novelraw Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11. Settlement
While Lee Han-seong was contemplating whether to save the wolf or not.
A system message popped up before the promising talents and Lee Han-seong.
[You have achieved the accomplishment, ‘Goblin Wolf Cavalry Slaughterer’.]
[You have achieved the accomplishment, ‘Sudden Rift Closer’.]
Paaat!
The three promising talents, who had returned to 0-Star after the effects of Transcendence wore off, simultaneously awakened to 1-Star.
The achievement of resolving the Sudden Rift incident was certainly worthy of reaching 1-Star.
However, it seemed it wasn't enough for an already 1-Star Awakener to rise to 2-Star, as Lee Han-seong remained at 1-Star.
The problem was that as the three promising talents awakened, the blessings of the other twelve constellations cast upon them painted over our Constellation's influence.
The plan to make them followers of the Constellation on this occasion was thwarted.
It couldn't be helped, as the Constellation's rank was still insufficient.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
The soldiers from the training center, belatedly equipped with combat gear, were seen running towards the training ground.
Jin Yu-seong chuckled as he saw them and made a remark.
“Isn’t this just like a hero movie? The police or the military always show up after everything is over in the movies.”
“It’s not that they were late. It’s just that we were fast.”
Park Seong-cheol was right.
It only felt long because they had gone into the records for the History Alteration and had been immersed in the urgency of the battle.
Less than ten minutes had passed since the rift detection siren had sounded.
Considering the time it took for those who had been sleeping to grasp the situation, change into combat uniforms, grab their firearms, and stop by the armory, which was some distance from the barracks, to fill their magazines and return, they were rather quick.
However, the fact that the guards, who should have already been armed and on duty, were not seen while we were fighting was clearly strange.
‘Could they have been taken down by the monsters that appeared randomly at the beginning?’
As I looked towards the guard post, my eyes met with a guard who was secretly watching us.
The moment our eyes met, the soldier hurriedly hid his head inside the post, which made me realize that nothing had happened to them.
‘What the. Were they just scared?’
Well, if only two guards had stepped up, they would have likely died a dog's death.
They probably just reported the situation via radio and laid low until support arrived.
For them, that was the right call.
As I came to that conclusion, the soldiers approached us, looking around with puzzled expressions.
“Where are the rest of the monsters? The bodies over there can't be all of them.”
The instructor, who was the highest-ranking commander of the training center, asked, pointing to the corpses left on the hill leading to the male dormitory.
“I took care of them all. Did you perhaps not see a blood dragon on your way here? That is Chungmugong's second Awakening Skill.”
“He used One-Swing Sweep, Blood-Dyed Mountains and Rivers? Don't tell me he has awakened?”
At Park Seong-cheol's explanation, the instructor muttered with surprised eyes.
Since there were a few other Awakeners who had contracted with Chungmugong besides Park Seong-cheol, he also knew a certain amount about Chungmugong's Awakening Skills.
“First Bone-Shedding Rebirth, and now awakening! The promising talents of this batch will become legends.”
“Over there! There's one still alive.”
Just then, one of the soldiers discovered that Lee Han-seong's fallen wolf was still alive and aimed his gun at it.
“Don't shoot!”
Lee Han-seong shouted, blocking the gun's barrel.
“Trainee Lee Han-seong. Are you trying to protect a monster?”
“This one is a creature I tamed. Do not try to kill it as you please.”
“It looks like it's already dying. Wouldn't it be better to let it go peacefully?”
“I can save it.”
“Even if you save it, there will be many problems.”
The instructor raised several issues.
Usually, for a Tamer-class Awakener to keep a monster, two prerequisites were necessary.
One was an Awakener's license.
“You, who are still a trainee, do not have the authority to command a monster.”
The other was that one needed a special tool or a subspace for monsters, like a sealing card, to store them separately.
“So, the principle is to kill it. If it’s true that you tamed it, you can just tame another one later. It hasn't been long since you tamed it anyway.”
Indeed, as the instructor said, this wolf was not much different from the other wolves that Jin Yu-seong had used as meat shields with Assassination Directive.
He hadn't even given it a name, thinking it wouldn't matter if it died from the moment he tamed it.
But perhaps it was because he had deeply empathized with the creature through Swarm.
Or perhaps it was because this creature was the only apostle candidate left in the Swarm that the Constellation was rejecting its death.
[The Unnamed Constellation requests that you save the apostle candidate.]
“If you understand, step aside now.”
The instructor, as if he could wait no longer, pulled Lee Han-seong and forcibly made him move away from the wolf.
The wolf's eyes, calm as if accepting death, turned to Lee Han-seong.
-Whine.
There was no more hesitation.
