Then, the spearman drew even closer, tracing a continuous path.
Deflect and he closes in, attack and he clings on, stretching out.
Using the spear's range to the extreme, making things difficult.
A master of the spear.
Clearly someone who had honed their spear skills to the level of a master through a lifetime of practice.
âStrange.â
But, itâs strange.
Despite possessing such intricate skills, there is no hostility felt from the opponent.
No killing intent, no malice, just instinctual movement.
It means heâs not acting with calculation.
The pinnacle of unconsciousness.
âTo wield the spear to this degree unconsciously...â
Itâs intriguing.
Moreover, the opponent, like me, has set the restrictions to the maximum.
Yet, he can still move like this.
He doesnât have the âMutantâ hidden attribute like me.
âHeâs been in this state for at least a year...â
It means he has fully adapted.
Evidence that he has been swinging the spear with all his senses lost for at least a year.
At least a year, perhaps even much longer.
âItâs not normal. However...â
Itâs easy to say, but can anyone really wield a weapon for years without any senses?
Can it be done with the single-minded determination to reach a certain level?
â... Iâm not normal either.â
I smile inwardly.
Itâs not easy to encounter a master of such pure technique.
Thatâs why I decided to engage.
I needed someone to spar with anyway.
*
How much time had passed since then?
After continuously exchanging blows with the spear and sword, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
I canât be sure, but itâs because the spear techniques he uses are clearly different from typical spear techniques.
Spear attacks are usually concise.
But the spearman in front of me is focusing on âcombo attacks.â
âUp to 8 combos. Each combo is smoother and stronger than the last. This...â
It feels familiar.
The feeling of these combos.
Itâs almost identical to the class that can use âRampageâ after reaching 10 combos, which I trained to perfection.
âCould it be...â
No.
It canât be.
Thereâs no way.
But the more time passed, the more the denial turned into acceptance.
The spearman who sticks closely and unleashes combos is, to my knowledge, the only one in the world.
âCould this be the spearman character I abandoned two years ago...?â
Oh my.
It seems to be.
Two years ago, I logged out after leaving the character embedded in the Practitionerâs Mountain, never logging in again.
It was also around the time I was focusing on completing Wilhelm, and the skill training showed no signs of ending, so I left it.
âCrazy.â
Itâs unbelievable.
But why is he still alive here?
It wouldnât be strange if he had been killed by someone long ago.
After all,
â8 combos for two years? He must have had some talent.â
The spearman character had no talent.
The Spearman class was quite useful with a maximum skill level of 20, but the problem was that the most important skill of the Spearman, âRampage,â could only be used after reaching 10 combos.
To reach 9 and 10 combos, one needed to be able to use âExternal Qi,â which required a separate talent even at the maximum skill level of 20.
For example, a certain level of talent in sensory perception and the manipulation of natural energy was necessary.
Of course, I had set some basic talent when creating the Spearman character, but it was far from enough to use External Qi.
â... Setting the restrictions to the maximum was a mistake.â
The many restrictions on the lack of talent were detrimental.
As a result, it lost its appeal.
Swinging a spear on a black screen all day, whatâs the fun in that?
The speed at which the skill level increased was slow, and there were many things to manage, so I gave up without hesitation.
That character, who had survived alone in this hell and now wields a spear at me.
âIt seems the skill level 20 has been reached...â
After two years, it seems the skill level has maxed out.
However, he still hasnât used External Qi.
Is it because of the lack of talent to use External Qi?
âTo use External Qi, one needs talent and a master.â
Even with talent, one needs to learn the technique from a âmaster.â
Of course, if one has overwhelming talent like me, that process isnât necessary.
Or one can continuously train in External Qi.
There are meditation techniques or internal energy training methods in the game that can turn oneâs energy into External Qi.
However, itâs abnormal not to be able to use External Qi after two years.
After all, this is the Practitionerâs Mountain.
The real reason the Practitionerâs Mountain exists is for External Qi training. Even meditating at the top of the mountain after reaching level 20 should naturally lead to the use of External Qi.
There must be something wrong.
The reason the Spearman hasnât used External Qi yet.
â... This is also my karma.â
If I hadnât known, I could have ignored it, but I canât ignore it now that itâs right in front of me.
After all, like Isaac and Isabella, this is a character I raised.
I canât just abandon a Spearman who has trained alone for two years.
âI need to find out.â
I need to properly investigate what the problem is.
My experience and perspective now are different from what they were back then.
*
âLady Aria, are you going to the Chaos Realm today?â
When the practitioner asked, Aria didnât even react and just descended the mountain.
Originally, she was at the top of the Practitionerâs Mountain.
A land filled with the energy known as the âHeavenly Realm.â
There was no need to descend, but she went to the Chaos Realm every week when it opened.
The reason was simple.
âEvery time she turns the spearman into a mess...â
When the Chaos Realm opens, the spearman appears, and the sparring begins.
But itâs one-sided violence.
She drives the spearman to near-death and then returns.
âLady Aria dislikes those without talent.â
The spearman has no talent.
Whatâs the point of setting the restrictions to the maximum?
Whatâs the point of working tirelessly without rest?
He hasnât been able to use External Qi for years.
So, itâs a form of pressure to make him give up and leave the Practitionerâs Mountain.
Despite this pressure continuing for over a year, the spearman hasnât left the mountain.
âThe reason the spearman has survived so far is also thanks to this.â
If it werenât for Aria, the spearman would have died long ago.
The perception that Aria had marked him spread, so no one dared to touch him.
