Amid the wolves’ piercing howls of agony, sword light flashed again and again as one life after another ended by Rook’s hand.
Kicks sent wolves flying.
The blade cut them down.
A wolf became his shield.
Howls filled the forest.
Bodies scattered.
And his sword remained the killing edge.
One wolf after another collapsed into corpses.
Faint currents of warmth continuously emerged from deep within Rook’s body.
As the battle continued, his proficiency steadily increased.
At the same time, every sword technique in his hands gradually became smoother and more refined through actual combat.
Breathing in rhythm with his footwork, Rook maneuvered through the short distances between the wolves.
His sword moved with his body.
One after another, the fundamental sword techniques engraved into his mind were put into practice.
Rook’s gaze remained cold and focused.
Crack!
A wolf suddenly leaped up and bit down on his sword.
Rook violently flicked his wrist.
The wolf released the blade with a pained yelp.
Rook immediately closed in and kicked it squarely in the face.
The wolf was sent tumbling backward.
Rook followed.
One thrust.
Blood sprayed.
Amid a final howl—
The wolf died.
In barely more than ten minutes, eighteen wolves had permanently joined the forest floor.
Then—
“Awooo!”
The alpha wolf suddenly let out a long howl.
The remaining seven wolves slowly backed away.
Their savage yet frightened eyes remained fixed on Rook.
Seeing that they intended to retreat, Rook violently slammed the mangled wolf in his hand onto the ground.
He planted one foot on its head.
Then drove his sword through its neck.
The wolf whimpered weakly.
And Rook gained another point of Swordsmanship proficiency.
Seeing that Rook was still provoking them, the alpha bared its fangs.
A reddish glow appeared in its eyes.
It hesitated.
Rook no longer had one of its packmates in his hand to use as a shield.
And after killing nineteen wolves in succession, his breathing had noticeably grown heavier.
The alpha could tell.
Rook was tired.
The beast’s hesitation impressed Rook.
Whether they were wild animals in forests or the fish and beasts of the ocean, most creatures in this world were considerably more intelligent than their counterparts from his previous life.
The longer they lived, the smarter they tended to become.
So—
Rook deliberately showed weakness.
No matter how intelligent it was, it was still only a wild beast.
How could it possibly understand the Thirty-Six Stratagems?
Seeing that Rook didn’t appear interested in pursuing them, the alpha wolf apparently decided it was powerful again.
It suddenly roared.
This time—
Even the alpha joined the attack.
All eight wolves charged at once.
The alpha intelligently curved around Rook, attempting to attack from behind.
At the same time, a wolf directly ahead suddenly leaped from more than two meters away.
In an instant, it was right in front of Rook.
Its jaws opened wide.
“Awooo!”
Saliva sprayed between its fangs.
At that exact moment—
Rook abruptly shifted sideways to the right.
As the jaws snapped past him, his left hand shot out and seized one of the wolf’s hind legs.
Then he twisted his waist.
And swung.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The airborne wolf smashed into the heads of three other wolves.
The alpha was among them.
Rook immediately turned.
His gaze locked onto the alpha wolf, a powerfully built beast more than two meters long whose body was now staggering sideways.
Rook charged.
His sword thrust forward.
Puchi!
The blade plunged deeply into the junction between the alpha’s shoulder and neck.
The beast howled.
Rook kicked it hard in the face.
The alpha was sent flying.
Rook rotated his wrist.
His sword immediately came down in a vertical slash toward another wolf still shaking its head in confusion.
Puchi!
A wound deep enough to expose bone opened across its waist and abdomen.
Rook stepped sharply to the right.
The next wolf lost a foreleg to a single slash.
By now, the remaining four wolves had seen their alpha practically killed.
They finally understood that it was time to flee.
With frightened whimpers, they tucked their tails between their legs and ran.
Suddenly—
Something tore through the air.
The wolf Rook had been holding was hurled forward.
It crashed into one of the fleeing animals.
Both wolves rolled across the ground, howling.
Rook covered the distance in a few quick strides.
