Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 43

There was a saying.

That even an unbeliever comes to believe in the existence of God after studying medicine.

It wasn't that Roden particularly had faith in a creator god.

But the fact that the human body was mysterious and great was an undeniable truth.

Just like that, Roden, who had strengthened his respiratory center and chemoreceptors, was once again struck by the mystery of the human body.

Because he had only strengthened it a little, yet the impurities of his aura were being discharged from his exhalation with surprising precision.

Furthermore, in this process, not even the slightest accidental discharge of aura occurred.

Exactly only the impurities were expelled from his body.

Just like that, Roden, who had confirmed the effects of his exhalation while strengthening his respiratory center and chemoreceptors for a short time, hurriedly collected his aura.

In a short while, Roden's forehead was drenched in sweat.

Moving his aura with precision was not as easy as he had thought.

‘If I had made the slightest mistake, an excessive amount of aura would have been injected into the respiratory center and chemoreceptors.’

Cooking was originally like that.

There were times when you intended to put in just a little, but due to a moment of carelessness, an absurd amount of salt would pour out.

It couldn't be helped, as it was the work of a human.

So there was no guarantee that Roden wouldn't make such a mistake either.

Especially for Roden, who had to discharge the impurities of his aura through continuous exhalation, the probability of such a mistake was even higher.

‘So, just stupidly and directly injecting aura continuously is too dangerous.’

So what he thought of was to create a new magic.

One that continuously injects a certain amount of aura into a single point.

And then, if the amount of aura seemed to increase too much, it would be immediately blocked.

This way, the dangerous situation Roden imagined would never occur.

Because this was the work of mathematics, not a person.

‘Alright. Shall we begin then?’

Just like that, Roden created the first magic formula and performed it with a sword dance.

Naturally, he did not make the mistake of immediately casting the magic on his respiratory center and chemoreceptors.

First, he experimented to see if a certain amount of aura could be injected into his wrist.

If this was successful later, he planned to change the location of the aura injection.

‘Hmm……. The location is well-set, but the amount of aura is more than I thought.’

Just like that, Roden changed the magic formula several times and performed the sword dance until he got a result he was satisfied with.

Each time he performed the sword dance, the effect of the magic grew closer to the desired result.

And after the amount of aura was changed to the desired level, he practiced changing the location.

Ankle, shoulder, waist, etc. Roden, who succeeded in designating the desired location without a single mistake, thought.

‘It’s done. Now for the real thing.’

A moment later, the magic formula was modified one last time, and Roden began to perform the sword dance.

And a smile appeared on the lips of Roden, who had stopped in his place after finishing the sword dance.

It was a success.

***

Roden gave the newly developed magic a simple name, ‘Impurity Discharge Magic’.

And he performed the sword dance once every three hours.

This was because the duration of the Impurity Discharge Magic was only three hours.

As a result, the soldiers, who could only witness Roden's sword dance once a day, now witnessed it more often than usual.

“He's performing the sword dance again.”

“It’s cool. But why does he perform the sword dance? Is he originally a cheerful person?”

“Or maybe, since he hasn't been drinking lately, he's become engrossed in singing and dancing.”

“Eh. No way. Isn’t that just practicing the Glockner Swordsmanship?”

“Ah, that's right. It must be that.”

“So this is how beautiful a Superior Swordsmanship is.”

The sword dance of Roden that the soldiers could originally see once a day was a modified version of the aura breathing method.

The very one that increased the mana density of the entire training ground to increase the soldiers' aura absorption rate.

Roden usually performed this sword dance right after stretching before the regular training began.

This was because its effect could then be exerted throughout the regular training time.

So the soldiers could only see Roden's sword dance once, but now they could see it at least three more times a day.

This was why the soldiers were talking about it.

And through their conversation, they deduced that the identity of this sword dance was the Glockner Swordsmanship.

It was certainly a plausible story.

Even Chevalier, a 2-star knight who had learned the Superior Swordsmanship called Broom Swordsmanship, was reaching the same conclusion.

“……”

Furthermore, Chevalier had even tried to learn and imitate this sword dance by eye.

But it was not easy to follow Roden's movements, which were both elegant and disciplined.

The movements were clearly drawn in his mind, but no matter how much he practiced, he couldn't perfectly perform the sword dance with his body.

This wasn't just Chevalier.

Any soldier with even a little interest in swordsmanship had tried to imitate Roden's sword dance at least once.

And they too had all failed to perform the sword dance like Roden.

It couldn't be helped.

