Chapter 85 - The Door of the Sixth Sense
"Jaxen."
As soon as Enkrid woke up, he called for Jaxen.
"What is it?"
"The Door of the Sixth Sense—does it instinctively sense danger?"
"That's where it begins."
This was why Jaxen had recklessly unleashed his killing intent before—it stemmed from a survival instinct.
The primal urge to live, shared by all living beings.
If that was the starting point...
This must be it.
The tingling sensation brushing against his heart, subtle yet distinct.
It was fleeting and faint, yet unmistakable.
Still, it wasn't something that could be etched into his body in just one attempt.
He lacked the talent for that.
But Enkrid did not waste time lamenting his shortcomings.
Reaffirming his lack of talent wouldn't change anything, so he simply moved forward once more.
Rising to his feet, he embraced the start of another day—it was time to keep moving.
"Let's go."
***
Taking on the same request, he grabbed a torch and headed to the cobbler's shop.
This was his fourth visit.
This time, he arrived before the first hammer strike had even fallen.
"Let's break through this together."
"What? Break through what?"
Ignoring the cobbler's confusion, Enkrid joined forces with him to carve a hole into the ground.
Thus, he found himself once again facing the six branching paths.
At the first and second passages, the tingling sensation returned—a feeling of foreboding that couldn't be ignored.
Enkrid couldn't help but smile.
So, this is it.
This place—where he'd entered out of a simple inability to stand by and let the cobbler die.
A place he would have sealed off after a few unsuccessful attempts if not for the spell traps lurking within.
But Enkrid had no intention of being trapped by this "today."
This was merely an accident, and accidents could be avoided with determination.
He could easily drive the cobbler and his daughter out by force and call for a military unit to investigate the hole.
Of course, that was the last resort.
Entering blindly would guarantee death because of the spell traps.
Even if he wasn't the one dying, Enkrid couldn't simply stand by and let others perish.
However, calling for a mage—someone worth their weight in gold—wasn't an option either.
No mage would respond to a mere squad leader's request, and who would even believe his claim of spell traps?
Perhaps my squad or company commander would believe me, he thought.
Regardless, this was his conclusion:
This place was perfect for honing the Door of the Sixth Sense.
Realizing this sent a thrill through him.
It had taken only four attempts to create a crack in the gate.
Now, all that remained was to pry it open.
So he stepped into the third passage.
At that moment, a searing pain shot through him.
An invisible blade seemed to slice vertically through his body from above.
It was excruciating—unbearable pain, the sound of whistling wind, a chilling sensation spreading through his body, and blood gushing onto the ground as all his energy drained away.
Every part of it was agony.
And yet, the traces of newfound experience dulled the torment.
This is why the repetition of "today" was not entirely dreadful.
He was merely struggling and pushing forward for the sake of tomorrow.
On the fifth morning, Enkrid resolved not to settle for the present.
He set his goal:
To open the Door of the Sixth Sense and make it through this tunnel.
Anyone who knew would call this madness.
But to Enkrid, it was simply another moment of training.
To move forward.
To grow.
This was something different from merely struggling for tomorrow.
***
"Why are you smiling about a hole beneath my shop?"
The cobbler asked, confused by Enkrid's grin.
"I enjoy exploring the unknown," Enkrid replied casually, brushing off the comment as he prepared to descend again.
"Be careful. I heard something moving down there," the cobbler warned, grabbing his arm.
"Sure, I'll be careful."
Enkrid had many things he wanted to test.
He descended, facing the passage once more. This time, his sixth sense didn't immediately scream danger.
It's as if the gate is partially open, he surmised.
From here, he intended to open it completely.
Throwing himself blindly into traps had proven ineffective.
He had learned that much.
This was his fifth attempt.
Even if he couldn't finish it here, he would continue to struggle.
He refused to waste this moment simply because it could be repeated. Not even for a second.
So, what was left to do?
Enkrid spent the entire day walking the passage slowly, deliberately.
From the first to the second entrance, from the second to the sixth.
