Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Chapter 30 improvement
Creating martial arts usually takes a long time, but Baek Ran's situation was different from mine and Baek Ryeon, who had started with absolutely no foundation.
She already had Heavenly Thunder Divine Art as a base that fit her body well, and I knew that martial art almost as well as Baek Ran herself.
'I thoroughly dissected it when creating Dawn Divine Art.'
Perhaps I even knew the simple structure better than she did.
All I needed to do was add a few variations—what you might call ‘kicks’—to elevate the level of the martial art I already knew well.
This didn't exist in the first cycle's tutorial, but fortunately, it existed in the second cycle's tutorial.
There were even two of them.
Zeus (Ζεύς) and Indra (इन्द्र).
Though they were gods from different mythologies, they had many commonalities. Both were kings of gods—in other words, chief deities—and both were sky gods who controlled thunder and lightning.
Either choice would work as a foundation, but if I had to choose which one suited Baek Ran better, it was definitely Zeus.
'Zeus uses a spear, and Indra uses a vajra.'
If I was going to choose from the same attribute, wouldn't it naturally be more suitable to choose the one who used the same weapon?
So when I summoned Zeus's Avatar, a man with gray hair and beard appeared before my eyes.
A towering figure over 2 meters tall, the owner of an unrealistic body with perfectly sculpted muscles like a statue.
The aura of lightning that flowed from his body like breathing and the incomparably divine energy seemed to declare that he was a god.
If I could feel this much from just an Avatar containing fragments of the original, I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of power the original possessed.
'These are the beings I'll have to face. Me.'
It might have broken my will, but instead, it ignited me. The stronger the opponent, the more my will burned.
Walls exist to be overcome. Eternal walls don't exist. I simply haven't overcome them yet.
As soon as Zeus's Avatar recognized me, it swung the spear it held.
A spear that looked like lightning itself molded into form. The countless spear strikes that pierced toward me like falling lightning were very threatening and powerful, but they were meaningless if they didn't hit.
'Still, I should experience getting hit.'
There was nothing better than experiencing it directly to understand how the power was used and what meaning was contained in the movements.
I coolly offered my right arm. Lightning-like spear strikes pierced it countless times, taking away one arm.
Baek Ran, who had been watching from outside the Avatar's field of view, tried to intervene thinking it was an emergency, but I stopped her with my gaze. Losing an arm or leg wasn't a problem for me at all.
Rather, it would be more problematic if she intervened and revealed the identity of another Regressor to Zeus.
'Come to think of it, she's never seen me use Immortality before, has she?'
In that case, it was understandable that she'd be worried. For ordinary people, losing limbs means a significant loss of combat power. Of course, I'm not ordinary.
As I thought about restoring my right arm, mana was consumed and a new arm was created in an instant.
Seeing Baek Ran's very surprised expression, I felt to my bones that my abilities had begun to transcend the human realm.
If Yoo So-eun and Baek Ryeon, who were training individually while I created martial arts, had seen this scene, they would have been extremely shocked.
An opponent I could defeat with just two attacks using the combo of Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram and God Demon Annihilation Dance—I deliberately didn't kill him and continued gathering information.
This was the third time. Analyzing high-level targets and creating martial arts from their characteristics.
I accumulated information very familiarly and skillfully, and while the spear he wielded disappeared upon death, some parts of his body remained, so I collected and thoroughly analyzed those materials as well.
"If you're going to make a weapon, please use this."
Baek Ran took out a spear from her inventory and handed it to me. [Spear for Baek Ran (Heroic)]. The spear I had made for her when she left the tutorial.
"I was worried it might disappear, but fortunately it was still there. I used this continuously in the first cycle, so I want to keep using it in the second cycle too."
Even though it was one of my early works and would have inferior performance, she said she continued using this weapon while recalling memories with me.
For her, who had conquered the upper floors of the Tower, there must have been plenty of better weapons available. Hearing those words made me think I should strengthen it even more enthusiastically.
"Don't worry. I'll upgrade it to be incredibly cool."
Perhaps because my understanding of martial arts deepened further while analyzing Zeus's Avatar? The work I thought would take at least a week finished much earlier than expected.
Four days were sufficient to create a new martial art using Heavenly Thunder Divine Art as the framework, and to create a new spear by adding Zeus's materials to the [Spear for Baek Ran (Heroic)] she had given me as a base.
"How is it? Do you like it?"
I handed her the secret manual of the new martial art. Along with illustrations to make it easier to understand.
First, the name of the martial art was One Flash Lightning Divine Art. A new divine art created by extracting only the advantages of Zeus's Avatar and adding them to Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.
It would allow her to control lightning like Zeus, as if it were her own limbs. The energy within her body would flow like lightning without any waste.
For her, who primarily used magic, I paid more attention to versatile aspects so it could also help with magic usage.
Even when using mana for magic, the energy would move like lightning, greatly reducing casting time.
"...I like it."
She liked it so much that tears even slightly welled up in her eyes. But I still had one more thing to give her.
"Take this too. I made it for you."
[Astrape for Baek Ran (Legendary)].
By continuously adding materials to the spear using Zeus's Avatar's spear as a model, a masterpiece was born.
Seeing Astrape as well, tears weren't just welling up in Baek Ran's eyes—they were actually flowing.
Though she usually maintained a strong appearance, when receiving gifts, it felt like the inner child within her revealed itself to the outside.
"Really... thank you. I'll definitely become someone who can help you with this."
There was a slight contradiction in those words. I was already receiving more than enough help. I pointed this out to her.
"Just having you by my side is helpful, so you don't need to think like that. Just accept it comfortably."
My people give me great strength just by being beside me. I could do anything for them.
