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Chapter 94

Below the arena, Sung-Ha stood stoically in his uniform, slowly scanning the murmuring crowd. It irked him that the spectators acted like they were watching an entertaining spectacle, but he dismissed it swiftly.

Those useless fools aren’t worth my attention.

What mattered the most was ensuring today’s promotion ceremony went off without a hitch.

“You fool.”

Interrupting Sung-Ha while he was calming his breath, an old man, with stark white hair roots, stood beside Sung-Ha and scolded him.

“What were you thinking, showing your fangs to the Sect Master? Do you have a death wish or something?”

Upon hearing the old man’s scolding, Sung-Ha furrowed his brows.

“That’s none of your concern, old man,” he retorted.

“...What?”

“Buzz off if you’re just here to babble pointlessly.”

With that, Sung-Ha closed his eyes and resumed his breathing, dismissing the old man with an audacity that bordered on disrespect. His behavior left the old man gaping in disbelief before he eventually sighed.

“Boy, if I had been concerned about such things, I wouldn’t have approached you.”

“The Sect Master has finally unsheathed his sword because of this time. Even those of us who chose to be neutral have to choose a side now,” explained Park Jin-Hwan, the Flame Sect’s associate blacksmith.

A long silence passed, and then Sung-Ha slowly responded, “Why didn’t you choose their side then?”

“I’ve already been determined to be an obstacle for their ongoing project, which led to my demotion a while back. But even if I hadn’t been demoted, I wouldn’t have wanted to side with them.”

Sung-Ha didn’t respond anymore.

By applying for the promotion to the state of Seven Rings, he effectively marked the beginning of the contest for the position of the next sect master. He had pondered over the chaos that might ensue from this, but he ended up quickly dismissing the thought from his mind.

It doesn’t matter what happens anymore.

His master wanted him to become the sect master, and he was determined to fulfill that wish. He reaffirmed his commitment to that in his mind.

“The moment you ascend that sparring arena today, the Sect Master won’t hold back anymore,” Park Jin-Hwan suddenly said.

“He might even send people to eliminate you right after your promotion.”

“So, considering this is your last chance, I’ll ask again.”

Looking seriously into Sung-Ha’s eyes, Park Jin-Hwan asked, “Are you truly confident in this?”

At his question, Sung-Ha was suddenly reminded of a conversation with a peculiar individual.

“Starting now, I’ll make you a sect master even if you say you don’t want to later.”

Recalling the unmistakable assurance in Se-Hoon’s eyes as he declared his ambition to make him the next sect master, Sung-Ha firmly stated, “I will become the next sect master.”

—The promotion ceremony of disciple Yeom Sung-Ha to the state of Seven Rings will now begin. Distinguished guests, please take your seats...

As the sparring hall quieted down, Sung-Ha watched the Sect Master’s shadow pass through the doorway and calmly added, “He made that kind of a deal with me.”

***

On a Sunday morning, a time when students were relishing the remaining weekend and dreading the upcoming Monday, Se-Hoon was preparing for a forging session in In-Cheol’s workshop.

“Hmph...!”

Thud!

A heavy sound echoed due to the heavy metal box that he placed on the floor.

“This is damn heavy...” muttered Se-Hoon, wiping the sweat from his forehead and slowly catching his breath.

Usually, a void box of this size wouldn’t be so heavy, but it was unavoidable this time because it contained all of the drops from the Divine Tree that were recovered from the Black Lotus Seas.

Well, at least I can move it all at once like this.

Anything could be conveniently transported using void spaces nowadays, but in the past, people had to manually transport everything because there were such no suitable means to transport everything at once.

Thus, if they had defeated a monster like the Divine Tree back then, they wouldn’t have been able to transport it all to Babel; a portion of the entire drops would have been recovered while the rest was destroyed.

If I think about it like that, Ludwig is one remarkable individual.

In the past, only a scarce few among those who could handle spatial-type skills could utilize void spaces, but everything changed when Ludwig became the first Perfect One and descended from the Tower of Heroes.

He systematized the creation of void spaces with a formula and then distributed it for free for everyone to use.

He also restored pipelines between nations, solved supply issues caused by monsters and demons, increased the recovery rate of monster drops, and improved the armaments of heroes... the list of his accomplishments just goes on and on.

It was all just history now, but at that time, Ludwig was nothing short of a miracle worker to all those active. The thought made Se-Hoon click his tongue inwardly.

This is why Perfect Ones are terrifying beings.

They were transcendent beings capable of solving problems that neither entire nations nor humanity as a whole could address. Realizing once again how many natural aspects of everyday life were due to Perfect Ones, he placed his hand on the panel on the void box lid.

