Ending Maker

Chapter 77.1 – Unexpected Encounter

This is the longest chapter up to date, as it’s twice the length of a normal chapter, so I split it in half again.

Terms used in this chapter:

Female sage – Also known as Taoist fairy, female immortal, and angel/fairy but in the Korean traditional style. I’ll use ‘female sage’ to differentiate it from the fairies and fairy queens of the series.

Multi-class – It means having multiple classes or jobs in games.

Ga?l and Adelia tried to leave for the Gentle Snow Breeze village, but things didn’t go as planned.

Because the terrain of the wild lands could be compared with the vast ocean.

“Even if there’s a map, outsiders are likely to get lost. Please wait a little longer. I will send messengers to the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, so go with them…yes.”

Violent Avalanche said, tapping its stomach as it leaned its body in a comfortable-looking leather chair.

Next to Violent Avalanche was Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe.

“Jude and Cordelia. Our benefactors and friends. You, their brothers and sisters, are also our friends. So we’ll help. But wait.”

When Red Gale awkwardly spoke in the continent’s language, Adelia frowned and looked back at Ga?l, and he appeased Adelia with a smile as they couldn’t help it.

“Red Gale, can you tell us when the messengers will leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“I understand. We will wait until tomorrow morning then.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Ga?l responded with a smile to Red Gale before he left with Adelia, who still had a slightly dissatisfied expression on her face.

“Lord Ga?l, would it be all right?”

“I’m also very worried…but one way or another, this is the land of the barbarians. We know little of this place, so it would be nice to receive their help. We’ll arrive there sooner if we’re with them.”

“Eh…it would be nice if we could leave this afternoon.”

“They’re already doing us a favor. At this point, it would be better if we concede and let them be.”

Ga?l gently spoke again, and Adelia nodded her head.

It was quite strange. If her aide, Oron, or her fellow Magic Corps head, Catan, had said something like that, she would have opposed it.

But when Ga?l spoke, she felt like following him.

“For now, let’s go to our tent and relieve our fatigue from travel. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? I’ll brew you some tea that’s good for recovery from fatigue.”

“Yes, Lord Ga?l.”

Adelia replied with a broad smile unconsciously but was soon embarrassed, and Ga?l who saw Adelia’s bright smile for the first time was also embarrassed.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

‘Beau…tiful.’

And then.

Violent Avalanche clicked its tongue after it saw Ga?l and Adelia came to a halt outside the door because of their embarrassment.

“They’re just alike. They’re similar.”

Violent Avalanche clicked its tongue again as it remembered the crazy couple.

The siblings resembled each other as Violent Avalanche expected.

***

In a place where the white snowfield spread out endlessly…

Cordelia was sending Jude a gaze that resembled Violent Avalanche rather than Adelia.

“Sometimes, I don’t know if you’re smart or stupid.”

“Huhu…”

Jude and Cordelia were trudging along the snowfield.

Rather than specifically going somewhere, they were moving to find a place to rest for the day.

“This is really tough, so tough.”

The reason for her criticism was simple.

Because Jude, who used the Black Wind’s Advent while carrying Cordelia, was too excited.

As he focused only on running, they went off their initial route for a long time, and their problem now was that they weren’t sure how far off they were from the original route.

Even if he had a compass and map, the scale of the map wasn’t accurate in the first place, so they couldn’t find their way back easily.

Fortunately, constellations appeared at night, and how to use the constellations to go to Raptor Canyon was a fact that he learned from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe.

‘If you go straight in the direction of the Big Axe, you’ll eventually find it.’

It was the teaching of Fine Snow.

“But Jude.”

“Stop blaming me, please.”

“It’s not that. It’s just because I suddenly have a question.”

“What is it?”

When Jude turned around and asked, Cordelia naturally stretched her arms forward.

Jude’s eyes narrowed at once, since he knew what that posture meant.

“Hey, you said you have a question.”

“My legs hurt too.”

“My princess, haven’t you been walking less on your own feet lately?”

“But I have a Daddy who became stronger from leveling up.”

“My princess should be independent too. Until when will you be carried in your Daddy’s arms?”

“Then Cordelia will be a kangaroo.”

“…I’m not even your real dad, but I feel terrible. I suddenly miss father-in-law.”

T/N: Jude is calling Count Chase as father-in-law even if he’s still not married to Cordelia. Don’t ask me why…that’s just how it was written in the series. I’m not sure if Koreans call their future wife’s father as father-in-law already if they’re still engaged.

