Chapter 67

< Chapter 67: The Third Ruins (2) >

That night.

The afternoon training was over.

“Ugh~ I’m exhausted.”

Ha Si-yeon lay sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.

“…”

Jia was also worn out.

She was barely standing, whether it was because of her pride or her reluctance to sit on the floor.

She looked like she would collapse at any moment.

“Are you both okay?”

“I’m, fine.”

“…Yeah.”

They didn’t look fine at all.

Today’s training was different from usual. It took place in a training hall.

Jia insisted that it would be better to train in a place with proper facilities, so they rented a nearby training room.

It was practically free since it was a training room of a company affiliated with the Shinwa Group.

Thanks to that, they enjoyed the luxury of using this spacious training room for themselves.

“It’s a draw after all.”

Today’s training involved a mock battle between the two.

They seemed to have some intention of settling the score that they couldn’t settle in the labyrinth before.

The result was, as mentioned, a draw.

“You, when we fight in a wide space. It’s so hard to get close to you.”

In the labyrinth, Ha Si-yeon had the advantage of using the terrain, but this training hall was a flat plain with nothing in the way.

And this time, Jia knew about the Ice Empress in advance, which also made a big difference.

“Ha Si-yeon, you… How high is your defense with that skill?”

But Jia still couldn’t win because she lacked a decisive attack method.

She couldn’t break through the armor and the ice walls that were created instantly by the Ice Empress.

As a result, they ended up in a war of attrition.

Exactly five minutes passed, and as soon as the duration of the Ice Empress ended, Jia was also exhausted.

This was their current state.

They were both dying.

“Ugh.”

Jia finally couldn’t hold on any longer and fell to the floor.

I handed them each a mana drink.

“Thank you.”

They both thanked me and drank the drink. Maybe it was because their whole body was soaked with sweat.

Their body contours were clearly visible, which made me feel a bit embarrassed.

I turned my eyes away and said.

“Ha Si-yeon, as I said, increasing your mana capacity is the key.”

Ha Si-yeon needed to increase the duration of the Ice Empress.

“Yeah.”

“Your mana is C+ rank now?”

“Yeah. C rank 72.”

C rank 1~33 is C-.

C rank 34~66 is C.

C rank 67~99 is C+.

It doesn’t actually show up like that on the ability window, but everyone uses that notation because 1~99 is too big of a gap.

“You’re still growing steadily.”

“Yeah.”

If I remember correctly, Ha Si-yeon’s mana growth limit is A rank.

After A rank (99/99), there is no more growth from additional training.

“What about bonus points?”

“I’m saving them, of course.”

One of the few ways to break through this growth limit is to use bonus points.

You get one point every time you level up, and you can use it to raise your abilities beyond your growth limit.

“Good job. Don’t be impatient. Judging by your growth rate, you have a good chance of reaching an A rank. You can use bonus points then.”

“From A to S? That would take 10 points.”

“That’s how important your mana capacity is.”

It’s hard to level up in this world.

You can easily level up by hunting until level 20, but after that, the level-up speed decreases drastically.

Roughly speaking, the highest level person in this world was 49 or something.

Yu Hwa was 34 or something if I remember correctly.

So, by the time you graduate from the academy, you can expect to have 20 bonus points.

These bonus points are consumed more as you try to raise higher-ranked abilities.

From F rank to D rank, it takes 1 point per rank.

From D rank to B rank, it takes 3 points per rank.

To go from B rank to A rank, it takes 6 points.

To go from A rank to S rank, it takes 10 points.

The higher the rank, the harder it is to grow, and the higher the efficiency, so this point consumption rate is very reasonable.

“A rank… It’s so far away. I wonder if I can achieve it before I graduate from the academy.”

The timing of using these bonus points is crucial.

If you use them too hastily, you give up on your future.

If you use them too late, you won’t be able to achieve anything in the academy.

Hold or sell.

This delicate balance is important.

“You can do it within a year.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Wow…”

Ha Si-yeon’s face brightened up. Was it that great?

“Jia, you also need to increase your mana capacity.”

“Huh? Me too?”

Jia, who was listening to my words blankly, asked in surprise.

“Yeah. There’s a saying that mana is just a side dish for archers. It’s a waste to go above B rank. You know that?”

“Yeah.”

“That doesn’t apply to you, Jia.”

“?”

Jia’s trait hasn’t awakened yet. So she doesn’t feel the importance of mana yet.

“Your mana is B+ now?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you should aim for the maximum of A rank, Jia. And then use bonus points to raise it to S rank.”

