The Third Class (9)
Before the thunderous roar even came, everyone was already looking at me with the kind of eyes that demanded an explanation.
“Huh… hyung, boss….”
“How… how did you even pull that off?”
Even Kim Hyunsung was no exception.
“It’s a property of my class.”
“Ah….”
They still looked like they needed a more detailed explanation. My earlier anxiety vanished almost at once.
“To put it more precisely, you could say it’s the result of a biological experiment using a catalyst with the same genetic information value as the target.”
“Uh, w-what? I don’t understand any of that….”
“Could you make it a little simpler?”
“Of course. It’ll be easier to understand if you picture a remote control that compresses a bunch of different magic effects and a television that responds to it. What’s in my hand right now is the remote, and the giant monster arm expanding over there is the TV, so to speak. Really, as long as you have a catalyst that can react to one another, it’s not that difficult. The preparation is just a little rough.”
“Even so….”
Once again, murmurs of astonishment broke out.
It was only natural for them to look like that.
When I’d first produced a result like this, I’d been beyond surprise—I’d been practically stunned.
Glancing at the information window again made me feel oddly proud. It was hard to believe I’d been the one to make this.
[Name - Lee Kiyoung]
[Title - The Mercenary Queen’s Consort]
[Age - 25]
[Alignment - A Cautious Strategist]
[Class - Biological Alchemy Summoner - Unique Heroic Grade]
[A new type of class, previously undiscovered until now. Even across the continent, which boasts an innocent and unbroken history, this sort of alchemical method has never appeared before. If any alchemist were to see your result, they would shower it with praise in all manner of flowery language. Due to the impact of your astonishing achievement, your class grade has been elevated to Unique Heroic. Intelligence increases by 4. Mana increases by 3. The result of your created biological alchemy is judged to be a summon. You are granted minimal control over summons.]
[Class Effect - Learn Basic Magical Knowledge]
[Class Effect - Learn Basic Alchemy Knowledge]
[Class Effect - Learn Intermediate Alchemy Knowledge]
[Class Effect - Learn Special Summoning Knowledge]
[Stats]
[Strength - 20 / Growth limit below Normal]
[Agility - 21 / Growth limit below Normal]
[Stamina - 25 / Growth limit below Normal]
[Intelligence - 64 / Growth limit Heroic or higher]
[Endurance - 20 / Growth limit below Normal]
[Luck - 45 / Growth limit Heroic or higher]
[Mana - 15 / Growth limit below Normal]
[Equipment]
[Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy - Heroic Grade - Alchemist Only]
[Ring of Mana Shield - Rare Grade]
[Trait - Mind's Eye]
[Overall Evaluation - Your efforts to avoid the worst possible outcome are obvious, but flailing too hard is not advisable. No matter how much you struggle, the fact remains that the situation is the worst. Setting that aside, I commend your effort. Keep thrashing about with all the strength you have until you reach your limit.]
My stats had risen a great deal overall, and as a class effect I’d gained special summoning knowledge.
Come to think of it, even saying I’d “gained” it felt strange.
It was knowledge I had formulated myself, based on theories I had established on my own. What stood out most was the class grade: Unique Heroic.
Everyone was looking at me with curiosity, so I smiled faintly and spoke.
“The class is called Biological Alchemy Summoner, and its grade is Unique Heroic.”
“Ah.”
“Unique Heroic grade?”
“Yeah.”
For some reason, Park Deokgu looked a little deflated. After checking the information, I could understand why he was making that face.
Rare?
Because everyone except Park Deokgu had obtained a Heroic-grade class.
Even little Kim Yeri had reached Heroic grade on only her second advancement. Considering that most people usually didn’t get a Heroic class until their fourth or fifth, it was absurdly fast.
He seemed to be feeling some measure of inferiority, but I decided it would be fine to deal with Deokgu’s mental state later.
For now, solving the team’s curiosity was more important.
“Unique Heroic grade… That’s incredible, Kiyoung.”
“I didn’t know there were grades other than Rare, Heroic, and Legendary.”
“It probably means you’re the only one who can obtain that class, Kiyoung. There are a few adventurers in the city who’ve been judged to have unique grades. They, too, obtained Unique-grade classes when they discovered something new, just like you did… but I hear that even if later arrivals perform the same actions or produce the same results, they won’t receive the same class.”
“Ah.”
“In simple terms, it means it’s a class line that can’t be mass-produced.”
Not bad.
Being special was an advantage.
Specifically, it was an advantage that let me jack my market value up like a lunatic.
Glancing at Kim Hyunsung, I caught sight of his face as he seemed to spill out his thoughts in a slightly excited voice.
I’d walked around the city with my Mind's Eye open, checking people’s information, but I still hadn’t seen a single class judged to be Unique Heroic.
He might know something I didn’t, but if not, then Kim Hyunsung was effectively leaking information about the future right now.
“Since it specializes in one area, there are definitely drawbacks, but the advantages seem substantial enough. I had thought you might decide to focus on potions or homunculi, but….”
“I actually considered studying homunculi more, but my intelligence is still too low, so I couldn’t really make sense of it. I thought the field of chimeras might be worth digging into, but the problem was controlling the creatures once they were made. I didn’t have the technique or mana to maintain mental domination.”
“Ah….”
“If I couldn’t control the entire chimera, I wondered if I could control only part of it, and the answer came quickly. Ah, and let me put that aside for now and explain.”
After chanting again, the giant monster arm began to contract once more.
