Chapter 173

It didn’t take a long time before I was familiar with the grandiosely-named technique, Spatial Rift Mind Slash.

Nevertheless, the holy sword’s technique was similar to the Light Sword. If you were to quibble over it, it was actually easier to use.

[I still don’t understand.]

Seregia spoke sullenly.

While I practiced the Spatial Rift Mind Slash with the soul sword, Seregia was also at my side.

However, it seemed like she was getting disappointed as our understanding of the technique broadened.

“It’s not that difficult. I’ll explain it simply by comparing it to something else.”

Contrary to its grandiose name, the technique was ultimately just a technique that extended the sword’s edge by compressing aura.

It was an aura slash that extended so finely that it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, inducing an optical illusion that looked as though you had cut through space.

That’s all.

Applying the aura was extremely simple.

You just need to think of it like a swelling, triangular zit.

You would press down on the pustule from both sides, forcing its contents to explode outward.

With a pop.

[What do you mean by a ‘pop’?!? Do you really have to explain my lethal technique by comparing it to something so filthy?]

“I’m not wrong, am I?”

I ignored the grumbling holy sword and continued my explanation.

“And the split second that the pustule is fired, you swing your sword. Of course, you need to know exactly when the pustule will be fired, how far you want it to go, and also how to maintain it for a certain amount of time. That’s all there is to this technique.”

[When you put it that way, Warrior, my technique seems way too mundane, and it also feels filthy. Warrior.]

I explained the method of utilizing the technique and its applications thoroughly to Seregia.

She couldn’t try out the technique herself since she didn’t have a body anymore, but Seregia’s passion for swordsmanship hadn’t waned.

On the contrary, her desires were much more transparent than when she was a human. She earnestly wanted to improve her understanding of the technique.

Of course, the holy sword wasn’t quite happy that his technique was being analyzed thoroughly in the process of explaining his technique.

He was pretty displeased.

[Then why don’t YOU try using that simple technique! Since you’ve practiced a lot already, why don’t you try using it properly! It would be fine if you used it on that house over there, wouldn’t it!?]

The holy sword was pissed.

I may have hurt his pride.

Rather than confront the infuriated holy sword, I decided to do as he said.

I was standing in front of the mountain right now. The distance between me and the building that the holy sword had pointed out was certainly not small.

Around 150 meters.

I had pulled off the technique successfully many times in the past few days, but I had never tried to use it at this distance.

But whatever.

I didn’t think of it as impossible.

I just haven’t tried to apply it differently.

It’s been five days since I started practicing the technique, and I’ve already become familiar with it.

I drew my sword and enveloped it in aura.

I felt the aura compress at the tip and briefly waited.

I still couldn’t use it at a moment’s notice because it needed a bit of time before the reaction I was looking for came.

Eventually, I found a specific pattern in the lump of condensed aura.

I matched the timing based on prior experience and swung my sword.

It followed my diagonal sword swing and a scar carved itself onto the wooden building 150 meters away.

It looked as if it were marked by the talons of a monster that only appeared in legends.

That was satisfying.

[… I-It’s still not perfect! Look at that. Aren’t the traces of your sword strike too uneven? It’s proof that you didn’t control your aura properly!]

The holy sword was silent for a short while before he continued to argue.

Just as the holy sword said, the traces of my sword strike were definitely uneven.

As I said, it looked exactly like a talon mark.

I have to make the traces cleaner and smoother.

“It’ll be fine if I practice some more. There are two days left, aren’t there?”

I had promised that I would succeed within a week, and there were still two days remaining.

Perhaps that was the reason the holy sword was acting sharp and fastidious.   

The holy sword did confidently assure me that I wouldn’t be able to completely familiarize myself with the technique within a week.

Disregarding that…  

There’s something else on my mind.

“Should I try combining it?”

The sword was engulfed with flames.

It still wasn’t possible to combine the Spatial Rift Mind Slash and the Light Sword technique.

However, it seemed like simply fusing fire to the aura would be fine.

In that state, I attempted the Spatial Rift Mind Slash again.

Even though it looked similar, it required a different method of control since I had mixed the two techniques. The aura did as it pleased and went wild.

I had to guide that aura to the tip of my sword.

