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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 4
To hold the position of the Margrave, at least expert-level skills were required.
So it was no wonder she struggled.
From her perspective, she was already having a hard time, and then I suddenly burst into laughter in the middle of the night.
How absurd and infuriating that must have been for her.
I could understand her struggles.
But I had my own reasons.
No one could fathom the immense joy of escaping from that hellhole, the Labyrinthos.
Even if the king himself had been standing before me, I would have screamed in delight.
Even if the famed Sword Saint of the continent had been present, I would have acted the same way.
What I went through there was simply not something a human should endure.
Of course, now that it was a memory of the past, I could laugh it off.
They say memories leave scars.
Honestly, I thought I’d be severely affected by PTSD.
However, the mental defenses of the Labyrinthos were nearly perfect in protecting me from that.
I tried to circulate my aura to stabilize my mind and body.
Then I froze.
Labyrinthos was the Maze of Dreams—a dream, essentially.
The experiences I gained there existed, but here and now, I was just a powerless Leon Cascadia, confined to a weak physical body.
And yet.
"Why is my aura still intact?"
In the past, I’d realized I had no talent for swordsmanship.
I gave up on aura cultivation and swordsmanship early on and lived as a mere bookworm.
So my body shouldn’t have any aura accumulated in it.
“This is insane.”
Yet now, my body contained the aura I had accumulated in the Hall of Swords—or more accurately, nearly double that amount.
Its presence was undeniable.
If I focused on circulation, I could draw out tremendous power from this overwhelming aura.
“What is this? How can it still exist? Aura is supposed to dissipate...”
[All energy forms, including the aura stored in you, are rewards for clearing the Hall.]
“What the hell?! You scared me!”
The letters that appeared before me were a different color from those I’d seen before.
That bastard—didn’t it say everything would vanish?
Did it sell me snake oil?
But the entity treated me as though we were meeting for the first time.
[It’s a pleasure to meet you. From now on, please call me ‘Librarian.’ I am here to provide the necessary information.]
The feeling it gave off was unmistakably different from the previous one.
The moment I saw the letters appear, I was alarmed.
Those letters were ones I had seen countless times in that accursed dream, Labyrinthos.
Could it be that even now, this isn’t reality?
Did I merely imagine I escaped that dream?
Suppressing my swirling emotions, I asked,
“What are you?”
[This entity is the ‘Librarian,’ an artificial intelligence created to assist Leon Cascadia.]
The letters moved in an almost playful manner, filling my vision with emojis.
The sight of those cute emojis used by an artificial intelligence annoyed me immensely.
“Librarian, my ass. Why are you out here? Don’t tell me this is still a dream?”
[You have indeed exited Labyrinthos. This is reality, where death is final, insanity is possible, and time flows.]
The three points were the exact opposite of before.
Finally, I could feel some relief.
“So, what exactly are you?”
[I am the ‘Librarian.’]
“No, I mean, what’s your identity?”
[My identity is the ‘Librarian.’]
I was about to lose it.
What kind of useless junk is this?
“Forget it. You’re impossible to talk to.”
[Currently, Leon Cascadia, your memories are sealed in layers.]
I was already aware of that.
If I were to receive all those vast memories at once, I might not survive even with my extraordinary mental strength in its current unprotected state.
[Thus, a manager with proper authority must remain present to gradually restore your memories.]
In other words, it was saying that it was here to help me recover all my memories.
Right now, I held memories from the Hall of Swords and the Hall of Martial Arts.
I had yet to recover the rest of my memories, but even with just these two, my head already throbbed.
“Then I’ve definitely left Labyrinthos, right?”
[Correct. Labyrinthos was destroyed the moment you exited it.]
“Who made it in the first place, and for what purpose?”
I didn’t expect an answer.
I had asked that question countless times in the Hall of Swords and the Hall of Martial Arts.
But back then, the entity never gave me an answer.
Now, however, the Librarian before me provided a different response.
[Most records related to Labyrinthos were erased upon its destruction.]
“...”
It didn’t seem to be lying.
Beep!
[T T]
The sight of it displaying a crying emoji only made me angrier.
During my long captivity there, I had realized something.
These letters—they were not actual beings with self-awareness.
To me, they seemed more like programs.
In other words, no matter how much time passed, they were unaffected.
“Ugh, whatever.”
Realizing that further conversation was pointless, I brushed the letters aside with my hand and threw myself onto the bed.
Now that I thought about it, I had never once slept comfortably in the Hall.
But things were different here.
Here, I didn’t have to worry about being attacked while I slept.
So, for once, I could sleep as much as I wanted to make up for all the suffering I endured.
I closed my eyes to finally get some proper rest.
That lasted about ten minutes before I opened my bloodshot eyes again.
“I can’t sleep.”
That one sentence carried so much meaning.
The harm of not sleeping for a long time?
