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Ark the Legend 1-12

Page 98

by Yoo Seong


  –Peace continued for a long time after that. At least before the Karma showed up.

  “Karma? What is that?”

  -I don’t know what they are. Or even what their purpose was. They came from the outer reaches of space that no species had reached yet. Confusion spread in the galaxy at their appearance and many alien species were wiped out. It lasted for 50 years. At that time, the four races joined hands with the various races of the galaxy to take care of the Karma. The Elim were the ones that played the biggest role in this war. The Elim…..

  The statement seemed to indicate that something terrible would follow.

  “Is that the crisis you mentioned a short time ago?”

  –No, the large crisis took place after that.

  The sphere of light sighed.

  The war with the Karma moved from the boundaries of the universe to the centre. But the four faces who participated in the war had some of their civilizations destroyed. That was the start of all the problems……

  The blow that the four races received became the seeds of another conflict. They needed a large amount of resources to repair the damage. The Potamia and Oritious argued that they needed to requisition the planet’s species to manage its resources. Meanwhile the Murat and Indus just commandeered the resources from the planets where they bestowed their civilization on hundreds of years ago. The Potamia and Oritious against the Murat and Indus. The four races were divided into two camps while the alien species that followed them were also divided into two camps. Finally the seeds of conflict became a war.

  -It was different from the Karma’s invasion. In addition, the galaxy that was the battlefield wasn’t simply divided in half. The four species were the main axis with the power to destroy the galaxy. The damage couldn’t be compared to the Karma’s invasion. No, it was just after the Karma’s invasion so the damage was even worse. Everybody knew it. There would be no end to the ruin. But it couldn’t be stopped. Finally victory or defeat was decided.

  The ones that put an end to it were the Elim. The Elim that represented the four races fought each other. And the one that survived in the end was the Murat’s Elim!

  -The Murat who were in charge of 10 species chose a Rama born with exceptional talent to become the ultimate Elim warrior. His name was Xanax.

  “…..Eh?”

  Ark who had been listening blankly suddenly looked surprised. Xanax was the name he learnt after completing the quest. Then the person who stashed the data in the toy airplane was the Murat’s Elim? He was confused about how everything connected. But that wasn’t what caused Ark’s surprise. Ark had obtained the Rama’s language from the data. He was surprised that the Rama were a part of the Murat. Ark had seen the video from the pyramid on Beltana. Weren’t the Rama the ones who attacked the Murat city? The light sphere soon explained the scene Ark saw in the video.

  -That’s the reason Xanax hid himself.

  “Hid himself?”

  –The Murat survived the war until the end but the blow they received was serious. Then the Murat were betrayed by the Rama. It occurred while Xanax was travelling to other planets to help after the war. It was all finished by the time Xanax came back. The Murat had exhausted all their power stopping the Galaxy War and were finally wiped out by the Rama. Xanax was furious. However the Rama were his species. Xanax was boiling with anger and eventually hid himself.

  Ark now understood the contents of the logbook. The logbook had stated something about a betrayal. He meant the Murat had been betrayed by a species they protected.

  -However Xanax didn’t just give up. They might’ve been destroyed but the four species were hundreds of years more advanced than other species. Xanax didn’t want their civilization in the hands of the warlike Rama. In addition, the survivors of the Galaxy war had questions about where Xanax was. The Murat had been wiped out while the hidden Xanax started to look for answers to his questions. And he finally found the truth. No, he said that he reached the truth.

  “Then he came here?”

  –Of course!

  The light sphere pulsed strongly.

  -This is the holy place where the Murat’s Elim was appointed by the Khafra, the natives of Istana after finishing their training. Hundreds of the Murat’s Elim had inherited the teachings of the prophet in this location. This is the Holy Land of the Elim. This is where all the knowledge of the Elim sleeps.

  “The Murat’s Elim…..!”

