CHAPTER 85

"Jaxon."

As soon as he got up, Encrid looked for Jaxon.

"What's the matter?"

"The Gate of Sixth Sense can instinctively detect danger, right?"

"That's the start."

This was the reason Jaxon had been recklessly emitting killing intent all along.

The instinct for survival.

Something that every living being possesses.

If that's the beginning.

'So, this is it.'

That tingling sensation that nudged his heart.

Should he call it nostalgic? He certainly felt something similar.

Of course, he couldn't imprint it perfectly in his body with just one attempt.

Thanks to his lack of talent.

Not that he lamented it.

There's no point in dwelling on a lack of talent, as it wouldn't change anything, so he just moved on.

Encrid got up. It was time to start moving diligently on this new day.

"Let's go."

Receiving the same commission, he took a torch and headed to the shoemaker's shop.

This was the fourth time.

This time, he arrived even before the first hammer strike.

"Let's break through together."

"Huh? What?"

Encrid, teaming up with the bewildered craftsman, drilled a hole in the floor.

And there, they faced the six branching paths once again.

At the moment they encountered the first and second passageways.

He felt that tingling sensation.

A feeling he should rightly call ominous.

Encrid found himself smiling unknowingly at that moment.

'This is it.'

This place, where he couldn't just watch the craftsman die.

A place with a spell trap that should have been sealed off if it wasn't right after a few attempts.

Encrid didn't plan to be tied down to this 'today'.

This was an accident, and it was an avoidable problem if one had the will.

For now, he could simply evacuate the craftsman and his daughter by force and request a troop to investigate the hole.

Of course, that was the last resort.

Because of the spell trap, entering without knowledge would surely lead to death.

Even if it wasn't him dying, he couldn't just stand by and watch.

Yet, he couldn't just say there was magic here and call for a magician whose fee was more expensive than gold.

A mere squad leader requesting would not bring a magician running here, nor would anyone believe it if he said there was a spell trap.

Most would respond with disbelief, thinking it's nonsense.

'My squad members or Company Commander might believe me, though.'

Anyway, the conclusion was this:

This place was the perfect spot to train the Gate of Sixth Sense.

Realizing that, a thrilling exhilaration surged through him. After only four attempts, hadn't he managed to create a crack in the Gate of Sixth Sense?

Now, he just needed to fling it open.

With that, he stepped into the third passageway.

At that moment, Encrid experienced a new kind of pain. An invisible blade sliced him vertically from above.

The excruciating pain, the agony, the whooshing sound of the wind, the lingering chill on his body, the blood pouring onto the floor, and the feeling of all his energy draining away from him.

None of these sensations were ones he wished to experience again. It was torturous. Understandably so.

However, the newfound traces of experience made him forget the agony.

Thus, the repetition of today was not entirely painful.

He simply ran and struggled for tomorrow.

* * *

Upon greeting the fifth morning, Encrid set a goal to avoid being complacent with today.

'Open the Gate of Sixth Sense and pass through this cave.'

Anyone who knew might call it an act of madness.

But for Encrid, this was just another moment of training.

Moving forward.

Growing.

It was different from struggling for tomorrow.

"Why are you smiling when there's a hole under our shop?"

The shoemaker asked, seeing Encrid's smile.

"I have a hobby of exploring the unknown."

Saying anything, he was about to descend when the shoemaker grabbed his arm.

"I heard something moving down there, so be careful…"

"Yes, I will."

There were many things he wanted to test.

He descended and faced the passage. His Sixth Sense didn't immediately raise an alarm of impending doom.

'The gate is partially open.' he thought.

From now on, he intended to open it fully.

He abandoned the idea of recklessly throwing himself into traps.

He learned that it didn't work that way. This was the fifth today.

Even if he couldn't end it here, he still planned to struggle.

He wouldn't waste this moment, thinking it could be easily repeated. He had no intention of doing so.

So, what needed to be done?

Encrid spent the entire day, truly the whole day, walking back and forth in front of the passageway at a slow pace.

From the first to the second, from the second to the sixth.

He repeated returning from the sixth to the first.

Until all five torches burned out.

Until the time when today would end if he continued like this.

"What on earth are you doing?"

At first, the bewildered shoemaker.

