When the sword went through this time, it cut through the creature’s leg like a hot knife going through butter. It was so vastly different from the effect it had had for most of the fight that Jang Su was forced to stagger away as the monster teetered to the side.
A frown creased his forehead and he looked from his sword to the severed leg.
What’s different? he wondered, gauging the distance between him and his enemy.
The creature caught itself with one hand that was basically just a massive crab claw the length of Jang Su’s entire body with a width as wide as him if he were placed thrice beside himself. Its other arm, a live python continued to watch him, to stare as if making sure that he would not attack. It was also possible that it wanted him to attack, to come into striking distance.
“You’re stalling,” a voice called out from one of the trees. The forest was filled with countless trees, and for all his perception, Jang Su could not place which tree it had come from.
“Why did it cut?” Jang Su returned. “It hasn’t been cutting. Did you do something?”
The scoffing sound was so loud it was as if the person had done it right next to his ear. “Figure that out yourself.”
Jang Su sighed. He had been fighting this specific creature for what felt like an hour, depleting his stamina and mana in an attempt to figure out how to beat it. He could leave marks on it, beat it down, but every blow he landed never felt decisive enough. Every cut was always too shallow and the monster never showed pain.
Pain? he snorted. What do you expect from a monster with no head?
When the [Sage] had brought him here, it was with promises of stress and suffering that would lead to strength the likes of which most of his peers did not possess, perhaps could not even possess.
“You will be fighting something called a chimera,” the [Sage] had said. “Do you know what that is?”
Jang Su had been excited to hear it. Everything he knew from his time on Earth told him that chimera were interesting combinations of monstrosity. It had been difficult to believe that the creature would not be strong.
Banishing the thoughts from his mind, Jang Su darted into the reach of the snake hand. Unsurprisingly, it struck at him even as the chimera, a creature over eight feet tall and stocky with a torso made of rocks tried to get back to its foot—if he could call what it had a foot. Jang Su slipped to the side seamlessly, calling on every perception stat he had to pay attention. Observation, the [Sage] always taught him, was the difference between life and death on the battle field.
He ducked the python’s snapping mouth and tore a line along its body with a slash of his sword. He frowned at the absence of blood spray, even though the thin red line on its body was a clear sign that he had dealt damage.
“Watch out for the monster,” the [Sage]’s voice echoed through the forest. “It can take you by surprise.”
Jang Su already knew that. His still bleeding arm was all the reminder he needed. The monster was unreasonably fast for its size, at least it could be when it wanted to.
Eventually, the monster found itself standing on one leg, struggling to maintain balance. The crab claw snapped as if to intimidate him while the python positioned itself in a way that looked as if it was trying to give the creature balance.
For a good portion of the fight, Jang Su had been trying to take the head of the python. Humanoid, thought he monster had seemed, it lacked a head. As such, the only head on the monster was the one that belonged to the python. His guess had been obvious, he would take the python’s head and see if it served as the head of the monster.
Jang Su changed his hold on the sword. With the hilt secured in both hands, he lowered it to the side so that he was forced to lean forward a little while the tip of the blade pointed behind him. It was a simple stance, almost as if he was going to draw the weapon from its sheath.
He heard the [Sage] sigh. The man always told him not to depend too much on a skill because it made him predictable. Jang Su’s argument was that it made him predictable to observant humans not monsters.
The monster blurred into movement abruptly. Jang Su stepped forward, watching with every sense he had. The moment the creature slipped into his reach, his sword moved. He swung up and diagonally. The resistance that came with metal meeting stone tried to jerk his arm away, but he held his ground. Then the monster was gone from his reach.
Jang Su turned, ready to evade another attack, only to come to an abrupt stop in front of his interface.
[Congratulations! You have slain Chimera Lvl 82]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Level 84 > 87]
[You are now Level 87]
“I don’t…” the rest of the sentence died on his lips.
How exactly had he killed the monster. It confused even him. First, he hadn’t been able to deal any real damage on the monster, then out of nowhere he had cut the leg very easily, now it was dead.
