Chapter 242 – #55_보은(3)
#240
1.
A week had passed since the accident.
It had been a week since the training with Eloa, which took place in the middle of Gwanghwamun Square, with a barrier of a different dimension deployed.
Siwoo massaged his aching body.
The training was the same as usual, a one-on-one sparring match.
However, at Siwoo’s request, there was a change in the nature of the training.
‘The Contract of the King of All Diseases’ was a self-magnetic magic that maximized its effect when a weapon was held, just like its name.
He had learned how to move his body based on hand-to-hand combat and how to strengthen his body using magic, so now he would focus on practical sparring using swords, spears, and shields.
One might think there wouldn’t be much difference from sparring barehanded, but first of all, the intensity was on a different level.
Tiferet, who had been holding back for Siwoo, who didn’t have autonomous defense, started to smash his armor and inflict bruises on his body as soon as Siwoo put on the armor.
She was holding back much less than before and was engaging in the sparring more seriously.
“Wow… crazy….”
After showering after the sparring, Siwoo stood in front of the mirror.
His swollen cheeks and the red marks all over his body seemed to represent the intensity of the day.
Even this was thanks to Eloa’s light healing magic; originally, his upper body was covered in large, dark blue bruises, and the inside of his cheeks was torn, causing blood to flow.
“I asked for it, but… it’s tough.”
The training time, which had been close to 12 hours, was also drastically shortened to 4 hours.
To be more precise, it became shorter and more intense.
In fact, even this was an impossible amount of exercise from a general point of view.
The shadow armor was weighted at over 100kg to increase the impact, and the spears, swords, and shields that he lightly swung each weighed over 30kg.
Even if it wasn’t just because of the weight, even a professionally trained athlete would be exhausted after a full round in the octagon, so the reason why he could spar for 4 hours straight without a break was thanks to the durability of his spirit body and the power of magic.
Siwoo looked at his body in the mirror.
He had some toned muscles from labor during his slave days, but now that he was completely spiritualized, he had a more perfect body than before.
Every time he saw this, he realized that he had escaped the shackles of humanity and entered the ranks of transcendents.
He was being treated like a punching bag, getting hit here and there, but if he had a bad heart and went on a rampage, he would become a war machine that ordinary humans could not handle.
Ordinary firearms would not be able to penetrate his armor, and even the main gun fired from a tank could be blocked with his shield.
If he threw the shadow spear, he could probably pierce through heavy armor, and he could use the ribbons that stretched for kilometers to shoot down air power.
And if things got dangerous, he could escape by teleporting… well, maybe a Tomahawk missile would be a bit of a crisis?
But even that could be blocked if he was determined, which was what made a witch so scary.
“Could I win if I fought Iron Man?”
Siwoo, who was having the kind of useless thoughts that men have when they’re alone, shook his wet hair and came out of the bathroom wearing only his underwear.
But he should have put on some clothes.
If he had known that Eloa, who had left after the sparring saying she had something to do, would already be back and sitting in the living room, he would have.
“……..”
Eloa froze, her eyes wide like a startled rabbit, still in the same position as when she was drinking tea.
However, she naturally put her teacup down on the saucer and cleared her throat.
Was it because a sliver of sunlight had landed on her cheek through her voluminous, light pink hair, like a puffed-up curtain?
Eloa’s cheeks were flushed with a light pink color, like her hair.
But as if it had been a mistake, Eloa, who had composed herself, asked in her usual stern, yet kind, and restrained voice.
“How is your body? I came back because I was worried that I might have been too harsh today.”
“As you can see, I’m fine. Although, I’m still frustrated that I couldn’t even graze your clothes today.”
“But, you did bleed, didn’t you?”
“I asked you to do it. Thanks to your treatment, I’m already all better.”
He shrugged and joked.
Indeed, Eloa did not allow even the smallest blow to Siwoo.
All attacks were blocked and intercepted in advance.
She didn’t miss the slightest gap and struck.
It felt like fighting someone who could see the future.
“I understand your desire to improve. However, if you are too greedy overnight, you are likely to ruin it. Do not rush and take it one step at a time. If you look at the time you have spent training, you are growing exceptionally.”
Eloa said with a kind smile.
She was merciless during training, but after it was over, she would give Siwoo hopeful words and sermons so that he wouldn’t be discouraged.
But today, she seemed to be looking elsewhere.
It was as if she was trying not to look at Siwoo.
“Ah.”
Siwoo quickly put on the clothes that he had carelessly thrown on the sofa.
Only then did Eloa look at Siwoo.
She had a poker face, as if she thought she hadn’t been obvious.
“I suddenly have a question… May I ask you?”
“Go ahead.”
Siwoo asked what he had been curious about for a while.
“When you sparred with me today, how much of your power were you controlling?”
“Power control? Hmm….”
Eloa was lost in thought.
“It’s not an easy question to answer. The answer varies depending on what you consider to be control.”
After thinking a little more, she opened her mouth.
“I think I’m using about 5 percent of my power.”
That meant she was using 5%.
He had been slightly hoping that it would be at least 10%, but.
After all, the rank of 23 was not given to just anyone.
He felt awe and didn’t even feel disappointed.
“However, this includes magical elements, so we should look at simple martial arts and swordsmanship. Hmm… If we exclude magic, I think it’s about 50%.”
“What? That much?”
This time, he was surprised in a different way.
