Episode 127.
“If you grant me the permission to enter, I’ll be able to enter the resting place, too.”
“I’ll go over there later.”
“Tsk.”
Merchant Fairy Luta thought that he would nod in confusion with the moment and clicked her tongue at his clean refusal, backing off. Jung Si-woo snorted and waved her away.
“I have something to sort out right now, so wait in there.”
“I waited for you, son-nim, for a very long time! It’s been a lot longer than you think!”
“While you’re waiting, wait a little longer.”
“How could you be so cruel…”
Jung Si-woo got up and closed the door to the residential area. Perhaps Caina and Beto had closed the door loosely and left. Soo Ah-rin clapped at the sight of Jung Si-woo as he closed the door tightly that it wouldn’t open until he wanted it to and returned to the sofa to close his eyes.
“Alright, you just need to continue to be that firm!”
“Sunbae-nim…”
Now he felt sorry for her. But if he told him what to do right now, he’ll get beaten up. Yong Se-ha quietly meditated again. Jung Si-woo first checked how his body grew up in a short span, releasing the power and sensing to which point it could release. His body had already grown independently before he was awakened through Mana. It had grown exponentially again ever since he became a player, but in the end, the essence hadn’t changed. The force that the body could purely produce without Mana’s aid, the close-to-a-miracle strength. Jung Si-woo carefully examined the bones and muscles from the shoulders to the tip of the toes and measured the limit of their strength.
‘It’s my body, but I’m a little scared now.’
Considering that he was already able to lift a huge stone mountain before receiving the Dungeon Clear reward, it was evident that his body was reaching an impossible state beyond the concept of being a player. And that was because he, who was already a superhuman in the first place, even awakened Mana. Chaos multiplied by Chaos resulted in reaching a completely unknown territory. It was to the point that one could doubt how Jung Si-woo was managing the enormous power kept in himself and control it.
‘But to win over the subjects called gods, simple strength isn’t going to cut it. I need to study how to overlap Mana with this force.’
After all, if the body and Mana do not overlap as one, they couldn’t reach a transcendental state. It was a fact that was realized by observing the dragon. Then, could the dragon that he saw in his dream overpower a God? It didn’t matter to that point. Jung Si-woo wasn’t a dragon, and it was enough as long as he became strong using all the methods he knew.
‘Okay, the next is Mana.’
When it came to Mana, it was considered easier than simply moving the body since he had been experimenting on it lately. What was particularly noteworthy was that the amount of Mana that Jung Si-woo absorbed from the world and charged had increased more than the Mana he consumed from basic skills. Now, the Mana exchange between the outside and the inside was carried out quite naturally. Of course, this was due to the Dragon Sense. Naturally, the response to external stimuli had also accelerated.
‘Thanks to that, Mana is continuing to grow. I think I can really do it now.’
He referred to the constant activation of the Combat Charge skill, which was the aggressive activation of the body’s Mana. It was something that he only wished and couldn’t try. Still, now that he had the Dragon Sense that granted excellent stability to controlling Mana, it seemed very much possible.
‘Okay, the start is easy.’
At first, Combat Charge was taken as a skill to run fast literally. Still, after careful analysis and study of the skill, it was possible to manifest the effect limited to a certain part of the body and to activate the Mana only in the Combat Charge form without actually moving fast. Combat Charge was one of the most important skills to convert Mana’s properties simply and effectively without difficulty in diving into it. Perhaps if he continued to explore and grow this skill, he could reach a mystical state.
He would also train his body by controlling his body movements while activating Combat charge at all times, so it could be said he was killing two birds with one stone.
‘But now I can afford it.’
Maybe Soo Ah-rin would have cursed if she had known what he was thinking. Now that the Dragon Sense was activated and ridiculously sensitive to the circulation of the external Mana and the internal Mana, his senses were sharp enough to maintain the Combat charge while sleeping.
‘Um, it’s too easy. It’s so easy that I can’t train.’
Then he had no choice but to activate another! With a portion of the Mana, Jung Si-woo activated Stone Skin to cover his entire body this time. If Combat Charge was an aggressive activation, Stone Skin was a defensive activation. It was a basic and essential skill that protected the body and soul from physical and magical attacks by transforming Mana’s nature. Although those were contrary skills, it was possible to maintain both skills simultaneously if Mana’s branches were manifested separately. To be exact, it was possible for Jung Si-woo, who had the Dragon Sense.
‘All right, it works.’
Of course, it wasn’t without difficulty at all. He had to keep his senses on edge to prevent his Mana’s flow from being tangled up. While simultaneously maintaining Mana’s aggressive activation and defensive activation, if he had to fight a battle while consuming Mana in another direction, it couldn’t be managed by normal concentration. But that was possible in this boss match. To make that possible again from now on, he must first get used to this state. If he could freely use other skills while maintaining Combat Charge and Stone Skin and perform mutual Mana patterns exchange, Jung Si-woo would become skilled with Mana.
