[Kang Jun-hyeok [Alone]: Hyung. This is different from what you told me.]
[Kang Taesan [Alone]: What are you talking about all of a sudden?]
[Kang Jun-hyeok [Alone]: The Holy Knight. He just spat once and left.]
“Good! There's no reason to delay, so let's start right away.”
Ainzhar began to explain the Skill.
“There are countless Skills in the Labyrinth.”
There really were a lot. There were thousands of Skills that Taesan hadn't learned because he didn't need them. Including the Skills he didn't know, the number would probably reach ten thousand.
“But I believe Revinenof's techniques can proudly be called the most outstanding of Skills. It may not look flashy, but it's honestly useful. It's a technique the Goddess herself praised.”
Ainzhar continued with a proud expression.
“Do you know what a Basic Skill is?”
“It's the easiest type of Skill to obtain within the Labyrinth. You can get one with just a single motion.”
“You know it well.”
Ainzhar looked at Taesan with an admiring face.
“It's the most basic information, but not something an Adventurer on the 1st Floor would notice. Learning Fortitude is another thing... It seems information about this place is well known in your world.”
“Yes.”
A world that knows about the Labyrinth's information. He gave a suitable answer while storing the information in his mind.
“Still, since I am the one teaching, I will give a simple explanation. If there is any information you don't know, feel free to ask.”
Ainzhar cleared his throat with a "ahem."
“Taesan. What Basic Skills are you learning?”
“Swordsmanship and Shieldsmanship.”
“How orthodox.”
Ainzhar nodded.
“Handle a sword, and you get Swordsmanship. Handle a shield, and you get Shieldsmanship. Handle a spear, and you get Spearmanship. It's the basics.”
Basic Skill.
A Skill one obtains the moment they handle a weapon. The more you raise its Proficiency, the more your knowledge and application of that weapon increases. It was a Skill that every Player basically handled.
And for Taesan, it was a meaningless Skill. He was a Player who fought with Skills, not technique. The application of spears and swords was meaningless to him, so he never paid attention to Proficiency.
But now, things were different. Now, he could obtain normal Stats. It was better to raise his Basic Skills sufficiently as well.
“Revinenof's techniques. We call it Airak Martial Arts. Its effect is the integration of Basic Skills.”
“... I see.”
Taesan's expression cooled. Ainzhar smiled faintly.
“You're probably thinking it's meaningless right now.”
“Because even if the Skills are combined, nothing changes.”
One might mistakenly think it's good because you can raise the Proficiency all at once. If it were other Skills, it would indeed have been good. But not for Basic Skills.
This was because, due to a problem with the system, using many weapons didn't have much meaning. Ainzhar, as if he knew what Taesan was thinking, opened his mouth.
“What is your additional Attack Power right now?”
“It is 1.” “... What a cute number. With that, you'd probably get about 4.” “I have base Attack Power too, so it would be around that much.”
“Good.”
Ainzhar stood in front of Taesan.
“That's probably the Attack Power of your shield. Try attacking me with it.”
“It won't even do any damage.”
“Don't you worry about that.”
Ainzhar laughed heartily and used a Skill.
[Ainzhar has activated Target Lock. Ainzhar receives all attacks as fixed damage.]
“Now, go ahead.”
If that's what you want. Taesan struck Ainzhar's head with the edge of his shield.
Clang!
[4 damage to Ainzhar.]
“... Was it really necessary to hit my head?”
“It was a mistake.”
“Well, if you say so...”
Ainzhar said again with a reluctant face.
“This time, try hitting me with your fist.”
He stuck out his chest as if to say, "hit here, not the head." It seemed like he would get sulky if he was hit in the head again, so Taesan obediently struck his chest.
[2 damage to Ainzhar.]
“Have you noticed what I'm trying to say?”
“Are you talking about the change in damage depending on the striking weapon?”
“Exactly. You're a quick learner. It's precisely because of this that Adventurers only use a single weapon.”
