Sweat Along the Temple

Sweat traced a line down her temple.

The hair she had bound tight was soaked through as well. When was the last time she had driven herself until she was this spent?

Jo Su-a knit her brow. The pain radiating from her broken arm was considerable, and if she did not hurry, the Demon God Worshippers closing in behind her would either overpower her or kill her on the spot.

She did not think they meant to kill her. What they truly wanted was not her, but Shin Yujun. They would wring the information out of her and take her hostage.

That, she could not allow. If she was caught, she would only become a burden on that man again. She would sooner die than bring harm to Shin Yujun — not some stranger, but someone closer to a benefactor.

Jo Su-a turned it over as she ran for her life. How had it come to this?

The Demon God Worshippers had appeared not long after she was separated from Shin Yujun. Party hunting with him had raised her level a great deal, and even so the Worshippers were strong enough to overwhelm her. She had killed one and fled, only to take a grave wound to her arm — and a curse that delayed the healing of wounds had been laid over it, so potions did nothing at all. It was anything but a hopeful situation.

The one small comfort was that, in the course of her flight, she had taken a peculiar item from a tunnel Predator she killed.

A Relic-grade item. This was the first she had ever heard that such a grade even existed. The trouble was that she had no idea what it was for. Hoping it might be something that could turn the situation around, she had poured mana into it as she ran, shaken it, thrown it, even bitten it — and nothing happened.

"Useless! Come quietly!"

This was no time to fuss over the Synchronization Marble. One of the Demon God Worshippers had closed the distance right on her heels.

Jo Su-a drew up her mana.

"Master. The egg is making a dreadful racket."

"I know. Pretty sure it's that thing called Black Yode. Don't tell me this item was a divine beast's egg?"

Why had a divine beast's egg been lying near an Earth Dragon's nest?

Black Yode had come looking for Yujun, just as the system had warned — more precisely, drawn by the mana waves pouring off the black stone on the altar. Its baleful gaze swept over Yujun and his companions.

It resembled a drake, though far larger than one, and comparatively small beside a true dragon. On looks alone, it certainly seemed stronger than an Earth Dragon, those so-called half-dragons.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"You lot. Come out of there at once."

"Huh? It talks?"

Black Yode spoke in a thick, low voice. What was strange was that its mouth had not moved at all. Then again, there was nothing so strange about it. Paranet and Tapagol could speak despite not being living things, and Paranet's way with words had only grown more fluent by the day. A divine beast talking was hardly cause for shock.

"Did you not hear me tell you to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come out?"

"You're giving orders?"

There was no further warning. Black Yode spewed pitch-black energy from its maw.

A deep drone rolled out. Fired in a straight line, the beam swelled until it was large enough to blanket the whole area. There was nowhere left to dodge, and the black energy did not look like something a shield thrown up on the spot could stop.

"This is insane..."

Even one of Yujun's shields would have struggled to hold against an aura that pure and that fierce. It was already too late to use Paranet's spatial-movement magic. What he needed now was Super Concentration.

Time began to crawl.

Yujun swung his sword.

The blade moved faster and faster, swinging at a speed even Yujun's eyes could no longer follow.

The sword's path settled into perfect, unwavering consistency, and from there Yujun shifted the angle by degrees.

A hum. Then another. The blade sheared the wind, and a tearing rush rang out as if the air itself were splitting. Faint forms began to take shape around him. He poured mana into the sword, and a thin membrane appeared, growing larger by the moment. In an instant the blue film was wide enough to cover his entire party, and still his hands did not stop.

The blue deepened until the membrane was a solid blue — and in that instant:

"......"

Having created a skill on a flash of ingenuity, Yujun stared down at his sword in a daze.

I didn't mean to do that.

Somehow, he had gone and made a skill — and received a Skill Gem for free on top of it. Honestly, it was absurd. An item he could not obtain no matter how badly he wanted it, handed over as an achievement reward after a few swings of a sword. Anticlimactic, if one wanted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to call it that. But it was not a case of all that effort going to waste, so he had nothing to complain about.

Then the energy Black Yode had fired arrived. The attack had taken a little over a second to reach him, which meant Yujun had created an entirely new technique — Sword Membrane — in well under a single second.

The collision cracked like thunder. Sword Membrane met Black Yode's energy, and what followed was astonishing. The blast was not merely blocked. Ground apart by the blade, it scattered. The surroundings were laid waste, but around Yujun and his party the pitch-black energy vanished in an instant.

Black Yode could not hide its bewilderment.

"What did you do?"

It was the same reaction he always got from enemies, and Yujun did not bother answering. Sword in hand, he walked slowly toward Black Yode.

"Do not come any closer."

Black Yode slammed its enormous tail into the ground. The intent was obvious: come closer, and I'll swat you. To Yujun's eyes, it did not look much different from a frightened puppy barking to hide its fear.

"I told you not to come!"

Boom after boom, the tail struck the earth with a sound that was no joke. It certainly lived up to its bulk.

Riding that thing would look pretty cool, though.

No one who played RPGs could be without a little romance for a mount.