No, this was fundamentally something different.
Yes, what could it be?
After pondering for a while, I came to a realization.
What caused me to fall into the Labyrinth in the first place?
It was falling asleep, wasn’t it?
Even though they said it would be perfectly safe, it seems my PTSD hasn't completely disappeared.
In the end, I was unable to fall asleep until I was complaining of exhaustion after staying up the entire night.
* * *
It was quite a serious matter.
But what difference would it make if I went around saying, "I can’t sleep"?
In the Labyrinth, not sleeping wasn’t a problem at all.
But now it was different.
There could be multiple causes, but perhaps the biggest factor was trauma, or maybe just habit.
It wasn’t the trauma from that place.
Perhaps it was a side effect of coming out of there.
At the moment, I was sitting alone in the training grounds of the count's mansion, gathering my energy.
I couldn’t deny that my inability to sleep had made me more sensitive.
It was more like I was desperately trying to focus on something to forget the pain.
Currently, I held memories from two halls.
The Hall of the Sword and the Hall of Martial Arts.
Memories of cutting down enemies with a sword.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
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And memories of being a martial artist.
Both utilized something called aura, though their methods of movement were fundamentally different.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the Librarian, much like the text-based entity from the Labyrinth, was able to display my current state.
Beep!
Name: Leon Cascadia
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Abilities:
(Hall of Swords)
Swordman (Beginner)
The pinnacle-level [Aura] is preserved.
(Hall of Martial Arts)
Fighter (Beginner)
The primal [Aura] is preserved.
The notes about "pinnacle" and "primal," as well as the techniques I had mastered, were no longer present—but I didn’t care about that.
The fact that the aura levels of both halls were preserved was more than enough.
"Still, it’s fortunate that both use aura… Haaah."
Yawning loudly, I began to manipulate the aura within my body.
Aura is an energy source primarily used by those who engage in physical combat.
It’s often used to enhance one’s physical abilities or externalized into a sharpened form as a weapon.
However, aura is notoriously difficult to accumulate.
Even sword masters, often referred to as strategic weapons, have aura reserves significantly lower than sixth-circle grand mages.
Of course, aura's efficiency more than makes up for its smaller quantity.
But now.
The aura I currently possessed far exceeded the theoretical limits of what a living being could contain.
"This… having too much aura seems to be a problem as well."
I had known this in theory, but experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.
[Correct. It is recommended to circulate the aura quickly to ensure the safety of your body.]
The first step for swordsmen, the “Swordman” stage, is the foundation.
As they train and hone their techniques, they reach a level where they begin to control and circulate aura—this is the realm of the “Aura User.”
Aura Users can sense, control, and circulate aura within their bodies.
However, the initial circulation is the hardest part, as it requires a massive amount of energy.
It’s like starting a car engine with a battery or the initial energy needed to launch a rocket.
The more aura one possesses, the harder it is to initiate this circulation.
And for someone like me, whose aura reserves far exceeded the limits of even the Grandmaster level?
This wasn’t going to be easy.
But I thought to myself,
It’s difficult, but not impossible.
And the benefits of succeeding are immense.
Once circulation begins, the aura automatically enhances the body without further effort.
But this initial step is why Aura Users are rare.
And with my extraordinary aura reserves…
"This isn’t moving easily, is it?"
[Normally, if the body cannot control the aura, it collapses. However, in your case, the massive reserves of aura make the initial circulation exceptionally difficult.]
I did my best to ignore the Librarian’s sarcastic commentary.
It felt like trying to move a heavy chunk of steel.
Even so, I concentrated and slowly began to circulate the massive aura reserves.
Although I had a unique method developed through countless trials and near-physical collapse, this case was unprecedented, and I had to tread carefully.
Maintaining my focus, I eventually succeeded in initiating full circulation.
I didn’t achieve anything akin to the so-called "breaking through middle and upper dantian" of martial arts novels—but that wasn’t the point.
What mattered was that the aura was circulating.
The vast amount of aura flowed through my meridians, bones, muscles, organs, and the entirety of my body, slowly enhancing them.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
"It’s already leaking outside."
[This is due to the reserves exceeding their containment limits.]
To break through to the rank of an "Expert," one typically follows a series of stages.
But witnessing this aura leakage alone was enough to overturn established academic theories.
Of course, I wasn’t planning to boast about it.
Not yet, at least.
By my standards, it was still too insignificant.
Even so, there was a noticeable change in my status window.
(Hall of Swords)
Aura User (Beginner)
The pinnacle-level aura is preserved.
(Hall of Martial Arts)
Aura User (Beginner)
The primal-level aura is preserved.
Although the change was minimal, I had definitely reached the realm of an Aura User.
Even if it was labeled as "Beginner," the difference between levels was trivial for someone like me—I could advance as easily as flipping a switch.
Just then, a thought crossed my mind.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
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