Chapter 9

Kojiro looked at the mission board while pondering which one he should take. Kojiro shook his head before his hand grabbed a note.

Everyone watched as he returned after 10 minutes as blood dripped on his blade.

[Goblin Invasion]

[Difficulty: Hard]

[Rewards: 1000 Points]

Kojiro sighed before nodding to Maria who reciprocated the gesture.

[1000 Points transferred]

Maria quickly rushed off before coming back to him with a cage containing another pair swallow. Kojiro smiled before heading back to the training room. Kojiro got to training as he warmed up with 50 Tsubame Gaeshi strikes. He needed to warm up properly and get into the mindset before training the Hiken- Tsubame Gaeshi. Of course he could already do the Hiken- Tsubame Gaeshi but he was trying to arrive at the possibilities faster. He needed to incorporate [Mana Burst].

Agnes watched from entrance of the training room. She had seen his sword technique, it was beautiful, refined and elegant. No wasted movement, everything was to be flowing seamlessly and elegantly. However he soon started practising repeated strikes.

The extra long sword, an almost straight nodachi resembling a laundry drying pole. The sword struck down, Agnes expected him to lose some balance due to the lengthy sword however as the sword approached the floor it curved before returning straight up with hardly any loss in speed.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him perform it seamlessly 49 more times.

Kojiro let out a small breath before letting one of the swallows out. Agnes stared at him, why would he need a swallow? Kojiro started warming up for the Hiken- Tsubame Gaeshi. He struck at the swallow who had dodged as another strike tried cutting the swallow off. And the third strike came in from the side attempting to hit the swallow.

Agnes realised his training using a swallow. Swallow's could not be hit normally, they could sense the disturbance in the air and avoid. It was impossible to attack and not disturb air at all. However Kojiro soon stopped as his sword pointed at the bird.

He needed to be faster in using it.

He raised his blade, "Hiken- Tsubame Gaeshi!" He lunged forward as his presence matched his intent. In that instant three different Kojiro's from three different possibilities struck their blades. Agnes dropped her clipboard as she watched the swallow being cut off as in that instant three different strikes existed despite only one sword striking.

Kojiro sighed as he still needed more improvement. He turned around from a shadow as he noticed Agnes right behind him. "What was that if I may ask? I've never seen anything like it. No mana was used in the technique either."

Kojiro smiled "Simply a technique to kill a swallow. A swallow can not be hit from a sword strike that is a single line. But with two or three lines, that changes matters entirely. The technique was to simply strike three times within a single breath."

He walked out as Agnes looked at his receding figure before muttering.

"Bullshit, you can't fool me. That was three strikes at the same time. In that instant three different sword strikes existed."

Kojiro hummed, he would figure out the [Mana Burst] Tsubame Gaeshi later.

Agnes could sense the amount of mana inside Kojiro. She sighed, Paradise was going to become hectic. Two irregulars from the same tutorial walking the same path as Sung Shihyun. Jihu was talented and fortunate but that man, Kojiro was a mystery in itself. That technique employed through pure skill, something that breaks the laws of what space would allow. Through sheer skill he had achieved the impossible?

Kojiro hummed as he headed toward the cafeteria while looking at his status as a result from the competence training, normal competence of course, no way was he heading towards the VIP shop.

[Your Status Window]

[1. General Information]

Summoned date: March 16th, 2017.

Marking Grade: Blank

Sex/Age: Male/23

Height/Weight: 180 cm/70.5 kg

Current Condition: Excellent

Class: LV. 0 (Invited)

Nationality: Republic of Korea (Area 1)

Affiliation: N/A

Alias: N/A

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:

— Patient and Compliant (Very patient and listens attentively to complete tasks when needed.)

—Calm (Able to rationally think even in the most dire of situations)

—Unrelenting (Will not let a task go unfinished, always finish what you start)

—Conviction (Will follow his moral code and eliminate anything that goes against it. )

2. Aptitude:

—Absolute Concentration. (Uses 100% of concentration on a task he deems necessary)

—Highly Observant (Notices very small details and capable of making instant deductions during combat)

—Sword Play (Extremely proficient and talented in the way of the sword.)

[3. Physical Level]

Strength: Intermediate (Lowest)

Endurance: Intermediate (Lowest)

Agility: Intermediate (Lowest)

Stamina: Intermediate (Lowest)

Mana: Intermediate (High)

Luck: High (High)

Remaining Ability points: 0

[4. Abilities]

1. Innate Abilities (2)

—Mind's Eye (Intermediate)

—Vitrify (Intermediate)

—Sense of Subtle Elegance (Intermediate)

2. Class Abilities

—Mana Application (Low)

—Refined Swordsmanship (High)

3. Other Abilities

—Tsubame Gaeshi

—Hiken- Tsubame Gaeshi

—Mana Burst (Intermediate)

[5. Level of Cognition]

