Chapter 57 - Abnormal Ascension
Eyes out of focus, Leo couldn't help but wonder if this temporary loss of eyesight was caused by some damage to his optic nerves. However, he quickly realized what was taking place…
It was as if all of his sensory abilities were being redirected to supplement his sense of 'touch'!
'It's happening?'
The stream that roamed his body in a carefree manner up to this moment was orderly spreading around every inch, it's movement appeared to be almost completely systematic!
The stream consisting of the thin threads that Leo 'produced' and 'absorbed' went from simply relaxing in the little space within his body into settling down in the body itself. The whole process felt like the Sword Breath was transitioning from being 'vagrants' into Leo's 'residents'.
'It's happening!'
As strange as it was to experience this process by oneself, but everything up to this point was the 'normal' experience of someone who crossed the 'Accumulation Phase'. By now, whatever anxiety left in Leo's mind was vaporized in favor of relief and excitement. It was just that…
This relief and excitement were quickly overwhelmed by shock and confusion!
'Uh?'
The magnified perception of Leo's somatosensory system flared as something other than simple touch could be felt. Leo almost felt like screaming from the sudden intense pain!
The 'ascension' process that was going according to script took a wild turn out of nowhere. Leo could practically feel his muscle tissue where 'his' Sword Breath settled being torn apart by the moment!
"Ugh…"
Although thoughts raced to reach Leo's mind as he tried to understand his current situation, pain overtook everything. His sword had already fallen out of his grip and his suppressed screams were very close to breaking out. However…
The pain started to fade away just as suddenly!
Despite his mind being in a groggy state as an aftereffect of the sudden pain, Leo could sense that the muscle tissue that was torn apart was quickly reconstructing, everything seemingly under the effect of 'his' Sword Breath.
'What was that supposed to be?'
It was only a few minutes later that Leo's mind cleared up with his senses being restored to normal, the short time made it appear as if nothing had really happened. The only evidence left of it happening was Leo's agitated state.
'Hmmm…'
As his eyesight was finally restored, the very first thing his eyes were laid upon was the 'Personal Book' that was yet to be dismissed.
In less than ten minutes, the whole 'Personal Statistics' segment had changed. Surprisingly, the one part that changed the least was the Sword Breath which simply reached 100.01 points…
On the other hand, the most eye-catching part was none other than a new blurry line that appeared at the very top of the segment, its letters were being thickened in turn as if someone was currently writing it!
However, even as it was being 'written', the blurry shadow of the words was too familiar to miss.
'...Sword Breath, again?'
Although that only made it more confusing, a thought quickly emerged in Leo's mind.
________________________
Personal Statistics:
----------------
True Sword Breath: 100/100
Physique: 1.06
Mind: 1.4 (+1.99)
Sword Breath: 100.01
________________________
'An MP bar…?'
Other than the addition of an adjective, the only notable change was the numbers separated by a slash, making it look oddly familiar to the MP or HP bars used in games.
Considering that the process that he just went through was ingraining 'free' Sword Breath to be his so he could wield it, both the adjective and the 'bar' made sense to Leo. It was just that they were slightly out of his expectations.
Once one crossed the threshold to reach 'Grade 1', the process of 'True Breathing' was something that they naturally obtained. Even if they consumed any of the Sword Breath that became theirs, it would naturally regenerate at a constant rate.
At the same time, it was impossible to replenish it faster through 'Sword Breathing', a process that only contributed to the accumulation of 'free' Sword Breath in order to build up to the next grade.
Ordinary Swordsmen could only 'feel' how much of their 'true' Sword Breath had been consumed, but the accurate 'data' of the 'Personal Book' proved its usefulness once again.
'...Should I be happy about this?'
Although Leo was eager to immediately test the supernatural ability that he had finally gained. He couldn't help but glance at the line representing his 'Physique' with mixed thoughts…
An increase of 0.08 points in a matter of minutes was as supernatural as wielding Sword Breath, being more than comparable to his progress over the last 5 months, but Leo still had countless questions about its source.
It was undeniably the muscle tearing and reconstruction that increased his physical ability. However, why was his 'ascension' the only one different from that of other Swordsmen?
Did this have something to do with his 'Blocked Meridians'? Or was this the influence of his 'presence' as a semi-foreigner?
No matter the reason, Leo could confirm nothing. None of the special people in the novel had encountered a situation similar to his including those who had Leo's condition. Even Ray himself, the main character of this world, didn't gain such a strange benefit.
'Was Arthur special?'
In the end, the only conclusion that Leo could reach was that the root of this incident lay in Arthur's body. After all, 'cheats' relating to the 'soul' like Ray's didn't have an effect on the corporeal body.
After some deliberation, Leo finally suppressed his curiosity under the burning eagerness to test the one thing that he sought from this world! His first attempt to mobilize his 'True' Sword Breath was accordingly clumsy, but he gradually got the hang of it.
Just like how he mentally ordered the 'Personal Book' to appear and disappear, the Sword Breath ingrained in his body started to gather into his palms as if it was attached to a nerve cell that relayed Leo's orders.
'Finally!'
His palms shining in a transparent silvery light, Leo steadily picked up the sword on the ground!
As soon as his hands came into contact with the hilt, the transparent light acted like a hydrophile that just came into contact with water, climbing up the hilt as it spread to surround the blade, giving it a silvery sheen that made it appear extraordinary!
Unable to find a proper target to unleash what he held in hand, Leo could only attack the hard leather sheath leaning on the fence closest to him, his eyes shining in anticipation.
"Oh."
It was only when the sheath collapsed into two pieces leaving a clean cut at each piece's end that Leo noticed the pair of eyes focused on him…