"Have some lunch, at least?"

Gave him a meal.

"But why are you walking back and forth like a duck on a river?"

Later, the daughter expressed her curiosity.

"Hey, why is that soldier who came for the commission acting like that?"

"I don't know. He's been doing that all day."

Even the herbalist from the neighboring shop came to watch.

From the outside, it looked like a meaningless act.

Encrid spent the entire day focusing on finding something unusual with his Focus Point technique.

How does the Sixth Sense that detects ominousness work?

According to Jaxon's explanation, it operates in the realm of instinct during the process of seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling.

The Sixth Sense catches the unnoticed danger first.

This was the start, the task of finding anomalies.

Despite watching all day, nothing happened.

Then suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

'What happens if I don't die and a day passes like this?'

It was a new question. After spending the entire day going back and forth in front of the passage, he gained nothing.

'The height is about half a head taller than my own.'

It's quite a deep tunnel below.

Since he hadn't gone inside, he didn't know how far the tunnel extended.

The walls and ceiling, though covered in dust and dirt, seemed quite sturdy.

There were no pillars, but it didn't look like it would collapse anytime soon.

What else was there?

The air was damp, but the wind flowed through.

The darkness inside was impenetrable even with the torch.

'What else?'

How about the smell? There was a slightly fishy scent, but it wasn't too bothersome.

Could there really be some undead-type monster?

A cleric might be able to sense it just from the surrounding air, but Encrid, who had lived solely for the sword, lacked such skills.

He searched and searched again.

Observing endlessly until he felt a sense of anomaly, he realized it was already deep into the night.

"Aren't you going back?"

It was the shoemaker calling from the passageway.

When he turned around, he saw the shoemaker's face at the top of the slanted ramp.

Encrid climbed up and replied.

"I don't know what's inside, but it doesn't seem immediately dangerous. Let's block the entrance and wait until tomorrow. I'll bring reinforcements."

"Wouldn't it have been better to call for reinforcements instead of wandering around?"

Normally, that would be the right thing to do.

But calling reinforcements and having someone enter the passage and trigger an explosion would end it all.

Everyone would die.

"I had something to investigate."

Pretending to be an expert, as if he were skilled in this kind of work, Encrid nodded his head with skepticism.

He blocked the hole again and headed back to the barracks.

He saw the moon above his head.

It was a full moon.

The weather, which had slightly warmed during the day, turned chilly again at night.

Encrid glanced back as he tightened his coat made of beast leather.

It seemed the shoemaker hadn't broken through the floor he had blocked and gone down below.

He seemed like a curious man.

'If he had, there would have been an explosion.'

Another question arose. What would happen if the night passed like this?

It couldn't be considered a trivial matter.

In this repeating today, there would eventually be a moment when it needed to end.

'I should have tested this sooner.'

Of course, it hadn't been a favorable environment for testing until now.

It was a repeating 'today' on a battlefield where a wrong move meant death.

A today where he was dodging an assassin's dagger.

Having experienced such days, this day might have seemed bland, but Encrid remained unfazed.

He had always trained and repeated the same routine.

It didn't matter if it was 'today.'

"Weren't you supposed to go hunt a beast? Did you go to kill boots instead? Did you kill any?"

As he entered the lodging, Rem asked.

It seemed he already knew where he had gone and for what commission.

Brushing the dirt off the seat of his pants, Encrid replied.

"I killed about three, it was a fulfilling day."

"…Let's not talk."

Rem didn't start a verbal fight he knew he would lose.

If he set his mind to it, Encrid was exceptionally skilled with words.

After being tormented by Jaxon's killing intent before going to bed, Encrid lay down.

He wondered if someone might kill him to repeat today, but nothing happened, so he slept without incident.

* * *

The next day, upon waking up and seeing how things were going, Encrid muttered to himself.

'It's a repetition.'

It was the repetition of today. Whether sleeping and waking up or dying, it seemed the same.

Thus, today began again.

Encrid once again lingered in front of the crossroads.

Even though today's repetition was without the pain of death, he remained consistent.

He still gave his best and still struggled.

Being bound to today was the worst situation for Encrid.

So, how could he break free from this?

He knew without the ferryman having to tell him.

'I must surpass this place.'

