Interlude (2)
“Oh… that was pretty close.”
I leisurely leaned back on the back of the chair and stared at the window that floated in front of me.
『Karma Shop』
『Inherited skill enhancement (1,100,000)』
『Status Enhancement – Detailed View』
『Possessed Karma – 1,120,122』
Howard was born only a few days ago, but in the meantime, he received more than 500,000 karma and fulfilled the conditions for enhancement.
It was a speed that no Awakener on Earth would believe, but in fact, it was natural.
‘No matter how minor the vampires are, they ate the holy blood that reigns at the top and usurped the throne.’
If you think about it that way, you could say it was rather salty, but that wasn’t all the karma about this job.
The figure earned now is just an advance payment for the events that happened right now.
Afterwards, if you take over the Yupersh Clan, expand its power, and exercise influence as a holy blood, another separate karma will be paid to it.
‘Anyway, it takes 1.1 million to strengthen once. I hope you will pay for it.’
A million points were required for the Awoken to return to Earth.
Considering that it took about 10 years on average for them to collect them, it was an absurdly huge number to use for a single skill enhancement.
‘Still, what is this much for me now?’
As the avatars grow and play in the big water, karma pours out in units of 100,000 every time something happens.
After that, when the ‘home theater’ begins in earnest, it will be more, not less, if it is more than now.
‘Even if I use all of them now, they’ll come together again soon, so there’s no need to save it.’
It was indeed a bourgeois way of thinking.
If those who barely obtain karma, overcoming all kinds of life-threatening crises, find out, they will probably hold back their necks.
Just in case, I checked the ‘mental strength’ item again, but the required karma points written there were a whopping 640,000.
Unlike ‘inherent skill enhancement’, the status required doubled, so even though I had only strengthened six times in my spare time, it was already that way.
‘As expected, the cost-effectiveness is much better to increase the mental power while strengthening the unique skill. I regretted it because it wasn’t as efficient as I thought even when I made a big deal and strengthened my mental strength by 320,000 won.’
I made up my mind once again, took a deep breath, and immediately selected ‘Inherent Skill Enhancement’.
sticky—
And now after the headache that feels familiar has passed.
A system notification window popped up in front of me.
《Avatar’s potential increases. Growth is further accelerated.”
《Inherent skills grow and bloom into possibilities. When creating an avatar, you can choose one of three random skills.》
The result of investing a whopping 1.1 million points.
Fortunately, the expected ‘avatar population increase’ and ‘significant increase in mental strength’ came naturally.
Other than that, what was additionally given was ‘Avatar’s Potential Rise’, which has now become a regular comment, and limited options for skills that were given randomly in the meantime.
And.
. . that was all.
“Whoa—I wished I had at least one useful skill.”
Unlike ‘status enhancement’, which grants stronger corrections instead of increasing the required points exponentially, ‘unique skill enhancement’ does not increase the effect as much as the number required to enhance it once increases.
Whether you use 500,000 or 1,000,000, it’s the same level of enhancement.
However, even if it was a fact that I already knew, I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach when I faced it.
‘There are days like this. The skill options aren’t bad either. Rather, I’ve been lucky so far. …Still, it wouldn’t be bad to try strengthening your mental strength next time.’
Now, after seeing the required points after increasing to 1.2 million, he sighed, but since he was the only one who had strengthened his unique skill this much, this would be a full-blown complaint.
As if to shake off my regret, I immediately started creating an avatar.
At the same time, a [Customization] window appeared before my eyes to change my appearance and adjust my abilities.
However, a new sentence was added to the column where the new avatar’s skill should normally be specified.
＜Choose Individual Attributes: 「Clearance」, 「Freeze Resistance」, 「Binding String」＞
‘Choose one of these.’
It was necessary to choose the initial skill carefully as it had a significant impact on determining the career path.
Of course, now that the avatar’s potential has increased, you can grow quite quickly even if you don’t have related skills, but there’s no need not to use what you have.
Still, unlike before, when I just took what I was given, there was nothing wrong with the wide range of choices.
As the saying goes, there was no consistency in the skills presented.
‘[Clear vision] and ‘Freeze resistance’ are obvious just by looking at the names, but what is ‘Binding string’?’
Fortunately, brief information on the skill was provided even at the selection stage to see if there was flexibility.
The basic effect of [Binding String] is to give ‘additional compensation at the time of contract’.
And with just that one line of explanation, I was able to know the identity of this skill.
‘It’s a skill that would be nice to have for Harris, an Elementalist.’
It was an ability that would be used by the ‘summon’ series that strengthens affinity and bond with the target of the contract.
Since he already has Harris, it could be considered an overlapping ability, but…
‘Summoner… It must be fun, right?’
Spirits were not the only summoning entities in this world.
Didn’t Harley also have a history of colliding with the summoning mages of the Oath of Reversal in the Northern Mountains right now?
From fantasy species such as unicorns and phoenixes to demons and alien creatures, there were endless ways to go even in the summoning system.
‘No matter how you look at it, this seems to be better than [Clearance] or [Freeze Resistance]. Actually, I was thinking of an authentic wizard for my new avatar, but I don’t think this direction is bad either.’
If necessary, it seemed like it would be a good choice in many ways, as it could be used as an escort and converted to a wizard later.
“Then… this is the decision.”
After all the status adjustments were finished, a new avatar finally appeared.
He was a typical model student with a soft impression, slightly drooping eyes, and intelligent shining eyes.
‘Okay, this saved me an hour.’
I smiled heartily as I looked at the aspiring summoning wizard, ‘Hesperon’.
The first thing Hesperon will do is.
It was to input the knowledge to pass on to Howard after Hubert.
Until a suitable place is ready for him to grow up in Auterica.
