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Chapter 87

Several days later, Yeon-woo found herself in the training room. Not in the regular Body Training Room, but in the Magic Training Room, to precisely understand the “Shadow Arm” that Tae-oh had effortlessly used at the restaurant earlier.

“Need an explanation…?”

Tae-oh pulled at Yeon-woo’s shirt collar while asking this. Yeon-woo pondered for a moment.

“I think I have a rough idea on how to use it, but could you tell me how you got such a skill?”

“Hmm….”

Tae-oh sighed, looking troubled, then began to whisper something into Shar’s ear, who was sitting next to him.

“…Huh? You want me to do it instead? Can’t you do it yourself? …Uh-huh. Ah, okay.”

Having heard something, Shar suddenly stood up, looking extremely pleased.

“Ahem! Then this Sister Shar will explain instead of the shy Tae-oh!!”

“We have called in Ms. Shar as an interpreter. Thank you in advance.”

“Yes. Tae-oh said it was originally something similar to this. Like the weapon Dad uses.”

“The Doppleganger Weapon, right? It consumes objects and manifests that concept….”

Tae-oh nodded. After panting for a moment, he started whispering into Shar’s ear again, and Shar giggled, saying it tickled.

“Originally, it would consume mana and remember the form, changing the part of elemental enhancement. But when we rushed to save In-hwa, it got modified in a hurry….”

“I’m sorry about that.”

However, even absorbing nearly half of it, it still was that size; winning would have been impossible without absorption. It’s not that it was okay just because he won, but he hoped for a little leniency.

“Ultimately, it changed to absorb curses and manifest that form… The arm used at the restaurant last time is the form of the arm absorbed then.”

“I had an inkling, but so it was true.”

Calmly exhaling, Yeon-woo closed her eyes and clenched her right arm tightly. It began to turn black from the shoulder root, soon radiating a complete black sheen.

The subsequent process was not much different from practical magic. It recognized the form of the mana embedded in her arm.

If she perfectly replicated that form and transferred it to another part of the body from the mana map…

“…Is that it?”

“Amazing…!! You succeeded on the first try…!!”

Tae-oh and Shar clapped in astonishment, eyes wide in front of her. Looking at her right arm, it was clear where the ordinary flesh color of her right arm transitioned into black starting from the elbow.

“Oooh… This feels weird.”

It was especially strange that although it was running like an arm, it didn’t move with her actual arm.

“If you manipulate the mana, it can move, but if the main entity goes in and assists, it can move like an arm.”

“Hmm… Should I experience what it feels like first?”

Crawling over on his knees, Tae-oh grabbed Yeon-woo’s hand. She felt the mana that constituted Tae-oh dissolving and flowing into her body. A warm sensation settled reassuringly in her chest.

[There might be a slight headache for Dad. Is that okay?]

“Yeah, it’s fine. Please do it.”

Yeon-woo reassured the worried Tae-oh and focused her attention throughout her body. Though she said it was okay, she didn’t want to feel pain, so she intended to divert her focus elsewhere.

Soon enough, as Tae-oh had mentioned, a light headache throbbed in her head. As she rubbed her temples with her fingers, Tae-oh’s voice echoed.

[Synchronization complete. Initiating distinction protocol. Program, Shadow Snake■■■■ ■■■■■ activation.]

With that mechanical voice, an indescribable sensation spread throughout her body. It felt as if a nonexistent organ were forming within her.

However, it was a sensation Yeon-woo was familiar with. She had once experienced the emergence of a new organ called the Mana Heart, which didn’t exist before, to gain the mana she now had.

[…Phew, it worked. The spell is embedded, so it will operate properly from now on.]

As she moved the newly formed sensation around her elbow, the shadow arm began to move naturally.

To be honest, it didn’t look very appealing. One could say it looked like a mix between a human arm and a creature with multiple arms…

“Even though it doesn’t look very good, having an extra usable arm is amazing….”

A weapon that could use three swords without talking was indeed significant. Of course, it seemed like it would be best to learn swordsmanship where using three swords wouldn’t be a problem first.

[Just as Dad used magic over the shadow, you can also cast magic over this arm. Do keep in mind the scale will be reduced.]

“That’s quite a good option.”

It wasn’t just a passing comment; she genuinely found it an excellent idea. Using it for surprise attacks would be ideal, and even outside of that, its utility in both magic and close combat was appealing. Since Tae-oh’s potential was not aimed at combat, this was rather a comfortable outcome.

Since Shar had a contract with Dragon Scales, she wouldn’t be at risk of life even if something happened, but Tae-oh’s contract was different. Realizing tangible forms in battle involved a certain level of danger.

“Tae-oh will just need to focus on assisting Dad and Sister during fights.”

[…Hmm, understood.]

Maybe it was because he felt a bit uncomfortable with solely assisting; Tae-oh responded in a slightly mumbled voice. I figured that this would be resolved when he experiences firsthand just how much he could contribute in actual combat.

