Chapter 127
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: The Path of Creation
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'I'll teach you what a creation skill really is.'
I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh at Aira's words. It was just too absurd.
Teach me a skill? To me?
I snorted and looked down at her.
"Aira. Who made you?"
"……."
"Me. I created you with my Myth-class skill. And now you're going to teach me?"
It was like the hammer I forged turning around and trying to teach me how to hammer.
But Aira didn't waver in the slightest at my mockery.
The exhaustion that had soaked her features was gone without a trace.
She simply shook her head quietly.
Those once-empty eyes now held unmistakable conviction.
"Master."
She asked me back in a flat voice.
"To shorten the clone creation time, you used Doris Finch's 'Precision Body Model.' Correct?"
"Yeah."
"Every time you made a new clone, you borrowed my hands to fill in the time shortage. Correct?"
"...Yeah?"
"How long has it been since you acquired the 'Clone Creation' skill and started making clones yourself?"
"Well..."
"At the very least, I've hardly ever seen you honing that skill."
Hm.
I had nothing to say.
The first clone, my sister Da-eun's, had taken six months, and after that, I'd focused solely on cutting down creation time.
Naturally, it became more common to rely on Aira, who was already experienced in doll-making, rather than doing it myself.
"Your 'Clone Creation' skill is undoubtedly the pinnacle of abilities. Its foundation must be sturdier and broader than anyone's. But the pillar you're building atop that massive base is woefully inadequate."
She ticked off points on her fingers, pressing her case.
"Appearance Replication skill, Communication skill, Mana Stone Drive skill, Material Processing skill... All these are lower-tier skills designed to operate dolls more efficiently. Do you possess even one of them?"
I couldn't argue.
I'd definitely been too complacent, relying solely on my Myth-class 'Clone Creation' skill.
"Got it."
I'd expected a deep sigh from Aira and a lecture along the lines of 'This is why you can't be trusted, Master,' but her reaction was unexpected.
A faint but unmistakable smile ghosted across her expressionless face—like an older sister looking at her immature little brother.
She placed her hand on her chest once more.
"I'll teach you, Master. So you can become a true creator."
From that day on, the lab became my personal classroom.
Aira Petrovna's round-the-clock, no-holds-barred Spartan training began.
"Master, focus. Your mana flow is unstable. You can't even form a skeleton like that."
"Like this?"
"...That might suffice for making a mere figurine, but you need to break free from old habits now."
Let me say it again: Aira Petrovna is a genius.
At an age similar to mine, she'd risen to prominence in the Maker Sect, taken charge of the doll project, and become Masha's disciple.
Even without my skill's help, she could craft up to just below mechanical consciousness clones, so her techniques were leagues beyond mine.
"No, why isn't it working!"
"Like this—delicately, as if layering on flesh..."
Hours in, still unable to complete a single skeleton, just producing lumpy mana clumps. Aira overlaid her small hand on mine.
Her mana flowed into me through my hand. Only then did my shaky mana stabilize, finally taking the shape of a doll.
Days of this repetition.
Building the skeleton, attaching muscles, covering with skin. Basic basics to her, pure hell to me.
I wanted to quit dozens of times a day.
"Failed again."
"Your fundamentals are lacking. Start from the beginning..."
"Shut up."
Stress built up, so I'd ditch training to drain myself.
"M-Master... Hnng...! M-Master, if you do this... the l-lessons will... haaang...!"
"Fuck... so damn tight."
Grab her waist, pound like a madman. Cum again.
That's how I vented.
Barely endured.
'And the experience points must already be stacked up.'
Aira's experience flowed to me.
Naturally, the points from all the clones made so far were piling up steadily.
I clung to those as comfort, pushing on.
This must be why college feels harder than high school.
Always fucking around, patience wears thin.
Well, still.
The results were clear.
Precise Doll Creation Lv.1 (New!)
Swift Creation Lv.1 (New!)
Appearance Mimicry Lv.1 (New!)
I smiled in satisfaction, looking down at Aira panting beside me, drenched in sweat.
"You're surprisingly good at teaching."
At my words, Aira bolted upright.