This was because Roden was not just performing a sword dance, but was realizing precise movements according to a magic formula.

So, it was impossible to perform it exactly the same just by watching and learning it.

‘Even if they could imitate it, it would be meaningless. Because magic would not be cast without the will to cast it.’

In the end, it meant that as long as they didn't know the purpose of this sword dance, no matter how perfectly they imitated the movements, the magic would not be cast.

And this was the reason Roden freely performed the sword dance anywhere.

Anyway, Roden, who had succeeded in developing the Impurity Discharge Magic, focused on improving it for the next few days.

This was to confirm the maximum amount of aura that could be injected into the respiratory center and chemoreceptors.

As a result of conducting experiments to increase the amount of aura for several days, he finally reached a limit.

A strong headache came along with the aura injection.

This was a clear signal from his body.

That injecting any more aura would be dangerous.

For that reason, Roden gave up on further improvements.

Because Roden's goal was to become stronger, not to die.

‘This is enough anyway. The effect of the Impurity Discharge Magic.’

Currently, the aura impurities in his body were decreasing by 1% per day.

Some might say this seems a bit low, but it was not.

The fact that it maintained a 1% discharge rate even as a considerable amount of impurities would accumulate as 26% of aura was absorbed daily was actually a very encouraging fact.

Because it meant that in 100 days, not only would all the aura Roden had become pure, but this purity would also be maintained in the future.

Furthermore, even though only about 10% of his aura was currently pure, the effect was tremendous.

Because he could now cut the iron post, which he could only cut in one go with some concentration, without even a preparatory stance.

At this rate, it seemed it would soon be possible to cut the steel post with ease.

‘It’s a good sign. It meant that the aura was becoming sharper and harder.’

Originally, aura was harder than steel.

This was the reason why common soldiers feared even a 1-star knight.

Because in front of aura, their swords, shields, and armor were all neutralized.

In reality, on the battlefield, a common soldier could rarely defeat a 1-star knight even if their movements were similar.

They might be able to block the 1-star knight's sword once or twice with luck, but their sword would soon break, their shield would shatter, and their armor would be dented by the continued attacks.

Just like that, aura became sharper and harder as its level increased.

So it was difficult for a 1-star to face a 2-star, and a 2-star to face a 3-star.

This was also the reason why swords made of Mithril or Adamantium were considered famous swords, even though their actual hardness was similar to steel.

Because it was easier to inject aura into them than steel, making the sword sharper and harder even at the same level.

So, just by becoming sharper and harder, he was already reaping the full benefits of having purified his aura.

‘Interesting.’

It was a moment where he looked forward to the day 100 days later when his aura would become completely pure.

***

Roden and the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon dedicated themselves to training during that time.

Fortunately, they had a relatively ample amount of time.

This was because Transport Unit 2's turn would only come after Transport Unit 1 and Transport Unit 3 had finished their supply operations.

Just like that, the 3rd Infantry Platoon focused solely on training for a month after the last operation, and the results showed.

Among them, the first achievement was that there was no longer anyone among the soldiers who could not cut the pine post in one go.

This was an objective indicator that showed that the overall combat power of the 3rd Infantry Platoon had increased.

So, for Roden, he couldn't help but be happy with such an achievement.

And it wasn't just Roden who was happy.

“We did it!”

“Now there’s no one among us who can’t cut the pine post!”

“Just you wait, you bastards! You’ll never be able to ignore us again!”

The soldiers were also extremely happy with this achievement.

It was only natural, as they had taken a step closer to their goal of becoming strong so that no one could ignore them.

But there was something even more encouraging than this achievement, and that was the second achievement.

The second achievement was that Roden had finally reached the level of a 3-star.

When the amount of impurity discharge reached about 20%.

Surprisingly, Roden succeeded in coating his entire blade with aura.

To have reached the level of a 3-star even in a situation where the absolute amount of aura was insufficient.

For Roden, he couldn't help but be very surprised by this result.

But Roden quickly figured out the reason why this result had occurred.

‘The sharper and harder aura made it easier to overcome the external pressure.’

The reason the amount of aura was deeply related to the level was because the more aura there was in the body, the higher its density became, making it easier to bring it out.

But the aura, which had become stronger by becoming pure in itself, was able to break through the external pressure without a difference in density.

This was the secret to how Roden was able to reach the level of a 3-star even without securing a sufficient amount of aura.

‘Pure aura is as much of a cheat as pure mana.’

Just like that, Roden became a 3-star knight.

He was on the verge of a new supply operation.