Winter Mountains’ Hero.

Hero. This title brought tremendous honor to whoever received it. It was only one word but this one word was what made the difference. However, the meaning of this title and its impact in the entirety of the continent was never light. 

Every hero, whether they were just heroes that emerged from extremely small battles or not, would receive tremendous honor in the region that they actively fought in. At the very least, they would receive a far higher honor than the lord of the region themselves. 

Right now, Iron has received the title of a hero. And he wasn’t a hero of some sort of small battle either, he was the hero among all of the elite troops in the region.

Iron had made great contributions over the past two years. He had made great contributions in the sealing of the dimensional crack, created a customized and unique tactic to deal with the void insects, hell cows and contaminated monsters, and developed tactical methods tailored for each weapon. All of his contributions were controversial, especially the tactical methods that he developed for the military weapons that were difficult to use against monsters. This topic was extremely controversial among the military scholars’ circles.

Even if Iron was only able to accomplish just one of those contributions, he could still receive special promotions. That was how enormous the contributions that Iron had made were. And even though everyone remained silent over this matter, everyone knew that Iron was also the one who played a decisive role in the discovery of the dark elves, the creatures who forcibly created the dimensional crack.

Although they did not actively talk about it, rumors still spread. After all, there were not just one or two people who had witnessed the Ghosts’ performance over those two years in the Winter Mountains. In fact, they could hide it if they wanted to but Commander Crimson just watched as the rumors spread. It was because he did not want to hide what Iron and the Ghosts did anymore.

And since all of these meritorious deeds were accomplished by Iron alone, the soldiers had dubbed him ‘Winter Mountains’ Hero’ as a form of respect for all of his accomplishments

Because of this, Iron was able to rank first in the meritorious deeds rankings and beat the Leonhardt Family Head, someone who was competing for the strongest position in the continent.

Lioner sat by the side as he stared grimly at Iron. It seemed like he did not expect to be defeated like that.

Iron had a completely refreshed and relaxed expression, an expression that was the complete opposite of Lioner’s face that looked like he ate some shit. After all, he believed that all of his accomplishments were able to prove that his decision to come to the Northeast was correct.

“I admit it. You know how to use your head well.” 

After being silent for a while, Lioner spoke. And although his tone was reluctant, he still admitted Iron’s strength. This meant that he was also admitting that Iron had won their bet.

“It seems like I’m ‘free’ now.” 

Lioner’s brows twitched when he heard Iron emphasizing the word free. 

“I’ll count this as you winning the bet. But there’s still one thing that I need to check.”

This time, it was Iron’s turn to frown. 

“Well, you’ve made enough contributions so it doesn’t matter if you won because of your growth in strength or not. So, I’ll say that you won this bet. But the fact that you are Leonhardt’s descendant does not change. I don’t want to hear that the son of the family head is weak.” 

“Will I be stronger just because I wanted to be stronger?” 

The corner of Lioner’s mouth curled up when he heard Iron’s words. Iron began to feel uneasy when he saw Lioner smirking at him. 

“You’ve established your own path after two years of practice in the field.” 

“Are you stalking me?” 

“No matter how trivial it is, a bet is still a bet. So I have to check things up close.” 

Lioner got up from his seat after saying those words. 

“Come out. I’ll look at your swordsmanship before I go back to the family.” 

“…That… I’m busy.” 

“I already talked with your commander. He will leave your schedule free for a week until the sealing ceremony.” 

“My outpost won’t be able to work without me.” 

“Your vice outpost leader is quite useful. He told me that you shouldn’t worry since he will run the outpost well in your absence.” 

Cold sweat ran down Iron’s back when he heard Lioner’s words. 

“You… You don’t have to teach me. My path is…”

“Don’t dilly-dally and just follow me. Otherwise, I will knock you out and take you forcibly with me.”

Iron eventually gave up when Lioner increased his momentum with every threatening word that he spat out. 

“The others will impatiently crawl on my feet because they want this opportunity… yet my own child is so full of himself that he’s rejecting me.”

“Then, you can do it with those who impatiently crawl on your feet.”

“If you keep on throwing up a retort with every word I say then I’ll increase the intensity of your training.”

Iron’s mouth immediately shut when he heard Lioner’s threat. 

He was forced by his father, the head of the family, to climb up the back of the mountain. He was even forced to lift his sword as soon as they arrived at their destination. 

“From now on, you have to listen carefully to what I say. No matter what path you’re taking, these will still be the most common words that you will hear.”

Lioner pulled out his sword as he continued to speak. 

“Everyone would have their own path. Even if they are of the same descent, with the same swordsmanship and mana training, even when they are living the same life. The path of their sword will remain different from each other.” 

