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Chapter 91

The power of the Emperor of Ascension, huh? He gave me something really unexpected.

Though some might dismiss the ring once they saw that it was merely Hero tier, that would just be proof that they lacked an understanding of what owning the ring truly entails. The Ascension Ring allowed one to do extensive research into how space was manipulated and how Ludwig’s powers functioned. Essentially, owning the ring was akin to owning a secret technique that could lead to becoming the next Perfect One.

Well, that’s just one possible scenario.

Just like how different people learned and achieved different things even while observing the same thing, what one could learn from the ring would also differ. For instance, the Pilgrim had generously taught his divine magic to the followers of the Pilgrimage Church, but he failed to train a new Perfect One before he died.

I’ve always wondered... what even makes one a Perfect One.

Generally, the Perfect Ones were transcenders who climbed to the very top of a Tower of Heroes. But whether it was the conditions or their path to reach Perfect One status, even they themselves couldn’t explain clearly.

Can I become one too?

If he analyzed this power or even refined it himself, could he become a Perfect One? He quickly grew deep in thought, pondering the possibility of such a thing; it was something he had never had time to consider before the regression.

“Lee Se-Hoon.”

Having been quietly observing, Ludwig saw Se-Hoon fall into deep thought asking, “Have you ever handled spatial-type skills before?”

“Ah... no, I haven’t used them before.”

While he had forged spatial-type equipment before and even applied some of its basic principles to equipment, he had never directly wielded the power. Regardless, he found it difficult to handle since it demanded inherent talent rather than just theoretical knowledge.

“Hm. Then using it right away might be a bit premature,” Ludwig said a moment of pondering later. Like swiping a phone screen, Ludwig swiped the air with two fingers.

Zing!

Noticing a tiny inscription being inscribed inside the ring, Se-Hoon flinched involuntarily.

This crazy old man...

Had the pressure used to inscribe the inscription been reversed, his finger would have been sliced through. The thought made his face turn bitter, still unaware of whether it was intentional or not.

“Ah, that’s right. I forgot you had quite a keen eye. Sorry about that. It seems I inadvertently threatened you by doing things the usual way,” Ludwig said, upon noticing the bitterness on his face. His expression was quite sheepish.

“It’s fine. It seems like it wasn’t intentional... anyway, what did you inscribe?”

“I’ve inscribed a few spatial-type skills that you might find useful. Take a look.”

Prompted by his explanation, Se-Hoon examined the ring’s information message again and found three new lines.

[*Enables the use of the skill ‘Spatial Compression’

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Spatial Leap’

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Spatial Distortion’]

Three new spatial-type skills had been directly inscribed inside the Ascension Ring. Each was an often-used skill that was useful not only for combat but also for forging.

“First, start by getting accustomed to the concept of space with these skills. You should be able to get accustomed fairly quickly.”

“Understood,” Se-Hoon acknowledged, growing confident.

Now that he had been given such kind instructions, there should be nothing that he wasn’t able to do. At Se-Hoon’s confidence, Ludwig smiled gently.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Soon after Se-Hoon left, a voice suddenly emanated from the white hole.

“I thought his reward would just be a decent piece of armor, yet you actually handed over such power... what exactly are you plotting?”

“There’s no plot to speak of. I simply thought that power would be more useful to the boy.”

At Ludwig’s nonchalant response, the voice growled.

“That’s exactly the problem. What if he analyzes the power? What then?”

Though the powers of Perfect Ones were transcendental, it was entirely possible that someone could utilize them, just like with the scattered remains of the Eternal Nocturne, Wurgen Kruger.

Bestowing such a power openly was tantamount to exposing one’s vulnerabilities—the exact reason why most Perfect Ones weren’t entirely comfortable with doing such a thing.

“Even though most people won’t be able to analyze it, that precocious bastard seems dangerous. He might actually pull it off and exploit your power.”

“It seems you’ve come to look at him in a good light.”

“Do I sound like I’m joking right now?”

Rumble-

The entire office trembled faintly as an oppressive presence, enough to crush even high-ranking heroes like insects, flowed from within the white hole.

