I Will Be Unrivaled With The Skill [Sewing]! They Said It Was A Bad Skill, But With Effort, I will Make It A Hit~ - Chapter 112

Episode 112: Dawn

A full day was about to pass since Pheripatos began the battle.

Continuing her attacks against an opponent with absurd durability, he had finally begun to see a path to victory.

Pheripatos was glad the enemy didn’t have any healing abilities. Monsters were adept at drawing on the mana that overflowed from the “Gate,” and could use magic almost endlessly.

However, the Guardian Demon before him wasn’t the only one who could manipulate the ambient mana. Pheripatos had also mastered that same ability.

The Guardian Demon relentlessly layered its defenses using seemingly unlimited mana. Pheripatos matched that with equally endless attacks. Though the battle leaned in Pheripatos’s favor, he lacked a decisive finishing move.

It had been over ten years since Pheripatos reached Level 5, though it didn’t feel that long to him—because it took him an incredible amount of time to fully master his skills.

Normally, leveling up grants two new abilities.

One of them is what most call a “common skill.” Though exceptions exist, adventurers with the same skill tend to gain the same abilities upon leveling.
For example, with the 【Swordsmanship】 skill, nearly everyone receives the ability 【Swordsmanship II】 when they reach Level 2.

The other is often called an “individual skill,” though it’s more commonly referred to as a sub-skill. These are granted based on individual traits, and as one levels up, they tend to diverge more and more between individuals.
For instance, most who reach Level 2 with 【Swordsmanship】 gain the sub-skill 【Mighty Blade】, but by Level 3, the variations increase, and rare sub-skills begin to appear.

That’s how it usually goes.
But when Pheripatos reached Level 5, he received three abilities: a common skill, a sub-skill, and an extra skill.

Normally, when someone gains a new ability, they also acquire basic knowledge about how to use it. There’s always room for growth, but the fundamentals—like how to activate the skill—are typically included.

However, when Pheripatos received the extra skill 【Enjuuji】, he got nothing. The only information was its name. He had to figure everything else out himself.

Pheripatos began interviewing other Level 5 adventurers.
As it turned out, everyone gained an extra skill upon reaching Level 5. And every one of them was bewildered, having spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to use it.

One adventurer, considered top-tier at the time, said he had been Level 5 for quite some years but had only recently managed to master his extra skill. He had spent years honing himself and researching its usage.

He didn’t share what his skill was, but he did say that activation methods and conditions vary greatly—finding just one method doesn’t mean you’ve uncovered everything.

That inspired Pheripatos to experiment even more.

After acquiring the unprecedented skill 【Cross Blade】, he had experimented and refined his techniques all the way to Level 5. But after reaching that milestone, he had to go even further—pushing himself harder than ever before.

For the first few years, he made almost no progress with 【Cross Blade】. But by earnestly facing his skills and letting go of fixed ideas, he learned to draw out even more power from 【Cross Blade】.

Pheripatos came to understand.

He had always wondered why Level 5 adventurers were so proficient with their skills.
Now he knew—they had honed themselves to master their extra skills.

Pheripatos had a breakthrough during an assignment to investigate ancient ruins. He had accepted the request on a whim, but the ruins were rumored to date back to the mythic age—and there, he  encountered the Cross Blade.

The ruins had the symbol of the Cross Blade carved into them.

Pheripatos, who had only thought about battle until then, studied seriously for the first time.
It was nothing fancy—he just read books instead of giving up halfway, and spoke to people more knowledgeable than herself—but that alone was something he’d never done in her life before.

After that unfamiliar work, Pheripatos finally uncovered how to activate his extra skill.

Pheripatos had long awaited the opportunity to activate 【Cross Blade】.

As her intense back-and-forth with the Guardian Demon dragged on, night passed unnoticed, and now the sky was beginning to lighten.

Thanks to the prolonged battle, the enemy’s endurance had been worn down. If he could just activate a decisive technique, he could bring it down.

But the technique he was preparing required charging time—time he had to create for himself.

Since learning to use his extra skill, Pheripatos had trained relentlessly, and he had finally become able to use it in actual combat.

