Chapter 58
“Why? Why those two?”
Kim Jun asked, looking puzzled.
Rage and Flame.
They weren’t bad skills by any means, but they weren’t the combination he had expected.
He’d thought she’d fuse his mainstays, things like Explosion or Infernal Dragon Breath.
“Because!”
Olivia replied, her eyes sparkling.
“This combination will make Hunter Kim Jun the fastest and strongest!”
The tired look that had been on her face only moments ago had vanished completely, replaced by the excitement of a graduate student who had just stumbled upon a priceless research topic.
Seeing her this worked up…
Kim Jun studied her and thought to himself.
If an expert was that certain, then there had to be something to it.
“Let me hear it first.”
Kim Jun folded his arms and nodded.
He wasn’t completely sold yet, but judging by Olivia’s enthusiasm, it was worth hearing out.
“Great!”
Olivia clapped once and pointed at two of the skill names floating in the air.
Rage and Flame.
The two skills glowed brighter than the others.
“The Rage skill Hunter Kim Jun has is one where a debuff and a buff coexist. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. The angrier I get, the stronger I become. But I can also lose my reason in the end.”
Kim Jun nodded.
Rage was a double-edged sword.
As anger built during battle, every stat—attack, defense, speed, everything—would skyrocket like crazy.
But at the same time, the risk of losing his mind and no longer being able to tell friend from foe was just as real.
Not just before his regression, but even in this life, it had been the same.
In the Celestial Realm.
If those fighters had been anyone other than his companions—
Ugh…
Even imagining it was horrifying.
“Exactly!”
Olivia waved her hands excitedly.
“From that Rage skill, we strip away only the ‘positive’ part—the one where attack power and every other stat keep increasing!”
“…What?”
Kim Jun’s eyes widened.
Remove the debuff and leave only the buff?
“That’s possible?”
“It is, if we fuse it with Flame!”
Olivia said confidently.
“Ah, of course, the Rage skill itself would still remain. This is about creating something entirely new!”
“And then?”
Kim Jun leaned forward. His interest was starting to rise.
“We mix that increasing power with Flame, Hunter Kim Jun’s own defining identity!”
Olivia’s voice grew more and more animated.
“Flame is the main offensive skill that fits your fighting style perfectly. It makes flames burst from every sword strike and burns your enemies to ash with sheer destructive force.”
She brought her hands together as if clasping something precious.
“And if those two were fused?”
“Hmm…”
But Kim Jun still couldn’t fully picture it.
He couldn’t quite see the image Olivia was painting.
How exactly were the two skills supposed to merge?
“It becomes a passive skill and an active skill at the same time!”
“So what does that mean, exactly?”
Kim Jun asked, sounding a little impatient.
Olivia snapped her fingers.
Tick—
A tiny flame appeared in the air. A perfectly ordinary red flame.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Fire?”
“Right. But not just fire.”
Olivia carefully cupped the flame in her palm.
It flickered there as if it were alive.
“Right now, this flame is about seven hundred degrees Celsius. The heat is about the same as a campfire or a candle flame.”
“So?”
“I’ll show you properly from here.”
Olivia slowly began feeding it mana.
Whoooooosh—
The flame started to swell and grow.
Then its color began to change.
From red to a brighter and brighter orange.
“Once the temperature passes one thousand degrees—!”
The flame blazed brilliantly, shifting from orange to a golden yellow.
The wavering, liquid-like fire grew more and more intense.
“It changes color like this. The same kind of flame you’d see in a village forge when they’re heating iron.”
Kim Jun stared without blinking.
The transformation of the flame was fascinating, but he was starting to understand what Olivia was trying to show him.
“And if it rises even further?”
Olivia’s mana poured in more forcefully.
Wooooooong—
The yellow flame brightened further, then began emitting a blinding radiance.
A pure white light.
“Between twelve hundred and fifteen hundred degrees. At this point, it can melt iron until it runs like water. This is the hottest fire in a forge’s furnace.”
“Oh…”
Kim Jun let out an impressed breath. He could feel the heat pouring off the white flame even from here.
“But,”
Olivia smiled.
“That isn’t the end.”
Her voice dropped lower.
As if she were performing a sacred ritual.
