A Lie

Innate skills: Instinct (A), Mana Burst (A), Giant Beast Hunting (A), Charisma (D)

Skills: Observation Haki (C), Armament Haki (C), Swordsmanship (A-)

Noble Phantasms: Excalibur (EX), Invisible Air (C), Rhongomyniad (half-awakened), Avalon (unawakened)

"Achievement quest—First Victory: win a battle. Reward: Excalibur (completed)"

"Achievement quest—Ten Consecutive Victories: win ten battles. Reward: Invisible Air (completed)"

"Achievement quest—A Hundred Victories in a Hundred Battles: fight enemies and win a hundred battles. The opponents must be highly renowned. Reward: Rhongomyniad (50/100)"

"Achievement quest—Ever Victorious: become the one who holds every victory and make the world acknowledge you as unbeatable. Reward: Avalon (incomplete)"

Important reminder: for every victory, the host will receive an all-around enhancement from the system. At the same time, upon suffering defeat, the game system will automatically enter dormancy. Everything except skills will start over from zero, and the "Ever Victorious" achievement quest will be automatically uninstalled."

Those were Arthur's new attributes, or rather, what he had gained over the past half month and more.

None of the eighteen enhancements could compare to the one Crocodile had given him.

Even so, the eighteen enhancements had raised Arthur's attributes to rank C.

Arthur knew, however, that it would be difficult to raise those attributes from now on.

As getting victories recognized grew more difficult, the system's enhancements would become harder to come by. In return, each future enhancement would no longer be a mere warmth spreading through his body, but a genuine all-around enhancement.

Fifty consecutive victories were like a dividing line, pushing Arthur to a new level.

Arthur didn't particularly care about any of that. What excited him most was the half-awakened Rhongomyniad.

Leaving aside Invisible Air, a Noble Phantasm that worked like Magecraft, Arthur had three great Noble Phantasms within him.

They were Excalibur, Rhongomyniad, and Avalon.

Excalibur was a beginner's benefit, and Arthur had been able to draw it from the moment the system activated.

Avalon, the scabbard that sealed Excalibur, came out whenever Arthur drew the sword, but he couldn't perform its True Name Release.

Rhongomyniad was the only Noble Phantasm Arthur couldn't draw.

Although the holy lance did exist within Arthur, it was as though he had lost contact with it. He could see it but couldn't touch it.

Now, Arthur could clearly sense that the holy lance within him had established a connection with him.

With a single thought, he could summon it.

"Let's see what the half-awakened holy lance can do!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Arthur summoned it with a thought, just as he did Excalibur.

Swish—

Swish—

In an instant, light gathered in Arthur's hand and formed a silvery-white spear.

"Ding! You have learned the skill—Spear Technique (F)!"

As the spear appeared in his hand, Arthur felt a slight, needle-like pain in his head.

A flood of unfamiliar memories then surfaced in his mind.

Before he could read them, the memories shattered like glass and vanished.

All that remained was his grasp of Spear Technique.

At that moment, Arthur had unknowingly learned the basic techniques of Spear Technique.

Whenever he wished, Arthur could wield the holy lance to thrust, strike, lift, snap, roll, smash, shake, entangle, parry, deflect, and block.

His Spear Technique had reached the beginner's level.

Arthur wasn't surprised.

This wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this. When he first summoned Excalibur, he had learned Swordsmanship (F) in the same way.

"I see. So this is the half-awakened holy lance?" Arthur remarked as he stared at the spear in his hand, which was thinner than a staff.

The slender, silvery-white holy lance was only one form: the spear form used to kill enemies in battle.

Just like Excalibur's three forms, the Rhongomyniad in Arthur's hand also had three forms.

Spears had originally developed from ancient spears and dagger-axes.

The spear form was suited to Arthur killing enemies on the ground.

The other was its mounted form.

Once Arthur entered mounted mode, the holy lance would assume another form, becoming a lance encircled by rings of light.

The final form was naturally the holy lance after its True Name Release: the "Pillar of Light."

Looking at the holy lance in his hand, Arthur began to check its attributes.

"Rhongomyniad

Wielder: Arthur Pendragon

Rank: A++ (EX)

Type: Anti-City Noble Phantasm

A radiant holy lance, the storm anchor that holds the planet together.

The ultimate lance of light, equal to the holy sword Excalibur.

It possesses thirteen seals equivalent to those on the holy sword. Each seal unlocked increases its power. Before seven seals are unlocked, its type is Anti-City; after half the seals are released, its type is unknown! Its true form when fully released is the Tower of Light that holds the age together.

----

King Arthur, wielder of the holy lance, can summon her mount—the king's horse, Dong Stallion."

Compared to the mysterious holy sword sealed by Avalon, there was more information about the holy lance, but its description differed from both Lancer Artoria's and Lancer Artoria Alter's in the FGO game from Arthur's previous life.

Its mount, however, was the same as Lancer Artoria's: the white horse Dong Stallion.

"I can't channel mana into it, but I can wrap it in Invisible Air." Holding the holy lance, Arthur tried to channel mana into it and convert it into light, but failed.

Clearly, he couldn't use the holy lance's power until he completed the achievement quest.

He could only use it as an ordinary weapon, or gather the power of wind and release it like Strike Air.

Arthur more or less understood why the system had given him this half-awakened thing.

If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably so he could improve his Spear Technique and Riding before the holy lance could undergo True Name Release.

Chapter 45: A Lie

(It's 2018. Happy New Year and Happy New Year's Day, everyone!)

(I just got back from my part-time job and am starting to write. There are two more updates. If I can't finish them today, I'll post them after midnight.)

Swish—whoosh!

A hole the size of a bowl's mouth appeared in the rolling sea, then quickly closed.

