Subscriber of the Gods

“You cleared it? All twelve trials, you mean?”

“Yes, it was certainly difficult, but I cleared them well, using your advice as a guide, Hercules.”

Starting with the thousand-eyed Argus, he hunted numerous monsters including the man-eating lion, the Hydra, and the golden-horned deer.

The difficulty was extreme, but by firmly controlling his instinct and reason, he was able to overcome all trials.

And as a result, Hero’s Breathing became completely Ethan’s technique.

‘The Hero’s Breathing I’ve been using until now was actually less than half efficient.’

What’s half?

In fact, it was at a level that didn’t even reach 30%. He clearly realized through this trial that it had literally remained at a mere taste.

‘It’s not for nothing that it’s Hercules’ technique. Probably, there’s a high chance I’m not using other techniques properly either.’

Upon hearing Ethan’s words that he had cleared all the trials, Hercules immediately checked the ranking system.

This trial he created had a ranking system called the Hall of Gods, and by looking at that ranking system, he could see how the subscriber cleared the trials.

After confirming the results, Hercules looked at Ethan with a puzzled expression.

“Are you sure you’re human? Aren’t you already a transcendent god?”

It was an overwhelming performance that made even Hercules doubt.

Among the existing subscribers, there were quite a few who had perfected this Hero’s Breathing.

They, too, had cleared the twelve trials.

“To break all the records of that Plum Blossom Sword Master. And with quite a gap too.”

The one who was registered as 1st place before Ethan was a subscriber with the nickname Plum Blossom Sword Master.

That subscriber was the one who used Hero’s Breathing best among Hercules’ subscribers.

But now that ranking had changed.

“Now you’ve taken first place!”

Hercules raised his club towards Ethan.

“You’ve admirably overcome all the trials. You’ve earned the right to use Hero’s Breathing perfectly.”

With Hercules’ words, numerous notification windows began to appear in front of Ethan.

-You have perfectly cleared Hercules’ Twelve Trials!

-Your name will be engraved in the Hall of Gods.

-Hero’s Breathing proficiency has reached 100%!

-Hero’s Breathing has been perfected.

-The technique has been completed.

-Immortal [Hero’s Breathing] [MASTER]

“I clearly understood your words, Sir Hercules, to maintain reason but follow instinct.”

Hero’s Breathing was originally a technique that gave a great sense of elation to the body.

‘That’s why I suppressed it even more.’

He had suppressed it tightly because if he gave in to the elation, he might be captured by that wildness.

‘But that might have been suppressing Hero’s Breathing instead.’

From Ethan’s sparkling eyes, Hercules could see that he had definitely understood Hero’s Breathing.

“It seems you can now fully control the wildness of Hero’s Breathing. To draw it out or calm it as you wish.”

Hercules grinned.

“I’ll give you a definite reward for passing the trials while completely overturning the Hall’s records. Is there a reward you want?”

-You can choose to learn one of Hercules’ techniques.

-Choose that technique from Hercules’ legendary tales.

Hercules’ legends began to unfold before Ethan’s eyes.

‘There are three skills I can learn in total?’

-1. In the war of the gods, Hercules defeated the enemy with archery that reached the sky. You can learn that archery. [Learn Hercules Archery (S).]

-2. To help a friend, he subdued Thanatos, the god of death, with his bare hands and revived the dead. Even if you reach the brink of death, all physical abilities are maintained at their best. [Learn Death Contempt (S).]

-3. Numerous beasts and monsters were hunted by Hercules. You can learn Hercules’ perfect hunting skills. [Monsters’ Calamity is upgraded and replaced with Perfect Hunter (S).]

‘Oh, the second skill could synergize with Cheok Jun-gyeong’s Reversal of Disadvantage?’

Ethan chose the second without hesitation.

-You have learned Death Contempt!

-Skill added: Death Contempt (S)

It wasn’t a skill that completely overcame death, but as described, it was undoubtedly a powerful skill that could seek a chance for reversal in the face of death.

“You’ve chosen a good technique. It’s a technique that allows you to fight with your best strength regardless of your body’s condition. I created it inspired by when I subdued Thanatos, the god of death.”

After explaining Death Contempt, Hercules glanced around and subtly spoke to Ethan.

“By the way, subscriber, I heard you’re making something called edited videos.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

“Perhaps…”

Before Hercules could get to the point, Ethan beat him to it.

“I’ll make it for you. Actually, Sir Hercules was the first one I wanted to make an edited video for.”

“Really!”

Hercules brightened up at Ethan’s words and said,

“I can’t just take it for free! I’ll give you one more collaboration right. If you ever have something to ask me, feel free to come anytime!”

***

After finishing the collaboration with Hercules, Ethan recalled his experience from the trials.

‘I didn’t know Hero’s Breathing was such an amazing technique.’

While clearing the twelve trials, he learned more clearly about how to utilize Hero’s Breathing.

Basically, the trait of this Hero’s Breathing was momentary physical enhancement.

‘If you think about it, it’s similar to Counter-Radiance, but the duration is much longer than Counter-Radiance.’

Moreover, even the effect was different. While Counter-Radiance draws out powerful strength by exhaling, Hero’s Breathing played the role of hardening the entire body by inhaling.

