Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World
chapter-43

Everybody Levels Up, Except Me (1)

Ryu Han-bin and Artis returned to the dungeon city of Highten with Effir, whose eyes shone as she looked at the two-story house in front of her.

“Is this your home?”

“Yes. I’ll give you the keys to the attic so you can use it.”

Using cleaning items, she immediately began to clean the attic efficiently.

“I used to watch humans cleaning a lot when I was in the Dragon Knights.”

It was almost too hard to believe that she was a Wyvern just a few days ago.

She continued to adapt to the human body while returning to Highten, never neglecting her bare-handed physical abilities as well. If Han-bin were to look at Effir’s status using the Guidelines, he would’ve been surprised again.

[Race: Human. Warrior Lv. 10]

She still couldn’t operate the magical appliances at her level since the lowest requirement was level 20, but that didn’t stop her from being as helpful as she could be.

After cleaning up the attic, she swept and mopped the first floor then took care of Artis’s errands.

“You’re sincere.”

Praising the unique female Wyvern, Artis turned his attention to Han-bin.

“Look at her! She doesn’t use her level as an excuse to not help around the house!”

But the muscular giant remained lying down on the couch.

“Felard! Idle!”

“Gosh, this man…”

Han-bin suddenly stood up.

“I’ll start paying for my living expenses.”

As part of Artis’s payment for saving his life, he took care of Han-bin’s food, clothing, and shelter.

It left Han-bin with no opportunity to spend his money.

His weapon was cared for daily by him, and he didn’t need any other combat equipment since he was disguised as a Valtara warrior.

He didn’t need to buy magic scrolls either.

His money was piling up, and he had nothing to spend it on.

“Honestly, haven’t you done enough to pay for your life? I need to help you, too.”

Artis thought otherwise.

“I don’t like your lazy attitude, but I haven’t even paid off the interest yet.”

It was all thanks to Han-bin that he could raise his level quickly while making tons of money.

Artis still owed him more than he’s ever paid back.

Han-bin shook his head in reply.

“That’s for my own benefit as well. I need to raise your level so we can go to the center of the continent together.”

“I don’t care. I haven’t paid off my life’s debt yet!”

“You’re stubborn in the strangest ways. Well, at least I can save up funds.”

Clicking his tongue, Ryu Han-bin went back to laying down on the couch.

Artis rolled his eyes.

“I’m not even surprised about that.”

Effir entered the room after that.

“Mr. Artis, I’ve put all the laundry inside the bucket. Please turn it on.”

“Okay.”

Artis headed to the backyard and put his hand on the circular bucket.

“Activate.”

It was a magical washing machine.

Upon putting clothes in the bucket, a water spirit was summoned to remove any dirt from them. When activated with the purification and dehydration spells, all the user would have to do afterward was take out the completely clean and dried garments.

It had a simple structure and caused minimal vibration and noise. After usage, the water and dirt were automatically separated to avoid clogging.

It was incredibly eco-friendly.

The problem was the magical washing machine’s level requirement was Level 30.

Due to it, Latnains were forced to rely on the primitive way of washing clothes through washboards and brushes.

Effir stared at the spinning machine with wonderment.

“I have to raise my level quickly, right?”

She needed to be at a level that would allow her to operate the right magic appliances on her own to avoid bothering Artis.

Artis laughed gently.

“Levels don’t rise that fast. There’s no need to be impatient.”

Effir’s level rose quickly, just like the Dragons who had just transformed into their human forms, but the effect didn’t last forever.

“I know I should wait for at least two or three months.”

But Effir thought differently.

Scratching her head, she had one thought in her mind.

‘I don’t think it’ll be that difficult to reach level 20… Am I that slow of a learner?’

* * *

The next day, Effir nagged on Ryu Han-bin.

“Please let me borrow your sword.”

Glancing at the black greatsword on his back– a weapon that was almost 2 meters long– Han-bin thought it was absurd.

“You wouldn’t even be able to swing it.”

“No, not that one.”

Effir didn’t think she’d even be able to carry it in the first place.

What she wanted was the twin blades of Alejandro.

“I can’t use its special abilities because of my level, but I can still wield them, right?”

He had no use for the item anyway, so there was no problem with lending it to her, but…

“What are you even going to use it for?”

“I want to practice swordsmanship. My level no longer goes up through punching and kicking.”

Han-bin was pleasantly surprised.

“Have you ever practiced swordsmanship?”

Why would Wyverns even want to learn human swordsmanship?

Effir laughed lightly.

“I haven’t practiced it, but I’ve seen it in action, and I know a lot about it.”

She woke up from her egg and spent 15 years as a member of the Flying Dragon Knights, which allowed her to watch Flying Dragon Knights’ combat training all the time.

She didn’t only know simple training moves, but all the martial arts theories as well.

“Nobody hid their secrets in front of me.”

Like Earth during the Cold War, most martial arts were treated with utmost secrecy.

Such knowledge wasn’t passed on to just anyone. The martial arts masters only taught their techniques to those who were chosen. However, no matter how much they kept it secret, people naturally never felt wary towards their horses.

