Chapter 156: Five Mountains of Penances (6)

[Argh! Does this make sense! How can this be!]

Victoria grabbed her hair and screamed. All kinds of emotions flashed by her eyes. Annoyance. Rage. Curiosity. Frustration. Anxiousness.

She was in a state of hysteria. That was expected. She hadn’t even gotten started on interpreting Yeon-woo’s thoughts.

It was already the 20th day. The time she promised Yeon-woo was one month. Time had flown by without much success.

[You didn’t set up a mental defense or anything, right?]

Victoria glared at Yeon-woo with suspicion.

[You would’ve noticed already if I had. You were the person who told me to take off my clothes just in case. You were the person who tested defense magic circles. It was all you. But you never felt anything like that, right?]

[…..]

Victoria bit her nails. It was a habit of her that came out when she was anxious.

What Yeon-woo had said was all right. He willingly participated all the time. It was her who always asked him to do things that were too much.

So Victoria felt like she was going to go crazy.

She really used all kinds of methods. She made him drink all kinds of potions and used magic circles and artifacts to analyze his mind.

However, the result that came back was always an error. Analyzing it was impossible.

At first, she thought it was because his mind was complex. Often, martialists minds’ became more complex as they trained.

So with their permission, she unlocked their mental defenses and started to carefully observe them.

She used the same method on Yeon-woo. She was planning on identifying everything down to his neurons. Sometimes she even anesthetized his body.

But that was the end.

She couldn’t read him. No, actually, she could. But the problem was that the range was too small.

‘Someone who has this large of a mentality. I’ve never heard of something like this before. It’s too deep!’

Victoria thought that her mentality was quite deep. That was how much she gained knowledge and focused on her studies.

But in front of Yeon-woo, she was like a lake being compared to an ocean. That was how endless his mentality seemed to be.

Usually people would go crazy from it, but Yeon-woo just spoke like asking her what the matter was when she brought it up.

‘Is this child a superior species or something like that? It doesn’t make sense otherwise!’

But Victoria knew that was absurd.

If he was that amazing of an existence, he wouldn’t even have let her do this. They hated others laying a finger on their bodies.

Eventually, Victoria spent 20 days wasting her time, while her precious runes were being taken away.

And even though he was a martialist, he was so well learned, that he always precisely answered her questions when she asked them during their tutoring session. In addition, he learned so fast, that she felt her basic magic runes being taken away.

She clenched her teeth. There were now 10 days left. She had to somehow find a way soon.

***

[Heehee. You con-artist. Did you get a big one today?]

‘What do you mean, big one. We’re only upholding our sides of the trade.’

[The trade itself is a scam. Dang. You seemed quite inflexible on the outside. I didn’t know you were good at using your head like this.]

Yeon-woo ignored what Shanon said as soon as he entered the hut.

There was no need to reply to him. He knew that the trade was ridiculous as well.

But the contract with Victoria was set with mana, and if they didn’t keep their word, their magic power could be cut off or completely disappear. Yeon-woo had welcomed it with both arms wide open.

The rune magic Victoria taught him awoke something in his Dragon’s Knowledge. Like he had remembered something he forgot.

He could clearly establish his knowledge, and he was even organizing all the information he knew now.

His traits ‘Mana-friendly’ and ‘Blessed by Magic Power’ helped him a lot.

But Yeon-woo didn’t try to learn rune magic itself. He only stacked up the knowledge for it, because he was already busy trying to understand the Yin Sword.

‘Boo.’

[Did you. Call for me?]

Boo bowed, the joints in his chin cracking.

Yeon-woo gave the magic knowledge he knew to him.

[Boo (Lich) is receiving knowledge about magic from your thoughts. Rune magic knowledge is being applied by turning into a skill.]

[The proficiency of ‘Rune Magic’ has increased. 12.1%]

[The proficiency of ‘Rune Magic’ has increased. 14. 8%]

…..

Yeon-woo had passed down what he learned from Victoria to Boo like this. It was a big help to Boo, and it was even a new skill for him now.

He could be confident that he wouldn’t be weak in an actual fight. His other skills were stronger as well, thanks to the influence of rune magic.

‘This much should be enough for Blink now, right?’

