Chapter 355

Everyone sat around in a circle.

Monsters that have become Jiangshis have skin four to five times tougher than their original ones.

Also, since there isn’t just one type of Jiangshi but various types mixed, there will be many guys who squeeze through the legs or torsos of others to attack.

Jiangshis are the type of guys whose severed heads will roll over to bite a person. If we cut and crush them one by one, it’s a common occurrence to get our feet tied and be unable to move an inch.

Of course, if I poured out energy into a single point as I did when defeating the Sandworm, I could immediately dispatch the hundreds of Jiangshis right in front of my eyes. Since that incredibly hard Sandworm was split in half, something like an Iron Jiangshi would be crushed without leaving a trace. Jumping over that might be disgusting, but it wouldn’t be a difficult task.

However, the problem lay in the fact that my internal energy was not infinite.

When my internal energy is exhausted, I am useless.

Thinking that it could be a matter where the children might get seriously hurt, my heart shrank back to the fullest. No matter how many times I pondered, I had absolutely no confidence, so I made a weak sound.

“To be honest, when facing the Sandworm last time, I used all four-fifths of my remaining internal energy. Even though I hadn’t made any grand attacks beforehand…”

“Four-fifths? About how much is that in mq terms?”

In that single strike, I used the energy of three cycles. Counting only the internal energy inside my body, would it be slightly less than two cycles.

However, internal energy is not something weighed on a scale, and the operating method varies depending on the mental method. Calculating Mana with numbers was always difficult and hard. Flustered, I stuttered and swallowed my words.

“That…. Uh, mm…. 1000mq… No, well, uh…. It might not be, I don’t really know, but.”

“Uung. Keep talking.”

Feeling embarrassed, I cleared my throat three or four times and continued speaking.

“Anyway, because it was a sword strike unleashed with all my strength at a level where I wouldn’t collapse and become a hindrance, I was able to see that level of effect, and even if I control the direction and use my internal energy sparingly, six times is my limit.”

“…Six times. What is that thing, Qi Cultivation or whatever?”

“During Qi Cultivation, if there’s interference from the surroundings, I’ll suffer internal injuries…”

When I answered so and shook my head, Ruben immediately looked straight at me.

“What about Gyp-Circulight?”

“…That is.”

Ruben, Benjamin, and I learned the same dynamic technique with the help of Douglas Mustang. Being able to accumulate internal energy while moving was an extremely huge advantage. Thanks to that, I could accumulate internal energy at a fast speed without great effort from the very moment I reached the Widro Duchy.

But with monsters swarming right under my nose, how easy could it be to insert something else into the mental method I had used for my entire several-decades life.

While walking, or while my internal energy was being continuously consumed, a certain amount of internal energy was filled by Gyp-Circulight, but it was at a distinctly insignificant level compared to Qi Cultivation. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Whenever I wanted to quickly govern my body, I made time to do Qi Cultivation to overcome crises.

So I had never experimented with how much internal energy I could gather solely with Gyp-Circulight. Not knowing the answer, I hesitated without answering right away and raised my body.

I walked in one direction and guided my internal energy in the direction I had familiarized my head with. Even while swinging my arms and legs, I could feel the internal energy gathering.

I released sword energy just like that and slashed through the empty air. While swinging the sword, no matter if it was a dynamic technique, internal energy didn’t gather. It was because Qi flows in one direction.

However, right after withdrawing the sword energy was different. A sigh leaked through my lips.

“…”

“What. Can’t you do it?”

“It does… gather. But at this speed…. to completely refill my energy like at first after using up all my strength, I would have to spend half a day.”

“Half a day. Calculated in hours?”

“…Five hours, if in battle it might take a little longer than that.”

Hugh Benson, who looked up at the sky for a moment, covered his eyes with one hand with a bleak face.

“How many days are left until the new year now?”

“12 days left.”

Leon answered quickly without hesitation. Mercenaries, who are used to calculating prices by daily wage, were skilled at counting dates. Having lived forgetting to count dates for a while, it felt new.

