Chapter 54. The Price of a Gamble (2)

Chapter 54. The Price of a Gamble (2)

Ever since Seo Jun-Ho acquired his Frost skill, he had always pondered how to use it.

‘How on earth should I use this?’

At first, he thought of using it to reinforce his equipment. He had fun using Watchguard of Darkness in a similar manner. But it felt like a waste to only use it like that. He kept thinking that there should be a better way to use it. But eventually, he returned to the fighting style he was familiar with the most.

‘My fighting style is already complete from when I was Specter.’

The world's elite players had called him a ‘Completed Player’ because of how flawless Specter’s combat skills were. Even Seo Jun-Ho himself thought that the only thing he lacked was magic.

‘...But I realized that we were wrong while fighting the Frost Queen.’

He had definitely been the victor of that fight, but in retrospect, there were many parts he regretted.

‘Watchguard of Darkness is the strongest spear.’

No matter how strong the opponent’s armor was, it didn’t matter as long as he could land a clean hit. Because of that, he enjoyed fights where he could corner his opponents in one direction. As long as he made a proper hit, the tides of the fight would turn in an instant.

‘But that didn’t work on opponents at a similar level to me.’

A strong enemy like the Frost Queen wouldn’t just take his hits. She used her powerful Frost skill to block his attacks and even make counterattacks.

‘Watchguard of Darkness is the best for attacks, but it is lacking in the defense department.’

Seo Jun-Ho thought this was his weakness.

‘So when I got the Frost skill, the first thing that came to mind was defensive reinforcement.’

He tried to increase his overall defense by strengthening his equipment, but unfortunately, the results weren’t that great.

‘If I cover armor in ice… it’ll naturally be heavy.’’

It did help, but he lost mobility, and the increase in defense wasn’t that good with just the Frost skill.

Eventually, Seo Jun-Ho had to make a choice.

‘Should I give up speed for a resilient body?’

Or...

‘...Should I raise both my attack and defense but be in more danger?’

With two options in front of him, he was leaning towards one of them more than the other. As someone who was used to walking on a tightrope, he preferred riskier battles.

‘Since I’ve already received the skill, I should use it to the best of my abilities.’

After a lot of pondering and research, he finally decided on how he would use the Frost skill. It came down to three categories.

"The first is the utility."

Crackle!

The ground beneath them started to freeze over. Rodomir’s eyes went wide when he saw that his ankles were starting to freeze. He lifted his feet.

Crack!

The ice broke immediately.

"You cannot trap me with such petty tricks."

"I know."

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t plan to bind him.

‘I just need to distract you.’

The floor had become as slippery as an ice rink. Rodomir would have to use more strength than usual to simply walk.

‘That’s good enough.’

The icy ground would serve to distract his enemy and slowly eat away at his stamina.

‘This is the first way I can use the Frost skill—to create an advantageous battlefield.’

The second use was more intuitive. Since it would be too heavy to constantly cover his armor in ice, he just needed to do it whenever he was attacked.

‘Of course, that means I have to pay extra attention to everything that’s going on…’

But he was Specter. This level of fine control was nothing.

The final use of the Frost skill was his favorite.

Crackle!

The air around him froze, creating sharp icicles.

"Using the Frost skill to supplement attacks.”

Truthfully, this was something he had dreamed about since he was Specter.

‘Watchguard of Darkness can’t do this.’

Well, it was possible, but it was highly inefficient. The darkness was intangible, and though it was possible to make weapons out of it, it consumed too much magic.

‘Technically, cold energy is intangible too…’

But it would become solid as soon as moisture froze. In other words, it was a combat skill that he had dreamed of having since he was Specter.

“What if a magician wielded a sword or a swordsman wielded magic?”

It would become the best possible skill for a magic swordsman. From now on, his opponent would have to avoid both his sword and the icicles that would come flying to them in all directions

“...” Rodomir quietly watched what was happening. “Darkness and ice...why did you hide such power?”

“It was something I couldn’t avoid. Besides, didn’t you hide your power as well?” Seo Jun-Ho jutted his chin toward the dark energy shrouding Rodomir’s sword.

“...My circumstances are different.”

Rodomir’s ability wasn’t something he could use whenever he wanted. He had to burn his soul away to borrow the strength of a corrupt spirit.

“But that doesn’t matter.” The black energy surrounding Rodomir’s sword wavered like it was about to explode. It was a violent energy that seemed like it would destroy everything it touched.

But Seo Jun-Ho didn’t back down.

‘10 minutes...no, maybe 5.’

He quickly calculated in his head the amount of time he would be able to maintain his full power, while also taking into account his opponent’s abilities.

“...” A moment later, he made a decision. “Yeah, it’ll work. 5 minutes should be enough.”

“...5 minutes? Are you saying that you only need 5 minutes to kill me?”

“Yeah.”

Rodomir snorted at Seo Jun-Ho’s casual response.

He knew very well that Seo Jun-Ho had been hiding his true power. He had brought him to this strange space, drawing darkness and ice out of thin air.

‘But to say 5 minutes…’

He composed himself. He thought that Seo Jun-Ho was still gravely underestimating him, but Seo Jun-Ho thought the opposite.

‘He’s extraordinary. I think he’ll actually last five minutes.’

He was amazed to think that his opponent would be able to hold on for so long.

Even if he wasn’t as strong as he was in the past, he considered it as him praising Rodomir for being able to last five minutes in a fight against him.

“This will be fun.” Seo Jun-Ho’s heart started to pound in excitement.

Woooing!