Slash!
Two clean strikes ended them.
He glanced at the final three wolves already disappearing into the forest.
Then he turned around and returned to the three wounded animals that were still alive.
Finally—
He finished off the alpha wolf.
Warmth surged from deep within his body.
The danger had passed.
Rook’s concentration loosened, and he took a long, heavy breath.
But at that exact moment—
System notifications suddenly appeared within his consciousness.
[Notice: Your Swordsmanship proficiency has reached the maximum value of Beginner — 100/100. Swordsmanship will automatically advance.]
[Notice: Your Swordsmanship has advanced from Beginner to Proficient! Body Attribute +1!]
[Notice: Swordsmanship — Proficient: 0/200. Next Rank: Skilled.]
The instant those notifications appeared—
A tremendous current of warmth surged from deep within Rook’s consciousness.
Then it poured into every part of his body.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
His bones sounded repeatedly.
That strange power tempered them, making them denser and stronger.
His muscles, tendons, and internal organs felt as though they had been submerged in a warm spring.
They began strengthening together.
Then—
Excruciating pain erupted from inside him.
It felt as though years of physical conditioning were being compressed into a single instant.
And along with that pain—
The fundamental sword techniques within Rook’s consciousness began practicing themselves.
They were still the same basic movements.
But now they became increasingly refined.
Increasingly fluid.
And they began naturally linking together.
Point.
Block.
Hang.
Chop.
Sweep.
Circle.
Lift.
Rising cut.
Snap.
Raise.
Thrust.
Intercept.
Once.
Ten times.
A hundred times.
Ten thousand times…
The techniques became instinctive.
Movements that should have required endless bitter training before becoming second nature were silently engraved into both Rook’s consciousness and his body.
Subtle adjustments occurred throughout his bones and muscles.
True to the meaning of Proficient—
Repetition had transformed skill into instinct.
It didn’t take long.
Rook’s unfocused eyes gradually sharpened again.
His right hand slowly raised the sword.
Then—
A complete sequence of fundamental sword techniques flowed out.
Smooth as running water.
Yet filled with unmistakable force.
Cold flashes of steel filled the air around him.
His agile footwork moved in harmony with his steady, rhythmic breathing.
A flash of steel disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.
Shhk!
One of the wolf corpses lying nearby was cleanly split into two.
Thick blood was carried through the air by the momentum of the blade.
It painted a curved streak across the ground.
Rook stopped.
He quietly felt the iron sword in his hand.
Then he lowered his gaze toward the several rolled edges and chips that had appeared along the blade.
“If it were the current me…”
“With my present understanding of swordsmanship and how to apply my body’s strength, I should be able to protect an ordinary iron sword like this much better.”
Rook marveled at the difference.
Swordsmanship truly ran deep.
He had only reached Proficient—
Yet Rook was already confident that he could effortlessly slaughter the version of himself from before this breakthrough.
A certain conviction quietly began taking root in his heart.
The system panel appeared.
Rook examined the changes.
Aside from Swordsmanship advancing and his Body attribute increasing to 9.1, his Hand-to-Hand Combat proficiency had also gained five points during the battle due to its supporting role.
Swordsmanship — Proficient: 0/200
Hand-to-Hand Combat — Beginner: 6/100
Rook dismissed the panel.
He stretched his body.
Much of the exhaustion he had felt earlier had already disappeared after the increase in his Body attribute.
He clenched his fist.
Strength continuously surged from his muscles and bones.
A single point of improvement had strengthened his physique noticeably.
In Rook’s opinion—
Each point of a basic attribute wasn’t simply a linear increase.
It seemed closer to exponential growth.
Perhaps at higher levels, a difference of even one point could become an enormous gulf in strength.
But the advancement of Swordsmanship hadn’t merely adjusted his body.
It had directly increased an attribute as well.
Rook searched his memories.
“So this is the feedback mechanism from increasing a skill’s level.”