“Thanks to the man-eating lion, I learned. Depending on how you inhale, you can strengthen the desired part as much as you want.”

By inhaling briefly, he could strengthen the desired part.

In other words, if the strength spread throughout the body was 100, and each part had 10, 20, etc., you could gather 100 strength in one place through breathing.

“And.”

Ethan grinned and drew his sword.

“I’ve been able to harmonize the Cheok Shin Sword Technique.”

Ethan swung his sword right there. Unlike before, the much more refined swordsmanship now felt even mysterious.

On top of that, frost and lightning spread simultaneously.

Of course, it couldn’t be considered perfect swordsmanship.

There were many rough parts, not to mention many areas that needed to be corrected through actual combat.

But Ethan was definitely able to achieve the harmony of Cheok Shin Sword Technique and Frost Thunder Swordsmanship that he wanted.

‘There’s still a long way to go, but it feels like I’ve advanced about three steps.’

“As expected, people grow in times of crisis.”

Especially if it’s a crisis of death.

Ethan put away the sword he was swinging and pondered for a moment.

He wanted to name this newly created swordsmanship.

“Frost Thunder Swordsmanship was actually a bit long.”

There’s no need for it to be a long name.

“It’s better to keep it simple.”

It was Ethan himself who combined the three sword techniques.

“Ethan Swordsmanship.”

It was the birth of Ethan Swordsmanship, which combined only the advantages of Cheok Shin Sword Technique and Frost Thunder Swordsmanship.

-Cheok Shin Swordsmanship and Frost Thunder Swordsmanship is fusing!

-A new swordsmanship is born!

-Ethan Swordsmanship [S]

-Proficiency is carried over.

Ethan grinned as he looked at the notification window.

In fact, Sword Technique Fusion isn’t easy, but Ethan had already done this difficult task twice.

“I should get it checked.”

Ethan immediately requested a subscriber collaboration with Hang Woo. As a premium subscriber, it wasn’t too difficult to receive collaboration rights.

-God Hang Woo’s collaboration right is granted.

Boom-!

As soon as he used Hang Woo’s collaboration right, a thunderous sound was heard, and then the surrounding scenery changed.

Hang Woo’s space was a castle.

It was a huge castle with an extremely high ceiling, and Hang Woo was sitting on the throne of that castle.

“Nice to meet you, [Only subscribed to the right gods] subscriber.”

Hang Woo was a man with a bushy beard and a generally reddish tinge.

He had similar features to Cheok Jun-gyeong and Hercules, whom he had met earlier, but his build was much smaller than those two.

However, the aura emanating from his entire body seemed even more intense than the two gods.

‘It’s hard to move properly because of the aura.’

Since the gods he had met before were incredibly strong in their own ways, Ethan thought he had made the right choice in subscribing to them.

On top of that, Hang Woo showed an aura surpassing the two gods, so Ethan expected that this god in front of him would also lead him to a higher level.

“I was quite pleased when you requested a collaboration right from me. Actually.”

Hang Woo grinned and said.

“I wanted to fight.”

“Perhaps the collaboration content is…”

“Yes, it’s a duel. Simple. All the teachings I can give can be learned through dueling. There’s a saying, right? About engraving it on your body. I can do exactly that.”

Hang Woo clenched his fists tightly. Then, intense energy swirled around his hands.

It was in the form of red lightning, and its appearance was quite overwhelming.

In that state, he asked.

“Do you want something else?”

It meant that if Ethan wanted a different method, he could accommodate it.

But Ethan raised the corners of his mouth and shook his head.

“That’s exactly what I wanted, Sir Hang Woo.”

Swish-!

Suddenly, a spear appeared in Hang Woo’s hand. It was a very simple long spear.

But the end wasn’t sharp, it was blunt.

“Then shall we begin? Ah, don’t feel insulted that it’s a training spear. This is enough. And this isn’t just a simple duel.”

“It’s education and training, right?”

Hang Woo nodded at Ethan’s words.

“That’s right. Now, tell me. What did you want when you requested the collaboration? What did you come to train? Is it Counter-Radiance that you learned from me? Or Supreme Resilience? Or…”

Hang Woo took his stance.

“All of the above?”

“I’ve combined all the sword techniques I’ve learned to create a new sword technique. It’s a sword technique that fits me perfectly. I’d like you to take a look at it, Sir Hang Woo.”

“Hmm, you’re curious about how strong it is, how complete it is?”

“Yes.”

Hang Woo nodded and then flourished his long spear magnificently.

The sight of the long spear moving like another limb was enough to make anyone’s spirit falter just by looking at it.

However, in Ethan’s mind, there was only Ethan Swordsmanship.

How effective would his swordsmanship be against Hang Woo?

If it doesn’t work, what more can he fix here? How should he fix it?

Ethan’s mind was full of the completeness and points for improvement of Ethan Swordsmanship.

“Impressive concentration. Alright, I’ll take a look. I’ll do it as thoroughly as the gratitude I’ve received from you. Come at me with all your might.”

-The collaboration content with the subscriber begins.

-Content name: [Duel with Hang Woo]

Author's Thoughts

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