Fake and real. At first, when he said that, he thought that this person was treating him as a reproduced being. But from his tone and gaze and looking at
his opponentâs sword, he realized that wasnât the case.
Whoosh! Slash!
Something that could not be said with the skills and stats existing within the system was contained in that manâs sword. It was hard to explain, but if he
kept digging, as always, time would tell.
Come to think of it; the man said his body had no power from the start. Nevertheless, he hadnât lost and always won. Yoon-seok repeated it over and
over. For some reason, he thought the answer resided there.
âItâs a little weird no matter how I look at itâŚ?â
Seheranbad, Moorim, Kilian. While their terms and way of manifesting it may differ, they all used energy. Was it possible to survive as a swordsman
without magic in those words? No, it was impossible. However, it didnât feel like the man was bluffing.
âŚThe answer must be in his Unique Skill.â
Unique Skills were closely related to the challengerâs talent, life, and experience. Magic-related skills were given if they were magicians, stealth if they
were assassins, and so on. This manâs Unique Skill was {Cultivator), an offensive skill that sealed all skills and powers.
âWith this ability, there must be a handicap. Is that why he doesnât have magic powers?â
According to the basic stat, even oneâs energy lost due to old age was normalized when one became a challenger. But no magic power? It was
reasonable to see it as a penalty due to the Unique Skill.
Shift.
Yoon-seok observed his opponentâs sword, struggling to fight without catching the chance to win. Then, he realized one more new fact. The manâs sword
didnât break Yoon-seokâs sword energy. It just looked like that because it was naturally scattered like spring snow melting down before the sword energy
collided with metal.
He felt like he understood now what kind of Unique Skill {Cultivator) was. And what kind of life that man had lived, including why he said he was fake.
Magic Eater. The innate ability to return all powers made of energy to nothing just by touching them. However, there was a fatal disadvantage in that he
couldnât use magic. Most who lived that way couldnât survive for long. However, Lavan Vargas was different.
âThereâs someone I must kill.â
He held his sword for revenge and trained his body to the extreme. Magic Eaters couldnât become swordsmen? Bullshit. If his opponent couldnât use their
energy, wouldnât the conditions be the same? They were people, too. If a sword went through their heart, they would die.
Punch
A messy bar in a remote city. He knew the reality only when the fist of a C-class mercenary landed against his face. Even though the Magic Eaterâs ability
could block auras, it couldnât prevent Physical Enhancement that used magic. In the end, it was useless to train his body for a hundred days. The
mercenary with a bulging belly from constant drinking was several times faster than his sword.
One day, as he was wandering,
âWhy are you so angry?â
Lavan met his mentor. He was a prestigious swordsman, but now he had lost his magic. In a way, the swordsman was in a similar situation to himself. At
that time, he thought so. That was until he cut down a steel knife with his wooden sword without magic.
Slash-!
âSomething contained in the sword that is not magic. What do you think? Donât you think you can take on the world?â
âIf you give up on revenge, Iâll teach you the sword.â
Lavan gave up on revenge, and he learned the masterâs sword. It was a sword that denied the worldâs regard toward magic. It was something that he
born as a Magic Eater, desperately longed for.
âIf you donât want to die, move faster. You canât? Donât make me laugh. Itâs a shitty world, but nothingâs impossible. Itâs just that you canât do it now.â
Under his mentorâs instruction, he continued with his harsh practices. He erased all doubt from his mind and abandoned his anguish. Then, Lavanâs sword
gradually changed. His will made sense. If he wanted, the sword became like wind, fire, and even lightning. Even without magic, his body moved quickly
as if he had Physical Enhancement.
âAt least you wonât die in a harsh place.â
Leaving his gray-haired teacher behind, Lavan went out into the world. Wherever he went, he was met with a turbulent place full of blood.
âMagic Eater?â
âHow can a half-wit have such powerâŚ!â
Lavan defeated many strong people. He even faced the strongest man in the current continent, and sadly, they failed to reach a proper conclusion. Their match ended in a tie, but it felt like something he had lacked all his life was now satisfied. Only then did Lavan realize what he wanted to prove in
this turbulent world.
What was wrong was not him but the world. He could achieve anything without magic, but everyone was deceived by falsehoods.
[The Tower chooses you.]
Then, one day the tower appeared.
{Cultivator)
Rank F â Magic is sealed. Middle Qi is open.
If he could reach the end, would he prove it?
Although he had {Divine Ultimatum, his opponent still held the upper hand. His sword energy disappeared even before it touched. Of course, Physical
Enhancement could still be used with magic, but he didnât see a point in that. If he were in that state, it would have been better to be pushed back.
