Practice, and Practice (1)
They had been staying on the bottom floor of the Grand Maze Kaltan for nine days.
Currently, Ryu Han-bin was hiding behind ruins and staring into space.
A bull grazed.
It would seem like a very pastoral scenery, but it couldn’t be farther from that.
In front of the white-silver bull, Uto Ksarik, the dead bodies of all kinds of plant-type monsters were piled up like a mountain.
The walking cannibals Gralliras, the beautiful old-tree giants, Treants, and the corrupted forest’s spirits, Black Dryads.
All of them were monsters over level 100.
Uto Ksarik enjoyed its meal leisurely with all those monsters piled up like a pile of grass.
Well, since they were all plant-based, it was still technically correct to call it a pile of grass.
‘But are Dryads also considered as grass?’
Thinking of the wild idea, Han-bin unsheathed Gigant.
And he drew in a sharp breath.
‘Whew.’
Considering that the monsters it was eating all had levels higher than the Templar Lords, he didn’t want to go near it.
‘I must go, anyway!’
He kicked on the ground, multiplying his leg strength through Aura.
He narrowed the distance and delivered a confident blow.
– Crosscut!
Boom!
There was a big explosion on the back of the bull’s head, who was eating his food unhurriedly.
Uto Ksarik stood up.
The boy appeared again.
He was the same red man whom it had just killed a few days ago.
The divine beast became curious.
“Umm?”
The bull wasn’t particularly excited.
For Uto Ksarik, his attack was nothing more than a slap.
It swung a sword with interest.
A silver blade Aura sliced through the air.
“Argh!”
Han-bin was on edge.
He couldn’t counterattack or deflect it.
He was no match for the divine beast without the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit.
‘As soon as it hits me, my blood and flesh will be torn apart!’
Han-bin kept avoiding its assaults with all his might.
He backed down without hesitation and used his sword to defend himself, not to counterattack.
– Vertical Cut!
Boom!
The red flash dissipated immediately upon colliding against the divine beast’s Blade Aura.
He dodged away from a direct hit, but the strong shockwave it caused still enveloped Han-bin.
The ripples of the Aura dug into his whole body like a gimlet, causing him terrible pain.
“Ugh!”
Gritting his teeth, Ryu Han-bin endured it.
It was painful. It made him feel like he was going to die soon.
‘I need to do this!’
Recalling Leon Hart’s teachings, he kept fighting using his Gigant.
-Stab!
* * *
The short-term intensive development plan of Ryu Han-bin, also known as the “Making a Sword King By Rote,” was set up by Leon Hart.
There was a condition Leon Hart needed for it to be a success.
“Never stop fighting the divine beast until you feel like you’re going to die.”
“Uh, so you’re telling me that I should keep getting until just before I die?”
“Who told you to get hit? If you do, you’ll die immediately.”
Leon Hart meant that Han-bin had to continue to deal with Uto Ksarik’s Aura waves while avoiding any of its fatal blows.
“It’s one of the ways Hunters can awaken their Aura.”
As Artis had mentioned in the past, there were a total of three ways Latnain could awaken their Aura.
Unlocking it through prestigious traditional swordsmanship training.
Inherently activating it due to pure talent or genius.
And finally, awakening it through the Hunters’ secret trick.
“While listening to your situation, I deduced that you awakened your Aura by using the last option.”
Ryu Han-bin felt as if Leon Hart’s opinion was unfair.
“I’ve been working hard on my Maxbrid martial arts. Isn’t that high-level swordsmanship?”
He had always believed that he had acquired Aura by mastering the traditional swordsmanship style.
“I’m sure Maxbrid is a prestigious school of swordsmanship, but your level isn’t enough to master it.”
Leon Hart’s view was that it couldn’t have been the main cause since it wouldn’t have that much of an effect in the first place.
“Acquiring Aura is, in short, achieved through training and practice, which then would allow the body’s energy to become purely refined and converted into Aura.”
Some mastered traditional swordsmanship and refined their energy through proper teaching.
Geniuses refined their energy through pure talent.
However, there were a lot of hunters that didn’t have the opportunity to learn traditional swordsmanship or had no natural talent.
“They have no choice but to use large amounts of Aura to force themselves to refine their energy.”
The Dungeon monsters were essentially Aliens, and their Auras were also extremely abundant.
Such amounts could stimulate the Hunters’ latent energy, leading it to the proper flow.
“Most of the hunters who have awakened their Aura become stronger this way. I heard that the higher the level difference with the monsters, the faster they would grow.”
Such a method was rarely used except by Hunters.
“It doesn’t work if it’s between humans. It has to be the heterogeneous energy of the Alien world.”
There would be no use in a Latnain teacher beating up Latnain disciples.
“And it doesn’t even work when it’s with Alien Aura users. The four powers of Aliens are not as abundant as the Dungeon monsters’.”
“We are all Alien beings, though. How can that be?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but maybe it’s because of one of the Guidelines’ functions.”
If the Earthlings’ energy had been heterogeneous, it wouldn’t have been difficult to determine their real identity.
“The Devil might have done something to hide it.”
In any case, the success rate of the Hunters’ secret was completely left to chance.
The opponent’s level had to be much higher. Additionally, Dungeon monsters never hesitated when it came to killing humans.
“To endure the Aura waves of such a monster continuously is like telling me to die slowly, isn’t it?”