Lioner swung his sword lightly as one side of the mountain burst out, creating a crater. 

“Most of the family heads before valued their teeth and claws. But that’s not my path. So, I created my own Lion Sword Technique.” 

He turned to look at Iron as he continued with his words.

“I’m sure you know this story well. However, there’s one thing in common for everyone. And that is talent.” 

Lioner increased his strength.

“The road to becoming a master is tough. However, there are four main gates that one should overcome.” 

Iron realized what Lioner was trying to say.

The four gates.

The first gate was Mana Awakening. From this point onwards, everyone would be divided according to their talents. There were some people who failed to detect their mana despite undergoing forced awakening, these people were classified as talentless. Anyone who awakened their mana, even if they only forced it to awaken, would be considered to be talented. When one’s mana has awakened, they would be able to reach the 2nd Stage, the body strengthening, as long as they tried hard enough.

The second gate was Mana Expression. This was the point where they should be able to express their mana to the outside. It meant that the person should be able to grasp their own mana and infuse it on their own weapon to the point that they could express it to the outside world. This was a state that could never be achieved if they did not have high talents. Even if one forcefully injected mana in their body, they would still be unable to achieve this state without talent. However, once they passed through this gate, they would be able to achieve the 4th Stage anytime, even if they were already at death’s door.

The third gate was Attribute Awakening. At this point, one should be able to awaken their mana attribute after accumulating a lot of mana through practice and training. Achieving this state meant that one had reached the 5th Stage. Passing through this gate meant that they could reach the 6th Stage once they imprinted the experiences that they accumulated all throughout their lives in their martial arts. In other words, achieving the 5th Stage meant that one was guaranteed to reach the 6th Stage in the future.

The fourth and final gate was Aura Awakening. This was a state that was achieved by changing the mana that one had accumulated until the 6th Stage into aura. If this state was successfully done, then one would become a master. 

These four main gates were a part of the natives’ basic common sense. They would be aware of this fact as long as they were a citizen of this continent.

Iron was also aware of these four gates.

He was painfully aware that anyone without the talent would not be able to break through the wall of the 5th Stage. He was someone who had reached the 5th Stage through force. However, he failed to receive the senses and power of someone who had awakened to the 5th Stage naturally. So, he was the one who knew this fact fully well.

This is a cruel path that’s determined solely by talent.

“After watching over you for the past two years, I can see that you have long achieved what you should achieve in the 4th Stage. Simply put, your path is compressing your mana over and over again in your sword. This is the reason why you can climb up quickly.” 

The surrounding mana wound up and flew towards Iron when Lioner swung his sword lightly.

“Keuk!”

Iron reflexively raised his mana to parry and defend against Lioner’s light sword attack. Iron had to do his best even if the sword strike that flew towards him was simple and light.

However, that was not the end of it. Lioner continued to swing his sword in the air. 

Iron could only endure as much as he could whenever a strike landed on him.

“Your swordsmanship has already reached its completion through your countless practice and training. Since you haven’t overcome this stage yet, you’re either one of the two. Either you have no talent or you are being blocked by something.” 

Lioner swung his sword faster as he continued to speak.

“If you did not have the talent then you should have already stopped there. However, looking at your sword… Even though it’s just as big as a rat’s tail right now, it’s clear that it’s growing. This means that your path is out of course.” 

Lioner sharply observed each sword strike that Iron used to block his attacks. He used his hawk-like eyes to analyze the strengths and flaws of Iron’s sword.

Through his quick observations, he found out that Iron’s sword was as hard as his will to turn it into still. He had confirmed that his sword was firmly bound to Iron’s will. And that was to not break against anything and everything. If it had not been for his talent, will and hardwork, he would never be able to reach this stage.

“I can now see why you’re like this.” 

Lioner clicked his tongue at him. 

“You forgot your essence because you got dazzled by the cold attribute.” 

“Keuk! What…” 

“Was it frost steel that’s buried deep under the glaciers that you want to achieve?” 

Iron flinched when he heard Lioner’s question. Lioner looked at him as if he was someone pathetic. 

“Was your steel so trivial that it would change depending on your situation? Huh, punk?” 

“Ah…” 

“Dumb punk. You have been threading the wrong path for the past two years.” 

Iron could not say anything against Lioner’s bruising words. 

His first belief in this world was to achieve steel. However, when he received the cold attribute mana, he knew that his belief had changed. 

“Steel can get hot or cold. That sword is something that you can only achieve after you have completed steel. Someone who did not even achieve steel is trying to make frost steel? How laughable!” 

