The reason a scabbard exists is so the owner of the sword doesn’t get hurt by the sword in his hand.

The second reason is to keep the blade of the “sword” from being damaged.

But in a game like Ares, demand for scabbards was extremely rare.

Skilled blacksmiths didn’t feel any need to make scabbards.

Blacksmiths were better off spending that time making one more weapon or one more piece of armor to sell.

Another reason was that “users” often thought scabbards were a nuisance.

If you assume you’re holding a sword—if this were reality—just walking around with the sword exposed would already feel burdensome.

Unless you were a master of swordsmanship, it couldn’t be helped.

In fact, there were plenty of records of warriors who didn’t wear scabbards and ended up badly injured—hands getting cut and things like that.

But users inside a game were different.

Even if they cut a finger once, they didn’t care much.

And a lot of modern people perceived scabbards as bothersome.

Half right, half wrong.

The “right” half was that for users, it was often far more useful to just swing and cut than to draw from a scabbard and cut.

The “wrong” half—

—was the case of that user, Master Lee Hwan.

Master Lee Hwan’s class was Drawmaster.

A draw-cut was a technique where you rapidly draw a sword from its scabbard and cut the enemy.

Those who trained it for a long time drew and cut at speeds like light itself.

And it exerted power that was effective for ambush and a single decisive strike.

And the most decisive reason scabbards were so uncommon—

In the entire history of this game called Ares, not once had a truly excellent scabbard ever appeared, and you could barely even find a good scabbard crafting method at all.

The nice part was that the maker of the sword—and the maker of the scabbard—would both be him.

(Phantom Blade of Flash)

Grade: Legendary

Durability: 6,400/6,400

Attack Power: 586

Restriction: Swordsman Class 380–420

Special Abilities:

·All stats +2.2%

·Active Skill: Master of the Phantom Blade

·Active Skill: Flash Draw

·Passive Skill: Invincible Draw

·Passive Skill: Continuous Draw

Description: The most perfect phantom blade crafted by Master Blacksmith Hyun for ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Drawmaster, Master Lee Hwan.

That was the phantom blade’s description—the one he’d made for Master Lee Hwan.

SCRITCH SCRITCH—

As Hyunsoo sketched out the scabbard’s crafting method, he started writing additional notes beneath it.

The Master of the Phantom Blade skill has the power to dramatically raise sword attack power and special abilities for a short time.

What if I think about it like this—when the sword is inside the scabbard, it’s “charging.”

And once it’s charged, the duration becomes overwhelmingly longer than Master of the Phantom Blade...

He wrote it out, one line at a time.

At last, after writing everything down, Hyunsoo began crafting.

I made the most phantom-blade-like sword, so now I’ll make the scabbard that suits a phantom blade best.

For wood, he used cherry—high in strength.

He carved out the center of two cut pieces of wood.

SCRAAAPE

SCRAAAAAPE—

That carved-out channel was where the blade would slide in smoothly.

It couldn’t grip too tightly, and it couldn’t be too loose.

That clear, pure shrring sound—

It could be said that it only appeared when the sword and scabbard truly became one.

He joined the two carved pieces together with sweet rice paste.

While crafting, Hyunsoo suddenly laughed.

What was the trigger that made him hold faith in me?

Honestly, Hyunsoo didn’t know.

But he pictured the moment Master Lee Hwan would receive this.

How much time do I have left?

He might think of himself as living on borrowed time.

Someone who could fall at any moment.

Someone who could become the world’s mockery in an instant.

If a person thinking those things learned there was an alternative—

What kind of expression would he make?

At the very least, in that moment, he would become the happiest person in the world.

Hyunsoo continued through the processes.

He applied lacquer and made a scabbard wrap.

A scabbard wrap meant covering a scabbard that looked like nothing more than plain wood.

Usually stingray skin or sharkskin was used.

Hyunsoo chose stingray skin.

Stingray skin is special. You can’t tear it even if you try—and it doesn’t burn—so it guarantees high durability.

He wrapped it tightly, then took time to let it dry.

Before he knew it, the scabbard was finished.

And then Hyunsoo hesitated at the naming step.

Should I call it “Scabbard of Flash,” like Phantom Blade of Flash?

He shook his head.

