WuxiaWorldEU

CH 17

Chapter 17

04 – The Sword that Cleaves Heaven and Earth (4)

Read this chapter at loomywoods.com. If you are reading this on a different website, it is stolen content. This privacy notice for Loomy Woods Inc (“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our“), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share (“process“) your information when you use our services (“Services“), such as when you: Visit our website at loomywoods.com, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected] . SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS This summary provides key points from our privacy notice, but you can find out more details about any of these topics by clicking the link following each key point or by using our table of contents below to find the section you are looking for. You can also click here to go directly to our table of contents. What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with Loomy Woods Inc and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. Click here to learn more. Do we process any sensitive personal information? We do not process sensitive personal information. Do we receive any information from third parties? We do not receive any information from third parties. How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. Click here to learn more. In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties. Click here to learn more. How do we keep your information safe? We have organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Click here to learn more. What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information. Click here to learn more. How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by filling out our data subject request form available here, or by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Want to learn more about what Loomy Woods Inc does with any information we collect? Click here to review the notice in full. Personal information you disclose to us In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us. We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us. Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following: Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information. All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information. Information automatically collected In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services. We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes. Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies. The information we collect includes: Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the Services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called “crash dumps”), and hardware settings). Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system, and system configuration information.

“Tsk, don’t back down like that.” Displeased, Carlton tapped his armrest with his index finger; irritation exuded from his fingertips.

“Isn’t this good enough?” I asked.

“How could you be afraid of a guy like that? You still have a long, long way to go.”

How could he refer to one of the best Hunters in Korea as just a ‘guy?’ Weren’t his standards too high? I tried to protest, but Carlos didn’t even pretend to hear me out, “Since your agreement is now finished, let’s go back to talking about swords. To make a legendary-grade sword, you’ll need at least five top-rank ingredients.”

“5? And, for top rank…do you mean S-rank…?”

“That’s enough for someone like me. Ah–all the ingredients must be obtained from different floors.”

The mere thought of that made me dizzy: five of the highest ranked ingredients from different floors. I had barely cleared the 19th floor after a huge pandemonium.

My breath caught in my throat.

“I guess something will appear if we root around for it,” Choi Kwon-young murmured calmly, ignorant of my emotions. When it came to processing ingredients and whatnot, Choi Kwon-Young didn’t seem to know much either. Why was he so relaxed?

“How could you collect five ingredients of that sort of rank?!” I shouted.

“Well, it’s difficult through normal methods,” Carlos said casually, as if he were unconnected to all of this.

He looked as if he knew something.

I grabbed Carlos by the sleeve, stretching the cloth. When I whined to him to help his poor disciple, Carlos shook his head and removed my hand. “My sleeve will stretch.”

“Master! Is your sleeve what’s important now?! Please help this pitiful disciple.”

“Why should I? Tsk–This is how Players are.”

“A hint! Just give me one hint.”

Carlos did not hide his annoyance. But, even when he acted cold, he didn’t seem to hate this.

Choi Kwon-young only looked at us, fascinated, and said nothing.

‘So, Guild Leader doesn’t want to do the hard work, huh?’

There was no way that the guild leader, who was busy with his own public and private affairs, would help to directly supply the materials. Choi Kwon-young seemed to have no intention of helping me.

“I have no one but Master! Do you want to see this unfortunate disciple traipse around the World’s Towers?”

“Can’t you get off of me? You’re so heavy!”

“You know how fragile I am. If I die screaming, I’ll appear in your nightmares.” If he said no, I’m going to plead until his answer changes–that was the only thing I could do. Carlos hated when he became entangled in our matters.

After a long argument, Callos finally nodded his head reluctantly. “Really, you… Fine. I’ll tell you.”

“Master!”

“Ugh, go away. Go stand next to that punk.”

Success! As expected, there’s always a good side to people.

Carlos’s complexion turned pale, displaying his annoyance. He put his hands together politely and sat next to Choi Kwon-young.

Looking sideways, I saw Choi Kwon-young grinning. How disgusting–if we were in similar classes, I would have cuffed him over the head.

Carlos reluctantly spoke, “The backside of the World’s Tower. There, you’ll find what you’re looking for.” He continued, “The easiest way would be to defeat a particularly strong monster. The method doesn’t yield the highest probability, but it’s relatively simple. However, that’s too difficult for you, Gaho.”

“…Please don’t poke me where it hurts.”

“So, find the backside of the World’s Towers. That’s all I can tell you, Gaho.”

The backside?

Unlike me, who had no clue, Choi Kwon-young seemed to have an idea of what Carlos was talking about. Don’t keep it to yourself–why not explain it to me as well! I tapped him on the arm.

“He’s talking about a hidden quest,” Choi Kwon-young said.

“Are you saying we should aim for a Hidden Piece?”

A Hidden Piece, something that can surpass the current system’s boundaries, can only be obtained through Hidden Quests. My gaze naturally turned to Carlos.

They had a point.

A Hidden Piece’s grade was not related to the floor nor the difficulty of the quest. It was like that for me, and thus this operation was worth a try.

By the way, seeing as how he waited until I asked a question to pipe up, Choi Kwon-young already knew the lay of the situation. He must have watched me squabble with Carlos for a reason.

Choi Kwon-young, when he saw my expression, shrugged his shoulders. “It looked like you have a good Master/Disciple relationship.”

