CLWU 09

Chapter 9

A whopping 90 gold.

Based on my experience of living in this savage city of Vartus for a year and a half, one gold was roughly equivalent to one million won in value.

In other words, I had just spent nearly 90 million won on a pair of shoes.

And this was despite the fact that, after deducting Peterson’s commission, I had only received 240 gold.

But—

Whatever. These things are fucking amazing!

This incredible, almost weightless feeling was absolutely fantastic.

The boots transformed to fit my feet and legs perfectly the moment I put them on. And weren’t they also capable of repairing themselves?

They were armor that could completely protect my calves and shins.

[Comfortable Boots (High-Grade)]

-Although they possess no special abilities, they have shape-shifting functionality that adjusts them to the wearer’s feet, self-repair, and a comfort function that makes the feet feel comfortable.

Even judging from their traits, they had nothing to do with combat.

“I’ll never regret this. Never!”

“Who said you would?”

Jerick chuckled.

“Didn’t you object because you thought I was wasting money on luxury?”

“No. You made the right choice.”

“Huh?”

“Just making a pair of steel boots fitted to your feet would cost at least 10 gold. If you mixed in a stronger alloy, it could cost ten times that much. When you look at it that way, 90 gold for Artifact boots is practically free. Practically free.”

“…Then why did you object earlier?”

“Because I pretended to strongly oppose it, didn’t I? That’s why he lowered the price. By 10 gold.”

“Ah-ha!”

As expected, the experience of an adventurer who had reached the fifties wasn’t something to scoff at.

With even Jerick approving of my purchase, I liked my new shoes even more.

Well, I heard custom-made shoes for famous marathon runners cost tens of millions of won. Compared to that, these are practically free.

Feeling quite satisfied with myself as I rationalized the purchase, I headed to the blacksmith that Jerick had recommended.

There, I had a full suit of plate armor and an alloy spear made, spending the rest of my fortune.

After using up all the money from the Magic Stones we had combined before entering the labyrinth and the money I had received from our split of the proceeds, I felt almost hollow.

“Whew…”

“Don’t feel so empty. This equipment will save your life at least once.”

“…Yes. I know that.”

It really hit me just how absurdly expensive it was to have armor and weapons made, even though they weren’t Artifacts.

“I’m only repairing the existing materials and adjusting them to fit you, so it should take two or three days. Once you’re properly dressed, go to the Viscount Volante family.”

“Yes.”

Three days later.

Wearing the Artifact boots, chain mail underneath, half-plate armor over my body, and leg harnesses covering my lower body, I entered District 4 dressed almost like a knight.

I thought this was pretty luxurious equipment.

But most of the people walking around were wearing equipment that flashed with blue light or elaborate patterns, and I couldn’t help feeling intimidated.

Even the leather armor was full of Artifacts that displayed strange colors and patterns.

Wow. So this really is District 4.

It was an area where adventurers in the fifties and lower-ranking nobles could obtain residential rights.

It was noticeably narrower than District 9, but the tall buildings and splendid streets more than made up for the difference in width with their grandeur and beauty.

And at the heart of District 4 stood the Viscount Volante family, whose emblem was a flying bird.

A family descended from an ancestor said to have crossed the entire continent on foot in a single day.

They had literally become nobles through one thing alone—

An incredibly fast pair of feet.

But I had heard that the family had been declining because no descendant with abilities comparable to their founder had appeared.

• It seems the heir needs a Majesty of the Ruler to establish a position in the royal palace.
• This is a family that has never allowed even the basics of their family’s secret techniques to leak outside.
• Well, there aren’t many people who covet it, considering the family became famous for their feet in the first place. That’s why even the basic footwork was valued at 300 gold.

Remembering what Peterson had told me, I slowly approached the estate.

The soldiers guarding the main gate pointed their spears at me.

“Who are you!?”

“Tell them that Go Cheol-woo—no, Char from the Jerick Martial Arts Hall—has come to receive training.”

