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Chapter 93

“Did I push myself too hard...”

He originally planned on doing simple tune-ups, but after seeing Eun-Ha gradually becoming tired of eating the same swords over and over again, he unconsciously used his fire mana.

As a result, he felt a languidness throughout his body, but his mind was clear. It was an awkward state to be in; he couldn’t move or rest comfortably. In the end, Se-Hoon decided to check his stats, which he hadn’t done in a long time.

[Lee Se-Hoon]

[Strength - C (170) Endurance - C (165)

Mana - C (190) Agility - C (167)

Unique Skill: Blacksmith of Bonds

Elemental Mana: Scarlet Flame Wheel (D+), Moon Shadow (D)

Learned Skills: Celestial Infinity Blade (S), Soul Honing (S), Dream Storage (A), Eyes of Clairvoyance (A), Mortal Combat Techniques (A), Master of Flames (C), Incantation: Attribute (C), Awakening Dream (C), Black Weaver (D)]

“Hmm... not too bad.”

Pure stat-wise, he was still average for Babel. Still, he had significantly increased the quantity of elemental mana he possessed and acquired many new skills, some of which he had never learned before the regression.

It’s good that I’ve gained skills I never learned before... but it feels a bit messy now.

Before regressing, he only ever developed new elemental mana through Soul Honing. He had lacked talent in both martial arts and magic, so it was an approach that suited his inclinations back then.

Though, I seem to be a bit different now.

During this second chance, he was able to quickly pick up techniques like Kwang-Soo’s Vision Sword Techniques, Mortal Combat Techniques, and his Eyes of Clairvoyance. He was also able to easily master the arts of enchantment and sorcery.

Perhaps—no, he was now certain that he had developed a talent for martial arts and magic.

It was an incomprehensible thing, but since it was this way, there was only one thing for him to do.

I should properly learn something new.

“Use whatever materials are available.”

Recalling the teachings of his master, he pondered over how to develop himself moving forward.

First things first... let’s acquire a third type of elemental mana.

The true potential of Soul Honing could only be seen after acquiring the third type of elemental mana. Thus he decided that he could think about what to learn and do after mastering Soul Honing fully again.

Let’s see. Who should I ask...

Going over the choices in his head, he soon decided on the right person and sent a message on his phone. Then, he turned off the phone screen and waited for a reply.

But instead of a reply, a phone call came in: Inoue Erika.

That was incredibly fast...

Wondering whether she had been coincidentally looking at her phone, he answered the call.

—What do you need?

“Ah, it’s nothing much. I was just wondering if you could get me some Purifying Earthstone.”

A Purifying Earthstone was an ore that contained pure, intrinsic earth mana and was used to restore lands contaminated by demonic aura. But while it wasn’t necessarily rare, obtaining high-quality ones was challenging due to the Abyss of Demons eroding them and their popular usage by those in various cultivation facilities. As such, securing high-quality stones typically required good connections.

—What tier are you looking for?

“At least Rare. I’ll pay properly, including the intermediary fee—”

Before Se-Hoon could finish, he was interrupted by Erika’s calm voice.

—No. I don’t need the money.

Pausing, Erika then got to her main point.

—I just want your equipment.

“Ah, right, I did say I would make a piece for you.”

Though he said that, Erika’s equipment had been delayed by the completion of the Luminescent Sword and the preparations for the subjugation practical, not to mention the ensuing aftermath.

Sung-Ha’s and Luize’s are supposed to be before hers, but it shouldn’t be much of a problem to proceed with a quote.

Since she was helping him get materials, it was only right for him to show some sincerity. His decision made, he asked, “Then, shall we meet now? Let’s start with the quote...”

—I’ll come over now. See you at the entrance.

Click.

Before he could even respond, the call abruptly ended. The anticipation conveyed in her calm voice momentarily flustered him before he then chuckled.

She must have really craved it.

Considering that she had been keen on recruiting him ever since realizing his potential, her reaction was expected.

Thinking about that, he killed some time and then got up from bed, immediately going down to the entrance.

“Hello.”

“Caw.”

Upon stepping out, he was greeted by Erika, who had already arrived.

She was wearing a white knit tee and a brown long skirt, a crow perched naturally on her shoulder. Her impeccable appearance made Se-Hoon feel slightly awkward.

“Were you nearby?”

Seeing as how she was able to arrive so impeccably after the call, he wondered if she had been walking nearby.