Boo had been quiet for some time with his head bent. Then, he slowly lifted his head. The holes in his eye sockets were burning up with blue fire.

It meant that he had understood everything that Yeon-woo had given him.

Yeon-woo unhesitatingly took his shirt off and showed Boo his back.

On his back, there were countless rune letters. They were things that Boo had left on Yeon-woo everytime Boo learned magic.

Instead of learning it, he had Boo engrave it onto his skin like this.

If Victoria saw, she would be surprised. He was mimicking the way she made her rune artifact.

With this, he wouldn’t have to write runes down somewhere else, and magic would be activated just by shifting his magic towards the runes on his back.

It was perfect for Yeon-woo.

There was just one difference.

Unlike Victoria, who used an artifact, Yeon-woo used his body. It was obvious, but with the Dragon’s Blessing, his body was more efficient in dealing with magic.

At first, Yeon-woo had thought long and hard. He even considered making an artifact like how Henova taught him. But if a beginner like him made it, he would barely be able to draw letters onto it. It’s efficiency was trash.

But although Victoria’s artifact was efficient, it wasn’t well made. It could only be used once.

However, Yeon-woo was permanent. And his endurance was outstanding. On top of that, with the ‘new method’ that he had thought of, it was definitely possible to reuse it.

The weapon that Victoria had been trying to make had popped up somewhere else. It wasn’t because she was stupid. It was because only Yeon-woo could make something like this.

[Mas. Ter.]

‘What?’

[It’s. Possible. But. Blink is. Deeper than. Other. Magic. I’ve. Done.]

Boo hesitated before he started. It was because he was worried about Yeon-woo’s safety.

There were 3 different combinations Boo had learned. Magic Strengthening, Heist, and Strength. They were all basic, but Yeon-woo, who didn’t even blink at most pain, had struggled with it.

It was clear Blink would be worse. It was magic that teleported the user, so the combination to create it was immense. Adding the 3 runes Boo knew together wouldn’t even be half of what Blink was.

If Yeon-woo fainted while the rune was engraved, everything would be ruined.

But Yeon-woo didn’t even blink.

‘Just do it.’

[Under. Stood. As fast. As possible…..!]

‘Slow and precisely.’

[…..I’ll. Be aware.]

Boo quietly nodded his head.

[That stubbornness.]

[Let’s begin as well.]

Shanon and Hanryeong grabbed Yeon-woo’s arms and legs. It was to block him from moving in case the rune was ruined.

[I’ll. Begin.]

Boo lifted a black bead with his left hand into the air and put his right hand on Yeon-woo’s back. That moment, the black sparks exploded, and runes started to appear slowly on Yeon-woo’s back.

His skin burned. The black light moved slowly. If even a stroke was wrong, the magic would be incorrect.

This was the part that Boo and Yeon-woo focused on the most, so a lot of time was spent on this section.

And when a letter was finished and Boo moved onto the next, the finished letter emanated a blue fire to dig deep into the skin. It melted his dermis and his muscles, even clearing through his blood to be carved onto his bones.

‘Grunt!’

Yeon-woo’s back straightened. Shanon and Hanryeong did their best to hold onto Yeon-woo. That was how painful it was to have something carved onto your bones.

This was the new method that Yeon-woo had thought of.

Runes disappeared once you used them. What was a way to continue using it?

A Draconic species’s bones were one of the most indestructible materials. It was so strong that it could endure everything, and he had Magic Circuit around it, which provided ample magic power.

If he continued to spin magic power around it and could prevent the rune from disappearing, he could permanently use it.

So he tested it with Heist, and after some attempts, it worked.

He had to experience the feeling of his body being ripped apart, but Yeon-woo clenched his teeth and endured it.

When he shook his body, the Monster Portents left the shadows and held Yeon-woo in place. The power struggle continued like that.

And after some time.

[It’s. Finished. You’ve. Endured well.]

Boo slowly lifted his hands.

Shanon and Hanryeong released their grip as well. Yeon-woo was drenched in sweat.

He looked like he would faint any moment. But his two eyes were shining. He was euphoric about the fact that the runes were in his body.

