Chapter 10: Namgoong Hyuk, the Heavenly Sword

Despite being told I’d return soon, a considerable amount of time had passed.

I had decided to call this place the ‘Dimensional Rift,’ as it certainly bore no resemblance to a celestial realm or heaven.

While I couldn’t ascertain if a day here lasted precisely 24 hours, the distinct presence of day and night, sun and moon, was undeniable.

The sun would set, giving way to the rising moon.

Then, as the moon faded, the sun would emerge once more.

Despite witnessing this cycle six times over, there was no indication of my return.

‘Perhaps… it doesn’t really matter?’

Truthfully, training here with the Heavenly Sword Grandfather was immensely enjoyable.

Each new lesson brought forth a cascade of applications and uses, and my sword-wielding posture became as natural as someone who had practiced for years.

“Status Window.”

[Name]

• Park Minhyuk

[Stats]

• Strength: D / 35

• Agility: D / 33 [+30]

• Stamina: E / 13

• Internal Energy: E / 40

[Attributes]

• Ice

• Lightning (True – Dragon Bone Sword)

• Sword

• Void

[Unique Trait]

• Stronger with Every Touch

[Traits]

• Endless Talent

• Mana Dominator

• The Resonator

• Celestial Martial Physique

[Trait Skills]

• Ah, Just Let Me Touch It!

• Touch It All You Want! – 1Lv

[Skills]

• Witch’s Eye (S) – 1Lv

• Imperial Sword Art (SS) – 1Lv

• Heavenly Thunder Imperial Heart Technique (S) – 1Lv

[Heavenly Thunder Imperial Heart Technique (S)] – 1Lv

• Extremely High Immunity to Mental Attacks

• Internal Energy Boost

• 8% Increase in Sword Skill Power

Compared to my initial state, the status window had become incredibly robust.

Most striking, of course, was the Internal Energy stat.

This new stat had emerged after my mana and internal energy vanished. Honestly, having never used either mana or internal energy before, I couldn’t truly grasp the difference. Yet, Grandfather insisted my internal energy was unbelievably pure.

All I had done was touch things.

Perhaps it was because the entities I touched were two Transcendent Beings.

During my seven days in the Dimensional Rift, I learned a great deal through conversations with Grandfather.

We discussed the Witch’s whereabouts, the true identities of Transcendent Beings, and the System itself.

Moreover, while learning swordsmanship from Grandfather, I discovered a crucial fact.

If one clearly understood the activation principles of a skill, there was no need to verbally declare its name to unleash it.

This applied to the first form of the Imperial Sword Art I was currently practicing: Voidrend Blade.

I brought my right hand to the hilt of the Dragon Bone Sword at my waist, while my left hand, relaxed, gently gripped the scabbard.

Using the ‘Mana Dominator’ trait, I brought the internal energy furiously circulating within my body under my control.

Lowering my stance slightly, I drew all my internal energy, meticulously distributing it throughout my body.

Normally, even a slight deficiency or misalignment of internal energy would cancel the skill, but with it already under my command, it never strayed from my will.

Feeling the internal energy fully gather at my fingertips and on the blade, I unleashed the strike.

[Skill ‘Imperial Sword Art First Form, Voidrend Blade’ is activated.]

The crucial element was imbuing the strike with my intent.

The will to pierce and cleave through space itself.

I swung the sword from bottom-left to top, its speed neither particularly fast nor slow.

CRACK—

With a sound like steel violently clashing against steel, the space several meters ahead warped.

The space crumpled and distorted, eventually tearing into crude fragments.

Beyond the fragmented space, a pitch-black abyss, allowing not even a speck of light, appeared, and all the surrounding mana began to be sucked into it.

“Hmph!”

With my remaining internal energy, I firmly planted my feet, barely enduring the aftermath of my sword swing.

Fortunately, the black void’s mana absorption was brief, and the space soon restored itself to its original form.

