A full 90 gold.
After living in this savage city of Bartus for a year and a half, 1 gold felt like it was worth roughly one million won to me.
Which meant I had just spent close to ninety million won on a single pair of boots.
Even though I had only received 240 gold after Pederson took his commission.
But.
‘I don’t care. They’re fucking awesome! Damn it!’
The feeling that I could practically fly was incredible.
The moment I put them on, the boots changed shape to fit my feet and legs perfectly.
On top of that, they could even repair themselves.
Armor that could perfectly protect my calves and shins.
[Convenient Boots (High-grade)]
-No special abilities, but possesses shape adjustment to fit the wearer’s feet, self-repair, and a Comfortable function that keeps the feet comfortable.
Even when I checked them with my Trait, none of their functions had anything to do with combat.
“I’ll never regret this. Never!”
“Who said anything?”
Jerik snorted.
“Didn’t you criticize me for wasting money on a luxury?”
“No. You bought well.”
“What?”
“Even having a pair of steel boots custom-made to fit your feet would cost around 10 gold. If you wanted a stronger alloy mixed in, it could cost ten times that. Looked at that way, 90 gold for Artifact boots is practically free. Free.”
“......Then why were you against it earlier?”
“Because I pretended to strongly oppose it, he knocked the price down, did he not? By a whole 10 gold.”
“Aha!”
It seemed the experience of an adventurer from the fiftieth floors had not gone anywhere.
Now that even Jerik approved, I liked my new boots even more.
‘I heard custom shoes for famous marathon runners can cost tens of millions of won. At this price, they’re practically free. Free.’
Happily rationalizing my purchase, I headed to the smithy Jerik had recommended.
And there, I spent every last bit of my remaining fortune on full plate armor and an alloy spear.
Once I had emptied everything I had—including the Mana Stones I had synthesized before entering the Labyrinth and the money I had received this time—I felt almost hollow.
“Hah......”
“Do not look so dejected. This equipment will save your life at least once.”
“......Yes. I know that.”
Still, it really drove home just how absurdly expensive armor and weapons were even when they were not Artifacts like my boots.
“They only need to repair existing equipment and adjust it to fit you, so two or three days should be enough. Once you are properly equipped, go to the House of Viscount Volante.”
“Yes.”
Three days later.
Wearing my Artifact boots, chain mail beneath half-plate mail, and a leg harness protecting my lower body, I entered Area 4 looking almost like a knight.
‘I thought my equipment was pretty extravagant.’
But most of the people passing by wore equipment flashing with blue light or glowing patterns, which naturally made me shrink a little.
Even the leather armor was mostly made up of Artifacts displaying strange colors and patterns.
‘Damn. So this is Area 4.’
It was a district where adventurers from the fiftieth floors and lower-ranking nobles could earn residence rights.
It was clearly narrower than Area 9, but its towering buildings and magnificent streets possessed enough grandeur and beauty to overwhelm the difference in size.
Near the center of Area 4 stood the House of Viscount Volante, whose crest depicted a bird in flight.
‘A family founded by a man who was said to have crossed the continent on foot in a single day.’
A family that had quite literally become nobility through nothing but extraordinary speed.
I had heard that it was now a declining house because none of the founder’s descendants had ever produced anyone comparable to him.
-The heir apparently needs Ruler’s Majesty to establish a stronger position within the Royal Palace.
-That family has never allowed even the basics of its secret arts to leave the house.
-Well, they became famous for their feet, so there were never that many people desperate to obtain it anyway. That is why even their basic footwork is valued at 300 gold.
Remembering what Pederson had told me, I gradually approached.
The soldiers guarding the main gate pointed their spears at me.
“Who goes there?!”
“Please inform them that Go Cheol-woo—no, Char of Jerik Martial Arts Hall—has arrived to receive instruction.”
“......Char?”
“Jerik Martial Arts Hall?”
The soldiers looked puzzled, but one of them soon opened the gate and went inside.
Less than thirty minutes later, a man in a formal suit with an impressive white beard walked out.
“You must be Sir Char. I am Bender, butler of House Volante. Please come inside. The young lady is waiting for you.”
The young lady?
I tilted my head at the unexpected title, but followed him without complaint.
After passing through a small but splendid garden, I met a beautiful woman in light armor standing deeper in the courtyard.
‘Oh?’
Not a single strand of her hair differed in color, so it did not seem to be dyed.
She had pale green hair and emerald eyes, and the unnatural hair color somehow suited her remarkably well.
Only when I saw her frown at me did I realize my mistake.
“Adventurer Char pays his respects to the young lady of the viscount’s house.”
I lowered my head slightly and bent one knee in greeting.
Only then did her expression relax.
Even so,
“Reveal your Status.”
“......May I show only part of it?”
“Of course. Your name alone is enough. It is only to verify that you are the person in question.”
The moment she confirmed my identity, she nodded and gestured.
“We will begin the instruction immediately. However, even if it is only the basics, I require your pledge that you will not pass it on to anyone else.”
“Of course.”
“If you break that pledge......”
“I will accept whatever punishment House Volante chooses to impose.”
“......Good.”
She looked to be in her mid-twenties, around my age, yet every word she spoke carried a strange pressure that was impossible to ignore.
As expected of a noble...... no.
‘Is this the authority of Ruler’s Majesty? Oh?’
I had secretly mocked them for paying so much for a useless Ability Stone.
But once I personally experienced how every word she spoke naturally drew my attention, my opinion changed somewhat.
The nobles here were politicians as well, after all.
“What are you doing? Take the stance after me.”
“Ah! Yes!”
