Record of a Thousand Lives

Kang Yoon-Sootook abreath and kicked off the ground in an instant. His movements were aslight as a feather, and the spear of the Spartoi narrowly missed him. The Spartoi shifted the spear to its other hand and swung it in an arc, anda strong gust of wind followedin its wake.

Whoosh!

Kang Yoon-Soo ducked and avoided the trajectory of the spear. It was hard to believe that hewas unable tosee in front of him.The guard’s eyes widened visibly through her helmet as she asked,“Do you think he isn’t that drunk?”

“I’m not sure, but the fact that someone who’s not blind is able to move like that while blindfolded is unbelievable,” Hermiarepliedin astonishment.

Whenever the Spartoi swung its spear, it almost seemed to leave behind a miniature vortex of flame.However, Kang Yoon-Soo lightly avoided all of the attacks as if he already knew their trajectory even before the Spartoi swung its spear. Regardless, theSpartoi swung and stabbed its spear without showing any signs of fatigue.

Kang Yoon-Soo kept dodging the attacks of the Spartoi, and one attack narrowly missed his shoulder.At that moment, hesuddenlyperformeda vertical strike with his greatsword.

Clang!

The spear of the Spartoiclashed with the greatsword. The Spartoi, who had been leisurely attacking thus far, was unable tohideits admiration for Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “You! You are amazing! I see that it wasnotarrogance butratherconfidence, andit is impressivethat you have such exquisite swordsmanship even while blindfolded.” It was the best kind of praise one could receive as a swordsman.

Kang Yoon-Soosaid nothing in response andjust kept attacking with his greatsword.Each blow was backed by intense force, but the Spartoi had keen senses and blocked every attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The greatsword and the spear exchanged heavy blows, and sparksflewwhenever the two clashed against each other. However, therewere still no full frontal exchanges. Kang Yoon-Soo focused on parrying the attacks of the Spartoi, andkept avoiding a head-on clash.

“Your skills are perfect;thereisnothing to criticizeabout them. But! Your strength is lacking, like any otherweakling!” the Spartoi exclaimed, bringing its spear downward with great force.

It was a sudden movement thatno one could have anticipated, but Kang Yoon-Soo, instead of being split in half, actually managed to parry the attack once again. It was a defensive move thattook into accountthe precise movements of the enemy.

Afterthe two exchanged multiple blows, with the Spartoi attacking and Kang Yoon-Soo defending, they both widened the distancebetweeneach other. The Spartoi laughed amusedly and said, “This is fun! You are an interesting one! Iwill likely notbe able to meet another warrior with your skills in my lifetime. I have high expectations for your future!”

Hermia and her guard gulped.They both thought,‘To thinkthe Spartoi of Ignus would praise him to that extent.’

Kang Yoon-Soo was amuch more powerfulwarrior thanhe looked, and the blindfoldposed nothreat to him. He could feel the trajectory of the spear, the movement of the Spartoi, and evenevery breath in hisvicinity while blindfolded.

Suddenly,Kang Yoon-Soo placed his greatsword on his back, and the Spartoi asked in surprise, “Are you giving up on the trial?”

“No,”Kang Yoon-Soo replied curtlywhile stretchingout his right hand.“Summon 78 skeletons. SummonZombie Giant Hobgoblin.”

Black smoke started to rise up, and the undead legionappeared.Their appearanceduring the daytimeconveyed a bizarre, eerie feeling.

“I thought you were a swordsman. Were you actually a necromancer?”the Spartoiasked, visibly confused.

Kang Yoon-Soo ignored himandinstead pointedat the Spartoi, ordering his army,“Kill it.”

The skeleton army raised their weapons and chargedtoward the Spartoi. The Spartoi swung its spear in awidearc, and the skeletons hit by its spearwereshatteredinto multiple bone fragments.However, theZombie Giant Hobgoblincharged toward the Spartoi and bit its shoulder, anditstarted to bleed.

Kang Yoon-Soowatchedfrom a distance. He was unable tosee because of the blindfold, but strangely enough, he was looking straightat the Spartoi. He took out the black iron daggerhe had gottenfromacorpse[1]. Then, after taking two steps, he threwtwodaggers at oncetowardit.

The daggers flew in between the ribsof a skeleton,narrowly flying past theZombie Giant Hobgoblin’s shoulder, before hitting the Spartoi. It was hard to believe that a blindfolded personhad thrownthose daggers.

The Spartoi started to bleed,feeling immense pain from the daggers. But itwithheld its scream, and not a sound escaped from its lips. However,itcould suddenly feel its vision becoming darker and darker.

“Nowwe’re even,” the blindfolded Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“You sly…But I admit it was brilliant!”the Spartoiexclaimed.Itreadied its spear andstartedto charge in after letting out a howl.Twelveskeletons were destroyed in an instant, but that was all. The Spartoi started to lose its way around the battlefield after losing its vision, and the skeletonstook theopportunity to hack away atitfrom behind.

“Get lost!”the Spartoishouted while swinging its spear.However,its weapononly cut through air and nothing else.It hadlost its combat capabilities after losing its vision, and forit, there was nothingelsebut darkness.At that moment,the difference between the two combatants could be clearly seen.

The Spartoi started to accumulate wounds from the skeletons’relentless attacks, and Kang Yoon-Sooonce again drewhis greatsword and charged forward. His pathtoward the Spartoiwas accurate despite not being able to see in front of him.Hestabbed the greatsword deep into its chest.