“Phew…”

A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I collapsed onto the spot.

Just one sword swing had nearly depleted all my internal energy.

“Hehehe… it’s truly remarkable to behold. To master the Voidrend Blade in just a week of holding a sword.”

The Heavenly Sword Grandfather approached, a satisfied smile gracing his lips.

“I still have a long way to go, though… It’s tiring to this extent after just one swing.”

“My boy, have a little more confidence. This isn’t a martial art meant for ordinary people to learn. It’s a martial art I personally created and refined, solely for me, Namgoong Hyuk. You still have a long journey ahead, but even this much is an immense achievement.”

“Well, I admit it’s not something a person should learn.”

The Imperial Sword Art was a brutally simple swordsmanship style, comprising only three forms.

First Form: Voidrend Blade

Second Form: Heavenly Thunder

Third Form: Creation of Heaven

Grandfather had demonstrated these three forms himself, and the spectacle was almost impossible to believe had been performed with just a single sword.

Due to my severely lacking internal energy, the second and third forms were beyond my wildest dreams; I could barely manage the first form, Voidrend Blade.

Moreover, my proficiency was only Level 1, so even though it was the same Voidrend Blade, the difference between my execution and Grandfather’s, who had achieved great mastery, was like heaven and earth.

‘Even this would have been impossible if I hadn’t acquired the skill…’

At least with the skill’s correction, I could even attempt it.

Even with the fraudulent traits of two Transcendent Beings plastered all over me, it was too arcane. If I had tried to master it from scratch without the skill, it probably would have been impossible, I thought.

“It seems you’ve also gotten a decent grasp on handling attributes now.”

“This is definitely… incredibly difficult.”

Two attributes had naturally emerged while learning the first form of the Imperial Sword Art, Voidrend Blade.

The Sword attribute and the Void attribute.

Indeed, the Voidrend Blade couldn’t even be attempted without these two attributes in the first place.

Since I had directly acquired the skill, the two attributes had naturally followed suit.

As these weren’t attributes I originally possessed, I had to learn how to wield them, which the Heavenly Sword Grandfather taught me.

Furthermore, I naturally learned how to handle the Ice attribute gained from touching the Witch and the Lightning attribute, which was temporarily attached due to the True-Dragon Bone Sword’s equip effect.

According to Grandfather, the Witch of Bitter Cold’s ice magic was also created through a combination of the Ice and Void attributes, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine how such magic was crafted.

My understanding was still shallow, so combining attributes was beyond my wildest dreams. At best, I could imbue my sword with an attribute and swing it.

That was why the power of my Voidrend Blade was merely this much.

The Voidrend Blade Grandfather had shown was truly capable of rending the heavens themselves.

“Hehehe… It’s because you currently only have me as a point of comparison. To master the Voidrend Blade in just a week of holding a sword—that was a talent unseen even in the world I lived in.”

Grandfather said this, looking up at the sky.

Was he reminiscing about some distant past?

After gazing at the sky for a while, Grandfather lowered his eyes and looked at me again.

“Minhyuk, while it’s true you possess immense talent and shouldn’t be impatient, the reality is that your current strength is utterly insufficient. You must become stronger, faster. Otherwise, all the places you inhabit will be swallowed, walking the path of destruction.”

As he spoke, Grandfather’s eyes, uncharacteristic of him, blazed with the light of fury.

“By ‘Hell.'”

As if ‘Hell’ itself.

****

During the week, whenever a break came amidst my training in the Heavenly Thunder Imperial Heart Technique, Imperial Sword Art, and attribute manipulation, I would bombard Grandfather with questions.

What I was most curious about, of course, was the Witch’s whereabouts.

Unfortunately, Grandfather claimed he didn’t know that much.

Transcendent Beings, by nature, cannot leave this space. Yet, for some unknown purpose, the Witch had painstakingly prepared for a long time to descend into a dimension where ‘war’ would erupt—and that was Earth, Korea.

