166 – The Third Transcendence

In Abyss City, the 2nd Transcendence is called a value breakthrough.

And the highest level, the 6th Transcendence, is the realm of affection. Also known as the game difficulty lowering button.

So, what’s between the 2nd and 6th Transcendence?

Transcendences exist with ambiguous performance that feels like testing one’s affection for the character and the depth of one’s wallet.

Even though one Transcendence costs hundreds of thousands of won, they don’t offer that much satisfaction.

And so, the Third Transcendence. Always an order perceived as a minefield.

It’s a point where high expectations lead to disappointment, yet Rohan had something he was anticipating.

[The Third Transcendence Shines Forth]

──Crrrack!

The world Rohan saw cracked, crumbled, and flowed away.

The exceedingly unusual situation was now even somewhat familiar.

‘Alright, what is it this time.’

Rohan coolly accepted the changing vision before him.

He exerted himself to grasp what entered his sight as quickly as possible.

‘It’s dark.’

A pitch-black void.

A place where, were you to strike a flame, you might suspect monsters would swarm.

And yet, it wasn’t as dark as the last Transcendence.

Looking down, Rohan could see a figure standing, gripping a sword.

‘Who is that?’

Only a silhouette, but the lines alone were enough to rivet his gaze; a body of unsettling beauty.

Not merely a beauty pleasing to the eye.

What Rohan sensed was the ultimate functional form, optimized for wielding the blade.

That body was surely more practical, more perfectly suited to deploying a weapon, than any other.

“…”

The sword in the unknown figure’s hand began to glow with fire.

Flames that offered a sense of familiarity to Rohan.

As the heat-laden light blossomed in the dark world, a host of figures gathered as if spurred by some deep-seated grudge.

Coiled like a serpent, they gripped vicious weapons reeking of blood, exuding a sinister aura.

“──!!!”

The figures, now in a circular formation, screamed something and charged in unison.

Each and every one of them, so numerous, was far too strong and swift for the current Rohan to handle.

Even so, the figure with the light and the sword remained unhurried.

The moment the enemies came within range, he unleashed a torrent of blade strikes, carving brilliant paths of light through the darkness.

Rohan watched the movements, transfixed.

He stared, mesmerized, as the figure single-handedly butchered the sinister foes.

Movements that, normally, his eyes couldn’t even track were now vividly clear.

‘Severing Edge, Dusk’s Fall, Lightwing Pursuit…’

Though the level was different, he knew what kind of swordsmanship it was. At least those three moves, he recognized for sure.

A dance of the blade that left him speechless.

The ideal form of swordsmanship a wielder of the Heavenly Sun Judgement Sword should strive for.

He wanted to keep watching. It was impossible to tear his eyes away.

He almost regretted that the enemies were dwindling in number.

As the final foe fell, cleaved in two by a final strike,

The world shattered with a resounding crash!

Rohan’s vision snapped back to his original reality.

“Hooo…”

He exhaled a breath thick with elation, pushing himself upright in bed.

Notification windows rained down around him.

[When inflicting Debuffs on Weakness targets, you will not expend Mana.]

[Special items have a higher chance of appearing in the Shop Skill, and the shop will immediately refresh upon purchase.]

[When successfully Parrying with the Heavenly Sun Judgement Sword or successfully attacking during an Evade, you will recover a set amount of Health – Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

‘Just as I expected, the 3rd Transcendence.’

Precisely as he’d predicted.

The path from the 2nd to the 6th Transcendence was indeed the realm of overpriced upgrades that one might ignore or even curse – a Transcendence best skipped.

Even after breaking through, the boost wasn’t to damage output, but to self-healing and mana conservation? In a game, that’s the kind of effect that makes you sigh.

Because what the vast majority of gamers want when transcending is less time spent clearing dungeons and damage receipts with an extra zero.

However.

Reality isn’t a game.

The options Rohan finds useful now are completely different.

In Abyss City, everyone was madly obsessed with critical hit chance, critical hit damage, attack power, things like that.

But now, Rohan can’t afford to discard things like health and defense, which were once considered traps.

‘Healing health and conserving mana? This transcendence is absolutely insane.’

Unlike Abyss City, where he could easily replenish health and mana by switching to a healer and using a skill, or clicking a potion hotkeyed, having a means to recover health in combat and not expend mana on debuffs in reality was a huge advantage.

It increased the driving force that would allow him to endure prolonged battles.