Erika shook her head.

“No. I flew here.”

“Caw,” the crow called, flapping one of its wings as if it had done the flying itself.

Upon her answer, Se-Hoon’s face lit up with interest.

Does it have some kind of transportation spell? To arrive all the way here from Ur’s dormitory in less than two minutes, the speed must be quite... huh?

Examining the crow perched on her shoulder, he suddenly narrowed his eyes, noticing something.

“Did the crow from last time die?”

At first, he thought it was the same one because it looked identical, but when inspecting it closer, the atmosphere around it and its overall feeling seemed a bit different.

It was merely a hunch that was hard to explain precisely, so his question had been half-filled with doubt.

Starting silently at him for a moment, Erika then slowly nodded.

“Yes. It died in battle.”

“Uh-huh. So it was challenging for an ordinary crow.”

Dealing with the monsters from the Black Lotus Seas was one thing, but dealing with the overwhelming roots of the Divine Tree was an entirely different matter.

This new crow also seems pretty ordinary.... Maybe I should forge something useful for this one.

Thinking of how to incorporate a crow with the mythical equipment Erika used before the regression, he quickly conceived a blueprint in his mind.

“Can you come over here for a moment?”

Leading Erika to a nearby park, he sat on a secluded bench and extended his hand.

“Lend me your crow for a bit.”

“Okay.”

At her gesture, the crow gently glided down and perched on his hand.

“Caw.”

“Let’s see...”

He activated the Eyes of Clairvoyance and examined the flow of mana circulating within the crow’s body. As he observed the thin line of purple mana flowing throughout its body and the silver mana embedded throughout its skeleton, his face grew more and more intrigued.

She embedded a simple spell pattern, and shortened the buffing time.... She’s using it quite toughly.

To put it simply, she was enhancing the crow as if she was holding a sketchbook and sketching every moment of a moving subject, preparing to transition to a line drawing at any time. As a result, if a single line was off even slightly, the simple spell pattern could warp all of the mana inside the crow.

It was a method of enhancement that required caution, but Erika handled it very naturally.

Since the overall framework is in place, there shouldn’t be any difficulties.

Having finished his examination of the structure of the simple spell formula, he quickly found its focal point and placed his hand on it.

Black Weaver

Threads of Black Weaver sprouted from his fingertips and spread throughout the crow’s body, prompting a look of interest from Erika.

“Are you trying to connect all of the spell formulas into one?”

“That’s exactly what I am trying to do. I’m thinking of synchronizing them together... Spread your palm out wider, please.”

“Okay.”

Inspecting her right palm, he connected the strands of Black Weaver extending from his fingertips throughout various points.

“Right here... no, a bit more to the right...”

Carefully aligning every strand of Black Weaver with the subtle flow of mana in her palm, he removed his hand.

“Try infusing some mana into it now.”

“Right now?”

Examining the threads of Black Weaver Se-Hoon connected, Erika subtly narrowed her eyes.

The setup isn’t bad, but... the efficiency isn’t very good.

Compared to her usual method, it was only about eighty percent effective. She looked at him again, double-checking if it was right.

Seeing her questioning look, Se-Hoon chuckled.

“Just give it a try.”

“...Okay.”

Nodding, she infused her mana into the strands of Black Weaver, and the crow’s body gradually began to turn silver.

Whoong-

A curtain of silver mana covered it from head to toe.

However, parts of it were clumped or distorted, the result of the unusual method of infusing mana. Yet, despite that, Se-Hoon just nodded after inspecting it

“Good. Keep the output steady now.”

He began drawing up Moon Shadow in his right hand, slowly smoothening over the mana surrounding the crow’s body.

Sssss-

The parts of the mana curtain that were touched by Moon Shadow began to mold like clay, causing him to nod in satisfaction at the transformation.

“Mmm. You spread your wings too.”

“Caw.”

Slowly, the silver mana enveloping the crow was leveled out by his hand, transforming the crow into a completely different form.

“Caw!!”

Silvery manes that were sharp as blades sprang up all over its body, its form now resembling more of an eagle than a crow.

But upon seeing it, Erika grew confused.

Does this matter, though?

The mana invested in creating that shape could have been used to enhance the crow’s strength by thirty percent more than usual.

But again, upon seeing her doubtful look, Se-Hoon just grinned.

“Try having it soar into the sky.”