He would name it simply “Scabbard.”

Because he wanted to show that a “scabbard,” something ordinary users didn’t feel they needed, could sometimes possess astonishing power.

[It is unique grade.]

Even that alone would be enough to satisfy Master Lee Hwan.

But Hyunsoo went one step further.

[The blacksmith’s soul activates.]

[While crafting this sword, you sincerely wished to repay the one who desires you.]

[You displayed an outstanding blacksmith’s concept: turning the other party’s weakness into a strength.]

[The scabbard advances by one stage.]

[Legendary grade.]

Hyunsoo smiled as he looked at the completed scabbard, beautiful in form.

On the scabbard, Hyunsoo wrote the name “Lee Hwan.”

It was different from how he usually wrote “Hyun.”

When you draw the sword, the blade carries the name Hyun. A god is someone who lives up to that expectation. And someone who walks together with the one who believes in him.

Hyunsoo clenched the scabbard and thought.

“If a legendary phantom blade and a legendary scabbard meet... can they produce Transcendent-class power?”

And Hyunsoo grinned.

My honey pot...

He’d already handed over the crafted item for the commission.

The honey pot that had vanished because of that.

But now—he might gain a honey pot even greater than before.

Hyunsoo turned on the guild chat window he’d shut off to focus on crafting.

The moment he did, the guild chat exploded.

Huh?

[Nell: At this rate, Hwarang might collapse today.]

[Dragon Knight Resil: No matter what, this easily...?]

[Hanul: It’s not easy... it’s just that the enemies are too vicious. World rankers Musashi and Kouga joined hands.]

[Guild Master Kang Hyunsoo: What’s going on?]

[Nell: Japan’s Musashi and China’s Kouga joined hands and attacked Hwarang’s territory.]

[Guild Master Kang Hyunsoo: Why all of a sudden?]

[Nell: They were watching Master Lee Hwan’s movements, and they seem to have realized that now is the right moment. Hwarang recently became a count’s territory, but Guild Master Lee Hwan was doing other activities.]

Other activities?

Hyunsoo immediately thought of Turtle Ship Construction.

[Nell: Rankers would have found it strange. Why Master Lee Hwan was so desperate for Guild Master Kang Hyunsoo’s crafting. And Master Lee Hwan clearly mainly uses a greatsword.]

Hyunsoo knew the reason too.

Drawmaster and using a greatsword didn’t have much correlation.

And yet, the reason he’d used a greatsword—

It was because Drawmaster could perform draw-cuts with any sword.

By using a greatsword and still executing draw techniques, Master Lee Hwan had been compensating for his weakness.

[Nell: A Drawmaster using a greatsword—plus becoming a target of ridicule during Turtle Ship Construction, and so on...]

Is some of this my fault?

Now wasn’t the time for that.

Nell, reading Hyunsoo’s thoughts, came to the forge.

“Hyun’s Forge will not intervene.”

Now Hyunsoo understood why Nell hadn’t come to him earlier despite the urgency.

Nell had chosen to stand aside.

“It’s survival of the fittest. The weak get eaten by the strong. And if we intervene, we give the enemies justification.”

After winning the Great Atlas War,

For some time, Atlas had obtained a privilege where it would not be attacked.

If Hyun’s Forge moved first, it would be the one to break that.

Nell made a sad expression.

“I know you crafted something more for Master Lee Hwan, and I know your plan to keep Hwarang as a solid ally has turned to dust. But you can’t use force there.”

“Hwarang becoming a solid ally won’t change.”

Nell looked regretful, but Hyunsoo was certain.

“There’s a reason I won’t need to use force there.”

“...Pardon?”

Then Nell checked the scabbard Hyunsoo handed over, and was horrified.

After hearing the whole story about Master Lee Hwan—

This is an incredible scabbard...

Nell said,

“Then let’s send it using the gifting function.”

Because it was still true that Hyunsoo shouldn’t go there himself.

But Hyunsoo soon froze.

[Gifting is disabled.]

“...?”

He got no response even through a whisper.

“A lot of rankers disable gifting. A gifting code is like a phone number—obsessive fans who find out about it send weird things.”

The two of them put their heads together and fell into thought.

And then, a brilliant idea came to Hyunsoo.

