The Veiled Man
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The Martial God - Chapter 6
🕑 Added 2024-08-30 15:03:11 +0000 UTCChapter 6: Would You Like Anything Else, Miss Powerhouse?
Before I knew it, sunlight was peeking through the window. My entire body ached, and there was a very tiny gap in my spirit, my Qi Core.
All night long, I’ve been circulating my Qi in two different directions inside my Core; it was a time-consuming and painful task.
My Qi channels burnt.
Even if I had seen it on the game monitor, with a detailed description, I would have seriously injured myself if I hadn’t had the immense ‘general martial arts experience’ of the Heavenly Demon in my head.
Messing with one’s Core was no joke, it could even lead to death, even. But I’ve done it, and I’ve succeeded. Soul Storage was a success.
It couldn’t hold much inside, but it was enough for this task.
And it looks like I received a surprise benefit from it as well. I opened my eyes to greet the System prompts floating before my eyes. It was a surprise, but it was one I welcomed.
[Ding! Due to great pressure unfolding within your Energy Core, it has expanded beyond your current level. Your energy is immense.]
I honestly didn’t feel much of a difference, but I was thankful for this. I could perform more Qi-expensive techniques with this. Cultivating Internal Qi while sitting cross-legged was as ‘martial artist’ as one could get, anyhow. Although my intention today wasn’t this, it worked regardless.
I looked at the cup resting on the table near the bed. I reached out a hand, slowly, and touched it. Focusing my Qi, I ‘pulled’ the cup into me. At least I commanded my willpower to.
The cup shone with Qi and then vanished. A surge of Qi blitzed towards my dantian, and submerged into it, at the center. The cup.
The demonic cup now rested inside me, in the little gap in my Core. I found myself laughing in excitement. This painful night was worth it.
“Incredible.”
Relishing the feeling of victory, I got off the bed and stretched my arms, yawning toward the window. Walking over to it, I bathed in the morning sun, taking in a deep breath. The air was fresh. Unlike the pollution of the city back in my original world, this air rejuvenated my entire body.
“Haah,” I let out a breath, chewing on my lips.
The increase in my energy level has, thankfully, compensated for the lack of sleep. Otherwise, it’d have been embarrassing if I dozed off while traveling.
I enjoyed the morning atmosphere for a bit more before heading into the washroom. I took care of my morning needs and changed out from my noble clothes. I had to wear light armor for this. It was still clothes far more exquisite than necessary, but parts of it were padded with iron or other hard materials. A chest plate covered my chest, and my elbows and knees were padded with hard leather. Most of the human body’s general weak points were covered.
Standing before the mirror, I appreciated my new look. Now that looks like real Fantasy. It was not bad at all. Although I failed to see the practicality, I even had a blue cape running down from my shoulders. It looked cool, though.
Two knocks fell on the door. “Young master, the lord and lady invited you to eat breakfast.” The voice of a maid said, and I opened the door to follow after her.
During breakfast, my father advised me to be cautious, while my mother spoke of her worry. It was a pleasant meal, different from eating pizza alone in a room that hadn’t been cleaned in months… I was getting used to this.
Half an hour after the meal, the Knight Order was ready to set out. My father and mother came out to see me off as I got into the carriage. “In that case, I’ll see you in a week,” I told the two of them as I stepped into the carriage.
The 5th Squad’s leader bowed to my parents and promised, “I’ll keep the young master safe, please rest assured.”
“I trust you will,” my mother said.
“After you return, Iskandaar, you should choose a Guard Maid for yourself, who will accompany you to Waybound,” Father said. “If any problem arises, send a messenger bird as soon as possible.”
Carlos the Knight nodded, before getting on top of his ride, a magnificent horse. All of the knights were riding horses, and only I was being pulled by the carriage. I guess that’s how Nobles traveled. The horses set off, and the Count’s manor became a dot on the horizon soon after.
We headed toward the nearby city, the Lockdarn Barony. Toward trouble.
****
We traveled the entire day until the sun began to set on the horizon. I hadn't realized how far Lockdarn City actually was since everyone said it was the ‘nearest city to our east’. I only learned now that it'll take us a few days to get there.
Going by Earth's standards, the medieval era had only a few hundred million people. It did not have the eight billion that I was familiar with, naturally, there were more gaps between one home to the other. The same applied to cities too.