Pu-keok!

The wide greatsword accurately embedded itselfin the Spartoi’s heart.

[You have defeated the Spartoi of Ignus (Clone).]

[You have passed the trialsof the Spartoi.]

[You may now receive the power fragment of the Ignus Dragon.]

The real Spartoi of Ignus was much more powerful than this. This was a clone prepared for the test, and its combat powerhad beenreduced as the trial required the challenger to be blindfolded. However, Kang Yoon-Soocould notuse theRing ofLifeSuppression because it was just a clone.

The body of the Spartoi slowly disappeared after Kang Yoon-Soo passed the trial, and the blindfold covering his eyesfollowed soon after, leavingonly behind a spear and amoteof light.

Perhaps because themoteof light contained great power,it exuded an intense force.

[Power Fragment]

Rating: ??

The power fragment left behind by the Ignus Dragon. Only the chosen one can receiveit.

“So this is the power fragment left behind by Ignus…” Hermia said, both in surprise and excitement. She started to tear up, as if she wereabout to cry. The task handeddown in theLepe family generation after generationhadfinally been completed in her generation.

“Please inherit the power in the fragment. It seems as though thepower’s rightful ownerhas been found,” Hermia saidtoKang Yoon-Soo.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “I’m not the chosen one.”

“What…?” Hermiaaskedin absolute confusion.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at the power fragment.Itraised one’s strength and resistance against fire and heat. It also gave the user the ability to manipulate the temperature of fire. Furthermore, it was agrowth-typepower thatimprovedas the user grew stronger.

“I’m not the onewho shouldreceive the power,” Kang Yoon-Soo repeated.

Hermialooked perplexed. Shehadn’t expectedsuch areply from him, and she slowlystuttered, “Wha… What are you talking about? Even the Spartoi of Ignus said that the chosen one was in this place!”

Kang Yoon-Soomovedhis finger closer to themoteof light as if to prove what he meant.

Whoosh!

Themoteof light let out a flame, as if to showit had refusedKang Yoon-Soo.

Hermia asked with a desperate voice, “If it’s not you, who can inherit the power…?”

“That person,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.Hepointed at someone, and Hermia was surprised beyond belief when she saw who he was pointing at.

The guard pointed to herself and asked in a perplexed tone, “You mean…Me…?”

“The one chosen by Ignus is supposed to have hada hostile relationship withfire since birth,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.

It was true that the guard hadhorrible experiences with fire; she had lost her family to fire when she was young, and she had to cover herself her whole life because of the burn marks left by the fire; but what was the proof that the Ignus Dragonhadchosen her?

Kang Yoon-Sootookthemoteof light in one hand, and it reacted strongly by spewing flames everywhere. He then threw it towardthe guard. The guard was surprised at the fireballflying towardher andimmediately tried to run away, but as if it had a consciousnessof its own,it flew toward her and embedded itselfin her chest.

The guard’s bodyburst intoflames, and Hermiapaledat the sightunfolding before her. The flames covering the guard started to growstronger, but she didnoteven let out a scream. The fire was not hot at all; instead, it had a pleasant warmth to it.

Crackle!

Theguard’s helmet burned away, revealing a long, beautiful head of hair.Hermia couldn’t hide her astonishment and exclaimed, “Oh my god!”

The burns covering theguard’s bodyslowly started to disappear one by one, the bright red patches across her skin fading away. Milky white skin replaced those patches entirely.After receiving the power fragment of the fire dragon, the woman’s beauty was incomparable to anyone else in the world. The armor she had been wearing, along with all of her clothing, had been burned away by the fire as well.

The guardemerged from the flames like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon.Hermia rushed to her side and worriedly asked, “Are you alright, Shaneth?”

“I’m alright, but more importantly, please don’t look at me. I don’t want to show my bare body to anyone,” the guard, Shaneth, pleaded. It was not the embarrassment of being naked in front of other people that made her feel ashamed;rather, it was the thought of other people seeing the grotesque burn marks on her body.

Shaneth quickly tried to cover up her body with her hands.However, atthat moment, she exclaimed in confusion, “What…?” Sheinspected her body, but could no longer feel the burns that had once covered it. The only thing she saw was smooth, exposedwhite skin, and shedid not even think tofeel shame from being exposed. Never in her life had her skin been sofine.

Kang Yoon-Soo slowly approached Shaneth and passed her a hand mirror. The woman shesawin the mirrorwas just as much of a surprise; it was a face she hadnotseen in such a long time. It was her own face, whichshe had already forgotten.

There was still a small burn mark near her left ear, butitwas nothing compared tothe burnsshe had been covered in just a minuteprior. Shaneth covered her mouth with trembling hands, and she tried her best to stop her tears from falling.

“I’m sorry it couldn’t fix you perfectly,” said Kang Yoon-Soo, although he did notsound sorry at all.

“What happened to me?” Shaneth asked, her voice quivering.

Kang Yoon-Soo answered as if she wereasking a rhetorical question, “You became beautiful.” It was a very short answer thatmade nosense at all.

“Why would you do this for someone youjust met, like me?”Shanethasked once again, seemingly not convincedbyhis answer.

“Iwouldn'tbe doing this if there were no benefits for me,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.He continuedwith the same emotionless look in his eyes,“You’ll have to travel with me from now on.”

1. This was the item he looted from theambush group at the smithyback in chapter 3.👈