Female Novel
Chapter 1958
Zeratul was in the recovery period, resting after wrapping up the difficult battles against Trauka,Kubartos, and Judar. The people of the Overgeared World had heard about his accomplishments fromHuroi. It was a different feeling from the vague worship he gained as the self-proclaimed Martial God.Every time he felt signs of people praying to Zeratul, and not to the Martial God, he smiled softly. Hefelt the growing desire to meet their aspirations, and he felt at peace.
[Hmm...]
Zeratul had taken an interest in studying treasures. Each and every one of them possessed interestingfeatures. For example, in the case of weapon-like treasures, they weren’t held and swung likeconventional weapons. Instead, specific invocation spells had to be chanted and mana was supplied tomove them. At first glance, the way they functioned resembled the way Sword Saint’s Control Swordworked, but it was more accurate to understand them as a tool that amplified the power of one’s will.
[Peculiar. Originally, only a transcendent could use their will as a means of attacking. Even in the caseof a transcendent, that was clumsy and weak. Now, anyone can easily do it. Depending on the functionof the treasure, it can be used in various fields. Thanks to this mysterious invocation, civilization willdevelop quite considerably.]
Zeratul sensed his visitor’s aura and spoke while looking at the magical text floating in the air.
“With treasures, the will of an Absolute will be even stronger.”
[Correct. In fact, people like us are the ones who will benefit the most from these treasures. By the way,Grid, why have you come to my place? You didn’t come here just because you wanted to see what I’vebeen up to, I assume?]
“Haha, isn’t it polite to check if the number one contributor of the last great battle is recovering well?”
[Number one contributor? Bah, I don't want to flatter myself in front of you, so get to the point.]
“I would like to learn some secret techniques.”
Zeratul arched an eyebrow curiously at Grid, who sat down.
[My secret techniques are of no use to you, right? You can fight with just the skills you have learnedalready. Plus, haven’t you recently learned Judar’s Multiple Weakening Barriers?]
“This body is different.”
[What does that mean?]
Even Zeratul couldn’t figure out he was speaking with a clone. That was how high quality the bodysmelted by Grid was.
Grid shrugged and pulled out Defying the Natural Order. Then he slammed it down on his wrist with allhis might. Zeratul watched in shock, well aware of what that skill could do. Defying the Natural Orderbounced off Grid’s wrist without cutting it.
[What?!]
Zeratul doubted what he was seeing.
The moment the blade of Defying the Natural Order pierced Grid’s skin, a black and gold light flashed,followed by a loud friction sound. There wasn’t a single scratch or drop of blood on Grid’s skin.
[A divine body! Is it a body made of Greed?!!]
“Judar told me how to make it. I took advantage of the nature of Greed, which can think and move onits own, and smelted a body using only that, no other materials.”
[This is amazing! I’ve known for a long time that Greed is a material that defies natural order. Isn’t itgreater than the bones of an old dragon?]
“I think, once the status of my body completely surpasses that of an old dragon’s, that Greed will beconsidered even more powerful than an old dragon’s bones.”
[Indeed. Old dragons are comparable to the Gods of the beginning after all... The status of an olddragon is partly proportional to the number of years they have lived, but the achievements you haveaccumulated are beyond the value of time. It won't be long before you surpass the dragons’ status.]
Zeratul had complete confidence in Grid. After all, this was the man who had killed Judar and Trauka.
[Can your body only handle the sword dances?]
“For now. I plan to learn magic from Braham for a while and train really hard.”
[Learning magic and choosing to follow a different path than your main body’s… That is a good idea.You will learn spells and skills that your main body has no knowledge of, so your fighting style willbecome a lot more versatile. I’ll try to come up with a secret technique for you to make up for amagician’s shortcomings.]
“Thank you.”
[But it will take quite some time. This is a skill you will learn, so it has to be special. Keep training andaccumulate as many achievements as you can until I contact you. Looking at you now, you definitelyseem weak compared to your main body.]
“You guessed correctly.”