Although I was pretty sure this planet had a lot more population than what Earth had during its medieval era. A billion? Ten? Or even more. The planet's size was just that much greater than Earth's, too, although I didn't know any sources to number things exactly. That's why cities were still very far from one another, despite having a big population.
I spent the ride thinking about these useless things to spend time on. I miss the internet at times like this. Being a shut-in after the fall of my kickboxing era, I was more than used to scrolling social media. Extreme boredom pressed against my mind when I sat idle like this. The lack of instant dopamine was extremely boring.
Hopefully, I'll get used to it faster rather than later. I remember reading somewhere that dopamine addiction could be overcome through patience.
“Awn…” yawning as the carriage began to slow down, I decided to check my status screen since I had nothing else to do. “Status.”
°°°°
Name: Iskandaar Romani (???)
Age: 19 years
Race: Human
Qi: 1600/1600
Level: 12 | 77% EXP
Class: [Level Requirement Not Met]
Class Skills: [None]
General Skills:
The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree [7.11%]
Insight [Basic]
Swordsmanship [Basic]
Boxing [Basic]
°°°°
At least there was progress.
Previously I've noted that in each 6 levels, I gained about 3.33% growth. Last time I checked the Status Screen, I had 6.67% progress on the skill at Level 12. Now, although my level remained the same, the progress has increased.
I had hoped for there to be other ways to increase it. And as the status screen showed, I've figured out one of them. If I learned the Heavenly Demon techniques on my own, which I had seen in the game, the progression would increase. Since I created the [Soul Storage], the progression indeed increased. My Qi has also risen by 400 points. That was great. There might be other ways too, I'll have to see.
“Young master,” Knight Carlos walked over to my carriage and said, bringing me back to reality. “The camp has been set. You can come out now.”
“Thank you, Sir Carlos,” I nodded at him and jumped out of the carriage.
Compared to the cobblestone road of the villa, the ground here felt soft under my heavy boots. That's understandable since it seemed like it rained often here, it was a small forest we had stopped at.
Our group consisted of two dozen people, who were all spread around the area, setting up a few more camps and making fire. It was a formidable group, at least enough to keep any hungry beasts on the bay.
“A small group of us will be cooking dinner now, young master,” Knight Carlos said. “The rest of us will be swinging our swords to catch up on the training we missed while traveling.”
They were resilient and disciplined. I liked that. “Alright. May I come and watch you guys train?”
“Of course. You can even join in if you want to,” he said and I nodded.
I followed Carlos and watched the training take place. I did not join that group, but I did swing my sword around by myself to get rid of boredom. It's not a bad feeling, the rush of blood after swinging the blade each time. I felt rejuvenated.
“Your basics are sharp, young master,” Sir Carlos commented when I stopped swinging my sword. “I heard about your enlightenment. Did the basics come along with it? As in, when you picked up a sword did it just seem like you already knew it?”
“...Not exactly,” I lied. Accepting it would make it seem like I achieved all of this by pure luck and zero hard work. I didn't like that. “It did show me a trajectory, but that's it. I just try to single-mindedly follow that.” It wasn't totally bullshit, either.
When I first performed the True Demon Sword Art's First Form, it did show me a trajectory. Like a ghost swinging its blade ahead, I imitated it. It's not my fault that I managed to grasp it after just imitating it once, unlike these poor Knights.
“Impressive,” he hummed with a smile. “So you managed to grasp the instructions so fast, just from being shown a few times? I don't know how much you know about me, but I was given my personal squad only recently. I've been trying to personally train these trainee knights, but they're too dull to follow me as I show them. Compared to that, you've been doing impressively.”
That was understandable.
A teacher could tell a student everything he knew, but it might take the student a year to grasp all of that. That was the case in every field of work, swordsmanship was no exception.
I was just lucky that the ghost who showed me the skill showed it to me on a spiritual level. It was easy to remember and imitate. System Fuckery.
Sir Carlos and I exchanged some more words. He was curious about the point of view of someone who started learning the sword after enlightenment, compared to those who learned it the normal way. He also seemed worried about how I would fare when the spark of my enlightenment, the speed, would slow down. He had some advice for that, to not feel like there was no progression, because there always was.