If they were just looking at skills, it meant that he had caught up to half of Eloa’s level?
“The power of the contract inherent in you is powerful. If you were to wield a weapon with your bare hands right now, without magic, there would be no human on Earth who could oppose you. It is a condensation of hundreds of years of time and combat experience.”
“I see…”
“So you can be a little more proud.”
Eloa got up from her seat and stopped in front of Siwoo.
She hesitated for a moment, then stretched her hand up as if she had made up her mind and patted his head.
Because of the height difference between the two, Eloa had to stand on her tiptoes slightly and Siwoo had to bend his waist a little, which made for a funny scene, but it was still a heartwarming atmosphere.
“Stay still.”
Eloa’s eyes, which had been stroking his hair from side to side, began to shine with a subtle reflection.
Siwoo, who had taken off his eyepatch because he had just showered, saw a magic formula that was drawing complex shapes and radiating out in a radial pattern.
The magic formula formed a figure-eight loop and was woven together in hundreds, taking the form of a chain.
The ends of each chain bundle stretched out to Siwoo’s and Eloa’s chests.
“I contract.”
As Eloa murmured softly, he felt a tingling sensation in his body and a stinging sensation on the back of his hand.
Surprised, he looked at the back of his hand and saw a pattern that looked like a geometrically reinterpreted hourglass.
“What is this?”
“I have made a simple contract with you. If you are in danger, a defensive magic will be activated temporarily. It is also a contract that will immediately notify me of your location.”
Eloa’s magic was ‘contract magic’ using incantations.
Its uses were endless.
Through contracts, she could make it impossible to lie, strengthen her own body, and track the location of a specific target.
She had used one of the 12 contract opportunities that made such things possible on Siwoo.
“Thank you. I feel really reassured.”
“No matter what crisis you are in, if you can hold out for one minute, I will come to save you, so don’t worry for now.”
Eloa finished patting Siwoo’s head and prepared to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to find the Cowardly Witch. It seems certain that she is in this area, so I will find her and make her pay the price.”
Eloa’s tone, which was filled with firm determination and subtle anger, was enough to make Siwoo, who had nothing to do with it, feel a pang of guilt.
Honestly, he didn’t know how strong the Cowardly Witch was, but he also felt that he would be safe if he was by her side.
“Then, see you later.”
Siwoo called out to Eloa, who had turned her back to the private elevator.
“Master.”
As soon as he called her master, Eloa stopped abruptly.
Her ears, which were sticking out between her beautiful hair, seemed to perk up.
Eloa glanced back at Siwoo.
Her cheeks, which were full of joy, were puffed up as if she was trying to hold back a smile.
“Did you call me?”
In fact, Tiferet had been reacting like this every time she heard the word master these days.
It might be a slightly irreverent thought, but he always thought it was cute.
Unlike her strict voice and restrained attitude, she was short and had an adorable appearance, so he would call her this way on purpose just to see her reaction.
He admired her reaction, which didn’t betray his expectations, and then said what he originally wanted to say.
“Would you like to go shopping for clothes with me next time?”
“Clothes… you mean?”
Her fashion patterns were two types.
Training pants that clung to her body like leggings and went up to her navel + a sports bra + a windbreaker.
Or a white, flowing dress without any decorations.
Eloa was pretty to begin with, so it wasn’t like she looked ugly or anything, but since she was pretty, wouldn’t it be better if she dressed up?
“There’s a department store nearby, so it’s perfect. Just make time for me. I’ll buy them for you.”
“Why all of a sudden? Is my clothing strange?”
Eloa was embarrassed, like someone who had received perfume as a gift and thought, ‘Do I smell bad?’
“It’s not like that. Shopping is fun, right? And the season has changed.”
“Hmm, I understand for now. I will keep my schedule open.”
Eloa gave a light greeting one last time and disappeared with a much more excited gait than before.
The elevator doors closed, and Siwoo was left alone with Sharon in the palace-like penthouse.
He went near the bed and saw Sharon, who was sleeping so quietly that he couldn’t hear her breathing.
She was like a doll.
She was probably having her own fight.
As usual, he stroked her forehead once and then took out a business card from his pocket.
It was time to settle the debt that he had been putting off because he had been feeling troubled and wanted to focus on training.
To do that, he had to meet her first.
He looked at the business card with only a phone number and a name written on it and made a call.
[I’ve been waiting]
Before the ringtone could even sound once, Perrywinkle answered the phone right away.
[It’s already been a week. Aren’t you too late?]
Then, a relaxed and gentle voice scolded him.
“I’m sorry. I had a lot to sort out and think about.”
[It’s okay, I wasn’t trying to scold you. Let’s meet today]
“But, what is this favor that I have to listen to?”
[We’ll talk when we meet. Can you go to the location point?]
“Yes, please.”
[I’m nearby, so I’ll be there right away. Come out]
And then the phone call was cut off unilaterally.
Somehow, even though she was the one who had saved his life, she didn’t seem to be bossy, and he didn’t think she would ask for anything big.
But this was just Siwoo’s wishful thinking; in reality, Perrywinkle was qualified to ask for something quite difficult and grand.
It was also true that he had been saved, and it seemed that the witch society treated the giving and receiving of favors very importantly.
Was it because they could live forever if they wanted to, and even if they died, the witch’s name and brand would be passed down?
With these thoughts in mind, Siwoo changed into his outdoor clothes and went down to the front of the building to greet Perrywinkle.
