Chapter 83: Winter Castle (3)

“...”

Horun stared silently at Seo Jun-Ho before he sheathed his sword.

“At ease!” Horun shouted.

Clank! Shing!

The clang of metal sounded again as the knights put away their weapons.

“...What the heck?” Seo Jun-Ho was astonished.

Their killing intent had disappeared instantly.

Horun addressed him again. “Wandering knight, step up to the ring and draw your sword.”

“...”

Clank.

The knights parted like the Red Sea, creating a path for him. Seo Jun-Ho slowly walked down the path while keeping his guard up.

“One hundred knights will test the honor of your sword. The match will continue until one side lowers their sword and admits defeat.”

Horun finished his explanation and called for another knight, who stepped up to the stage.

“I am Sir Phil.” He stated his name calmly and raised his sword. Seo Jun-Ho watched this unfold and whispered to the Frost Queen.

“...Hey, is the proof of knighthood always this intense from the start?”

“It is not exactly an elegant endeavor. It does not fit my tastes…” She smiled. “But is this not the way of the knights?”

Knights were passionate people who preferred to speak with their swords. Seo Jun-Ho’s heart started to pound. He gripped his sword, and his lip curled up.

“...Sounds fun. So this is how the knights do it.” He didn’t hate the way they did things.

“Ora!” As Phil exclaimed, Seo Jun-Ho dashed forward. He closed the wide distance in the blink of an eye and swung his jet-black sword.

Claaang!

Phil blocked his strike.

‘He’s strong.’

Like the walls of the Winter Castle, he was a sturdy knight. But defense wasn’t his only strong suit.

“Hup!” Phil swung against him with great force, and Seo Jun-Ho was pushed seven steps back. Phil closed in much faster than he could retreat.

‘He’s as big as a boulder, but he’s as fast as I am?’

Seo Jun-Ho grinned and activated his magic.

“So you’re telling me that there are a hundred other guys as fun as this one?”

It was the perfect Gate to end his journey on the 1st floor.

The Frost Queen watched excitedly and smiled. “You knights…” She couldn’t understand them.

***

The seventh knight, Rabona, let out a sharp breath as she lowered her sword. There was a large, jagged cut through her helmet and armor. Black Dragon Fang had ripped it apart.

“...I admit defeat.”

“Rabona has been defeated! The Wandering Knight has won once again!”

“Who will defeat that arrogant knight?”

“I will challenge him once again!”

“No, I will…!”

“You’ve already been defeated, step aside!”

Every time Seo Jun-Ho defeated a knight, the frozen tourney hall burned hotter. Their sense of competition grew fiercer, and they would quarrel over who got to go next. They wanted to scratch their itch as soon as possible.

“...Phew.” Seo Jun-Ho took out a water bottle from his inventory and gulped it down. Every knight he had faced so far was strong.

‘If they were Players, they’d all be at least level 100.’

They didn’t have the superpowers that Players had, but every time Seo Jun-Ho crossed swords with them, he felt that they were more dangerous than Players.

‘Their bodies are trained and they have magic supports… When it comes to basic weaponry skills, they’re several paces ahead of me.’

The only reason he had been able to win so far was because of Watchguard of Darkness. Otherwise, he would never have been able to cut through their sword auras.

“I never knew that sword auras had such diverse forms.”

Currently, Seo Jun-Ho and every other Player used only a single kind of sword aura.

‘I only use it in the form of a powerful magic force that covers the blade.’

When people thought of a sword aura, they usually pictured a brightly burning torch, but the knights’ sword auras were completely different.

“How can there be a sword aura like that?”

The essence of the technique was similar, but their manifestations were free and unrestricted. One knight had a sword aura that was sharp like a thorn, while a different knight had created one that was long like a spear.

‘The essence is similar...But they’re stronger than mine.’

Even after seven duels, he still hadn’t found the reason why.

So he turned to the Frost Queen and asked if there was a Player System in Niflheim.

“What? Why would we have such a thing?”

“So you don’t have stats or anything like that?”

“Of course not.”

Unlike Players, they couldn’t raise their levels or stats, which meant that there was only one way for them to get stronger.

“Then that means that they spent their whole life practicing magic and training their bodies...They must be extremely hardened.”

“In my land, that is the standard. You are the one with strange circumstances.”

“...So is the difference between our sword auras because of the different ways we trained?”

The Frost Queen nodded. “Contractor, did you receive some sort of enlightenment when you used a sword aura?”

“Enlightenment? Why would I need that?” He looked confused. For him and all the other Players, there was only one thing required to make sword ki or sword aura.

‘All I need is to be good at handling magic and have a decent amount and understanding of it.’