“Okay....”

Though skeptical, she infused the crow with her mana again and commanded it to fly upwards.

Boom-!

A silvery flash shot up from Se-Hoon’s hand, piercing the air and shooting high into the sky.

“...?!”

The crow’s speed was overwhelmingly faster than when under the usual enhancement. And while that alone was surprising, what truly caught her attention were the other subtle changes.

The instantaneous acceleration has at least doubled. And the manes are interlocking to increase their penetration...

On top of that, the crow could pierce through the enemy with its beak while its manes slashed the entirety of its surroundings as it brushed past them, inflicting more definitive damage.

It was an outcome that far exceeded her expectations, she looked on in wonder, amazed.

“How did you do it?”

“Well, as you know, crows are not normally used for combat. Therefore, even if you simply enhance their physical abilities and add some spell patterns, it doesn’t change their fundamentally inefficient parts. That’s the part I solved.”

Erika had perfectly optimized the enhancement of the crow itself, but she hadn’t mastered transforming it into a form specialized for combat. Though considering that one of her main skills before regression was called Demon Crow Armament, an enhancement spell, perhaps it was just that she hadn’t felt the need to rather than lacked the ability to.

“I’ll forge something that you can use to support and help you with your practice. Try to figure out how to apply what you’ve learned today to it.”

“...Okay, got it.”

Now even more invested, Erika nodded seriously.

“When will it be ready?”

“Well, there are two others ahead of this one...”

The materials for Sung-Ha’s were ready, so he could start today and continue intermittently. As for Luize, he likely needed to give her more time to get accustomed to using incantation magic, which worked out since he also needed more time to gather the necessary materials for her equipment.

“I do have some leeway, so I’ll try to forge it within this week...”

Vrr-

Upon feeling a vibration in his pocket, he pulled out his phone and saw a familiar name: Yeom Sung-Ha.

Why is he calling all of a sudden...

It was slightly alarming that the caller was Sung-Ha of all people, as it probably meant that he had caused some trouble.

A brief moment later, he sighed and said to Erika, “I need to take this call for a moment.”

“Okay.”

He excused himself and answered the phone, hearing a gruff voice coming through.

—Have you finished the spear?

“Not yet.”

—Tsk.

“...”

Just two exchanges in, Se-Hoon already felt frustrated.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he asked, “Is there something going on? Why do you need it urgently?”

—There’s something urgent. How long would it take if you started on it now?

“Uh... let’s say five days, to be safe.”

He had already finished planning out how to forge it, so it was definitely doable within a week. Upon hearing his answer, a moment of silence of silence passed.

—Make it in four days.

Click-

Leaving that rude demand, he hung up like there was nothing more to say. Anyone else might have lost their temper, but Se-Hoon was more concerned about other things.

This guy... did something happen to him?

Even though Sung-Ha was known for being self-centered and inconsiderate, he wasn’t the type to desperately ask for something unless it was actually necessary.

Breaking Se-Hoon out of his pondering over whether to call Sung-Ha back, Erika spoke up, “It’s probably for the ceremony starting tomorrow.”

“Ceremony?”

“I got a notice earlier that there would be a briefing on a new project and Yeom Sung-Ha’s promotion ceremony at the Flame Sect.”

“...Looks like they’re coming up with something big.”

Perhaps that was why Sung-Ha urgently needed the spear. Understanding the urgency of the situation, he looked at Erika.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“It’s nothing,” she replied calmly.

Hearing that, Se-Hoon stood up with an awkward smile on his face.

“Unfortunately it looks like you’ll have to wait for your equipment.”

“...?”

“Yeom Sung-Ha has already booked an order, and he wants it in four days. I’ll need to rush a bit to meet the timeline.”

“...”

Watching her face become expressionless as an ominous aura formed around her, Se-Hoon made a sheepish expression.

“I’ll make sure to make yours next, so just wait a little longer!”

It was brutal that he had raised her hopes and then crushed them by telling her that she had to wait, but what could he do? Sung-Ha had booked him first.

“See you next time, then!”

Leaving behind his regards, he quickly returned to his dorm room, leaving Erika alone on the bench, staring after him.

“Caw!”

Whoosh!

The crow, having completed a vigorous flight, landed confidently and looked at its master.

“Does he dislike me...?”

“...”

Hearing her menacing murmur, the crow quietly folded its wings and turned away.