Imprinting the Soul
The Polar Night, curved like a scythe, surged forward.
It carried a slightly different feel from the usual way I wielded Darkness Dominion.
Huh?
No way.
What if I applied it like external ki…?
BOOM!
The Polar Night shattered into fragments and sprayed in every direction.
A force that had slipped beyond even my control.
I was forced to shield my body with True Dragon Armor.
“What the hell.”
“Pfft. Had it been that easy, this one would not have offered advice right away.”
“You’re the one who told me to try it, Goddess?”
This wasn’t the time for laughter. I felt like an explanation was in order.
“Is that all you sensed from the experience?”
Nyx answered, the amusement still lingering in her voice.
She hadn’t been trying to mess with me.
If her purpose had been to teach a lesson, then the earlier action held meaning.
Wait.
“The Polar Night was released even though I didn’t infuse it with intent.”
“Heh. You have finally realized it.”
“How does this work?”
“You have understood a considerable part of the night’s essence.”
Not through knowledge memorized by rote, but with the heart.
Traveling alongside Nyx had led me to accept the concept of night to a meaningful degree.
“Was it called Mind-Sword Unity?”
“The complete unification of internal energy, body, and mind.”
“Since you have come to understand and accept the night, there is no longer any need to infuse it with intent to manifest it.”
Ah.
A massive shock raced from the base of my spine to the crown of my head.
Not a physical one.
It was the ecstasy that arrived hand in hand with a profound moment of realization.
So that’s how it is.
I now understood why she had used martial arts as an example.
“There had been no need to manifest it first and then grant it intent afterward.”
Blades stacking in layers.
Creating the black sword had once taken a full minute.
Using the same method now, it formed in a single second.
Man.
Why had something so simple…
“You wear the face of someone wondering why this one did not tell you sooner.”
“Not at all.”
“This one can read your emotions.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t mind reading.”
“Is it not obvious what you are thinking?”
Ughhhhh.
I had nothing to say to that.
“It is only recently that you have come to understand the night to this extent.”
Until now, my shallow understanding had forced me to follow the sequence of manifestation then implementation.
With my understanding now elevated, it had become possible to pour intent into the release simultaneously, just like martial arts or skills.
“Then you could have simply explained it in words.”
“Would the difference not strike deeper after experiencing it firsthand?”
“Would it have killed you to teach me the comfortable way?”
“There is one more reason.”
The way she was dodging the subject made it obvious she felt guilty.
I’d known ever since I asked for the military cap.
She couldn’t bring herself to love and cherish her one and only contractor, but the thought of working him to the bone filled her with excitement…
“How long do you intend to continue these delusions?”
“I was organizing the enlightenment that just arrived.”
“Hehe. Let us pretend that is true.”
Sigh.
Maybe I should ban cotton candy for a week.
“What became of the Polar Night you manifested moments ago?”
“It exploded.”
“When power is excessive or does not match the nature, such things occur.”
“Does night have a nature as well?”
“The night that embraces all things—yet the darkness dwelling within you has not reached that realm.”
In other words.
It failed because I’m still a low-level scrub?
“Do you remember the island basement?”
“The moment I contracted with you, Goddess?”
“The Polar Night the contractor once held belonged to this one, but it is now yours.”
It grows together with me.
Clashing against countless trials and overcoming them.
My soul’s nature had been imprinted upon it.
“Your explanation is a little difficult.”
“It means forms engraved upon your mind’s eye can be manifested with great speed.”
To put it simply, like pressing a specific button in a fighting game to execute a technique.
My Polar Night also required a fixed pattern in its arrangement so it wouldn’t shatter like before.
Ooh.
If I could fire sharp attacks like the black sword Nyx had manifested, with zero delay.
It would freeze an opponent’s blood during battle.
“Teach me that pattern!”
“What are you saying? That is now something you must discover for yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“It is Polar Night that has adapted to your soul. How could this one possibly know the wavelength that suits you?”
Siiip.
Then she should have just said she didn’t know from the start.
She got my hopes up and now she’s backing out?
“Did I not ask whether you would train or not?”
“Wow. Wow. Wooooow.”
It was so unfair and absurd that words failed me.
Was this like a liberal-arts student coming up with an idea and then telling the engineering student to go build it?
“Worry not. This one shall also lend a hand.”
“I’m so grateful I could cry.”
Sigh.
Really.
I already had a mountain of tasks to handle, and she had just piled one more on top.
I had gained a hint that would let me grow even stronger, so why did it feel like I wanted to cry?
My shoulders grew heavy beneath the mountain of tasks piled as high as Mount Tai.
Darkness Shield skill has been added.
This skill is subordinate to Darkness Dominion.
Darkness Shield
Grade: ★★★★★
Type: Active
Projects the user’s mental image onto Polar Night to manifest it in shield form.
It was the fourth after Darkness Blade, Darkness Spear, and Darkness Axe.
Looking at my battered True Dragon Armor, it was easy to see how brutal this training had been.
–Let us stop here for today.
“I could keep going all day.”
–It is difficult to find another trace within your darkness.
So the true owner of Polar Night really was different.
While watching my training, she pointed out corrections.
She also helped me visualize the traces of my soul engraved upon the Polar Night.
“Hmm. Four, huh.”
Not bad at all.
The sword was the king of all weapons, capable of both slashing and thrusting.
The axe emphasized destructive power.
The spear excelled at mid-range control.
And the newly acquired shield was an extremely useful ability for someone like me, who possessed almost no defensive skills outside of True Dragon Armor.
–How strange.
“That I have almost no defensive abilities?”
–The fact that you answer instantly tells me you already harbored the same question.