“…Char?”

“Jerick Martial Arts Hall?”

The soldiers looked bewildered, but one of them soon opened the gate and went inside.

Before even thirty minutes had passed, a neatly dressed man with an impressive white beard came out.

“You must be Sir Char. I am Bender, the butler of the Volante family. Please come inside. The young lady is waiting for you.”

Young lady?

I tilted my head at the unexpected title, but followed him without complaint.

After passing through a small but splendid garden, I met a beautiful woman with pale green hair wearing light armor in the inner courtyard.

Oh?

There wasn’t a single strand of hair that seemed to be a different color, so it didn’t appear to be dyed.

The unusual pale green hair somehow suited the woman perfectly, as did her emerald eyes.

Only when I saw her frown at me did I realize my mistake.

“This adventurer, Char, greets the young lady of the Viscount’s family.”

I slightly bowed my head and bent my knee in greeting, and only then did her expression relax.

Even so—

“Reveal your Status Window.”

“…Would it be all right if I only revealed part of it?”

“Of course. You only need to reveal your name. It’s simply to confirm that you are the person in question.”

Once my identity was confirmed, the woman nodded and gestured.

“Then we shall begin the instruction immediately. However, although this is only the basic portion, I need your promise that you will not teach it to anyone else.”

“Of course.”

“If you break that promise…”

“I will accept any punishment imposed by the Volante family.”

“…Good.”

She appeared to be around her mid-twenties, roughly my age, but there was an inexplicable pressure in every word she spoke that made her impossible to ignore.

As expected of a noble… Ah, no.

Is this the power of Majesty of the Ruler? Huh?

I’d secretly mocked nobles for paying exorbitant prices for a useless Ability Stone just to look impressive.

But after physically experiencing the effect of making everyone pay attention to every word she spoke, my perception changed slightly.

The nobles of this world were politicians as well, after all.

“What are you doing? Follow my movements and assume the stance.”

“Ah! Yes!”

“Oh, right. Before that, our family’s footwork pursues extreme lightness. It may not be suitable for a spearman. Are you all right with that?”

I’d heard stories about the nobles, but she seemed to have a much better personality than I’d expected.

“Of course. In the end, I’ll develop it in my own way.”

“…Right. Since you’re a Summoner, that actually puts my mind at ease.”

She was talking about preventing the secret technique from being leaked, I assumed.

“Now, basically, raise your heels and concentrate your Mana in your chest…”

“Even a basic footwork technique uses Mana?”

“…What did you say?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Although her gaze became slightly fierce, the woman—Aris Volante—properly taught me the basic footwork of the Volante family.

For an entire week.

“You definitely have talent. I expected it to take a month, but you’ve established the foundation in only a week.”

“That’s thanks to your excellent instruction, Lady Aris. Thank you again.”

“…It was simply a transaction. But adventurer Char—no, Go. Cheol. Woo. I will remember that name.”

Watching Aris deliberately pronounce my real name, which was difficult for the people of this world to say, I bowed my head again.

“Thank you.”

It was something worthy of thanking her for again and again.

[Volante Basic Footwork (Common—Lv. 1)]

Even this alone gave me freedom of movement that couldn’t be compared to Advance and Retreat Steps.

Honestly, I felt as though my movements had become about 30% faster.

Jerick’s words that skills of the same rank weren’t necessarily of the same quality finally sank in.

The fact that my thrusts become too light because of it is something I’ll have to solve…

Even if I only used it for movement and escaping rather than during combat, I felt it was easily worth more than 300 gold.

And then—

The additional information I happened to discover by using my Trait was even more shocking.

• This is an introductory footwork technique created by extracting the most basic portion of the legendary footwork technique, Feathering Step.
• Adjust the angles of the second and third steps 15 degrees to the left and 10 degrees to the right, then increase the flow of Mana toward the lower abdomen by approximately 10%. Doing so will recreate the original form of the Volante family’s true introductory footwork technique.