Like the sound of falling rain, the power of wind struck the sea like bullets, without raising the slightest wave.

On the deck of the small cabin sailboat sailing across the sea, Arthur held his spear in the position of a thrust.

"Just as I thought, Invisible Air was made for the holy lance."

Arthur drew back the holy lance he had thrust out and returned it to his body. Standing where he was, he pinched his chin and murmured thoughtfully, "Even though I can't use the holy lance's power, I can gather the power of wind. Whether I release it in a piercing thrust or a slash, its power is no less than that of sword pressure."

Arthur had obtained the holy lance and learned Spear Technique the day before. Since the sailboat was too small to give him room to practice, he had tested how well Invisible Air suited the holy lance, curious to explore his new weapon.

Clearly, Invisible Air was more useful with the holy lance than with Excalibur, where it was used to hide the blade.

Gathering the power of wind and either thrusting it out to inflict piercing damage or slashing with it like sword pressure had greater uses and effects than with Excalibur.

"Arthur, is that your new weapon? It's really cool!"

"A spear? That's a rare weapon. It suits our captain's status as a knight, though."

After watching Arthur finish testing his new move, Nami and Robin, who had been sunbathing on deck, each offered their opinion.

"Yeah..."

Arthur nodded slightly without explaining further.

Looking at Nami, who was reading the day's newspaper, Arthur asked, "Nami, has the course changed?"

"Don't worry. Ever since I learned how unstable the routes on the Grand Line are, I've checked the Log Pose at intervals. The course shouldn't have—ah!" Nami's confident reply was cut short by a piercing cry.

"How is that possible?!" Her disbelieving voice drew the attention of Robin, who was reading beside her. Robin leaned over, glanced at the Log Pose on Nami's wrist, and smiled in surprise. "Oh my... The needle's pointing at the sky. This is the first time I've seen that."

"Arthur..." Nami looked at Arthur with a mournful face, silently asking for help.

They had been on the Grand Line for some time now. Aside from Arthur's instruction, Nami had also learned about Log Poses on the islands where they had stopped.

She had never even heard of a needle pointing at the sky, let alone seen it.

Encountering this for the first time, Nami naturally turned to the 'all-capable' Arthur.

"Don't worry, this is a normal course." Arthur walked over, picked up a glass of juice from the table beside Nami, and took a drink. Reaching out to ruffle her orange hair, he said, "Our next destination should be a Sky Island."

"Sky Island!!"

"The legendary Sky Island?!"

At his words, Nami and Robin reacted quite differently.

At his words, Nami and Robin reacted quite differently.

When Nami heard the words "Sky Island," she naturally thought of an island floating in the sky.

Robin looked slightly surprised. Looking at Arthur, she asked, "Captain, do the Sky Islands mentioned in books really exist?"

"Yeah... Sky Islands exist." Arthur nodded and looked up at the sky. "Eight hundred years ago, there was an island shaped like a skull. On it stood a magnificent city called Shandora..."

"Shandora, the Golden Land? Isn't that the name from the fairy tale 'Noland the Liar'?" Nami suddenly interrupted, looking at Arthur in confusion.

"That was real." Arthur lowered his eyes to Nami and said calmly, "The island was called Jaya, and there really was a city of gold called Shandora on it. But because there's a Knock Up Stream near Jaya Island, half the island was blasted into the sky four hundred years ago. That's why the magnetism of that half of the island is drawing the Log Pose."

"So that's what happened!!"

Arthur's words came as a great shock to Nami and Robin. Still less had they expected the contents of that famous fairy tale to be true.

The Golden Land really existed, but because of the Knock Up Stream, that half of the island had become a Sky Island.

And Noland the Liar wasn't a liar; he had simply been unlucky.

"Captain, how do you know that?" Neither Nami nor Robin doubted Arthur's words. They were simply curious about how he knew all this.

Robin in particular had learned from Nami that although their powerful captain came from the East Blue, he had never left it.

So why did he know so much?

He even knew the secrets of the Sky Island and the Golden Land. It was hard not to be curious.

"Yeah, yeah, Arthur, how do you know?" Nami also looked at Arthur curiously.

Seeing this, Arthur knew he had no choice but to make up a believable explanation.

So Arthur braced one hand on the table, looked down at the two curious women, and said, "You know the Pirate King, right?"

"Of course. Who on the seas doesn't know Gol D. Roger?" Nami nodded repeatedly. Robin remained silent beside her, quietly waiting for Arthur's next sentence.

She had a feeling that what their captain was about to reveal might be astonishing.

"Yes, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, is very famous." Arthur nodded slightly and smiled at Nami. "Then do you know the Oro Jackson?"

"The Oro Jackson? No..." Nami thought carefully, then shook her head.

"The Oro Jackson was the former Roger Pirates' ship." Robin touched a finger to her lips, a knowing light flickering in her eyes as she looked at Arthur. "The Pirate King Roger's hometown was in the East Blue, and the Roger Pirates also set sail from the East Blue. If I'm not mistaken, Captain, you've met a former member of the Roger Pirates, or perhaps you're the descendant of one. Am I right? Is everything you know about the Grand Line something you heard from that former member of the Roger Pirates?"

"Wow, really?" Nami stared wide-eyed at Arthur in surprise.

Arthur couldn't help giving Robin a thumbs-up. "Impressive! You're very close to the truth."

"But there's still a difference." Arthur slowly began to tell the lie he had made up. "After the Pirate King was executed, the Marines and the World Government didn't spare the members of the Roger Pirates. Some were killed, while others went into hiding in the mountains and forests. Some, of course, reached the end of the road while fleeing and chose to take their own lives."

"As it happened, I was once shipwrecked on a deserted island. There, I came across a very interesting corpse..."