Seo Jun-Ho had already gathered enough magic some time ago to create a sword aura, and his understanding of magic stemmed from the days when he was Specter.

“Do I need enlightenment about swordplay, just to use a sword aura?”

“Well, it is not a requirement to use the technique itself. But if you want to be more efficient, the answer is yes.” The Frost Queen turned and looked at the hundred knights. “There is something that we say in my land. If there are a hundred different knights, they will have a hundred shapes of magic.”

“...Shapes of magic? Put it in simple terms.” Seo Jun-Ho frowned.

“Have you noticed that all their weapons are different?”

“Of course. I always thought that knights only used swords and shields...But I guess not.”

“That is because knights are not defined by the weapon they carry. What defines them is the pride in their hearts.” The Frost Queen looked pleased as she looked back at Seo Jun-Ho. “They had all found a weapon that they were suitable for and created a sword aura that fits the style of their weapon.”

“A weapon that they’re suitable for…” Seo Jun-Ho muttered. He didn’t know what weapon suited him best.

‘I’m good at using all of them.’

It would have originally been impossible, but Weapon Mastery(A) made that possible for him. Seo Jun-Ho had never considered which weapon would make him the strongest.

‘The reason that I use a sword is that I’ve used it the longest… I just prefer it because I’m most used to it.’

Seo Jun-Ho thought for a moment before he spoke again. “Since I already have a sword aura, will it be hard to become like them?”

“Not at all.” The Frost Queen shook her head. “You are like the water bottle. You are filled with transparent water. What would happen if you added something to it?”

“...The color would change.” And he could fill it with whatever he wanted. He could make his sword aura into whatever shape he wanted. He had seen it himself with the knights. Seo Jun-Ho slowly nodded his head. “Let’s make that my goal for this Gate.”

The Frost Queen was intrigued. “And what would that be?”

“Making a new sword aura.”

***

The fourteenth knight, Sergio…

Seo Jun-Ho managed to defeat him, but he no longer had the strength to stand.

‘Why does it feel like the knights are getting stronger every time… ‘

As he lay on the ground of the ring, gasping for breath, Horun stepped up to him.

“Wandering knight. Will you acknowledge defeat and step aside?”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho looked up at him. Even though the knights were kind and polite, they were inside a Gate.

‘Will they kill me if I acknowledge defeat?’

He laughed at the thought. It was useless to think like that.

‘Whether I admit defeat or not, if they all come at me at once…’

He would have to fight for his life.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded. “If I’m allowed to rest, I want to. I’m tired.”

“...Then fall back for today.”

As Horun raised his hand, the door Seo Jun-Ho had come through opened again.

“Wandering knight, the knights of the Winter Castle will always be waiting here.”

“...I’m touched.” He really was. He never thought that he would receive such grace within a Gate. As he left, the door slammed shut behind him.

“I’m still alive…” He muttered as he looked down at his hands. His stamina was completely spent. All he wanted to do was lay down and rest.

‘It would be a different story if I were fighting for my life…’

But they were simply sparring. He was worried that the knights would turn on him if he killed one of them, so he fought with as little killing intent as possible.

‘It’s harder to overwhelm them instead of just killing them.’

It was especially so because all the knights were around his level.

“Since it’s a castle, there should be a bedroom somewhere, right?”

“What if all the rooms are empty, as before?”

“Then there’s no helping it. We’ll make a fire or something.”

He searched through dozens of bedrooms, but none of them had furniture.

“If they’re gonna manifest all of this, they should do it properly. This is all a waste of space.”

“Just say that you are angry because there’s no bed.”

Seo Jun-Ho complained as he started a fire in the fireplace. As soon as he slipped into the sleeping bag from his inventory, his fatigue overwhelmed him.

“Let’s eat when I get up. I’m too tired.”

“Contractor…”

Right as he was about to fall asleep, the Frost Queen pulled his hair. “Where will I sleep?”

“You’re a spirit. You don’t require human necessities anymore, remember?”

“Even when I was human, sleeping was a pastime that I enjoyed.”

“...A tissue’s fine, right?” Annoyed, he pulled out a crumpled tissue and tossed it to her. She deftly unrolled it and rolled up next to the fireplace.

She stared up at the high ceiling and laughed faintly. “I feel happy. This is not the castle that I lived in, but I feel like I’ve come home.”

“That’s good,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered, his eyes closing. The Frost Queen glanced at him to check that he was asleep. She pulled herself out of the tissue and sighed as she sat up.

“Haaa,?he sleeps so peacefully even within a Gate… He is quite the bumbling contractor.”

She kept watch the whole night; amidst the cold of the Winter Castle.