Ranker's Return

Chapter 704

‘A jackpot, a jackpot, a jackpot, a jackpot.’

Hyeonu continued to repeat this word as he stood there blankly. John Blake’s strike took away Hyeonu’s spirit. It was a skill that Hyeonu thought would be great to have.

“Am I going to learn this, Duke Blake?” Hyeonu asked in a voice full of expectations.

“Yes. This is a skill that anyone who becomes the commander of the Knights of Keon should learn. There are other things, but this one should be enough for right now,” John Blake nodded as he answered.

‘It is nice to see him surprised.’

John Blake felt old memories come to mind. He thought of the first time he passed on Cutting the Moonlight. At that time, Lebron was excited like Hyeonu.

‘Alexander was furious because he couldn’t learn it.’

Still, it couldn’t be helped. Cutting the Moonlight was a technique passed down only to the commander of the Knights of Keon. Alexander was supposed to be the emperor. He didn’t meet the conditions.

‘If he could’ve stayed in the knights division... I would’ve taught him.’

“You saw what Cutting the Moonlight is. I’ll teach you how to use it. You might feel at a loss, but it won’t be that difficult because you have been dealing with magic power constantly.”

John Blake shook off the memories of the past and focused on the person in front of him, Hyeonu.

“The essence of Cutting the Moonlight is the use of explosive magic power. However, that alone isn’t enough. You can get the power and speed to cut through the moonlight simply by exploding your magic power.”

John Blake held the sheath with his left hand and the handle of the sword with his right hand.

“It requires harmony between the body and magic power. Compress your body like this...”

John Blake spread out his legs to shoulder width and slightly extended his right foot. Then he crouched down in that position.

“Explode it out in one breath.”

John Blake’s body returned to its original position and a beam of light passed through the air.

‘As expected, it is very strong.’

Hyeonu admired it again. It was an amazing power even the second time he saw it. In particular, it would be good to use when the battle had just begun. If he struck like a thunderbolt the moment when the opponent was careless... It was likely to end there.

‘By the way, why do I feel it is unfortunate?’

The gap between what John Blake first showed and what he showed now was enormous. It was like the difference between a full moon and a firefly.

“By the way, the demonstration you just showed seemed a bit different from the previous one. In this case, the attack range seems very short...” Hyeonu couldn’t stand it and questioned it.

“It is natural. What I showed at the beginning is the proper Cutting the Moonlight. The one I showed just now is the process to learn Cutting the Moonlight. You can think of it as an introductory process,” John Blake answered Hyeonu’s question in detail.

It was very easy for Hyeonu to understand.

“What do I need to add to what you explained to make the perfect Cutting the Moonlight?”

“It would be good for you to think about it yourself. What should you do?” John Blake asked Hyeonu in return.

It was easy to teach him, but he thought it would be better to give Hyeonu a chance to think about it.

‘If it is the difference between the two...’

The first strike cut the world, while the second strike cut only in front of his eyes. The range of the attacks varied greatly.

‘Do I need to release magic power?’

The answer came out quickly. There was no need to think too much. It was the difference in magic power. Otherwise, there was nothing else that could explain it.

“Do I just make pure energy?”

“How did you come up with this idea?” John Blake asked with a surprised look.

Hyeonu was convinced that his speculation was correct when he saw John Blake’s expression.

“There is nothing else that can explain it other than this.”

They were honest words, but from a certain point of view, they were also natural. Based on John Blake’s actions, Cutting the Moonlight would be registered as a skill only when Hyeonu somehow reproduced it.

‘It is the same as Magic Spirit Creation.’

So how could Hyeonu be unable to use Cutting the Moonlight? It didn’t make sense.

“That’s right. If pure energy is removed from a knight... all that is left is the body.”

John Blake nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Your words are right. There are two main processes to learning Cutting the Moonlight. Learning the sword drawing posture and the operation of releasing magic power. The former isn’t difficult. Anyone can learn it as long as they have reached a certain level. There might just be a time difference. Meanwhile, the latter is different. It isn’t easy for the successors of the Knights of Keon, who have been constantly using magic power.”

John Blake once again held the sword’s handle and took the posture of Cutting the Moonlight. He took half a step forward with his right foot. He held the sheath in his left hand and the handle in his right hand as he contracted the muscles of his entire body. Then he slowly drew the sword and swung it. The sword was slow, but the sharpness hadn’t decreased. John Blake’s movement stopped when the sword was pointing perfectly straight ahead.

“The moment the tip of the sword points at the other part, explode the magic power you have gathered. Magic power will flow outside the sword with an explosive momentum,” John Blake’s mouth opened and an additional explanation was given.

At the same time, black pure energy shot like light from the sword.

“To achieve this, you need the ability to quickly create pure energy.”

John Blake placed the sword back in the sheath and turned to Hyeonu, only for his eyes to fill with astonishment.

“Duke Blake, is this okay?”

