Chapter 199
The preliminary round ended in a forfeit, and Finn, with his arm in tatters, was moved to receive treatment.
With the help of various healing magics and specialists, Finn was advised not to strain himself until he fully recovered, sitting in his hospital room with his right arm bandaged.
Creak—.
As he gazed out at the familiar scenery of the Academia for the first time in ages, the door swung open.
A cold-looking noble entered.
Finn recognized him.
“…Lord Vargan. It’s been a while.”
Finn hurriedly tried to get up and bow, but Vargan waved him back down.
“When will your arm be healed?”
Without any unnecessary pleasantries, Vargan dove straight into the topic.
Though his words might seem indifferent and cold, Finn knew that his showing any interest at all was a form of kindness.
To appear healthy, Finn swung his arm nonchalantly.
The smile he wore reflected the brightness of a young man, but there was a shadow there, the result of many years burdening him.
“I’ll be fine in a week.”
“I see.”
Vargan sat in a chair nearby.
Perhaps because they hadn’t seen each other in a while, he seemed eager to engage Finn in conversation.
His benefactor, Schugenharz Troa Vargan.
As Finn looked at him, wrestling with emotions, a word slipped from his lips.
“Really… it has been a long time.”
Those words carried a weight of their own.
After an unimaginable length of time, the two finally met again.
To Vargan, only a few months had passed, but to Finn, who had endured eons, that time felt unreasonably long.
As Finn lowered his eyes in reflection, Vargan asked first.
“How are you feeling now?”
“How am I?”
“Yes, your body and soul. It’s been a long time since they separated, so there must be some dissonance. Judging by the state of your arm, it seems you still can’t integrate fully.”
“You’ve already figured it all out….”
Finn calmly explained his current situation.
He spoke of visiting the Soul Forge Hall three times and the gaps formed between his body and soul as a result.
That created a sense of alienation.
“…Right now, I at least have most of my memories back. When I first came out, I didn’t even know who I was.”
As Finn’s empty vessel was filled with his original soul, the memories buried from that spot began to resurface one by one.
He had mostly recovered the memories from before entering the Soul Forge Hall.
Of course, whether he had fully accepted them was still another matter.
“And so… to be honest, I had completely forgotten about everyone around me. Even you, my benefactor, Lord Vargan.”
His teammates.
The members of Arbol Frutal.
He had even forgotten his family.
Having lost the sense of who he was, there was no capacity left to hold onto others.
Finn cast his eyes down in shame, but Vargan did not mind.
What he wanted to know wasn’t those trivial emotional matters. It was something more essential.
It wasn’t just a trivial emotional matter. It was something more essential.
“Finn, you said you’ve entered the Soul Forge Hall three times, right?”
“Yes… that’s correct.”
“How was that possible?”
What Vargan wanted to know was the exact reason.
Throughout history, and even in the novels he knew, there had never been anyone who had entered and exited the Soul Forge Hall three times.
No, there hadn’t even been anyone who had done it twice.
This wasn’t a story of emotions like enthusiasm or perseverance.
‘Conditions.’
Saying he exited the Soul Forge Hall meant he had achieved some degree of accomplishment or had failed—one of the two.
Failure equated to death, so there was no need to elaborate.
Saying he achieved something meant he had gained ‘talent.’
The entry condition for the Soul Forge Hall was the absence of talent.
In other words, when Finn first exited the Soul Forge Hall, he must have already become a soul that gained enlightenment and could not enter again, yet he had returned two more times, which didn’t match the conditions.
“Hmm…”
Finn guessed what Vargan’s words meant and briefly reflected on the time that had passed.
Then he spoke up.
He explained why he could enter the Soul Forge Hall a whopping three times and how he managed to endure it.
“In the first Soul Forge Hall, I practiced only the cut.”
He swung his sword so many times that he lost count.
Just when the hint of enlightenment began to show, the door opened, and Finn lost consciousness.
After sleeping for more than ten days, when he opened his eyes, the master of the Soul Forge Hall, Kanilisk, told him:
—Ah, you really are a total idiot who transcends understanding.
Surprisingly, Kanilisk said Finn could re-enter.
The reason wasn’t that he had devoted himself to cutting practice.
A much more trivial and insignificant reason.
—Even a thousand years isn’t enough… At this point, I’m profoundly bewildered.
A thousand years.