This Carlos was quite easy to talk to for a Knight, I doubted all Knights were like this. Even some of the trainees seemed harder to approach than him. Good guy. Looks like this trip wouldn't be all that boring with him around.
“Sir, the food is ready.” One of the trainee knights walked over and said. Carlos nodded at him and looked at me.
“In that case, young master, let's eat our fill first. Those kids are waiting for us to have the first taste,” he said, beginning to walk towards where the food had been served. I followed behind him. “You should eat and then rest for the night, I'll have to keep watch along with a few others.”
“I don't mind staying up and keeping watch too,” I said, earning a laugh from him.
“Nobles usually don't say stuff like that.”
“Take it as a teenager’s curiosity. I have never stayed up on a watch like this, so I could use this as a learning experience. Unless you mind?” I asked.
“Certainly not. These roads are quite safe. If it's for a teaching experience, it's as good a place as any. In that case, we'll stay on watch after we-” Carlos suddenly stopped talking and walking.
We were still a few steps away from the fire, and the way he abruptly stopped, he must have sensed something.
I took out my sword from my waist, and as expected, he did the same.
“Stay alert, young master,” he said. “I think it's a beast. One with acute senses.” He looked around, a scowl plastered on his face.
Everyone grew alert. The trainee knights looked worried, sweating, as they grabbed whatever weapon they could around them.
Carlos stood in front of me like a wall, as if to block anything that might come towards me. My senses were on high alert too, but not enough. I closed my eyes and spread my Qi.
There was a perception technique in the game of [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God], dubbed to be the ultimate perception technique. I have no idea how to use it, but I have seen its effect on the game monitor many times. I could at least try to imitate that with my Qi.
So I tried to spread my senses around me like a sphere.
“....”
Nothing happened.
For a moment, it was just darkness. Then, as I put more Qi into my senses, my closed eyes began to envision a bubble of red energy that spread from my body. It evaporated instantly, but I tried once again. I tried to copy the ‘demonic’ feeling that I released when performing the butterfly sword technique against the Thief.
My senses bloomed outward in a circle.
Despite my eyes being closed, it painted the area visible like some kind of thermal goggles. It was working, I could ‘perceive’ the area around me in a 360° motion. Every leaf in the tree, every little bug crawling on the ground, every hitch of breath from the knights around me…
Although I didn't know how to use the technique exactly, which way to breathe, which way to flow the Qi, but just knowing its effect allowed me to somewhat imitate it.
I was doing this without the System's help, so it wasn't as effective as I remember seeing in the game, but it had activated.
The [True Demon God Art: Absolute Perception], also known as the Demonic Sphere, spread around me.
It was too much for my mind to process, though. A massive headache crept its way into my head, and I opened my eyes.
“To the right, Sir Carlos. 3 O’ Clock.” I opened my eyes and said. Sir Carlos’ head snapped towards it. The bush nuzzled on the spot.
“Come out, right now!” Sir Carlos raised a heavy sword towards the bush. “I'll count to three.”
“No need,” a feminine voice said. Slowly, a tall figure rose out of the bush. She walked towards the opening, and the fire brightened her figure. She was clad in a robe that hit her face and all of her body, too.
“Take off that robe, reveal your face,” this time, I ordered, my voice stern. I held the sword towards her too, and she stayed silent. A moment later, she slowly grabbed her robe and dropped it to the side.
A portion of the trainee knights fell on their asses in shock immediately. Were they scared? Or were they just that surprised at her beauty?
“I'm not here to fight,” the dark-skinned Goddess of a woman said, voice deep yet feminine as it flowed through the forest.
Two ears flinched on the top of her head, a thick tail nuzzling behind her. She wore nothing but a pair of black short pants and two slim lines of black cloth that covered each of her breasts individually.
It was a wolf girl, on flesh. Although it'd probably be more accurate to call her a wolf woman, she seemed mature. Not that age decreased her beauty at all. I kept my expression professional, but I had to admit she was gorgeous. What the hell was this world's beauty standard?
“I'm hungry,” she said, looking at me, and then at the meat that the trainee knights had just cooked. “I want some meat. I'll pay.” She raised a pouch, and from the slightly open top, golden light glittered out. Gold coins.
Her accent was odd. Her vowels were soft. It was pleasant to the ears.
“How much is meat worth, Sir Carlos?” I looked at the knight and asked, who seemed shocked by the implications of my words.
