Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The entrance ceremony had ended.

Se-Hoon, who was summoned right after by Eun-Ha, stood facing her in the alley.

“...”

“...”

“Hey you, clean this up too... ahem.”

The faculty member, who was in charge of cleaning up the alleyway, deftly turned away as if he hadn’t seen the two facing each other.

He had witnessed a standoff between an honor student who had gone off-script during the ceremony and the Dean who was responsible for that student’s actions. To onlookers, this situation would have seemed like it was going to explode any second.

But this isn’t exactly that kind of situation here, you know.

While Eun-Ha’s expressionless face might make her seem angry, considering her personality, if she called him out for such a matter, she would have pointed out his wrongdoings at the start. So, why was she standing silently without uttering a single word? There could only be one motive behind her action.

“Was that intentional?”

She had found delectable equipment to gobble up.

“The flames stored in the Five-Flame Sword have a tendency to collide with each other. That’s why I designed it so that the flames freely flow through the Flaming Scabbard, which makes it easy to adjust them.”

“So you weren’t just aiming to increase their spreadability.”

“Well, while I also had that in mind, I also considered the different sets of skills that could use the compatibility between the two pieces of equipment.”

She stared intently at Se-Hoon as the latter casually explained his reasoning.

When the topic of the additional test was first revealed, he envisioned the two pieces of equipment synergizing to a certain extent. However, they ended up surpassing the level of merely assisting each other and produced an explosive boosting effect.

And also utilizing the skill Untamed Fire on top of it... it seems he also intended that, huh?

She found it unbelievable that he was able to apply such meticulous adjustments in such a short amount of time. Her mouth dried up as she reevaluated Se-Hoon’s abilities, which far exceeded her expectations.

He’s worth much more than I imagined.

Was this what it felt like when a large amount of cheese unexpectedly oozed out of a cheap pork cutlet?

Gulp.

She swallowed hard at the thought of his abilities. She couldn’t accept just looking forward to it in the future; she wanted a taste right now.

[A bond has been successfully established with the subject ‘Ryu Eun-Ha’.] Your favorite novels at novelhall.com

A new information window appeared in front of Se-Hoon.

This is quite early.

Before the regression, it had cost him several pieces of equipment to form a bond with Eun-Ha. But this time, a bond had been established without even feeding her a single piece. Although he felt a bit uneasy considering that his current skills were much lower than they had been back then, such differences were unavoidable.

An average blacksmith or a promising student with a bright future? It was obvious which was more attractive to her.

Regardless, forming a bond with Ryu Eun-Ha was a pretty good outcome for him. Having dealt with her Fatestone several times, he was already familiar with how to utilize it. Adding on to that, she was the Dean of Borsippa, so she could provide lots of support for his academic life.

I should still check if the activation method of Bond Extraction is the same as before.

After contemplating how to extract the bond from her, Se-Hoon chose to resort to using a simple method.

“Ugh...” He suddenly collapsed while clutching his forehead.

Reacting to his fall, Eun-Ha naturally reached out and grabbed him.

“Are you okay?"

Noticing that she was worried about him, he nodded sheepishly.

“I just used a bit too much mana... I think I’m fine.”

He softly took hold of her arm while getting up from his collapsed posture.

Bond Extraction

[Extracting bond from subject ‘Ryu Eun-Ha’]

[The bond with the host is Lv. 1.]

The bond seeped inside his body.

Nice.

He hadn’t alarmed her at all when extracting the bond. When he stood up, however, he found Eun-Ha staring at him sternly.

“Next time, if you want to do something like this, please let me know in advance. This time, the chairman covered for you, but next time, you could face disciplinary action.”

“Yes. I will be more cautious next time.”

After observing his sincere reflection, she nodded her head and looked around cautiously.

“So, since the entrance ceremony is over, let’s proceed with our deal—”

“Ah. Here you were, ” a voice said. Kim In-Cheol had arrived at the scene just in time to cut off Eun-Ha.

“The chairman would like to proceed with the awards right away. May I borrow Lee Se-Hoon for a while, ma’am?”

“...Okay.”

Se-Hoon laughed internally at the subtle discontent evident on Eun-Ha’s expressionless face.

“I look forward to seeing you soon, ma’am,” said Se-Hoon, bowing politely.

Se-Hoon and In-Cheol left the alley, leaving her alone. She stared at their retreating figures with a blank expression.

Then, a soft, displeased sound echoed from the alley.

Growl.

***

She’s still the same as before.