The [Sage] walked out from a tree, literally walked out of it. It was something the man did often, walking out of things with food in hand. Right now, he was eating a pine cone the size of his fist. He bit into it as if it was some juicy fruit, but Jang Su knew better. He could hear the crunching sound from every chew.
“Did you do that?” Jang Su asked, nodding towards the dead chimera.
The [Sage] paused mid bite. He pointed at the corpse with the hand holding the fruit. “That?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Yes, that,” Jang Su answered.
The man cocked a brow. “Have I ever been known to interfere in what I have no intentions of interfering in?”
Jang Su shook his head. “But it died. I don’t know how it died.”
“You didn’t know how the first one died either,” the [Sage] pointed out, then shrugged, walking past the corpse. “It happens.”
“It was my first chimera, I didn’t understand what I was doing.” Jang Su sheathed his sword. “I know what I’m doing now.”
“You think you know what you are doing now,” The [Sage] corrected. “But trust me, it might have been an accident, but I can say confidently that you killed this one.”
Jang Su did not like achieving success accidentally. “What did I do differently this time?”
“Nothing you can understand at your level,” the [Sage] answered, walking past him and patting him on the shoulder. “Come on, on to the next.”
“Please,” Jang Su begged with a straight back but a lowered head.
The [Sage] paused but didn’t say anything. After a moment, he looked up and sighed. “What’s with the impatience of the youth?”
“We have all the energy and want to achieve,” Jang Su answered. “We don’t truly understand the power of time, yet.”
The [Sage] bent his head to look at him as if trying to do it upside down. “You almost sounded smart there. Almost.” Then he turned and looked at Jang Su. He took another bite of his pinecone. “Alright. What do you want to know?”
“How I killed it.”
“More specificity, Jang Su.”
Jang Su pressed his lips into a thin line and thought about what specifically he wanted to know. He had killed the creature, that much was confirmed. But how? That was the question he needed to narrow down. He doubted the answer would teach him anything if he narrowed it down, and thinking like this was probably not teaching him anything either. The problem with the [Sage] was that for all his age and wisdom, sometimes unorthodox things he made Jang Su do was simply because his life was boring and he wanted to have fun. There was no unorthodox mister Miyagi teaching going on.
He sighed in the end, coming to a question carrying the specificity the [Sage] was looking for.
“I’m listening,” the [Sage] said, watching him.
“How did my last blow kill it?” he asked.
“Mana point,” the [Sage] answered. “You severed the mana point connecting to its brain.”
Jang Su paused, confused. “What?”
“I said what I said.”
It was even more confusing. Nel Quan had taught him nothing about anything called a mana point. And if Yul Kwen had known about it, she would’ve definitely told him. She kept no secrets from him. As long as she knew it and it was helpful to him, she told him.
The [Sage] resumed his stroll, eating into his pinecone and Jang Su followed him with more questions in mind.
“What’s a mana point?”
“Channels that carry the mana.” He paused, thought about it. “Well, I wouldn’t say channels. Do you remember that thing you told me about blood cells?”
“Red blood and white blood?” Jang Su asked.
The [Sage] snapped his finger. “Yes, that. Now just the way you have blood cells and all that, that carry oxygen and what not, you have the ones that carry mana, so I guess you can call clusters of them mana points.” He pursed his lips, tapped the pinecone against them in thought. “I guess instead of channels we can call it mana flow. Ah, I like that one. Yes. Mana flow. So you severed its mana flow.”
“Just like that?”
The [Sage] chuckled. “Just like that, he says.”
“I’m serious,” Jang Su complained. “I can just sever someone’s mana flow like that and kill them; accidentally? Shouldn’t a lot of people be dying accidentally all over the place?”
This time the [Sage] paused to look at him. “Accidentally,” he said in a mocking tone. “Just like that.” He sighed. “What you have done would be impossible with a normal person. It was only possible with a chimera. One does not simply accidentally sever a mana flow. It’s more tightly packed in natural beings. Noticing it is another impossibility.”
“So anyone can do what I just did?”
The [Sage] shrugged. “With enough training over countless years? Yes. Mana flows are always moving and shifting, but there is always a pattern. In humans, animals, elves, dwarves, treants, roaches...”