“Anyway, just give me a piggyback ride. Good job getting lost, this is your blunder, right?”

“It is.”

“Then quickly.”

Jude eventually handed the backpack to Cordelia, and Cordelia carried the backpack before she got on Jude’s back.

“So what are you curious about?”

When Jude asked as he adjusted Cordelia’s position, she grabbed his shoulder and said.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to lift me up if I added a handle here?”

“Hey, were you really curious about something?”

“Yes, I am. First of all, the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors. You said you saw a female sage?”

“I saw one.”

It was the woman that he saw in that world in his mind.

Jude was able to learn two skills from her, the Black Dragon’s Ascent, and the Black Wind’s Advent.

“Will the female sage appear and teach you new skills whenever you open a door in the future?”

“Perhaps?”

“Good, good. You finally have a proper skill/tech tree. I like it.”

Unlike Cordelia whose chosen skill tree lets her instantly learn new magic after leveling up, Jude’s growth route had been somewhat vague so far.

“I feel more certain now.”

Every time he raised the level of Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, he would be able to learn new martial arts.

His existing martial arts would also be strengthened.

“But Jude. Did Landius not tell you this?”

“Master…maybe he didn’t see her.”

“The female sage?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Because the female sage hates macho men?”

“You don’t truly mean that, right?”

“No. Is it because of Cheonmujiche then?”

“Maybe.”

Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was a divine skill that only those with Cheonmujiche can fully master it.

Therefore, Landius could not fully learn the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors even though he awakened the power of giants through the Ancestral Regression technique.

‘He was able to reach the seventh door because he awakened the power of the giants.’

When he opened the third door at that time, Jude realized it.

Even though Jude had Cheonmujiche, his body needed to be stronger in order to open a new door.

That need became higher as new doors were opened, so someone who didn’t have Cheonmujiche would need a far more powerful body in order to learn Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.

‘When I think about it, he’s really amazing.’

It meant that he opened up to the seventh door through force.

It had indeed become possible for him because of the support of his tremendous physical abilities.

‘It must be the reason why he talked about muscle loss.’

Without those colossal muscles, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.

“Hohoho, but my Jude has Cheonmujiche. Good, good. I like it.”

Cordelia happily laughed and said as she ruffled Jude’s hair.

“But Jude.”

“Yes.”

“You actually learned Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors by chance, right? Because you met Master Landius.”

“Yes.”

“Then, how did you originally intend to be strong?”

In the original story, Jude learned Count Bayer’s martial arts and became an orthodox swordsman.

However, Jude had left his house much earlier than the original, so he could only learn a part of Count Bayer’s martial arts.

“Originally?”

“Yes, originally.”

“I was thinking of copying parts of Count Bayer’s martial arts and learning Red Gale’s martial arts in the barbarian lands.”

After all, Jude had a heavenly talent for martial arts.

It wasn’t impossible for him to steal and learn others’ martial arts if he was determined to do so.

Moreover, Lucas was very friendly with Jude.

“I was thinking of learning from Red Gale in return for saving Red Wind.”

“What an omnivore.”

“Because I was thinking of learning the King’s Swordsmanship in the future anyway.”

In Legend of Heroes 2, this was the ancient swordsmanship that the main character Maximilian inherited.

But Jude had changed his mind now.

“In the last expansion pack, Jude must have eventually learned the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors. However, since I learned the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors much earlier, I no longer have to find it. Moreover, there’s Landius and Kamael, right?”

“Yin and Yang energies.”

“And a Yin-Yang Body that can incorporate both into one body.”

He was in situation where he had learned much from the martial arts side already.

If it weren’t for the big events where he needed to intervene such as Lena’s rescue and stopping the Angry Bull tribe, Jude would have followed and trained under Landius or Kamael.

“In addition, while developing the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors as a foundation…I was thinking of getting a sub-job too.”

“You want to be a multi-class?”

“Yes, I want to improve my scroll production skills.”

Although Jude was already good in drawing scrolls or magic circles, it was mostly limited to basic magic.

One needed a corresponding magic ability in order to add high-ranking magic spells in scrolls.

“Hmm, that’s good. You’ve put enough thought on how to become stronger. Noona is very happy that her Jude is growing well.”

Cordelia patted and stroked Jude’s hair, and Jude quietly accepted her stroking.

