Chapter 267: The Antidote
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 267: The Antidote
Ding—
[You have met the conditions for the second class advancement.]
[Your class, Martial Artist, has advanced to Martial Master (武道).]
[You will receive class advancement rewards.]
[Your Formless Body has evolved into a Primordial Body.]
[Primordial Body (混原肢體)]
[Grade: Unique]
[Chaos and order, good and evil, yin and yang. It is the One Origin (一原) that embraces all.]
“Hoo…”
I caught my breath and opened my eyes.
I instinctively sensed that a change had occurred.
The first thing I felt was my lower and middle dantians, now brimming with internal energy. It had more than doubled.
At this rate, wouldn't it be fair to say I'm almost at the (True) Flower Realm?
Thanks to the advancement reward, even my muscles and bones had grown stronger. No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had been completely transformed.
It was a baseless conviction, but I felt like I could block a Sword Qi attack even without my protective aura.
But I wasn't particularly interested in that. That wasn't the true essence of the Formless Vajra Art, after all.
I brushed off the sticky, impure energy clinging to me and stood up. Dried bloodstains were everywhere.
The smell is awful.
I wanted to wash up immediately, but there was something I had to do first.
I picked up the iron sword from its rack.
The moment I gripped the hilt, I could feel that something was different.
The boundary between the sword and my hand seemed to blur, as if they had been one from the very beginning.
When I drew upon my internal energy, a distinct Aura flared to life. But it wasn't its usual golden color.
If I had to describe it, it was closer to ink-black.
“What is this?”
Something felt off, so I observed my dantian again, but there didn't seem to be any problems. My demonic energy, which had been next to nothing, had increased explosively, and my Vajra Qi had simply grown to balance it.
My physical condition was perfect, aside from a little fatigue.
It should be fine.
After a moment of thought, I decided not to worry about it.
My Sword Qi was originally blue. It only turned gold as my mastery of the Formless Vajra Art deepened.
So, it was reasonable to assume something similar had happened this time.
I warmed up lightly, got into a stance, and began to perform the Formless Sword Art. Each form of the art possessed a power worthy of being called an ultimate technique, but simply swinging the sword wouldn't be enough to destroy the training room.
Heavenly Light, Formless Moon, Broad Moon, Boundless, Light Dragon.
Something was different.
I had performed these forms countless times, but there was a fundamental difference. There was no resistance in the path of my sword, and the flow of my qi was perfectly stable.
Is it because of the Aura?
The Formless Sword Art is fundamentally a swordsmanship based on wielding Aura. Now that I could do so, it was only natural for the art to display its true power.
I wanted to devote myself to training for a while, but I had no idea how much time had passed since I entered the training room.
I should at least let them know I'm alive.
Just as I habitually reached for my phone…
“Guhk?!”
A searing pain shot through my left eye, and I collapsed to the ground.
Sizzle—
It burned. It burned like hell.
It felt like someone was branding my eyeball with a hot iron. I fought back the urge to writhe around pathetically and endured the pain.
Of course, that didn't mean I just sat there.
A massive amount of internal energy spread through my half-opened Ren and Du Meridians and into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Thanks to that, the pain gradually subsided.
“Hah, hah, hah…”
Before long, even the faint heat had vanished.
Ding—
[You have successfully absorbed Bireciel's Essence.]
[You have acquired the ‘Mystic Eye of Time’.]
[Mystic Eye of Time]
[Grade: Epic]
[This is the mystic eye of the great ancient demon, Bireciel.]
[Allows you to see the near future.]
[You can turn back time at the cost of your eyesight.]
As the screen in front of me faded, I closed my eyes.
I needed to rest for a bit.
*
By the time I left the training room, a full two days had passed. No wonder I was so hungry.
I had expected as much, so I wasn't bothered. I had initially thought it might take up to a week.
“Hyun-woo, are you okay?”
As I was lazing around in bed, a gently swaying, pure white tail came into view.
It was Jeon Seoha.
I sat up, slipped my hands under her armpits, and lifted her straight up. Unfortunately, she didn't stretch out like a cat.
I pulled her into my arms and lay back down on the bed. She was soft and warm, and her pleasant, savory scent made me feel sleepy.
“I'm perfectly fine. I wasn't hurt in the first place.”
My hands lingered mostly around her tail, ears, thighs, and bottom. Seoha seemed to enjoy the touch, humming a little tune while nestled in my arms.