Thereâs no way his basic stats are that high⌠does he have something that can replace magic?â
He had no clue. However, in the end, the difference in technique would determine the outcome. ButâŚ
âCrap.
Sadly, it was his foe, not Yoon-seok, who was ahead in technique,
Whoosh!
It was crude. His foundation was strong, but should he say that was all? Originally, Yoon-seokâs sword technique wouldâve been able to suppress a sword
like that
âWhy?â
He was strong. Even though it didnât contain magic, it kicked up a strong wind.
Whoosh!
Of course, in the past, Cheon-ma formed a tsunami with only her sword and no energy. But this was fundamentally different from that. Not just the
realization of the sword, this manâs sword contained something,
âMaybe thatâs what that man meant by real.â
Yoon-seok wanted to know what it was. Therefore, he searched for it while evading in a black and white world full of lines. As he silently stretched out his
sword.
ââŚ?â
He felt a strange sense of incompatibility. The sword that seemed to contain no magic was surrounded by something else.
âŚWhat is that?
It couldnât be seen with a way to see. However, Yoon-seok held no doubt about the existence of that being. The moment when he recognized it faintly,
the outline started to become more clearly defined.
âŚI donât think itâs magic at all.â
Something that was so naturally harmonized with the world like air. Was it a new kind of energy derived from a Unique Skill like the Azure Dragon? He
wasnât sure, but Yoon-seok somehow felt it was familiar.
âWhen and where have seen it?â
He couldnât remember. However.
Whikkk!
Once again, when the opponentâs sword was swung like lightning, he could figure out the basis of this energy. Normal magic circulated from the lower
part of the navel, but that energy started from the heart. The heart was where Middle Qi was located. Was this a coincidence?
âNo way.â
Yoon-seokâs smile deepened. He found a clue from an unexpected place. Now it was time to check if it was right.
Yoon-seok began to examine his own body. Then, as if looking at a model of the human body, the path of his blood vessels and the minute movements
of his muscles could be seen in his head. It was one of his talents that he developed through constant meditation. Yoon-seok focused all his attention on
his Middle Qi.
The space was still full of Skywrath Energy converted into magic. As always, he couldnât move it no matter how hard he tried. But that was the trap in the
first place. Middle Qi was completely different.
âIt wasnât related to magic in the first place.â
It was just that magic found an empty place and settled down. Because of that, he misunderstood its nature. Middle Qi wasnât a place to store magic. It
was something closer to nature than magic, a form of Natural Energy. It was accumulated in the body and converted into practical force.
Then, a question arose.
âHow do I use Natural Energy?
He recognized its existence, but that was not enough. The Natural Energy trapped in the Middle Qi wouldnât budge. As it differed from magic, the method
of utilizing it mustâve also been vastly different. But he wasnât lost.
There was a good textbook in front of him.
Whoooosh! Whik!
He would find out if he imitated him.
Yoon-seok stopped using magic. His overflowing magic naturally assisted his body, but he tried his best to suppressit. To learn from his opponent, he
needed to throw himself into a similar environment.
Boom! Slash! Whooosh!
When Physical Enhancement vanished, it was difficult to receive his foeâs sword. He used Yin and Yang to react, but he still struggled. Yet, without
knowing, he somehow fell into a trance.
And from that moment, Lavan Vargasâ expression also changed a little.
ââŚYou punk.â
He noticed he was trying to copy him. Originally, he wouldâve snorted. It took a long time for him, even while being taught by his mentor. The most
important thing to becoming ârealâ was unwavering faith. But heâd only seen fake things all his life, so how was he going to see the truth now?
It would be right to think it was impossible.
Whoooosh!
The stats and skill of the system, and magic. His sword, which used to be full of lies, changed every moment to become more and more true. It was hard
to accept; he was filled with jealousy that he possessed incomparable talent compared to him.
Was he going to become real even though he was fake?
ââŚIs that even possible?â
Even if heaven allowed it, he wouldnât tolerate it. Lavan leaped back and widened the distance from Yoon-seok. Then, he gently lowered his sword. He
didnât want to continue fighting this match anymore.
âIâll finish it in a second.â
The essence of the sword and the secret technique left by his mentor. The real that could see through any powerful enemy.
-You want me to give you a name?
-Mentor, this is a great sword technique. At least for those like us, it will provide plenty of strength!
-HmmâŚ
After much consideration, his mentor gave this name to the sword.
â This heart keeps people alive and breathing. The place where the will and faith of each person exist. It is a sword that uses it as a source. SoâŚ
Heart Sword.
-Yeah, thatâs good.
Something huge, blurry to Yoon-seokâs eyes, arrived in the arena. Not in the sky, but the heart of this swordsman.