Hyeonu repeatedly drew the Mysterious Sky Sword, made a five meter long pure energy and removed it. It was like a flashing fluorescent lamp at the end of its life.

“Hah... How can this happen...?”

A sigh emerged from John Blake’s mouth. It was because something completely unexpected happened in front of him.

‘At this rate, it won’t take him long to learn Cutting the Moonlight.’

Even at this moment, the rapidly flashing purple pure energy was admirable. He thought that this magic power management might be Hyeonu’s talent.

“That is enough. Will you start practicing right away?”

“Yes, I will start right away. If there is anything wrong, please point it out right away.”

Hyeonu nodded and inserted the Mysterious Sky Sword into the sheath.

‘I have to learn it quickly.’

Hyeonu had no intention of spending a long time on Cutting the Moonlight. He had to get as much as he could before returning to Alfore.

‘Both of them are mine. I can’t give them up.’

The two things that John Blake initially put forward as options.

He was going to take all of it.

‘Let’s do it at once. At once.’

Hyeonu made up his mind and started to imitate the actions of John Blake that he had seen three times.

‘I have to put my right foot forward like this...’

Just like John Blake, he naturally opened his stride and put his right foot half a step forward. Then he lowered the center of his body and started to gather strength in his entire body.

‘Combine it with magic power.’

He wasn’t just gathering the strength of his body. He continued to inject magic power into the Mysterious Sky Sword.

‘Now!’

Hyeonu relaxed the contracted muscles and pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword at an explosive speed.

‘One more time here!’

The moment the Mysterious Sky Sword reached its peak, the magic power contained in it exploded once again. The magic power gathered at once point burst out and turned into a ray of light. The purple pure energy cut through the air. Hyeonu saw it and placed the Mysterious Sky Sword back in its sheath.

Then he opened his mouth with an expressionless face. “Ah... That isn’t it...”

A sigh emerged from Hyeonu’s open mouth. It was a failure.

‘What is the problem?’

The feeling of it breaking off was too strong. It wasn’t naturally cutting the distance like John Blake. It felt like a separate release of pure energy.

‘Is the timing of releasing the magic power too late?’

Hyeonu’s worries continued. There was no answer so all types of ideas came up and disappeared repeatedly.

‘That is the first attempt...’

“It is no different from a monster.”

John Blake left Hyeonu alone to worry and was busy admiring the strike that Hyeonu showed. Additionally, these worries weren’t necessarily a bad thing. The degree of acceptance was different when listening to the exact explanation.

“Well done. It is good for your first attempt.” John Blake approached Hyeonu.

“Is that so?” Hyeonu awakened from his thoughts. He thought of many methods in a short period of time. The timing of the explosion of magic power, the position where it was gathered, etc. The conditions were endlessly set.

“It usually takes half a year to learn how to use magic power to that degree. Then another half a year to apply it. You are a year ahead of the previous knights. You don’t have to worry too much.”

Hyeonu shook his head despite John Blake’s comfort.

“I want to be 10 years ahead, not one year.”

It wasn’t time to wander around here. There was a lot left to gain.

“Good. If you have such a mindset, I’ll teach you harder.” John Blake smiled with satisfaction at Hyeonu’s active attitude.

***

A significant change was happening to Crescent Moon as Hyeonu was receiving a new skill from John Blake.

“What is going on here?”

Kang Ujong hurriedly organized his messy desk as he welcomed the people who visited him.

“Sit here. What would you like to drink? Water? What? Coffee? Juice? Cola? Cider?”

Kang Ujong opened the refrigerator and pointed to a variety of drinks.

“There is no need for a drink, Supervisor-nim. Well, we just came up a floor...”

Han Jaeyeol, one of those who visited Kang Ujong, waved and refused Kang Ujong’s favor.

“Really? Then I’ll be the only one drinking. So, why did you come? Are there any problems with your streaming? Or is the game not fun?”

He asked the former Big Stars pro gamers who were now streamers of Crescent Moon.

“It isn’t like that. Arena is still fun. Streaming in South Korea is also fine.”

“Really? So what’s the problem? Tell me. I will solve it.”

After Kang Ujong’s words, Han Jaeyeol and the others made eye contact with each other before opening their mouths at the same time.

“We want to enter Crescent Moon.”

“Crescent Moon? Aren’t you part of Crescent Moon right now? Will the boss let you live here if you are independent? Ahh... Our boss is so generous. I’ve known this since finding out the limit of the corporate card is so high,” Kang Ujong cocked his head at the words of the three people before speaking with a smile.

“That isn’t it, Supervisor-nim. We want to play as professional gamers,” Lee Yeongjin answered while shaking his head.

“A player? All three of you?”

All three people nodded simultaneously at Kang Ujong’s question. Kang Ujong went back to his desk silently and started clicking on the mouse. After a while, the all-in-one machine buzzed and continuously printed out pages and pages of papers, forming a pile of documents. He stood in front of the three people with the documents.

“Now, sign it.”