Ryu Eun-Ha was someone who was always eager to consume any equipment that she found fascinating. While Se-Hoon was satisfied that Eun-Ha, known for her discerning taste, took interest in his equipment, he didn’t let his guard down yet.

It was anything that Ludwig could grant at his discretion. He would accept any kind of request, such as skills, armor, elixirs, or letters of introduction.

He’s offering me two rewards? He’s more generous than I thought.

He had been pondering whether to increase his mana or enhance his memory, but it seemed there was no need for such deliberation. Feeling a bit relieved, he answered right away.

“I would like to receive materials that can help increase my memory and mana.”

“Hm. Memory and mana.”

Ludwig mumbled as if he was intrigued by Se-Hoon’s answer. Then, after a moment of contemplation, he reached out his hand toward the empty air above him and performed a unique gesture.

Click.

His two fingers lightly traced the air, and a golden keyhole appeared in midair. The keyhole rotated slowly at a 90-degree angle, then split apart vertically and revealed a white space.

Thud. Thud.

Two objects fell out of the space and landed on the table.

One was ivory engraved with mysterious patterns, and the other was a piece of dark-colored ore. Se-Hoon was bewildered when he saw these objects.

“These are...?”

“They are your rewards.”

“...”

The reason Se-Hoon asked about these objects wasn’t that he didn’t know what they were. In any case, it didn’t seem like Ludwig would take them back and give him something else, so he felt it was safe to express some surprise.

Ludwig chuckled and pushed the two items to the end of the desk.

“Take a look at them first.”

“Ah, yes.”

Se-Hoon walked up to the desk and lightly stroked the two items. The two items trembled faintly, and an information window popped up in front of him.

[Inkstone Ore]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Excellent]

[A shard of darkness from the night.

It seeks to consume all but the darkness.

*Drains magic from anything it contacts]

This piece of ore appeared distorted due to how matte the surface was.

His eyes widened at the sight of this rare material, which he’d seen a few times before the regression.

Ha. I never thought I'd manage to get hold of one already.

Although it was just Hero-tier material, it was not easy to get one due to its ability to absorb mana. This ore alone was enough to surprise him, but the real deal was the other reward.

It was a piece of pure white ivory with surreal patterns.

[Dream Ivory]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Average]

[The molar of the Dream-Eating Baku.

It is imbued with dream mana, allowing you to travel between reality and dreams.

*Enables the use of dream mana to connect to the user’s dreams]

A Dream Ivory...

It was a special material that allowed not only physical connection but mental connection as well, making it even rarer than the inkstone ore. While the inkstone ore could be found if one knew where to look, the Dream Ivory was much harder to come by. It was scarce, and it was also monopolized by the magicians who were researching dream mana.

“...”

These rewards were completely unexpected, and his mouth twitched in joy as he looked at the two items.

A well-known blacksmith, like he was before the regression, could obtain these materials, but that was in no way the case for a mere student. It was bizarre to him that he was able to obtain these rare materials so easily.

It should be hard for me to use these materials with my current stats... but I do have a clue as to what I should do with them.

Of course, there was no way he could do something with these rewards right now, but with a little preparation, he could probably use them soon. As he was busy planning in his head, Ludwig asked with a smile, “Do you like your rewards?”

Without hesitation, Se-Hoon nodded.

“They’re perfect.”

***

After Se-Hoon exited the room, a low voice echoed from beyond the white hole in the air.

“How come he’s the only one to be rewarded with two items?”

The mere act of communicating its intentions caused the surrounding atmosphere to tremble, and the entire room creaked under the weight of its presence.

Ludwig answered calmly, “I only gave him two items because it seemed like he could handle them, unlike the other students.”

“Is that so? He did seem rather precocious...”

“If you saw him that way, it means he has enough depth in him,” Ludwig said calmly as he observed Se-Hoon, who was walking down the corridor.

His method of perceiving objects was by combining his own mana with the ambient mana.

A curious look crossed his face as the scene became clearer than the naked eye could see.

I still can't perceive his limits.

Until now, he had been able to appraise all of the potential that the honor students, who had visited earlier, had by the time they left the room. However, he still couldn’t fathom Se-Hoon’s underlying potential, even after observing him as he walked through the central square after leaving the mansion. It was as if his potential was boundless. After realizing this, Ludwig looked at the white hole again.

I was planning to reward him with three items... but I shouldn’t be too excessive.

He decided to reward him with the remaining one depending on how Se-Hoon would handle the two he received today.

Amused for the first time in a long while, Ludwig continued to observe Se-Hoon until he had left the central square.