Survival Story of a Sword King

Rising the Dragon Power! (2)

The giant Swordsman galloped down the Dungeon.

The insect-type monsters that he had alarmed all began to pursue him.

He stopped inside a large cave, the creatures closely following his back.

He then turned to face the monsters with a laugh.

“Hey, another bountiful harvest!”

Another series of ruthless violence unfolded.

Puck! Crunch! Crunch!

Hundreds of monsters fell to the ground, their bodily fluids dripping and creating pools under them.

As if he had been waiting all along, Artis appeared and breathed fire.

Gaaaaarrrrhhh!

Ryu Han-bin laughed at the huge swarm of well-baked insects.

The burnt corpses gave off quite the savory smell.

“I remember the fried grasshoppers I used to eat when I was younger.”

Horrified, Artis turned to him.

“How do you still have an appetite after witnessing this? Did I train you to be a Valtara Warrior too well?”

“It’s just a figure of speech. Who said I would eat that?”

After his rebuttal, Ryu Han-bin proceeded to ask him a question.

“What do you think? Have you leveled up?”

“How would I know? You should be the one letting me know.”

He wasn’t wrong.

After turning on the Guidelines, he shook his head.

“Your Dragon form’s level hasn’t risen yet.”

“What about this one?”

Artis quickly changed into a human form.

It caused the information the Guidelines offered to change as well.

[Race: Human. Mage Lv. 38]

“You’re now a level 38 Mage.”

“You mean I leveled up twice in a day?”

Han-bin spoke in a carefree way.

“It’s possible because you’re a dragon.”

Latnains’ level rose only when they improved their skills.

Taking down monsters using the tactic they were using was no different from taking down the scarecrows.

If someone were to destroy hundreds of scarecrows all at once, their skills wouldn’t really improve.

However, those who belonged to Latna’s Dragon Family could absorb energy directly from the killed monster, allowing their tactic to become effective.

“I feel like this should be illegal. Is it common for Aliens to develop strength this way?”

“I don’t know, but isn’t this normal? Its concept should feel familiar to anyone who has played online games.”

“Online games?”

“I’ll explain it later. It’s a little complicated.”

Evading to answer, Han-bin asked another question.

“I’m not sure why you haven’t thought of this before. It isn’t such a difficult concept to come up with.”

When Dragons killed enemies, they gained power at the same level as the enemies they’ve killed.

With that in mind, it should’ve been easy to think of the same concept without any experience in playing online games.

Artis grinned.

“I’m not an idiot. I have had a similar delusion. But who would think this is actually possible?”

“Why? Dragons can get stronger at a faster rate this way. Why not just help each other out?

With the same logic, Artis refuted.

“If a rich man gives away his fortune, he can make a beggar rich. But why do humans refuse to help each other?

Certainly, everyone on Earth thought it would be nice if the Middle East’s oil-rich people gave them about 1 billion each.

But he didn’t think it was realistic.

“Well, at least your parents could’ve helped you…”

Only then did Artis realize what kind of misconception Ryu Han-bin had.

“Dragon has no affection between parents and children like humans.”

The easiest way for a dragon to increase its power was to kill other dragons and absorb their entire cores.

They often targetted their own kind.

“Even if you are a parent or child, it was the same.

Artis said that male and female dragons only meet to create eggs as a part of their instincts, but they became strangers after that.

“So, Dragons don’t even hold hands?”

“No. We’re all in a hurry to eat each other up. I’m not living in hiding in the human world for nothing.”

“That’s surprising. Are the Dragons in this neighborhood mostly evil?”

Just looking at Artis, he thought they were generally good creatures.

“We definitely can’t be labeled as kindhearted or good, but…”

Artis explained hesitantly.

“But we’re not as evil as human prejudices. Everyone’s just a little selfish.”

They didn’t want to help others, only cared about their greed, took whatever they wanted, and sometimes pretended to be human to cause chaos across the world…

“But we don’t covet human blood and flesh! There are so many things in the world that taste better than humans.”

Artis complained.

Han-bin had a blank look on his face.

‘They still sound pretty evil.’

Still, he didn’t bother to point it out.

He could at least be certain that Artis was an unusual entity among Dragons.

“Anyway, that should be enough rest. Let’s move on.”

Artis’s breath still had one more shot left.

He could still level up a bit more.

Han-bin grinned.

‘I have to raise the level of this guy and advance to the center of the continent.’

* * *

The night they closed the Tackle Dungeon and returned home, they had a conversation.

Ryu Han-bin and Artis gathered in the living room to discuss their next task.

Thanks to his disguise as a Valtara warrior, he managed to lose his reputation of being incompetent.

However, Ryu Han-bin was still in a situation where he couldn’t reveal his real strength.

Even a Valtara warrior couldn’t be as strong as him.

“Can’t I pretend to be an Aura user?”

“Pretend?”

The symbol of Aura users was a shining blade, a blade aura, and a barrier surrounding the whole body.

“Either by magically lighting the sword to make it look like a Blade aura, or by making the body glow to look like a barrier, so I’d look like an Aura user.”