  –The Murat might’ve been betrayed and destroyed but Xanax was proud of the fact that he was the Murat’s Elim. And he felt responsible as the last Elim. The Elim might have no meaning with the four races destroyed but he didn’t want the Elim to disappear. Therefore Xanax made me a promise after he came here.

  The light sphere looked at Ark for some reason and continued.

  –Someone would eventually visit me. They will be someone who gives his hand to the weakest species in the galaxy, who doesn’t show fear at unlocking the truth and who has the power not to back down from a strong enemy. And that person should share a destiny with Xanax and the Murat.

  The strange situation then combined together in Ark’s head. He received the quest in the first place from the Charenjok’s toy. The person who helped the weakest species would receive the toy as a sign of the Charenjok’s gratitude. And playing with the toy meant the data would be discovered. Not showing fear for the truth meant releasing the lock with hacking. And the destiny mentioned was the Shire he acquired from Beltana! That was the conditions that Xanax required. And Ark met all the conditions of the quest. In other words…..

  –Xanax said before leaving this place. He said that the person who comes here will be equipped with all of that. That person will be qualified to inherit the name of the Elim. Now I’ll say this. I am the ‘memories of an Elim,’ an Elim who watch the history of the Khafra from the first Elim. I’m asking for the head of the Elim committed to true peace. The human warrior Ark, do you accept the fate of the Elim?

  -You have received an offer of an occupation from the Elim’s Memory.

  If you accept then you will gain the experience and knowledge of the Murat’s Elim. At the same time, you will receive the special occupation ‘Elim’s Heir’ if you accept.

  Do you accept?

  This was the meaning of having the qualifications to be an Elim! So far Ark had a few chances to receive an occupation. However it was the ‘Scavenger’ that picked up trash or the ‘Private’ that was following Marquis Martin around. This occupation didn’t have those limitations. And the Elim’s Heir would be given the enormous power of the four species! Of course, the Murat’s Elim had disappeared a long time ago. But they had left behind ruins. In fact, Ark had ended up here because he was searching for ruins. The result was connected to his occupation quest but Ark’s goal was to collect the Murat artefacts! This occupation was related to the Murat. There was no reason for him to hesitate.

  “I accept!”

  Ark kneeled down and replied powerfully.

  –Good Ark! You are authorized to become Elim’s Heir according to Xanax’s will.

  The light sphere shouted excitedly. Then rays of light emerged from the eyes of the statues and wound around Ark. At the same time an information window appeared.

  Character Information Window

  Name Ark (R-02788) Level 85

  Species Human Occupation Elim’s Heir

  Fame 5,820 Adventure 720

  Mana 75+250

  Health 1,950 (+115)+500 Mental Power 1,050 (+75)+250

  Strength 190(+33)+20 Agility 265+30

  Stamina 355(+23)+20 Wisdom 20(+5)+20

  Intelligence 170(+15)+20 Luck 35+20

  * Title

  Cleaning Foreman (Agility + 3)

  Ignorant Destroyer (Wisdom -10, Strength +7, Stamina +7)

  Beltana’s Hero (Strength, Agility, Stamina, Wisdom, Intelligence, Luck +3)

  Mediator (Wisdom, Intelligence +15)

  * Contribution: Gal
actic Federation 6,850, Aschulat 500

  * Affiliation: Dark Eden (CEO)

  *Body Coating: Survivor

  + Environmental adaptation increases by 50% due to the Survivor coating

  + The Survivor coating reduces the drop rate of Satiety by 30%

  + The Survivor coating will reduce fall damage by 50%

  +The ‘Clairvoyance’ effect of the Survivor coating is applied

  -A new skill (Occupation Restricted ☆☆☆) has been learnt.

  Khafra fencing (User, Active): the swordplay that the Elim learnt from the Khafra and completed after decades of training. Khafra Fencing is a simple yet highly utilized method of swordplay with 9 parts. The Elim used Khafra Fencing for several centuries and it had been steadily handed down until the final Elim, Xanax.