Back and forth, over and over again, until all five of his torches had burned out.
Even as the day stretched on, nearing its end, he persisted.
"What exactly are you doing?"
The cobbler, initially bewildered, eventually offered him lunch.
"At least eat something while you're at it."
Even the cobbler's daughter came to express her curiosity.
"Why is he pacing back and forth like a duck in a stream?"
By evening, the herbalist from a neighboring shop had joined them to watch.
It seemed like a pointless exercise.
But Enkrid focused all his attention on finding even the smallest anomaly.
How did the sixth sense detect danger?
According to Jaxen, it relied on the instinctive processing of sights, sounds, smells, and sensations.
The sixth sense identified danger before the conscious mind could.
He worked tirelessly to pinpoint that sense of unease.
Despite his efforts, nothing happened.
Then a thought occurred to him:
What happens if I don't die and today ends?
It was a curious realization.
After countless circuits through the passages, Enkrid hadn't gained any answers.
The tunnel was about one and a half times his height and extended far underground.
He hadn't ventured deep enough to know how far it stretched.
The walls and ceiling, though dusty, were sturdy.
It felt humid, but there was airflow, and even with a torch, the depths remained shrouded in darkness.
What else?
The air carried a faint metallic scent, though not overpowering.
Was there an undead creature lurking?
A priest might have been able to sense it, but Enkrid, who had devoted his life solely to the sword, lacked such talents.
He continued his search.
Endlessly observing until a sense of discomfort arose.
By the time night had fallen, he had found nothing.
"Aren't you heading back?"
The cobbler's voice called from the slope of the passageway.
Turning around, Enkrid saw his face peeking down from the incline.
Climbing up, he responded.
"I'm not sure what's inside, but it doesn't look dangerous at the moment. 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 lingering around?"
That would have been the right thing to say, normally.
But if reinforcements are called and someone enters the tunnel to cause an explosion, wouldn't that be the end of it?
It would be a path to death for all of them.
"I have something to check."
Pretending to be an expert, as if accustomed to this kind of situation, the cobbler nodded, though with suspicion.
Once again, they blocked the hole and headed back to camp.
***
The moon was visible above.
It was a full moon.
The weather, which had warmed a bit during the day, turned chilly again as night fell.
Enkrid, tightening his monster-leather coat, glanced behind him.
It seemed the cobbler had not managed to break through the floor and go down.
He appeared to be quite curious.
'If he had, there would have been an explosion.'
This raised another question.
What happens when the night passes like this?
It wasn't even something that could be considered an additional task.
Today, repeating as usual, there would eventually come a moment when it would have to end.
'I should have tested it earlier.'
But up until now, the environment hadn't been right for testing.
It had been the battlefield where death was a constant threat.
The day was spent avoiding assassin's daggers.
When encountering such days, it might feel dull, but Enkrid remained indifferent.
He had trained the same way every time, repeating the same patterns.
It wasn't any different from "today."
"You should be off to hunt monsters, right? But instead, did you go to kill boots? Did you kill them?"
When he entered the lodging, Rem asked.
She seemed to already know where he had gone for some mission.
Shaking off the dust from his pants, Enkrid replied.
"I killed about three. It was a fulfilling day."
"...Let's stop talking."
Rem wisely avoided starting an argument he knew he would lose.
If he had tried, Enkrid would have easily won with his sharp tongue.
Though he worried that someone might try to kill him to repeat the day, nothing happened, and he slept peacefully.
The next morning, when Enkrid opened his eyes and observed the situation, he muttered to himself.
"It's repeating."
It was the same as the day before.
Waking up or dying, perhaps it was all the same.
Thus, today began again.
Enkrid wandered again in front of the fork in the road.
Though there was no pain of death today, he was still consistent.
He still did his best and still fought desperately.
Being bound to today was the worst possible scenario for Enkrid.
So how could he break free from this?
He knew even without the ferryman telling him.
'It must be about getting past this place.'
As the torch went out, the surroundings seemed dark due to becoming accustomed to the light.
