By Zephyria 
They all sat in a circle.
The monsters turned into zombies had hides four to five times tougher than their original ones. Since it wasn’t just one type of zombie but a mix of several, many would likely squeeze between the legs or bodies of others to attack. Zombies were creatures whose severed heads would roll around and bite people. If one had to cut and crush them one by one, it was common to get their feet tied up and be unable to move.
Of course, if I unleashed my energy in a single point as I did when defeating the Sandworm, I could likely take care of the hundreds of zombies right before me. The Sandworm, which was so tough, was cut in half; Steel Corpses would be crushed without a trace. Crossing over them wouldn’t be difficult, though perhaps disgusting.
However, the problem was that my internal energy was not infinite.
If my internal energy ran out, I would be useless.
Thinking that the children could get seriously hurt, my heart sank. No matter how much I pondered, I lacked confidence, so I spoke weakly.
“To be honest, when I fought the Sandworm last time, I used four-fifths of my remaining internal energy. Even though I didn’t unleash a great attack before then…”
“Four-fifths? In mq, how much is that?”
That one attack consumed three gapja of energy. In terms of internal energy alone, it was a little less than two gapja.
However, internal energy isn’t measured by weight, and each mind method has its own way of circulating it. Quantifying mana numerically was always difficult and arduous. Flustered, I stammered out my words.
“Uh… well, um… 1000 mq… no, I’m not sure, uh… it might not be, I don’t really know.”
“Mmm. Keep talking.”
After clearing my throat three or four times out of embarrassment, I continued.
“In any case, it was an attack that could achieve that much effect because I unleashed my sword strike with all my might, to the extent that I wouldn’t be a hindrance if I collapsed. Even if I conserved my internal energy by controlling the direction, I have at most six uses.”
“…Six times. And what about that, Breathing and regulating energy, or whatever it’s called?”
“During Breathing and regulating energy, if there’s interference from the surroundings, one sustains internal damage…”
As I answered, shaking my head, Ruben immediately looked straight at me.
“What about the Hip-Circulate Method?”
“…That.”
Ruben, Benjamin, and I learned the same Dynamic qi technique with the help of Douglas Mustang. The ability to accumulate internal energy while moving was a tremendous advantage. Thanks to that, I could build up internal energy at a rapid pace with little effort from the moment I reached the Widdrow Duchy.
But with monsters swarming right in front of me, how could it be easy to insert something else into the mind method I had used for decades?
While walking, or while internal energy was constantly being consumed, the Hip-Circulate Method did replenish a certain amount of internal energy, but it was significantly less than Breathing and regulating energy. Whenever I wanted to quickly regulate my body, I took breaks to perform Breathing and regulating energy to overcome crises.
Therefore, I had never experimented to see how much internal energy could be accumulated using only the Hip-Circulate Method. Unable to answer, I hesitated, then stood up.
Walking in one direction, I guided my internal energy in the direction I had memorized. I could feel internal energy accumulating even as I swung my limbs.
I then unleashed Sword energy, slashing through the air. While drawing the sword, even with Dynamic qi, internal energy did not accumulate. Energy flows in one direction.
However, it was different immediately after retracting the Sword energy. A sigh escaped my lips.
“…”
“What. Can’t you do it?”
“It does… accumulate. But at this rate… to fully replenish my energy like before after expending it all, it would take half a day.”
“Half a day. In terms of time?”
“…Five hours. During combat, it might take a little longer.”
Hugh Benson looked up at the sky for a moment, his face filled with despair, and covered his eyes with one hand.
“How many days are left until the New Year?”
“12 days left.”
Leon answered without hesitation. Mercenaries, accustomed to calculating payment by the day, were skilled at counting dates. I had lived without counting dates for a while, so it felt new.
Today is December… the 19th. Is Ranunculus on the way to the Sanctuary, or has he already arrived and is waiting for us?
Hugh Benson continued to count on his fingers as if calculating something. The furrow in his brow did not smooth out.
“12 days. …12 days…”
“Right now, we are within the Oasis’s domain, so the zombies don’t recognize us, but it will be different once we go outside. The zombies outside the domain chased us with blind directionality.”
“Even going out with full stamina… my arms started to get numb after three hours. If combat continues at this intensity, we too… twenty hours? At most, we’ll last a day.”
“Of course, the Counts can fight longer than us…”
As the mercenaries voiced their concerns, they deliberately looked only at Hugh Benson. They didn’t look anywhere else.
However, everyone understood the unspoken words. It was common knowledge that mages were weak in close combat. Therefore, Marianne had to be in a protected position. Rubel and Benjamin, who were not Sword Masters, wouldn’t last long either.
Those who have something to protect in such a breakthrough battle tend to be hesitant. It was natural for the path ahead to seem dark when thinking about advancing at their pace, with them in between.
Ruben gently placed the tip of his index finger on my wrist. It wasn’t the child’s fault. I clasped his fingers with my other hand. I worried if the child now regretted following me.
Marianne thought for a long time and then lifted her head sharply.
“That Sword energy attack. You mean you can use it six times consecutively?”
“Yes.”
“What about using it once, then charging, then using it again?”
“…Huh? No, that’s impossible.”
“It’s not possible? Why not?”
“Well.”
Why not? Because if I fought while unleashing Sword energy during Breathing and regulating energy, I would fall into Cultivation Deviation…
No, that’s not it. What I had newly learned was Dynamic qi. The subsequent questions were things I had never considered. Lost in thought, I answered absentmindedly.
