After the declaration to become Kim Dokja's disciple, two hours later, Kirioth finally gazed at us and spoke.
"The Baekcheong Sect should have been destroyed after I left. I didn't expect any disciples to remain."
Kirioth looked back and forth between me and Kim Dokja. Then, giving a small nod, he opened his mouth.
"Good. I will accept you as my disciples."
Thus, our training as Kirioth's disciples began.
On the first day of training,
Kirioth went somewhere for a moment, then soon returned and handed us bracelets and anklets made from Hancheol from Piece Land Mountain, saying,
"Wear these."
At Kirioth's words, Kim Dokja and I nodded and each put on the Piece Land Mountain bracelets and anklets.
And then.
['Training Hancheol Bracelet' is binding your body.]
Thud!!
Under the immense weight of the Hancheol bracelet, Kim Dokja's arm crashed to the ground.
However, aside from my entire body feeling heavier, I could surprisingly bear it, and at my appearance, Kirioth looked at me with an interested expression.
"? Is there some problem?"
"No... there's no problem at all. It's just that since you're a Constellation, the training Hancheol bracelet I gave you on purpose is the heaviest one I have. Compared to ordinary folks who get buried in the ground the moment they wear it, you show no sign of being heavy at all."
"???????"
Out of curiosity, I dropped one bracelet I hadn't worn yet to the ground....
Thud!!!!!
The bracelet sank deeply into the ground.
'Damn, I only feel a bit heavier even after wearing this thing!?'
Suddenly, I began to realize just how much stronger I had become.
After that, I retrieved the bracelet from the ground and put it on, followed by the anklet. Soon, Kirioth, confirming that Kim Dokja and I had worn the bracelets and anklets, drew the sword at his waist, stood in a proper stance before us, and thrust the sword straight out.
It was the basic 'thrust' stance.
"Did you see?"
"Yes."
"Then, repeat what I just showed you a million times."
"…A million times?"
"Yes, a million times."
Kirioth looked at us and opened his mouth.
"All Baekcheong martial arts start from the basics. Opening the 'smallest point'. From an extremely condensed and restrained single 'point', the universe begins."
At Kirioth's words, Kim Dokja still wore a puzzled expression as if he didn't understand, but I roughly grasped it and used Shadow Clone Technique to summon many clones, then said to them,
"Each of you, scatter and practice skills, spar, and do thrusts!"
"Whoa!!!!!!!!"
Soon, we scattered and began training with various weapons, practicing skills, or sparring amongst ourselves.
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
[Unique Skill Holy Symbol LV 2 has been activated.]
And all those many clones activated Holy Symbol without exception.
Holy Symbol is originally Maple Story Bishop's 3rd job skill, with the effect of allowing nearby party members to gain more experience for a certain time when cast.
However, when this skill crossed over to this worldview, its effect slightly changed, specifically,
when cast, for a certain time, nearby party members' skill proficiency... that is, skill level, can be raised more quickly.
But what if multiple stack simultaneously…?
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
The system messages now popping up in succession are proof of that.
"Well… shall I slowly start training too?"
I glanced once at Asuka Ren, Kim Dokja, and Han Sooyoung watching me in astonishment, and Kirioth Roadgrime looking on with interest, then entered training.