Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Secret of the Totem (2)
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The item Theo found in the supplies was an artifact.
A ring inscribed with a one-time spell, but one with reliable power nonetheless.
- Thunder Calling.
This magic summoned lightning from the sky, delivering not only immense destructive force but also a powerful shockwave.
Even if it somehow endured that, it was more than enough to paralyze a single sandworm.
But.
Theo took it one step further with an additional assumption.
-What if he awakened the artifact's lingering thoughts with [Hatchling Synchro]?
Hatchling Synchro awakened the essence of objects, their '念'—their intent.
Just as he had accessed the Frost Dance Sword Style through Ray's sword, perhaps he could read the artifact's intent and amplify the power of the inscribed Thunder Calling.
And the result?
'I didn't expect it to one-shot the sandworm like that.'
The sandworm didn't even have a chance to resist—its head and body alike were cleaved clean in two.
Crackle, crackle—
The ground was covered in black scorch marks, sparks flickering endlessly atop them before vanishing.
'Hatchling Synchro... This is going to be incredibly useful from now on.'
If a disposable artifact could do this much, what if he enhanced Drake's blades or the Moonblade Sword?
Just imagining it sent chills racing down his spine.
Amplification technique.
He had truly received an absurd favor from the guardian dragon.
"Ma, ma, ma, no way... no, no way...!"
Orient was still staring at him with a trembling voice.
But Theo paid him no mind, rummaging through the charred remains of the sandworm's corpse.
Thunder Calling shouldn't have damaged this part.
Amid such needless worries, he found what he was looking for.
"It's a bit damaged, but it'll still work fine."
What Theo had found was a mana bell.
The dark blue mana bell that had hung from the sandworm's neck.
The examiner had said they would award points simply for recovering it.
'But this one had another hidden piece, just like the totem.'
The ability to spot hidden pieces concealed throughout was one of the evaluation criteria for the Awakening Ceremony.
Theo flipped the bell over.
Its inner surface was etched with dots and lines whose meaning was unclear at first glance.
They appeared to be ordinary patterns.
But to Theo, from the intelligence division, they looked entirely different.
It was paja—a cipher formed by breaking apart letters.
'If you rearrange these dots and lines... they form the rune script used by the ancient dragonkin.'
And when those runes were aligned in sequence, they formed a phrase.
-Lightning holds the swiftest and most destructive nature between heaven and earth, so mishandling it risks severe damage to the body...
'[Thunderlight Attribute Breathing Method]. Found it.'
The corner of Theo's mouth curled up.
The Ragnar family, boasting over a thousand years of tradition, possessed countless types of attribute breathing methods.
But among them, the pinnacle ones were separate.
-Attribute Breathing Methods.
Commonly known as '속호법.'
Just as ancient dragonkin possessed unique attributes based on their colors.
These breathing methods imbued mana with specific attributes.
Thunder.
Frost.
Flame.
Waterflow.
Wood.
Poison.
Six attributes in total.
However, due to their importance, attribute breathing methods were only occasionally bestowed upon direct lineage members high in the succession order or upon meritorious retainers.
Yet there was one unique avenue to obtain them.
The Second Awakening Ceremony.
'The six attribute breathing methods are fragmented and inscribed across various mana bells. Decipher them, and you acquire them.'
Of course, the process was anything but straightforward.
'Each breathing method's incantation is divided into nine segments, making 54 in total. But they're scattered everywhere, and the number of segments per bell varies, so piecing them together is practically impossible.'
Even if you obtained one segment, if the next bell yielded segments from a different method or duplicates, they were useless.
'Moreover, the mana bells with hidden pieces are only on beasts summoned via totems.'
A hidden piece within a hidden piece.
'This is the fourth segment I've got? Divided into nine total, so eight more to go.'
It was undoubtedly near-impossible to complete an attribute breathing method during the Second Awakening Ceremony.
But only 'near'-impossible—not absolutely so.
After all, there were occasionally those who succeeded.
'The monsters said to be closest to true succession rights.'
A prime example was Torkel Ragnar of the Black Iron Knights.
Fortunately, Theo knew exactly how to recombine the paja from his past life's memories.
He had even targeted a specific attribute breathing method.
Thunder.
The Thunderlight Attribute Breathing Method.
Lightning was characterized by its intense speed and power.
For Theo, aiming to perfect the Dragon's Three Claws, it was the perfect match.
Theo invoked his spiritual sense to memorize the segments, then erased the paja completely with mana before looking at Ray.
"......?"
Ray tilted his head with a blank stare, wondering what was up.
'For Ray, who's already mastered the frost-attribute Frost Dance Sword Style, this would just be poison.'
Theo shook his head as if it were nothing and slowly walked toward Orient.
Step, step—
The boy was still gazing at him with a dazed expression.
"Orient."
"U, ugh...! St, stay back!"
Of the examinees who survived the sandworm's appearance, eight remained.
But all were too exhausted to fight again—they were effectively retired.
Theo felt no pity.
After all, they had targeted not just Ray, but him as well.
'The Pseudo-Dragon Society. Time to wipe them out completely.'
So they could never rampage again.
He intended to uproot them entirely.
"Axion, where are you?"
* * *
Boom...!
The massive magic beast, the giant bear, collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood.
The tense examinees, exhaling ragged breaths thick with beastly stench, could finally breathe sighs of relief.
"Urgh! That's more like it!"
"Finally got it."
"As expected of Axion. Taking down a 7th-rank beast head-on."
"Of course. Where does the Dark Leopard's reputation go?"
As the Pseudo-Dragon Society examinees praised Axion in unison.
