System notification.
It was a notification of evolution.
[ Your understanding of the Heogong Style is higher than anyone else's. ]
[ The system has likewise decided to fully acknowledge the skill and effort you have put into the Heogong Style you have mastered. ]
[ As a result, your Heogong Style has fully acquired the qualifications to advance to a higher realm. ]
[ ■■ nods at your growth and blesses you. ]
[ ■■'s Will dwells in the Heogong Style. ]
[ So of the information of the Heogong Style is altered. ]
[ You have mastered 'Heogong Style Form 5 - Jindan: Diamond Cutting (S )'. ]
[ From now on, you can use Sword Aura. ]
[ You have mastered 'Sword Aura (S )'. ]
[ You have beco the first human to use Sword Aura. ]
[ For achieving a great feat, the system presents you with 10 bonus stat points. ]
Fwaaah!
Along with the system notifications, an effect occurred where blue light burst out and spread from Su-ho’s body.
At the sa ti, Su-ho smiled.
‘I finally awaken the Fifth Form.’
In his previous life, Su-ho had beco the first human to obtain an SS-grade skill.
Although that was right before he died, he had beheld the ultimate secret of swordsmanship, and that ultimate secret was also the profundity of the Heogong Style, the realm of the formless sword called Body and Sword as One.
And to reach the formless sword, the Heogong Style’s ultimate art, several realizations were required, and among them, the Heogong Style’s Fifth Form was the stage that could truly be called the beginning.
‘Create an independent swordsmanship, inherit ■■’s will dwelling in the Naless Sword, and then master the basic forms up to the Fourth Form.’
All of these could be seen as a series of preparatory processes for awakening the Fifth Form.
That was why Su-ho called the techniques from Form 5 to Form 8, which were existing basic forms upgraded by one step, “Awakening Techniques.”
Awakening Techniques, literally, were born from the existing basic forms becoming awakened by one step.
And Jindan: Diamond Cutting, the first Awakening Technique, was precisely the final trump card Su-ho had been aiming for.
Su-ho raised the Blood Sword.
Then blue mana gathered on the red blade, and a bluish heat-haze began to rise.
[ Sword Aura is activated. ]
Responding to Su-ho’s will, a blue haze rose on the Blood Sword.
Its na was Sword Aura, given because it allowed one to embody ki on the sword.
By another na, it was called the realm of the Sword Expert, but in the Asian sphere, where wuxia was familiar, most people called it Sword Aura.
‘If you sheath it around a bladed weapon, it’s Blade Aura, if you sheath it around a spear, it’s Spear Aura, if you sheath it around your hand, it’s Fist Aura... and if you know how to fire ki, it’s called Balgi (Emitted Ki).’
Nas of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} realms you could commonly see in wuxia novels.
Of course, there was another na corresponding to ki.
That was Aura.
Aura, like Sword Expert, referred to warriors’ mana instead of inner energy, and if soone could freely manifest mana not only in their dedicated weapon but also in objects or their body, the world called them Aura operators or Aura users.
‘You could say they were very much distinguished from simple mana users.’
Mana itself was sothing every class used, and by the latter half of the Great Upheaval there were many Aura operators.
“Bulbul!”
Sensing that his master had grown one step further, Bulgasari raised his short finger as if giving a thumbs-up while eating sand.
Yes, Bulgasari.
Your master has grown one step stronger.
It’s all thanks to you buying ti while eating sand.
I will never forget this favor for the rest of my life.
Su-ho raised his sword and took his stance as he spoke.
“In that sense, when we get out of here I’ll treat you even better, Bulgasari!”
“Bulbul!”
With that shout, Su-ho swung his sword.
The sword he swung exploded toward Girard’s last finger.
Slice!
From Girard’s finger, which until now had only made a simple, heavy sound as if being clubbed with an axe, a clean cutting sound rang out once more.
Grrrk— Thud!
The severed finger tilted diagonally and then fell down like the neck of a beheaded enemy commander.
At the sa ti, the sand that had been spewing out also stopped.
[ You have successfully destroyed Girard’s Finger. ]
[ The accumulated sand disappears. ]
[ You have succeeded in destroying all of Girard’s Fingers. ]
[ You have successfully passed Girard’s Trial. ]
At last, he had passed Girard’s Trial.
And along with that—
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat point. ]
He had finally leveled up.
Seeing the level-up notification, Su-ho furrowed his brow.
‘After all that suffering, you’re only giving a single level?’
Is this for real?
If you only added up the Sand Golems and the Gatekeeper he had killed so far and the number of Fingers he had destroyed, it would not have been strange to give him three or four levels.
[ You have reached Level 270. ]
[ The system wants you to beco even stronger. ]
[ The system presents you with higher power. ]
Additional system notifications appeared.
Ah, so I’m already 270?
With this, he had secured the fourth Rage Crusader skill.
Su-ho thought as he checked the Rage Crusader skills he had obtained.
‘The ti to use these has finally co.’
He had let them sit unused with no opportunity to use them, but soon their debut stage would open.
‘Then the next turn is...’
He hadn’t expected to greet it in this way, but in any case the mont had finally co when he would face it.
