The Growth of Must-Save (2)

Save, who had once been a kid that only cared for himself, realized that he was a fool that knew nothing after encountering a great monument called Evan. Evan was the person who showed him that there existed a vast world and higher stages to be reached. It seemed to be natural for Save to live a life with Evan as his role model. However, knowing that it would take him a long time to reach Evan’s level was one of the essential factors for Save’s growth.

[Passive Skill Halberd Mastery increased to Lv.66.]

“Another level, but it’s still not enough.”

Evan had been training to increase the intensified combat techniques that were a few steps ahead of the basic combat techniques to an ultimate level. Then, what about himself?! Of course, he was far superior to other veteran explorers with his current skills, but such a comparison with meaningless people was useless to him.

“Whew…”

Maybe it simply was just impossible for him to be at the same level as Evan in his lifetime. However, Save would never stop trying. That person had his expectations on him. He promised to reach half, no, even a quarter of his level at any cost.

“Oh, you woke up early Save, didn’t you?”

“Oh, Renail. So you’ve come.”

As Save swung the halberd with all his might, Renail had appeared from the backyard. It seemed like Renail, who preferred real combat over training, got stimulated by Save, who always tried his best, and pointing out the fact that her relationship with him was gradually getting more intimate, she was increasing her training period to have more time spent with him. Those two already had the best talents in the original work, so their growth was already beyond understanding. He was growing at a tremendous speed, faster than anyone who learned the basic training from Evan. Considering their age, such insane speed was all the more unbelievable.

“Argh, you’re drenched in sweat again. I’ll wipe it off.”

“No, wait, I’ll wash after the training, so…”

“You will be swinging for a while now. You might catch a cold.”

“What cold…? Argh.”

“Quit making such weird noises.”

Renail brought a towel wet with lukewarm water and wiped Save’s face, neck, and back. Although she wasn’t all that good with water attribute magic, it was still easy to remove the towel’s sweat when one of the basic housing magic, Clean, was used.

“You reek of sweat.”

“I told you not to come close.”

“But the smell, it’s not that bad.”

Aside from the time that Save talked about Evan, he was just a regular guy. There were also times that he was also very courageous and thoughtful (since he had the status window explaining everything), but aside from those, he was just an innocent young fellow who was shy when approached by a girl.

“…Renail?”

“Sta…stay still.”

Their faces were only an inch away as she was wiping sweat from Save’s brow.

“…”

“…”

Supposedly, all plots were done on an impulse. Those two realized such a moment really arrived.

Time was now pointing to the early morning in the backyard of the house which their party had rented. Nobody was there except for them. Their breathing rhythm somehow merged into one. In Save’s eyes, all he could see were Renail’s lone eyelashes…

“Guys?”

“Argh!”

Renail pushed Save away as she was startled by Louise’s voice from behind. Of course, Save couldn’t be pushed away by the weak sorceress, but he reread the mood this time and quietly Moved back. Louise, who entered the backyard without making a noise, was staring at them.

“Did something happen?”

“Something would’ve happened, but you came back!”

Renail’s face reddened as she shouted her pleas, and even Save looked shaken up. Louise knew what these two were up to, but she still pretended as if she knew nothing, then continued, saying that it was all right.

“Today, we will get a request from outside. It’s your first time going out of Sherden, right?”

“I can’t wait!”

“A request from outside…? I’ll prepare myself.”

Save had a stern expression once he heard the word ‘request’ as if he had forgotten what happened between him and Renail. If this were the path led by him, he would stand firm and fight, no matter what stood on that path. Louise sighed as she looked at the dashing look from Save. She couldn’t help but be scared by the fanatic chemistry Save and Enoch would have.

* * *

The meeting with the requestor took place in a pub. The scenario maker, Evan, strongly suggested that the arrangement must happen inside the pub.

“So…it’s this dungeon. This is where the undead rarely comes out. The undead aren’t popular monsters, but as the Merdin dungeon got sealed, the undead-exclusive drop items are something that can’t be ignored.”

An elite guild member who took charge of talking to the Phoenix guild members came with the request. As he participated in this scenario, he was promised a good return from the inside. Indeed, these things were good for everyone.

“Those are for us? Are we capable of it?”

“Who else can be trusted if it weren’t for you guys, who cleared the 20th floor of the dungeon in the shortest possible time after dungeon exploration began?”

Louise’s party had indeed become a small center of attention in Sherden as they recently cleared the 20th floor from the 11th in a swift amount of time. Of course, it was Mirole who actually cleared the dungeon in the shortest possible time, but nobody knew her record, so they got the official credit for being the fastest.

“However, there’s one problem, and that’s the enemies being undead.”

“I understand what you mean.”

Louise acted depressed for no reason and replied. Now, she was all worked up for a performance.

“We don’t have a priest.”

“But we might work things out with our own power.”

“We can’t lean on such uncertainty.”

“So, what’s it going to be? If you accept the request, we’ll definitely prepare everything we can. It’s also possible to bring a pack load of holy water if you cooperate with the Temple…”

“Hey, stop it right there.”

A guy came out at that very moment, and he was god’s man: Priest Enoch!

“Hey, you guys, I heard that you need a priest?”

“It’s something an outsider can’t butt into. I’m sorry, but Mr. Priest, you need to leave.”