* * *

As the torches went out, the surroundings, accustomed to the light, now appeared pitch black.

Fwoosh.

He struck the flint again and lit the torch. Encrid gazed at the six branching paths.

'In such cases, one of the six must be the real one, right?'

The easy way would be to throw himself into each one and check them one by one.

Instead of using that method, Encrid aimed to hone his Gate of Sixth Sense.

And it had a certain degree of effectiveness.

'Ominousness.'

Something triggered by the survival instinct.

On the sixth today, he faintly felt it.

Encrid spent a day similar to the previous one again.

"What on earth are you doing all day?"

To pacify the bewildered shoemaker, he used the excuse he had thought of during the previous 'today'.

"I'm checking what's inside. It looks like traps have been laid. It seems like the Thieves Guild might have secretly made a hidden passage, so don't go inside."

Though the Thieves Guild in the city wasn't the only one, Encrid had mentioned them, invoking their name.

It was a plausible excuse. It was the result of pondering, if not deeply, while going back and forth in front of the passageway.

The shoemaker nodded.

"Understood."

Back at the lodging, Encrid received a sharp look from Jaxon.

He had to endure the killing intent Jaxon exuded.

It was a daily evening occurrence.

Even after enduring it with cold sweat on his forehead, Encrid had no intention of sleeping.

If today repeated upon sleep, what would happen if he stayed awake all night?

He was curious.

So he persevered, trying to see the dawn of the next day.

"Meow."

Esther approached and tapped his back with her foot.

She seemed to be protesting, asking why he wasn't sleeping.

"Go to sleep first."

Encrid patted Esther's head as he spoke.

He waited for the dawn to break.

Encrid blinked momentarily.

Soon he saw the Black River.

"Meaningless."

The ferryman was nowhere to be seen, but his words lingered.

When he opened his eyes again.

"What are you doing?"

His head felt heavy and his body fatigued as if he had stayed up all night, but today had repeated once more.

'If I don't blink at all?'

Would the day just continue?

But how could a person endure without blinking?

Even a knight couldn't manage that.

Therefore, repeating today was inevitable.

'Is this about just living today?'

That's fine.

Anyway, he already knew how to move forward to tomorrow.

Encrid headed to the shoemaker's shop once again.

He endured today with more fatigue than before. It wasn't a difficult task.

Not after the past experiences of fighting and running for several nights without sleep.

He repeated today again and again.

Without the pain of death, could he call it peaceful?

Would he become complacent with this peace and settle for today?

No, Encrid did not do that.

He did not change.

So he repeated today, today, today, today, today, today.

Seventy-eight repetitions. After living through seventy-eight identical days.

Returning to the lodging, Encrid dodged Jaxon's killing intent.

Two steps to the side.

It was a trick possible only if you could finely sense the opponent's killing intent.

Since it might have been a coincidence, Jaxon released his killing intent again. He focused on a specific area, with the will to kill if crossed, the principle of spreading killing intent.

Encrid twisted his body and deflected the killing intent. It was something he couldn't even mimic without opening the Gate of Sixth Sense.

And it wasn't just about opening it slightly' it had to be flung wide open.

".....What's this?"

'The efficiency of the survival instinct is incredible.'

The answer he gave to himself.

"It suddenly works."

The words he spoke out loud were different.

Of course, the internal answer was the truth.

A deathtrap.

There was no better training tool.

Encrid had chewed, torn, tasted, and enjoyed that tool.

It had flung open the Gate of Sixth Sense.

And thus, he could now make Jaxon's eyes widen like that.

"Suddenly?"

Can this really be? No, it can't. But it actually happened right before his eyes. Jaxon was deeply shocked but did not show it outwardly.

He simply nodded.

What else could he do, since it worked?

He had been worried about how to give a push since there seemed to be no progress at all.

He had thought of all sorts of methods.

All of them had become useless.

"Thanks to you."

Encrid said, and Jaxon felt pleased for no particular reason.

Of course, he soon murmured as usual to himself.

'What does this even mean?'

Even while thinking that, Jaxon was still pleased.

Regardless of the process, Encrid had flung open the gate as he desired.

Jaxon's lips briefly curled into a smile and then returned to their normal position.

That was how much it pleased him.

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