Jang Su blinked. “Did you say roaches?”
“Yes, why?”
“As in roaches as monsters or roaches as…”
“A species, yes.”
Jang Su imagined a cockroach standing on two legs like a human being, as tall as a human being too, and he knew he did not want to run into something like that. It was just terrifying, and his thoughts were worse than a specific anime he watched back home about some people that fought against a race of evolved cockroaches.
The [Sage] sighed. “I can only imagine what overactive monstrosities your imagination is bringing up, but you have nothing to be worried about. As I was saying, mana flow is different in different species, but all species have a pattern, it’s just slightly customized for each person, personalized.” He paused, turned and pointed the half-eaten pinecone at Jang Su. “Once your body has locked in a pattern established from how you use your mana, it doesn’t change, its firmness and strength only increase. Following so far?”
Jang Su nodded. “So far.”
“But the thing is that seeing it is in the purview of people that are not on this side of Nastild,” the [Sage] continued. “To see it you need to be above level four hundred and ninety five. So remove your mind from seeing it. Affecting it, however, is a different situation. Obviously, the higher your level, the higher your chances of hitting them. But you cannot hit them unless you are actually trying to hit them.”
“Even if I can’t see them?”
“Yep.”
“So, I can feel them if I try?”
The [Sage] shook his head. “Nope. You can’t feel them either.”
“So, if I ever come across someone above level four hundred and ninety, I should always be on my best behavior.”
The [Sage] chuckled. “If you see someone one hundred levels above you right now, you should be on your best behavior, Jang Su. Anyway, its stronger to hold on to your mana flow if you are strong, reduces the chances of accidentally having someone sever it.”
“And this works for everyone?”
The [Sage] nodded.
“Even you?” Jang Su asked.
The [Sage] nodded again. “If someone has a strong enough intent, and can get past me, they can accidentally hit my mana flow.”
“And it doesn’t bother you?”
The [Sage] laughed. “I said hit, young man, not sever. The number of people that are strong enough to sever my mana flow are not more than five on this planet, and I’m equally strong enough to sever theirs, no I’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“So everyone just walks around with this weakness?”
“I wouldn’t call it a weakness, but yes.” The [Sage] paused. “Oh, sorry, not everyone. Your friend doesn’t walk around with it.”
“My friend?” Jang Su asked. It took him a moment to realize who the [Sage] was talking about. “Lacheart?”
“Yep, that guy. No idea how he did it.”
“I’m confused. Is his mana flow that strong?”
“Not really,” the [Sage] answered. “It’s strong for his age and level, but that’s not it. His mana flow is like a… remember when I told you that he’s like a world of enchantments?”
“I do.”
“It’s because of how his mana flow is,” the [Sage] continued. “It doesn’t have a patter. Its… malleable? No, that’s the wrong word. It’s flexible. As if it never took on a rigid form. Severing it will be extremely difficult for even someone that can. Because every blow will just end up shifting its flow. I’m guessing there’s something he does to make his pattern so flexible. I know it changed patterns at least twice when he was fighting me. It was the most interesting thing to watch.” He looked as if he was set upon by wanderlust for a moment. “So seamless, so comfortable.” He shook his head in awe. “It was beautiful.”
“Is that why you wanted to fight him?” Jang Su asked.
“Oh, no. It was interesting enough, but I wanted to fight him because I could see the curiosity in his eyes. Even when you were in the cave. He has something dangerous in his eyes. Something fun.”
“And what’s that?”
“Calculation,” the [Sage] said. “Every time your friend comes upon a person, stranger, friend or foe, he’s always calculating, asking. He’s always trying to figure out how he can beat them and if he can beat them. I saw him calculating how to deal with me, so I gave him a chance. The reward was a reward for his mana flow and a motivation to try to deal with me.”
“I see.” Jang Su could not say that he was not impressed by the high praise.
The [Sage] looked him up. “You’re not bothered?”
“By?”
“How much praise your peer is getting?”
Jang Su shrugged. “Not really. He fought me to a standstill when I had like ten levels on him. I’ve known from the beginning that he was strong.”
