NOVPUB
Chapter 485
Luna had previously told me that she might not be able to teach me properly.
True to her words, Luna never gave me any guidance after that.
It was Lena, Ellen’s childhood friend, who had said something rather unexpected.
Her casual remark—that rushing too much could prevent one from doing what one was usually capable of—resonated with me in a way I hadn’t expected.
Luna’s comment about me being overly emotional was also somewhat aligned with Lena’s words.
However, staying calm was easier said than done.
My mind was cluttered with too many things to worry about, and no matter how much I told myself that I was in Rijaiera to prepare for the future, the fact that all those issues were slipping out of my control only made me more anxious the longer I stayed.
Luna still hadn’t taught me anything, and I continued to practice Mana Reinforcement in the open clearing, consumed by restlessness and unease.
“I brought some lunch. Eat something first.”
“Ah... Uh... Thanks.”
Lena occasionally came by to bring me water or lunch.
It felt a little awkward, and Lena seemed to notice my discomfort.
“Luna ahjumma packed this for you. Did you think I made it myself?”
“... Oh, I see.”
‘What I need from her isn’t lunch, but guidance.’
Luna clearly had something in mind, and I just hadn’t figured it out yet.
And so, Luna Artorius continued to subtly look out for me without giving me the help I truly needed.
Sitting at the crude wooden table in the open field, I ate a sandwich made with dry bread, ham, and vegetables.
‘By the way... “Luna ahjumma”?’
My first impression of Luna Artorius was that she was a transcendent, almost divine figure.
But in Rijaiera, she was just a neighborhood aunt—nothing more, nothing less.
A neighborhood ahjumma (the world’s strongest, who also packs lunch for you).
Thinking about it, it didn’t seem like such a rare thing. There were probably similar clichés elsewhere.
“By the way, doesn’t Luna look a lot like Ellen?”
“Yeah, she does.”
They were almost identical. Of course, if you looked closely, Ellen had a slightly more youthful appearance.
Now that Ellen was twenty and an adult, though, she didn’t look exactly like Luna anymore.
“Ronan ahjussi also looks a lot like Ragan. Well, actually, it’s more like Ragan looks like Ronan ahjussi, so it’s a bit weird to say it.”
Lena burst into laughter at her own words.
After saying that, she quietly gazed toward the village.
“You’ve noticed it too, right?”
“... Noticed what?”
“That our village is a bit strange.”
I hadn’t expected Lena to bring this up herself, so I was caught off guard.
Seriously, did Lena know even less about what kind of place Rijaiera was than I did?
“It’s weird. Luna ahjumma, for example, doesn’t seem to age at all.”
“Ah...”
Her face was eerily youthful, without a single blemish, and there was no trace of the passage of time on her.
On the other hand, while Ronan Artorius didn’t show much sign of aging either, one could still somewhat sense it.
I found it quite intriguing that Lena, a local resident, also found it strange.
“Luna ahjumma hasn’t changed at all, ever since I was really young.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Lena leaned closer to me and lowered her voice. “And sometimes, the elderly folks in the village call her ‘Lady Luna.’”
“... Really?”
“Yeah. They don’t do it when we’re around, but when they think we’re not there, they treat her like she’s some high-ranking person.”
The Head of the family of the Sun and Moon...
I didn’t know what this new information could mean, but I had a rough idea that Luna Artorius was seen as a special existence, even in Rijaiera.
Therefore, it made sense that the elderly respected her.
“I thought they’d tell me more as I got older, but whether it’s because I’m still too young or they just don’t plan to tell us, no one has ever said a word about it.”
Lena pouted, clearly feeling a bit hurt and disappointed.
Rustle.
“Lena, don’t tell unnecessary things to an outsider.”
That low voice came from the direction of Rijaiera, and someone appeared.
“Huh? Arta, what brings you here?”
It was the other of Ellen’s two childhood friends, a guy named Arta. He had a sharp, stoic demeanor. If Lena was friendly, Arta was the complete opposite.
Until that moment, Arta hadn’t shown much interest in me.
“Hey, outsider,” he said bluntly.