But despite the presence, Ludwig maintained his smile and calm.

“Calm down. Haven’t I always said that we shouldn’t fear our power being analyzed and should enjoy it?”

“Says the one who wiped out half of Exuviation’s research facility just because they got on your nerves.”

“That was just a matter of timing. More importantly though...”

Ludwig’s gaze drifted to a newspaper on his desk, the front page featuring a large photo of Jake and Se-Hoon.

“This boy has potential.”

“Potential?”

“The Perfect One and the Ten Evils. Heroes and demons. Humanity and the Demon Force.”

By listing out the main players dominating the world, he basically confirmed that they had all begun to focus their attention on Se-Hoon.

“Things might stir up more than we expect. So, we should lend him a little strength,” Ludwig said with a small smile.

Grasping that Ludwig wanted to add to the turmoil and advance humanity one step forward, the voice from the white hole dryly said, “You are one sly bastard...”

Click-

With that, the white hole was locked up once more, becoming the golden keyhole again, and then disappeared. Ludwig turned to look out the window.

“It’s time for me to start moving...”

He needed to prepare for the direction the following series of events would take—even though he knew it would be something no one could ever predict.

***

The next day.

Entering a private forging room in the Department of Blacksmithing, Se-Hoon started up a furnace before sitting on a chair and gazing at his right hand.

“Spatial Compression.”

Clap-

At the command, a clapping sound had erupted from above his palm. Space had been compressed from two directions, bursting the air between them.

The pressure isn’t bad. I might be able to crush someone’s finger if I use it properly.

Having verified its capability, he grasped an ignition stone with his right hand and lightly tossed it into the air.

“Spatial Leap.”

Whoosh-

Though initially heading toward the door of the closed furnace, it suddenly disappeared before reappearing inside a moment later.

Fwoosh!

Seeing the flames within roar fiercely, he thought about the skill he just activated.

So it creates some sort of tunnel.... Considering the concentration and mana consumption needed, I shouldn’t use it carelessly.

Using it with throwing weapons like the White Light Daggers might make it quite useful, but it seemed transporting his entire body was currently impossible.

He picked up a sheet of paper and tried the last skill.

“Spatial Distortion.”

Whoom-

A faint twist in space appeared above his palm, causing half of the paper to disappear before reappearing slightly arched upward from the center, forming a T-shape with the other half.

He clicked his tongue at the still intact paper.

It’s still terrifying to see.

On top of sending a part of an object to another location, the skill also connected the two parts seamlessly.

And while the pieces of paper looked neatly attached, if it had been a finger, it wouldn’t have been so clean.

Seems like I can’t use this one easily either...

Like Spatial Leap, the stronger the desired effect, the more the difficulty would increase, though it depended on the size of the object and the presence of mana. It was virtually impossible to use Spatial Distortion to transport entire human bodies, as it often failed even with slight complications.

Still, this distortion phenomenon is quite fascinating.

Gazing down at the Ascension Ring, he became deep in thought about what he could potentially do with it.

“Lee Se-Hoon...?”

Breaking him out of his thoughts, Eun-Ha entered the forging room, subtly shifting the atmosphere. She was looking at Se-Hoon with a peculiar expression, noticing that he was still examining his right hand.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“Yes, but...”

Her gaze was fixed intently on the Ascension Ring on his right ring finger.

“Where did you get that ring?”

“Ah, it’s the reward the Chairman gave for my recent deeds.”

“A reward...”

With that soft mutter, she began scrutinizing the ring with a wary expression, puzzling Se-Hoon.

What is she doing?

He wondered if she had some recent friction with Ludwig.

Noticing his baffled gaze, Eun-Ha quickly composed her expression.

“It seems you were given a fine reward. The Chairman should have been quite pleased with your performance.”

“Seems like it. He gave me this rather undeserved—”

“It’s not undeserved.”

Cutting off his words sharply, Eun-Ha firmly added, “Rather, it’s a fitting reward. There’s absolutely no need for you to feel indebted or sorry to him for this. Do you understand?”

