< Chapter 124: A Brief Peace (2) >
“Does that mean we’re going back to regular classes starting from next Monday?”
— Yes, it seems so.
The next night.
I was on a call with Jia.
The main topic of the conversation was the current status of the damage restoration within the grounds of the Korean Superhuman Military Academy.
“Recovery is faster than expected, considering the extent of the damage.”
Given the vast area of the academy, the damage from this recent Gate explosion was bound to be significant.
I thought it would take at least 2 to 3 weeks to completely recover, but it seems like it will take less than 10 days.
— Ms. Maiden helped us a lot. And she did it only for the cost of materials, without taking any special fees.
“Aha. Riding on her skyrocketing image, she’s taking this opportunity to further endear herself, isn’t she?”
— That’s probably part of the reason, but she’s doing it with good intentions nonetheless.
“I see.”
Ms. Maiden is inherently a good person.
She does not engage in immoral actions to gain personal benefits.
… Except for tormenting challengers in the Grand Maze.
Had it not been for that, her image would have been at least twice as good as it is now.
— Ah, and they’re also planning to build an additional training facility. The government has acquired some patented technology from Ms. Maiden.
“Oh? What’s the government doing?”
— They seem to want a good relationship with Ms. Maiden due to the technology’s quality, as well as the recent events.
“Of course. She’s practically being treated as a hero right now.”
She’s more popular than Ms. Yu Hwa, who wrapped up the incident. This was a bit surprising to me too. The massive support from Ms. Maiden’s magical weapons must have had a strong impact.
“But you, Jia, are also almost a hero.”
That’s not to say that Ms. Yu Hwa and Jia, who handled the main Gate, are not popular.
— Uh… I haven’t really done anything, but being treated like this makes me feel like I’m sitting on a bed of thorns.
“What bed of thorns? Just enjoy it.”
— But… this was mainly the work of my ancestor…you even dealt with the demon…
“So you’ve been concerned about that.”
“I told you, the growth of the Shinwa Group helps me.”
The same goes for the Bihon Guild.
The more influential these two organizations become, the easier it is for me to operate. It’s easier to hide my true identity, and leveraging connections to get things done becomes more straightforward.
…Hmm. I feel like I’ve become the hidden puppet master of these two groups.
— Yes, I will do my best.
“Good. Grow quickly and later get me a lot of ancient relics.”
— Yes, I will try my best, focusing on artifacts from the Angel and Elf races!
… It doesn’t have to specifically be from the Angel and Elf races, though.
Anyway, this is my ultimate goal.
“If I can grow my influence to the point where I don’t have to worry about the government or other countries and amass substantial funds, then I can collect ancient relics on a corporate scale.”
If I establish a museum under the name of the Shinwa Museum, there will probably be no objections.
There’s no reason to decline if a corporation is willing to use its own funds to elevate the country’s status by creating a museum.
Then, I can use the ancient relics that have been collected.
For relics with good effects, I can temporarily borrow them.
For those with less impressive effects, I only need to touch them for a minute, so turning off the CCTV for a brief moment shouldn’t be a problem.
In doing so, an environment would be created where I can collect traits while sitting down.
…When that time comes, I wonder if the black tattoo will become a problem.
It seems I’ll need to coordinate well between the backup relic I’ll keep in the ‘Artisan’s Portable Forge’ and the tattoo.
* * *
The next early morning, I headed to a nearby superhero training center. It’s not the usual place I go to, but a very expensive high-end training center.
It has the most diverse and up-to-date facilities in Korea.
My purpose is to confirm my newly acquired power. This place offers many specialized training curriculums that I can only do here.
The training I’m doing now is one of those specialized curriculums.
Chirp chirp!
“Hey, stay still.”
Tied by chains, a rodent monster named “Monster Rat” that’s 50 meters in size is trembling all over. It’s looking at me with a desperate expression.
Its eyes seemed to be screaming, “Just kill me…!”
“I will only experiment three more times.”
This training is called the [Killing Experience Curriculum]. As the name suggests, it’s training designed to allow aspiring superheroes to experience killing.
So, I’m really facing a ‘Monster Rat’.
…Well, my purpose isn’t to experience killing but to test my healing power.
Squeeeak!
As my dagger approached, Monster Rat shivered all over its body.
But it’s futile.
The chains’ restraint was perfect.
I slashed through Monster Rat’s body.
Whoosh!
Squeeeeeak!
Monster Rat let out a tearing scream.
“Don’t worry. I’ll heal you right away.”
I placed my other hand on its wound. The magic flowing from my hand was converted to ‘Divine Power’, an alternative energy, and flowed into Monster Rat’s wound.
Hssssss….
The magical power, transformed into white light, healed Monster Rat’s wound.
The wound healed quickly.
“Hmm. As expected, my magic can only save one person at most.”
Depending on the area, the depth of the wound, and the amount of bleeding, the consumption of magical power varies.
From several trials, I found out that my magical power can heal only about one severe injury.
“Good.”
With this, the experiment for the Angel race trait, ‘Divine Power,’ seems complete.
“AI, take this Monster Rat back.”
I felt sorry for killing it, so I decided to spare it and send it back.
[Retrieving Monster Rat.]
With that said, a small robot appeared and took Monster Rat outside. Was it my imagination that Monster Rat looked relieved as it moved away from me?
… Probably.
Shall we quickly move on to the next experiment?
“AI, battle mode. Summon about 40 virtual monsters randomly. Keep their rank around D.”
Second experiment.