It was an improved version of Jung Hayan’s reversal spell, the one that returned all magic effects to their original state.
“For starters, what you just saw is not a summon. At first it wasn’t even something I could call a living creature, and it definitely didn’t have a will of its own… but after the advancement, it was thankfully judged to be a summon.”
“I see.”
It looked impressive, but it wasn’t without drawbacks.
The first was that the quality of the material mattered immensely.
It had to be good enough to force into a transmutation circle loaded with all sorts of magic.
In other words, I had to use a consumable that was difficult to consume as a consumable. At minimum, I needed catalysts of Rare grade or higher.
The second drawback was that its duration wasn’t very long.
Unlike the many summons that remained at their master’s side, the biological alchemy construct I summoned had a very short lifespan.
Another problem was that I couldn’t transmute the entire body.
I had no idea what would happen later, but for now, summoning only a portion was the limit.
It was also a drawback that, although it was magic, its attacks were treated as physical.
If I found catalysts from other monsters later, I might come up with additional tricks, but as far as I could tell, that was the full extent of it for now.
More important than my own assessment was Kim Hyunsung’s opinion.
What mattered most was whether this newly gained class and ability would help on the road ahead or not.
When I glanced at him as though asking for his overall judgment, he nodded and spoke.
“Well done.”
“Ah.”
“I thought you’d manage it, but the result is even beyond what I imagined.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll need to look into it a bit more, but….”
For now, that meant he was satisfied, and for some reason that made me feel good.
It wasn’t just Kim Hyunsung, either.
Just like when I’d first demonstrated my abilities, my party members all looked thoroughly shocked.
Voices of congratulations rose from here and there, and I felt my mood lift for no reason at all.
“I knew, hyung, that you’d pull somethin’ off. Krrr… you look absolutely awesome, hyung.”
“Thanks, Deokgu.”
“Congrats….”
Even Kim Yeri had her mouth slightly open.
It was the first time I’d heard her voice properly.
I casually raised a hand to pat her head, but she hurriedly hid behind Kim Hyunsung, and my arm cut through empty air.
It was just then that I slowly looked around the area.
…….
Jung Hayan’s face came into view.
She looked somewhat uneasy.
Not because I’d reached toward Kim Yeri.
She thinks she’s been found out.
Maybe because the alchemical mechanism I’d shown was so similar to the structure of the magic she herself had cast, one side of her face was twitching faintly.
She was definitely worried that I might have discovered her magic.
To be honest, I had thought about putting some brakes on Jung Hayan’s behavior, but the timing wasn’t right, so I held my tongue for now.
“Hayan.”
“A-ah… yes, Oppa.”
When I clasped her hand tightly, it felt like she was calming down a little.
Seeing the guilty look on her face told me I hadn’t been wrong.
I need to make her feel it for herself.
The best outcome was getting her to realize that the things she was doing were wrong.
Her disposition hadn’t changed yet, so if I just kept poking at the fault lines, I figured she’d restrain herself a bit.
“Then it might be best to eat breakfast and talk things over. We should make sure Kiyoung knows what we obtained, too.”
No need to tell me if you don’t want to, but….
It was easier if they explained it in their own words.
“It seems the expedition was satisfying after all.”
“Well, not exactly. In truth, it was so difficult at first that I thought we might have to turn back….”
“…….”
“I’d like to hear the details.”
As soon as Kim Hyunsung started speaking, the area fell quiet. I had no idea how much chaos had gone on, but from the calm atmosphere now, I could tell it had to be worse than I’d imagined.
“We entered and came back out of a Rare-grade dungeon. After first entering the dungeon, it took us three days before we could head out.”
“What?”
“Because Hayan’s physical condition wasn’t good….”
“Ah.”
Jung Hayan’s head drooped lower and lower.
He’d tried to soften the explanation by saying her condition wasn’t good, but I could already guess what had happened.
Until the moment they left this place, she must have barely eaten a thing, refusing food entirely and practically starving herself. Of course her body would be in terrible shape. I’m sure she’d also made the dungeon a complete mess with tears and tantrums.
So that’s why they were late.
Those three days Kim Hyunsung mentioned were probably the time he spent restoring Jung Hayan’s mental state.
“It took Deokgu a very long time to adjust as well. I saw many sides of him beyond what he’d shown before. Yeri was the same. She may lack experience, but she caused a number of strange sudden incidents and made the party chaotic. It would have been even harder if it weren’t for Hee-ra.”
“…….”
“…….”
He’s saying this like he wants us to hear it.
“Our coordination was a complete mess as well. If I hadn’t intervened, we might have been wiped out. Rear-line members shooting arrows at the front, front-liners getting frightened and putting the rear at risk—there were many times things became dangerous because of that.”
“Urgh….”
“The atmosphere was such that a total wipe was never far away.”
No, to be exact, it wasn’t that he was telling them to hear it—it was more like he wanted to tell me about the hardships they’d endured.
…….
It felt like watching a father or mother complain to their spouse about their child’s bad behavior.
Sure enough, Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan both lowered their heads even further.
“But as we kept going, we gradually found our footing. The results weren’t bad, either.”
“Yes.”
“We all reached a stat total of 60 and succeeded in obtaining Heroic-grade classes.”
“Ah….”
“I’ll explain the rest in more detail once we’re inside.”
All?
It didn’t take long for me to realize something was off about Kim Hyunsung’s words.
Because the class grade I had confirmed for Deokgu was definitely Rare.
That pig….