Jia’s trait, which hasn’t been opened yet, is ‘Transcendence’.

One of the conditions for awakening this trait is to achieve S-rank mana.

Once she awakens her trait, Jia becomes the world’s best long-range shooter, who can be literally called untouchable.

“Yeah. I got it.”

She didn’t question my words that went against common sense.

Rather, her eyes were full of trust in me.

“Anyway, you both did a great job. Oh, right. Ha Si-yeon.”

“Yeah~?”

Ha Si-yeon, who was drinking the mana drink, looked at me and tilted her head.

“I’m going to explore a ruin tomorrow. Are you free?”

“Tomorrow? Um…”

Ha Si-yeon seemed to think for a moment.

“Yeah. I think I’m okay.”

“That’s good.”

“Are we going together again?”

“Again?”

Jia reacted to Ha Si-yeon’s words.

“We went to explore a ruin together last time.”

“You gained two levels then?”

Ha Si-yeon smiled brightly.

“This time, we’re going with four people.”

“Huh? Four?”

“Four?”

They both looked at me with surprised eyes.

Not three, but four? That was their expression.

“Yeah. With these three people.”

I smirked.

“Goldie.”

“Oh~”

They both nodded as if they understood.

“Then let’s meet at 3 pm tomorrow. The meeting place is… I’ll text you later.”

I need to think about where to meet.

We have to avoid scouts and reporters.

“Then I’ll go ahead.”

“Oh, I’ll go with you. Are you going to the dormitory?”

Ha Si-yeon jumped up and ran to me.

“That’s right.”

I turned my eyes to Jia behind me and said.

“Jia has something to tell you.”

“Huh? Jia?”

“Yeah.”

Ha Si-yeon turned her body and looked at Jia. Jia had a very serious look on her face.

“Then you two talk well. I’ll go ahead.”

I waved my hand lightly and walked away.

“What do you want to tell me?”

“Hmm. Where should I start?”

Now Jia will tell Ha Si-yeon everything about me.

About my identity and my purpose.

She will spill everything she heard from me to Ha Si-yeon.

That my identity is not a simple angel, but a hybrid of elf and angel.

Everything.

I could have told Ha Si-yeon directly with my mouth, but I thought it would be better to tell her through Jia’s mouth.

I hope that this will make them closer.

You know what they say.

People who share secrets feel a kind of bond.

I want them to have that kind of relationship.

“…Well, they’ll do well.”

To be honest,

It was annoying to repeat the explanation twice.

* * *

I finished a light shower in the room.

I dried my hair with a towel and headed to the bed.

Ooong- Ooong-

The smartphone on the bed was vibrating wildly.

“What is it?”

Did I get a call at this time?

I picked up the phone with a towel on my head.

[The room of the master and the disciples!]

“…Group chat?”

It was a group chat room.

I checked the chat.

[Jia: Ancestor. The talk went well. I made this chat for information exchange.]

[(A puppy emoticon that emits starlight from its eyes)]

As expected, it was a group chat made by Jia and Ha Si-yeon.

[Ha Si-yeon: Wow. Jia, you call Seo-yul ancestor? Why?]

[Jia: Why? I call ancestor ancestor. Do you need a reason?]

[Ha Si-yeon: Wow. Awesome.]

Fortunately, the talk seemed to end well.

I kept reading the piled-up chats.

They were having fun playing drums and gongs. As I expected, they seemed to have a little bond.

“That’s good.”

I read all the latest messages.

[Ha Si-yeon: Then should I also call Seo-yul nim?]

[Jia: Of course. Ancestor is the greatest person in the world. It’s natural to use honorifics with respect.]

“Oh no.”

I hurriedly replied.

[Don’t do it. Jia, you don’t know, but if you make Ha Si-yeon use honorifics, it will be a mess when other kids see her using honorifics.]

[Jia: (A bear emoticon that is surprised)]

[Ha Si-yeon: Hehe. I want to deny it, but I can’t deny it.]

If you deny it, you’re a liar.

[Anyway, I’m glad the talk went well.]

[Ha Si-yeon: Yeah yeah! I was really surprised! The 10 years of blank. World War. World destruction. Wow. It hurts my head to think about it again.]

Jia explained well.

[Ha Si-yeon: Anyway, after a year. The seal of the demons begins to break and things start to happen, right? That’s when the real-world crisis begins.]

[That’s right. The black demon Mephisto. His seal breaking is the starting point.]

After that, all kinds of different races start to reappear.