It was a simple matter. Weapons each have an Attack Power + value. Right now, it's a meager value like 1, but later it becomes hundreds, thousands.
And the additional Attack Power only applies when you attack with that specific weapon.
“For example, if you're wearing a gauntlet with 50 Attack Power and a sword with 20 Attack Power at the same time, when you strike with the sword, only 20 Attack Power is applied. Conversely, if you strike with the gauntlet, only 50 Attack Power is applied. It can never be 70.” “Isn't that obvious?”
If the Attack Power from two weapons combined when equipped, every Player would carry weapons plastered all over themselves. They'd probably wear a dagger on each finger. But since that wasn't the case, they only used one main weapon and raised only that weapon's Proficiency.
Ainzhar smiled faintly.
“But isn't it inconvenient? To only use one weapon during a battle! What an absurd extremity! Others might not, but you should know what I mean!”
“That is true.”
Battle is an act where you put your life on the line, and naturally, you use every part of your body. You don't just wield a sword; you kick with your feet, strike with your arms, and ram with your shoulders. It was quite inconvenient that only pitiful base damage landed each time.
But it was a problem with the system, so there was nothing to be done but leave it.
“My order, which serves Lady Revinenof, disliked such things. My body is a weapon, and a weapon is my body. There can be no difference in how they are handled. So, after long research, we developed Airak Martial Arts. I put in quite an effort myself.”
Ainzhar said with a hearty laugh.
“Its effects in the Labyrinth are simple. The integration of Basic Skills. And the integration of the damage of all equipped gear. Those two things.”
Taesan's eyebrows twitched.
“The sum of Attack Power?”
“It seems you've understood correctly. In other words, if you're wearing a sword with 20 Attack Power and a gauntlet with 50 Attack Power, it's applied as 70.” “... What is the scope of its application?”
“Of course, it's every part of the body! Even if you hit with your arm, strike with your shoulder, or kick with your foot, 70 Attack Power is applied!”
Taesan let out a groan. It meant that his entire body would effectively become a deadly weapon. Players only use one weapon.
That's because only one Attack Power is applied anyway. But with Airak Martial Arts, there was no need for that. You could wear gauntlets for hand-to-hand combat and regular weapons at the same time, various armor pieces with Attack Power, and rings that increase Attack Power that were once thrown away as useless.
He could wear all of them. It didn't have much value right now, but as one breaks through the Labyrinth and obtains gear, its value would rise exponentially.
“It's a good Skill.”
It was so good that the word 'good' was insufficient to describe it. It was a Skill that even Taesan hadn't been able to obtain in the past. Airak Martial Arts was valuable enough to be a Main Skill.
“For you, who already has Fortitude, it might be less surprising, but for an ordinary Adventurer, it's a Skill of such value they couldn't obtain it even if they tried their whole life. Do you have any intention of learning it?”
“Of course I'll learn it.”
Ainzhar smiled with satisfaction at the answer that came without a moment's hesitation.
“Good. Then I shall give you Airak Martial Arts. Relax your whole body and accept it.”
“You can give it just like that?”
“Unlike other Skills, this is a Skill I learned through my own body. Passing it on is not a problem. It's possible just like this.”
Ainzhar placed his hand on Taesan's shoulder.
"Urk."
Taesan let out a small groan. Something flowed into him. The types of techniques, methods of control, and various other pieces of information.
It was a sensation he had never experienced before in his life.
[You have received Airak techniques from the creator of Airak techniques. You have acquired the highest-grade Skill [Airak Martial Arts].]
[Basic Skill [Shieldsmanship] has been integrated into Airak Martial Arts.]
[Basic Skill [Swordsmanship] has been integrated into Airak Martial Arts.]
“How is it?”
“... It's surprisingly simple.”
“That's because my Proficiency in Airak techniques is at 100%. If it weren't, you would have struggled for quite a long time.”
Ainzhar laughed heartily. From those words, Taesan gained new information. 'So, physical techniques created by the user themselves can be easily passed on.'
