Ch 108

Chapter 108: Real Talent (3)

Flying Sword of Blue sky.

I could still remember the technique NamGung Hyuk had shown in Shinjuku while mumbling the name.

Was it because I had erased the flames that were generated with a power?

Although I had only seen it once, I was sure it was the Flying Sword of Blue sky.

It was something that wasn’t a skill, a power, or a unique attribute.

Just like NamGung Hyuk said, that technique could overcome skills.

But the Flying Sword of Blue Sky wasn’t a skill, and it wasn’t something that I could learn.

That’s why I had concluded that the techniques NamGung Hyuk had used weren’t ones I could learn.

But…

‘Was the Flying Sword of Blue Sky a skill…?’

As if the Replica were saying I was wrong, he was using NamGung Hyuk’s techniques in both swords.

Not only that, but it wasn’t exactly the same as NamGung Hyuk’s. It had some unique characteristics.

I was surprised yet, at the same time, couldn’t help but notice that the Replica’s double sword abilities were poor.

「The skill ‘Sixth Sense’ has been activated.」

I realized that because of the Sixth Sense skill I activated while fighting.

Thanks to that, I realized that the Replica’s sword style wasn’t that polished yet.

But still, his sword techniques were stronger than NamGung Hyuk’s.

The Flying Sword of Blue sky I saw was a technique that swung the sword at a really high speed.

It was usually a technique that was used to defend. But the Replica’s Flying Sword of Blue Sky was mostly offensive.

Maybe it was a change of thought.

As if it were saying that the best defense was a good offense, it wasn’t giving me space to dig in.

In reality, I was able to get used to it after increasing my Battle Concentration three times. So it wasn’t the wrong way.

‘Same level as me…? He’s just a monster…!’

Seeing how he was pushing me in terms of strength, not skills, it was hard to call him a replica anymore.

He was a swordsman comparable to a challenger from Murim.

‘A copy of myself? How did they copy me to get such a monster as a result?’

Was it because of that? The Replica still couldn’t use the skills properly.

‘I still have a chance. I need to kill him before his growth speed increases…’

If I can use the skills up to a limit, it shouldn’t be impossible for me to reverse the situation.

I clenched my teeth and was about to brush off the dual swords attack.

Pang!

“…?!”

The moment I hit the dual swords, the Replica’s arms seems to explode.

I was surprised by it, so I slid back down and analyzed the situation.

‘I’m not sure what technique that is…’

After getting a safe distance, I could analyze the situation better.

Looking at the blood that had exploded and returned to normal made me understand what had happened.

When we were close, the Replica used the skill ‘Truth-seeker of Blood’ to make its arms explode.

‘He used the blood-controlling ability to make his arms explode and make me back off…? Why?’

Truth-seeker of Blood was an ability that let you control your blood. Not only that, but it also allowed you to recover the lost blood automatically after a certain number of hours.

But that only allowed him to gain a few hours. Furthermore, recovering your blood took quite some time.

‘If he wanted to create an unexpected variable by making both arms explode, that’s a mistake for sure.’

After analyzing the situation instantly, I held the Blood Demon Sword tighter and was about to charge toward him when…

I realized his emotionless eyes were chillingly glaring at me.

It was as if he’d planned everything out.

I couldn’t help but stop and open my eyes wide.

I realized my suspicions were right after looking at the attacks that ensued.

KLIINNGG—!

You could see the ‘Counter Shield’ shining in the hands of the Replica.

He had dismissed the Iron-blooded Sword, as though he wanted to restrict the recoil.

‘Had he used a defensive skill like the Counter Shield as a sword for this…!’

The Counter Shield had absorbed a lot of damage thanks to all the clashes we had…

Its damage output couldn’t be taken lightly. I was forced to use a Counter Shield in the same way as him.

「The skill ‘Counter Shield’ has been activated.」

I used half of my mana and put it in the Counter Shield and was about to jump into the air and attack when…

The Replica twisted his waist, and his sword followed as if he were drawing a line.

And—

CLANG—!