The academy’s inter-school tournament would be starting soon.

Thinking about how for a month now, they were electing representatives by grade… it was a sort of ranking competition, the next two months would definitely be overly busy even if nothing happened.

“Shall I practice swinging a sword here now?”

Swordsmanship training aimed to maximize effects while wielding the sword, and even if not for that, Shar could still accumulate mana by just playing around here. That part, I should leave to Shar.

With that thought, Yeon-woo slowly, very slowly started swinging her sword. It felt as if she was engraving the sword style into her body with each deliberate movement.

*

Academy Tournament!!

The tournament, held every three years with the intent to cultivate even better hunters through competition among academies, was set to take place this year at Harmony Academy.

There are rankings even among the academies. It’s not determined by the Omniscient God; rather, it is based on data aggregated by those gods. Naturally, discussions around the evaluations rely on these rankings.

This year, Harmony Academy was ranked 7th. A three-step improvement from the previous year. The reason, of course, was the excellent faculty.

Students who stand out during the academy tournament are often scouted into high-ranking clans after graduation, making it understandable why second-year and soon-to-graduate third-year students might feel disgruntled about having to compete in a tournament after merely a few months entering the school, but…

“Wow, it’s packed.”

Seeing the bustling Body Training Room, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but be alarmed.

What on earth have they all been doing for nearly two and a half months to suddenly rush here to train? After observing them for a moment, Yeon-woo turned away without regret and left the training room.

“I need to borrow the Master’s Gate.”

Alternatively, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to build a training ground in a corner of the storeroom. It seemed possible to create an entrance via the storeroom if I spent some time on it.

Regardless of how it goes, it felt I would inevitably trouble Yuri for a while. Although she was already at the top, she was also someone very eager for self-improvement, so I doubted she’d appreciate it much. But what can I say? When a disciple wants to participate in a tournament…

The number of people participating in the tournament is predetermined. For each grade, combining hunters, magic, and support, there would be a hundred. Generally, the support category only participates in special cases, so, in practical terms, the competition ratio wouldn’t go higher than 6:1 or 5:1.

“Of course, the Hunter department is a given, but even the Magic department is quite competitive.”

Just looking at where the Harmony City branch of the Magic Tower is situated makes that clear. The Hunter department at Harmony Academy is among the very best in the world, ranking into the dozens of academies, yet surprisingly, the Magic department is also exceptionally strong.

“It feels almost like how those who can’t get into Seoul National University’s business school opt for a lower department within Seoul National University.”

Of course, since it’s a magic department, all the aura users are shuffled into the support category. Consequently, a strange phenomenon occurs where all three departments end up with unusually high average combat power.

Regardless, it was early morning. To attend classes, I needed to finish my physical training early. After confirming that the children were peacefully resting inside me, Yeon-woo quickened her pace.

“Master, do you know any good blacksmiths?”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you didn’t really need a weapon?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say this to you, Master, but in the future, I’m planning to use other weapons. If you happen to know anyone skilled, could you introduce me?”

“If that’s the case, I can introduce you to someone. He’s pretty good.”

“Wow… You’re surprisingly easygoing about it?”

“If my disciple is already thinking about their future, there’s no need to discipline them. I could make you a sword that could slice through the heavens, but getting involved with other kinds of weapons? Why bother?”

At those words, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but laugh. Was he a swordsman who didn’t obsess over swords, or rather, a swordsman who wouldn’t be overly attached because he was a swordsman?

“After all, he was such a person from the beginning.”

The second-ranked swordsman was a uniquely named star among stars. Tia Levine. Her nickname was “Weapon Master.”

She was said to have a natural talent for all weapons, able to receive stellar titles across all weapon classifications. It’s famously known that she was involved in the prototype research for the development of the Magic Gun at the Magic Tower.

Regardless of when they might meet, what Yeon-woo needed first was the Doppleganger. Since it was under Tae-oh’s management from the point of contract, she needed various forms of weapons to consume.

Secondly, she required enough stock of weapons that she could easily draw from the storeroom.

To make sudden use of the storeroom, a fairly large number of weapons was necessary. The quality of these two types of weapons didn’t greatly matter.

The third was a dedicated weapon meant for her own use. The Doppleganger Weapon was a splendid weapon, but objectively, it was just a very sturdy piece of equipment.

Regardless of how much time passed in the future, it was clear that at some point, there would be a need for magical weapons carved with spells.

For that reason, Yeon-woo needed a blacksmith. Ideally, it would be even better if they had some expertise in magic engineering, but with Shar around, if she studied a bit, she could probably manage.

Imagining the forms of the weapons that were already determined, Yeon-woo swung the sword slowly. The external training, capturing the nuances of using a large sword, must continue today as well.

(Continue in the next installment)

 

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