Ryu Han-bin could have acquired Aura without much trouble against the Blood Circer Queen since his skills’ balance was messed up.
At that time, Han-bin’s Aura level was below level 50 since it was before he acquired it.
In that condition, he faced the level 85 monster.
Of course, the difference in their Aura levels was extreme. Hence, the effect was also tremendous.
A typical level 50 Hunter would’ve already been beaten to death before they could achieve any result.
However, Ryu Han-bin’s physical abilities were still around level 140. His endurance was also overwhelmingly high, allowing him to endure the pain and acquire Aura.
“It’s unlikely for ordinary Hunters to accomplish.”
Surprisingly, however, there were quite a few Hunters who had gained Aura through that way.
“With an outstanding Spiritist as a colleague and by acting as the tank of the team, protecting them from harm, meeting the conditions for it would be possible. That’s why it is implicitly known as the Hunters’ way to awaken Aura.”
It was too difficult to achieve that it had to be called a secret technique.
It was a way to unlock one of the four major forces of Latna. However, they had to fight against monsters that could use Aura and somehow survive to achieve results.
“If it weren’t difficult in the first place, wouldn’t the Hunters have mastered it already?”
Nevertheless, there was another reason why Hunters kept it a secret.
“There are so many idiots in the world who interpret what others say in their own way.”
Usually, they ignored all the intricate details and instead understood it as, ‘if you get hit by a monster, you become an Aura user!’
Han-bin saw it like that just then as well.
“There are so many Hunters who failed at it that they kept it a secret.”
At the end of the explanation, Leon Hart slapped Han-bin on the back.
“Well, you don’t have to be bothered.”
He didn’t need to understand all the complicated theories.
He just had to fight.
He would learn by himself if he fought.
“Just don’t die.”
* * *
“Taaaaaa!”
Ryu Han-bin continued to fight back against Uto Ksarik’s Blade Aura.
He continued to tread on a fine line and used the opponent’s Aura wave to provoke his own Aura.
“Ugh!”
He groaned as terrible pain coursed through his physique.
However, he had no choice but to endure it all.
‘The flow of my Aura is certainly different!’
His primal instincts ‘recognized’ and led Aura to the right path in order to fight back against the divine beast’s formidable energy.
That was how he could survive.
He repeatedly evoked the same feeling.
The more he did, the more he learned, and the better the enlightenment became that was forced into his senses!
Fighting like crazy and running away, Ryu Han-bin gritted his teeth.
‘Why do I have to do this?’
Just like the Hunters that acquired Aura the same way, he trained himself by fighting against external energy.
It was one of the ways Han-bin could become permanently stronger in a short time, which Leon Hart had chosen.
However, the problem was that the amount of Aura Ryu Han-bin currently had was equal to level 140.
Only the Three Gods of Kaltan were enough to strengthen him in a short period since their levels were over 160.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
He tried his best, but he felt his limit nearing.
Uttering abusive language, Han-bin took advantage of the opportunity he found to run away.
As expected, Uto Ksarik chased him hard.
The bull’s cry rang out through the sky of the Grand Maze.
“Moooooooooo!”
* * *
It had been 21 days since Han-bin and his party started staying on the bottom floor of the Grand Maze Kaltan.
“Come on, Uto Ksarik!”
Again, the ‘Red Man’ picked a fight against the bull.
Uto Ksarik smirked.
The human was a unique prey in a way that he always resurrected even if it killed him.
But Uto Ksarik didn’t find it strange.
Its intelligence wasn’t high enough to question it.
It released its Blade Aura, as usual, thinking nothing was out of the ordinary.
Zoom!
Red and silver Auras collided, creating an explosion.
The red man took a backward step and breathed in deeply.
Uto Ksarik wondered.
“…?”
Something had changed about him.
He usually died in one hit, but somehow he managed to survive and hold out.
The red man released another attack.
– Vertical Cut!
Blocking the incoming crimson wave, Uto Ksarik became certain.
He wasn’t the same as before.
Did he get stronger?
No, his power didn’t increase that much.
Was it his Blade Aura that became more powerful?
That couldn’t be the case. The power of his Aura hadn’t risen a lot either.
Then why didn’t he get blown away?
Boom!
After exchanging a few more attacks, Uto Ksarik reached an answer.
The flow of his Aura had been refined.
His swordsmanship didn’t become more elaborate.
In contrast, it felt like his swordsmanship became a bit worse than before.
He had only used Stab, Crosscut, and Vertical Cut so far, after all.
But the operation of the Aura in those three movements changed.
His Aura flow, breathing, posture, and connection had all become natural.
His skill was on par with Uto Ksarik when it’s swinging its sword.
“Arghhh!”
The red man jumped up with a burst of energy.
He then used three attacks at the same time.
– Triple Cross Attack, Cross Impact!
A terrifying explosion shook the ruins.
Uto Ksarik smiled as it crossed its swords to defend itself.
His attack just then was quite powerful.
It was strong enough for Uto Ksarik to take a step back.
In excitement, the silver-white divine beast let out a deafening roar.
“Moooooooooooooo!”
It was having fun!
Uto Ksarik counterattacked.
The situation reversed as soon as it attacked the red man aggressively.
‘It’s not fun for me! Damn it!’
Grinding his teeth, Ryu Han-bin quickly pulled himself out.
He had become a little better than before, but he still needed to be careful.
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