There was also the secret that he knew about the [Sage] and fought like him. But Jang Su had promised to keep that to himself. If not for anything, then for the sake that Aiden was not a bad person and they were both from Earth, he would keep the secret until he could no longer.
“That’s the problem,” the [Sage] sighed. “You don’t have the drive. You lack the drive required to rise above all else. To get to the top, you have to be defiant, to be monstrous, to want it all. Once upon a time you asked me why powerful people are rarely good people, you spoke of how power corrupts. Do you remember what I told you?”
Jang Su remembered it perfectly. “People at the top are not bad people because power corrupted them, they are bad people because what it takes to get to the top is not something a good person is capable of doing. Bad people are at the top because it’s bad people that want to get to the top, not good people. It’s bad people that are willing to do what has to be done to get to the top.”
“You need the same drive, Jang Su,” the [Sage] said, serious. “You need that drive to get to the top at all costs.”
“That does not sound like a quality of a [Hero].”
“Bah!” the [Sage] scoffed. “Who said I want you to be a [Hero]. I want you to be the best version of yourself that you can be.”
“And if it’s the [Demon King]?”
The [Sage] shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me, as long as that is the best version of yourself. But you need that greed and drive to be the best version of yourself.” His expression turned crestfallen. “Sadly, you don’t have it. Yet.”
“And this training will help me get that?”
“Nope. This training will help you accidentally sever an opponent’s mana flow should the opportunity ever arise. You are here to learn how to fight with the intent of severing a mana flow in every strike. Like I said, without that intent, the accident can never happen. Even if you can see the flow, without intending to sever it, you will never be able to touch it.”
“I get it now,” Jang Su turned his head, looked around. “What are these things really? Where did they come from? They are all different but the interface keeps calling them the same thing.”
“They are exactly what the system calls them,” the [Sage] answered. “Failed amalgamations of things that should not be amalgamated. Created by a being that… come to think of it, if you get as strong as I intend, you might have to meet the being. Their origin story will be very useful to you.”
“And their origin story is what exactly?”
“It’s…”
The [Sage]’s words fell through. His lips closed softly into silence and he turned his head. In the space of two breaths, two people came out from behind a large shrubbery. One looked tired and tattered, annoyed too. The other looked regal, familiar well put together.
Jang Su cocked a brow at them. He recognized the regal one.
“Prince Derenet?” he asked, confused.
The [Sage] raised a hand to stop him in case he wanted to move. “Careful now. A prince of Bandiv has no business being so far away from his kingdom and so close to another without informing the royal family of his presence.”
Derenet and the other person stood in place, as if having run into a problem. Derenet kept an eye on the [Sage].
“He’s old,” Derenet’s companion said. “If he’s aging like this, he shouldn’t be too strong.”
Derenet chuckled a little. “If you want to go get yourself killed, Sam, be my guest. But you’ll grow old and die never being able to touch the hem of that thing’s clothes.”
“Thing,” the [Sage] mused, then he folded his arms. “Seeing as you are not who you claim to be, can I assume that you are here for official tasks or is this some kind of runaway thing going on here?”
Jang Su was confused. He understood the part about being here in an official capacity or running away, but he didn’t understand the part about not being who he was claiming to be. It made him feel like nothing was what it seemed, and his hand settled on the hilt of his sword.
Derenet laughed a little. “Official,” he grinned. “And you know what that means.”
“That I cannot interfere with anything you do,” the [Sage] sighed.
“Yes. So step aside.”
“Your kind are always so arrogant,” the [Sage] muttered, then shook his head. “Jang Su, do you remember what I said about taking responsibility as a man?”
“I do.” Jang Su’s hand resting on the hilt of his sword moved. It was still settled on it but now he could draw it easily.
“Do you think that will work, old man?” Derenet asked. “Do you not wonder just how strong I am? I got this close to you without detection. You should be worried.”
“I should,” the [Sage] admitted, looking very unworried. “But I’m not.”
Derenet shook his head. “Not very smart.”
“Perhaps.” The [Sage] shrugged. “Jang Su, I will take responsibility for any of the outcome. Kill him.”
Jang Su drew his sword without delay and was already moving.
“Understood.”