Chapter 1150 – 1150. Savior Of The Academy
“We’re here!”
Makina, sitting in the boat’s cockpit, exclaimed cheerfully. The boat stopped. Next to it, the tail of a giant great white shark, about 20 meters long, smacked the surface of the water. Makina was remotely controlling the shark.
I looked around.
The open sea.
There was nothing but the gently rippling ocean.
‘Is this right? …Well, it probably is. Makina may seem like that, but she’s a machine spirit.’
Her personality is terrible, and she’s incredibly greedy when it comes to food, but her calculation abilities rival those of a supercomputer. No, if she were to focus and use her abilities properly, she’d be even better.
I moved to the boat’s railing, ready to dive.
“I’m going too!”
Makina dove into the shark’s head. A steel cover enveloped the shark’s head.
“Please, just don’t get in the way.”
Splash!
I jumped into the sea and descended. A huge shark overtook me, heading down.
[I’m faster!]
‘I’m going crazy.’
Makina had no sense of seriousness. She was probably just having fun right now.
I went deeper.
At some point, the light disappeared. It was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel the coldness and buoyancy of the water. It felt like being in the middle of space.
‘Spirit Eye, Heavenly Eye.’
I pierced through the darkness. There were fish all around me. They were swimming in a clockwise circle around me, as if on guard.
‘It’s the same as the first run. I came to the right place.’
I descended further.
[Ah, no! My Jaws! Help me! Sung Yoo-jin!!]
Makina’s thoughts scrambled my mind. I stopped descending and looked at a fish next to me, pretending to be distracted. It was a rather strange-looking fish, probably because it was so deep.
[Nooooo!]
Ignoring Makina’s repeated screams, I descended deeper.
There was a pit. Blood and pieces of flesh were spurting out of the dark pit. A shark eyeball, bigger than my head, passed by me.
Makina popped out of the pit. She awkwardly swam towards me, having spotted me.
[Yoo-jin! Jaws is dead…! Avenge him!]
I nodded and grabbed Makina by the neck.
[Keek?! W-What are you doing…?!]
‘You told me to avenge him. You’re the one who killed the shark.’
[N-No! That guy killed Jaws! Let go!]
Makina bit my hand. She bit down hard, so I had no choice but to let go. I clicked my tongue and looked towards the pit.
A king crab popped out of the pit. It was huge. Big enough to tear apart a 20-meter-long monster shark. The monster crab with its sharp carapace foamed at the mouth as it looked at me and Makina.
[Eek!]
Makina hid behind me.
I summoned Stormbreaker and transformed it into a giant harpoon.
‘Makina.’
I sent my will to Makina.
[Ah, okay. Is this how you do it?]
Makina’s power was infused into the harpoon. The harpoon’s shape gradually changed into a harpoon gun. I generated lightning on the harpoon gun. The electricity became the power source. I pulled the trigger and fired the harpoon gun. The harpoon shot out like a torpedo.
The harpoon hit the crab’s right eye precisely. The harpoon exploded. The current spread in all directions, illuminating the dark sea.
[Did we get him?!]
Makina’s thoughts, with her chin on my left shoulder, were transmitted to me. She was a Makina who was deeply immersed in the internet. There was no way she didn’t know the meaning of that line, so she must have said it on purpose.
‘Should I just bury it at the bottom of the deep sea this time?’
Of course, to do that, I had to get rid of the giant crab in front of me first.
The crab, having lost one eye, was enraged and crawled out of the pit. It was the size of a building.
[B-Be careful of that claw! Jaws was done in by that claw!]
The giant crab approached me. Each time its huge leg touched the ground, dust swirled and the currents surged.
The crab extended its claw towards me. Its speed was surprisingly slow.
[Dodge!!]
‘Shut up. Your thoughts are too loud. Are you trying to mess with me on purpose?’
[No! That’s really dangerous! That crab’s ability is…!]
‘I know.’
The currents generated by the giant crab’s movement began to organize themselves. The currents blocked my surroundings like a prison. It wasn’t easy to move my body because of the intensely moving currents.
[I was caught by that too! That’s cheating!]
The currents tightened, restraining my body. The giant claw slowly approached, trying to cut me in half.
‘Heavenly Heart.’
[Activating Heavenly Heart. Duration: 1 minute.]
The currents couldn’t bind me. I approached the giant crab. I reverse-summoned Stormbreaker and summoned it back into my hand.
‘Makina. Possession.’
[Okay!]
Makina possessed Stormbreaker. Stormbreaker’s shape changed into a drill. The drill stuck to my right hand. The drill rotated using my mana as its power source.
The drill pierced the crab’s belly.
[Drill through it!!]
The crab moved erratically. The currents tried to grab me, but they couldn’t because of the Heavenly Heart’s effect.
‘20 seconds left?’
I entered the hole made by the drill. It felt unpleasant, but there was no other way. This was the surest method. The drill that was stuck to my right hand came off.
‘Stormbreaker, split.’
Stormbreaker’s unique ability activated, and the drill split into six.
‘Makina, can you control them?’
[It feels like my body has multiplied into six! But I can control all of them even if I multiply into 100!]
‘Do I need to explain what you have to do?’
[No! I have some sense too! Here we go! This is for Jaws!!]
The six drills tore through the crab’s insides. The moving crab stopped. I stood still, listening to the sound of the drills echoing in my head.
The crab’s insides were a mess. The crab no longer moved.