“Yeah, what?” I responded curtly. I wasn’t one to back down.
“I’ve been watching you struggle alone for days now. It’s kind of pitiful. How about we spar a bit?”
He rummaged through the storage shed in the open field and pulled out two wooden swords.
Whoosh!
I easily caught the wooden sword he tossed at me.
“Do you know how to use a weapon?” I asked.
At my question, Arta slightly furrowed his brow.
“No, not really.”
He then pointed the wooden sword at me.
“Compared to Ragan.”
It was a humble way of saying he wasn’t good, but in reality, it meant he was quite skilled.
Lena, seemingly uninterested in stopping us, looking on with excitement as we squared off.
Arta stood still, pointing the wooden sword at me.
I didn’t sense any special aura from him. I wasn’t sure how far Rijaiera’s uniqueness extended, but Lena seemed ordinary, and Arta didn’t appear special either.
Mana Reinforcement was not something just anyone could awaken.
It was a power only a select few could achieve. Even in the Temple, which gathered talents from across the continent, only a handful managed to awaken their Mana Reinforcement, and even then, it was often late.
Ellen and I, who had awakened our Mana Reinforcement at seventeen, were extremely rare cases.
Ellen, who had reached Master class at eighteen, was practically a unique case.
And I, who could face Master-class opponents with just Mana Reinforcement, was also a rare exception.
Therefore, no matter how special Rijaiera was, Arta couldn’t possibly be a match for me.
If Arta was around twenty, then it wouldn’t be unusual for him not to have awakened Mana Reinforcement yet. In fact, that would be the norm. Therefore, even though my opponent was a bit cocky, I didn’t want to overwhelm him with my mana-reinforced strength.
I wasn’t as outmatched as I used to be against Ellen.
Arta took a step forward.
Thud!
It was just an instant, and I missed his movement.
Crack!
Almost instinctively, I defended my side, and his wooden sword struck mine with a sharp crack.
“What the...”
Arta stepped back and then swung his sword straight at me.
“You’re underestimating me, aren’t you?”
Whoosh!
The wooden sword grazed my right cheek, whistling dangerously as it swept through the air. I could feel the extraordinary speed and destructive power behind his blow.
“You... What the hell are you?”
‘This guy... How can he move like this without using Mana Reinforcement?’
Whoosh!
I aimed a knee strike at his solar plexus as he got too close, but he twisted his body and stepped aside, creating distance between us.
“Well?” Arta asked as he tilted his head. “What do you think?”
He spun the wooden sword in the air a few times before pointing it at me again.
Lena was ordinary, but this guy wasn’t.
I didn’t know what it was, but he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
Even without Mana Reinforcement, my abilities were above A-rank. And yet, this guy, who wasn’t even using Mana Reinforcement, had movements that were on par with mine.
Rumble!
Blue flames enveloped my body, and Arta smiled.
I threw the wooden sword in my right hand to the ground.
I didn’t need a weapon that couldn’t withstand my strength.
“Oh?” Arta laughed. “Actually, I prefer that too.”
He also threw his wooden sword aside.
***
Close combat wasn’t my specialty, but I wasn’t bad at it either.
I hadn’t only learned swordsmanship from Ellen.
Boom!
But something was off.
Crash!
This was definitely strange.
Our fists collided, and whether we landed a hit or dodged each other’s attacks, the threatening sounds of impact filled the air.
Arta crossed his arms to block my punch and was pushed back.
With my body enhanced by mana, my physical strength surpassed that of steel.
Yet he blocked it with just his arms, shook it off, and immediately leaped back at me.
Thud!
I blocked his high kick with my left forearm, feeling a heavy impact.
Arta was unleashing destructive power that was impossible to achieve without Mana Reinforcement.
This didn’t make sense. No matter how strong one’s body was, physical strength alone was not enough to reach such a level. It was only possible with Mana Reinforcement.
Boom!
Crack!
Thud!
Crash!
I was dumbfounded as I watched his spinning kick miss me but completely shatter a tree behind me.
How was this possible?