Flying Sword of Blue sky.

The attack that had destroyed part of Tokyo hit me.

***

Reaper Scans

[Translator – Daniel Shin ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

At that moment.

The moment the Counter Shield was destroyed, my thought process accelerated because of Battle Concentration.

In the hunter’s world, talent allowed you systematically grow.

Your ability to acquire new skills, how easily your stats improved, and your capacity to obtain new attributes.

These three things combined made your talent.

I soon realized that systematic talent was just your aptitude.

It seemed like, in Murim, your talent wasn’t determined by the system.

If the talent determined by the system were everything, people from Murim wouldn’t hate relying on them so much…

But that wasn’t the case for Baek SeonHak and NamGung Hyeok.

For people from Murim, the system was something they used because they had no other choice.

Then what was talent for challengers from other dimensions?

The answer to this question was in techniques that weren’t skills.

How well you could use ‘techniques that weren’t skills’ like magic, martial arts, or a unique trait from your race.

Your talent was decided at first by how well you understood those.

Then the most important thing was how freely you could use such techniques.

That was how most people from different dimensions thought of talent.

But challengers from Earth weren’t interested in the talent from techniques that weren’t skills.

It was understandable.

A skill was specialized knowledge and a miracle of the system that even gave you the technique.

Challengers from Earth probably didn’t understand why they had to obsess more about techniques that weren’t skills.

Even I tried for a few years to obtain weapon-related skills by training.

I had no intention of using my weapon without the necessary know-how.

I had no other choice.

There was no point in using weapon techniques that had no skill effects.

That line of thought solidified while going up the Tower.

That’s why I had never thought about why people from Murim hated skills.

But…

‘I finally understood.’

Through this trial, all of the doubts that had been stacking up inside my head were solved.

I now understood why Baek SeonHak hesitated before using a skill. Or NamGung Hyeok said the skill was fake.

Unlike skills, they were used to using real techniques. To them, the system miracle was just a chain.

Thanks to the fight with the Replica, I realized how important the techniques that weren’t skills were.

And—

‘The Replica is just a being that copied my experiences and talent.’

From the point of view of a being from another dimension, I had a ridiculously incredible talent.

‘Then, I can do it too.’

The reason why the Replica had an advantage over me in the battle was that I didn’t obsess about techniques.

I never thought of trying to replicate the techniques of the Replica. And I tried to deny that I had talent.

So…

「The Skill ‘Counter Shield’ has broken. You cannot reflect the damage received anymore.」

Now, it was about time to face everything I’d been denying.

Not skill, but real techniques.

‘Battle Concentration.’

「The skill ‘Battle Concentration’ has been activated.」

「The user’s concentration has increased 10 times.」

「You’ve reached a concentration state that’s beyond your limits.」

「If the skill is dismissed, you could receive a huge recoil.」

While looking at the broken Counter Shield, I increased my cognitive ability.

I needed some time before I could use Counter Shield again, so I had to gain some time.

Of course, I got a message that said I’d suffer a recoil later on.

But I brushed off that message and looked at the Replica approaching me slowly.

It seemed like he’d been heavily inspired by NamGung Hyeok.

It had copied his movements so much that it felt totally different from before.

It wasn’t that he’d obtained a skill related to it. But to think that he’d be able to use the same techniques in such a similar way.

It didn’t make sense to me…

But from now on, I would have to think differently.

‘I must stop relying on skills so much.’

The world had become slower. I grabbed the sword tighter.

And then—

‘I have to empty everything and apply them in new ways.’

I slowly started to empty everything that was in my mind.

“…”

Throw away the common sense.

「Because of your independent realization, the proficiency rate of ‘Mana Management’ has increased by 10%.」

Throwing away my stubbornness.

「You’ve obtained the achievement, ‘Enlightenment.’」

「Your HP has increased by 1.」

「You’ve obtained the achievement, ‘Trance.’」

「Your Mana has increased by 4.」

I felt like it took me a lot of time to throw away my reliance on skills. But in reality, only a few seconds had passed.