As long as the Constellation wished for it, he, as a follower, would simply obey.
“Stop.”
The wolf had to live, as per the Constellation's will.
Even if it meant sacrificing one of his lives for it.
Clack.
He grabbed the barrel of the gun aimed at the wolf.
“What are you…!”
He ignored the flustered soldier and disconnected the Swarm link with the promising talents.
Leaving only the wolf, the spirits, and the Constellation in the Swarm, he once again activated Transcendence.
Paaaaat!
As the life stacks dropped from 6 to 5, the rank of the Swarm rose once again.
[Nun ‘Hannah’ temporarily reaches 2-Star, and her Destiny Awakening Skill 《Healing: Cure》 becomes a regular Awakening Skill.]
[Petty Thief ‘Hugh Guild’ temporarily reaches 2-Star, and his Destiny Awakening Skill 《Subspace 》 becomes a regular Awakening Skill.]
.
.
.
[Doctor ‘Alter Gools’ temporarily reaches 2-Star, and his Destiny Awakening Skill 《Law Revision 》 becomes a regular Awakening Skill.]
With the consumption of a life stack, his vitality was restored to full.
As soon as the spirits' Destiny Awakening Skills changed back into regular Awakening Skills, he activated Hannah's Awakening Skill.
An Awakening Skill born from the blessing of the Radiant Constellation, a miracle where she became the first nun to blossom divine power at the end of a life-pact vow.
《Healing: Cure》.
Swaaaaa-
A golden divine power, emanating from his fingertips, caressed the wolf's wounds, accelerating its recovery.
Chiiii-
Steam rose as the wounds healed rapidly.
The dying wolf regained its vitality.
“Your name is ‘Lycan’.”
As he gave it a new name, the connection with Lycan felt even more intimate.
It felt not like the relationship between a Tamer and a monster, but like they were fellow followers.
By giving it a name while synchronized with the Constellation, Lycan became the second official follower of the Unnamed Constellation, after him.
Even when Swarm and Transcendence were released, the connection between the wolf and the Constellation would now not disappear.
[The presence of the Unnamed Constellation becomes more distinct.]
Thanks to this, the rank of the Constellation, which had gained a new follower, also rose, so the life consumed this time was not a loss.
After all, even these life stacks had increased thanks to the Stigma received from the Constellation.
“You really… saved it.”
The instructor placed a hand on his forehead, as if Lee Han-seong's sudden action was giving him a headache.
“How on earth do you plan to clean up this mess?”
“…I apologize. I will handle it myself.”
Next, he activated Hugh's Awakening Skill.
His stealing skills were clumsy, but his hiding skills were abnormally excellent, and this Awakening Skill was a sublimation of his achievement of creating a secret safe that no one could find, blessed by the Moon Shadow Constellation.
《Subspace》.
It was literally the ability to create a subspace bound to oneself.
Crack- An entrance to the subspace appeared in mid-air, as if a small rift had formed.
‘But it can only hold inanimate objects.’
There was a reason why there were separate subspaces specifically for monsters.
That's why Alter's 《Law Revision》 was needed.
It was an Awakening Skill born from the blessing of the Cycle Constellation, an achievement where he visited a village in the remote outback with a custom of cannibalism, identified the cause of an incurable disease rampant in the village, and created an opportunity for the custom of cannibalism to disappear in the future.
Its effect was the modification of system-defined laws.
Kiiing.
Simultaneously with the activation of Law Revision, Lee Han-seong's eyes turned blue.
In that state, as he looked at the subspace, the system code that constituted the Awakening Skill Subspace was perceived.
The characters did not match any script on Earth, but their meaning was understood instinctively.
Ssk-
When he brought his finger to the visible code, a blue light swirled at his fingertip.
He instinctively realized that the light acted as ink.
However, the light imbued in his finger was barely enough to modify even one line of code.
Without the Constellation's blessing, modifying it at all might have been impossible.
‘So there are limits to modifying system code.’
Scribble, scribble.
He rubbed his finger over the part of the code that read ‘store inanimate object’, modifying the code for inanimate objects into code meaning ‘living beings’.
Thanks to this, Hugh's Subspace was now changed into a subspace that could only store living things, but for now, that was enough.
“Get in.”
-Woof.
Lycan, at Lee Han-seong's command, jumped into the subspace without any hesitation.
“See, isn't it fine now? I just won't take him out until I get my Awakener's license.”
This was also technically illegal, but fortunately, the instructor was quite flexible.
The instructor nodded with a sigh.
“Fine. I’ll let it slide since you’ll be under the training center's control for the remaining period anyway. But if that wolf is seen even once before you get your license, I will dispose of it immediately.”
“Understood.”