If I were alone, I'd just be a strong loner, but with something to protect, I could even become a hero.
'I'll make sure you never experience those terrible things again.'
My attempt to prevent the genocide of Earth people wasn't simply from heroic psychology, but because I didn't want my people to be hurt again through that terrible tragedy.
Baek Ran hugged me silently while crying but with a smile on her lips.
It was a warm embrace that seemed to convey her grateful feelings directly. After holding her until her emotions settled, she smiled and said she'd go train.
"That's enough for today. I'd like to continue, but if I can't properly handle the martial art and weapon you created with your utmost effort, that would be a betrayal of your sincerity."
It was a statement typical of Baek Ran, who had great attachment to the act of receiving gifts. After that, everything proceeded smoothly.
Baek Ran trained hard to become familiar with the new martial art and weapon she received from me, and Yoo So-eun trained earnestly to regain even a little more of her first cycle's martial prowess before entering the Tower.
While I gained practical experience facing various Avatars, I also actively intervened in my companions' training.
I considered creating a customized martial art for Yoo So-eun as well, but the martial art she possessed already belonged to the ranks of divine arts.
Sacred Light Harmonious Heart Art.
A heart method with an extremely bright feeling that contrasted with her dark inner world.
It specialized in defense but wasn't weak in attack either, and it was a martial art that made the user stronger in moments of crisis—something that would suit a hero.
She had reached the Harmony realm and become too accustomed to this martial art.
If she had to learn a new martial art from scratch, it would actually be a major disadvantage, so I just helped her by finding minor improvement points.
'Odin's Avatar handled power in a similar way to Yoo So-eun.'
Odin's Avatar was an all-rounder who had expertise in close combat while also being able to use magic and divine arts. He resembled Yoo So-eun in many ways.
It seemed like applying his way of handling power to her heart method would create tremendous synergy.
"Don't you think this part would be better done this way?"
I filled in the inefficient parts of Yoo So-eun's heart method with knowledge gained from Odin.
When I explained the parts I had changed, she tried using the heart method herself and showed a surprised expression.
"Really? The flow of energy has improved so much. How did you do that?"
I had analyzed and learned countless martial arts, and this was already the fourth divine art I had directly created. My insight into martial arts had deepened to the point where even Yoo So-eun would click her tongue in amazement.
For most martial arts, I could roughly estimate where the problems were and how to fix them just by glancing at them.
"I'm a Grand Master, you know. Now, next is this part."
As I improve the inefficient parts of the heart method one by one, when the martial art approached perfection, something very surprising happened.
"It says a new martial art has been born..? I need to decide on a name."
I had only replaced the inefficient parts with Odin's knowledge while maintaining the basic framework of the heart method, but even that alone was treated as a new martial art.
"The name... let's call it Sacred Light Divine Art."
Sacred Light Divine Art.
It was a name meaning that the sacred light of Sacred Light Harmonious Heart Art and Odin's knowledge—the wisdom of heaven—had become one.
"That's a good name. Got it. I'll go with that."
Having provided both Baek Ran and Yoo So-eun with foundations to become even stronger, it was now Baek Ryeon's turn.
The most important thing for Baek Ryeon at this point was becoming familiar with the Harmony realm.
Rather than adding some new power, it was important for her to become better at handling what she currently had.
And when it came to becoming familiar with the Harmony realm, world manifestation couldn't be left out.
Baek Ryeon's world.
White Lotus Single Heart Flower Diagram.
Her own world made of only one heart.
Just activating it would drastically lower the temperature in a certain radius, stealing enemies' body heat and mana, while purifying negative effects like debuffs or curses affecting allies.
The distinction between enemies and allies was based solely on Baek Ryeon's perception.
Within the range, lotus flowers made of snow would continuously bloom, and when allies touched these lotus flowers, they would recover, while when enemies touched them, those parts would slowly begin to freeze.
It even had mental-type debuffs that gradually froze the minds of lower-level opponents.
'The versatility is top-notch.'
Finally, she could consume all the lotus flowers accumulated around her to deliver a powerful strike to enemies.
It was an all-around type of world manifestation with no weaknesses. It had many abilities that would especially shine in large-scale battles.
However, with its various effects, mana would be consumed very quickly when using multiple abilities simultaneously.
"There's nothing special about maintaining manifestation for a long time. You just increase your mana capacity and get used to it by using it frequently. Of course, finding your own method in that process is important."
"Your own method..?"
"Yeah. You'll find an answer if you keep looking."
In my case, the ability itself was extremely intuitive and simple, so I found a method easily.
Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram.
Isn't it an ability that burns away existing laws and creates new order?
In my case, to deal significant damage to enemies, I absolutely had to get close, but twisting the laws of the entire surrounding area was extremely inefficient.
So I tried drastically reducing the range of world manifestation to use it as if covering my body.
By twisting the laws only in areas that directly touched me, I explosively increased the duration.
Using Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram this way allowed me to maintain it at least three times longer.
'Of course, complex applications become impossible.'
Advanced applications like resetting the laws around me based solely on myself and demonstrating absolute power like an omnipotent god within that range.
Such applications would probably only be attempted later when my mana greatly increased or when I reached the Transcendence realm and the mana required for world manifestation was no longer burdensome.
"I can't really think of any method right now..."
"You haven't reached the realm that long ago, so that's understandable. Still, keep thinking about it. The difference between thinking and not thinking is enormous."
At first, I also just tried to get used to manifestation mindlessly, but when I consciously tried to find methods, I was able to get the current answer.
"Ah! Or how about this?"
A groundbreaking method came to mind.
A method that could greatly improve her manifestation efficiency.