Chapter 272
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: Level 7 (2)
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"I originally wanted to grab it before heading to meet Duke Randel..."
If he had, it might have been possible to subdue Duke Randel even more safely.
With the Netherworld Sword in hand, Aiden could have certainly parried the duke's blade a few times.
"But it took some time to fetch it directly from the imperial capital, so the timing didn't line up."
"Ah..."
Yet Aiden showed no hint of regret.
If anything, he seemed relieved to have it now, stepping forward slowly.
Trailing behind him, Jun offered a word of caution.
"Be careful. It's a sword with an incredibly strong ego. One wrong move, and it'll devour you."
"...Still, compared to the one dwelling in my blood, it feels far gentler."
"Well, that's true. But still."
"Captain, is that pile over there our food supplies?"
At Eleanor's question, Jun nodded.
"Yeah. We're planning to hole up here for the next few months."
"F-Few months...?"
It was decently spacious, but not enough for five people to live comfortably for months on end.
Eleanor's face fell instantly, but Jun just smirked at her reaction.
"Follow me, everyone."
Jun led them to an orb glowing with a fiery orange light.
"What's this?"
"I can feel a pretty strong power from that sword."
"Uh... it feels kinda familiar, but not quite, Senior."
"It's an artifact called the 'Room of Training'."
"...What kind of lame naming sense is that?"
"I won't deny it... But I didn't come up with the name originally."
This orange-glowing orb was none other than the artifact from the Volcanic Mage Tower, where Sergey had imprinted his mental image.
It was the very artifact that had once drawn Jun in, trapping him forcibly in its mental world.
Of course, it had an original name.
But after the Volcanic Mage Tower disbanded, Cloi bought it at auction, and through Shylock's processing, it gained the name "Room of Training."
"So, what's it for?"
"Yeah. Let me explain. This artifact has a sub-dimension unfolded inside it."
"A sub-dimension?"
"Right. The principle behind it is complicated... Want me to start from there?"
"N-No, that's okay."
The group shook their heads in dismay, and Jun continued.
"Anyway, the interior responds to specific mana infusions by creating an environment that matches that mana."
"Is that even possible?"
"Shylock made it. Of course, it doesn't create the environment for free."
It required materials and a long crafting time.
Just gathering the materials had taken the mercenary unit's subjugation team months.
But the actual crafting was quick.
Perhaps tired of tinkering solely with mana fluid constructs, when Cloi commissioned it, Shylock and Marshar dove in headfirst, working through the nights for days on end.
"Since it's consumable, it can't be used indefinitely... but it should hold out for a few months."
From now on, they'd enter the orb one by one each day, adapting to the shifting environments and absorbing every hidden piece within.
"We'll start with one day at a time. Once you're adapted, two days, gradually building up to a maximum of a week."
"So what do we do outside while waiting for our next turn?"
"Well..."
Jun's gaze turned to Bern.
"Sparring with Sir Bern. Or spars among those outside."
"Ah."
"Don't worry. The Ariclotos Church sent plenty of potions for this."
"That crazy old geezer..."
And so, the group's journey toward level 7 began.
"...It's better made than I expected."
Naturally, Jun was the first to enter the sub-dimension.
He wanted to test if it suited him and gather any advice for his comrades.
"A mix of various attributes."
Fire, water, and wind attributes swirled chaotically in his vision, asserting their presence.
"Definitely impressive."
The stark white space contained nothing but attribute mana.
"Feels even better than in the game. Though back then, players had to farm the materials themselves."
Unlike the early-to-mid game focused on farming, hunting, gear, and leveling, the mid-to-late game relied heavily on artifacts and special devices like this.
Even in the game, story characters achieved rapid growth thanks to such aids.
'But staying too long in a sub-dimension isn't all good.'
According to game lore, one's soul detached from the original world while inside.
So, lingering too long wasn't wise.
'Come too early at a low level, and you can't stay long. Too late, and efficiency drops by half or more.'
That's why he'd chosen the optimal timing.
"First... let's do a check-up."
Before pushing to level 7, he examined the inner vessel he'd cultivated.
Roar—!
The first thing visible was blood-red flames.
They hungered to devour everything, growing into an even greater inferno by feeding on it all.
......
Next came a lake of inky darkness.
Serene, yet once rippled, it would move more silently and chillingly than anything.
The life force typical of water attributes was absent; instead, it craved to drag everything into its depths.
Whoooosh...
Finally, verdant winds.
Unlike the selfish natures of the others, these warmly embraced all, flexible and willing to blend with anything.
'These three form the vessel of my mental image.'
One was missing.
To face the future he envisioned and the threats ahead, these alone weren't enough.
'The last attribute is earth.'
With the steadfast energy of the land to underpin the vessel solidly, he could reach the ideal level 7 he'd envisioned.
'Materials... I have them.'
Earth-attribute materials were surprisingly easy to find.
Mana stones, mostly unearthed from underground or massive mountains, brimmed with earth attributes.
'But I can't just shove any mana stone in recklessly.'
The reason was simple.
Earth attributes were like unyielding mountains, firmly rooted.