It was more akin to using my strength to roughly shove the aura, rather than using a technique.

And I slashed down with my sword once again.

I had swung my sword at a leisurely pace, yet I heard an unsettling sound effect emanate from my sword.

And the two-story wooden building in front of me earned another lengthy scar.

If I were to describe the difference between the two slashes, the second one was interspersed with flames.

[This crazy…]

[You’re truly amazing. I don’t know what else I can say. You’re amazing, Warrior.]

The holy sword and Seregia both reviewed it side by side.

Seregia just complimented me like normal.

And the holy sword… it sounded like this asshole was going to cuss at me?

Honestly, it’s not a very practical technique.

Using the holy sword’s original technique would be much more effective, and smoother.

If I were to add fire, it’d just add more weaknesses.

The aura consumption was also enormous.

More importantly, controlling it wasn’t easy.

Seregia and the holy sword hadn’t noticed, but the second technique didn’t hit my initial target.

And this type of mistake could be fatal during a battle.

However, there was one advantage that offset all those disadvantages.

It looked cool.

Others would see it as a slow sword swing, but it would appear as though my slash had severed a distant object while simultaneously igniting it on fire.

It was pretty good for showing off.

[What are you even going to do by learning magic? Please just learn swordsmanship. If you’re also skilled in magic, Warrior, my position is at risk.]

I ignored the holy sword’s whining.

The holy sword’s position is solid.

Who would dare aim for the position of a frivolous demonic sword?

[What are you going to call that technique?]

The holy sword stopped complaining and finally contributed something.

The technique’s name was important.

Once upon a time, I had thought it foolish to name your techniques individually.

Giving them names were like limiting your own potential.

However, as I familiarized myself with the Light Sword technique, my opinion changed.

If you don’t hammer in that fixed perception, the technique would be too difficult to even practice.

Attaching names to these techniques was definitely helpful in recalling and exercising the technique.

[How about Spatial Rift Blazing Mind Slash?]

What insincere naming sense.

You just added “blazing” to the original technique name.

And.

“You can’t use mind slash.”

There wasn’t any problem to the holy sword adding the name ‘Mind Slash’ to his technique.

However, there was definitely a problem adding ‘Mind Slash’ to my own technique.

[It’s perfectly fine to call it a mind slash. Most people will see it as a mind slash anyway.]

The holy sword advised that I use the name mind slash, but I thought differently.

I wouldn’t be able to call this technique ‘Mind Slash,’ regardless of what others may think or see.

Familiarizing myself with the name ‘mind slash’ will be detrimental to me later on.

If I wanted to attach ‘mind slash’ to it, I can’t allow my sword strike to be as rugged as the scar on the wooden building.

I would only recognize this as a ‘mind slash’ when I’m able to precisely cut off a person’s head without drawing my sword.

And ‘Spatial Rift Blazing Mind Slash,’ really?

It’s too long, and it’s lame.

[Well, if that’s what you think.]

Mind slash, huh.

Mind slash.

I sat next to the fountain and thought about a mind slash.

When I saw the technique the holy sword had unleashed on the 26th floor, I had truly felt that it was a mind slash.

And I had attempted it by myself in Kiri Kiri’s field.

As a result, the only thing I was able to confirm was that I couldn’t even attempt the mind slash yet.

At the time, I thought I could use the mind slash.

I’d succeeded in keeping a calm mind while executing the Light Sword technique.

I had earnestly attempted to use the mind slash.

My method of attempting it was both simple and stupid.

I formed mana in the air.

It was like lifting mana from my palm, like how I had drawn and returned the short sword lodged in the tree.

I condensed the mana midair and moved it.

It wasn’t my body nor was it my sword; I projected the mana in the air, and made it solid, forcibly controlling it. At the same time, seeing the movement that was controlled by that force was extremely difficult.

And I swung my sword.

The condensed mana and the sword in my grasp became one.

As I swung my sword slowly, the mana in the air follow the same trajectory.

That’s how I materialized my will into the air.

I succeeded in hitting the falling Thousand Arms with my mana.

However, that was all.

All my strength went into it, but I was only able to slightly nudge the free-falling Thousand Arms.

Ultimately, that was all.

However, what if I were to combine it with the holy sword’s technique here?

Let’s try it.

