CHAPTER 78: BOON!

And yet... there was familiarity, as if he had walked this land countless times.

Did I usually come here in my past life? he wondered.

The place was like paradise.

Behind him, a waterfall crashed into a serene pool. Around him, lush greenery swayed. Everything felt alive—vivid and beautiful.

His heart felt calm, as if the serenity of this place was seeping into him.

Hovering before him were the twin crystalline daggers, glowing faintly.

M-Master...

The voice rang again. Though the daggers had no mouths, their telepathic presence was clear. And Leon was sure—they could hear him.

"I... I’m your Master?" he asked aloud.

’...’

No answer.

Instead, the voice repeated again.

M-Master...

Leon’s confusion deepened.

What the fuck am I supposed to do!?

Subconsciously, he opened his palm.

The dagger flew into his hand instantly—like iron drawn to a magnet.

"Huh? Is this what you wanted?"

He held the dagger warmly. Strangely, it felt natural in his grip, as if his hand and the weapon had always belonged together.

He studied it closely. I’ve used you for some time already... I used you to massacre goblins, to cut down those orcs. Why am I finding out about this only now? Is it because of this place? Even so... why did you act lifeless when I wielded you before? Just what is this mysterious space?

He glanced around the paradise again, unsettled.

After staring at the dagger for a while, he decided to train with it.

He slashed experimentally—only to feel the dagger guide him.

Every time he swung the wrong way, it corrected his movement.

"Huh?" Leon was stunned.

But he continued practicing.

At first, he tried to mimic normal dagger techniques. But slowly, the dagger shifted his hands, guiding him into an entirely different form.

He resisted at first. Then, after some time, he gave in—learning to follow the flow.

Hour after hour, he drilled under the dagger’s subtle guidance.

Until at last, a sharp notification rang in his mind.

Ding!

┏━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━┓

You have learned an SSS Rank Skill!

Supreme Thief Dagger Technique — Divine Thief Dagger Sutra

┗━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━┛

"Huh!?"

His heart leapt. Quickly, he opened the details.

┏━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━┓

Supreme Thief Skill

The Divine Thief Dagger Sutra

•─────⋅☾ Skill Details ☽⋅─────•

Level 1 [Odyssey of the Supreme Thief]

Fulfill hidden requirements to level up this skill.

•─────⋅☾ Effects ☽⋅─────•

When using this skill to fight, your speed, agility, and attack power are increased.

Your proficiency with daggers increases by an additional 10%.

You gain an additional 10% chance to land a critical strike with every successful attack.

•─────⋅☾ Skill Description ☽⋅─────•

You are the Supreme Thief!

You aim to become the strongest by stealing your way to the top. Your attacks must be silent, your strikes lethal.

Adaptability is your creed. The one who survives longest is not always the strongest, but the one who adapts best.

This sutra, along with other undiscovered arts, will guide you toward that goal.

The first level of the Divine Thief Sutra [Odyssey of the Supreme Thief] shows you the foundation—the cunning moves every top thief must master.

┏━━━━━━━┓

SKILL ACQUIRED!

┗━━━━━━━┛

┗━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━┛

Leon’s eyes widened in pleasant shock.

So I was right... This dagger once belonged to my past self. Just how many secrets are still hidden inside?

With renewed determination, he tightened his grip on the dagger.

And then, grinning like a battle maniac, he continued practicing the Divine Thief Dagger Sutra—ready to master what was once his, and claim what was meant to be his future.

Unlike before, when his movements were crude, scattered, and unprofessional—when he still relied on scraps of past knowledge about fighting techniques—his current style had transformed.

Now, his actions flowed fluidly and calmly, as though he had been born with a blade in his hands.

Every slash was graceful, every step swift, every twist and deflection instinctive.

His movement was as shapeless and unrestrained as the wind, yet his strikes carried the speed and sudden ferocity of lightning.

Each step seemed to ripple, flowing like the current of a breeze. His body was light—like a drifting feather—completely unpredictable to the eyes of an enemy.