Even with my cheat-like physical enhancement abilities, this level of power should only have been possible for me.
However, Arta was doing it with just his body alone.
He wasn’t enveloped in blue mana; he was just using his raw strength.
How was this possible? How could someone with no Mana Reinforcement surpass my strength, given my output?
Was there some kind of legitimate method that surpassed cheating?
Ignoring my confusion, Arta continued his relentless assault.
Boom! Crash! Crack!
Every time our bodies clashed, dust rose from the ground, and each step left deep scars in the dry earth.
His technique was impressive, and his strength was no joke.
But in terms of overall output, he couldn’t possibly match me.
I caught him as he leaped at me again, attempting another spinning kick.
I quickly lowered my stance and swept his supporting leg out from under him.
Boom!
As he lost his balance and fell, I prepared to deliver the final blow.
Whoosh!
But Arta immediately pushed off the ground with one hand, flipping backward like an acrobat to create distance.
“Not bad. I lose.”
Arta shook his head, admitting defeat as he dusted off his hands.
The outcome was clear, and continuing further would only confirm it.
But I couldn’t understand.
“What are you?”
“Huh?”
I couldn’t comprehend it.
“How can you move like that without Mana Reinforcement? How can you keep up?”
“... Oh, that’s what you’re talking about.” Arta shrugged. “I’ve been using it the whole time.”
“... What?”
Only then did I see the faint flow of blue mana around his body, visible to the naked eye.
It seemed he had to make it visible for me to notice.
“Do you only believe what you see?”
A level of Mana Reinforcement so refined that no mana was released externally... It completely defied everything I knew.
Did they teach Mana Reinforcement in Rijaiera?
Were Lena and Arta different in some way? Even Ellen wasn’t at this level.
Was Arta somehow connected to Rijaiera’s secrets?
“Well, you’re stronger than me, but let me tell you something. Your Mana Reinforcement... how should I put it...” Arta shook his head as he looked at me. “It’s ridiculously inefficient.”
Luna’s words. Lena’s words. And now Arta’s.
Finally, I understood what my problem was.
***
Two years after the Gate incident, my physical abilities had improved dramatically thanks to the Achievement Points that allowed me to increase my physical statistics.
No, “dramatically” wasn’t the right word—it was more like “abnormally.”
Using a shortcut, I had achieved something that no ordinary person could achieve through effort alone.
As a result, my mana rank had grown to SS-rank.
With just Mana Reinforcement, I could face Master-class opponents using sheer mana output and the destructive power of my relics.
However, the only thing that had improved was my output. My technique hadn’t improved at all.
In fact, it hadn’t just stagnated—it had regressed.
“Mana Reinforcement is a reflection of your mind. Your Mana Reinforcement is wild and rough.”
I could only nod blankly at Arta’s words.
“I don’t know what’s going on with your body, but given the way you use Mana Reinforcement, your body should be breaking down. It’s strange that it hasn’t already.”
It was only because of my strong base physical abilities that my body could withstand such a reckless technique.
I was forcibly releasing massive amounts of mana to enhance my body.
The fact that I could endure it was strange in itself, since my way of using Mana Reinforcement was essentially self-destructive.
It hadn’t always been like this, but at some point, it had become this way.
So, while I could overpower Arta with sheer output, I couldn’t come close to matching his technique.
His level of refined Mana Reinforcement was so subtle that I had not been able to even detect it.
If Arta could convert 90% of his mana into strength, then I couldn’t even convert half of mine.
My efficiency was abysmal, but my sheer output was high enough to compensate.
I had won our bout, but I was the one feeling defeated.
When it came to Mana Reinforcement, output was important, but with no room to increase it further, the only thing I could do now was improve my efficiency.
The fact that my Mana Reinforcement took the form of raging blue flames meant that my mana was combusting incompletely.
This technique of overwhelming my opponents through brute strength alone—I had to change it.
“... Thank you.”
What Luna hadn’t taught me, Arta had, in an unexpected way.
Or perhaps she had known this would happen.
“What’s there to thank me for?”
Arta just shrugged, saying nothing more.