I gathered aura in my palm.

Forming mana outside the body and forming aura had different levels of difficulty.

On the surface of my palm, aura about the size of my thumb was formed and rose up.

That was enough.

I molded the aura into the shape of a triangle and compressed it at the end of a single point.  

It was the same as the holy sword’s technique.

I didn’t gather the aura at the end of a sword; I just gathered the mana that I had formed in the air.

I momentarily focused my strength at the end of the aura, a slender branch of aura stuck out for a short while.

Even though I was focused, it was difficult for me to to see it in a split second.

It wasn’t even the length of 1 cm.

[… What did you just do?]

“After I amassed the aura, I used the method of the Spatial Rift Mind Slash to try to project a part of the aura.”

[You really do all sorts of things. My goodness.]

[How effective is it, Warrior?]

“I probably won’t even be able to kill a sewer rat.”

I can’t use this.

Even if I were to increase the output from here, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to get a better outcome.

It wasn’t a problem with the amount of mana I had, but rather a problem utilizing it.

I pondered about it a bit more.

In order to use brief protrusion of aura from the holy sword’s technique, the Spatial Rift Mind Slash, you had to swing your sword.

And if you swing your sword in a large arc, you would be able to quickly slash across a wide range using a small amount of mana.

What would happen if I were to swing the aura in the air towards the front?

The difficulty is just too high.

I had only removed the sword as a medium, yet its difficulty rises absurdly.

Amassing the aura in the air and using that to mimic the Spatial Rift Mind Slash was too much for me.

After centering the aura on the central axis, I had to match the timing and swing it?

That’s impossible.

Extending the aura and swinging it simultaneously was impossible.

I can only do one or the other.

If that’s the case, taking out the swing is the right move.

Let’s solve the problems preceding the swing.

While the aura’s moving diagonally, I’ll focus on the essential task of extending the aura.

The further it moves diagonally, the better.

If that’s the case, it’d be better to rotate the aura.

I enlarged the aura that floated above my hand a bit more, to about the size of a fist.

And I started to slowly spin it.

As the aura spun, I realized I made an error.

I didn’t have a way to condense the aura that rotated in one direction.

In order to project a portion of the aura, you have to pressurize the aura.

However, in order to pressurize the quickly rotating aura, I’d have to concentrate on producing an opposing reaction.

It needed a collision of force.

If it’s not clockwise, then let’s try counterclockwise.

I dispersed the aura that was above my hand and started over again.

This time, I shaped the aura into a sphere.

The aura within the  sphere was divided into three bodies.

The three bodies simultaneously rotated in opposing directions and on slightly different axes, rubbing against each other to emit heat.

Rather than it being the holy sword’s Spatial Rift Mind Slash, it was closer to the method of utilizing the Light Sword.

The aura particles used the process of friction to generate heat, and at a single point the collision between particles was maximized, creating pressure. Using that pressure, a piece of aura was momentarily projected.  

The friction, as well as the rotation, was running smoothly.

Though, there was one problem.

The rotational speed was continuously accelerating.

I wasn’t using my strength sustain the rotation anymore, but I had fastened the sphere onto its central axis so that it wouldn’t escape my control; yet the rotational speed was accelerating once again.

There was so much light that it was difficult to open my eyes and look directly at it.

The heat went beyond my palm and started to singe my wrist.

It was like a fist-sized sun.

This is really dangerous, though.

It was like an airplane’s engines, ringing out across the residential district.

The intense light tormented my two closed eyes.

[Warrior, stop. Please stop! What is this all of a sudden? If you keep going and that explodes, you’ll really die!]

In an instant, the aura transformed into a miniature bomb as the holy sword urgently tried to stop me.

I also wanted to disperse it like the holy sword said, but it wasn’t possible.

If that violent energy escapes my control, I have no idea what’ll happen.

I didn’t know whether it would explode or disseminate in all directions.

However, whatever the result, it would bring about an extremely dangerous situation; that I did know.

The activity of intense thermal energy had created a bomb.

So that I wouldn’t be swept by the fierce air current, I held onto the fountain with my left hand and endured.

I could use my mana and stand my ground, but I didn’t have any extra mana at my disposal.

[Warrior, you’ll really die!]

