Chapter 178 Steel Sharpens Steel 5

Hiro who looked at the mission logs marveled at what he saw. He still raised his sword as a beacon for the monsters but the need to do so would cease soon.

- Alert: [Fun Camp 02]: Difficulty: S Rewards: N/A Progress: 72.86% -

- Eliminate as much of the incoming horde as possible, while traveling to Partisan. Time to reach Partisan: 18 hrs 26 minutes | Monsters to be Eliminated 3,525 -

- Bounty Breakdown -

- Aurum Standar: Monsters Eliminated 1,179 | Hercules Antlion X 1,080 |Desert Dragon X 82 | Jormungandr X 2 | Mole Harvester x 15 -

- Fulgeo Renacida: Monsters Eliminated 3,107 | Hercules Antlion X 2987 |Five Tail Terror Scorpion X 75 | Mole Harvester x 45 -

- Larua Kirch: Monsters Eliminated 3,260 | Hercules Antlion X 3126 | Five Tail Terror Scorpion X 89 | Mole Harvester x 45 -

- Tsugumi Mitsurugi: Monsters Eliminated 1330 | Hercules Antlion X 1223 |Desert Dragon X 96 | Mole Harvester x 10 |Goliath Dragoneater Spider X 1 | -

Throughout this battle, Hiro didn't even need to attack anything, he gained two levels and was now at level 53. The was only a fifth of the exp granted in this battle. In just six hours, the San-Baka and Tsugumi annihilated the monsters that came for them.

The butcher who observed the battle styles of his men and sister grew antsy from their marvelous performances. Just like he expected the number of times each of them almost died would scare most people to never hold a sword ever again. But in their darkest hours, they each found the strength to fight on, inadvertently revealing why they fought.

Aurum who had reservations about his bloodline found his pride as he fought an onslaught of monsters, the blond warrior kept repeating the same phrase. "Descendant of the strongest knight Caelum Standar" showed his ideal, his goal, and his reason for fighting.

Hiro wasn't sure how but just like Tsugumi, Aurum awoke Spirit mid-battle. And just like his little sister, when the awakening process began the son of Standar's body got bloated with too much Spirit before he could acclimate. But in a breathtaking scene. Aurum suddenly chanted a skill he should not know.

"[Gales Turn Into Hurricanes] Rank [S], allows the user to create a Caliber Avatar made of Aura and Spirit, the nature of the calibers used changes the Avatars skills, lasts 45 seconds, and consumes 80% Aura and Spirit."

While the caliber mileage was pretty bad, the power it demonstrated could not be denied. If that was not enough he created a unique fighting style that fits his personality extremely well. Using his limited Spirit pull like the hunters from att*ck of T*tan. He boosted himself mid-jump to maneuver and strike weak points using his body and heavy armor constructed from Aura.

"Still that first charged into the mouth of the Jormungandr was worthy of praise. If his timing was wrong he would have just smashed himself into the hard scales and broken all his bones."

Geo similarly gained a new repertoire of skills, the best one being [Dance of Past and Future]. Hiro surmised that given enough time, everyone should learn Spirit eventually, and with Aurum, he proved the theory. The moment Aurum earned a ledger rating of 60%, the Caliber flowed into his body.

If the Lotus and Hourglass ratings were similar that meant, transmigrators only learned the system earlier but everyone had the capability of earning all three calibers. Tsugumi who had a Lotus rating of B upon embracing her bloodlust immediately unlocked Aura. Thus Hiro's hypothesis was that both understanding and rank must be present in order for the awakening to occur.

The son of Renacida on the other hand became an outlier due to being a unique case. He initially fought using alternating skills of Aura and Mana, while debating with someone he let out that he fought for someone's value. From the tidbits, the butcher guessed it should be his mother. He then started to envelop his body with Aura then ignite it by smashing Mana into it.

While extremely barbaric the results spoke for themselves, Geo turned himself into an exploding bomb. Using one of his skills [Rewind] the son of Renacida when back in time refilling his calibers before igniting. The payment seems to be in EXP, so the power came at an extremely high cost.

Yet with only a couple of explosions, Geo annihilated the monsters on his side. Venturing force to another side. Hiro's kill window practically made using [Rewind] free. The redhead only went back 2 seconds, but this trump card would serve him well in the future.

Not to be left behind Lars who Hiro worried about the most picked himself up after almost committing suicide out of hopelessness. Even though the adopted son of Krich had the most horrible past of the three, he also had the kindest heart. His Ledger rating of 65% gave this claim proof.

As if Karma intentionally wanted to save him, Hiro got goosebumps when he saw thirty children made of spirit defend Lars from Hercules Antlions! If that was not enough when each died, they added Spirit to Lars temporarily raising his limit by ten times.

Lars then gained access to Astral Armor a customized set of spirit constructs and even split his body creating Spirit doppelgangers. Hiro noticed when they arrived, each figure had different characteristics and fought with different styles. One could surmise they were the children temporarily allowed to reincarnate after fulfilling their quota.

Hiro's understanding of reincarnation got flipped on its head. At what point will the dead be able to manifest themselves similar to dagger 53? What happens to them once they disappear? How much of their original lives do they retain? Such questions popped into Hiro's mind. The moment he found the answer to one more appeared out of thin air like mushrooms.

The truths Hiro learned from the San-Baka weighed in gold. The saying Steel sharped Steel rang true even in this world. If you hang with pigeons an eagle will never soar above a storm. Only when you are in the company of monsters will you force yourself to raise to become one.

But perhaps the most dangerous of this all was his sister Tsugumi. After almost killing the giant spider, Tsugumi suddenly closed her eyes and the name on their party screen changed. Due to being preoccupied, no one else noticed Hiro who had an inkling spoke to the individual using the brand on the sword.

[One with Sword] - [Kairo's Fragment]

LVL: #&%@* | HP: —— | SP: ——

"I am Hiroyuki Mitsurugi, the Heavenly Sword. I demand you tell me who you are and what you are doing with my sister. Answer me or face the consequences."

- Relax, Onii-chan, I am sure you have already guessed. I am Tsugumi's skill [One with Sword]. I currently am teaching your sister something inside her soul. -

"Soul? Where are you from? Being related to Kairos are you a being of Mana?"

- You lack the Regalia rating Onii-chan. You need to reach at least [Awakened] to know -

"Why are you in my sister? What is your purpose? Who are you? What are you?"

- Look at the balls on this one, I cannot answer any of that for now. Just know It is in my best interest for your sister to become stronger, much much stronger. -

"I am warning you, harm my sister and I will find you in whatever hellhole you are hiding from and I will shove my swords up your ass!"

- Hai, hai enough with the threats Onii-chan, as you are now I could kill you with my spit. So shut up and just wait Imouto-chan is already coming out. -