Clink.
Enkrid struck a flint to light the torch again and held it.
He gazed at the six forks in the road.
'In this case, one of these six must be real, right?'
The easiest way would be to throw himself into each one and check individually.
Instead of doing that, Enkrid sought to sharpen his sixth sense.
And it worked to some extent.
'Ominous.'
Something was stirring his survival instincts.
It was faintly felt on the sixth repeated day.
Thus, Enkrid passed another day that felt much like the others.
"What have you been doing all day?"
To calm the confused cobbler, Enkrid used the excuse he had thought up for today.
"I'm checking to see what's inside. It looks like there's a trap. It seems like the Thieves' Guild secretly made a hidden passage, so don't go inside."
There were other thieves' guilds in the city, not just the Thief Guild of Gilpin, but Enkrid still used that as a reference.
He had named them.
It was a plausible excuse.
After walking back and forth in front of the tunnel, it wasn't that he had deeply agonized over it, but the result was this.
The cobbler nodded.
"Got it."
***
Back at the lodging, Enkrid felt Jaxen's glare.
He had to sense the killing intent emanating from him.
It was something that repeated every evening.
Sweat trickled down his forehead as he endured, but Enkrid wasn't planning on sleeping.
What would happen if the day repeated while staying up all night?
He was curious.
So, he endured and watched as the dawn came the next day.
"Nyaa."
Esther approached and lightly tapped his back with her foot.
It seemed like she was protesting him not sleeping.
"Go ahead and sleep first."
Enkrid patted Esther's head as he spoke.
Then he waited for the dawn to come.
Enkrid blinked for a moment.
Then, 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?"
Though his head felt heavy and his body tired, it was the same repeated day once more.
'What if I don't blink at all?'
Then, would the day just continue?
But how could a person endure without blinking?
Even if one became a knight, it would be impossible.
Therefore, today's repetition was unavoidable.
'Is this just living for today?'
That could work.
After all, Enkrid already knew how to move forward into tomorrow.
He once again headed toward the cobbler's shop.
Enduring today more tired than before, it wasn't such a hard task.
After all, he had fought and ran for days, enduring much worse.
Thus, he continued repeating today, over and over again.
Since there was no pain of death, was it peaceful?
Was he getting drunk on peace, settling into today?
No, Enkrid didn't do that.
He didn't change.
So, he repeated today, then again, and again, and again, for seventy-eight repetitions of today.
After living a day that passed the same every time.
Back at the lodging, Enkrid avoided the killing intent shot by Saxen.
Two steps to the side.
It was a trick he could do by sensing the opponent's killing intent carefully.
It might have been a coincidence, so Jaxen shot the killing intent again.
It was a localized threat, expressing his intent to kill if Enkrid crossed a certain line.
Enkrid avoided the killing intent as he turned his body.
He wouldn't have been able to do it without opening the door to his sixth sense.
And he didn't just open it slightly; he had to fully open it to do what he did.
"...What is this?"
'The efficiency of survival instincts is amazing.'
The answer he gave inwardly was different from the words he spoke out loud.
"Suddenly, it works."
Of course, what he said outwardly wasn't the truth.
What he said inwardly was the truth.
A trap leading to death.
There was no better training tool than that.
Enkrid had savored it, chewed it, and enjoyed it.
That had unlocked his sixth sense.
And now, he could make Jaxen's eyes widen like this.
"Suddenly?"
Could this really happen?
No, but it did happen right in front of him.
Jaxen was stunned, but he didn't show it outwardly.
He just nodded.
What else could he do?
It was done, after all.
He had been wondering how to provoke progress, and now it was all useless.
"I owe you one."
Enkrid said, and Jaxen felt a little pleased.
Of course, he quickly muttered inwardly as usual.
'What's the point of this?'
Despite thinking that, Jaxen felt somewhat satisfied again.
Regardless of the process, Enkrid had opened the door as he wanted.
Jaxen's lips curled up for a moment before they returned to their usual state.
That was his way of showing joy.