CHAPTER 39: HEAVENLY DEMONIC SWORD ART [PART 1]

"Thanks," Cipher said as he took the mana potions from Selene.

He had texted her to stop by the training zone using the phone he had received from the Association earlier.

"No problem. I’ll take the rest to the workshop," she said, turning around.

"Wait," Cipher called out.

"Do you need help with something else?" she asked, turning back.

"When I was at Iris’s lab earlier, I requested some equipment for us, but I ended up just picking the basics. I was hoping you’d go by when you’re free and pick up your weapons and other equipment the team might need," he said.

Aside from weapons, there were all sorts of equipment they could use in the gates for different situations. But since he was just a newbie, he didn’t have much experience and couldn’t decide on what they needed.

That’s why he had decided to let Selene handle it.

"Leave it to me," she said as she left.

Cipher returned to the training area. Maya was still practicing at the firing range. She stopped and turned to look at him.

"Did you get what you were waiting for?" she asked.

"Yeah, we can begin now," he said.

She holstered her weapon. "What did you want me to do anyway?" she asked.

"I want you to heal me," he said.

"Heal? Are you hurt?" she asked, observing him more carefully.

"Not right now, no. But I’m about to be," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I want to learn the Regeneration skill," Cipher said.

She covered her mouth in shock. There weren’t many skills that people knew the requirements of, but Regeneration was one of them. It was said that to learn Regeneration, you had to get hurt and healed continuously until you acquired it.

It was one of the most difficult skills to obtain.

"That’s..." she began.

"No need to worry. I’ve already prepared myself," he said. He looked directly into her eyes. "I really need this skill. Will you help me?"

She remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"Thanks," Cipher said.

"How will you get hurt?" she asked nervously.

"No need to worry about that. I have a skill for that," he said.

"A skill for getting hurt?" she asked in confusion.

Cipher just smiled.

Well, he didn’t have it yet, but he was about to.

Actually, his goal wasn’t really the Regeneration skill. Although he didn’t mind having it, he was after something else.

He wanted to finally learn the Heavenly Demonic Sword Art.

After reading the manual given by the Heavenly Demon, he somewhat understood how martial arts were subdivided. There was third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, and grandmaster.

There were other realms above that, but they didn’t matter at the moment.

By his estimation, grandmaster could be matched to S-rank, first-rate to A-rank, second-rate to B-rank, and third-rate to C-rank. The reason why this was important was because martial techniques could only be learned starting at this level.

This was why the Heavenly Demon wanted him to get stronger.

The problem was that this was the bare minimum to learn martial techniques.

Although one could learn techniques at this level, learning a technique like the Heavenly Demonic Sword Art was almost impossible due to its high difficulty. Forcing yourself to execute the movements could lead to serious injuries or even death.

The reason he was able to make the moves before was because the Heavenly Demon had merely shown him the lower-end movements. Usually, one would start with rank-appropriate moves and raise the level as their physical strength increased.

But he wasn’t patient enough to wait until he was a grandmaster to finally learn the full technique, so he was going to brute-force it.

That’s why he needed Maya - in case of injury, so he could push through. Since he had the system, he didn’t have to completely master it. He just had to get it right once, and the system would register the skill. At least, that’s what he thought.

...

Cipher gripped the sword and exhaled to calm himself.

He moved into the first stance of the Heavenly Demonic Sword Art, his body flowing through the motion. The technique felt natural at first - until it didn’t...

When he pushed into the second form, his muscles screamed in protest as he forced his body beyond its limits. The movement required strength and flexibility he didn’t quite have yet. He completed the strike anyway.

Pain exploded through his chest. He coughed, and blood splattered onto the training room floor.

"Cipher!" Maya rushed forward, her hands already glowing with a green healing light. "Are you okay?"

The warm sensation of her magic spread through his body, knitting torn muscle fibers back together. He straightened up, wiping his mouth.

"It’s fine. Let’s keep going," he said.

She hesitated but nodded.

He returned to his stance and tried again. This time he made it three forms in before his shoulder joint gave out with a pop. He gritted his teeth and kept moving. His ankle twisted. More blood.

Maya healed him again.

And again.

And again.

Each attempt, he pushed a little further. Fourth form. Fifth form. Each time, his body broke down in different ways - torn ligaments, fractured bones, internal bleeding. Each time, Maya’s magic put him back together, though her expression grew more strained with every healing.

He’d been increasing the level of the technique gradually, but he was still far from reaching the complete form. The gap between where he was and where he needed to be felt insurmountable.

Should I push harder? he wondered. Try to skip ahead and force the advanced movements?

He moved into position again, preparing to attempt the eighth form...

When his eyes opened, Maya’s face was hovering above him, her expression filled with worry.

"Are you okay? You suddenly fell. Is something wrong?" she asked urgently.

"No, I just felt a little lightheaded," he said, trying to sit up.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him down. "You’re losing too much blood. Healing doesn’t regenerate blood loss. Why don’t we take a rest?" Her voice was filled with concern.

At that moment, a notification appeared before him:

[Congratulations! You have awakened a skill]

[Skill: Regeneration (C-Rank)]

[Type: Toggle/Passive]

[Cost: 50 Mana]

[Description: Passively regenerate 0.1% of maximum HP per second at all times. When active, regenerate 1% of maximum HP per second for 30 seconds.]

When he saw the description, he smiled.

"No, not yet. Let’s try one more time," he said.

...

Author’s Corner

The pass out scene, he didn’t pass out for long. Just blacked out for a second or two, that’s why she’s still there and hasn’t taken him to a hospital or something.

For regeneration, it has 2 modes, active (paid) and passive (free).