Keeing-

The Ascension Ring on his right ring finger faintly glowed, and then a warehouse-like layout formed naturally in his mind. The neatly organized drops of the Divine Tree inside awed him.

An internal projection feature... this is quite an expensive box.

He had thought it was a cheap giveaway, but it turned out that Ludwig had given him a top-of-the-line model, possibly another part of the reward for his recent accomplishments.

Feeling impressed once again by Babel’s generous spending, he selected the largest fragment of the Divine Tree among all of the different drops.

Click!

The front of the metal box opened like a door, and a dark fragment of the Divine Tree smoothly slid out.

Thud!

Seeing that the single fragment of the Divine Tree was comparable in size to an ordinary tree, he was made acutely aware again of the substantial quantity of drops from the Divine Tree that he had managed to secure.

With these and the seed that I’ll grow later... I should have enough to last until I deal with all six Harbingers of Destruction.

While he reveled in the satisfaction of how many pieces of equipment he could forge with all that, In-Cheol, who had parked his motorcycle outside, entered the workshop.

“Is this a drop from that Divine Tree?”

“Ah, yes, that’s correct.”

“It’s huge, just like the rumors. May I take a closer look?”

Seeing In-Cheol looking on with interest, Se-Hoon nodded.

“You’ve lent me the workshop already; go ahead. Just try not to use any mana.”

“Alright.”

Approaching the fragment of the Divine Tree, In-Cheol stroked its surface.

Usually, materials that are broken into pieces like this lack durability before processing... but this one is different. It feels like an entire tree, not just a fragment.

Marveling at the fragment of the Divine Tree, he checked the information message.

[Divine Tree Fragment]

[Tier: Rare] [Quality: Perfect]

[A part of the Divine Tree that grew in the Black Lotus Seas.

Nourished by the vast nutrients of the soil, the Divine Tree grew abundantly but due to the aftermath of the destruction, the fragments have lost much of their original power.

*The properties change depending on the mana infused into it]

“This is...”

Upon finding out it was a material that changed its properties depending on the mana infused into it, In-Cheol’s eyes widened in amazement.

“It’s a material that changes properties while processing it.... With this level of versatility, this could be considered Hero material.”

No matter how skilled the blacksmith, if the materials used were inherently incompatible from the start, limitations in the final product were inevitable.

However, since the properties of this fragment of Divine Tree could be altered at will, it could adapt to even the most difficult materials, making it essentially a material that could be used for everything.

“How much does this represent out of the total amount you’ve acquired?”

“Less than one percent.”

“Hmm...”

Astonished by the fact that Se-Hoon had secured so much of such material, In-Cheol, who wore a curious expression, then asked, “But can you use all of it by yourself?”

Even if Se-Hoon worked diligently, it wouldn’t be easy to use thousands of tons of materials alone.

To his question, Se-Hoon wore a slight smile.

“It definitely is quite a lot, but not to that extent. More than half of it will be disposed of once I sort out the usable ones.”

“...You will filter it out to such extremes?”

The fact that so much could be reduced just by sorting out was baffling.

“You’ll understand right away once you examine them for yourself, Professor. But for that to happen, the assistant needs to come quickly...”

“Assistant? But there’s no one suitable from our department...”

Knock, knock.

The moment he finished speaking, a knock echoed from the entrance of the workshop. Turning around, In-Cheol saw a silver-haired girl peering shyly into the workshop.

“Um.... Is there a bastar—no, a freshman here named Lee Se-Hoon?”

“Ah. This is the workshop. Come on in.”

Hidden behind In-Cheol, Se-Hoon leaned to the side and gestured for Luize to enter. Noticing him, she frowned as she stepped inside.

Seeing Luize wearing a plain choker, a black hoodie with a wolf character, and long jeans, Se-Hoon became intrigued.

So she does have casual clothes.

When she was the Blast Dog, he had only ever seen her wear a black rider suit, even when she was asleep, so her ordinary attire felt quite unusual.

“...What are you staring at?” snapped back Luize, who slightly avoided his silent gaze.

But Se-Hoon just grinned and shared his genuine thoughts, “Your casual clothes suit you well.”

His words sounded like a compliment, but she felt like it could also be an insult. She was too embarrassed to ask his intention though, thinking it would slightly wound her pride, so she glanced at his side.

“And who is this?”

“Ah. This is Professor Kim In-Cheol, the owner of the workshop.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Kim In-Cheol.”

“Ah. Nice to meet you. Luize Valente.”

They exchanged a light bow. Though it was a bit awkward, Se-Hoon quickly got to the point since it had nothing to do with the work.

“Now that the assistant is here, let’s get started.”

“Assistant? You only said you wanted to have a word with me.”

“You’ll be talking, but it won’t be with me.”

“Huh? What does that—”

“Come on, let’s get moving for now.”