Grid smiled, satisfied. He was happy because he felt like he and Zeratul had become true friends.
***
Braham was skeptical of Grid’s decision to train in magic. His emotionless voice echoed throughout thetemple, “Why do you want to learn magic? You should just rely on the skills you already know and usethem to the fullest.”
Grid told him, “I can make use of magic fully. It’s different from before.”
“Can you prove it to me?”
“Of course.”
Grid’s clone was an artificial intelligence created based on the data that Grid had accumulated. As anartificial intelligence, he always made the best choice in any situation. So, usually, he utilized hisabilities better than Grid himself.
However, he was obsessed with safety and perceived variables as risks. Because of that, he wasn’t asstrong as Grid. He simply became stronger by utilizing the magic he learned.
Braham’s attitude changed when Grid showed off magic he had picked up on. “...Then, I will formallyaccept you as my apprentice.”
“You have too many disciples. Are you going to build another tower?”
“Think of my disciples for a moment. I don’t just take anyone under my wing. They deserve it.”
“Whatever the case, I’m going to learn all the spells you know. Punishment as well.”
“Passing on the magic that was created during and after Punishment is impossible. Those spells are inmy blood. Theoretically, only my siblings can learn them, but they don’t possess the knowledge tounderstand such magic. Marie Rose’s child might be different, but…”
Grid, who had been feeling disappointed, smiled widely. He was already happy imagining a futurewhere the child, who would be born in a few months, would follow in Braham’s steps.
“By the way, are you a clone...? I can’t tell even though I’m looking straight at you.”
“I am really talking to you right now. Through the consciousness implanted in this body, I can monitorand control it at any time.”
“I envy you for that... Damn pavranium. I am technically its parent. Why doesn’t it acknowledge me asits master?” Braham complained.
“Find a solution. If you are accepted by Greed, you will also be able to refine a body.”
“I am always thinking about it. Isn’t it better to make a whole new pavranium? Can’t I make it with youlike I did with Pagma?”
“Making a new one rather than changing Greed... Yeah, I like the sound of that too. It will take time, butit is possible. I’ll even lend you a hand.”
“...Let’s focus on training for now.”
The class began in earnest. Grid’s clone used his high Intelligence stat to absorb Braham’s magic likea sponge. He performed all the necessary spells correctly and got the title of Great Magician in just twodays.
“You really are a genius!”
It was enough to elicit Braham’s delight. The more Grid got better at magic, the happier Brahambecame. It was as if he’d gained the most important achievement in the world.
‘I can’t believe I made Braham laugh... My clone is accomplishing what even I couldn’t do in my originalbody.’
Grid had complicated feelings, but under Braham’s enthusiastic guidance, he gradually learned moreand more spells. He was stagnant for a while when it came to learning the highest level great magic,such as Meteor and Disintegrate, but he managed to meet the Intelligence requirement by creatingitems that instantly boosted that stat.
[Your Divine Incarnation has earned the title of ‘Greatest Magic Swordsman of All Time.’]
[Your Divine Incarnation has earned the title of ‘True Genius Magician.’]
***
“Isn’t it amazing? Irene is better than most farmers when it comes to growing flowers. Piaro personallyasked her to take care of a few.”
“Irene has been tending to her flowers every day.”
At the garden of the Overgeared Palace…
All types of flowers were in full bloom, exuding a heavenly fragrance. Grid recognized many of them.The flowers had been cared for by Irene since the time of Reidan. Several were seedlings that Lordhad obtained during his adventures for his mother.
There were also many rare flowers collected from famous dangerous areas. It just felt strange becausethey were things that Grid had been trampling on like gravel on the side of the road.
“These things are used as ingredients for elixirs... I thought the flowers were just pretty.”
“It is safe to say that anything that was considered useless has disappeared since the update. Plants,insects, fish, ores, beasts, monsters, and even the water and soil that you can find all over thecontinent can be materials for treasures. There are so many different types of water and soil. That’swhy people were so excited about this update—just about anyone can craft treasures.”
