Proof of Courage (2)

Limit Break.

It was a mechanic that triggered when an item achieved extraordinary growth within a specific window of advancement. The Limit Break that had fired as the Book of the Sage ranked up sent the energy of that promotion surging into a far more violent frenzy.

And the result—

……!!

Holy crap!

Four stars?

My eyes flew wide open. It had jumped not one, but two full ranks in a single promotion.

"Hah! Astounding!"

A feat that even Aleon couldn't help but marvel at. Trembling with joy, I pulled up the Book of the Sage to inspect it.

"Whoa!"

A gasp burst out of me. This was insane.

Just from reaching 4-Star, my raw stats had gone up by a flat 30. In level terms, that was the equivalent of gaining six levels. I'd already been over-specced for my current floor—now I was even more so.

And that wasn't all. Cast speed, movement speed, mana recovery, status resistance—every single option had climbed by a huge margin.

Plus it came with two 8-Star skills.

Each one was a masterpiece in its own right. Energy Amplification was an incredibly useful skill for me, letting me patch up my lacking mana. And Light of Knowledge? Needless to say—raising my Spirit meant my damage would skyrocket.

This is insane. Wow. Just… wow.

All I'd done was rank up the Book of the Sage, and already a deluge of confidence was surging through me, as if I could devour the entire 4th floor in one bite.

"Heh heh. Hardly surprising, seeing as it was once one of my Three Divine Treasures."

And I still haven't even collected the Sage's Staff yet.

I was genuinely at a loss for words. So this was how Aleon had managed to win against dragons. The image of a dragon wielding the supreme authority of Dragon Tongue to drive back the Abyss still sent chills down my spine even now—and the power to surpass such dragons had been sealed within the Sage's Three Divine Treasures all along.

"Whew."

Feeling the power coursing through my whole body, I pulled up my status window.

With the Book of the Sage ranked up, my total MP stat had hit 75.

Just 25 more, and I would be able to awaken my Dragon Blood. Feeling anew just how close that moment was sent a shiver through my skin.

And… my raw MP stat finally hit double digits.

At level 25, my raw MP had been a measly 9. It stayed at 9 all the way to level 30, then jumped by 2 in one go the moment I hit 31—crossing into double digits for the first time in its existence.

That alone is genuinely legendary.

An MP stat of 11 at level 31. By any sane standard, that was a trash build without peer.

If it weren't for the Sage's Three Divine Treasures and Lumina's infinite milk supply, I'd have withered away from mana starvation.

"Still, once your Dragon Blood awakens, your constitution should improve considerably," Aleon offered. That was, at least, one piece of good news.

By the way, Aleon's speech was getting more and more Earth-like by the day. He'd started out sounding like a precocious old soul, but lately I could see him steadily drinking the local water. Good for you, Aleon. You're growing too!

"First things first, I need to awaken my Dragon Blood ASAP. Also, that Mana Pathway Improvement elixir seems to have had an effect too, right? The MP stat going up by 2 at once this time was practically historic."

"I would say its influence is not insignificant."

"Hoh."

I stroked my chin at Aleon's words. This had the scent of money about it too. I'd have to look into whether I could commercialize this down the line.

"Alright, then."

While I was at it, I put the Hahoe Mask through alchemy as well.

"Excellent!"

Unhiding and Mask Morphing. Both options had taken root exactly as I'd intended. Sourcing the materials had cost well over a billion won, but with the 10-billion-won reward from the Seolhwa Clan cushioning me, it hadn't strained my finances much. And once sales of the Steel Skin Potion kicked into full gear, the money would start rolling in at astronomical rates.

Experimenting with all sorts of things like this should raise my Sage's Alchemy proficiency even further.

"A most excellent attitude. Once your Sage's Alchemy reaches true mastery, you will be able to shape items with your own hands."

"Could you even make Mythic-grade?"

"Up to Legendary, certainly. Mythic, however, would demand special materials, fortune, and the right moment all aligning at once."

So even with Sage's Alchemy, forging a Mythic-grade item was evidently no easy feat. Still—if I could create Legendary-grade items, that alone would be something. The moment the world learned I could craft Legendary ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gear, an alchemy craze would surely sweep the globe. It was the kind of event that would land like an absolute bombshell.

Wait, item crafting falls under alchemy though?

I'd always thought blacksmithing was the more specialized field for that sort of thing.

"As I have told you time and again—what you have learned is not common alchemy, but Sage's Alchemy."