Watching her impassive face turn serious as she spoke, Se-Hoon became slightly overwhelmed by her passion in trying to drive her point home.

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Se-Hoon agreed, nodding.

“Ahem. I apologize. I’m just mentioning it because it seems you often underestimate your own worth.”

Now that the mood had been reset, she stepped back and looked around the room.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today’s forging session? You mentioned in your message that you needed my help...”

“Ah, right. Let me explain now.”

Remember what he called her for, he led her to the workbench to show her the materials prepared beforehand.

On the bench was a dark red ore, a hammer with one side stained red, and piles of mass-produced equipment. Her gaze drawn to the ore, Eun-Ha’s eyes soon lit up.

“It’s the Dragon Lung Stone you received from the chairman before.”

“That’s right.”

[Dragon Lung Stone]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Excellent]

[An ore that can accumulate fire mana.

If the internal mana is stimulated in a certain direction, it can release the stored fire mana in one go.

*Can store and release fire mana]

It was the other material he received from Ludwig because of the Mount Silver Moon incident. As he planned to use it for the modification of the Black Flame Hammer, it had been set aside until today due to a lack of opportunities to properly use it.

“I plan to use this to modify my hammer.”

“Modifying the hammer... what are these mass-produced equipment for then?”

“Ah, those are for you.”

“...?”

Why did he say he prepared the mass-produced equipment for her when he was going to modify his hammer? Mystified, she suddenly remembered the effect of the Dragon Lung Stone, and her eyes widened.

“Are you planning to use my flames as a material?”

“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”

Se-Hoon intended to have the Dragon Lung Stone contain the Blazing Flame, the flames produced by Eun-Ha’s unique skill, Soul Furnace. He would then use the ore to modify the Black Flame Hammer.

“Hmm...”

But upon hearing his plan, Eun-Ha’s expression grew complicated.

“I’m sorry, but that might be difficult...” she said in a subdued voice.

“Because the Dragon Lung Stone might melt?”

“You knew already?”

She was completely taken aback by the fact that he knew.

Se-Hoon nodded. “Yes, I did some research beforehand.”

Aside from the fact that she literally consumed equipment, Eun-Ha was known as the Weapon Eater because of her affinity with equipment. Her Blazing Flame easily destroyed equipment and even ores.

Hence, even if her enemies miraculously survived the battle, they often ended up losing all of their equipment.

I remember how much I spent trying to harness this flame...

It took a year of research and eighty percent of his saved wealth. It was fortunate that he successfully found a solution to it in the end, otherwise, he might have succumbed to frustration for the rest of his life.

While Se-Hoon reminisced, Eun-Ha recovered and asked with a hint of surprise, “So, you’ve found a way to handle my Blazing Flame?”

“It’s just a hypothesis. I’ll test it out today, and if my solution seems plausible, then we’ll try using it with the Dragon Lung Stone.”

Hearing the confidence in his voice, Eun-Ha pondered for a moment.

She knew her flame had cost many blacksmiths their time and money. She also knew that going along with his plan was reckless, but her gaze couldn’t help but drift to the golden ring on his right hand.

That ring bears the Chairman’s power.... He wouldn’t have given it to him without any reason.

Though he had told her he wasn’t interested in Se-Hoon before, that was then. Se-Hoon’s recent accomplishments might have changed his mind, and the ring on his finger would be proof of that.

Thus, she became worried that Se-Hoon might become so enamored with rewards from Ludwig that he would vow to stay in Babel forever.

I won’t let that happen.

She wouldn’t let such a promising talent, her potential ally, be taken away so easily. Determined, she clenched her fist and nodded firmly.

“Understood. Shall I eat them up right now?”

Seeing how she seemed ready to devour the mass-produced equipment, Se-Hoon quickly stopped her.

“No, there are a few experiments I want to try first.”

“Experiments...?”

Confused, she watched as a sly grin appeared on Se-Hoon’s face.

“Experiments that you’ll like too, so please enjoy them.”