I’d suddenly thought of trying this after discovering in the labyrinth that my Trait could be applied to the system’s skill windows.

I never expected such a secret to come out.

Should I tell her?

I seriously considered it, but in the end, I decided not to.

I couldn’t predict either the benefits or dangers that might come from telling her.

“If fate brings us together again, I’ll see you then.”

“…Yes. If fate brings us together again.”

If we ever met again through a good connection, perhaps I could give her this information then.

With that thought, I finished my training with the Volante family.

Then, while continuing my own training at the martial arts hall, I modified the footwork I’d learned according to what my Trait had taught me.

As a result—

[Volante Footwork, Stage 1 (Common—Lv. 1)]

The skill’s name had changed slightly, and I felt that its effectiveness had increased by about 10%.

More importantly—

• If trained in the proper direction, this technique may eventually reach the legendary Feathering Step.

The additional information made me even happier.

Thanks to this, I had also discovered a completely new way to utilize my Trait.

[Pendulum Spearmanship (Common—Lv. 10)]

• An extreme offensive-evasive spear technique, but there is room for improvement. When stepping backward, tilt the shaft of the spear at a 15-degree angle to keep the enemy in check…

It’s exactly what Master Jerick explained to me.

In other words, my Trait could serve as another teacher capable of helping me develop my skills.

Of course, sometimes it wasn’t useful at all.

[Vartus Body Tempering Technique (Common—Lv. 7)]

• A basic Mana cultivation technique named after the legendary hero Vartus. It has no penalties and faithfully adheres to the fundamentals.

Does this mean that if there are no flaws, there’s nothing to advise me on?

It wasn’t absolute.

If a skill had some deficiency, my Trait could tell me how to improve it.

But even that was already incredible.

Let all those bastards who looked down on it because it was unranked come out here!

I wanted to shout it at the top of my lungs.

And so I spent another three weeks refining and mastering Volante Footwork and Pendulum Spearmanship.

During that time, Vartus Body Tempering Technique also grew rapidly and reached Level 10.

Both my Spearmanship and Mana cultivation technique had now reached the maximum level for Common skills.

I asked Jerick for advice.

“For a Summoner, it’s better to concentrate your Level-Up Points on a small number of skills whenever possible. So choose carefully and focus.”

“What do you recommend, Master?”

“If you’re asking for my recommendation, then obviously Body Tempering and Mana cultivation.”

“…As expected. Right?”

Body Tempering was the foundation for handling Mana, as well as a skill that provided bonuses to basic physical stats.

Cultivation techniques of Advanced rank or higher were monopolized by noble families and massive guilds, so ordinary people couldn’t learn them.

Even Jerick, who had been an adventurer in the fifties, had created a Mana cultivation technique suited to himself based on Vartus Body Tempering Technique.

That meant no one else could learn it unless they were similar to him in every aspect, including constitution, physique, and aptitude for Mana.

That was why Kirk, who had been able to learn it, became Jerick’s direct disciple.

And that was the biggest reason Jerick insisted that I not call him Master.

“The choice is yours.”

“Following the standard path is probably best, since it’s the standard for a reason.”

“Talented Summoners who receive proper support from the royal palace probably started out by learning Advanced-rank or higher Mana cultivation techniques. You clearly have an abundance of talent when it comes to Mana too…”

Jerick clicked his tongue regretfully, but I simply shrugged.

“What can I do? I have to do the best I can with the circumstances I’ve been given.”

My Spearmanship and footwork still had room for improvement, and perhaps I might eventually be able to evolve them without spending Level-Up Points.

But when it came to my Mana cultivation technique, even my Trait couldn’t provide an answer.

There was no person or organization willing to teach me a valuable Mana cultivation technique.

If I complete Perfect Clears a few more times, I can replenish my Level-Up Points to some extent.

Yeah. Let’s do it.