Grandfather, belatedly realizing the Witch’s scheme, had followed her down. However, instead of a conversation, he merely fought fiercely with the Witch because of me, only to be dragged back here, into the Dimensional Rift.

Unlike Grandfather, who had descended in haste, the Witch seemed to have made thorough preparations over a long period. She resisted the pulling force of this space, which draws Transcendent Beings, and avoided being dragged back.

Grandfather further explained that the Witch of Bitter Cold’s power was significantly weakened compared to her original state, as she had deliberately lowered her rank to descend to a lower dimension, and it would take quite some time for her to recover her strength.

In any case, he didn’t know where the Witch went after that.

“Then, are all Transcendent Beings like you, Grandfather, god-like existences?”

Grandfather chuckled heartily in response.

Transcendent Beings were originally mere mortals, he said. Most of them gained power and elevated their rank to become Transcendent Beings.

However, the process of elevating their rank was exceedingly brutal.

“The world… it has to be destroyed?”

“To be precise, the world they lived in must become a ‘war zone.'”

War.

A war between the System, which defied explanation outside of being a god, and the dimension called ‘Hell.’

‘Hell’ was always the aggressor, and the System was always on the defensive.

To defend, it would amplify the power of the corresponding dimension, awakening its inhabitants to fight against ‘Hell’s’ invasion.

Despite such efforts, the System had never once triumphed against Hell. Consequently, with the exception of a select few who became Transcendent Beings, the worlds themselves were swallowed by Hell and perished.

I was surprised to learn such a monumental truth, but I was also astonished by the fact that Grandfather himself was an Awakener.

“Hehehe… Isn’t that why you and I can communicate, even if our languages are different?”

Awakeners, by nature, could communicate through the System’s power, regardless of nationality or language. Reflecting on it, the Witch of Bitter Cold also seemed to have spoken a different language.

It felt so natural, and I hadn’t had time to think about it, so I just let it pass.

“So, our dimension has become a war zone this time, and we have to stop it?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Didn’t you see unheard-of monsters popping out in your world? Those are merely scraps.”

“Scraps?”

“Indeed. Scraps too weak to even survive in Hell, which popped out first. The full-scale invasion hasn’t even begun yet, so soon, the frequency of these scraps appearing in your world will decrease, and incomparably powerful monsters will emerge.”

It was a story that didn’t quite sink in.

“Are those monsters really that strong?”

Our world also had many powerful individuals.

And Grandfather’s world must have had many strong individuals as well.

Namgoong Hyuk, the Heavenly Sword.

A man for whom the arrogant title ‘Heavenly Sword’ was not at all awkward.

Grandfather said that in his world, strong individuals who could challenge him were as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Yet, his world was defeated by Hell and destroyed.

“Do you know why I call them Hell?”

Unsure, I shook my head, and Grandfather calmly continued.

“Because simply facing them was hell. Their mere appearance transformed the world into hell, and eventually, it was swallowed, becoming true hell.”

As I listened to his story, I suddenly felt my mind grow distant.

I shook my head once and looked at Grandfather.

For some reason, Grandfather was continuing to speak with a somewhat urgent expression.

“Minhyuk, consistently cultivate your strength. No matter how much you train and grow, it may still be woefully insufficient to stand against Hell. And also…”

Grandfather’s form stretched out like taffy, almost to the point of distortion.

At the same time, my entire body tingled.

“If you are dragged back here next time, I cannot guarantee where you will fall. Transcendent Beings, with their immense power, also possess unique individualities, making it difficult to guess how they might treat you. Of course, there are neutral zones like Necropolis, but…”

I wanted to open my mouth and respond, but I could only mouth words, unable to speak.

Then, my wildly spinning vision soon turned black,

“Grow stronger.”

With Grandfather’s final words, the scenery completely changed.

My vision blurred, and after a fleeting moment, when I opened my eyes again, the sight before me was my accommodation within the Association.

I had returned.