She wrapped her arms around her semen-glistening chest, bowing her head. Her white nape flushed red all the way to her ears.
"No... It's thanks to your talent, Master."
All three skills came from Aira's skill list.
Appearance Mimicry was a sub-skill of Appearance Replication.
Precise Doll Creation and Swift Creation aided in crafting detailed dolls quickly, while Appearance Mimicry helped refine body details over the skeleton.
Matching 50% combat power would be easier now.
I'd gained plenty beyond skills too.
'Learned to infuse my mana into mana stones for personal batteries, and to spin thinner mana threads into mana strings.'
Batteries might allow clone operation without mana tethers if done right. Mana strings enabled finer mana control and combat utility.
'Like when I bound Yujeong with them.'
Perfect for bondage play.
As I grinned, Aira had already dressed and reverted to her usual businesslike demeanor.
"This is just the beginning, Master. These skills are the basics of basics. You must keep refining them."
"Yeah, yeah. I know, no need to nag."
"...My apologies."
She finished and slid two thick binders from the desk toward me.
"What's this?"
"Documents that arrived for you while I kept you here for training. Both had over two weeks left on their deadlines, so I didn't mention them sooner."
I eyed her suspiciously and took them.
Opened the first binder.
The cover read [Arbiter Guild Registration Application]. Sender: Aira Petrovna, the original.
And the second.
What now.
This cover said [Rift Pioneering Unit Enlistment Application].
'Seraphina... what the hell is this woman thinking.'
Checked Aira's first.
To formally establish and operate a guild, register with the Hunter Association. Listed required documents, procedures, estimated timelines—packed tight.
Oh. Right, this.
With me clueless, the original Aira must've prepped it out of frustration.
I shoved the binder back to her.
"Handle this yourself."
"Understood."
And the second.
Seraphina's [Rift Pioneering Unit Enlistment Application].
What's her angle. Opened it, and a neatly folded letter fell out with the form.
I unfolded it.
The first third was packed with curses about why not let her into the lab.
The next third whined about prepping Pioneering Unit enlistment to get me into Class A like I'd begged for, so why no show.
The last third raged about those Black Sun bastards messing with her lately.
'Thinks I'm a pushover, that bitch.'
The one pounding on the door every few days was her.
Her letter dripped curses like it was to a street buddy, not her master.
"Pioneering Unit, huh..."
Ha, going the textbook route.
Pioneering Unit.
Rift Pioneering Unit.
I'd heard about it on that weird training picnic with Cheon Da-eun ages ago.
After Academy graduation, you'd join a Rift Pioneering Unit, right?
As she'd said, most hunters headed there post-graduation. Like this world's Survey Corps—a military outfit.
Hunters raided rifts via guilds too, but for new unknown rifts, the Association's direct military, the 'Pioneering Units,' handled it.
The meat grinder frontline where daily deaths were expected.
Infamous for spamming enlistment forms like junk mail to fresh Academy students.
'Now's probably... the 21st Pioneering Unit.'
Protagonist joined the 22nd, I remembered.
Meaning this 21st Seraphina's pushing... is a total clusterfuck.
If memory served, the 21st suffered the worst failure.
Rushed to raid a new unknown rift, fell into a trap—unit leader and most elites wiped.
The uncontrolled rift triggered 'Rift Overload,' turning Tartaros's entire northern region into hell.
The spark for Dominant Evil's main crisis.
'Though it doesn't blow until a year after the protagonist enters the Academy.'
To be sure, nothing screams achievement like a student volunteering for that hellhole.
Fresh kid rolling in the frontlines? Association brass would love it. Easy merits, high visibility. Smart play by Seraphina to push me into Class A.
'Or maybe she hopes I die in a rift.'
Problem: easy in, hell out.
'Rifts closed? More chill than guild life. Open? Instant draft.'
Academy's quasi-military, but this is real army. Step in, you're Association soldier. No free exit, total obedience.
Three ways out of that hell.
Die.
Earn 'honorable discharge' via feats.
Or 'resign' to form a guild.
Most took the first.
Efficient manpower shredder.
'Arbiter's nominal guild master is Doris Finch, so enlisting isn't impossible...'
Difficulty's the issue. Difficulty.