This was information he hadn't known even in his previous life. Users only diligently learned Basic Skills; they never applied them to create something new, so the very existence of higher-grade Skills was unknown.
“Go ahead and check.”
Taesan opened the Skill Window.
[Highest-Grade Skill: Airak Martial Arts] [Proficiency: 1%] [A technique for handling weapons and the body. It is still immature, and there seems to be some loss in the transfer of power.]
“The more you raise its Proficiency, the more skilled you'll become at handling it, so it would be good to train every single day. And I'll give you this as well.”
Ainzhar handed him a rusted ring.
[Faded Ring] [Attack Power +1] [A ring that someone used for a long time. It seems to have originally held considerable value.]
“I can only give you this, lest you become drunk on benefits and lose sight of what's important. I'm sorry.”
“This is more than enough.”
In the past, he would have thrown it away as useless. After all, you couldn't hit someone with a ring. But now that he had learned Airak techniques, this ring's value was equivalent to a Rusted Sword.
Taesan took the ring and put it on.
“Hmm. With this, I've passed on everything I needed to... but it feels a little lacking. I can't go down to The Depths right now anyway...”
Ainzhar, who had been deep in thought, made a decision.
“You, how about we have a sparring match?”
Ainzhar drew his sword.
“A technique you've just learned. Shouldn't you test it before a real battle?”
“Very well.”
There was no reason to refuse. Taesan raised his shield. ♦ ♦ ♦ In the Labyrinth, every action you take is evaluated. Even if it's a useless room, if you search it meticulously and find something, your Insight Proficiency rises.
If you continuously block an opponent's attacks, your Shieldsmanship Proficiency rises. Therefore, fighting a strong person is a meaningful act in itself. Ainzhar began sparring with Taesan for a full two days, and Taesan gained a lot.
First, a Skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Combat Sustenance] [Proficiency: 3%] [You can sustain combat for a long time. You do not tire easily.]
It was a passive skill that enabled long-term battles, and the difference in endurance with or without it was stark. It was thanks to this Skill that he had been able to fight an S-Class Monster for days on end. But here, it was a Skill he had half given up on.
The method to acquire it was to fight other Players, but Alone Mode was for solo play. According to Lee Tae-yeon, there were other Adventurers, but they were not on terms to have leisurely sparring matches. He was able to obtain it thanks to Ainzhar.
Besides that, the Proficiency of most of his Skills rose.
“Is that enough?”
“It is enough.”
The results were far too great for just two days. Taesan sincerely expressed his gratitude to Ainzhar. Ainzhar waved his hand dismissively.
“It's fine, I did it because I wanted to. And it was an enjoyable experience for me as well.”
Ainzhar looked at Taesan with a look of wonder.
“Sense and skill unbelievable for an Adventurer of the 1st Floor... As expected, I have a good eye.”
He smiled with satisfaction and opened his mouth.
“Taesan. Promise me two things.”
“Please speak.”
“Now that you too have learned Airak techniques, you can teach it to someone else. But if that person is a worthless, vermin-like human, you must never teach them. If you break this promise, I will come to kill you myself.”
Killing intent flowed from him, as if to say it wasn't a joke. Taesan nodded his head.
“I understand.”
“And the other thing is, if you discover any information about Lady Revinenof, you must tell me.”
“The chances of meeting you again in the Labyrinth, Lord Ainzhar, are slim.”
That was the case with Lee Tae-yeon. She hadn't seen Ainzhar since the 1st Floor. Ainzhar gave a bitter smile.
“I'm not expecting much either. I'm just clinging to a miracle.”
His face was incredibly weary. He had probably spent a great deal of time here, finding nothing. And at the end of it, he would discover the dead Goddess.
If Ainzhar had succeeded in finding the Goddess, he would have either protected her or died with her. But it was neither. In other words, unless a major variable occurred, Revinenof would be murdered by someone before Ainzhar could find her.
To tell him, or not to tell him. It was a sort of turning point.