“And of course, using the wolf in the practical evaluation is also prohibited.”
“Is there any question?”
***
Once the issue with Lycan was resolved, the cleanup of the training ground proceeded.
In the meantime, the effect of the second Transcendence Lee Han-seong cast had also ended.
The soldiers piled up the monsters' corpses in the middle of the training ground and collected the byproducts separately.
“Twelve fangs from the Dire Wolves. Six whips from the Goblin Riders. Three longswords and three bows of common-grade equipment. These will probably fetch around 3 million won. According to your statements, Trainee Jin Yu-seong and Trainee Park Seong-cheol took them down, so 1.5 million won will be paid to each of you later.”
“Yes.”
Since low-grade byproducts that could be used to acquire common skills or common-grade equipment did not appeal to the promising talents, both of them decided to sell everything.
However, the greatsword left by the Hobgoblin Rider was different.
[
As a result of appraising it with the
Since the equipment's modifier signified the skill of the equipment, the skill contained in the greatsword was
It was a higher-tier skill of
It seemed the skill that had evolved when it became a Hobgoblin was imbued in the greatsword.
Its effect was the convergence of starlight.
The phenomenon where the Sword Aura was concentrated on the blade before the creature released it was the power of the greatsword.
The reason it could release Sword Aura even when it wasn't at a 4-Star level was due to an item buff.
“The four of you took this down together, so you each have a 25% share… Would you like to auction it off and split the proceeds? Or will someone take ownership?”
“What do you guys want to do? I’d rather use it myself than sell it. I’ll pay you back for your shares later.”
At the assistant instructor's explanation, Lee Han-seong asked for the promising talents' opinions.
“We don’t mind. We have our Spirit Armaments anyway.”
“Well, I could use it if I wanted to, but do I need to?”
Yoo Se-hee and Jin Yu-seong readily nodded their heads.
“But that share, does it have to be in money? I’d like to receive it in the form of partying up together after we leave the training center.”
Park Seong-cheol made a counter-proposal.
It was the second party offer after Jin Yu-seong's.
At that, Jin Yu-seong looked flustered.
An anxious expression, as if afraid of having a blue-chip stock he had claimed first stolen away.
“Hey! What's with all this talk about parties already? You probably haven't even decided on a guild yet. We’re all tired after the big incident today, let’s talk about that stuff later.”
Jin Yu-seong forcefully interjected and cut the conversation short.
“Let’s do that. We have plenty of time to talk anyway.”
Park Seong-cheol didn't seem to expect an immediate answer either and didn't say more.
“Then, I'll take the greatsword?”
“Go ahead.”
After getting their final agreement, he received the greatsword from the assistant instructor.
“For your information, carrying weapons inside the dorms is prohibited. That greatsword, and that sword too, must be stored separately when you go inside.”
He nodded at the assistant instructor's warning, who pointed at the Demonic Sword.
***
And so, while he was returning to the male dormitory with the greatsword.
The Demonic Sword and the greatsword happened to touch.
Woooong!
The will of the Demonic Sword reacted to the greatsword.
“…Huh?”
A pitch-black murderous aura poured out from the suddenly trembling Demonic Sword and enveloped the greatsword.
He was flustered, but it happened so fast that he had no time to stop it.
Kadeudeudeudeuk!
The Demonic Sword, using the murderous aura as its teeth, gnawed away at the Greatsword of Tenacity.
[The
[The Rare Skill
By the time the greatsword was completely swallowed, the Demonic Sword, which had been in the form of a dagger, had its blade lengthened to the size of a longsword.
Pzzt- Pzzzt!
But suddenly, black sparks began to flash from the Demonic Sword.
Originally, only one skill could be contained in a single piece of equipment, but now that the Demonic Sword contained both
If one of the skills had been of a lower grade, it would have ended with that one disappearing, but both skills were of Rare grade.
Tzztztztztzt!
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Demonic Sword exploded.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
He couldn't lose the Demonic Sword he had created by sacrificing a life like this.
The
Wooooong!
Overmind synchronized the two rebelling skills.
Slowly, the trembling of the Demonic Sword subsided.
And finally, the moment the trembling stopped completely.
[Conditions have been met, and
[The
[The
The Demonic Sword did not explode; instead, it grew stronger.
‘From Predation to Gluttony.’
He examined the evolved Demonic Sword with the
“…I like it.”
A smile graced Lee Han-seong's lips as he confirmed the new power of the Demonic Sword.
The Rare Skill
It was structured so that when the limit was reached, the Demonic Sword would grow and expand the limit on its own.
In other words, the Demonic Sword of Gluttony was a growth-type weapon that could surpass the Unique grade and reach the level of a Legend, or even a Myth-grade equipment.