If the matters couldn’t be discussed with an outsider, they could’ve started the talk through the guild from the start, but there was nobody who could possibly point that out.

“I swear on the nameless god. I just wanted, out of all sincerity, to help those who are in trouble. Besides, it’s better if I could be handsomely rewarded, too.”

“Well…a nameless god, I’ve heard a bunch about it. The saying goes that the believers always keep their promises with requests they agreed upon after receiving the money…”

He seemed to be struggling as he said this. For the record, the dialogue of the guild member a moment ago wasn’t scripted. Actually, the Priest of the nameless god Enoch was quite a famous person within the Silk Line. A person who claims to be a priest but doesn’t know the name of the god he serves, yet his holy power was tremendous, and he was very fond of money. He was known as an erratic, wandering priest. But his virtue, which a priest must have, was excellent, and his reputation supported him as a trustworthy person. It was for that reason that amongst numerous talents, Evan specifically recruited him.

“How is it? Why don’t you try recruiting this priest since I believe you won’t regret it?”

“What? But how could you recruit someone you just met.”

“Renail, but this person…”

“So be it.”

As Louise tried to get Enoch involved with the pre-staged lines against Renail’s obvious refutation, Save spoke ahead of him in determination.

“He can be trusted. I can feel his intentions.”

“Ah, huh?”

Save’s eyes, the type that could see through all, were now staring at Enoch. Now, his ability increased to the point that he could roughly know how many people Enoch had met and how.

“If Save says so, it must be.”

“Uhm, huh?”

The situation had gotten sorted out swiftly. Even Enoch, who was trying to appeal his harmlessness and trustworthiness alongside Louise’s lines, felt dumbfounded about the fact that Save had just analyzed him! Save reached out his hand to Enoch and showed him a rare smile.

“Welcome. He led us to a new relationship.”

“Hr…? Argh, are you, perhaps, a believer?”

“I can’t possibly be certain that I’m following His will, but…yes, I have a solid faith.”

“Wow.”

Enoch looked impressed. As Louise gave him a cold frown, thinking that everything was going according to her plan, Enoch asked Save a question.

“And His name is?”

“I can’t possibly mention His name.”

“Oh, oh, oh, is He the nameless One?!”

“No, He certainly has a name.”

Save replied as he tilted his head. Enoch started questioning him as he frowned a little at that point.

“Then say it.”

“I can’t possibly say it.”

“Then there’s none! In our doctrine, we regard it as nameless! You are believing in the same deity as I am as well!”

“No, He certainly has a name!”

Louise thought that the doctrine of the nameless god was quite profound, but having these two together felt like being inside crumbling ruins.

“You are following the wrong doctrine! He never shows his presence! As He doesn’t exist in form, He proves His existence, and that’s His will!”

“Then, wouldn’t that mean there’s nothing in the end? It seems that Mr. Enoch is following a very strange god. The one I believe in truly exists, and He leads me with all possible methods whenever I’m lost. Perhaps it was His will to meet you and convert your foolishness to a righteous path.”

“What, you brat, I will convert you right now in the name of the nameless god! You don’t even know whether you are following His will, and that’s absurd!”

“Yours doesn’t have a name, so what do you know!?”

“Wait for a second, if you guys are planning to start a religious war, then please do that outside, would you?”

However, Enoch ended up joining the party. In his position, he had already received the reward from Evan so that he couldn’t back down, and Save couldn’t possibly abandon someone with whom Evan arranged a meeting.

* * *

At the moment, Evan was meeting with Mirole and was talking about stories from the Eternal Glacier.

“It said the word Zero.”

“Yes. So I was wondering if you would know something…Mirole?”

“Ha…hahaha.”

It couldn’t possibly be stories about Yo-Ma Great War Zero, so he just said the fact in all sincerity since he couldn’t help but think about what the Spirit Lord had said…surprisingly, Mirole burst out in laughter as soon as she heard it.

“Haha, hahaha…”

“Mi-Mirole? What’s happening? Did you get cursed or something?”

“No, no. It’s nothing but pfft…”

Mirole laughed even more as she saw how Evan seriously looked like he was worried about her. She pleasantly thought that it was about time.

“If you know anything, then please tell me about it.”

“Of course I should. Zero is like…a kind of symbolism.”

“Symbolism?”

“Yes. It is a symbol of absolute power. An existence that made all creatures of that period fall into fear, and yet a word that’s used to call it…zero means nothing, right? That thing feared upon everyone at that period seemed like it didn’t exist, but it surely did exist…that was Zero.”

“Hmm…am I too stupid to understand? Denial and affirmation are present at the same time, right?”

How great would it have been if she were able to tell everything to Evan honestly? However, she couldn’t do that.

‘He doesn’t know so far.’

“I think it just means a supernatural phenomenon that can’t be believed in. You can think of it as an exclamation.”

“Like how we look for gods in unbelievable situations, is it?”

“Yes. Perhaps the enemy ended up calling Zero, the non-existing god at the overwhelming dignity from you, Evan.”

Zero, meaning void. Although it had a name, nothing was left, therefore making it a nameless god. That was the absolute symbol that had gone on in the new generation.

“But saying my power is unbelievable is just…no, but I believe I did become stronger these days…”

“Haha.”

As if the explanation was somewhat acceptable, Evan complained as he was touching the heart of the Spirit Lord. Mirole looked at Evan and chuckled. The time of Zero was fast approaching.