Here, she was the queen.
From the moment she appeared in the Practitionerâs Mountain, she was the fastest to reach the Heavenly Realm.
Her overwhelming talent and formidable abilities were enough to shock both practitioners and trainees.
âHe will die today as well.â
The practitioner shook his head.
Why doesnât the spearman give up?
By now, he should clearly feel the lack of his talent.
Moreover, even if the restrictions are set to the maximum in the Practitionerâs Mountain, the pain and the sense of pain remain.
âAt this point, itâs beyond stubbornness, itâs foolish. Tsk tsk.â
He clicked his tongue and descended to the Chaos Realm.
Suddenly, Aria stopped.
â...?â
The practitioner couldnât help but tilt his head.
The spearman is there, but thereâs someone else too.
âA... I heard there was a human who recently entered the mountain with all restrictions set to the maximum. Is this that person? But itâs strange. How could he already be in the Chaos Realm...?â
He had only heard about this a week ago.
A foolish human who had just entered the mountain.
A practitioner who was certain this human would die soon due to the poor skill level and all restrictions set to the maximum.
âWait. Level 19?â
The practitioner rubbed his eyes and opened them wide.
... He didnât see wrong.
He had clearly heard that the skill level was poor, but level 19?
Is this possible in such a short time?
â2, 20! Heâs reached level 20!â
At that moment, the practitioner witnessed the level increase.
Level 20 is a kind of benchmark.
A realm that even those called geniuses find hard to surpass.
But what happened next was even more astonishing.
â... Sword, Qi...!â
External Qi, sword energy, was emitted from the sword.
To emit sword energy right after reaching level 20?
Itâs impossible, even with abundant talent.
He had never seen such a case in his long career as a practitioner.
â...â
Ariaâs usually emotionless eyes showed a hint of interest.
*
ăYour sword proficiency has reached level 20.ă
ăYour sword proficiency has reached level 20, unlocking âSword Qi.âă
ăYou have emitted Sword Qi. Damage increased by 20%.ă
ăSword Qi increases damage based on the sword proficiency level.ă
ăYou have met the conditions to use âHeaven and Earth Splitâ - Earth.ă
After reaching level 20 and emitting Sword Qi, the technique I used in the battle with the dragon became available.
Heaven and Earth Split - Earth.
A sword technique that resonates and destroys all attacks.
The technique I used when I received the dragonâs attack.
The minimum requirement was âSword Qi emission,â so it was natural.
âI understand the problem now.â
At the same time, I understood why the Spearman couldnât use External Qi.
âUnconsciousness. That was the problem.â
Due to spending too much time in the darkness, an unconsciousness was formed.
Unconsciousness was the only means to protect oneself from all threats.
But this deep unconsciousness was also blocking new learning.
So, I needed to awaken it.
The consciousness. The Spearmanâs.
The method was simple.
âUntil one of us falls.â
Just keep fighting!
To break the unconsciousness, all the accumulated efforts over two years needed to be released.
Additionally, I resonated to guide the Spearmanâs consciousness to awaken.
When the fight had been going on for so long that it became vague.
Thud!
The Spearman fell to the ground and fainted.
With a faint External Qi surrounding the spear.
*
How long has it been since I felt such interest?
No, this level of interest is the first time.
For a long time, Aria was bored. During the year of stagnation, everything in the world felt trivial.
Thatâs why she was even angry at the dull and talentless.
The human spearman was one of them.
A person who spent years in the mountain without being able to use External Qi, wasting time.
She believed he would remain at the same level for life.
So, she always pressured him to give up, telling him he had no talent and should leave the mountain.
âExternal Qi...â
If thatâs the case.
The spearman finally emitted External Qi at the end.
The energy flickering on the spear was clearly it.
But this was possible only because of the newly appeared human.
A human who, like the spearman, had set all restrictions to the maximum.
âGenius.â
He seemed to be of the same kind as me.
Using Sword Qi as soon as he reached the realm, and guiding the spearman to emit External Qi, he possessed overflowing talent.
I had never seen such a thing before.
Not even in Kramdel, not even from the White King or the Four Pillars.
I had met many strong people, but none had given me such a profound impression.
Thump! Thump!
Seeing him, my heart raced wildly.
â... Finally found it.â
Baal Talisman
Balt, the spearman, sank deep into the depths.
Despairing over his lack of progress for over two years.
But he didnât put down the spear.
Because he believed his efforts would eventually pay off.
However, every time he left the Chaos Realm, Balt could only feel despair.
âA talent so brilliant, incomparable to me.â
He didnât know who it was.
But there was someone who always overpowered him with overwhelming skill.
This person seemed to be telling him:
-You have no talent.
-Those who only work hard are not needed in this Practitionerâs Mountain.
-Just give up and leave.
The opponent became stronger with each moment, as if mocking his efforts.
At first, the gap wasnât that large, but now it was so vast that he couldnât even see it.
Surely, a chosen one with a brilliant talent.
A talent incomparable to his.
âBalt. Swing the spear. If a hundred times is not enough, do a thousand, if a thousand is not enough, do ten thousand!â
He gritted his teeth and pushed himself even harder.
However, the saying that effort never betrays is wrong.
As the gap in skill and talent grew wider over time, Balt could only feel despair.
âBalt, donât weaken. Too much thinking will get you devoured.â
In the end, he locked himself in his unconsciousness and began to swing the spear exclusively.
Until today.
âWho is it?â
Someone else was now right in front of him.
Clearly someone who had set all restrictions to the maximum, just like him.