Iron bit his lips after hearing Lioner’s rebuke. He knew that what he had said was not wrong. 

“Tch!” 

Lioner clicked his tongue at him. 

“Raise your sword. For this one week, I will break that wrong path of yours. Do whatever you want when you rebuild it.” 

Lioner swung his sword fiercely. It made the tremendously fast strikes that he swung earlier look like they were just a child’s prank. He would also scold Iron harshly whenever he tried to use his cold attributed mana.

A week quickly passed by.

Iron felt like he was almost half-dead with how intense the training with Lioner was. But it had now come to an end.

Finally, the day when the dimensional crack would be sealed came. The dimensional crack was now only a miniscule crack. And it was now finally being sealed. Sealing the crack meant that they would isolate the crack from the outside world and prevent the contaminated mana from escaping.

One would think that this was just a simple job that did not need to be recognized as something important. However, it was labeled as such since today was also the day when those who had contributed and made a lot of meritorious deeds would finally receive their rewards and compensations.

The sealing ceremony came to an end after a barrier was created around the compressed dimensional crack and a unit was established to protect the seal.

Then, the three masters, who played the most important role in the Northeast, stood on the stage and gave praise to those who have accumulated enough merit over the past two years. 

“Lastly, Lieutenant Iron Carter. Step forward.” 

Everyone looked at Iron with envy when they saw Crimson, who was dressed primly, call out to him from the stage. However, they were only envious that he could contribute a lot of undeniable meritorious deeds. None of them were jealous that he was standing there to receive his honor and rewards. After all, he fully deserved it.

“You have done a lot of undeniable meritorious service here in the Winter Mountains. Not only under the light but even under the darkness.” 

Crimson even acknowledged his deeds as a Ghost under everyone’s watchful eyes. 

“As the commander representing the Northeast, I gratefully and respectfully award you with the Green Iron Cross Medal and a two-step promotion.” 

Everyone was shocked when they heard Crimson’s words but they immediately understood his reasons. This was because all of them had thought that it would be too lacking if Iron only received a medal and a one-step promotion. 

Crimson personally awarded the Green Iron Cross medal to Iron and even removed his diamond and attached the clover on his shoulders. 

“As the Commander of the North, I show you my respect by awarding you this commendation.” 

This time, it was the Northern Commander who handed over a commendation and gave him words of blessings.

And finally, the Leonhardt family head.

“I show my respect to you. I hope that you will always encounter luck on the battlefield.” 

Lioner handed him a bouquet as he gave him his blessings. 

Everyone applauded as soon as Iron received the bouquet and received his commendations and rewards. They were paying their respects to the person who had done the most impactful deeds in the Winter Mountains.

― You have revealed the dark elves’ conspiracy.

― You have achieved a commendable method to stop the dimensional crack.

― You have succeeded in protecting the Winter Mountains.

― You have established a new tactic. The people will now call you the Father of Modern Tactics. The probability of your soldiers following you in the future will increase by 200% once you lead troops of your own.

― You have acquired the Title: Winter Mountains’ Hero.

― A hero does not need any other title. Everything that you have received before is just the hero’s achievement. From this point on, all of the titles that you have acquired will disappear.

― The title effects that you have achieved so far will remain as your achievements and be maintained and in effect.

― Winter Mountains’ Hero : The hero’s body (All physical abilities x3), the hero’s spirit (All kinds of resistance x3), the hero’s mana (Mana restoration•Mana volume x3)

― Achievements : Jjambap doesn’t go anywhere, Northeast’s Saint, Monster Scholar, The One Crazy about Swords, Winter Mountains’ Hunter, The Youngest Named Hunter.

― The title ‘Vigorous Freshman’ has been deleted and excluded from your achievements.

“Ah…” 

Iron stared blankly at the sky where all of the notification windows appeared one after the other. 

Crimson smiled broadly at Iron. 

“Good job. And congratulations.” 

Iron’s expression remained blank as he bowed his head in thanks. After Crimson tapped his shoulders he went down the stage. 

His unit members quickly approached Iron and lifted him up. 

“Everyone, hold up the outpost leader!” 

“Let’s go!” 

His troops smiled and lifted him up. 

“Wa… wait!” 

“Outpost leader, congratulations!” 

The troops pretended to not hear Iron’s words as they lifted and tossed him up. Everyone laughed as they watched him get tossed around. They clapped and congratulated him once again when they passed by. 

Iron was finally able to smile pleasantly in the midst of everyone’s celebrations. 

Perhaps, today could be considered the happiest day ever since he came to this place. He thought that he would never forget this day even if he survived and went back to his own world in the modern times.