That one line made it click. Right, Sage's Alchemy. If it could synthesize the Philosopher's Stone itself, of course it could make items. I looked forward, eagerly, to the day my skill could produce Legendary-grade equipment.

And with the Hahoe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mask finished, I was almost fully prepared to climb the 4th floor of the Sky Tower.

The last thing left is…

Bzzzt!

Just as that final preparation crossed my mind, my phone vibrated, perfectly on cue.

Speak of the tiger and it shall appear.

A wry smile tugged at my lips as I looked at the screen.

Lounge at the entrance of Floor 4.

Having morphed my Hahoe Mask into a new form with Mask Morphing, I slipped quickly out to the perimeter. The previous customer had already arrived at the secluded, empty spot I'd chosen.

"Lord Unknown?"

"That's me."

"You look exactly as you described beforehand. Remarkable."

The man standing before me was, of course, James. He gazed at the Mask Morphing, the Hahoe Mask's new option, and could barely contain his admiration.

"This, too, is your alchemy?"

"Yes."

"Lord Unknown, you are astonishingly versatile."

James let out a light chuckle, as if he'd long since run out of things to be surprised by.

"If it ever came out that the alchemist behind the divine rookie sensation that has the whole world abuzz was actually you, Lord Unknown, the world would be turned upside down all over again."

James gave a low, amused laugh as he said it.

Yes—James had become one of the precious few Ascenders who knew that Unknown was Kim Hajun.

Why had I revealed my identity to him in the first place?

Because I judged it better for my own safety.

I was still weak. Inside the Tower I could carve my way through monsters well enough, but out in the world, running into a top-tier Ascender meant there would be nothing I could do. Revealing my identity to James had eased that anxiety considerably—because James had begun quietly stationing bodyguards around me.

In any case, I received the 4th-floor gear James handed over.

"It took some time, arranging everything discreetly."

"I appreciate your effort."

Helmet, pauldrons, chestpiece, leggings, belt, boots, gloves, staff, ring, necklace, earrings. Practically a full set of equipment, every last piece sourced at Legendary grade.

How much does all of this even cost?

Granted, these were gear pieces for the relatively low-level stretch of the 4th floor—but at this scale, even if it couldn't buy an entire city, it would be enough to purchase several whole residential districts outright.

Oof.

Once I had everything on, I was a vision of glittering splendor. Several of the pieces even carried small stat boosts, so the moment I donned the set, power came welling up from every inch of my body. My MP stat unfortunately fell just short of 100, but my Spirit stat had shot up by a full 21.

That was thanks to my instructions: prioritize gear with MP boosts, and if those weren't available, settle for Spirit. Thanks to that, confidence bubbled up in me—I could honestly claim that no one on the 4th floor would stand above me.

"It truly suits you. If my heart had its way, I would simply give it all to you—and I find myself apologizing that I cannot."

"Not at all. Lending them to me at all is more than generous."

Regrettably, these pieces belonged to the United States government. I was borrowing them through layers upon layers of intermediaries, all thanks to James. Seeing this made it clear why America held the world's #1 rank in Ascenders. With vast capital backing such an arsenal of Legendary equipment, when the government set its mind to cultivating Ascenders, it could produce high-grade ones far more easily than any other nation.

"Then, may fortune favor you."

"Thank you, as always."

"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to reach out."

With James seeing me off, I set my feet toward the Square of Courage. Unfortunately, I hadn't been granted any skills—but it didn't matter. I had the Proof of Courage, the initial skill-granting trial of the 4th floor, waiting for me.

With Sage's Sight in my possession, so long as I scored above a certain threshold, a Mythic-grade skill was all but guaranteed.

Let's do this.

Morphing the Hahoe Mask back into its original form, I took my first step into the Square of Courage.

Thud. Thud.

With every step I took, countless gazes latched onto me. At first they gaped at the gear I wore—and then, the moment they spotted the Hahoe Mask, disbelief erupted all around.

"Th-the Hahoe Mask!"

"Unknown's here!"

"What? Unknown showed up?"

"No way! It's really him!"

"Whoa! Unknown is here to take the Proof of Courage!"

"Holy… what is that equipment? He came fully decked out."

"One look and you know he's future Top 10. Insane… it's like watching James back when he was climbing the Tower."

Bathed in a flood of awe and staring eyes, I came to a stop before the stele where the Proof of Courage could be initiated.

Yes.

Moments later, my body was wrapped in golden light and whisked away to the trial grounds.

Amid the attention of everyone watching—

Unknown's challenge began.