“One more thing before that. Our family’s footwork pursues extreme lightness. It may not suit a spearman. Are you still fine with that?”
Her personality seemed considerably better than the nobles I had heard rumors about too.
“Of course. In the end, I’ll develop it in my own way.”
“......Right. You are a Summoner. If anything, that puts me more at ease.”
She was probably talking about the secret technique leaking out.
“Now. First, raise your heels and concentrate your mana in your chest......”
“Even the basic footwork uses Mana?”
“......What did you say?”
“Ah, nothing.”
Her glare was a little frightening, but the woman, Aris Volante, thoroughly taught me the basic footwork of House Volante.
For an entire week.
“You certainly seem to have talent. I expected this to take a month, yet you laid the foundation in only a week.”
“That’s thanks to your excellent instruction, Lady Aris. Thank you again.”
“......It was merely a transaction. Still, Adventurer Char—no, Go. Cheol. Woo. I will remember that name.”
Hearing Aris carefully pronounce my real name, which was difficult for people here to say, I bowed my head once more.
“Thank you.”
It was something worth thanking her for several times over.
[Volante Basic Footwork (Common-Lv.1)]
Even at this level, it gave me freedom of movement incomparable to Advance-Retreat Step.
Honestly, I felt almost thirty percent faster.
Jerik’s words that not all Skills of the same Grade were truly equal suddenly hit home.
‘The fact that my thrusts come out too lightly while using it is something I’ll have to fix, though......’
Even if I used it only for movement or running away rather than in battle, it felt worth well over 300 gold.
And then, the additional information I happened to see after using my Trait was outright shocking.
-An introductory footwork art created by separating out the most basic portion of the legendary footwork, Feathering Step .
-Adjust the angle of the second step 15 degrees to the left and the third step 10 degrees to the right, then direct roughly one additional tenth of the mana flow toward the lower abdomen. This will restore the original form of the true introductory footwork lost by House Volante.
I had tried it because the discovery that my Trait worked on System windows in the Labyrinth had given me the idea.
I never expected a secret like this to appear.
‘Should I tell them?’
I genuinely considered it.
In the end, however, I decided not to.
I could not predict either the benefit or the danger that might come from telling them.
“If fate permits, we will meet again.”
“......Yes. If fate permits.”
If we happened to meet again someday under favorable circumstances, perhaps I could tell her then.
With that thought, I finished my training at House Volante.
Then, back at the martial arts hall, I trained on my own and modified the footwork exactly as my Trait had instructed me.
The result was,
[Volante Footwork Stage 1 (Common-Lv.1)]
The Skill’s name changed slightly, and its effectiveness felt roughly ten percent higher.
More importantly,
-If trained in the correct direction, it can eventually reach the legendary Feathering Step.
The additional information made me even happier.
And I had discovered another definite use for my Trait in the process.
[Pendulum Spear Art (Common-Lv.10)]
-An extreme attack-evasion spear art, but there is room for improvement. When stepping backward, lower the spear shaft to a 15-degree angle to keep the enemy in check......
‘That’s exactly what Master Jerik explained.’
In other words, my Trait could serve as another teacher for improving my Skills.
Of course, there were some things even it could not help with.
[Bartus Body Hardening Art (Common-Lv.7)]
-A basic Mana Cultivation Method named after the legendary hero Bartus. It has no penalties and remains faithful to the fundamentals.
‘If there are no flaws, does that mean there’s nothing to advise?’
It was not absolute.
If a Skill had some deficiency, my Trait could help me correct it.
But even that was more than enough.
‘All you bastards who looked down on me for being Ungraded, come out here!’
I wanted to scream it at the top of my lungs.
That was why I spent another three weeks refining and mastering Volante Footwork and Pendulum Spear Art.
During that time, Bartus Body Hardening Art, which had also been growing rapidly, reached Level 10.
Both my spear art and Mana Cultivation Method had now reached the limit of Common Skills.
I went to Jerik for advice.
“Summoners are better off concentrating their Level-Up Points on as few Skills as possible. So choose carefully, then focus on them.”
“What would you recommend, Master?”
“If you want my recommendation, then naturally the Body Hardening Art. Your Mana Cultivation Method.”
“......As expected. Right?”
It was the foundation of handling mana and also provided modifiers to the basic physical Stats.
High-grade or better cultivation methods were monopolized by noble houses and massive guilds, making them inaccessible to ordinary people.
Even Jerik, a former adventurer from the fiftieth floors, had created a Mana Cultivation Method suited to himself using Bartus Body Hardening Art as the foundation.
Because of that, no one else could learn it unless they resembled him in every respect, including constitution, physique, and aptitude for Mana.
That was why Kirk, who could learn it, had become Jerik’s prized disciple.
It was also the biggest reason Jerik told me not to call him my teacher.
“The choice is yours.”
“The standard path is standard for a reason. I should probably follow it.”
“Talented Summoners receiving proper support from the Royal Palace would have learned High-grade or better Mana Cultivation Methods from the very beginning. Judging by your aptitude for Mana alone, you clearly have plenty of talent as well......”
Jerik clicked his tongue regretfully.
I merely shrugged.
“What can I do? I just have to do the best I can with the circumstances I have.”
My spear art and footwork still had room for improvement.
Depending on how that went, I might even be able to evolve them without spending Level-Up Points.
But my Mana Cultivation Method was a dead end even when viewed through my Trait.
It was not as though there was some person or group willing to teach me a valuable Mana Cultivation Method either.
‘If I get a few more Perfect Clears, I can replenish some of the Level-Up Points. Yeah. Let’s do it.’