Flying Slash and System Limits

No sooner said than done.

Gawain opened the Badge ability again. When he turned his gaze on himself, the familiar pale blue screen appeared before him once more:

[Name—Gawain]

[Potential—Silver]

[Rating—Black Iron: an elite among minnows, still a minnow. Untapped potential exists within.]

Silver-tier potential?

My Physique has risen to LV-5, and I've awakened the Balance Trait. My body has already undergone a transformation.

Perhaps even this Silver-tier potential is the result of that transformation, though that will require further verification.

And even if this body's potential is developed to its limit, it will only reach Silver?

Furthermore, what methods are there to improve one's potential?

After pondering it to no avail,

Gawain lowered his gaze to the rating and murmured,

An elite among Black Iron...

In other words, my current combat power is already at a critical point. If I advance one step further, I'll reach a Bronze Rating?

For now, my main task is to familiarize myself with this body.

With that in mind,

Gawain closed the System Panel, left the captain's cabin, and stepped onto the deck.

At that moment,

night had fallen deep, and the sea breeze carried wave after wave of chill.

The pirates who had been resting on the deck had all returned to their cabins.

Gawain slowly drew the longsword at his waist and began practicing the sword forms he had learned from his memories.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Silver light flashed across the deck, accompanied from time to time by the sound of steel slicing through the air. Gawain's sword grew faster and faster.

What the previous owner of this body had learned was the most orthodox Knight Swordsmanship. It had no flashy moves, but every stance was upright and balanced, laying an incomparably solid foundation.

Yet in Gawain's hands, it became something else entirely.

Sharp and swift, stripped of all cumbersome techniques and variations, it relied on an incredible sword speed to strike directly and relentlessly, pursuing the utmost destructive power—a swordsmanship born for killing!

Godspeed's benefits were not limited to the speed of his attacks. Even Gawain's movement speed and neural reaction speed had greatly increased.

With Gawain's original body alone, he would not even have been able to fully bring out Godspeed's effects.

But Gawain, whose Physique had likewise risen to LV-5, was different now.

His base stats had nearly doubled, more than enough to withstand such explosive power. What was more, he had the Balance Trait's enhancement.

Constitution, strength, and dexterity grew in tandem, bringing his body into a state of perfect balance.

Every aspect of his base stats could be brought to its limit, while the burden on his body was practically zero.

My judgment was right!

Constitution, agility, and strength complement one another. To fully bring out their effects, they must grow in tandem. Only then can the most perfect state be achieved!

Amid the endless flashes of sword light,

Gawain's eyes grew brighter and brighter. As he practiced each move, he felt indescribably refreshed, every cell in his body filled with incomparable excitement.

Power surged endlessly from within him!

Finally...

Sshk!

As Gawain swung his sword, a silver-white Flying Slash flew from the blade. It severed the warship's railing, then continued onward for dozens of meters before slowly dissipating.

"Flying Slash?!"

Gawain could not suppress the excitement in his eyes as he looked at the smooth cut in the railing.

"So these skills common to swordsmen can be mastered on one's own even without System Traits?!"

"Good thing I chose Godspeed back then. After all, the other two skills can both be mastered through arduous training."

After quietly counting himself fortunate, Gawain calmed down and continued practicing his swordsmanship.

As he became increasingly familiar with the body whose base stats had soared, the swordsmanship in his hands became ever sharper and swifter. By the end, only the sound of his blade cutting through the air could be heard on the deck—his figure could no longer be seen.

The commotion on deck woke everyone. Seeing the constantly flashing silver gleam and the Sword Qi shooting through the air, they all swallowed hard.

"So fast!"

"That flying Sword Qi is the Flying Slash that only master swordsmen can wield!"

"I've only ever seen such an ability in legendary tales!"

They exchanged glances, each seeing unconcealed awe in the others' eyes.

Who else on the ship could possess such strength but Captain Gawain?

"Hoo..."

Letting out a breath of hot air, Gawain ended his training, only then noticing that a red sun had risen at the horizon.

He had not stopped all night. He was drenched in foul-smelling sweat, and his clothes were soaked through.

Yet his body did not feel the slightest fatigue. On the contrary, amid such intense training, he felt power continuously welling up within him.

It was as though something dormant within this body had been completely awakened!

At that moment, Gawain finally became certain that his Silver-tier potential was definitely related to the increase in Physique and the Balance Trait, with the latter being the more likely cause!

After all, merely raising his Physique and base attributes could not possibly bring about such an essential transformation.

Silver-tier potential can already achieve this much. Then what would Gold, Legendary, or even Mythical look like?

Gawain muttered to himself and quietly gripped his sword tighter.

"As long as I train diligently, I'll surely go farther. I may even contend with those Legends."

Gawain had that confidence. Then he felt a sticky film on his skin—the impurities expelled during last night's transformation of his Physique had mixed with sweat, giving off a nauseating stench.

He turned and walked back into the cabin. After washing up and changing into a fresh set of clothes, he returned to the deck.

The pirates were already standing in neat formation on the deck. Without even needing Gawain to urge them on, they had taken the initiative to begin practicing swordsmanship.

Having witnessed Gawain's swordsmanship the night before, whether it was his ghostlike speed or the Flying Slash, they had all been filled with longing. Naturally, they trained with even greater effort.

For a time, the deck held only the sound of blades clashing.

Gawain nodded inwardly at the sight. After briefly correcting several people's movements, he let the pirates continue training on their own.

By the time night fell, everyone had finished their practice.

But to Gawain's surprise, the experience they provided had begun to shrink.

More than fifty people were training on the deck. Based on the previous ratio, they should have provided more than ten experience points in a day.

But today, whether it was the gains from Physique or Swordsmanship, both amounted to a pitiful single-digit number.

What's going on?

Gawain frowned slightly. Looking at the pirates resting on the deck, he quietly opened the System Panel:

[Name—Gabu]

[Potential—Black Iron]

[Rating—Black Iron: Swordsmanship apprentice, potential exhausted.]

Potential exhausted...

Gawain looked at the words in the rating and gradually understood.

How could a person's abilities possibly improve without limit?

As time passed, everyone would eventually reach a point where no amount of training could take them any further, perhaps even a point where they could no longer maintain their original state.

Black Iron potential meant that one could grow no further than Black Iron.

And for the ship's uniform batch of Black Iron minnows, they had reached their limits far faster than Gawain had imagined.

It was foreseeable that the reduced experience was only the beginning. From then on, Gawain's gains would only grow lower and lower.

I need to speed up recruiting newcomers.

If it comes down to it...

A sharp glint flashed through Gawain's eyes.

He did not consider himself a good person, but he could not bring himself to harm civilians.

After all, they were already a group of miserable people, and there was no oil to squeeze from the poor. But some people were different...

I'll steal people from my peers!