The maximum time one receives after entering the Soul Forge Hall.
Finn didn’t exit because he had gained enlightenment.
He was expelled for not having it. He was able to glance only a little bit and failed to gain even the most mediocre talent.
Ridiculously, due to his complete lack of talent, he was able to meet the conditions again.
“Thus, I entered the Soul Forge Hall for the second time and started practicing the applications of cutting that I was beginning to grasp. Based on the swordsmanship of my master… Kshanoll.”
Basic stances, footwork, breathing techniques, horizontal cuts…
Having developed some understanding of cutting, Finn began to comprehend other techniques of Kshanoll’s swordsmanship.
Things that had been impossible to force into him gradually became natural, like a widening stream.
Yet, Finn still hadn’t acquired the minimum talent that the Soul Forge Hall could recognize, and once again, after a thousand years, the door opened.
This time, Kanilisk reportedly unleashed a torrent of curses. He couldn’t fathom what kind of soul had turned out like that.
“I did lose consciousness then, but it was reduced to about a week this time. In fact, when I entered the Soul Forge Hall for the third time, I completely forgot about the Final Exam. I guess… I remember moving forward due to some inexplicable pressure that made me feel like I had to go back in.”
The last third time.
By then, Finn had long forgotten the initial purpose he had set for himself.
He didn’t even know who he was, and his language skills had regressed so much he couldn’t even speak.
All he knew was a scarecrow and a single sword.
And the driving force behind swordsmanship and some inexplicable training.
‘I want to get stronger.’
Perhaps if he were to express that driving force in words, that would be it.
Only now can he guess.
…And so, once again, swinging his sword day and night, just as the thousand years were about to fill.
—Ah, it’s complete.
Finn managed to perfect his swordsmanship.
“Hahaha… It’s truly pathetic, isn’t it? Others say it only takes one time, yet I barely grasped it after three full rounds… If Kshanoll found out, he would definitely laugh at me.”
“To think you actually managed to… Kshanoll will definitely laugh if he finds out.”
Finn scratched the back of his head.
He awkwardly laughed while mentioning the unresolved issues.
“They say it’ll take a long time to embody the achievements we saw in the Soul Forge Hall. Building a body that can endure that is a whole separate matter.”
“……”
Vargan looked at Finn’s arm, which had failed to withstand the technique.
As he said, there was a need to complete a body that could support the mastery.
Vargan fell into thought for a moment.
As he remained silent, Finn continued to berate himself.
“Even after all that, I still couldn’t achieve enlightenment, like the crimson aura or establishing an affinity… I realized exactly where I stand.”
Finn’s expression darkened, but perhaps realizing it, he quickly brightened up and tried to put on his best cheerful face.
“Ah, but still. Since I’m retracing a path I’ve walked before, it’s not as vague as it was. Though it might not be a major achievement, I can definitely grow much faster than before. Perhaps that’s why I might be known to gain ‘talent’ in the Soul Forge Hall.”
While others use maps to navigate, those who enter the Soul Forge Hall don’t have such maps.
So they walk the path first and recall that memory as they take steps forward.
Even without a map, they try to walk the road with less wandering.
“Finn.”
Vargan finally spoke after a quiet pause.
There were many things he needed to confirm. He still hadn’t extracted precise information.
However, he had only just come out of it.
Rather than interrogate excessively, he decided to give this weary soul a moment to reflect.
“How was the eons of time?”
What meaning did it hold for you?
Vargan asked, and Finn’s eyes seemed to sink back into the past before he opened his mouth.
“It was… nice. Even though my achievements were lacking, it was an opportunity I won’t get again.”
Finn’s soul was still adjusting to its current body.
He felt gratitude towards Vargan, but that feeling wasn’t overwhelming.
His sense of purpose to become a hero was significantly unraveling, and the root was only just beginning to find its place.
As time passed, he would eventually return to normal, but for now, that was how it was.
“I can train my sword without being bound by time or flesh… Isn’t that amazing? Thanks to that, I feel like I understand swords a bit more, and I’ve gained some confidence too.”
Feelings of gratitude towards Vargan and Kshanoll, along with guilt for not achieving something greater.
Impostor syndrome.
Such emotions lingered faintly in Finn’s heart.
“So… I’m thankful to you, Vargan, but… I also feel quite ashamed. And…”
“Finn.”
Vargan stopped him.