He still didn’t know if her approach was correct, but he was confident about one thing: the power was undeniable.

While swinging his massive sword, Pheripatos fixed his eyes on the enemy. The Guardian Demon’s thick hide bore numerous cross-shaped wounds.

People often asked him:

“Why is 【Cross Swordsmanship】 so strong?”

He often wanted to brush the question off with a snarky “How should I know?”, but after being asked so many times, he eventually began to think about it himself.

The answer, he realized, was likely simple.

“Because the power concentrates at the center of the cross.”

When Pheripatos activated a skill while swinging his sword, even a single slash would produce a cross-shaped strike.

It wasn’t due to any logical or rational explanation—it was just that kind of skill.

The power of a cross-shaped slash multiplied many times at the point of intersection.
That might sound like it’s just a matter of quantity, but Pheripatos knew—it was more than that.

The difference in quantity can sometimes create a difference in quality.

Things that couldn’t be damaged can now be struck. Things that could only be scratched can now be cleaved.

Pheripatos had come this far, honing himself while feeling that difference in quality on his skin.

“ORAaa!!”

When he unleashed a full-force strike at the Guardian Demon, its massive floating body faltered ever so slightly.

That opening was all Pheripatos needed to turn the situation decisively in his favor.

“【Hanging】!!!”

Countless cross-shaped swords manifested around the enemy, halting its movements for just a brief moment.

Confirming that she had caught the enemy, Pheripatos kicked off the ground and soared back into the sky.

Pheripatos loved the sky.

On the day her hometown became a scorched wasteland, when his family, friends, and even the old man he knew turned to ash—what saved him in his despair was the sky.

Amid the horrifying scene that spread before him, only the sky retained its grace, delivering color into his otherwise bleak vision.

And there was something that governed such a sky.

Pheripatos gathered his mana and fighting spirit, and in his heart, he drew a perfect circle.

Then, he recalled the symbol he had seen in that ancient ruin on that day.

A cross enclosed in a perfect circle—it was said to represent “Sun” in ancient times.

Pheripatos slashed a cross through the circle in his heart and activated her Extra Skill.

The Guardian Demon struggled to break free of the restraint in that fleeting moment. But it was already too late.

“…Sun Ray.”

With that invocation, Pheripatos unleashed 【Cross Blade】.

GyuoooOOOON.

A radiant Cross Blade appeared in the sky.

The pale dawn sky grew bright for just an instant, announcing the beginning of a new world.

Then, as Pheripatos brought his prized cross-shaped sword down toward the Guardian Demon, the monster was swallowed by the light and turned to ash in the blink of an eye.

After confirming the end of the battle, Nina made her way deeper in.

As she advanced, she found Pheripatos collapsed, facing her.

She thought she should hurry to him, but stopped when she saw the massive subspace spreading out beyond her line of sight.

“You’ve got all the time in the world to gawk at that stuff, so come over here already.”

A listless voice called out.

Startled, Nina rushed over to Pheripatos.

“Did any monsters show up?”

“Yeah. About ten. But they were weak.”

“Thought so. If they’re dumb enough to come this way when they can feel the presence of my fight, they’re the kind of chumps that can’t even sense death.”

Nina nodded.

“Nina, give me the potion I left with you.”

Nina pulled out the potion for restoring stamina and mana from her pack, popped the stopper, and handed it to the prone Pheripatos. It was likely top-tier quality.

Pheripatos took it, gulped it down in one go, then spoke again.

“Nina, did you see my skill?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m a swordsman, but my fighting style’s pretty unorthodox. Honestly, someone like you—a hammer-user—could probably learn more from it.”

Pheripatos said it to Nina with a grin, as if to say, “Heh heh.”

“It was amazing.”

Nina replied, her voice a mix of awe and excitement.

“…Etch the greatest attack of my life into your memory.”

Murmuring those words in a hoarse voice, Pheripatos closed his eyes and let his strength fade.

He had a feeling he might’ve said something misleading—but he had reached his limit.

While Nina panicked at the thought that Pheripatos had died, Pheripatos ignored her and dozed off into a grand, deep sleep.