Episode 313 – Iron Fist of Parthe
Lochter stood with his arms crossed, remaining in place for a while.
His eyes were closed, and it was clear that hearing about Richard’s fifth sword had left him deep in thought.
From the beginning, I had intended to share the secret of the Invisible Sword if I got the chance. If Lochter were to face Richard again without knowing about that weapon, I judged there was a high chance even he would lose his life.
If only there were a strategy guide for dealing with him…
Richard was the leader of the scavengers—hyena-like opportunists.
He was a sharp, opportunistic type who survived even when Demtor fell. A villain among villains, he managed to survive until the late stages of the novel.
As a fellow swordsman, perhaps Lochter could discover a way to counter him.
But it didn’t seem like the answer would co right away.
He looked like he could stand there lost in thought all day unless I said sothing, so I decided to focus on the other reason I had co to see him.
“Lochter, could you help with so training?”
“Training? What kind of training?”
“I need so live combat experience.”
At the word combat, Lochter gave a nod and raised his twin swords.
I quickly opened the box I had brought with .
Inside was a pair of gloves.
They were mysterious gloves, slightly translucent, and as soon as I put them on, they vanished, as if I was barehanded again.
My pupils briefly turned a deep gray before returning to normal.
Seeing that, Lochter narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“What are those gloves?”
“Iron Fist of Parthe. An artifact I recently acquired.”
“Don’t tell —that’s the one Karl was freaking out about?”
“It was a bit pricey.”
“A bit??”
Lochter assud it was just so artifact testing and adjusted his energy accordingly.
“Would a light sparring match be enough?”
“Losing an arm is acceptable.”
“…An arm??”
I slowly exhaled and took the basic stance of Quanru. As my clenched fists turned dark gray, I sprang forward and said,
“You’ll understand once we clash.”
My eyes turned a full shade of iron gray.
The Steel Attribute had activated.
Boom!
Planting one foot and hurling my fist like a bolt of lightning, Lochter crossed his twin blades.
Quanru, enhanced with Spirit Arts and enchantnt, delivered razor-sharp punches.
But while it was sharp, it hadn’t been particularly hard or heavy.
Even with most of the shock absorbed by Spirit Arts, my fists would turn into bloody pulp against Aura Swords.
If not for my monstrous regeneration, I could never have pulled off that reckless approach.
But now—it was different.
Pkaang–!
“Kuugh!”
Just as he was about to block and counter, Lochter groaned and stumbled backward.
His stance crumbled as if struck by a hamr.
His eyes wide in surprise, he looked down at my fists.
Zzzzzzng—!
A resonating vibration pulsed from my fists, and a gray haze rippled around them.
Steel Attribute.
The power of iron had been unleashed.
As the gray glow thickened, I quickly launched my next attack.
Ti was shorter than expected.
Kwakwang! Kwang–!
Blows poured in without pause.
The sheer weight behind each strike broke Lochter’s form, and he couldn’t find a mont to counter.
If he tried to evade, Quanru’s fluid combos rained down like thunder. If he blocked, the power scattered his energy.
It’s completely different now.
Lochter stared at his twin swords with calm eyes.
The force of the strikes was so intense, the blades had already been stained red.
Letting out a groan, Lochter lowered his stance.
A counterattack stance.
In this situation, retreat would be normal—but I clenched my fists and bit down hard.
Burst Strike!
Kkkgkkk—!
My arm muscles scread, and I swung like a cannon.
Even against a counter, I’d crush him with force!
The punch, charged with Burst Strike, shot forward like a flash.
At the sa ti, Lochter launched his counter.
KWAANG!
An explosion detonated right in front of .
“Huuhh… hu…”
I exhaled raggedly.
Lochter remained standing at the point of impact, arms extended with twin swords. After a mont, he lowered them and collapsed to his knees, coughing.
When he wiped his lips, a trace of blood appeared.
Did he suffer internal damage?
His chestplate was visibly caved in.
He quietly ran his hand across the shattered armor.
He had taken the blow during his counter. That must have completely ruined his stance—yet the destructive force was insane.
Slowly, Lochter stood back up.
When he saw the destroyed wall beside him, concern filled his expression.
The counter had landed cleanly.
The impact must’ve been massive.
But that worry turned out to be pointless.
“…Agh.”
A groan rang out as I erged from the pile of debris, brushing aside the collapsed stones.
I was a ss of blood.
“You alright?”
“Do I look alright?”
“Well, you’re still talking.”
“My body’s gotten tougher, but it’s not sothing to celebrate casually.”
My skin was torn in several places, but there were no critical injuries.
With the Steel Attribute enveloping my body, my skin had beco like armor.
It was a perfect match for Quanru—but after checking my condition, I frowned.
My feet wouldn’t move.
Literally, my legs were as heavy as stone.
“Let’s call the match here.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The curse is spreading faster than I expected.”
“Curse?”
“Petrification.”
Starting from both feet, my skin had turned iron gray.
The petrification curse was advancing rapidly.
The Fist of the Cursed Giant Tribe strengthened the body with steel, but using the attribute's power ca with a powerful petrification curse.
As the battle just demonstrated, the Steel Attribute was terrifyingly strong in close combat. If it weren’t cursed, this item would never have been up for sale.
“It’s a curse that progresses from within. Not easy to treat.”
Over the years, countless people had fallen prey to its power, all losing their lives despite attempts to overco the curse.
