196. Wind Dance (4)
The Flannan Isles lay in the remote sea northwest of Scotland. A place not easy to access, being quite far from the mainland.
First, he met Rachel in Glasgow, the cultural city.
— Kyaaaaaaa!
She had flown in riding a Celestial Wyvern as well. Landing briefly on a building rooftop, they exchanged greetings and caught up.
Rachel looked bright.
Enough time had passed, it seemed, that the grief of losing her guild members had faded.
— Ooooh, Rachel!
Lamba greeted her first.
— Long time no see! How’ve you been lately? Doing well?
“Hehe, good to see you too, Lamba.”
— You remember that if an A-rank selection ticket comes out, you’re giving it to our Jinwoo, right?
“Of course. Olivia hasn’t forgotten. We remember too.”
— Good! A deal’s gotta be clean!
Heh.
Lamba.
She was even trying to look after details like that.
“Anyway, thanks, Rachel. For saying you’d help.”
Baek Jinwoo said as well.
Rachel smiled.
“Come on, what are you saying? Of course I should help. How about you guys? Are you climbing the Tower of Trials well?”
“We’re not yet.”
“Huh?”
Rachel was surprised.
“There are only about four months left now... Can you even make it into the suicide squad?”
“The 50th floor, well. If you’ve got the skill, one month is enough.”
“Wow.”
As expected.
Rachel suddenly found herself envying the SKY guild members.
Back in the days of Battle of Summoners, wasn’t the position she had begged so desperately for, yet could never obtain, none other than the seat of God Ji-nu’s disciple?
“For now, get on and follow me straight. We need to head toward the Isle of Skye first.”
“Okay.”
Baek Jinwoo and Rachel each mounted their own Celestial Wyvern.
— Kirururururu!
— Kyaaaaaaa!
Crying out, they soared into the air.
* * *
A small fishing village on the Isle of Skye.
Even from here, hardly anyone came except local fishermen. It had a quiet, eerie atmosphere.
And if you went farther in?
The Flannan Isles appeared.
An uninhabited island few people visited even under normal circumstances.
Swaaaaaa!
A somewhat dim fog covered the sea, and a few lighthouses could be seen faintly in the distance.
They kept flying.
Past the lighthouses, they went deep into the Atlantic itself.
And after several more hours passed.
A reef, jutting slightly out from the treacherous waters, revealed itself.
On top of it.
— Kiruruk!
The wyverns landed, panting for breath.
“Good work.”
They unsummoned them.
“This is the place.”
Rachel smiled softly and looked around.
There was no land in sight whatsoever. In all 360 degrees around them, there was nothing but the horizon.
“So all we have to do is leave the Archmage and Aso here, then head back, right?”
“Yeah.”
“For reference, if I use 9-circle magic, I won’t be able to summon the Archmage for a month.”
“...That’s the penalty?”
“Yep.”
It had been the same back then.
The Power Word Kill she had used on Gale Slayer in the league.
Although she lost because his neck was severed a mere 0.1 seconds sooner, the penalty had been that she couldn’t call the Archmage for a month.
That was why her Tower of Trials climb had been delayed too.
“This really makes me even more grateful.”
“It’s fine. Like I keep saying, you’re humanity’s future, aren’t you? If it’s something that’ll make you stronger, I have to help no matter what. But.”
“Yeah.”
“If you’re going to learn it, then this time you have to learn it properly.”
“I suppose so.”
Since she wouldn’t be able to summon him for a month.
“Aso.”
— Mm, Dad!
“Can you do it?”
— I can just feel it. Ordinary wind won’t do. It has to be a violent storm strong enough to shake this entire sea itself.
“But wouldn’t that be a bit dangerous?”
Tempest Oblivion.
The whirlpool would be pretty fierce. There would probably be a tsunami too.
“Don’t worry about that.”
Rachel said with a smile.
“Come on, this is our country. Why would we let it get dangerous? I can make it affect only a specific range. I just have to cast it over the water. I mean, it’s 9-circle magic, right? Right?”