***
A personal training ground deep inside the Great Temple of Roselia.
uhhh—
The holy sword vibrated softly in Heinrich’s hand, who stood in the middle of it.
At the same time, the sharp energy contained in the sword gradually amplified and eventually overflowed and began to penetrate the body of the person holding it.
‘This is amazing no matter when I go through it.’
The aura of the holy sword, aka ‘Holy Sword’, which he was able to handle after obtaining [Blessing: Holy Sword], seemed to be similar to divine power, but had a more aggressive tendency.
When applied to a weapon, cutting power and destructive power are increased to the limit, and when worn on the body, physical ability and physical strength are raised beyond the limit.
It was an ability worthy of a holy sword forged to destroy demons, punish evil, and protect the world with power, but apart from its outstanding performance, a tricky process was required to properly handle energy—.
It was the communion with the Holy Sword.
uhhh—
The sword vibrated again, and that emotion was conveyed to Heinrich.
It was a will based on primitive emotions rather than a clear expression of intention, but it clearly contained an ego.
‘Although it’s not as clear as when he supervised the trial of the holy sword. At the time, I thought it was an ego sword that could even communicate.’
Perhaps there was a condition that it was limited to trials to select a master.
After pulling out the holy sword and being recognized as the owner, I could see that his intelligence wasn’t that great.
If I had to put it that way… I guess it’s like a smart puppy?
Booo!
At that time, the holy sword began to vibrate violently and rebel.
Thoughts seemed to have leaked slightly through the aisles they had left open for communion.
-‘No, no. That’s what it means to be friendly and trustworthy! I really don’t mean to treat you like a puppy, Loggia.’
Heinrich hurriedly calmed down and pointed out the Holy Sword.
‘Loggia’ was the nickname given to the holy sword by the first user, but Heinrich also used it as it was to show respect for his senior.
Make sure to read from noble mtl com
Most of all, it was to the point where I even developed a skill called [Loggia Castle Fighting], so there was no name that went beyond that.
-‘Yes, are you nice? After all, is our loggia always reliable? Ayu cute.’
ugh—
The vibrations of the holy sword gradually calmed down.
When I thought about it, I felt like I should be more like a five or six-year-old child than a puppy.
‘Even though it must have existed for a long time, such a pure will. Is this even possible because it’s a holy sword?’
However, even in the midst of this heart-to-heart communication, there was something Heinrich was particularly concerned about.
Of course, it was to prevent his secret from being leaked to the holy sword.
‘I wrote down my own numbers, but it would be better to be careful in everything to avoid discomfort as much as possible.’
By linking 「Mind Hub」 and 「Persona」, which reached the peak of their proficiency, it was set so that ‘my’ personal feelings and thoughts would not flow back to ‘Heinrich’.
So that you can fully immerse yourself in ‘Heinrich’ under any circumstances.
Dividing the thinking process into several stages consumes more mental power, but this time, by strengthening the unique skill, there was a considerable amount of leeway, so I was able to apply it more comfortably.
‘I don’t think it would matter if the Holy Sword knew that the Lord had already tolerated it. …No, I’d rather just go on like this.’
Feeling the purity of the holy sword through sympathy, I couldn’t bear to betray this heart anymore.
The significance of his birth is to fight evil beings, and he must have fought against countless demons.
If, of course, you find out that the hero you recognized as the owner this time is on the same side as the demon king…
‘How to protect an innocent child. Since ancient times, there has been a teaching by sages that unknown knowledge is medicine.’
There was no need to intervene the uncertainty element.
After a short time passed like that, after the thoroughly controlled ‘Heinrich’s thoughts’ and the holy sword communicated, he opened his eyes.
The divine power flowing through his body and the holy blade of sharp momentum harmonized, and momentum like a raging sword began to emanate from his body.
Koo Goo Goo—!
A domineering aura that continues to spread in all directions.
It wasn’t until he reached the point where his personal training ground, protected by a divine barrier, was shaken by his violent presence that he couldn’t believe it was a saint…
“Whoa—.”
He calmed down slowly and took a deep breath to gather his energy.
‘Still, I think I’ve become quite proficient now.’
Passing through the trials of the Holy Sword, he became very strong in a short period of time, so it took quite a long time to fully recover from it.
Not to mention, the [Great Blessing: Knight of Light] given immediately after that was to the point of forcibly raising his rank.
Fortunately, thanks to the initial skill [Innocent Bone], I was able to quickly get used to using the body, but it still required constant effort.
After such a light morning training, Heinrich washed his body lightly and moved to the central shrine.
It was to attend a service hosted by the saintess.
“Um, how are you? Holy Maiden.”
…that saintess was here.
As always, squatting in front of the flower bed.
“oh! Hello Heinrich. Good morning!”
It’s slowly getting closer to noon.
It was a passage that showed how long she had been in the flower garden.
I must have been here since morning, unaware of the passage of time.
“Lady. Just in case, it’s time for the noon service to begin soon.”
“···really?”
“Yes, luckily it’s not too late…”
However, before he could finish his words, the saintess jumped up from her seat and hurriedly sprinted to the chapel of the central temple and disappeared.
‘Is it a side effect of living hit by work for a while? It seems like he’s showing a particularly sloppy appearance these days.’
Recently, the saintess has been living in the garden, spending her days pouring her overflowing divine power into small insects.
I didn’t intend to stop her as it seemed to be her way of relieving stress…
‘I don’t want to recall the sight of those little bugs running wild without being able to control their overflowing power…’
Heinrich shook his head and followed her slowly toward the chapel.
As you can see by looking at the saintess now, she was finally freed from all her duties and regained the freedom she longed for.
All that remains is for practitioners to work diligently to meet the tight schedule.
So, the ‘continental summit meeting’ to confront the Immortal King was approaching.