“Sure, in terms of his personality, though… Anyway, finding five Hidden Quests will be tough. There’s no guarantee that our desired reward will pop out either; plus, these quests are hard to find. Don’t most people say these are once in a lifetime opportunities?”

Choi Kwon-young pretended that he hadn’t heard my sarcastic remark and responded to the rest of my words, “There are places that Hidden Quests are likely to pop-up–a rough guess, that is. And, coincidentally, I’ve been combing through the entire tower recently.”

When searching for clues on the 76th floor, Choi Kwon-young said he had felt something strange–some discordant feeling–in several places. He hadn’t really thought much about these peculiarities at the time as he was in a hurry to clear the floor as fast as possible.

While searching for an L-class sword, he raked through rumors about the World’s Towers. And, while analyzing the data provided, he intuitively realized that these disharmonious places may be related to Hidden Quests.

He must have been thoroughly occupied and distracted with the 76th floor raid, but he still had time to investigate other matters separately. I knew he wasn’t someone who was only good at fighting, but it was a different experience to see the evidence before me.

‘He’s like a main character who’s been set up with all sorts of benefits.”

He had impressive power and good luck on top of his intelligence; he led an envious life where he was provided everything except for a good personality.

“I’m not yet certain, but it’s better than to have no lead at all. I’ll focus on areas that Hunter Yoon Gaho can access as well,” Choi Kwon-young said.

“Thank you for being considerate,” I said.

“For now, I’ll take care of Gaho,” Carlos replied.

Hey–! Does he not care about my opinion?

I had a lot to learn from Carlos, but I had no intention of being stuck here.

When I said I had to return because I had no more vacation days left, Choi Kwon-young patted me on the shoulder, telling me not to worry. “I’ll let the guild know–stay here comfortably and receive private lessons from Carlos.”

My next course of action was decided rapidly, like that.

Choi Kwon-young said he still had more to investigate and that he’d call me when everything was sorted out. Immediately afterwards, he disappeared.

“Excuse me… Master…”

Only after the guild leader left was I able to return to the original purpose for my visit.

Carlos jumped up and down when he heard that I hadn’t succeeded in the crafting skill except for our first time together. “What did you say now?!”

“I’ve tried what I could, in my own way… I even folded origami.”

“Origami?” Carlos placed his hand on his forehead. His gaze seemed to convey his underlying thoughts: that he thought I was an idiot.

I guess paper cranes weren’t the way forward.

“I’ve overestimated you too much. Hoo–where should I start fixing this…”

“Honestly, Master, you didn’t tell me anything in the first place–you simply showed how you work.”

“I’ve been accompanying you all this time and even personally created quests for you, and now you’re saying I didn’t tell you anything?”

“Ah–thank you for that. I would have died if it weren’t for that tutorial.”

“Tsk–and you’ve got something weird clinging onto you too.” Carlos frowned as he grabbed my wrist.

Ah–that’s right. This was another matter I needed to discuss. Delighted, I pulled out the chimera egg. “Master, can’t you do something about this?”

Carlos’s expression gradually became distorted as he stared at the chimera egg. “What kind of crude…”

He shook his head as condemned the Black Wizard’s greatest masterpiece. “I can’t do anything about a magic item after it has imprinted. What were you thinking when you touched something like this?”

“I just wanted you to check it out.”

“You can’t just put your mana into any random thing. And, don’t you know that names carry power?! You can’t name things willy-nilly. Tsk–it’s too late. It’s already completely intertwined with you.”

I was momentarily nervous since this matter seemed more serious than I had previously thought, but I was relieved to hear that Carlos would help make sure the egg wouldn’t become dangerous to me. As expected–he’s a softie.

As soon as I released a sigh of gratitude to my heavenly Master, Carlos hit me on top of my head with the back of his hand.

“Argh!” I yelped.

“Ignorance is a sin. It looks like it’ll take a long time to teach you.” After grasping how disastrous my skills were, Carlos explained the basic concepts of magitek on the first day before locking me in the study.

“Gaho, you failed because your ability to materialize and understand magic items is a mess. Even if you have good mana senses and mana-moving ability, it’s all meaningless if you’re sloppy with your lines. Look here–there’s a fine gap here. With something like that, the mana circuit wouldn’t work properly.” Carlos pointed to the corner of a mana circuit I drew. “This connection method is also quite clumsy. For example, look here. A node that expresses cold affect property and another that expresses physical defence properties won’t link up well. I don’t understand what you even got from visiting and watching me work: I didn’t expect you to lack even the basic knowledge of magical engineering.”

“It’s the first time I’ve even heard of magitek–though, the skill allowed me to somewhat follow along…more or less.”

***

That’s right–it started then.

Carlos, frowning in disbelief, piled books as high as a mountain before me. Glancing at the pile, I found the books were all about magitek; titles such as 『Introduction to mana-studies for children』 dominated the pile.

Not satisfied with burying me under a mound of books, he entered study several times a day to assign me homework and other assignments. “Don’t even think about coming out until you’ve read all of this.”

My head felt like it was spinning at first–I couldn’t possibly finish a book filled with terms I had never encountered. I couldn’t even begin to figure out where I should start with the mana circuit Carlos had given me to copy.

After I awakened, I had hardly been locked down in one place for too long; how could I adapt quickly?

Still, my disastrous ability improved little by little, making this–the study of magical engineering theory–all worthwhile. My manual dexterity stat, which did not even budge when I mindlessly folded paper cranes, also rose slightly.

Then, today, on the fifth day, I succeeded in drawing a perfect mana circuit for the first time.