“Young master, you can't possibly be thinking of sharing food with a Demi-Human?” he asked in disbelief.
That question seemed to offend our dear guest as she frowned. I really hope she wasn't the type to go berserk because of racism.
“Sir Carlos,”
Because if she was, our entire group would be wiped out in a second.
[Level ???]
“Please shut up.”
This woman was in a whole other league.
****
It's about time I explained how the Ascension and Level system worked in this game. It was not as direct as it initially seemed.
From Level 1 to 10, if you awakened Mana, you'd be considered a person of the 0th Ascension. From Level 11 to 20, it was 1st Ascension. Likewise, till Level 50, the Ascension ranks were correlated with the Levels. A Level 50 individual was on the 5th Ascension.
However, a Level 60 was not on the 6th Ascension. The system changed a little after the 5th Ascension.
To reach the 6th Ascension, one would have to cross Level 75. Then, to reach the 7th Ascension, one would have to touch Level 100. The gap grew bigger from the 6th Ascension and forward.
The few other Ascensions that remained after that leaped even higher. For example, only by reaching Level 200 would someone reach 9th Ascension.
Based on what I remember from the game, [Arcane Crown], the [Insight] skill should be able to see up to five Ascensions above my own. Since I failed to see the level of this woman, it meant she had at least reached the 6th Ascension. Meaning, above Level 75. At least.
Sir Carlos was impressive at Level 49, but he wouldn't last a minute against her. Maybe even less than that. The rest of us would be taken out in one-tenth of that. She wasn’t someone we would want to make an enemy of, that’s for sure. So we should just be grateful that it's the food she wanted and not our heads.
What's a monster like her doing here? I wondered as I asked, “Is this enough? Or do you want me to pack some more, madam?”
“That would be enough.”
I packed meat for her personally. She wanted takeout, so I was being a good server and packing them for her. Once done, I gently raised the packet of meat to her. “Here. That'd be 1 Gold Coin, please.”
She handed me a gold coin and accepted the packet, “You're polite. I like that.”
“Thank you,” I raised, pocketing the coin. “Would you like some salad?”
Surprisingly, she giggled at that. “I'm fine. What is your name?”
“Iskandaar Romani,” I decided to stand up as I said. “May I ask yours?”
“No.”
“I understand.”
She smiled, “I'll remember you, Romani boy. You have an interesting smell. Goodbye,” then, she tapped her feet and vanished.
But she didn't vanish stealthily.
An explosion of wind was left behind by her feet, and it wasn't something simple. The Knights who had doubts about what I was doing, lost all of that doubt when the burst of wind sent them flying. It was a display of absolute power, the way they slammed against trees with their backs.
They immediately realized what kind of entity we had just dealt with.
****
The acting Matriarch of the Moon Wolf Tribe, Ralian, jumped over tree branches and headed towards the spot where she and her daughter had set up camp.
It didn't have a fire, they didn't need a fire since her sheer presence kept all the beasts away. But that also meant it was hard to look for in this darkness. Thankfully, she had her nose with her all the time. Her sense of smell guided her toward the camp.
Landing on the opening with a thud, she laughed to herself seeing her daughter get startled. This girl seemed to be in a daze earlier, but that woke her up.
“M-mother! Make some sound when you come.” Her daughter, Lilian, said.
“I did. You were too busy in your head to care. Just get over it already, Lilian, what's happened has happened, don't daze out because of it. Here, I've bought food,” she reached out for the packet of incredibly tasty-smelling meat.
Those humans always knew how to cook the best meat. It made sense since they had access to so much spice, unlike the Moon Wolf Tribe, who always lacked such luxury. The smell of the delicious food brought changes in the girl's expression, which made Ralian smile.
After the two of them ate up, Lilian looked better than before. As Ralian always said, food was the problem, she just had to fill her tummy to fix that depression or whatever. So what if she couldn't buy that cup? It wasn't the end of the world.
“Are you alright now?” Ralian asked her daughter, and she nodded.
“Yes, mother,” the girl replied. “But really, you should have left me there for a few more days. What if I came across who bought it? You shouldn't have bought me back.”