Because it felt strangely good.

The two talked for a long time like that.

When Jude and Cordelia reached the top of the hill, they both looked at the same place.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A man dressed in white clothes was running like crazy on the white snowfield.

It was a place where there were no people in the first place, so instead of crying for help, he was just screaming.

And right behind that man.

A giant monster was running on the snow, making the ground shake with its every step.

“Wow, is that a White Giant Bear? So that’s what it looks like before it was corrupted.”

“It’s bigger than I thought though?”

It looked to be around six meters tall.

“I suppose we’ll have to save him, right?”

“Because we don’t refuse quests.”

Cordelia jumped down from behind Jude’s back, and Jude stretched out his waist and slightly loosened the muscles of his hands and feet.

“He runs well.”

“You’re right.”

Despite his short limbs, the man who was running away was quite a few feet away, or rather, he was really fast.

That was why Jude and Cordelia didn’t rush right in.

“But don’t you think we’ve seen him somewhere?”

“He has short limbs but is incredibly fast.”

“Dwarf.”

“Black beard and bald head.”

“Ah, his hat flew away.”

The running man’s hat flew away, and they were able to see his bald head shining under the sun.

“Maybe it’s him.”

“Indiana Kaplan.”

“An adventurer and archeologist of the Argon Empire.”

“A man whose bad luck is strong. Troublemaker. One who attracts misfortune.”

He was a great man who had explored numerous ruins and had brilliant achievements, but he was also a man who was always in trouble, just like his nickname.

Because of this, he was one of the NPCs that the beginners of Legend of Heroes 2 should avoid meeting once.

But not for the rotten waters Jude and Cordelia.

On the contrary, he was a very welcome figure.

“So he was here at this point.”

“Uh…then, wouldn’t he still live if we didn’t save him here?”

“I’m not sure about that. Anyway, let’s save him. He’s really going to be killed at this rate.”

Cordelia let down the backpack, and Jude kicked the ground. He immediately cried out to Cordelia, who caught up with him using magic.

“I’ll show you something good!”

“Bullsh*t!”

However, Jude saw that Cordelia’s eyes were twinkling in anticipation. Moreover, there were still new skills that Jude had not shown to Cordelia.

“Take care of Kaplan!”

“Okay!”

Jude and Cordelia moved as swift as an arrow.

As they passed through the snowfield with a strong whirlwind, Kaplan and the White Giant Bear, who were in a breathless chase, turned to the two.

“Huu…”

Jude exhaled. At that moment, he spurred on the ground and used the Black Wind’s Advent, and the black wind’s swirling motion blocked White Giant Bear’s view.

“Kuooooo!”

The White Giant Bear who was chasing Kaplan on all fours, jumped up and roared. However, it couldn’t see Jude despite widening its view.

The monster was wondering what had happened.

The White Giant Bear hurriedly looked around.

At that very moment, Cordelia grabbed Kaplan’s arm and looked up at the sky with an exclamation.

“Oh?”

The black wind soared into the sky.

In a place that was over a dozen meters away, Jude landed on the ground. And he stretched out his hand towards the White Giant Bear.

Thereby releasing it from his hand.

A dragon’s roar shook the air around them!

Roaaaaaaaaar-!

The black dragon’s force was released. With its mouth wide open as if it were a real dragon, it charged and swallowed the head of the White Giant Bear.

Boooooom!

The White Giant Bear collapsed with a loud noise. However, the Black Dragon’s power did not stop. It didn’t stop crushing the monster as it shook the ground. The snow that were within a dozen meter radius were scattered at once by the intense airwaves, exposing the ground.

“Wow.”

At the time when Cordelia admired its earth-shattering power, Kaplan opened his mouth in surprise.

Jude landed on the chest of the fainted White Giant Bear.

As it was the first time he used his new skill, it consumed more than half of his inner Qi due to him excessively allocating power to it, but he was satisfied with the result.

“What do you think?”

At Jude’s question, Cordelia replied with applause.

But the time for the two to enjoy it was too short. Because the ground suddenly began shaking despite the fact that the Black Dragon’s Ascent had already ended.

“Jude?”

“Kaplan.”

Jude said, and Cordelia’s eyes widely opened.

Troublemaker Kaplan.

A man of bad luck who makes a bolt of lightning fall even when the sky is clear.

“F*ck.”

At the end of Cordelia’s swearing…

The ground collapsed.

They all began to fall down.