[Time Confinement]

I used my Time Confinement and temporarily halted time.

It’s too late to stop the sphere.

It was impossible to naturally disperse that energy.

In order to destroy the sphere, all its energy has to be used up.

Even within the world that had been stopped by Time Confinement, the white light sphere was slowly spinning.

How fast is that thing spinning?

This is driving me crazy.

I don’t know whether that thing will endure the entire duration of Time Confinement.

I repressed my uneasiness and focused on the sphere’s movement.

In any case, the sphere was moving slow enough that its spin was apparent to the naked eye.

The chance to calmly look at the slowly-moving aura was really valuable.

The single sphere was composed of three autonomous bodies, and I was able to observe that the three layers were colliding and rubbing against each other.

Its flow.

I watched for quite a long time.

Right before my Time Confinement was over, I counted the numbers.

One.

Two.

Three.

At the same time that I counted three, the effects of Time Confinement ended.

The sphere started to rotate at a rapid pace once again, and the world began to shake.

In the midst of this, I manipulated the sphere.

I had prepared this method and waited for the effects of Time Confinement to come to an end.

And through that method,  I was successfully able to pressurize a part of the aura that formed the sphere and project it.

In the next moment, a giant echo was accompanied by a burst of intense light.

It was accompanied by a wave of mana, and I couldn’t tell exactly what had happened.

After the burst of light, I felt that the temporarily-projected aura had already dissipated.

Before I had been engulfed by the aftereffect, I had hurriedly used Blink repeatedly to escape the range of its effects.

Because Blink had negated the force that would be applied to my body, I was able to land safely, rather than be swept away and tumble about.

From the direction of the sphere, a thunderous sound belatedly rang out.

Despite being quite far away, I felt the heat strongly.

It was to the point that even I, who had Fire Resistance, felt pain from the heat.

I had expected that the length of the aura that I had projected from the sphere was about 30 centimeters.

However, it rotated and continued to accelerate even further, so as soon as I directed the aura from the sphere, its length was longer than several meters.

And during that brief instance, the giant bulge of aura rotated several hundred times using the sphere as its center, no it rotated several thousands of times.

That was the result.

At the center of the residential district, the entire fountain area was razed to the ground and burning.

Kwang!

I didn’t know if the aura that I couldn’t collect and lost control of had diffused in all directions, and exploded, but another boom rang out.

A part of the aura had been projected; since an equivalent energy had been consumed, the explosion hadn’t been that large.

With that, the sphere had completely disappeared.

I started to analyze the aftermath.

The sphere had rotated repeatedly, and at some point, it increased its revolutions per minute by effectively “grabbing” onto the central axis.

It was difficult to stand my ground in the face of the storm.

The sphere had over-accelerated and its revolutions per minute drastically increased the force of the technique.

In a split second, everything in my vicinity would be torn apart if that technique were to use the aura blade as its center.

Like a blender.

Also, the technique was accompanied by an intense heat and light.

Subsequently, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain the central axis, to the point that I can’t deal with it at my level.

Obviously, the ideal path of action would be to use the aura projection to consume as much of the sphere’s energy as possible. Then, immediately after using the technique, I have to escape from the blast area.

After using it, the remaining energy in the sphere explodes.

So, if it’s possible, after using the technique, it’d be best not to leave too much energy within the sphere.

Thereafter, if there’s an excess of energy in the sphere, I have to escape as quickly as possible.

And the only noteworthy thing is that it would end like this.

It had plenty of force and great potential in a wide variety of combat situations.

In conclusion, I have two questions: how do I decrease the excessive force, and how do I control it?

I have to reduce the danger of the technique as well as tame its excessive force.

At my current level, I have no chance of controlling it.

Later, after my skills have progressed further, I’ll try it again in the safety of the waiting room.

More importantly, my magic circuits have become a mess; even if I were able to take the risk, I wouldn’t be able to attempt it again.

I took out medicine for burns from my inventory and said.

“I think this is enough swordsmanship. Let’s study magic starting tomorrow.”

[… So if you’re a person who can do something like that, why are you trying to learn something like magic?]

* * * * * *

[The God of the Sky agrees with someone’s opinion.]

[The God of Light is happy.]

[All of the Gods of the Temple of a Hundred Gods are watching you.]