Though she probably didn't realize she was doing it.
This is what I call healing.
The reason I was still lazing in bed in the middle of the day was simple.
Because I wanted to rest.
A simple but important reason.
Rest was just as important as training. Besides, I hadn't been lying here for long. At most, it had only been about four hours since I woke up.
“You two are being so lovey-dovey.”
Just then, Noel, who had lost at rock-paper-scissors and had to do the dishes, showed her face.
“You get in here too.”
I lifted the blanket, and Noel, as if she'd been waiting, lay down next to me and clung tightly to my arm.
Thanks to her, I was left with only one free arm, but it was enough to keep stroking Seoha.
“Anyway, it's fascinating every time I see it. A Mystic Eye, you called it? I've heard many myths about demons where I'm from, but I've never heard of a Mystic Eye.”
“It's so conspicuous I'm wondering if I should wear a contact lens. I'm not a middle schooler.”
“What's wrong with it? I think it looks cool.”
As a reward for successfully consuming Bireciel's essence, a strange pattern had been engraved on my left pupil.
The Mystic Eye of Time.
Despite its flashy appearance, its performance was the real deal.
It let me see one to two seconds into the future. The only problems were the immense magic consumption and the severe burning pain in my eye after using it.
Even with those drawbacks, it was an overpowered ability.
There was also the ability to turn back time at the cost of my eyesight, but I would probably never use it.
I'm not a pirate, so being one-eyed is a bit...
“So, does this mean you're S-rank now, Master?”
“Well…”
“Even though you can create an Aura Blade? That's something even I can't create yet.”
“That's true, but Seoha can create an Aura too.”
In my assessment, Jeon Seoha was at the very top of A-rank.
Could I, as I am now, beat her without using magic?
The thought was brief.
I can.
Before, I would have been outmatched in pure skill. Not just because of our innate differences, but because the difference between Sword Qi and Aura is clear.
But not anymore. I've reached the Transcendent Realm and can now wield Aura, and my mastery of the Formless Vajra Art has deepened. I was close to reaching the 5-star level.
For reference, my Formless Sword Art had reached 6-stars.
Now, I didn't think I would lose to Seoha even without magic. If it turned into a long battle, it wouldn't even be a contest.
But if you were to ask if that makes me S-rank Hunter level, things get a little ambiguous.
I had met a total of three S-rank Hunters or individuals of equivalent skill.
Kang Cheolho, the association's branch manager, also known as the Iron Man.
Han Lael, head of the Jinryu Han family and the Gray Tower Lord.
And finally, Duke Henry Abercrombie of Rutland.
Could I win against them?
The conclusion was, 'I don't know.'
I think I'd need to reach the Flower Realm or the mid-levels of the 6th Circle to be considered S-rank.
Of course, not all S-ranks were at a similar level.
After all, S-rank was just a label for the realm of the 'immeasurable'. That applied not only to people but also to monsters and gates.
“Maybe I'm barely scraping by at the S-rank threshold...?”
“You have a very low opinion of yourself.”
“It's not that, I'm just not certain. I suppose I'd know if I fought an S-rank Hunter at full power.”
Or if I fought an S-rank monster.
Either way, it was impossible for now. An S-rank Hunter had no reason to fight me, and to hunt an S-rank monster, I'd have to enter at least an A+-rank gate.
There were no gates of that rank in South Korea, so I'd have to go abroad, and I didn't have time for that right now.
“Hyun-woo, want to spar with me then?”
“Next time.”
I tilted my head up slightly and gave Seoha a light kiss.
“I have somewhere to be today.”
*
Now that I've reached the Transcendent Realm, there was no longer a need to pretend to be a 2nd Circle mage.
I was fine as things were, but I decided it would be better to reveal it myself rather than just wait for the truth to come out eventually.
To that end, in two days, a verification ceremony would be held at the Magic Tower, witnessed by Tower Lord Han Lael and the professors.
If I proved my skills there, I would officially become a 5th Circle mage.
Things would probably get hectic after that.
The magic world, the Hunter Association, corporations, the government.
5th Circle mages were rare anywhere in the world. Especially Battle Mages who specialized in combat rather than research.
Furthermore, if the story spread that I reached the 5th Circle in just one year through self-study, the situation would escalate.
Anyone could see that was a talent surpassing even the Gray Tower Lord, Han Lael.
