The Author's POV Chapter 5: Sword art [1]

Assuming no changes had occurred, the sword art was supposed to lie a few kilometers beyond the Clayton ridge.

Descending the mountain via a five-hour hike, I then spent another ten hours journeying to the estimated location of the sword art.

A vast forest stretching across numerous kilometers came into sight, and upon arriving at its edge, I plunged inside without a second thought.

Exhaustion weighed heavy on me after nonstop travel throughout the day, yet I clenched my teeth and pressed onward.

Some could call me reckless for pushing my body aside in pursuit of powerful artifacts, but I see it differently. Reborn into a realm where the weak fall prey to the mighty, and with doom looming ahead for the unprepared, weakness spells certain death.

To defy those inevitable death flags, bulking up my power was my sole path forward.

Each spared minute meant more time for rigorous training.

Darkness blanketed the night, but my eyesight held strong, thanks to the enhanced physique from that wondrous fruit I'd consumed earlier. The real challenge lay in navigating the dense forest, where even sharp vision struggled to pierce the shadows ahead.

"If I don't remember wrong there should be a river nearby"

My immediate aim was to spot the river cascading straight from the Clayton ridge's tallest summit.

'For thy that seek the way of the sword follow the road flowing through the highest peak'

While tackling a dungeon, the protagonist uncovered three ancient scrolls placed side by side, one bearing those exact words.

Initially puzzled by the scroll's message, the protagonist later deciphered it with a companion's help. Unfortunately, by then he'd already mastered the [Levisha style] sword art, rendering it moot.

That suited me perfectly, since I favored the [Keiki style] anyway.

To put it simply, the scroll directed the protagonist along the river originating from the Clayton ridge's highest peak. 'Road' paired with 'flowing' hinted at a river, while 'highest peak' pointed to the loftiest mountain in human lands, found in the Clayton ridge.

That precise river was what I hunted for now.

The river didn't elude me for long, though sheer fatigue hit by the time I reached it. Over 18 hours nonstop, I'd guess. Despite my urge to push on, my body rebelled, forcing me to set up camp beside the river.

These last two days packed more exertion than my entire previous decade combined. Such intense physical demands were unprecedented for me; even with condensed mana bolstering my frame, my mind frayed, thoughts slowing with every grueling step.

First order upon reaching the river: top off my water bottle. I'd rationed sips to conserve supply, but that caution proved unnecessary.

===

Title : Compressed water bottle

Rank : (G+)

Description : Water bottle with the ability to store up to 50 liters of water without affecting the weight

===

This bottle held a whopping 50 liters of water.

Talk about incredible!

I snagged this gem at the train station before heading to the Clayton ridge, and it exceeded all expectations.

Beyond its 50-liter capacity, cutting-edge tech slashed the contents' weight by tenfold, so a full bottle tipped the scales at just 5kg.

That weight-reduction perk was essential—who wants a 50-liter bottle too heavy to lift?

What truly floored me about the water bottle wasn't just the tech; it was the bargain price tag.

Merely 20 U.

U stood for Union, the currency circulating in this world, tied to the Union—the prime human oversight body, an alliance of pre-second cataclysm's top nations, second only to the central government.

The Union reigned as humanity's leading force in the domain, answerable solely to the central government.

No guild, no matter its size, dares to defy the Union's authority, as clashing with them would bring total annihilation. Boasting the largest assembly of S-ranked heroes, the Union reigns as humanity's colossal pinnacle.

The Union's true dread doesn't come from merely holding the highest count of S-ranked Heroes.

No

It stems from their leaders.

The 'seven heads of the Union'

Every one wielding strength that eclipses S rank, surging into the fabled SS rank.

Right now, just 15 SS-rank Heroes grace the human domain, with 7 aligned to the Union, establishing it as the supreme force there.

Each head claims a single-digit position in the Hero rankings, which highlight humanity's elite warriors.

Established by the central government, the Hero system assesses individuals by their feats and prowess.

Meant to drive people toward greater power, this system grants fame alongside annual cash rewards to the top-ranked Heroes.

After the second cataclysm, humanity fractured into Heroes and villains.

Villains stand as those judged by their perpetrated crimes.

Bounties from the central government target every villain's head, growing steeper with higher villain ranks.

True villainy demands signing a pact with a demon—a lifelong oath of service swapped for a share of demonic might.

Amid their clashes with various races, demons foster enemy discord by empowering power-hungry followers, relentlessly sapping their rivals' strength.

This timeless tactic has thrust demons into universal dominance as a race.

Battling demonic threats from without and within, solely the Union tenuously holds humanity's power equilibrium.

I currently carry 250 U, though my parents could supply more if needed.

I neglected to note earlier, but upon reincarnating here, I gained a mother, father, and two-year-old sister. Crucially, my father apparently leads a mid-small guild named 'Galxicus'.

Lacking any memory of featuring this guild in my novel, only two possibilities arise: it's too minor for the plot, or my reincarnation sparked a butterfly effect birthing Galxicus. I much prefer the first, since the alternative spells story deviations and unwelcome unknowns.

