X Ash (엑스애쉬, egseuaeswi) is a manhwa and webtoon series written by Kim Sehoon and illustrated by Lee Kwang-Soo. It is a prequel series to the Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon created by Kim Sehoon. It is set in the world of Lucid Adventure, about a 1000 years in Lucid Adventure's lore before the players from the Harcore Leveling Warrior webtoon first logged in to Lucid Adventure. It follows X and Ash on their journey to becoming full fledged knights of The Knights Order as humanity still battles demons.
The webtoon was first published on October 29, 2021, through NAVER Webtoon (NAVER 만화) in author's native language - Korean. It is updated every Friday at 11 PM (Korean Standard Time), but is classified as a Saturday webtoon by Naver. On the 11th of May 2022, the series was released in English on WEBTOON as X & Ash. It is updated every Wednesday.
On the 30th of October 2021, the backstory connecting X Ash to the main Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon was added as a 'Special Edition' to Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 119. The 'Special Edition' was not included in the English and Taiwanese versions published on WEBTOON, and can only be found in the original Korean version. The English translation for the 'Special Edition' can be found here.
Premise[]
- Main Article: X Ash Episodes and Arcs
“[<Noblesse> Lee Kwang-Soo X <Hardcore Leveling Warrior> Kim Se-Hoon]
X, the genius of stealing, and Ash, who has a mysterious past. They decided to become knights after a fateful encounter with Ryu, the first sword of the Knights! In the testing ground of the Knights, where only the strongest beings of mankind gather, X and Ash must compete against the elite nobles who have it all and win!
Will they ever be able to become knights? And after that, the cruel fate that unfolds before them... ?”
Characters[]
- Main Articles: Characters
Main Characters[]
X is a genius thief. He managed to steal from Full Moon Ryu, the Captain of the Azure Knight Squad. Impressed by his abilities, Full Moon Ryu and recommended X as a candidate for Ragna, the test for The Knights. X's goal is to become the leader of The Knights.
Ash has a mysterious past that he cannot remember and a slime that comes out of his palm to heal people. He is best friends with X and also impressed Full Moon Ryu. He is also recommended as a candidate for Ragna by Full Moon Ryu. Like X, Ash's ambition is to also become the leader of the Knights.
Other Characters[]
Anne grew up with X, Ash and Mousse in the Forrest of Poison and Monsters. She is an amazing cook.
Mousse is a little girl that grew up with X, Ash and Anne.
He is the captain of the Azure Knight Squad and is renowned as the "Best Sword of the Knights". During an encounter with X and Ash, a dungeon key was stolen from him. He ends up taking both X and Ash under his wing and recommends them as candidates to Ragna. He dislikes nobles.
She is the vice-captain of the Azure Knight Squad. She specialises in a variety of swordsmanship and magic.
He is a member of the Azure Knight Squad and is proficient in magic. Full Moon Ryu calls him the errand boy of the Azure Knight Squad.
He is the No.2 Demon in the Demon Realm and the creator of the Demon Realm Swordsmanship. He loves to fight and is a rival of Full Moon Ryu.
Kyo Forestia
A beautiful Elf that is proficient in both archery and spirit magic. She hopes to become a Knight. She dislikes people that objectify her for her looks. She is close to Mu Charon.
The prince of the Charon Kingdom. He is attending Ragna in order to become a knight. He is upset that Full Moon Ryu did not recommend him for Ragna and instead chose to recommend X and Ash. He is close to Kyo and does not like being a made a fool of in front of her.
Groups[]
Main Article: X Ash Groups
(기사단, gisadan) (Literally: "Knights' Order; Order of the Knights")
A powerful group of humans and other creatures that gathered from all over the world to protect humanity from the demons. The Knights has 4 squads: the Azure Knight Squad, the Emerald Knight Squad, The Crimson Knight Squad and the Golden Knight Squad.
Terminology[]
Main Article: Terminologies
- Chivalric Code: It is the will to protect the world itself. A collection of great powers that have existed since the birth of the Knights. By borrowing the accumulated mana in the Chivalric Code, Knights are able to gain strong powers.
- Ragna: The test to become a knight. There are four exams, Mind, Ensemble, Treasure Hunt and Arena.
- Grand Master: The highest rank of The Knights. It is the title given to the leader of The Knights.
- Skills: abilities used through mana
- Stats: represents the physical ability of a character
- Ensemble: A concept created by the First Grand Master. It is when two or more skills are overlapped.
Locations[]
Main Article: X Ash Locations
Development[]
In a blog post in November 2020, Kim Sehoon said that little by little he is preparing a few pieces of work other than Hardcore Leveling Warrior. He said that one of them is about The Knights. The other story is about Heart Heater with the title maybe being "Heart Heater". He also said that it is difficult to write and illustrate alone and perhaps he would need a different artist to do both projects.[1] This was based on the experience he had serialising two webtoons at the same time when he worked on Mabinogi Heroes: For the First Time in my Life in 2017 alongside Hardcore Leveling Warrior.[2]
Prologue[]
- Main Article: X Ash Prologue
On the 29th of October 2021, Kim Sehoon collaborated with Lee Kwang-Soo to create X Ash. The backstory of the Knights that he spoke about. The backstory connecting the series to the main Hardcore Leveling Warrior series was shown in Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 119 - No Name + Special Edition on the 30th of October, 2021. The translation for the prologue can be found here.
Reception[]
After being released on Naver, the series received a really popular reception and was anticipated because of the involvement of the legendary Noblesse artist Lee Kwang-Soo.
Criticisms[]
Media[]
Webtoon[]
- Main Article: Story Arcs and Episodes
Written by Kim Sehoon and illustrated by Lee Kwang-Soo, 엑스애쉬 (X Ash) began its weekly serialisation on Naver's webtoon platform on Friday October 29, 2021. The chapters have not been collected as volumes as of yet. Two weeks in, it has a rating of 9.82 and is currently ranked 10th in the Friday webtoons.
| International Releases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Platform | Release Date |
| Korean | 엑스애쉬 | NAVER WEBTOON | October 29, 2021 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 骑士 X-Ash | Dongman Manhua | April 28, 2022 |
| English | X & Ash | WEBTOON | May 11, 2022 |
| French | X & Ash | WEBTOON | July 12, 2022 |
| German | X & Ash | WEBTOON | November 20, 2022 |
English Translations[]
- Main Article: X Ash WEBTOON Translations
X Ash began translation on LINE WEBTOON on the 11th of May 2022. Just like the Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon, X & Ash is plagued with translation issues and errors throughout.
Gallery[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The dynamic between X and Ash has been compared to the dynamic of Asta and Yuno in the Black Clover series.
- The entire series is actually a backstory narrated by Heart Heater to Hardcore Leveling Warrior, Dark and Sora.[3] It can therefore be surmised that this is the story created from Han Gun-Jae's mind.
- In Hardcore Leveling Warrior Season 2 Episode 132, Ji-Eun wore a long sleeve t shirt with X Ash written on it.
Related Pages[]
External Links[]
Official Links[]
- X Ash at Naver Webtoon (Korean)
- X & Ash at WEBTOON (English)
- 骑士 X-Ash at Dongman Manhua (Simplified Chinese)
- X & Ash at WEBTOON (French)
Unofficial Links[]
- X Ash at Korean Webtoon Wiki (English)
- X Ash at Animanga Wiki (English)
- X Ash at Namuwiki (Korean)
- X & Ash at WEBTOON WIKI (English)