It’s time to test the new trait of the Elf race in action.
[Switching to battle mode.]
[Summoning 40 D-rank monsters, types random.]
“The terrain should be a forest full of obstacles.”
[Changing to a forest field.]
With that said, magical lights began to flow around me.
[27%··· 55%···]
Various types formed together into one shape—animal types, plant types, and insect types.
Simultaneously, the surrounding landscape changed.
Forests and shrubs sprang up, providing cover for the monsters.
“Wow, they even implemented camouflage.”
Quality really does come at a cost.
[96%··· 100%]
[Finishing monster configuration.]
All preparations were soon complete.
I couldn’t confirm all the monsters due to the terrain, but they were likely targeting me.
[To start training, please shout ‘Start’.]
I transformed my chains into the form of a dagger.
Ready.
“Start.”
At that word, I lowered my body’s center of gravity.
[Training starts.]
At that moment, the monsters began to move.
Their once doll-like faces came to life, looking at me like real monsters.
Growl…
The most aggressive ones charged at me.
I also saw a monkey standing on a tree, drawing a bow.
I could see only 11 monsters.
The remaining 29 were probably lurking stealthily in the forest.
If I only pay attention to the visible enemies, the hidden ones could inflict fatal injuries. If I only think of the hidden enemies, my focus would scatter, leading to fatal mistakes.
This is the terrifying aspect of forest warfare.
The same goes for foggy swamps and urban areas where visibility is limited.
The unseen enemy is always the most dangerous.
“This is the perfect opportunity to test these eyes.”
I focused my consciousness on my eyes.
Both pupils dilated, emitting a clear blue light.
At that moment, my field of vision expanded.
It was a strange spectacle, as if I was seeing myself from a third-person perspective, or as if I was being viewed by a satellite in the sky.
The Elf racial trait, [Elf Eyes], had activated.
I could see everything around me.
At this moment, blind spots disappeared from my vision.
The first thing I did was swing my sword at the animal-type monsters charging at me.
Whoosh!
Three of them were sent flying to the side, spraying fountains of blood.
With that, the three most dangerous ones were taken care of.
“Next is…”
It’s time to deal with assassins lurking in the shadows, aiming for my weak spots.
I leaped back while transforming my chain into a bow.
Swoosh!
Three arrows flew like serpents from my bow, targeting the heads of three creatures hidden in the forest.
Taking advantage of my momentary focus on the bow, the remaining eight monsters rushed in.
…As if I’d let them.
The bow immediately transformed into a longsword.
Slash!
Blood splattered.
The elongated 5-meter longsword sliced through four creatures.
I switched to a falling stance and changed to twin swords, rotating 360 degrees.
Swoosh-swoosh!
The twin swords wrapped around my body, shredding approaching monsters.
At the same time, I threw the ‘Black Dragon’s Horn’ I had stored in ‘Artisan’s Portable Forge’ into the bushes.
Faint traces of blood splattered in the darkness.
But that wasn’t the end.
The Black Dragon’s Horn, carrying my energy, changed its trajectory.
It bent at a right angle, piercing the heads of two more monsters standing nearby.
The surroundings were filled with the polygon-like debris of the dead monsters.
Now, 23 monsters remained.
“They may be well-hidden, but they can’t escape my eyes.”
Whooosh!
Eight arrows of flame floated around me and were fired simultaneously.
At that moment, an alarm rang in my head.
I saw three poisonous darts flying toward me.
…I can even see this, huh?
It was an impressive performance.
I swung my hand in the direction of the incoming darts.
Whoosh!
A massive wall of fire rose up in front of me.
The attacks that touched this fire wall turned into polygons and vanished into nothingness.
Screeech! Whoosh!
In contrast, they couldn’t avoid or block my fire arrows.
With that, 15 monsters remain.
At this point, it’s safe to say the battle is essentially over.
I transformed the chain into a dagger and rushed toward the closest monster.
The wind blew.
The “Path of Wind” was opened.
When ‘Elf Eyes’ and ‘Path of Wind’ met, a new landscape unfolded that I’d never seen before.
“…What is this?”
The synergy of the two traits far exceeded what I had expected.
I can see everything.
This is not just about having no blind spots; it feels like my eyes are equipped with infrared sensors.
I moved my body.
As my eyes saw.
As my body moved.
It was in a trance.
I simply moved along the “Path of Wind.”
I slashed, shot, and stabbed.
And as I kept moving that way,
[All monsters have been eliminated!]
[Training is concluded!]
Before I knew it, the training had ended.
I took deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the adrenaline still surging through me.
Calm down.
“…Impressive, huh?”
The two new traits I’ve recently acquired, ‘Divine Power’ and ‘Elf’s Eyes,’ were both jackpots.
Knowing something in theory is indeed entirely different from experiencing it in practice.
“Now what’s left is…”
Just to understand the full assimilation effect of the Angel tribe.
“Sigh…”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
“My head hurts already.”
I’ve been making strenuous efforts to find something even before the Gate went berserk, but I still haven’t gotten a clue. It was only natural to sigh.
“…I will find it today.”
I gritted my teeth.
I came to this state-of-the-art training center today to somehow settle the score.
“AI. Proceed with the reserved special training modes, sequentially.”
[Starting the first, ‘Poison Resistance Training’.]
Let’s start with poison immunity, then.
[There are a total of 187 special training modes remaining. The estimated time required is 16 hours, 28 minutes, and 35 seconds.]
…Let’s see who wins this.
< Chapter 124: A Brief Peace (2) > End
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