“If I remember correctly, according to the underlying logic of the game, when a skill broke through certain stages, it would provide feedback in the form of basic attributes.” Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
“And when high-level skills achieved major breakthroughs…”
“They could even manifest special Traits based on the user’s previous experiences.”
Rook shook his head.
There was no point thinking too much about things that were still far in the future.
He looked at the wolf corpses scattered around the area.
Sword in hand, he stepped forward.
As he walked, strength flowed from his bones and muscles.
Then it traveled into the blade.
The sword swung.
Before long—
The corpses covering the ground had been reduced to scattered chunks of flesh.
The stench of blood became even more overpowering.
Once he was finished, Rook headed toward the nearby stream.
He submerged both hands in the crystal-clear water.
Blood spread outward in thin red clouds before being carried downstream.
After washing himself clean, Rook walked over to a tree.
He picked up the meat pies he’d left there, wrapped tightly in oil paper.
He brushed off the ants crawling across the package.
Then he opened it and began eating in large bites.
He needed to replenish his energy.
Time passed little by little.
Half an hour later—
A leopard emerged from the distant forest.
It moved cautiously.
The animal grabbed a blood-soaked chunk of flesh in its jaws.
But the moment it saw Rook suddenly charging toward it—
It turned and ran.
The leopard moved like the wind.
In seconds, it disappeared into the forest.
Rook’s expression darkened.
Another ten minutes passed.
A second group of wolves emerged from another part of the forest.
This pack contained only around fifteen animals.
Rook’s eyes lit up.
Sword in hand, he charged toward them.
By deliberately appearing vulnerable, he managed to keep them engaged long enough to kill eleven.
The others fled in terror.
Swordsmanship Proficiency +11
Rook kept the fattest wolf intact.
He chopped apart the others and scattered their remains around the area as bait.
Then he carried the fat wolf to the stream.
By now, he was already quite practiced at processing an animal carcass.
Cut off the head.
Remove the tail.
Open the abdomen.
Take out the organs.
Wash everything clean.
Using nearby stones, Rook built a fire pit roughly a meter high.
He cut dry branches from the surrounding trees.
Then used a lighter to ignite some dry bark.
Before long—
Firewood blazed inside the makeshift pit.
Rook sharpened a sturdy pine branch and drove it straight through the wolf’s body.
Then he positioned the entire carcass beside the fire and began roasting it.
Anticipation appeared in his eyes.
Back in the town where he’d grown up, Rook had done this kind of thing fairly often.
To keep himself from going hungry, he had frequently hunted along the outskirts of the nearby forest.
That was also why his body had already been much stronger than that of most boys his age.
And why the Norton Pirates had noticed and recruited him more than a month ago.
While waiting for more prey to arrive—
Rook suddenly noticed something.
The leopard from earlier had returned.
It crept toward the bait again.
This time, it kept its eyes fixed on Rook while grabbing another chunk of meat, clearly prepared to flee at any moment.
Rook didn’t chase it.
Seeing that Rook remained seated, the animal simply dropped to the ground.
Then—
Right in front of him—
It began openly tearing into the meat.
Rook narrowed his eyes.
He acted as though he had lost interest in it.
Lowering his head, he focused entirely on turning the roasting wolf over the fire.
Twenty minutes passed.
From the corner of his eye, Rook watched the leopard’s stomach gradually swell.
A playful look entered his eyes.
The next second—
He suddenly sprang to his feet.
And charged.
The leopard had become so absorbed in eating that its reaction was several beats slower than before.
Rook had already closed to within thirty meters before it hurriedly stood.
The animal snarled in warning.
But when it saw Rook continuing to approach with sword in hand—
It immediately turned and fled.
Unfortunately—
Its stomach was stuffed.
Its swollen belly bounced violently as it ran.
Less than five minutes later, stomach cramps struck.
Its speed plummeted.
A few seconds later—
Rook caught up.
The leopard spun around and fought back.
Rook sidestepped.
One slash opened its flank.
The leopard collapsed to the ground, howling in pain.
Rook stepped forward.
A final sword strike pierced through its neck.
The forest fell silent.
Swordsmanship Proficiency +1