  -1st style : Technique to break an enemy’s defense stance.

  -2nd style : Technique to blow up a shield into small pieces to damage the enemy.

  -3rd style : A technique that creates an illusion of numerous swords to attack the enemy.

  -A new skill (Occupation Restricted ☆☆☆) has been learnt.

  Elim’s Heart Force (User, Passive): an Elim someone that the Murat picks from numerous species to pass down their traditions to. Different species use mana or mental power so there were some technical difficulties in regards to the skills. After several years of meditation, the Khafra developed a power beyond mana and mental power called Force. This skill can change mana or mental power into Force to use the skill. If you train steadily then you can switch between mana, mental power and force.

 

  —————————————————

  Ku ku ku ku! Ku ku ku ku!

  In the southern desert of Istana. One thick container truck was moving through the heat raising sand. It was the container truck of the mercenary group Silver Hand. Clem who was sitting on the truck sprayed water on his red face and said.

  “Hey, how many kilometres left?”

  “We’ve just travelled 30 km.”

  The attack leader Pedro said.

  “30 kilometres…..there is still quite a bit to go.”

  “What about them? It looks like they might die.”

  “This isn’t enough to kill them. It also isn’t a big deal if they die. Because those guys are pioneers.”

  Clem smiled and looked at the group in the back of the truck. The 10 people collapsed on the back of the truck with their long tongues hanging out were Ark’s Royal Guards.

  “But if they were able to survive 30 km in the desert then they’ve somehow passed. Recently they’ve also been doing pretty well in training. The difference compared to when they first joined the Silver Hand is tremendous.”

  “Of course. Because they’re doing this for their leader.”

  “They’re strong thanks to that.”

  “They became strong. Because they would die if they didn’t become strong.”

  “Is there such a thing? It would be annoying if they died just like that.”

  The Royal Guards were sold to the Silver Hand in order to collect the company establishment fund. For the last month, the Royal Guards had stood on the crossroad between life and death every day. It was Clem and Pedro’s training method. They purposefully dropped a lion cub down the cliff in order to raise a child. But that had a limit. They couldn’t drop a lion cub down every day. However, Clem and Pedro threw the Royal Guards down a cliff on a daily basis. This wasn’t a metaphor.

  They really were dropped off cliffs. If they climbed up within the time limit then they could have a short break and eat some rice. But if they didn’t come up within the time limit then they would starve to death. This was just a very small example. That was the inhuman, alien training style. It was also like that now. They had to run along the truck in 50 degrees Celsius without a sip of water for 30 km.

  ‘I will do it! Everything is for Hyung-nim!’

  The Royal Guards grinded their teeth together as they listened to Clem and Pedro laughing. But the Royal Guards had no idea yet. The person who thought of this training and gave it to the Silver Hand was in fact Ark! Well, the Royal Guards were ignorant about where the radical training program came from but they definitely became stronger.

  ‘We have to live! Live and return!’

  They also became mentally stronger!

  “Now they’ve repaid the deposit given to Ark and they will soon reach the final stage of the training program.”

  “How unfortunate.”

  Pedro clicked his tongue and muttered.

  Roaaaaar!

  There was an abrupt roaring sound as an airship appeared from the sandstorm. Its wings were clearly stamped with the mark of the federation.

  —————————————————

  ‘Huhuhu, what kind of luck is this?’

  Ark laughed as he looked at the lightsaber in his hand. It was a 1 metre blue ray emerging from a 20 cm rod.

  -Heir’s Sword (Unique)

  Item Type: Long Sword Wearer Restriction: Elim’s Heir

  Attack: 65~70 Durability: 100/100

  A lightsaber received from the Khafra when the Murat’s Elim would be selected. The students practiced with this sword before they could receive the Elim designation.

  Therefore it is a tradition for the previous Elim to pass this onto the new students. Although the sword is used for training students, the Murat has a more advanced civilization so the lightsaber they produced has a better performance than those created by other species.