Axion impassively tore the mana bell from the magic beast's neck.
A green mana bell.
By now, he had accumulated a decent score.
'These patterns inside... what are they?'
Axion tilted his head at the markings on the inner surface but soon dismissed them as nothing important.
He had no time for such trivialities right now.
"You bastards! How can you call yourselves human?! Human?!"
At that moment, one of the prisoners bound in the corner unleashed a torrent of curses.
He had lost or injured many comrades to the Pseudo-Dragon Society's surprise attack with a summoned beast during their rest.
On top of that, Axion had destroyed their totem, costing them their base.
Naturally, he was seething with hostility.
Smack!
Axion kicked the man squarely in the gut.
"Guh...!"
"A so-called Ragnar swordsman, getting his ass handed to him because he's weak, and now whining? Don't you know the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest?"
Axion pressed his foot down on the back of the man's head, smashing it into the dirt.
"Trash like you, who only know how to yap, need to be swept clean."
Madness glinted in Axion's eyes.
He looked ready to kill at any moment.
In his eyes, the man appeared as someone else.
Theo Ragnar.
The fool who dared claim top spot in the First Awakening Ceremony without knowing his place.
The one he would soon force into this exact position.
Only after a long while did Axion lift his foot.
The man was already unconscious, his breathing shallow and ragged.
"Drag all these bastards away. Feed 'em if they obey, beat 'em if they don't."
"Just like before, right? Heh heh! That's our specialty."
His underlings chuckled darkly as they dragged the unconscious or trembling prisoners outside.
With this, the Pseudo-Dragon Society had captured over thirty prisoners.
More than half of the Second Awakening Ceremony participants had fallen into Axion's hands.
-The only ones still putting up a proper fight are the Ranke siblings, Wellington, and Ray? This is too damn easy.
-Exactly, like I said. They'll all be caught soon, so the Second Awakening Ceremony is basically our stage.
-The Camellia Palace guys are staying out of it too. Ugh!
-So who's next to smack around? This game's not even fun, it's so boring. Heh heh heh!
After Axion discovered the hidden magic tool in the totem that could summon beasts.
The Pseudo-Dragon Society shifted from hunting beasts to scouting safe zones.
Most safe zones had examinees dropping their guard during rest, making ambushes easy.
Plus, destroying totems let them summon beasts effortlessly.
It handled beast hunting, prisoner capture, and resupply all at once.
No reason to refuse.
Thanks to this.
Axion had rapidly piled up points, now surpassing 500 and eyeing 600.
"Oh, speaking of which, isn't it about time for the rankings?"
Laughter erupted here and there at someone's remark.
"Hey, you gotta check that?"
"Who asked about first place? Obviously it's the boss. What matters is how we rank among ourselves."
"Fair point? Alright, then. Lowest rank calls the highest 'big bro.' Deal?"
"Deal, you punk!"
"Heh heh heh! Been a while since I got an ugly little bro."
"You're full of shit."
As his underlings bantered over nothing.
Axion silently awaited the examiner's arrival.
He had something he wanted to confirm too.
'Theo Ragnar. Where the hell are you?'
Shouldn't you be showing up by now?
As such thoughts crossed his mind.
Thud!
An examiner dropped abruptly into the Pseudo-Dragon Society's position.
The Second Awakening Ceremony held interim rankings every evening at 6 PM.
A process to spur the examinees' efforts.
Naturally, they all eagerly awaited this moment.
Up or down?
If up, how much more to reach their desired rank?
All eyes from the Pseudo-Dragon Society turned to the examiner.
"Interim rankings will now be announced. Take note."
The examiner swept a glance over the trashed surroundings with an expressionless face, then unfurled the scroll in his hand.
Rustle—
And then.
"Wh, what the hell...?"
"What happened...!"
The Pseudo-Dragon Society examinees were left dumbfounded by the utterly unexpected results.
Even Axion's face stiffened rigidly.
The interim rankings were far from what they had anticipated.
[Interim Rankings]
1st. Ray Ragnar (572 points)
2nd. Axion Ragnar (561 points)
3rd. Wellington Narsio (479 points)
.
.
"......!"
"......!"
"Examiner! There must be a mistake in the rankings!"
Axion had dropped to second, Ray risen to first.
Even Theo, who had been silent until now, appeared.
36th. Theo Ragnar (82 points)
He had already climbed to mid-table in just one day.
Some raised objections to the scores.
"You dare suspect this examiner, you trainee swordsman?"
The examiner's cold glare made their shoulders shrink involuntarily.
"Th-that's not...!"
"Examiners scattered across the Winter Mountains record scores daily, which the Central Bureau tallies and redistributes. Want to object? Prove it with your skill."
"......"
"......"
The examinees all clamped their mouths shut.
What the hell were Orient and his crew doing?
If they went after Ray, shouldn't there be some news?
No, even if they failed, how could anyone rack up that many points in a single day? Unbelievable.
-What the hell are those scores?
-Frost Ice Sword and that retard have similar point jumps.
-Are they teaming up and moving together?
-But what do you even have to hunt for gains like that...?
The Pseudo-Dragon Society examinees whispered while furtively watching Axion.
Grind—
Axion ground his teeth, face flushed red with rage.
But.
The shock to Axion and the Pseudo-Dragon Society didn't end there.
Moments later, another Pseudo-Dragon Society examinee—who they had planted to guard their claimed safe zone—came rushing in breathless.
"B-big trouble! Huge trouble! Theo Ragnar and Ray Ragnar...!"
"Th-they're raiding our base right now!"
"......!"
"......!"
"......!"