The previous owner likely gave up after trying everything and eventually put it up for sale.
The petrification curse spread from the inside out.
For others, it would be a nightmare.
But to —it was just another event.
I was already used to curses.
“Reto.”
[A troubleso one has entered. Is this from the ancient era?]
“Can you handle it?”
[If I have enough ti, yes.]
“I’ll leave it to you.”
If a curse started inside the body, then it had to be resolved inside the body.
My fists, legs…
As the petrification spread from my limbs, turning my skin iron gray, it finally reached my chest.
Thump—
The mont the curse touched my heart, it pulsed violently.
Then, the heart began absorbing the gray energy—the petrification curse.
No matter how powerful the curse was, it couldn’t surpass the heavenly punishnt that descended from the gods—the divine curses of divine nas.
And Reto, who could brush off even those divine curses, wasn’t threatened by sothing like petrification.
As Reto began to act in earnest, my frozen senses started returning, one by one.
My gray skin quickly regained its color, returning to normal.
I began testing my limbs slowly, and Reto relayed his assessnt.
[It’s not hard to suppress the curse. But this isn’t a curse that can be completely undone. It’s a nuisance.]
“What do you an? You can’t fully lift it?”
[The item was born with the curse. If the curse disappears, so will the gloves.]
“That’s… problematic.”
[Every ti you use the gloves’ power, the petrification curse will appear. I can stop the progression in advance. But doing so will reduce the heart’s capabilities.]
“There’s no easy path, huh.”
[The greater the power, the greater the price.]
Reto left with that cryptic line.
I let it pass and began to think.
To wield the power of iron, I’d have to pay the price.
Now I understand why it never had a proper owner.
If I didn’t have soone like Reto, this artifact would’ve been impossible to control.
It’s similar to the penalty of Spirit Arts.
Spirit Arts also required Reto’s spiritual body. Using it would reduce the heart’s performance in the sa way.
If I used both abilities at once?
It would likely result in a dramatic drop in my heart’s function.
My stamina, regeneration, even Burst Strike usage would be affected.
Spirit Arts should remain for defense, and Steel for offense.
With so many abilities, I’d need to stay focused when using them.
Just mastering the Steel Attribute had been a wise decision. Even this alone overlapped with many of my existing techniques. If I added more attributes now, I’d risk diluting my existing power.
Of course, there might co a ti when I could use everything at once.
Divine Hunter.
When I set a target and beca a hunter of divine nas, my heart’s capabilities would increase dramatically.
I was curious about that state, but it wasn’t sothing I could test lightly.
“Oh, could I ask you for one more thing?”
“Another spar?”
“No, a test.”
“Test?”
I summoned the Ring of Blood and drew the bowstring taut. Between the string, a gray arrow materialized.
A Steel-infused arrow, after Piercing and Sacred Power.
I was curious what power the Steel Attribute would show when infused into an arrow.
“Would you mind just taking a hit? One shot, eyes closed?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Lochter scowled and raised his twin swords. As the arrow reached maximum power without growing any larger—
Thwung!
I released the string and staggered.
It was damn heavy.
Three days passed quickly.
***
During those three days, all I did was check the daily-updated catalog and train to adapt to the Steel Attribute in the training hall.
Tukang–!
With a clash, Lochter and I each took a step back. The tingling pain from the impact made shake out both hands.
Even with fists turned to iron, I couldn’t put a scratch on Lochter’s twin blades.
Made of Damascus tal, both Belin and Reyna were guaranteed by Dorneth the master blacksmith to be unmatched in hardness—and it seed he was right.
“All good now?”
“Yes. My body seems to be adjusting.”
We had clashed relentlessly for hours.
Normally, petrification would begin creeping in by now, but I was still fine.
Seeing blood drip steadily from my hands, I gave a wry smile.
Wounds like these would usually heal instantly—but while Reto was holding off the curse, my regeneration was clearly slowed.
“Let’s call it for today.”
“No more arrow training?”
“We’ve had complaints since yesterday. People want us to stop wrecking the building walls.”
Lochter looked around the training hall and gave an understanding nod.
The walls were caved in and crumbled in places. These weren’t just inner walls either—they were thick, brick-reinforced outer walls of the mansion. The ones around the training grounds were completely destroyed and leveled.
Even beyond, rooftops had collapsed and buried multiple buildings.
All caused by the Steel-infused arrows.
Those things are brutally heavy.
If Piercing Arrows were like lightning-tipped spears, Steel Arrows were more like a massive hamr.
At max output, they crushed everything in their path and flew straight through.
But they were so heavy that they couldn’t travel far. Depending on the situation, I’d even have to combine them with Burst Strike to draw the bowstring.
Lochter said dodging was the only real option, and that blocking should be avoided at all costs.
Said it’d make you cough up blood.
“The surroundings are looking real clean now.”
“Yeah, and more eyes are on us because of it. I think it’s ti to move on.”
“Right?”
We’d smashed so much that even from a distance, people could clearly see into the training hall.
And sure enough, I caught sight of the Golden Mask, watching nervously.
Any more damage, and Azonne might fire .
I shoved aside those pointless thoughts and called out.
Karl was supposed to be back at the mansion.
Just as Lochter said, it seed ti to leave the castle.
But first—I needed to check the newly updated catalog.
What changes had occurred in the Dark Sales listings over the last three days?
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