Gripping her shoulders, Se-Hoon pushed her toward the end of the fragment of Divine Tree and then pulled out a White Light Dagger from his pocket.

“Let’s see...”

Inspecting the woodgrain-like patterns on the fragment, he carefully carved a small notch and connected it to one end of a created thread of Black Weaver, tying the other end to the handle of the White Light Dagger.

He then carved several notches and tied all the threads to the dagger before finally inserting the tip of the White Light Dagger into the center of the fragment.

“Okay, that’s it.”

“What is this... a tent?”

Seeing Luize puzzled by the threads of Black Weaver spreading out in all directions from the handle of the White Light Dagger, Se-Hoon corrected her.

“No. It’s more like a handset if anything.”

“This?”

“You’ll get it once you use it.”

He then connected a new thread of Black Weaver to the handle of the White Light Dagger and then extended the end in front of her mouth.

“Go ahead, bite on it.”

“What am I even doing right now, on a weekend too...”

However, despite her sighing and grumbling, she still bit on the thread, trusting her benefactor. The sight greatly pleased Se-Hoon, who was standing beside her.

“This piece of wood is in a sort of dormant state right now. So try to use your Incantation Magic to wake it up like giving a kick.”

“Hm?”

Seeing Luize look at him like he was spouting nonsense, he calmly simplified his instruction.

“Just try to wake it up.”

“What???”

Still unable to grasp the concept, she grew more and more bewildered, prompting Se-Hoon to sigh deeply and remove the thread from her mouth.

“Sigh... I’ll show you a demonstration, so watch closely.”

“Wait, what...!”

Before she could say more, he bit the thread of Black Weaver and quickly refined his mana, preparing to cast Incantation Magic.

My amount of mana is still lacking, so I’ll have to make do with utilizing Synesthetic Imagery.

The nature of Incantation Magic varied greatly depending on the synesthetic imagery the cast harbored. To maximize the effect, he remembered a moment when he earnestly yearned that someone would wake up.

Master...

He immediately began seeing his own blood-soaked hands grasping at nothing. It was an extremely unpleasant memory, but one would only be a true user of Incantation Magic if they could utilize such memories as a tool.

Steeling himself due to the advice of the Blast Dog from before his regression, he slowly completed the synesthetic imagery, basing it on his memory.

“Mental Awakening.”

The incantation traveled through the thread, splitting off and penetrating deep into multiple locations of the fragment of the Divine Tree.

Drrrrrrrr-!

The fragment of the Divine Tree began to tremble wildly. Then, just as it seemed to be settling down, multiple changes started occurring throughout it.

Crackkkkkkkk-

It shrank in size, and new layers of bark wrapped around its surface. When it seemed like it was about to be reborn as a new tree, he used another spell he had prepared.

“Growth Suspension.”

The wild growth of the fragment of the Divine Tree halted. The sight astonished In-Cheol who had been watching from the side.

“This thing was... still alive?”

“Yes, it probably just went dormant after being split.”

In the past, the Divine Tree had gained fame as a material due to its versatility and tenacious life force. It was to the point that, once in the past, an S-rank hero bought it for decoration and planted it in their garden. And just after one night, it had rooted itself and dried up all of the surrounding plants.

“It might not be as vigorous as the original, but if we can utilize its life force, we could easily adapt it to even the most challenging materials.”

“...You really have obtained an incredible material,” said In-Cheol in utter awe, imagining the wide variety of objects that could be made from it.

In contrast, Luize was looking at Se-Hoon with a baffled expression.

“Why did you call me if you could do it yourself?”

“Because experience is important for an Incantation Mage. It seemed like a good training opportunity for you.”

“Then why on a weeken—”

“Also, your Incantation Magic is more reliable.”

Compared to Se-Hoon’s incantations, which had shallow effects and were likely to fail, Luize’s incantations could penetrate deeply inside the fragment of the Divine Tree and were more likely to succeed due to her unique skill, Mana Assimilation. Thus, her assistance was absolutely necessary to efficiently process the fragments of the Divine Tree.

“...Excuses.”

Snatching the thread of Black Weaver from his hand, she looked at him skeptically.

“So, what’s next?”

“Nothing difficult.”

He approached the only unlit forge, forge four, on the workshop wall and pressed a button on the side.

Clank!

The moment he pressed the button, terrifying flames erupted from behind the translucent cover. They were so intense that they seemed like they could melt even iron instantly. And standing beside that dangerous forge was Se-Hoon with a calm grin.

“You just need to make it strong enough to withstand these flames.”

How strong would the Incantation Magic need to be to allow the fragments of the Divine Tree to withstand those flames? Calculating it briefly in her head, she smiled back.

“You crazy bitc—!”

Curses echoed throughout In-Cheol’s workshop.