 

  * Special Option (Force Balance): When holding this sword and meditating than the achievement rate of Elim’s Heart Force will rise by 50%. In addition, the Force Recovery Rate will increase by 30%.

  He received the Heir’s Sword after changing occupation. Just the attack power made it the standard of a level 100 magic sword! The special option also increased attack speed by 10% so the Heir’s Sword was dedicated to attack. The more amazing thing was that this lightsaber was created for the students. The light sphere, Elim’s Memory kept on explaining.

  –You were led here by the will of the last Elim Xanax and became the Elim’s Heir. But that doesn’t mean you’re a true Elim yet. You need two things to become a true Elim. I’m only the teacher who passed on the beginnings of Khafra Fencing to you. You will need to learn the remaining 6 style as well as the Divine Artefacts. And the last Elim Xanax is the one who has all of them. But Xanax didn’t leave them in this place.

  Of course he definitely left them behind. Do you understand?

  You have to find the 6 remaining styles of Khafra Fencing and the 5 Divine Artefacts. That is the condition to change to an Elim.

  The item to change to a higher ranked occupation wouldn’t be found in a beginner area like this. It wasn’t surprising because of the game system but the NPC couldn’t say ‘This is a game!’

  –Xanax probably has his own method to teach you directly. It is probably his intention for you to learn what it means to be an Elim while following his path. That is the only plausible fact.

  Motivation rose inside Ark. The Elim possessed the most outstanding talent from the alien species serving the Murat! It was an occupation worth billions of dollars! The Murat even made 5 Divine Artefacts for the Elim. The problem was that Xanax had disappeared with them hundreds of years ago…..

  -The seal on the logbook’s 3rd page has been released.

  He received the message after changing occupations.

  ‘Now there is no doubt that the owner of this logbook is Xanax. The 3rd page is probably talking about the Elim. Xanax was unable to directly select his student so he needed to find somewhere with the conditions he required. The 3rd page might say something about where to find the Divine Artefacts and remaining skills.’

  However Ark did
n’t check the logbook. The situation had proceeded very suddenly so he had forgotten about something.

  “Did anybody other than me come here?”

  –That is impossible now.

  “Now?”

  –Originally this was the Elim’s Holy Land. Only the Elim and their successor could come in. But Xanax changed that when he came back here. It was to allow the person who would become Elim’s Heir to enter. Therefore I followed Xanax’s will and opened the door for the heir. You were able to come here because of the Shire, a symbol of the Murat. Now that a new Elim’s Heir was born, this place will be sealed again. You will be the only one allowed to enter.

  Ark sighed with relief after hearing the sphere’s words. When he came here, the pioneers at the top of the mountain were being attacked by pirates. If this place was the space pirate’s purpose then Ark thought they would enter after wiping out the pioneers. Fortunately Ark entered first. Therefore the Elim’s Holy Land had become Ark’s hideaway.

  ‘It has been 20 minutes since I entered this place. There is no doubt that the pioneers would be completely wiped out by the Kero clan by now. No, it would be the same even if they aren’t wiped out. The situation won’t change even if I exit now. But……’

  They had believed in him and followed him to the summit. Yet the moment they would about to begin the decisive battle, Ark alone went into hiding. Of course that wasn’t his aim but it had ended up like that. The pioneers left behind by Ark to die would curse him!

  ‘I still have to check on the situation.’

  Ark sighed again before looking at the sphere of light.

  “Is it possible for me to confirm the situation on Mt. Fargo?”

  –Of course. I’ll show it on the screen.

  An image appeared after the light sphere’s answer. One of its functions was CCTV. Then he looked at the image floating in the sphere of light.

  “Eh? Eh eh eh?”

  Ark’s face warped strangely.

  —————————————————

  Pusung!

  A blue light welled up from Mt. Fargo’s summit.

  “What, what the? Why is the same light…..?”

 

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