“Thanks to that, I managed to memorize the martial arts of the Flying Dragon Knights.”

“Why did you memorize it, though?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I just listened and watched, and I memorized it subconsciously.”

There was no reason to stop Effir from training on her own anyway.

Han-bin was just about to hand over the twin blades when Artis objected.

“Those weapons are overly high-level Artifact. If someone else recognizes it, it’ll cause us trouble.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay? Now one would know until they appraised it with a measuring stone.”

“The Aliens will see and know with a single glance at it. You have that same ability, Han-bin. Not to mention, the original owner of that twin blades was an Alien.”

“You’re saying the Great Earth might capture her?”

“If other Aliens were investigating the death of their friend, openly carrying his items could spell trouble for us.”

“Still, Effir is wearing the Polymorph Necklace anyway. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?”

“She can hide the necklace inside her clothes.”

The Guidelines couldn’t detect all the Magic Tools on their opponent as soon as they saw them.

The user had to search for them first consciously.

Even Ryu Han-bin discovered Alejandro’s Artifacts a little too late.

“If they can’t see it, they’ll have a hard time finding it. The weapons would be too obvious, though.”

“Fair point.”

Artis wasn’t against Effir’s training itself.

“It would be better if you bought her a weapon for practice.”

“We’ll have to go to a weapon shop then.”

Effir felt a little ashamed.

“You don’t have to spend money on me… You’ve already bought me some nice clothes…”

Han-bin smiled and shook his head.

“It’s alright. I have money to spend anyway.”

* * *

Ryu Han-bin bought a bunch of weapons in the weapon shop. He carried daggers, long swords, twin blades, gladiuses, and even rapiers. He also bought various shields like round shields and kite shields.

He also had all types of spears and blunt weapons like maces and flails.

Artis was dumbfounded.

“Why did you buy so many weapons?”

Han-bin responded triumphantly, laying all weapons on the floor.

“She should try all the weapons first so she can choose the right weapon for her.”

He then looked at the black greatsword he was carrying with a strangely sorrowful expression.

“It’s nice to be able to choose your weapon with your own will.”

“… What happened to you before?”

Effir began to swing the weapons one by one before making a decision.

“Dual Swordsmanship is the best fit for me, I think.”

The reason she tried to borrow the twin blades wasn’t just because Ryu Han-bin owned them.

“I’m small and quick with my hands, so I’ll be able to excel with defense-oriented double swordsmanship. I weigh too little in human form for the aggressive sword and shield style.”

Han-bin blinked his eyes.

“Isn’t it normal for two swords to be more aggressive than the shield and sword?”

Effir felt a little puzzled.

“Which quack told you that?”

“Nobody, just…”

He didn’t hear from anyone, but it was natural to consider having two swords to be much more aggressive than having a shield as well, which were used for defense.

Effir looked at Ryu Han-bin with fresh eyes.

“Mr. Han-bin is so strong, yet you said something surprisingly strange like that.”

“Is that so?”

“Think about it. Between an enemy with two swords and an enemy with a sword and a shield, which one would be able to fight more effortlessly?”

“Neither, I guess?”

He was just going to split them in one hit anyway.

“Geez! Assume that they are on similar levels with you.”

Han-bin mulled over the thought.

He felt a little confused.

“Huh? Do you really think the one with the shield would be easier to beat?”

All he had to do was care about the swings of the sword while he destroyed the shield.

On the other hand, he had to keep a constant eye out for counters that could come from any side or both at any time when facing a dual-wielder.

“With a shield, you’ll be able to push the enemy back aggressively to get the advantage.”

The enemy’s attack would be blocked with the shield, so he could attack as aggressively as needed.

“When using dual swordsmanship, it’s more advantageous to keep changing the roles of the left and right swords and adhere to the counter-centered defensive style of swordsmanship.”

‘Defense-oriented’ and ‘taking advantage of defense-oriented’ had completely different meanings.

“I see.”

Ryu Han-bin was impressed.

He never thought about it that way as he only ever had to deal with Demon Dogs until recently.

“By the way, what about the remaining weapons? Are you going to get a refund?”

She looked at the other weapons except for the twin swords and felt like they were wasting money.

“Leave them there.”

Hanbin shrugged.

“I was thinking of having weapons for practice anyway. You’ll be able to develop an insight on your opponent’s weapons.”

“That’s right.”

Convinced, Effir went out to the yard.

She began to practice in earnest.

“Like this… Was it this way?”

Swordsmanship aside, her movements were closer to looking like she was going on a frenzy.

No matter how much she had seen and heard, embodying and mimicking what she’s learned was an entirely different matter.

After watching for a while, Ryu Han-bin and Artis rose.

“You can keep practicing.”

“We’ll be out for a while.”

The two also had work to do.

Artis was almost done digesting all of the energy he’s absorbed.

It was time to resume their hunt.

“Shall we go to the Rastol Dungeon, Han-bin?”

“It has a good layout. The monsters are also tough.”

Smiling brightly, the silver-haired girl waved her hand.

“Take care.”