“Mikael, he cuts zombies with Sword energy on his sword almost as if he’s breathing. Have you ever thought that would cause problems?”
“…That… no. I haven’t.”
“Now, if you think about using the Hip-Circulate Method and cutting Sword energy intermittently, is the amount of mana used greater, or is the amount of mana accumulated greater?”
That…
I didn’t originally cut Sword energy intermittently.
The blue light that enveloped my sword when I swung it was because my internal energy had a blue hue. I knew that those with little controllable energy, or those who didn’t want to be noticed, would unleash Sword energy only at the moment the sword touched the target.
Instead of calculating it mentally, I immediately swung my sword to check.
And I was surprised. What accumulated… was more than what was lost.
As an Imperial Sword Master, not a Transcendent Peak Central Plains native, I imbued the Dualities of the Way into my sword, which I had used conventionally. At some point, I reached a state of unity where I no longer needed to distinguish between internal energy and aura, a fact I had completely forgotten.
I used an equal amount of aura as internal energy simultaneously. In my past life, I used only half the energy compared to how I used internal energy, so even when I thought I was using the sword the same way, I had reserves.
Even when chased by the Troll, I could still unleash Sword energy until the very end, even though I was exhausted from not eating or sleeping. And I still had some stamina left. Thanks to that, I even had the presence of mind to secretly go out and get Ruben’s birthday present, didn’t I?
After I answered, Marianne traced the sand on the floor with her index finger, urging me for the next answer.
“How long does it take to replenish the internal energy consumed after using the new technique just once?”
“That… about twenty minutes… it might not take that long…”
“What about three times?”
“Around two hours…”
Completely emptying the Dantian versus adding energy to an already sufficiently full Dantian… naturally, the latter was easier. The larger the energy became, the more energy it accumulated.
I felt like I understood what Marianne wanted to say, but not quite.
“Last time you used the new technique, how many meters did you cut? I couldn’t see well because of the dust.”
“About 150m? No, it felt like it was slightly less than 160.”
“It seemed like about 8 meters behind and 140 meters in front were completely sliced. Anything further was a bit spread out? Bent? It wasn’t really an attack.”
Answers came from various places even without me responding. Most of those who watched from far behind at the time were Sword Masters. They had eyes capable of easily piercing through dust at that distance. Marianne asked, her eyes shining.
“Will it be the same next time?”
I know my own range best. I answered without hesitation.
“No. At that time, I excessively inflated my energy to cut the Sandworm’s carapace, which is why it was like that… If I use just enough power to crush Steel Corpses and lift my body to cut straight, I can cut close to 1km… Yes. Close to 1km in a straight line. If I unleash it even further ahead, I can control the residual force flowing to my back.”
“If we go like this: break through once, run, fight while it charges, then shoot once…”
Ruben quickly wrote several numbers on the floor and asked.
“From here, how many kilometers is three days’ journey?”
“Roughly a little less than 900km? Unlike last time, I was already planning for Marianne to ride on Benjamin’s back from the start. With the current number of people, even if one combatant is missing, we can defend all four directions, and three or four people can be assigned to non-combat roles.”
Hugh Benson answered.
After that, most of what Marianne and Ruben whispered to each other was incomprehensible to me.
Occasionally, names of mages I didn’t know were brought up as references. Assuming my mana consumption rate is X and my charging rate is Y… Marianne would recite a formula, and Ruben would multiply, add, and divide numbers according to a set formula.
Occasionally, Hugh Benson would add commentary, and the mercenaries would chime in, saying things like “this path requires going around because lava is boiling” or “that one is walkable,” or “originally, we avoided the sand swamp and traveled this way.”
Ruben smiled brightly and lifted his head.
“One week.”
“…Excuse me?”
“According to the calculations, it seems we can arrive in a week, Mika.”
I nodded blankly. It was a relief that we could arrive before the New Year.
But how?
Seeing my utterly bewildered expression, Marianne chattered beside me, adding.
“This time, the number of people has increased, so we’ll have combat rotations, and we’ve packed mostly simple meals, so we’ll take turns eating. There’s a limit to replenishing stamina with Restoration Magic, and we don’t know what might happen at the Sanctuary of the Sun.”
“…Ah.”
“I’m also going to use up all my Mana Stones to Memorize several large-scale spells in advance. It can cover up to plus or minus 10 in ambient Mana Concentration, so if we cast a few spells along the way, we should be able to get through it.”
“Ah… yes.”
…I don’t understand at all. Was I this foolish? Flustered, I looked around.
Only Marianne, Ruben, and Hugh looked happy, as if a great worry had been lifted. The rest smiled faintly with subtle expressions and nodded. They all hadn’t understood the middle part, had they? I also nodded with the same expression as them.
Then Marianne, with a vigorous voice, reiterated my task.
“Mikael, you will stand right behind the vanguard, conserve your strength, and break through in a straight line at the points we tell you. However, only for the distance I indicate each time you use the technique.”
“Why… is that again?”
“According to Mage Javelin’s mana recovery theory,”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll do as I’ve heard.”
Listening further would only make me dizzy. I waved my hand to refuse.
Marianne, despite being interrupted multiple times, did not lose her spirit. She just chattered cheerfully.
“In any case, I think we can arrive before Ranunculus leaves. Let’s do Breathing and regulating energy quickly. We’re leaving right away.”