Glancing sideways, Rachel looked at the Archmage.
Nod.
The white-haired old man nodded.
Apparently it could be done.
If a 9-circle mage said it could be done, then that was that.
“Okay.”
Then we’ll head back now.
Aso.
This time, please, you absolutely have to learn it.
Wind Dance Traceless Steps!
* * *
Out over the sea.
There were only two figures on the reef.
The Archmage (S-rank).
And Aso (EX-rank).
— You can start.
At Aso’s words, the Archmage nodded.
Unfortunately, the Archmage could not speak. Rachel guessed that only beings awakened to at least S-rank could speak.
Aila could speak, after all.
Anyway.
Swoosh.
The Archmage slowly raised his staff.
Blue light bloomed at its tip and gradually coiled around the air.
Wooooooooong!
A gigantic magic circle formed in the sky.
Swaeak, swaeaeak!
The flow of the wind gradually grew stronger, and before long enormous air currents began erupting upward as if exploding.
Archmage.
9 Circles.
Tempest Oblivion.
It had now begun.
The power of great nature surged explosively, and the wind began to move.
The air became sharp blades.
And thousands, tens of thousands of violent vortices covered the space.
Kwa-gagagagagagaga!
— Uaaaaaaah.
Aso gritted her teeth.
Amid the fierce winds, she closed her eyes and tried to feel the flow of the wind with her entire body.
‘The wrath of great nature.’
That tremendous storm was trying to tear her body apart.
But?
She could not be unsummoned here.
‘I can’t be torn apart.’
The moment she was ripped to shreds, what meaning would enlightenment have?
If that was the case—
‘I have to become the wind.’
If she himself became the wind, there would be no reason for her to be torn apart before a raging tempest.
That was the essence of Wind Dance Traceless Steps.
‘I become the center.’
Even in this impossible wind, she must not waver.
Step.
Aso began walking over the sea.
Even the expression of the Archmage, who had been pouring rays of brilliance from his eyes, now mixed with surprise.
Not only was she enduring that, she was even moving?
This—
It had to be said that she had already entered the threshold of enlightenment.
Unless one became the wind itself, it was impossible to endure this magic.
Kwa-gagagagagagaga!
Though the world shook violently, Aso’s footsteps remained calm.
* * *
Thirty minutes passed.
The duration of Tempest Oblivion.
Whoooooosh!
The wind that had raged like madness gradually began to die down.
The price of the spell ending.
Sssst!
The Archmage was unsummoned just like that.
Now, because of the penalty, he probably would not be able to appear for a month.
And then.
Step, step.
Aso’s gait, having survived within that violent storm, was mysterious.
She was stepping on empty air, and each footprint was engraved into the air before soon fading away.
They were not ordinary footsteps.
They were footprints containing a will that did not waver amid the winds of great nature.
That was precisely the realm of Wind Dance Traceless Steps, 1-star.
—....Haaah, I did it.
Aso drew in a deep breath and smiled.
Her eyes said it all. How happy she was.
It had been a martial art so difficult that even Aso, a genius, had struggled to find her bearings.
Supreme Soaring Flight?
Air-Stepping?
Those techniques could not even compare before this Wind Dance.
Even Air-Stepping, which could be called a transcendent martial art, was only about walking through the air, but this was a technique that became the wind itself.
— This is seriously insane.
She knew because she had learned other martial arts before.
Just how absurd this realm was right now. This was a supernatural domain beyond martial arts.
But the even scarier part?
— And this is only 1-star?
Then what about 2-star?
What about mastery?
Then what would it become by that point?
* * *
Baek Jinwoo, who had returned to the Isle of Skye and was waiting.
It was while he was clasping his hands together and praying.
“Oh.”
Rachel spoke first.
“The Archmage... got unsummoned.”
“Really?”
Baek Jinwoo sprang to his feet.
Then what about Aso?
What had happened to her?
He quickly opened the quest window.