Su-ho opened his status window.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv: 270
Class: Rage Crusader
Traits:
Strength (N): 63
Mana (P): 99
Senses (B): 65
Command (N): 89
Bonus stats: 11
Level 270 and 11 bonus stat points.
However, what stood out far more than that was, without question, the mana stat level, shining alone in a deep purple, the maximum value.
‘At last...!’
Su-ho’s eyes sparkled brightly.
And no wonder, because even in his previous life, when he had reached a purple-colored stat, he had never actually raised that value to 99.
For that very reason, he had been extrely curious all this ti.
Humanity had inferred that the maximum level of stat colors, based on the colors of the rainbow, was purple as the highest level.
But seeing the displayed stat design, he felt that purple might not be the end.
‘Shall we check it once?’
Su-ho placed his finger on the mana stat that was shining in solitary splendor.
[ Would you like to add bonus stat points to the Mana stat? ]
The system’s question.
Well, look at that.
So it can be allocated further, huh?
Su-ho laughed as he answered.
“Then of course.”
It was the mont he allocated one additional bonus stat point.
[ The Mana stat has beco 100. ]
[ The Mana stat grows one step further. ]
[ Congratulations! The Mana stat’s level has risen and beco Silver grade! ]
Oh?
Silver color?
Su-ho’s lips rounded into an “O.”
‘Above purple was silver?’
Then that ans there is sothing beyond that as well?
Even so, he felt a bit empty.
Since the purple stat max-level design had been sparkling, he had thought sothing special would happen, but all it did was show him the silver color?
It was the mont he thought that.
[ You have obtained the first Silver stat as a Player. ]
[ You have achieved a truly great feat that no other Player has ever accomplished. ]
[ Recognizing your supre achievent, the system presents you with 20 bonus stat points. ]
[ Your power is no longer at the level of ordinary Players. ]
[ Congratulations! Your grade has been promoted from Low Player to Middle Player. ]
[ By becoming a Middle Player, certain qualifications are unlocked. ]
[ Your authority for accessing certain information has been strengthened. ]
[ The limited potential of certain powers has been released. ]
[ Congratulations! You have beco the first Player to succeed in grade promotion. ]
[ Recognizing your supre achievent, the system presents you with 20 bonus stat points. ]
“Uh...?”
For a mont, Su-ho’s eyes grew as wide as they possibly could as he looked at the system notifications.
“What is this...?”
Notifications he was seeing for the first ti in his life.
Both the notifications acknowledging his achievents and the ones about Player grade were all things he was seeing for the very first ti.
Su-ho, who had been staring blankly at the system notifications, hurriedly checked his status window again.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv: 270
Class: Rage Crusader
Grade: Middle Player
Traits:
Strength (N): 63
Mana (S): 1
Senses (B): 65
Command (N): 89
Bonus stats: 50
“......”
A major change had appeared on the status window.
A category called grade had appeared, sothing he had never once seen or heard of before.
And that wasn’t all.
He had achieved two achievents, and both of them were achievent congratulation notifications of a kind he had never seen before, and because of that he had ended up receiving a whopping 40 bonus stat points.
“Is this sothing that can even happen...?”
It could.
Because it had actually happened.
“......”
He could hardly get any words out.
What on earth was all this?
He had certainly been expecting sothing special for the next stat beyond the purple color, but he had not expected there to be such a special and huge change.
It was then.
Thump!
A powerful pounding.
It was a beat that started at his heart and reverberated through his entire head.
‘What is this?’
His chest felt hot.
At that mont, a new system notification appeared before his eyes.
[ The Dragon Egg reacts to your mana. ]
‘Dragon Egg?’
Ah, co to think of it, there was such a thing, wasn’t there?
The fourth Authority of Dragon Blood.
It had originally been a Dragon Egg, and by absorbing the Fragnt of the Sun Dragon it had once again been reborn under the na Dragon Egg.
Su-ho recalled the information on the Dragon Egg.
[ Dragon Egg ]
Grade: S
# A choice and innate Authority that only one born with the bloodline of a dragon can receive.
# To beco a true dragon, you need not only the bloodline but also the power of a true dragon, and only when you have t all the conditions can you begin the process of becoming a true dragon.
# All dragons are born from eggs. You are in the state of an unhatched egg, and to hatch the egg, that much experience and mana are required.
The last line.
To hatch the Dragon Egg, an enormous amount of experience and mana were required.
An expression as abstract as could be.
So he had half forgotten about it until now.
This kind of power was a first for him, and there was no information, and if all the Authority demanded was experience and mana, he had thought that as ti passed it would awaken on its own.
But now, having beco the first Player with a Silver stat and a Middle-grade Player, the Dragon Egg had finally begun to react to Su-ho.
Thump!
The enormous pounding sound rang through his entire head once more.
And before long—
Crack—!
Along with the sound of the pounding, he heard sothing breaking.
The mont he heard that sound, goosebumps broke out all over Su-ho’s body.
Because he instinctively knew what that sound was.
‘This is... the sound of an egg breaking, isn’t it?’
And in the current situation, the only thing that could make the sound of an egg breaking was the Dragon Egg.
Then is it finally hatching?
The mont he thought that, an additional system notification appeared.
[ The Dragon Egg reacts to your experience and mana and begins to hatch. ]
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