And then there was the slight increase in physical ability and mana that came with transcendence.

Even that was a big help right now.

“Hmm.”

The feeling of elation pushed away the fatigue created by the prohibited information.

Rohan got out of bed and grabbed his personal weapons, Radiance and Brand.

The swordsmanship he had seen during transcendence.

It was vividly etched in his memory. He wanted to swing his sword immediately.

Hex? Pandora? The Reverse Praise Society? The Black Hand? There was nothing he could do about them right now with his own hands.

Going south and poking at hornets’ nests with his current, insufficient skills would be suicidal.

For now, the only thing to do is get stronger. That’s all there is to it.

*

Traveling from the Academy City Elysium to the Samhwa Kingdom is possible by car.

It takes quite a bit of time, but that varies wildly depending on the road.

Using special roads that require an eye-watering toll can save a significant amount of time.

After driving along such a quiet road for several hours…

Ichinose and Noah, who had left the Academy City in the evening, were able to arrive in the Samhwa Kingdom just as the day was turning over.

Noah, who had been sleeping in the car, couldn’t stop yawning, her eyes still sleepy.

“Noah. Come here.”

“Sleepy…”

Ichinose led Noah, who was still drowsy and disoriented.

And opened the gate to the main family estate.

Ichinose’s house has a very large courtyard. There’s a pond, a separate building for guests, and several buildings like a training hall.

However, the mansion where the Ichinose family lives is about the same size as the house Sion and Clara live in.

It was the width that Ichinose’s mother, Momo, had chosen, reasoning that if it was too large, the family would see each other less often.

“I’m home.”

“Noah’s here too~”

When they opened the front door, Ichinose’s parents were already waiting.

Ichinose naturally exchanged hugs with her parents.

“You must be tired after the long trip.”

“Make yourself at home, Noah.”

It was a house filled with a warm welcome.

Unusually, a sake table was set.

Ichinose knew his parents sometimes enjoyed a drink. But three cups sat on the table.

They had a guest.

“!”

Ichinose sensed a figure sitting in a chair.

He opened his eyes to see a woman of striking beauty.

Hair the color of eternal snow, flowing down to her waist.

Above it, round, fluffy ears and a thick tail of white with black stripes.

A confident curl to her lips and a slightly protruding canine tooth drew the eye more powerfully than the sensual curves of her body.

Ichinose, seeing her after so long, offered a polite greeting first.

Noah’s eyes widened, any trace of sleep gone, surprised by the unexpected guest.

“It’s been a while.”

“I heard Yui’s been working hard to tutor Noah?”

“It’s no trouble at all. It’s revision for me as well.”

The woman laughed heartily at Ichinose’s reply.

Noah, wearing an expression of utter disbelief, approached and finally spoke.

“Mom, what are you doing here!?”

“Why would my daughter be here during her break? Didn’t you miss your mother?”

Having heard that her daughter would be coming here rather than Tigrova directly, Noah’s mother had taken a trip to Samhwa country herself.

“I did miss you! That’s why I was going to go to the ocean, then head to Tigrova!”

The woman chuckled and stood to embrace Noah tightly.

She playfully slapped her daughter’s backside, pinched and prodded at her face, examining her from every angle.

“Our daughter has gotten even prettier in just a few months?”

“I was always pretty!”

“Oh, is that so? You got it from your mother. You should be grateful, you know?”

The mother and daughter looked at each other and burst into laughter, and after laughing for a while, Noah naturally asked.

There had been cases like this in the past, so the reason was roughly predictable.

“Did you come because you’re bored? Mom can play with Dad.”

“I wanted to, but Dad is busy right now and can’t play with Mom~”

“Tch… I thought so.”

“The boys have all moved out, and my daughter is off in an academy city. Even in Tigrova, it gets lonely.”

Noah knew that her mother couldn’t stand being alone.

As expected, she had come because she was bored.

“Your brothers are no fun to be around anyway.”

“That’s true. They’re all so stoic, I wonder who they take after… Maybe I should have had more daughters.”

A statement that didn’t sound like a joke. Ichinose, who had been listening silently, blushed.

It was a story he would have heard indifferently in the past, but now, every time he heard such words, Rohan came to mind, making it difficult to control his emotions.

And that subtle change did not escape her senses as a beastkin and a superhuman.

“Hmm?”

The woman holding Noah looked at Ichinose.

And, as if realizing something, a playful curve graced her eyes.