Leon continued to practice relentlessly, hoping to push his Level 1 dagger skill up to Level 2, but no matter how much time passed, it did not advance.

Still, even without testing it against a living foe, Leon could feel in his bones that this dagger skill was extraordinary. Something deep within whispered that it would give him a surprise far greater than he could imagine.

He just couldn’t wait to test it.

But he held himself back. He knew that before testing its power on living beings, he had to familiarize himself with this weapon, to make it an extension of his own body.

So he continued. Slash after slash, spin after spin, each motion guided by the crystalline blades that almost seemed to whisper the right way to move.

Then, a thought crept into his mind like a spark of lightning.

The dagger has an innate affinity to space... is it possible for me to use it?

With a deep breath, he resumed training, this time willing his strikes to be stronger, sharper, and to bend space itself.

As he concentrated, a strange feeling rose in him.

Spatial fluctuations.

His brows furrowed in confusion. He didn’t know what it truly meant, but his instincts screamed that something big—something dangerous and powerful—was about to happen.

Ding!

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

You have successfully raised

the level of your dagger to the

peak of Level 1.

You have now gained the ability

to manifest its Affinity Skills.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Leon’s grin spread wide across his face.

Finally... this is what I’ve been waiting for. So, to use the dagger’s affinity, I had to first push it to the peak of Level 1. Good.

It was better than good—it was perfect.

Just after receiving the notification, a flood of new knowledge surged into his mind, updating the Divine Thief Dagger Sutra he had been practicing. It was as if the daggers themselves were teaching him.

So I get additional information with each dagger level increase... huh. Leon smirked.

He had been at Level 1 before, and technically he was still at Level 1 now—but the difference between the early stage and the peak was immense. This experience gave him a glimpse of what to expect at Level 2... and beyond.

Still, he was confused. Why had he been given new information when the weapon had not yet advanced to Level 2?

Is it because of my breakthrough in the movement technique? Or maybe my will to draw out the dagger’s affinity?

Whatever the reason, he didn’t waste any more time overthinking.

Void Slash!

He willed the new skill into being as he slashed fiercely at the air.

Mana and essence rushed into the twin crystalline daggers.

Immediately, the surrounding space tensed unnaturally. An ominous aura coiled around the blades, thick and heavy, as though reality itself was bending.

Leon’s instincts screamed—this skill was dangerous, far more lethal than anything he had wielded before.

Gray, transparent energy coated the blades, forming a barrier that shimmered like ashes caught in the wind, yet it carried an invisible pressure that could slice through almost anything.

For the next thirty minutes, Leon practiced relentlessly, experimenting with the Void Affinity and weaving new dagger techniques that could only be performed through this weapon.

Each strike cracked the air faintly, each thrust made the space around it ripple like disturbed water.

By the time he was done, his body was coated in sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly—but his eyes glowed with satisfaction.

Finally, he willed himself out of the dagger’s mysterious subspace.

Almost instantly, the paradise faded, and he found himself back in the heat of the orc dungeon.

He exhaled slowly, a wild grin twisting his face.

"Time to hunt some orcs... and get the hell outta here."

Without hesitation, Leon sprinted in the direction the orcs he had killed earlier were heading.

It didn’t take long before the village came into view.

Unlike the goblin settlement, the orcs built their village openly, right on the exposed lands of the savannah.

There was no attempt at concealment.

The huts were larger than goblin huts and made of thicker, sturdier material, but their crude designs were similar.

Leon didn’t care about their architecture. He had already wasted precious time practicing the Divine Thief Dagger Sutra. His remaining hours in this dungeon were slipping away, and all he wanted now was to finish the raid and escape.

Before advancing, he studied the village carefully from a distance.

He took note of weak spots in their defenses, shadowed areas where he could hide, and paths that could be used to his advantage.

Then, lowering his body, he slipped into the village like a shadow.

His mind burned with a single thought.

He wanted to test something.

He wasn’t certain it would work, but if it did—it would be a massive boon to him.

The moment he crept past the edge of the settlement, a guttural roar broke the air.

He had been spotted.