With a sigh, I retrieved a small cube from my bag, pressed the button atop it, and hurled it to the ground.

-Sham!

In an instant, the cube ballooned into a spacious blue tent roughly one room in size.

As the cube seamlessly expanded before me, a gasp of wonder escaped my lips.

====

Title : Compressed tent

Rank : (G+)

Description : Crafted from Blood-curling bat hide, a 2 meters squared tent deploys with one button press.

====

It's incredibly cool.

Back in my old world, I'd have camped endlessly with this—instant tent setup, skipping all the hassle.

Inspecting the tent's interior, I nodded in approval. Though bare, its space was impressive, easily accommodating over five people, or more if crammed. Plus, fashioned from a G-ranked blood-curling bat's skin, it outlasts regular plastic and rivals certain metals in toughness, rendering it an outstanding shelter.

Unrolling my sleeping gear, I settled cozily within the tent, shut my eyes, and from sheer fatigue, drifted off in mere seconds.

Come morning, having packed my gear and devoured an energy bar for breakfast, I pressed on toward the 5-star martial manual, following the riverbank.

Fortunately, I knew precisely what awaited me ahead. Unfortunately, the travel duration remained a complete mystery.

I had no choice but to regret my own laziness. During the travel scenes in my writing, I entirely overlooked key details like how long the protagonist walked, and at times I skipped them completely, simply having him reach the destination by cutting out the entire journey.

So, even with a cheat item I desperately wanted, I had no idea where to search because my lazy self never specified the location. I only mentioned the general region. Yet that proved pointless too, as some regions were so vast they'd take years to comb through. On top of that, I left out all the hidden dangers in the area, which made the odds of discovering the cheat item even lower.

You couldn't blame me entirely, though. Who would ever expect to get suddenly tossed into their own novel? Besides, I skipped those travel scenes because they were just too dull.

Coming to a halt, I fixed my gaze on a peculiar rock in front of me. Its unusual shape outlined a samurai holding a sword raised above its head. It only resembled one now, buried under moss and vines, so unless someone examined it closely, they'd never notice.

Naturally, I knew the reason for its appearance, since it wasn't truly a rock but a statue honoring Grandmaster Keiki.

With the passage of time, the statue had gradually worn away, turning it into what looked like a bizarrely shaped rock to any passersby.

I sat down and spread out a small cloth to sit on.

"And now we just wait"

I awaited the sunset, because only then would the exact direction become clear. Grandmaster Keiki had created the statue while alive, designing it so that at every sunset, it indicated the location of his tomb.

From here, I followed exactly what I had written about locating Grandmaster Keiki's tomb.

To begin with, the protagonist never came here at all, since he picked the [Levisha style] instead of the [Keiki style], meaning this was the very first visit by anyone.

It wasn't long before the sun began its descent, and right as it positioned directly over the statue, a golden beam shot out from the sword's tip. Tracing the beam's path, I roughly figured it aimed northwest toward a large yet unassuming tree far in the distance.

"Bingo!"

Grinning broadly, I quickly memorized the tree's spot and bolted toward it.

The sun requires about 150 to 200 seconds to fully set. That gave me just that brief window to dash from the statue to the tree—or at least near it—which stood at least a kilometer from my position.

Fail to get close by sunset, and I'd lose the tree instantly, since beyond being a bit taller than others, it matched every surrounding tree perfectly.

Without the statue pointing straight at the tree, I never would've known the way.

"Huff, Huff, Huff"

Reaching it with labored breaths, I collapsed in front of the tree.

Exhaustion overwhelmed me. I'd charged at top speed across uneven ground until arriving right before the tree.

By arrival, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, but it didn't matter—I'd achieved my goal.

"Now what should I do?"

Despite being the author, I was completely lost on the next step, having never written any scene of the protagonist entering Grandmaster Keiki's tomb. I didn't even know if traps or trials waited inside.

All I knew for sure was that the tomb lay somewhere around this tree before me.

Examining the tree closely, I spotted a root jutting from the soil. Grasping it, I felt it was much looser than the other roots anchored solidly into the earth.

Without hesitation, I yanked the root with all my strength.

-Snap!

A sharp crack rang out as the root tore free from the ground, uncovering a narrow hole big enough for one person.

Hurling the root aside, I quickly crawled into the small hole.

Upon entering, the first thing that struck me was how the interior of the tree above proved hollow, with a single rope hanging from the top.

-Gulp

Tracing my gaze along it, I couldn't help swallowing hard upon seeing the rope stretch from the tree's summit all the way down into a pitch-black, seemingly bottomless pit at the ground's center.

Peering into the hole, cold sweat trickled down my back, for it really appeared to have no end.

Summoning my resolve, I gripped the rope tightly and began a cautious descent into the hole.

One hour, two hours, three hours, five hours—by the moment my hands turned completely numb, I'd utterly lost track of the time spent descending that rope.

The searing burn in my arms and core had begun from the nonstop effort of sliding down the rope, and in no time at all, even my mental resolve started crumbling away.

Yet, no matter the intense suffering I faced, I gritted through the agony and pressed on, continuing my descent into the deep hole.