Today is December… 19th. Is Ranunculus on his way to the holy site, or has he already arrived and is waiting for us.

Hugh Benson counted on his fingers as if continuing to calculate something. The guy’s narrowed brow wouldn’t unfurl.

“12 days. …12 days…”

“Right now we’re inside the Oasis’s domain so the Jiangshis can’t recognize us, but it will be different when we go outside. Because the Jiangshis outside the domain chased us with blind directionality.”

“Even if we go out with full physical strength…. my arms started tingling after three hours. If the battle continues at this level of intensity, we too…. Twenty hours? At most we might barely last a day.”

“Of course, the Counts could fight longer than us…”

While speaking words of concern, the mercenaries deliberately looked only at Hugh Benson. They didn’t turn their eyes elsewhere.

However, I knew all the omitted subsequent words. It was common sense that mages are weak in close combat. So Marianne had to be in a position to be protected. Ruber and Benjamin, who are not Sword Masters, also wouldn’t last long.

In this kind of breakthrough battle, those who had things to protect were bound to shrink back. Thinking of advancing while keeping pace with them in between, it was natural that the sight before our eyes was dark.

Ruben quietly placed the tip of his index finger on my wrist. It’s not the child’s fault. I gathered and grasped those fingers with my opposite hand. I felt troubled wondering if the child might be regretting following me now.

Marianne, who had been thinking for a long time, abruptly raised her head.

“That shooting sword energy thing. You mean you can use it six times consecutively, right?”

“Yes.”

“What about using it once, charging, using it once, charging?”

“…Pardon? No, there is no way that would work.”

“It doesn’t? Why doesn’t it?”

“That is.”

What do you mean why doesn’t it. That is, if I release sword energy and fight while doing Qi Cultivation, I’ll fall into Qi Deviation…

No, wait. What I newly learned was a dynamic technique. The questions that followed were things I hadn’t thought of. Dazed, I listened, and dazed, I answered.

“Michael cutting Jiangshis using sword energy on your sword is almost like breathing, isn’t it. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Have you ever thought that caused you strain?”

“…That is…. No. I haven’t.”

“What if you think of cutting off the sword energy usage a bit while using the Gyp-Circulight operating method now? Is the amount of Mana used larger, or is the amount of Mana accumulated larger?”

That is….

I originally didn’t use sword energy intermittently.

The reason a blue light lingered when I struck out my sword was because my internal energy bore a blue light. I also knew that those whose amount of energy they could handle was small, or those who didn’t want to stand out to others’ eyes, released sword energy as if emitting it only at the moment the sword touched the target.

Instead of bothering to calculate with my head, I swung my sword immediately to check.

And I was surprised. The amount accumulated was…. larger than what was lost.

As an Imperial Sword Master, not a Supreme-grade Central Plains person, I embedded the Way of Yin and Yang into the sword I had previously used. I had completely forgotten the fact that from a certain moment, I had reached a realm of unification where I didn’t need to specifically distinguish between internal energy and Aura.

I used the exact same amount of Aura simultaneously with my internal energy. Because I was using exactly half the energy of the method I used internal energy in my past life, even if I thought I used the sword identically, there was leeway.

Even when I was chased by Trolls previously, I was only fatigued from not being able to eat or sleep, but I could release sword energy until the very last moment. And even after that, a little bit of physical strength remained. Wasn’t that why I had the mental capacity to secretly go outside and even prepare Ruben’s birthday present?

When I answered so, Marianne rushed the next answer, slicing the floor sand with her index finger.

“How long does it take to use the new technique exactly once, and refill the amount of internal energy consumed?”

“That is…. about twenty minutes…. It seems it will take a little less… than that.”

“If you use it three times?”

“Around two hours…”

Filling a completely empty Dantian, versus adding energy to an already sufficiently filled Dantian…. Naturally, the latter was easier. Because the larger the energy, the more energy gathers.