In reality, I wasn't self-taught and it's been less than half a year, but there's no need to tell them everything.
At first, most people wouldn't believe it. They would try to brand me as a fraud.
But since the Seongbuk Choi family, one of the great magic families, was backing me, they'd have no choice but to believe it in the end.
Once that happened, quite a few parties would try to win me over. And some would resort to extreme measures like kidnapping or assassination if that failed.
Cutting the grass and removing the roots (剪草除根).
Of course, one could say I was being overly self-conscious. But a person must always assume the worst and be prepared.
Otherwise, you'll just be caught defenseless.
Tinkle.
I opened the shop door and saw a familiar face.
“You're a little late.”
It was Marna Hircus, Lumina's grandmother and the 1st Grade Alchemist I had commissioned to create Cheon Yeo-hwa's antidote.
I glanced around the quiet shop.
It was hard to believe this was the shop run by the Golden Marna, said to be the greatest alchemist in the world.
“My apologies.”
I bowed my head lightly.
Her tone wasn't accusatory. It was more like the playful teasing of an elder.
But her next words caught me off guard.
“The future Tower Lord shouldn't bow his head so easily.”
“Excuse me?”
Her eyes, hidden beneath half-closed lids, turned to me.
I had felt it before, but her gaze was strangely unsettling. How should I put it? It felt like it could see right through me.
“At your age, 4th Circle... no, is it 5th Circle? Even the eldest daughter of the Han family wasn't at that level. Truly remarkable.”
A smile spread across Marna Hircus's lips, as if she had found an amusing spectacle.
She then went into the storeroom at the back of the shop and returned with a small bottle in her hand.
“Take it.”
Thwack. I snatched the small bottle she tossed nonchalantly.
Seeing the sloshing green liquid inside, I swallowed dryly.
“Don't tell me...”
Marna Hircus nodded.
“It was a nasty one. Not only does it scatter one's energy, but it's an extreme poison that eats away at the victim's True Origin (眞元). It's a good thing I had some Wheelization on hand, otherwise...”
From the moment I saw the antidote, I couldn't hear her voice anymore.
My mind was filled with a single thought.
Ma Paeseon.
I wanted to tear down the wall that stood between us and meet Cheon Yeo-hwa right away.
But the more I felt that way, the more I knew I couldn't be hasty. The prey I was hunting now wasn't a deer, a weasel, or a boar.
It was a mountain lord, a beast that would tear out the throat of the very hunter who came for it.
“Thank you.”
I bowed deeply.
I never imagined things would go this smoothly. In the worst-case scenario, I would have had to spend a fortune to buy an elixir or meet the saint again to get the highest-grade holy water.
“What is the price?”
I had recently sold some of the gold bars and jewels from Viscount Hessler's underground vault to the Seongbuk Choi family, so I had plenty of cash.
Marna Hircus waved her hand.
“I don't need money. Just take it.”
“...What?”
For a moment, I couldn't believe my ears.
As far as I knew, the commission fee for a 1st Grade Alchemist started at a minimum of several hundred million won. For a job creating a brand-new antidote, I had expected it to cost at least tens of billions.
But she was telling me to just take it?
“But I can't just take it for free...”
“Don't worry. It's not free.”
“?”
Marna Hircus's lips curled into a smirk.
“I won't take payment, so just think of it as a debt. It'll be quite convenient to have the future Tower Lord owe me one.”
Dumbfounded, I let out a dry laugh.
Of course. This old woman had nothing in common with Lumina except for the horns on her head.
“Besides, my conscience wouldn't let me sell an incomplete antidote for its full price.”
At her following words, I tilted my head.
Incomplete?
“It needs a unicorn's bodily fluid, but I couldn't get my hands on any. It seems you'll have to acquire it yourself. The Gray Magic Tower has several summoning professors, so it would be wise to ask for their help.”
A unicorn's bodily fluid.
It was certainly an ingredient that even a 1st Grade Alchemist like Marna Hircus would have trouble acquiring.
That made sense. The "bodily fluid" she was talking about wasn't simply blood or saliva.
It referred to the love juice or semen of a unicorn in heat.
At that moment, the memory of a hand pulling me into a classroom and light purple hair fluttering in the wind flashed through my mind.
...Of all things, why did it have to be a unicorn's bodily fluid?
I sighed internally.
Of course. Nothing ever comes easy.