Depending on the mining site, their earth essence varied in texture. Ignoring that and absorbing blindly could shatter his circles under the weight.
What was needed to avoid that?
Hummm...
Light poured from his dimensional bracelet, spilling out various apparatuses.
The most prominent were numerous cylinders.
Then a desk etched with countless magic circles, and heaps of top-grade mana stones.
"Just thinking about the fortune spent maintaining these makes my hands shake."
The method was straightforward.
Extract only the pure earth attribute from the mana stones, compress it, and gather it in one place.
That way, it would harmonize without clashing, preserving the earth essence intact.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
Like extracting a single desired color from a muddy palette of mixed paints.
"One per day at first... Let's take it slow."
Twenty-four hours a day. Relentlessly extracting the earth mana embedded in the stones.
It took twenty-two hours just for a single teardrop's worth.
Then the sub-dimension's light began to shift.
"So this is pure earth mana..."
Even with [Demon God Body], adapting to a mere drop took time.
But this sub-dimension was different.
It recognized even this tiny mana and manifested it across the space.
"Definitely solid."
Heavier and denser than [Soul Absorption], the heaviest attribute he wielded.
"And I have to embed this into my circles."
For now, he'd be content with this much.
No rush.
Step by step.
Grow accustomed to the path to level 7.
"Ah..."
Aiden, entering the sub-dimension, unconsciously reached for his waist.
"..."
The whole world was red.
The earth was littered with corpses and blood.
The sky, as if absorbing the ground's hue, was crimson even in its clouds.
Squelch...
One step forward revealed a soldier dead with a agonized expression.
What battle had claimed him?
His body was too mangled to discern the cause of death. Aiden wanted to look away immediately.
"Is this... what you wanted to show me?"
Fear wouldn't solve it.
He was no longer the child hiding in his room, reading books to escape the imperial family's cold gaze.
He had to face his life, his origins, and move forward.
"..."
Ahead sat a golden-haired man on a throne.
"Much clearer now."
Thanks to the sub-dimension?
The figure he'd always seen hazily was now sharp and vivid.
"It was you after all."
He must have seen it dozens, hundreds, thousands of times.
The statue of the man before him.
"Adrian van Rude Benecio."
The founding emperor.
He gazed down at Aiden from the jade throne with arrogant eyes.
And slowly spoke.
"Prove yourself."
Prove what?
Before Aiden could ask, legions formed of blood appeared.
Trampling countless corpses, they arrayed before the emperor who had subjugated humanity.
As if demanding proof that he could wield this blood's power.
They slammed their weapons into the ground.
-Tell the world of our deaths.
-So unjust.
-Why did they drive us out like this?
-So unjust.
-We just wanted to live quietly.
-So unjust.
-They killed my wife, my son, and severed my head before their corpses.
-So unjust.
-Do you crave power?
-So unjust.
-Avenge us.
-So terribly unjust.
Voices of countless ghosts echoed from all sides.
Maya stared at them blankly and spoke.
"Why're you freaks bitching at me?"
She always used her tribal tongue when alone.
But she'd stopped at some point.
She felt herself drifting further from her past.
Yet these lingering spirits clung to her obsessively.
"I told you. I'll handle the revenge. So why you keep nagging? You kids got no patience?"
The ancestral spirits at the first and second gates were relatively docile.
Their deaths weren't long past, leaving enough reason to think of the tribe.
But from the third gate onward, it differed.
Their deaths were centuries old, memories of life faded.
They recalled only their final, wrongful moments.
"Yeah, I get it. You didn't want to end up like that."
The Jogyung Tribe.
A people who passed ancestral power through souls.
They couldn't ascend even if they wished, burdened with the grudges of countless fallen kin, desperately passing on their strength in their reasonless state.
But after eons tethered to this world, they'd lost themselves.
"So leave it to me from now on. Quit whining. Trust me a bit, you stubborn fools."
Tears trickled down.
She understood their injustice. Only she in this world could.
Facing endless deaths like their own, watching descendants rot slowly by choosing the same path.
Clinging to the slim hope of aiding them with a thread of power.
They'd chosen this form.
First gate: the facing gate.
Second: the accepting gate.
Third: the gate to freedom.
She couldn't free them yet.
Not at level 6.
Level 7? Still impossible.
Some ancestors had reached level 7.
The exalted realm.
Level 8.
Only upon entering that could she liberate them.
"I'm coming. One by one, I'll free you from your karma."
She wrapped her body in the sub-dimension's overflowing mana.
She'd face countless deaths, surely.
Illusions only, harmless to the flesh.
Yet her mind would tear apart.
But to feel their injustice closer, to free them...
It was the blood path she must tread.
It was a warm yet alien energy.
Her body felt cozy, brimming with vitality.
Yet an unnaturally intense aura of death permeated it.
No, was it death? Or emptiness?
"..."
The black bandages unraveled on their own, Eleanor's golden eyes gazing directly at the world.
"Is that you?"
She beheld the source of the energy she'd long sensed.
In a heavenly cradle, a pale-skinned infant boy slumbered peacefully.
As if dead.
Ariclotos.
The god lost in a slumber that human reason deemed death appeared before Eleanor.