[Learn three of Mugeuk Seonin’s techniques up to 1-star! (2/3)]
“Huh?!”
She learned it!
It had originally been 1/3, but now it had changed to 2/3!
Which meant—
— Wh-why-why-why, Aso pulled it off?
— My lord, what happened?!
— Gwoooaar...?
— Kruk!
The summons who had been waiting also erupted into chaos.
Because they all knew how desperately their master had wanted this throughout the journey.
“Yeah, Aso did it.”
What a remarkable kid.
— Hoh, truly?
HunGyo exclaimed in genuine admiration.
Clap clap clap!
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer and Dampir sat side by side and clapped.
— Really? Kyaaaaaah! Raise a toasttttt!
Lamba flew in circles above Jaggeo.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Jaggeo hammered his rock fists together.
Everyone was rejoicing with one heart and one mind.
— Jinwoo! What are you doing! Hurry and resummon our Aso! You have to tell her to come over here!
“Right.”
Thud.
When Baek Jinwoo stamped his foot on the ground,
Sssst!
Aso appeared in midair.
— Dad!
She came flying over with a bright smile.
That way of walking...
It was seriously insane.
She was actually kicking off empty air and leaping through it?
Did that even make sense?
— I did it!
Whoosh!
She flew through the air and threw herself into Baek Jinwoo’s arms.
“Yeah, yeah. Good job.”
Baek Jinwoo lifted her up in his arms.
Maybe our Aso really could rise to Mugeuk Seonin’s level.
Now that he had confirmed the first skill had been learned, maybe the others would come too with enough effort.
‘Let’s take a look at the status window.’
[Summon: Aso]
[Race: Human]
[Rank: EX-rank (Isolated)]
Isolated due to the discovery of balance-breaking factors under certain conditions.
[Level: 59]
[Owned Stats]
Strength: 1,440, Intelligence: 1,440, Stamina: 1,440, Agility: 1,440
HP: 56,800, MP: 35,800
Critical Hit Chance: 100%
Critical Hit Damage: 460%
[Owned Skills]
- Clear Heaven Heart Technique: Mugeuk Seonin’s breathing method (3-star)
-World-Annihilation: Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, First Form (6-star)
- Thousand Sword Chaos Dance: Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Second Form (6-star)
- Heavenly Light: Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Third Form (6-star)
- Heavenly Energy Sword Control: Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Fourth Form (2-star)
- Heavenly Sword: Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Fifth Form (2-star)
- Wind Dance Traceless Steps: One of the secret arts of Azure Sky Footwork (1-star)
‘Wow.’
As expected.
As befitted someone wearing the Trinity Rune, her stats had risen evenly, and though the skill descriptions were simple, the realm was attached beside them.
And then.
‘Wind Dance, 1-star.’
It was there.
One of those absurd martial arts that was still far beyond Baek Jinwoo for now.
‘This is definitely huge.’
What would it feel like later, when every skill Mugeuk Seonin knew reached mastery?
At that point, wouldn’t she really rank above even Explosive Dragon Sorcerer?
— ...Amazing, my lord.
“Right?”
— Out of all the knowledge I possess, it is the strongest movement technique. No matter how well one wields a sword, it is never easy to cut through a wind that is truly set upon its course.
Shing!
HunGyo drew his sword and lightly thrust it toward Aso.
But.
Sssst!
With footsteps like the wind, she lightly slipped aside. The way she evaded was as natural as flowing water.
— Heh! HunGyo can’t beat me now!
— ….He couldn’t before, either.
— Still, HunGyo is a good teacher!
...My thanks.
The summons chattered and bantered among themselves.
Rachel watched them with envy in her eyes.
She had felt it even inside the Tower, but Baek Jinwoo’s summons had, somehow...a naturalness to them.
“So it worked out?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
But.
Actually, he still had to learn one more thing.
If he wanted to clear the sudden quest.
‘What else do I need to learn?’
Well.
Wouldn’t HunGyo figure that out on his own?
For now.
This month-long journey ends here!
Let’s head back!
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