“That’s a trick that’s too easy to detect.”

Most of Latna’s four major users could sense energy.

Right now, Even Artis could tell to which of the four energies a skill belonged to.

But it was still impossible for him to figure out how powerful and how high-leveled it was.

“If they look at you, they’ll easily recognize that you’re emitting an aura made out of Mana. Well, the general public would be deceived, though.”

“I see.”

To not be suspicious, it seemed that he had to learn how to use Aura.

“How can someone be an Aura user?”

“I heard that Aliens could become an Aura user just by raising their level.”

“I’m in this mess because I can’t raise my level in the first place.”

Wizards, Priest, and Dark Swordsmen, could use energies such as Mana, Prana, and Force as early as level 1, but the warrior class was slightly different.

They had to gradually increase their level through physical training before they could awaken upon reaching a certain level.

After awakening, they would be able to demonstrate superhuman abilities.

“According to the Guidelines, the awakening skill comes at level 50, but it would take too long before I can get that skill due to my circumstances. That’s why I’m trying to learn Aura like a Latnain.”

Latnains also differed according to individual talents, but they became Aura users between levels 50 and 60.

Artis answered back.

“I’m a mage, so I don’t know much about Aura. All I know are basic knowledge.”

There were usually three cases of the Latnain in awakening Aura.

The first was to learn swordsmanship and martial arts handed down from generation to generation of historical knights.

In the case of long-established martial arts, the art itself was said to lead its practitioners down the path of Aura naturally.

However, such styles were closed off to the public and weren’t just passed to anyone.

Bloodlines and connections were carefully considered, and there needed to be a connection.

It meant that they didn’t just teach their techniques to anyone that carried a bunch of money.

“The first is impossible.”

“I think so. The second one is…”

Some geniuses found themselves on the path to Aura.

Without learning traditional martial arts, they awakened by realizing the world’s logic based on long experience and outstanding high-tier skills.

“The founders of venerable swordsmanship and martial arts are such cases.”

Ryu Han-bin frowned.

‘So, when it comes to martial arts masters, it means that they’re the great servants of each Church, right?’

He couldn’t have that talent.

If Han-bin had been such a genius, he would have already awakened the Aura while dealing with Demon Dogs at the Rocky Mountain.

“The third one?”

“I don’t know about that one.”

“Eh?”

Artis laughed at Han-bin, who was confused.

“I’m not trying to make fun of you. I really don’t know. I just know there’s another way to gain Aura out there.”

The Aura user Artis met before was not from a renowned family, nor was he a genius who had been enlightened to the world’s logic.

Nevertheless, he succeeded in awakening Aura.

“He said his limit was that far, although he quit being a Hunter at level 53 to retire.”

Besides the two known methods, he said that there were other ways for warriors to awaken Aura.

Most of the Hunter-born Aura users used that method.

“But since it’s a secret, he can’t just tell anyone about it recklessly. I’m a Mage, so I didn’t ask anymore because I wasn’t interested.”

Han-bin was disappointed.

“You should have asked, geez…”

Regardless, at least they knew there was a way.

Rumors also had it that anyone who’s a Hunter-born Aura user would immediately know.

“Isn’t there a Hunter strong enough to awaken Aura here?”

“With a level that high, they usually don’t come to the countryside anymore. You’ll have to go to the Four Major Stations to meet them.”

The Four Major Stations, located in the center of the continent, had so many powerful dungeons that they banned commoners from entering.

Artis thought that there would be enough hunters who awakened Aura there.

“You can’t even get into the Four Major Stations unless you are at the level to awaken Aura in the first place.”

Ryu Han-bin’s next move has been decided.

“Go to the center of the continent, meet an Aura user, and learn how to use Aura.”

It was already possible for him to do that.

He had already solved the problem with his level and had raised enough funds.

Regardless, he decided to stay in Highten for the time being.

He still had to become a Church’s partner first.

‘I’ll be fine, but Artis can’t survive in the middle of the continent yet.’

Hunters had to be at least over level 50 to safely raid a powerful dungeon in the middle of the continent.

Artis was only a level 36 Mage.

‘If he goes back to his Dragon form, he’d be over Level 50, but he can’t reveal his identity.’

Plus, he didn’t even want to break up with Artis.

Thanks to him, Ryu Han-bin managed to solve many of his problems, and his life became a lot easier.

Above all, there was no need to hide his identity from Artis.

‘How likely am I to meet another friend that I can trust like this?’

The next Goddesses’ blessing wouldn’t be given until after three years.

He wasn’t running out of time.

Instead of going alone, he came up with a new plan.

He would raise the Artis’ level, so he asked him to advance to the continent’s center together.

Of course, Artis agreed.

It was an offer with no reason to object.

Artis just doubted about one thing.

“My level might not rise fast enough, even with your help. I think it’s a waste of your time.”

* * *

Artis shook his head as he recalled last night’s conversation.

After thinking about it, he finally understood why Ryu Han-bin was so confident.

None of what they were doing was a waste of time.

“I really can eat the world raw…”