[Ha Si-yeon: Honestly, I don’t know what’s different between you being an angel or a half of an elf and an angel. I’m glad to hear the truth. Thank you for telling me. Hehe.]

[Jia: You don’t know what’s different! Ancestor is the descendant of the great hero Reine Linefield! A legend of legends!]

[Ha Si-yeon: Hmm. In my position, he’s just an amazing person.]

[Jia: …Forget it. Let’s stop talking.]

“Chuckle.”

It’s fun.

[Anyway, you both worked hard. See you tomorrow at 3 p.m.]

[The place um… we have to go to Gangneung. Jia, do you have any way to move secretly as much as possible?]

There’s no proper way.

Scouters and reporters are scary.

[Jia: Yes! I’ll make it even if I don’t have it! I’ll prepare it for sure!]

[Huh? Uh… Thank you.]

[Ha Si-yeon: Jia, your reaction is really funny.]

[Jia: Be quiet.]

I smiled playfully.

[Sorry. I’ll be quiet.]

[Jia: Oh, oh no! No! It’s not what I said to ancestor…]

I imagined Jia waving her hands wildly in front of me.

[Just kidding, just kidding. Anyway, shall we meet in front of the dorm tomorrow?]

[Jia: Oh, yes! Considering the travel time, should I go pick you up around 1 o’clock?]

[Yeah. Thanks.]

[Jia: Yes!]

[Ha Si-yeon: Me too~]

[Then see you tomorrow at 1 o’clock. Good night.]

I closed the chat with that.

I didn’t forget to turn off the notification of the group chat.

Otherwise, it would vibrate all night.

“Ugh~”

At the same time, I lay down on the bed and stretched out my limbs.

I’m sleepy.

Ah. I didn’t dry my hair completely.

But it’s annoying to dry it with a dryer.

Should I just sleep?

“Meow.”

Goldie seemed tired too and curled up on me.

“Yeah. Let’s just sleep.”

What if the pillow gets wet?

It’s important that I want to sleep now.

“…”

That’s how my mind went blank.

* * *

The next day at 3 p.m.

We were exploring the entrance of Chilseongsan Mountain in Gangneung.

We only knew that it was near Chilseongsan Mountain, but we didn’t know the exact location, so we were working hard.

“Is there really a ruin here?”

Ha Si-yeon asked casually.

“If ancestor says there is, there is. Just explore quietly.”

Jia answered with a voice that had no doubt.

“…Sorry. The terrain structure has changed a lot in ten thousand years.”

And I lied casually.

“Oh~ I see.”

Ha Si-yeon accepted it right away.

At this point, my main ability might be ‘lying’.

“Just bear with me a little more. There must be a barrier surrounded by magic nearby.”

We had only started exploring for 10 minutes. I didn’t expect to find anything yet.

Maybe we should look for at least an hour to find something.

“Rrrrrr···.”

“Goldie?”

Goldie, who was in my arms, started to growl in one direction.

He was staring at a huge rock wall.

“Is there something here?”

Goldie nodded his head slightly.

Goldie is a wild animal.

Of course, he has tracking ability.

But he didn’t have the ability to detect magic.

…Did he get stronger by the guardian trait?

No, rather than that, the entrance of the ruin was not a rock wall.

I wondered and touched the rock wall with my hand.

“There’s really something here.”

I felt something strange.

“Did you find it?”

Ha Si-yeon and Jia came to me.

“Hmm. Well.”

I put magic into my hand that was on the rock wall.

The collaboration of the flame of engraving and the flame of spirit.

Flare-

I made a scratch on the magic barrier that blocked the ruin and tried to make the structure collapse by itself.

A translucent flame flickered.

It stuck to the rock wall and made a very small hole.

Kukukuku-!

The surrounding structures vibrated slightly.

And shortly after.

“Wow.”

“It was an illusion.”

The rock wall disappeared and a strange-shaped entrance appeared.

Anyone could see that it was the entrance of the ruin.

…It’s an entrance, but.

“Ancestor. Is this the entrance of ‘The Report of Nature Ascending’?”

“…It’s not here?”

“Huh? No?”

Ha Si-yeon tilted her head behind Jia.

“Huh. No.”

This place is not the ruin I was looking for, [The Report of Nature Ascending].

Originally, The Report of Nature Ascending is not a cave-type ruin.

“What is this?”

I’m confused.

The most confusing thing is

The message written on the signpost that stands in front of the entrance.

[Present for you]

[From. KIM GOD]

…Why is hyung here?