“The monsters in the Tower and the Gates are half-finished products.”
They were either created to test climbers.
Or.
They were manufactured to invade the world after the Great Erosion.
In the process of adjusting and amplifying their aggression, the essences they absorbed ended up producing mostly attack skills.
–A reasonable hypothesis.
“Even when I asked the Old Gods, they wouldn’t answer. Looks like they don’t know either.”
–Constellations are not omnipotent. Are you not living proof of that?
“Me? Why?”
–Because they granted you the power to become a blade turned against them.
Ah.
I hadn’t considered it from that angle.
“Regression really is a cheat.”
–Even a conceptual god cannot defy the miracle of reversing time.
Heh. Hearing the goddess acknowledge it made me feel even better.
These days I was happily sucking up all the sweet honey after regressing, but the first round had been nothing but despair.
It hadn’t even been done with one hundred percent certainty.
Since that was the only way to flip the board, I had been forced to burn everyone’s lives on that faint possibility.
“I owe those bastards a massive debt. I’ll make sure to repay it in full.”
–Your revenge is justified. This one shall assist you with all her strength.
The conversation had drifted a bit.
Still, obtaining a defense-related skill was a huge gain.
If it were magic, unless it was a spell I had Memorized, it would be difficult to cast in an urgent situation.
Since Polar Night could be manifested from anywhere on my body, my responsiveness was far superior.
“Ehehehehehe.”
–I wonder when that frivolous laughter will cease.
“I’m simply being honest with my emotions.”
Although I had discovered new possibilities with Polar Night.
The real training was only just beginning.
To endure using the final form of Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts, the Sky Demon Emperor Fist, my body needed far more refinement.
And to use the magic combinations along with the sub-skills of Darkness Dominion I had been practicing until now with complete familiarity, I would have to keep grinding.
Void Projection
『Did you call, Master?』
『Sniff. It is bothersome, so I would appreciate it if you stopped calling me.』
『KAOOOOO!』
“All of you, come out and help with my training.”
There was a clear limit to training alone.
The guild members were currently enjoying their free time after serving as primary PT instructors.
So even if it was you guys, you had to keep me company.
An Archlich Lord, an Eldritch Dragon, and a primordial species.
It would not be easy to find this much combat potential anywhere on Earth.
–Hehe. This one must participate as well.
“Why are you joining too, Goddess?”
–Did I not say I would help with your training?
With the manifested Nyx, we were now four.
The main players who had suppressed the multi-racial players during the 66th-floor mission now stood blocking my path.
“Blocking my path? That’s a rude way to put it.”
『To think I can legally attack Master. This sparks my interest!』
『Nidhogg. We are servants who worship our Master.』
“KAOOOOOO!”
It was chaos. Pure chaos.
For the next three days, I devoted myself to training by exchanging blows with my subordinates.
This gate had been allocated by the government not only for PT but also for guild member training.
The temporary building was stocked with ample food.
Shower facilities, rest areas—everything necessary had been prepared.
It meant I could simply travel back and forth between the gate and the building without needing to go anywhere else.
“Lexy. Let us train together.”
“Kyaooooo!”
Nyx and Lexy moved together so naturally they seemed to have become a single body.
『Please forgive this one’s disloyalty.』
Despite his words, Ark prepared a lethal spell.
『Take this, Master!』
Nidhogg charged in with a passion I had never seen from him before.
Wow.
There was no way I could hold back.
The combined assault of my three subordinates and Nyx was incredibly threatening.
More so than the five guild members I had raised myself.
The guild members still had undeveloped potential, but my subordinates possessed combat strength on par with boss monsters from the 70th floor, so there was no comparison right now.
On top of that.
There was also the traitor who had observed me the most.
“If your breath is already this ragged, will that not be a problem?”
I knew it ever since she went looking for that military cap.
Really.
“You have quite the talent for keeping people on edge.”
The phrase “train as if it were real combat” came to mind.
Thanks to that.
In just three days I had adapted considerably to the four powers registered as sub-skills of Darkness Dominion.
–You are finally somewhat useful.
“The system’s assistance played a big part too.”
It placed less burden on deployment than Nyx had described, allowing me to use it quickly.
The only downside was the massive consumption of Polar Night.
“I have to expend the full 100 every single deployment.”
–That is rather unfortunate. It would be difficult to use freely in a prolonged battle.
“Actually, I like it.”
My Polar Night stat had surpassed two thousand.
Thanks to its extremely high recovery rate, I had never consumed more than a third of it in any fight.
Since I could raise my other stats through Devour, I had invested every bonus stat into Polar Night.
Sometimes I wondered whether over-investing was a mistake because the amount I could release at once was limited.
“Now I have a reason to raise Polar Night even higher.”
–Hehe. That is what a contractor of this one should do.
“Let’s head back now.”
–Are you certain you do not wish to continue?
“Victor Amil will arrive in a day or two.”
Ellen and Victor Amil.
Once those two arrived, I would have to resume training inside the gate.
It had also been quite a while since I last showed my face in the Tower because I had been focused on the first PT and personal training.
I planned to climb a few floors before the special training began.
–Do you never grow tired?
“Once I’m dead I can rest all I want. Until then, I’ll keep moving.”
–The way you speak… You are not about to start talking about the era of destruction again, are you?
“No.”
Actually, she was right.
Goddess.
You know far too much.
–Are you perhaps trying to harm this one?
“You’ve been watching too many dramas.”
–You always speak in that tone and then deny it.
“Never mind. Let’s just climb the Tower.”
I quickly dropped the threats that clearly weren’t working.
Sigh.
This really is my life.