I came out. It felt refreshing to come out after being inside its guts. It would feel even more refreshing if I got out of the sea.
[How’s the taste of the drill!! You enemy of Jaws!!]
I left Makina, who was mocking the giant crab’s corpse, and entered the pit.
The pit, the giant crab’s lair, was very large and dirty. The bones and flesh of monsters were scattered haphazardly on the floor. I looked around and moved towards one spot.
At the center of a giant sea serpent’s skeleton, a luxurious-looking blue spear was stuck. I grabbed the spear and pulled it out of the skeleton.
『Azure Dragon Spear
Rank: C
Raises water.
It is sturdy.』
It was similar to the Vermilion Bird Sword. With the Azure Dragon Spear, I could enter the trial dungeon again.
‘I can go in with Ryu Hana. The enemies will appear in front of Ryu Hana, who has the Vermilion Bird’s mark.’
The problem was that I had to be recognized by the Azure Dragon Spear or forcibly awaken it to open the dungeon.
‘Thinking about forcibly awakening it… sigh. It’s such a pain.’
I felt presences gathering around me. I shined my Spirit Eye and looked around. Insects that looked like horseshoe crabs were gathering around me. They were probably the ones who had been stealing and eating the flesh of the corpses scattered here.
‘I must look easy to them. They are much smaller compared to the monster crab.’
I infused mana into the Azure Dragon Spear and swung it around. A huge current rose, crushing the insects. The water quality got even worse because of the insects’ corpses.
‘I want to get out of here quickly. …Hmm?’
An unexpected notification window appeared in front of me.
『You are qualified to challenge the trial. Would you like to start the Azure Dragon’s trial?』
It was a notification window I had never seen in the first run. That’s why I had forcibly awakened it and used it back then.
‘…This is popping up? What’s different between the first run and now?’
I frowned.
There were too many differences.
It couldn’t be the influence of my traits. The Spirit Eye only had a significant impact on spirits. The Azure Dragon Spear had nothing to do with spirits.
There were no skills or traits related to the Azure Dragon Spear.
『Name: Sung Yoo-jin
Strength: B- Stamina: B Agility: B- Durability: C+ Mana: A
Traits: Spirit Eye (S) Demon Hunter (S)
Skills: Spirit Contract (A) Spirit Possession (A) Barrier (C+) Swordsmanship (B+)
Karma: Good (善) 26』
‘…Karma. That’s the only thing I can think of. It must be because my karma was Evil (惡) in the first run that it didn’t react.’
Having roughly understood, I got out of the pit.
Makina, who was venting her anger by making holes in the giant crab’s corpse, released her possession and followed me.
[Did you come all the way here to get that blue spear? Ah! Is it a present for Auntie?!]
‘No.’
[It’s not? Auntie will be disappointed. You do know when Auntie’s birthday is, right?]
‘…….’
Makina was chattering noisily.
•••
Swish.
I drew my sword.
Ryu Hana, facing me, looked at me with cold eyes.
Two weeks had passed since that day when Ryu Hana fought herself in the dungeon and lost. I had sparred with her over 100 times so far, and I had won every time. This was because I was superior in both physical ability and experience.
And today was the day before the trial. I thought I might lose in this spar.
‘…If I use special items or skills like Heavenly Heart, I’ll win, but… if we’re just talking about pure skill… it won’t be easy to win.’
I never thought Ryu Hana would grow this fast.
“…Let’s start.”
Ryu Hana muttered. She held a sword in each hand and rushed at me. She wasn’t fast. But there was a subtlety in her steps.
‘There’s no need to drag out the spar. Let’s finish this quickly.’
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Lightning Flash (雷光).
A slash imbued with lightning aimed for Ryu Hana’s arm. Ryu Hana didn’t even raise an eyebrow and blocked the slash by crossing her dual swords. Ryu Hana was pushed back by the force. Her subtle footwork deflected the force. She had learned the principle of flow (流) while sparring with me over the past few weeks.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Azure Stream (碧溪).
I used a technique that had earned me over 30 victories against Ryu Hana. I used footwork to deceive Ryu Hana’s sense of distance.
Ryu Hana’s method of breaking through Azure Stream was simple. She extended the swords in her hands and spun around like a top. I couldn’t get close.
I quietly aimed for the moment when her spinning stopped and thrust my sword.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Lightning Serpent (雷蛇).
My sword twisted like a snake, aiming for Ryu Hana’s neck. Ryu Hana reacted as if she had been waiting for it. She deflected my sword with her right sword and swung her left sword at my shoulder.
I used a split second to dodge the sword strike. Ryu Hana didn’t panic and continued her next attack.
Three swords intertwined in the air. I barely blocked her swords while waiting for an opportunity.
The opportunity came. The moment she exhaled, exhausted, her arms opened. I didn’t miss that short golden timing when the gap between her dual swords opened and pushed my sword in. The sword pierced her solar plexus. However, the blade didn’t penetrate her body because it was blocked by her barrier training suit.
Ryu Hana sighed and lowered her swords.
“I lost again.”
“I was just lucky this time.”
“……When will I be able to beat you?”
“I don’t know. You might beat me soon.”
Ryu Hana glared at me with distrustful eyes, thinking I was teasing her.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“…Already? It’s not even 10 o’clock yet.”
“I need to adjust my condition since we’re challenging the trial tomorrow.”
Ryu Hana’s face instantly hardened.
I patted her shoulder.
“It’s okay. You can win.”
“…….”
Ryu Hana quietly nodded.
