront.
Baaam!
The examiner was struck by the buckler and fell on his butt.
I immediately thrust the shortsword and brought it to the examiner's neck.
“I… I lost.”
Both the examiner and I were surprised and looked at each other for a while without a word.
“By any chance, did I just take an F-rank test?”
“It… it is the D-rank test.”
“Ah…….”
I'm at a loss for words.
F-rank is a level slightly better than an ordinary person, and E-rank is treated as considerable combat power.
Old man Kevin, who had been our guide on the last expedition, was an E-rank close to D-rank.
Naturally, from D-rank onwards, one can hold their own anywhere.
You need enough skill to be able to face two or three of the Ghouls I fought, alone.
‘That's also why they give the authority to form a regular team starting from D-rank.’
If you operate as a regular team, you can enjoy various benefits provided by the Mercenary Office, so D-rank is the foundation for forming a force.
‘The fact that I've acquired a D-rank qualification itself means I'm in the top 40 percent among mercenaries…….’
The problem was, it was too easy.
Way too easy.
All I did was block with the buckler and push.
I went to the trouble of creating a Single Core, but I couldn't even use mana.
I simply overwhelmed everything with just my physical strength.
[Physical Grade]
Stamina (C): Proficiency 84.18
Strength (D): Proficiency 12.99
Agility (D): Proficiency 98.36
I stealthily brought up my physical grade window and checked.
‘Did I work too hard?’
But how was I supposed to stop when I could feel my body changing the more I did it?
“I-if you go out and wait for a moment, we will issue you a D-rank Mercenary Badge.”
The office employee who had flipped the hourglass broke the silence.
“Yep! Understood.”
I quickly put away my sword and shield and went outside the testing ground to receive my D-rank Mercenary Badge.
Until the Mercenary Badge was issued, I thought about the Trait once more.
And soon, I came to terms with it.
It's a Trait for killing the Mad Dragon who will destroy the world; it has to be this good.
Wasn't it a Trait gifted by a god who had poured all their power into it?
It would be a problem if it couldn't even do this much.
***
“Hahaha. To think you'd actually get a D-rank Mercenary Badge. When I heard the story from Ms. Dorn, I thought you were just being reckless.”
Kevin said, looking at my D-rank Mercenary Badge as if it were absurd.
“Aren't you scamming us?”
Bob, with whom I had agreed to speak comfortably at the last get-together, also spoke as if he couldn't believe it.
“Why would I scam you with something like this.”
“No, but come on. You disappear somewhere, then suddenly show up and present a D-rank Mercenary Badge. How can anyone believe that?”
“What are you going to do if you don't believe me?”
Bob stared intently at the D-rank Mercenary Badge.
“As your Brother, I must severely scold my younger sibling who is trying to satisfy his vanity with a forged mercenary badge and guide him to the right path.”
“Don't worry, it's real. If this is fake, I'll serve you as my Big Brother for life, so believe me.”
“I'm already your Big Brother.”
“Sharp.”
Tsk.
I thought he was a fool.
It seems Bob wasn't that much of one.
“My life…….”
Just then, Dorn, who had been silent, uttered a small phrase.
“What? What did Dorn say?”
We all looked at Dorn.
“I'll bet my life too, Mr. Savior!”
Dorn shouted with her eyes squeezed shut and her hands tightly clasped.
“You… you showed me. A… a D-rank Mercenary Badge in just one month. A man like this. No, no, if I don't bet my life on a person like this, where would I bet my life? Let's leave. Let's leave right now.”
Dorn's face was flushed red.
Dorn, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes, kept stuttering, perhaps out of excitement.
“Bet your life? What's this all about?”
Bob, not understanding Dorn's words, asked again.
“Hey, late-20s old man. Boys have conversations that only boys can relate to. Where are you trying to butt in.”
“Savior, you punk. Your tongue skills have improved a bit while I haven't seen you.”
“Stop it, Bob. Mr. Savior, you should calm down for a moment too.”
In the end, Kevin stepped in and calmed us down.
“Ms. Dorn, what do you mean by leaving right now?”
“J-just a moment.”
At Kevin's question, Dorn immediately led everyone up to her room on the second floor.
And she unfolded a piece of parchment as big as her torso and showed it to us.
It was a map of the Forest of Vanity that we had escaped from not long ago.
“There was a book among the relics we excavated from the last expedition, you see?”
Dorn's large eyes sparkled once again.
“After deciphering it, I found out. The location of Diopina's dungeon.”
“Dungeon?”
“Diopina?”
Kevin, who had a long mercenary life, reacted to the word dungeon, and the ever-curious Bob focused on the name Diopina.
“Yes, there was a magician named Diopina in ancient times.”
Dorn began to explain what she had deciphered.
The ancient magician Diopina.
Like all magicians, he was crazy about reaching the truth.
His field of research was ‘living creatures’.
How is life born and how does it die?
How does life eat and reproduce?
How does life…….
Numerous questions and doubts about life.
He believed without a doubt that he could reach the truth if he came to know the principles of all those things and found their causes.
“And it was written in that book. That the magician named Diopina finally created it. The Heart of Eden, a relic that maximizes the owner's natural healing ability.”
“The Heart of Eden?”
Bob's eyes widened.
Kevin said nothing, but he was just as surprised as Bob.
“It was written that it's an artifact that functions to regenerate wounds in real-time.”
Sleeping in that dungeon is something I, who have lost the Power of Regression, need more than anything else.
“Of course……. No one knows if the Heart of Eden actually exists, or if it's even there. But I'm certain that the place I found is a magician's dungeon. If only we can actually find that dungeon…….”
Gulp.
The sound of Bob swallowing his saliva was particularly loud.
“A fortune.”
Kevin broke the silence.
“Yes, that's right.”
Dorn nodded.
A magician's dungeon.
A place teeming with numerous artifacts and valuable research results.
No matter how small the dungeon, if discovered, it was a place where one could earn enough gold to live a life of leisure.
Greed settled in everyone's eyes.
It was only natural.
Everyone here was an explorer.
Explorers are a breed that feeds on greed.
That greed gathered to build the city of Shupel, and gave the name Vanity to the forest where ruins emerged like from a magic pot.
“When do we leave?”
At Bob's words, everyone's eyes turned to me.
I responded to their gazes with a smile.
“Ms. Dorn, could you lend me some money? Just about 3 gold. With just that, I think I can prepare the supplies for this expedition.”
At my words, everyone had a blank expression as if they had been hit on the back of the head.
Why?
What?
Do you go on expeditions by digging up the ground?
Naturally, expeditions require a lot of money, and in the case of an irregular team like this one, the team leader provides all the expenses.
The other team members participate through a mercenary contract for a set payment, but in return, they don't get a share of the expedition's rewards.
Since I was the team leader for this expedition, I naturally had to bear all the costs.
‘I just need to receive this month's payment for the Blue Ointment.’
To be precise, I can only leave on this expedition after receiving that payment.
The problem is that I don't have the gold to buy the Blue Butterfly Grass.
Before I proved my own worth, I had no justification to borrow money from Dorn, but it doesn't matter now, right?
Besides, doesn't Dorn eat quite a lot?
I have to get those food ingredients, and a Porter to carry them, and above all…….
“Since it's a magician's dungeon, we need to hire a magician too.”
Naturally, a magician must accompany us.
To disarm all sorts of magical traps, a magician is essential.
An exclamation mark appeared in everyone's eyes after hearing the explanation about the Blue Ointment and the required gold.
“Ah!”
And the eyes that were gathered on me all turned to Dorn.
With eyes sparkling at the thought of gold.
“Ah……. ah…….”
Dorn gaped with a flustered expression.