Carefree/Hungry/Guardian

Kojiro waltzed across into the cafeteria as he waved over Maria. Maria nodded before returning with his usual meal. A simple bowl of rice topped with sukiyaki beef and sauce with a side of salmon.

~~~~

Jihu POV:

"It's been a while."

She smiled refreshingly. And sure enough, her entire body was bathed in a golden hue.

Seol couldn't help but be confused. For one, he was curious why she was here, and two, why was there a golden color coming from her….?

"Can we go inside? It's a bit awkward to talk out here and all."

Her friendly voice brought Seol back to reality. As soon as they entered his room, Kim Hannah couldn't hide her astonishment.

"Wow~. It really is nice here. Honestly, I never dreamed that you'd end up using this room."

Kim Hannah's facial expression implied that she wasn't sure where to park her rear as she stood around before she chose a spot on a comfy couch and settled down. Seol quickly sat on the opposite side. Seeing this, she burst out a fit of giggles.

"Why are you in such a hurry? What, are you that surprised to see me?"

"Obviously."

"Hmm…. Before we get started, I guess I should appease that curiosity of yours. Fine. What would you like to know?"

Seol almost blurted out 'Why is your body glowing in a golden hue?', but somehow was able to change his words at the last second.

"How did you get here?"

"Well, because I know how to?"

"Hey."

"Just kidding. Of course, the Neutral Zone isn't a place that anyone can just come and go as they please. However, I'm an exception, you see."

Seol stared at her without saying anything.

"You idiot. Didn't you read the Invitation letter?"

'The Invitation letter? What about it?' Seol was about to ask her, before going "Ah."

He just remembered that, in the gold stamp Invitation letter, there was a clause about him being able to bring along one 'helper'.

"You don't have to fret, okay? Miss Cinzia knows about me being here. I went through the proper procedures, so there's no problem."

"That's a relief…"

Suddenly, Kim Hannah raised her hand.

"Hold on, it's my turn to get an answer."

"?"

"It's about Miss Cinzia and Miss Agnes. Especially Agnes – she seems to be particularly interested in your growth for some reason."

"Is she?"

"Yes. Just what underhanded tricks did you use to flip those violent Sicilian gangsters over to your side?"

Seol couldn't help but doubt his own hearing just then. Violent? Gangsters?

Kim Hannah's eyes went round when she saw his expression.

"Oh my, you didn't know?"

"…."

"You really had no idea? Those two are pretty infamous as the Battle Maniacs of the South."

"A battle maniac? Miss Agnes is…?"

"Yeah. She's the direct subordinate of Boss Cinzia and Sicilia's top executive. She's even known as the demonic drill instructor. Almost everyone in Paradise knows about them."

As the explanation continued on, a certain sense of chill crept up on Seol's backside. He had no idea that Agnes was such a big shot.

'Maybe I, uh, I shouldn't have teased her.'

"If you're done asking me about stuff, shall we get to the main topic of my visit?"

Seol nodded his head.

He was indeed curious as to know why she came here in the first place. There was still a month left to go before the Neutral Zone's deadline, after all.

"Well, I came to cheer you on, and…. I wanted to give you advice. Well you should keep on Kojiro's good side he's questionable but his heart's in the right place but knowing him he's probably somewhere doing whatever he feels like. Cinzia checked up on him for me. He's taken a hard mission and is keeping the last enemy alive to get some sleep on a blossom tree."

Kim Hannah took her glasses off and stared at Seol. Compared to how it was like back on the riverbank, the way she looked at him had softened considerably.

"First of all, I gotta praise you. You've exceeded all of my expectations. I honestly would never have guessed you were this excellent."

"I thought you were unhappy about using the golden stamp on me."

"That was back then. But, not anymore. The stamp wasn't wasted on you. At all. Honest."

Seol felt an itch creeping up on his face hearing the constant stream of praises.

"Okay, so that's the cheering bit done. What advice do you have for me?"

When Seol sheepishly scratched his cheek, Kim Hannah grinned slyly.

"You did the right thing by stopping at the 'Hard' missions. You see, the difficulty spike in the 'Very Hard' missions is nothing to laugh about. You have to prepare yourself properly first."

But of course – Seol was expecting as much as well. Seeing that the rewards on offer jumped by ten times in value, the difficulty should rise just as much, too.

"And, you should find yourself reliable comrades. If I have a complaint to make, then you just stick to yourself too much."

"Comrades, huh…."

"That's right. Odelette Delphine, Hao Win – I recommend these two people. I'm telling you this before you get the wrong idea – my suggestion isn't solely because of their skills."

"Then why?"

"They will certainly become a big help to you in the future, that's why."

It was rather clear what Kim Hannah was implying here.

"Are you telling me to form a personal connection with them?"

"That's one way of looking at it. In any case, you already have a link called 'fellow survivors from the same time period' going for you. I mean, there's nothing to lose by getting friendly with them, right?"

"I get it with Delphine since she's a Magician, but what about Hao Win?"

"He's a big player in the darker side of the society; I heard that he's a top level executive in the biggest Triad in China."

~~~~

Kojiro sneezed as he had just got back from a comfortable nap while Maria mocked him by miming him as she finished by blowing a raspberry.

"Such a vulgar maiden"

She gave one last smile before flipping the bird and leaving with.

"Fuck you."