What he desired wasn’t a well-constructed facade, but an inner truth, even if it was tattered and uneven.
“It’s okay now.”
“……”
“This isn’t the Soul Forge Hall.”
“Vargan…”
Right. Truth be told, impostor syndrome and all that were separate matters.
What took the greatest predominance in Finn’s soul right now wasn’t his relation with others or feelings of self-hatred.
By recognizing this first, Vargan made Finn feel a mix of surprise and emotion.
Maintaining a bright facade was reaching its limits.
The forced smile he had managed began to droop.
He cautiously started to voice the heartfelt words he had been holding back all this time.
“Time in the Soul Forge Hall felt incredibly long. Even though I tried to pretend not to notice…. Haha… Yeah… it really felt long…”
Finn’s head hung low.
He swallowed hard and let out a long breath.
He began to speak.
“Actually… actually, you see…”
Though some hesitation was evident, Finn’s lips trembled but continued to move.
He wanted to tell someone.
I wanted to.
Even if it wasn’t someone else, I wanted to voice it, but I didn’t.
That fragile word I couldn’t utter for 30,000 years. Finn finally managed to say that one phrase.
“I… really… really…”
—It was truly hard.
Every time I thought about giving up, I swung my sword.
Every time other thoughts tried to invade my mind, I immersed myself even more in swordsmanship.
I don’t think positively.
I don’t think negatively either.
To walk this long, long path, the only way for him to survive was to remain by himself, heart and soul.
“I honestly… felt like I wanted to die.”
A dreadful loneliness.
Silence that made me sick.
30,000 years in a world without any change.
Not a single drop of tear mixed with the sweat he shed.
Let’s not think at all.
Let’s not doubt anything.
Just swing the sword.
“I truly did my best…”
Before long, hot tears filled Finn’s eyes. They didn’t flow but were contained instead.
He asked Vargan.
It felt like after holding it in for so long, he had to get permission.
“So… I can cry now…?”
Even in a very short life.
Just for that duration, enough for his broken arm to heal.
“I can take a short break…?”
“……”
Vargan couldn’t carelessly answer.
No matter how arrogant he was and acted as if he knew everything, he felt it was rude even to try and gauge the weight of the years Finn had endured.
So he neither nodded nor shook his head.
Instead, he removed the mask of lies and deceit, offered a slight smile, and said a word of sincerity.
“You did well, Finn.”
Finally, Finn’s tears began to flow. The droplets that had been contained spilled down one after another.
Interestingly, even though Finn’s feelings about Vargan hadn’t fully healed yet.
With just that one sentence, it felt like everything until now was compensated.
So Finn cried for a long, long time.
* * *
After finishing the conversation with Finn, Vargan arrived at the dormitory.
He continued the complex thoughts he hadn’t shared in front of Finn.
No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn’t understand.
‘That one strike was merely the minimum achievement.’
Finn’s swordsmanship during the fight with Kaiman.
Even from the perspective of a magician, that swordsmanship was undoubtedly the realm of a master.
If the opponent hadn’t been Kaiman with his exceptional instincts, he surely would have been cut in half.
That level of swordsmanship being the minimum achievement recognized by the Soul Forge Hall…? That doesn’t make sense.
If that were truly the case, all those who left the Soul Forge Hall would have claimed the pinnacle of this novel world.
It’s certain that most of them achieved only mediocre accomplishments, so why?
‘There may be errors in the information, or parts of the explanation are missing.’
If it’s the first, then with the current lack of information, I cannot understand Finn’s situation.
But… if it’s the latter.
‘…Finn.’
Vargan recalled Finn’s eyes.
Those dim eyes bore the traces of countless years.
For nearly 30,000 years, that young man had wielded only his sword.
For him to have barely reached the minimum achievement.
‘Could it be that… the minimum achievement…?’
If the criteria of the Soul Forge Hall don’t exist and instead depend on individual percentages, that is, vary according to the size of each person’s vessel?
Nothing has been confirmed yet.
There isn’t enough evidence.
However, if that hypothesis is true…
Great talents bloom late.
Finn might be under a tremendous misconception right now.
“Hah.”
Vargan chuckled as he wrapped up his ever-expanding hypothesis.
There’s no need to tell this naive kid anything.
It may hurt his feelings, but if possible, it’s better for him to keep progressing without being satisfied or feeling proud, as that would be what’s best for him.