And it's got wings. Perfect.

Unfortunately, completing the prerequisite meant killing Black Yode. If not for that, he would have tried to tame it somehow. Yujun did not stop walking.

Black Yode loosed a warning shot, pitch-black energy bursting from its mouth once more. He used Sword Membrane, of course. Now that it was properly registered as a skill, it was far more effective than before, thanks to the items and titles that amplified skill power. With the percentages climbing into the hundreds, the membrane's range had grown several times over. The distance was short as well, and Black Yode's black breath was annihilated completely.

"Th-that's impossible!"

When the breath it trusted most was stopped twice over, Black Yode spread its wings and fled. A wise choice. Fighting to the end against an enemy one had no hope of beating was no different from throwing one's life away. Fleeing, however, would not leave it with any meaningful result either.

Yujun used Flash, and his sword passed clean through Black Yode's neck. Landing steadily, he leveled the blade at the falling beast. He had wondered whether it might still live with its head cut off, but that had been needless worry.

It was a shame his level did not rise. Black Yode had died to a single attack of his, but it had by no means been a weak enemy. All he had seen was its breath, and that alone was enough to convince him it was stronger than anyone he had faced so far. Had this not been an event, his level would have climbed enormously.

Well. If the payoff comes at the end, that's good enough.

For now, he had gained two items: a Skill Gem, and a Divine Beast's Soul.

I'll put the Skill Gem from the achievement reward into Super Concentration.

Sword Membrane was an excellent ability, but investing in Super Concentration was the better choice. The greatest reason he had been able to create Sword Membrane at all was Super Concentration.

There was a reason it was EX+.

Take a skill whose worth he had already felt in full, and push it further. He had known Super Concentration was good to begin with, but he had never imagined it would help him create skills.

A skill that drags concentration past its limit. In a sense, it's close to all-purpose.

Having thought that far, Yujun did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not linger. He used the gem on Super Concentration.

As he had hoped, the skill's rank rose by one.

EX++. Until now, only Ancient Magic had held that rank. Now there was one more.

I ought to use Super Concentration more often.

The fatigue after using it seemed far lighter than before. The higher rank had clearly eased the side effects.

The Egg of Unknown Identity, which he had briefly stored in his inventory while dealing with Black Yode, began to thrash.

"There it goes again."

But the egg was not reacting to the divine beast's corpse. It was the other item — the Divine Beast's Soul. The Egg of Unknown Identity yearned for it without end.

What is this thing?

Yujun started by examining the Divine Beast's Soul he had gained by killing Black Yode.

"Transcendent..."

He was glad the Divine Beast's Soul was Transcendent grade, but disappointment soon settled over his face.

No separate effect listed.

Without knowing its use, it was worthless for the moment. In the end, Yujun turned his eyes to the Egg of Unknown Identity.

"This have something to do with you hatching?"

He asked the egg. Paranet stared at him oddly.

"M-Master? Whom are you speaking with?"

"The egg."

"F-forgive me, but... an egg cannot speak. I am quite certain."

"Do I look like an idiot? I know that much."

"Then why did you address it?"

"Because I think I know what it wants. You want the Divine Beast's Soul, don't you?"

At his words, the egg shook up and down.

"Oh? Is it truly communicating?"

"Yeah."

"Might I try as well?"

"Try what?"

"Conversation."

"Huh? If you want to, go ahead."

"Yes!"

Paranet wiggled his hips and approached the egg, then carefully set a hand atop it.

"Hey, you. It seems you are destined to become Master's third servant, so allow me one warning."

"......"

The egg, of course, could not answer. It only trembled, as if confused. Paranet pressed on.

"You will show your seniors the proper respect. That is the first iron rule of our group. Who the senior is should be plain without looking. You know how you are to treat me, yes? Should you fail to keep that iron rule..."

"What are you doing?"

Yujun asked at the back of Paranet's skull. Paranet turned with an obsequious smile.

"Master. You know full well how important early education is, do you not? If I do not establish discipline from the first page, there is no telling when the wretch might rise against his betters."

"You just want to stand above it, don't you?"

"...Wh-why, how could I ever stand above Master?"

"I didn't say above me."

"Ah."

Paranet planted his head in the snow.

"I apologize!"

"Sorry for what?"

"I dared to entertain a disrespectful thought."

"Were you going to stab me in the back?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then what?"

"I merely wished to grow stronger than Master. That is all."

"Isn't that the same thing? Stronger than me, and then what?"

"I would protect you! So that no one could lay a hand upon you!"

"You talk a smooth game."

"It is the truth! Please believe me!"

Paranet answered, sweat beading and running.

...Hold on. This guy's nothing but bone. Where is the sweat even coming from?

Yujun huffed a laugh and patted Paranet's shoulder. As expected, there was no room to doubt the summon's loyalty.

Anyway... what do I do with this.

Yujun held the Divine Beast's Soul and sank into thought. He still did not know how to use it, and yet a Mythic-grade egg wanted it.

"Ah, forget it."

Thinking it over would not yield an answer. Yujun brought the Divine Beast's Soul to the egg.