Finally, I felt that I was standing at the same starting point as the Replica.

And the reason for that was…

‘I’m finally starting to understand.’

I began to understand how his techniques worked after stopping trying to look at everything from the perspective of skills.

And at an incredible speed.

Maybe it was because my thoughts were still accelerated, the Replica still hadn’t been able to touch me.

Because of the two newly obtained achievements, my mana had increased.

‘I recovered a bit of HP, and my Mana went up considerably.’

It was as if I didn’t have the penalty of being on the defensive anymore.

Realistically, I had a good affinity with techniques rather than skills.

Of course, I still had a bit of suspicion. But then, the Replica made absolutely no sense…

I probably had it.

A talent similar to that.

‘Let’s not doubt and think about it slowly.’

If I could reduce the distance between the Mana and HP, I felt I could quickly copy the Replica’s techniques.

Looking at the Replica after getting rid of my preconceptions made me understand many things.

From the way of grabbing the sword and in what direction he was going to move it…

It was easy to understand after the knowledge that was inside the skill, Demon Slayer (B+), got fused with my thinking skills, which I guess was my talent.

After I understood the theory of it, I realized that the Replica’s movements lacked polishing.

He hadn’t used Sword Flame so that he could look very similar to NamGung Hyuk.

‘He also hadn’t mixed the Lightning Sword Ki.’

After thinking about it for a while, I reached a conclusion.

The Replica had put a great emphasis on imitating NamGung Hyuk.

But unlike the Replica, I thought that fortifying the sword with the Sword Flame and Lightning Sword Ki wasn’t a bad decision.

Putting the attribute to cut everything in the Sword Ki. And the capability to destroy the Sword Ki in the Sword Flame.

The Sword Ki would crumble at the Sword Flame. And I’d be able to deal with Sword Flame with another Sword Flame.

That was the basic theory behind Sword Flame. The more attributes you put into Sword Flame, the weaker its effects would become.

That was because the mental capability of the user was limited.

‘If he imitates NamGung Hyuk’s Sword Flame, its innate nature would get lighter.’

If the Replica’s mental capabilities were similar to mine, that would become his weakness.

If I added in the Sword Flame, which had the destructive characteristics of Sword Ki, and added Lightning Sword Ki which was generated with the support of the system, I would be the one who had the advantage.

Of course, this was all in theory…

「The user’s concentration rate is set to 2.8 times.」

This is something I’ll learn the answer to after both swords clash.

I didn’t hesitate and set the cognition again to fast and—

「The skill ‘Truth-seeker of Blood’ has been activated.」

Paf!

I made the Replica’s blood soar as it scattered away.

The Replica used the blood-controlling abilities to dismiss it, but…

That was enough to make him lose concentration.

Bam!

I stomped on the ground and got close to the Replica.

I swung the blade at him.

Just like the Replica had swung the double swords at me without hesitation.

Slash…!

The Replica still had emotionless eyes. While his hands were bleeding, he generated a new set of blades.

After he got another pair of twin blades, he tried to use them to defend against my attacks.

Clang—!

But unlike before, the Replica’s swords were pushed back while his hands trembled.

It seemed like the Replica was astonished for the first time…

Slash!

He backed off, even though it made him receive a wound. Even that small emotion he’d just shown had disappeared.

He had monstrous regenerative capabilities. So he probably thought that wouldn’t stop him from obtaining victory.

But after this clash, I felt that I had finally found the answer to defeat the 12th floors challenge.

‘As expected. Even though he has copied me, it isn’t that everything was set to be as effective as possible…’

They had put focus on the techniques rather than the skill. But there wasn’t that much difference from me.

It’s just that the Replica had been faster than me at understanding my talent and learning how to use it.

Was it because of that?

「You’re facing an opponent you can perfectly deal with.」

「The skill ‘Indomitable Will’ has been deactivated.」

Even the skill thought the Replica wasn’t a menace anymore.

A smile appeared on my face.

‘Finally, the situation has reversed.’

Now, it was a matter of time before I won.

——