When everything was the melted skin on his back healed. And only the black letters were left. From far away, they looked like burn scars.

He finished it, but now he felt tired. He needed to regain his strength.

***

‘Magic Equipment.’

With a short command, Yeon-woo’s body flashed in a blue light and his Magic Circuit opened, wings of fire spreading out.

Yeon-woo decreased his magic circulation as much as he could and moved with only his body.

With his tighter muscles and speedier dexterity, he almost couldn’t control himself. On top of that, when Shunpo was added, he wasn’t able to be caught even with sixth sense anymore.

Yeon-woo pulled out Vigrid from Intrenina while he was at it. Vigird was purified by up to 90% with Urd’s holy power, and was as long as most swords now. Blue letters shined on the blade.

Then, he released his Magic Circuit. With his strengthened magic power, he swung Vigrid with red Aura.

It was a vibrant red that wasn’t comparable to when he first made it.

With the clear sound of a sword being swung in the air, he unleashed Blink repeatedly. His vision blurred, and he found himself at the edge of a cliff. From there, he whipped his sword down.

It had been exactly 6 months since he entered the mountains. He wanted to see how much he had improved.

Other than Aura, he didn’t use any particular skills. Vigrid cut through everything in its path.

On the opposite cliff, there was an indentation made by a sword. A part of the hills toppled down and the forest underneath it was crushed. Dust flew up and soared into the sky.

[Whoa! What’s this!]

[Hey you crazy bastard! Are you here by yourself?]

[…..I’d like some peace and quiet.]

[Hm. Did you do that with just Aura?]

The Sadhu sent warnings to him, and each of them sounded surprised.

Because they knew that he had done it without any particular skills. If he combined magic power to it, or if all of his senses were in use, he couldn’t even imagine what would have happened.

In half a year, he had grown so much, that everyone was surprised.

But Yeon-woo was even more surprised. He hadn’t even revealed his Dragon’s Authority. If he released even that…..

‘I won’t be beat up anywhere.’

Yeon-woo thought of Phante and Edora making bewildered expressions and put Vigrid back into Intrenian.

‘This is enough.’

He had already spent more time than expected. He hadn’t understood the basics of the Yin Sword, but he had achieved things that weren’t any less impressive.

Now it was time to leave.

‘It’s a shame I wasn’t able to discover what Kindred was looking for, but oh well.’

He wanted to secretly follow Kindred when he left at night, but something might happen to him, so he didn’t want to do that.

He wasn’t even going to get any information out of it, so he didn’t want to put himself in danger. And since he had searched for it for 10 years, it was possible that it didn’t exist anyway.

So Yeon-woo pushed away his thoughts about Kindred. He was going to see him anyway when the war with the Devil Army started. He didn’t need to rush.

Right now, he needed to finish what he had been pushing back.

‘And they said the Legendary Beast is about to hatch.’

So when Yeon-woo turned around.

[You’re leaving?]

Like he read his mind, Kahn spoke to him.

Yeon-woo wordlessly nodded.

[…..Wait a bit.]

Kahn seemed like he was going to say something, and quickly flew over to the cliff where Yeon-woo was.

He only touched the ground a few times, but he easily came up the cliff. Yeon-woo saw that kahn had also improved greatly as well.

But Kahn seemed a bit strange. Like he wanted to say something but he couldn’t. Yeon-woo thought it might be something to do with Doyle.

Even though Kahn and Yeon-woo had been so close to each other, they hadn’t been able to meet each other that much. It did have a bit to do with Yeon-woo’s personality, but he also felt like Kahn was avoiding him.

Yeon-woo assumed it had something to do with Doyle. Kahn had said that it was because they opinions collided, but from what Yeon-woo had seen, their relationship couldn’t have been broken off by something that easy.

So he hadn’t interfered in it, pretending he didn’t notice.

But now it seemed like Kahn had come to discuss the matter with him. Since he didn’t know when he would be able to meet Yeon-woo again.

[Actually D…..!]

And when Kahn was about to say something.

[Everyone, quiet. Something big happened.]

A loud Open Speaking voice covered the 5th mountain.

The voice couldn’t control his shock. Victoria took a deep break and delivered the shocking news.

[Kindred just died.]

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