“Romer is too big of a city, you little girl. It'll be hard to find someone whose face you don't even know,” Ralian said with a sigh. “Besides, it was probably a demon bastard who bought it. Who else would recognize the cup’s worth? Not everyone has eyes as special as you, Lilian. And if it really is a demon, they've probably long left the city and returned to the demonic continent.”
“Still… If it's not them, I could have kept an eye out for guys over six feet with dark skin. There couldn't be that many of them, right?” Lilian sounded too hopeful. It was sad.
Unfortunately, luck was never on their side to begin with. If it had been, they would have already gotten their hands on the sole item that could solve all of these problems. Yet, they came so close to it, only to lose it to someone else.
But, dark skin and over six feet, huh? That boy from earlier… She shook her head soon.
He said he was Iskandaar Romani, the youngest of the Romani Family. The family emblem plastered on the carriage proved that. If anyone, he, as a member of the Romani family, couldn't be a demonic bastard. Someone like him probably didn't even know where the black market was.
Plus he wasn't that dark-skinned, not like her. He was just a little tanned. It couldn't be him.
“Where did you get the meat, by the way? It was tasty.” The girl changed the subject when she noticed her mother didn't reply.
Let's keep this to myself. If I tell this silly girl about this, she'll urge me to return and interrogate that kid. Ralian smiled, “Some guys set up camp nearby. I paid them a gold for this much food. A great bargain, isn't it? We usually buy that much meat for tens of gold coins, and that is even raw.”
“Mother, I think the humans always scam us.” The girl suddenly said. “That shop owner bastard asked for ten gold coins from me. But from a slip of his tongue, I learned that he sold the cup for 5 coppers to that dark-skinned person.”
The acting Matriarch shook her head. “Nah, he probably got threatened to sell it cheap. We've been trading with this price for years, how could they be scamming us? Anyways, rest a little. We'll get moving after that.”
“Mhm, sure. Where's my robe, by the way?”
“Oh.” Ralian blinked, smiling brightly. “I, uh, might have dropped it on the human camp and forgot to pick it up.”
“....” Her daughter shot her a dirty look.
That wasn't her robe, but Lilian's. She could hide her ears and tail just by wanting to, although she rarely wanted to do that due to her pride. But Lilian wasn't at that Level yet. She needed that robe to cover her ears.
“Hey, I'll rob some passing carriage later for a robe,” she slapped her daughter on her shoulders with a burst of laughter. “Cheer up and rest well.”
Lilian sighed and nodded. Soon, morning came, and both of them started running through the branches again.
They moved very quickly through the woods. They couldn't afford to be late, after all. The Baron’s castle was safe, but given how her health was the last time they saw her, who could guarantee the state of the current Matriarch?
****
“Y-young master, are you alright?!” Carlos ran to me from where he had flown back, checking on me to make sure the wind hadn't hurt me.
It hadn't, although she was so close to me. She must have intentionally made it that way. She purposely didn't hurt me.
“I'm fine.”
“Who was that woman?!”
“No idea,” I shrugged. “I just felt extreme danger from her. I think she's stronger than Baron Carlstein, so I chose to be careful.”
“You made the right choice! Sorry, I ever doubted you, young master!” Carlos apologized, going on his knees. He, who had been one of the skeptical knights until the woman decided to exit grandly, kneeled to show his feelings of embarrassment.
The other knights followed his example. It felt odd being knelt at just because I knew how to be polite and whom to be polite towards. Then again, I guess that's one valuable skill in real life.
This must be why she intentionally chose to make a scene out of it. To show the others that she wasn't some small fish from the pond, but a shark from the ocean. Why? Did she not want me to be judged? She wasn't as rough as she looked.
I'm quite sure everyone assumed I was captivated by her beauty and that's why I chose to share food. My previous reputation as a trash who couldn't keep his pants on his waist didn't help. Only she had seen through the real reason. That's why she revealed her strength before leaving, to clear the misunderstanding.
Thank you, random demi-wolf-lady.
By the way, which way did she head towards again? I turned toward the way she had left. “....”
It was the same way we were heading. Right, isn't the reason we're heading there because of some Dread Wolf situation….?
“Young master? You don't look very well…”
Goddammit, fuck. I don't want to deal with that kind of powerhouse again. What if she found me racist and killed me?
“...Sir Carlos,” I turned to my escort knight with a placid expression. “Sorry, I take back my offer from earlier. That was too much to deal with, I need some sleep.”