Grid and Lauel chatted as they strolled around the garden. The topics of their conversation changedevery now and then. Every time, Grid acquired a large amount of important information.
“So... If you create a spiritual root in the place that was previously called the mana core or dantian, youcan handle spirit energy. From then on, you are classified as a warrior. It seems that outsiders originallycalled this ‘qi refining.’ Is it possible to maximize the power of treasures by using spiritual energy fromqi refining?”
“Yes. If you take a closer look, there are a lot of types of spiritual roots. If you have a water elementspiritual root, you can use water attribute treasures and mystical arts with more power.”
“So, it’s better to carefully select the desired spiritual root before creating one. By the way, did thespiritual root appear on its own after the update?”
“I don’t think it’s possible to choose. It’s random.”
“Random? So the spiritual roots also have hidden types. I wonder what the attribute of my spiritual rootis. I have no way of knowing.”
“Never mind. Players can handle treasures and mystical arts using other resources, they don’tnecessarily need to have spiritual roots. Your Majesty, you have a variety of resources at your disposal.I don’t think you need to worry about trivial matters like the nature of your spiritual root.”
“Is there a penalty for using resources other than spiritual energy to deal with treasures and mysticalarts? Would their power be weaker, for example?”
“Good catch. Using mana is around 30% less efficient than spiritual energy. I don’t think it’s that big of adifference considering the effort necessary to make the spiritual roots. There is a reason why outsidersrevere mana by calling it the ‘heaven and earth origin energy.’ Plus, special resources such as blood,fighting energy, demonic energy, and killing energy can be more or less efficient than mana, it depends,really.”
“What about divinity?”
“I had Zeratul and Garion test it. It’s just like mana. It isn’t that much better when it comes to dealingwith treasures.”
“What about Annihilation energy?”
“Check it out for yourself.”
Lauel handed him a fist-sized millstone.
“This is a defensive treasure. You can chant the invocation spell written in the description and inject itwith Annihilation energy.”
Grid did as he was told. The millstone expanded rapidly until it covered Grid completely.
Lauel’s eyes widened.
“It becomes more than twice as big compared to when casting with mana? I can’t tell if this is becauseAnnihilation energy is superior to spiritual energy, or if it’s because Your Majesty has spiritual energythrough which the Annihilation energy is amplified.”novelbin
Grid nodded and stopped infusing the treasure with energy. He switched to mana. The size of themillstone was greatly reduced.
Lauel was thoughtful. “It’s just as big as when I triggered it. It isn’t spiritual energy that’s making theAnnihilation energy more efficient. The power of the Annihilation energy itself is better than spiritualenergy.”
“Then I don't have to aim for the next rank after warrior?”
“If you want to gain access to the increased time ratio, you have to reach at least the rank of a trueperson. Moreover, I heard from prisoners that the more advanced you are, the more powerfultechniques you can learn.”
“I can’t get used to this at all. No matter whether it is a spiritual root, a lotus root, a burdock root orsomething root, why is the S.A. Group doing this?”
“Who knows? Seeing how strangely realistic the depiction of how to make a spiritual root is, there mustbe martial arts enthusiasts among the top leaders...”
Lauel paused for a moment. A black flame dragon rose from his hand.
“Or they want players to know how to do this. It’s one of these two things.”
“...In a world with that damn asteroid, do we even have a need for spiritual roots?”
“Haha, it is all just speculation at this stage. However, it is true that the S.A. Group describes in detailhow to condense the spiritual root, like they’re educating the players. Many people are trying to copy itin reality.”
Grid was dumbfounded but also strangely excited. “Are they also copying the breathing techniques tofeel the dantian? Or is it the same as what I felt when learning Tai Chi...?”
He was happy to see that more and more people were starting to accept Satisfy as part of reality, notjust a game.
After making a big lap around the castle, the two of them arrived at the dungeon. The chained outsiderglared at them as if he was going to eat them.
“Why is he looking at us like that?”
“U-Uh? You can’t kill him.”