Black Dragon Fang started to cry out. Black sword ki erupted around it.

‘It’s impossible for me to use a sword aura with my current level of magic. ‘

But he could produce something close enough.

Ssssk!

The sword ki suddenly started to tremble. The vibrating energy started to burn like fire.

“Hmph! A sword aura...?” Rodomir looked slightly surprised for a moment, but then he snorted. “I saw wrong.”

It was too lacking to be called a sword aura. Perfected auras burned fiercer than this.

“Do you think you can defeat me in 5 minutes simply because of that sword?”

"Of course not.” Seo Jun-Ho shook his head and smiled. “A long time ago—that is, around 27 or 28 years ago—I was fighting a boss monster called an Ironshell Turtle. Its hides and shell were so thick that I couldn’t even scratch it with sword ki.”

“...?” Rodomir frowned. The human looked like he was in his mid-twenties, so why was he talking about something from 27 years ago? Nevertheless, the tone in his voice was too pure to be a lie, and he had a faint air of nostalgia about him.

“At that time, I thought to myself: ‘this is how I die’. But as death approached, I didn’t want to die, you know? So I thought to myself that I’d have to use a sword aura. But it’s not that easy. It’s not like you can pull it out whenever you want to. Naturally, I failed. In front of me was the Ironclad Turtle, and behind me was the sea. It still makes me shiver whenever I think about it...”

Woosh!

Black Dragon Fang let out a clear sound as if anticipating its transformation.

“So I made this.”

The darkness around him covered the blade, reinforcing the sword with magic.

Magic and darkness. The two energies collided.

Clanang! Clang!

It wasn’t just one clash. They fought like children fighting over a toy.

Kuh...

Because of that, Seo Jun-Ho’s magic quickly depleted, but it wasn’t for nothing. The magic that had been burning like a candle started to grow.

“One day, Rahmadat saw this.”

Rahmadat Khali, the King of Destruction. The so-called second coming of Shiva, India’s hero, and his comrade.

“He said that out of all the miscellaneous techniques he’s seen in his life...”

Claaang!

After one more fierce clash, the two prideful energies had reached a truce.

“This one is the best.”

Wooosh!

A black fire burned on Black Dragon Fang, resembling a sword aura.

‘I can maintain this state for… 10 minutes at most.’

You couldn’t compare it to a sword aura, but it was much stronger and sharper than sword ki. It was a miracle birthed out of Seo Jun-ho’s desperation to live and his ingenious creativity.

"Law of Life (必死則生)."

If you were prepared to die, you would find a way to live. He got the name of his technique from Admiral Yi Sun-Shin’s War Diary.[1]

“...”

When Rodomir saw the sword, he realized that his opponent hadn’t underestimated him after all.

“5 minutes.” He smiled bitterly. “Not bad.”

He regarded him highly.

***

“Cough.” Blood poured from Rodomir’s mouth. He slowly looked down at the pitch-black sword that had pierced his heart. It had taken 5 minutes and 2 seconds before his heart was pierced by his opponent.

“Really...not bad...”

The power of the corrupt spirit wasn’t so easily overpowered by the makeshift sword aura. It had been his opponent’s own skills that had decided the outcome of the battle.

Clatter.

Rodomir placed his sword down and fell on his knees.

He had betrayed the World Tree, but he wished to die as the knight of an Elven clan.

"...Human."

He was starting to see light, as bright as the sun in the sky.

For someone who was about to die, his eyes were clear and his expression was peaceful.

“Any last words?”

"...Here."

Rodomir tapped his neck with two fingers. He was asking him to end it.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded, then rummaged through his inventory.

"I’ll do as you ask, so just answer my question.”

“...?”

“Do you know what this is?”

Rodomir looked carefully at the item the human was holding. His eyes widened. “That’s...Spirit Egg!”

"Ho?"

Rodomir reached out his hand and tried to stroke the precious egg, entranced.

"No, no, you’re corrupted. Don’t infect my child.” Seo Jun-Ho quickly pulled it back and hid it in his jacket. He once again questioned Rodomir, who was looking at him bitterly. "So it’s a Spirit Egg?”

"...Yes."

"Then will a spirit be born from here?”

Instead of responding, Rodomir ripped off his necklace made of rotten wood. "Yes, if you go to a place with even a trace of the World Tree.” He tossed the necklace to Seo Jun-Ho.

"Take it if you want. It’s weak, but it contains some power from the World Tree.”

"Well, I won’t say no. Do you have anything else? Elixirs?”

“...” Rodomir looked at him with disgust. “To think that I fell to such a human...”

“If you don’t, just say no.”

“No.”

“Then we’re done here.”

Before he pulled out his sword, he asked one more question. “Oh, how do I hatch it?”

“...Infuse it with your magic. Then the spirit will recognize you as a friend.”

"Thanks."

"Hmph.” Rodomir snorted and closed his eyes.

‘Please be satisfied with just me….forgive the fools who decided to follow me.’

He mumbled a prayer that would not reach the World Tree.

Slice!

The sword was pulled from his chest and slashed across his neck, thus ending High Elf Rodomir’s life.

Seo Jun-Ho blankly stared at the body of the dark elf who had died as a knight.

"Now that I think about it, there was one more thing I wanted to ask...but I forgot to.”

He wondered why he hated cockroaches that much.

"Well, it wasn’t that important, anyway.”

He shrugged and looked down at the Spirit Egg in his hand.

1. The name of the technique is literally this entire phrase but in hanja, so I shortened it. Yi Sun-shin is a famous Korean war general ?