I felt like I understood what Marianne wanted to say, but maybe not.

“When you used the new technique last time, how many meters did you cut? I couldn’t see well because of the dust.”

“About 150m? No, maybe it was slightly under 160.”

“Up to about 8m behind Michael, and about 140m ahead seemed completely sliced. Further than that, it kind of spread? Or bent? To call it an attack was a bit.”

Even without me answering, answers rang out from here and there. Most of the guys watching from far behind my back at that time were Sword Masters. They had eyes capable of easily piercing through dust at that distance. Marianne asked with sparkling eyes.

“Will it be exactly the same next time?”

I know my combat distance the best. I didn’t hesitate with my answer to that.

“No. At that time, I overly inflated my energy to cut the Sandworm’s carapace…. If I float my body and strike straight with enough strength to break Iron Jiangshis, 1km…. Yes. I will probably be able to cut close to 1km in a straight line distance. If I launch it slightly further ahead of the vanguard, I’ll be able to control the energy flowing behind my back too.”

“If we break through once and run, fight them while advancing until it recharges, and shoot once…. If we go like that, how many days will it take?”

Ruben quickly wrote several numbers on the floor and asked.

“How many km is it from here to three days’ distance?”

“Roughly slightly under 900km? Unlike last time, I was thinking of telling Benjamin to carry Marianne on his back and run from the very beginning. With the current personnel, even if we’re short one combatant we can block the four sides, North, South, East, and West, and we can assign about three or four people as non-combat personnel.”

The answer was provided by Hugh Benson.

After that, I couldn’t understand most of what Marianne and Ruben were whispering while putting their heads together.

Occasionally, names of mages I didn’t know were brought up as evidence. Saying let’s set the speed my Mana is consumed as this, and let’s set the speed it recharges as that…. When Marianne recited a formula, Ruben multiplied, added, and divided numbers according to the set formula.

Occasionally, Hugh Benson added a comment, and the mercenaries cut in and meddled, saying this path has boiling lava so we have to go around, or that side is at a walkable temperature, or originally they avoided the sand swamps and traveled this way.

Ruben smiled brightly and abruptly raised his head.

“A week.”

“…Pardon?”

“By calculation, I think we can arrive in a week, Mika.”

I blankly nodded my head. It was a relief that he said it seemed we could arrive before the New Year came.

But how?

My expression must have been quite dazed, as Marianne chattered beside me and added an explanation.

“This time the number of people has increased compared to before, so we’ll do combat rotations, and since we mainly packed convenience foods, we’ll eat our meals in rotation too. Recharging physical strength with recovery magic has its limits, and we don’t know what will happen at the holy site of the Sun either.”

“…Ah.”

“I’m also going to squeeze out my mana stones and memorize a few large-scale magics in advance before we go. Since I can cover atmospheric Mana concentration up to plus/minus 10, if I set off a few magic blasts in between, I think we’ll be able to get through well.”

“Ah…. Yes.”

…I don’t understand at all. Was I this slow-witted? Flustered, I looked around.

The only ones looking happy as if a huge burden was lifted were Marianne, Ruben, and Hugh, these three. The rest were smiling faintly with subtle expressions and just nodding their heads. So everyone else didn’t understand the middle part either. I also made the same expression as them and nodded my head for them.

Then Marianne, emphasizing once again with an energetic voice, told me what I had to do.

“Michael, stand right behind the vanguard, conserve your strength, and break through once in a straight direction at every point we tell you. Instead, every time you use the technique, only up to the distance I point out.”

“Why…. is that again?”

“According to Mage Zaveron’s Mana Recovery Theory,”

“No, that’s fine. I will consider it heard.”

Listening to it more will only make me dizzy. I waved my hand and refused.

Marianne didn’t become dispirited even when the words she was about to say were blocked several times. She just chattered bravely.

“Anyway, it seems we can arrive before Ranunculus leaves. Hurry up and do Qi Cultivation. Because we’re leaving right away.”