With this, I won’t have to lose a solid ally... or my honey pot...!

It was a method that came to him because of a being that happened to pass by.

*****

The Elaim territory was a place where an enormous number of Koreans were stationed.

Even if the Hwarang guild had been pushed down to second place, the fact that it had once been Korea’s greatest guild hadn’t changed.

And Elaim territory was a place with all kinds of quests and all kinds of things to do and enjoy for Koreans.

It became chaos in an instant.

THUNK—

Territory residents walking down the road collapsed as ninjas suddenly appeared.

“KYYYAAAAAAH!”

Starting with that scream, the Chinese cavalry led by Kouga surged into the territory at high speed.

“Hurry—sound the emergency alert—!”

Just as an executive who spotted it first tried to react—

THUNK—

“Mu... Musashi, you bastard.”

Musashi appeared in an instant and logged the executive out.

“Heh. Hwarang’s finished.”

“Hey—run, run!”

Elaim collapsed at a frightening speed.

A quest—“Defend Elaim Territory”—appeared for users, but it was useless.

Users were more afraid of the penalty of dropping artifacts or losing experience than they were of challenging the quest.

“KRAHK, KRAHAHAHAHK!”

Musashi felt, for the first time in a long while, like his chest had been unclogged.

The humiliation he’d suffered at Kang Hyunsoo’s hands—

He would vent it on Korea’s Hwarang instead.

And using this as an excuse, he would whisper, “It’s all your fault.”

He would take everything in this place.

And Kouga had once lost to Guild Master Lee Hwan in the continental war.

He had also come with the goal of settling that match again.

“Where do you think you are!”

“You bastards!”

At that moment, Hwarang’s core members appeared swiftly and began rescuing the territory residents.

And then Master Lee Hwan revealed himself and moved like light.

SHRAAAANG—!

The moment his new artifact at his waist—Phantom Blade of Flash—was drawn, three users who had been about to kill territory residents were cut cleanly in two.

Just the appearance of one user—Master Lee Hwan—

Was enough for the overwhelmed Hwarang to begin holding the line.

But Master Lee Hwan was a clever user.

With Benjers, his right-hand man, and the rest of Hwarang’s executive staff at his back, he faced them.

“...I don’t want needless sacrifices.”

This was, without question, a place Hwarang guarded.

The enemy’s hands had killed precious territory residents for no reason, and screams filled the air.

In situations like that, the territory lord’s eyes usually went bloodshot.

But Master Lee Hwan made the calmest judgment of anyone.

...There’s no chance.

Musashi had brought over two hundred ninjas—like he’d dragged in every ninja in Japan.

And their levels were extremely high.

Kouga was the same.

His cavalry was a famous cavalry unit even on the China server.

There was no way a single territory known only on the Korea server could withstand this.

“...Then fight alone. KRAHAHAHAHK!”

Master Lee Hwan’s brow twitched.

Alone, it was impossible to face this cavalry, two high rankers, and the ninjas.

But he had no choice.

“Don’t forget this isn’t a request. It’s an order.”

Those raiders had no reason to accommodate Master Lee Hwan.

“If you accept, I won’t kill the children, the women, or the elderly. I’ll sell them as slaves instead. Will you do it?”

Benjers exploded in fury.

“You bastards, you bastards, you bastaaards!”

Their real intention—

Was to broadcast Master Lee Hwan’s downfall to the entire world, live.

And it was also a warning to Hyun.

Because of you, Korea will lose what matters most.

But Master Lee Hwan calmed Benjers, and though he knew it was impossible, he gripped the hilt with all his strength.

...There was one person who did pull it off.

His name was Kang Hyunsoo.

During the continental war, he swept away even more strong enemies and even more people than this—with a single sword.

Right then—

“WOOF!”

One being appeared.

A black nose running with snot!

A butt bobbing as if something exciting was happening!

And most eye-catching of all—

The puppy helmet it was wearing on its head.

On the helmet, it said:

[Lucky Lump is delivering.]

“......”

“......”

“......”

Lucky Lump plopped down right in front of Master Lee Hwan.

[Lucky Lump smiles at you!]

“WOOF!”

Up until this moment, Master Lee Hwan hadn’t known.

Delivering...? What is it delivering?

What was about to unfold for him.