‘It’s not satisfying since I don’t have a tackle coming in…’
If Soo Ah-rin had heard this, she would have said a word that it would be difficult to become a master, let alone skilled with Mana, but it was a shame as no criticisms were coming in. Was he going to be tamed like this? Jung Si-woo was terrified.
‘Anyway, in this state…’
Lastly, he skimmed through the skills. The Dragon Sense has already become one with his body, so there was nothing to check, but first, he skimmed through the shiny and glowing resistance inside him. Next, the other combative passive skills including Heavy Weapon Battle. And even the new passive skill Impact Transfer, which he received as a reward for his achievements.
‘…I really, completely, have no idea about this.’
Jung Si-woo, who focused on the new stars for 10 minutes, made a clean declaration of surrender. Just as he still couldn’t fully grasp his Courage of the Ignorant skill, so was the case for Impact Transfer. He couldn’t understand the principle at all as it was a skill produced in an area he didn’t know. It was fortunate that he figured out how it interacted with his body and how to activate it.
‘It instinctively detects the hostility of the surrounding space and transfers the damage. I don’t know how it makes it transfer, but…if this is the case…’
In other words, it was possible not only to attack a large number of enemies gathered but also to concentrate all the damage when attacking one giant enemy. Sensing space and not an object was the feature of this skill, so it was possible. This was a matter of targeting. It was said that one could attack two more people with 10 percent damage, so a close attack would deal 120 percent damage if he attacked a huge enemy. This case was referred to as a “big win.”
He concentrated on the Impact Transfer for a while. Only after deciding that there would be no problem using it in practice did he move on to the next step. It was the Active Skill.
‘The rest of the skills are not to be minded, and there are three things that matter.’
Super strength, Emergency Escape, and lastly, Stealth. The more the Super Strength was used, the more it permanently strengthened his body. It possessed both active and passive properties. It was a skill that fits well with the characteristics of his body that he had even before he acquired Mana.
‘Hmm…I definitely can’t be sure yet. It’s also a skill related to my job advancement…’
It only enabled him to observe the exchange of skills and the body in more detail. He thought he could synergize this skill with his body, but it was too early to think so. He could only carefully think that by the time that he could bring his thoughts into reality, perhaps he could then stand against those called “Gods.”
The other two skills were presented by ghosts this time. First of all, Emergency Escape was a skill that could be invoked quickly in an urgent situation. In a rough analysis, by shooting Mana strong and fast in a direction, it attacked the enemy. It simultaneously used that driving force to escape the area quickly. It was thought of as a very simple skill. Still, Mana’s movement, according to the skill’s operation, wasn’t that simple, so he thought that studying this skill might be able to him get a new mobility-type skill.
Lastly, Stealth… was an active skill fixed at level 23 from the moment he got it, whether it was because he already had added many techniques to maneuver his body or that Jung Si-woo had the shelter entrance key, so he was used to being stealthy. By using Mana to silence one’s presence, and ultimately to silence even Mana’s presence not to be caught by the enemy…to necessarily state it, it was a skill that Jung Si-woo, who preferred a head-to-head match, didn’t like.
But he couldn’t help but learn this good skill because he didn’t like it when he had to compete with in the world and those from the battle in the Ant Cave. Furthermore, wouldn’t hiding skills be suitable for producing better skills?
Activating Emergency Escape skill and Stealth Skills in succession (one shocking fact was that he maintained the Combat Charge and Stone Skill in the meanwhile). After a sober assessment of the skill’s current ability, he opened his eyes with satisfaction as all the checks were completed. Now, finally, if he tested the new weapon in the training camp…
“Heek!?”
“Master!”
He dove too deep inside that even with the Dragon Sense, he didn’t recognize external stimuli! It was none other than Beto who surprised him by putting his face in front of his nose. Jung Si-woo forgot to get angry and patted him on the head casually due to the scene of a good-hearted-looking boy with a glowing face where no malice could be found. Beto would be loved by both men and women without discrimination. What a scary kid.
“What’s going on, uh…Beto?”
“Master, I heard that a forge could be built! I want to help my master, too!”
Jung Si-woo grasped the root of the situation just by hearing that. Merchant Fairy Luta, who glanced at Jung Si-woo through the open door of the residential area, looking like a playback of a video recorded from just a moment ago.
“Yeah, let’s go, let’s go. Tell them I’m done checking.”
“Hooray!”
“Hooray!”
Beto and Luta were cheering with one heart. Jung Si-woo finally laughed at their glad appearance like a bunch of children. He followed them with the decision to put off checking the weapons until later. Soo Ah-rin and Caina, who were watching beside them, joined him with a smile.
“Uh…?”
“What’s wrong, Oppa?”
“Oh, nothing. If it’s important, I’ll remember it again.”
As soon as everyone was about to move to the residential area, Jung Si-woo tilted his head thinking that he had forgotten something but soon closed the door with a shrug.
Perhaps it was only in his mind; he was welcomed by a residential area that seemed to be wider than before.