Hsssssssss—
The white flame began to tremble.
The air vibrated. No, it felt as though space itself were rippling.
And then.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The change began from the center of the white flame.
Like a drop of blue ink falling into clear water, a sapphire hue rose from the heart of the pure white fire.
At first it was nothing more than a tiny point. But that blue light began to spread as if it were alive.
As though it were devouring the white.
And finally.
Fwoooooooosh—!!!
Complete blue.
“…”
Kim Jun had no words.
The blue flame held every contradiction within itself.
An icy, frozen-looking light. And yet it burned hotter than any fire.
Beautiful.
“Over fifteen hundred degrees…”
Olivia whispered in reverent awe.
“This is the color of the hottest natural flame. It’s a temperature on par with the surface of the sun.”
Kim Jun couldn’t look away.
The sight of the blue flame dancing above her palm filled him with a sense of wonder, as though he had just stolen a glimpse into the domain of gods.
“So that’s the end?”
After staring at it for a long moment, Kim Jun finally spoke.
“For now, yes.”
Olivia nodded.
“This is as far as I can make it go. Azure flame is the limit of the natural world.”
She looked at the blue fire as she continued.
“But in theory, it can go further.”
“Further?”
“Yes. Beyond blue, and then beyond that…”
Olivia paused for a moment.
“I don’t know what color it would be. I can’t even imagine it. But one thing is certain…”
She looked Kim Jun straight in the eye.
“That depends entirely on Hunter Kim Jun. On how strong you become.”
Kim Jun’s heart stirred.
Flame beyond blue, huh…
“And there’s one more thing.”
When Olivia flicked her finger, the edges of the blue flame began to blacken.
The inside of the flame remained blue, but its rim was swallowed by darkness.
“Your Black Flame—more precisely, the dark attribute—can be applied to each stage.”
As Olivia manipulated the flame, the blue vanished and a red fire appeared.
Its edges, too, were tinged black.
“Red fire with a black border.”
She changed it to white again. The rim was black once more.
“White fire with a black border.”
And then back to blue.
“Blue fire with a black border.”
“…”
Kim Jun had no words.
“You keep strengthening the flame step by step, then apply the dark attribute over it. It becomes a completely new Black Flame!!”
Olivia smiled.
“The increasing effect of Rage, the flame attribute, and the dark attribute. In effect, three skills are being fused into one.”
“That’s insane.”
Kim Jun muttered.
A flame hot enough on its own was more than powerful enough, and now she was saying it could also carry a dark attribute?
“But,”
Olivia added, her expression turning serious.
“The higher the stage, the more charge time it needs.”
“How much?”
“The red flame activates instantly. But it takes about twenty seconds to reach orange, forty seconds to reach white, and as for blue…”
Olivia did some quick calculations on her fingers.
“About two minutes. Of course, that’s only by my standards!”
“Two minutes.”
Kim Jun repeated it.
In battle, two minutes was not a short time. There was no way enemies would just stand around and wait.
“Not really usable in a real fight, then.”
“That’s right.”
Olivia nodded.
“But if you have companions, it’s a different story. You can charge it while someone else holds the enemy back.”
A picture formed in Kim Jun’s mind.
Park Minsu held the front with his shield.
Ryu Jia and Han Suin covered the left and right. Lee Seoyeon protected the rear.
And in the meantime, Kim Jun concentrated from behind.
“And the longer you charge it, the more its power rises exponentially.”
Olivia said.
“If you keep charging past the fixed two minutes, the power of the blue flame keeps increasing. Even at the same temperature, the flame’s density and destructive force go up.”
“So overcharging is possible.”
“Exactly!”
Olivia clapped her hands.
“The longer your companions can hold out, the stronger Hunter Kim Jun’s flame becomes.”
Kim Jun nodded slowly.
At this level…
This would be a force unlike anything he had in the previous timeline.
“Good. Let’s do it.”
Kim Jun said decisively.
“A wise choice.”
With a satisfied smile, Olivia inscribed golden letters in the air.
Fwoosh—
A dazzling skill name appeared.
Prism Flare.
“That name’s pretty cool too,”
Kim Jun muttered as he looked at the letters.
A flame that changed color like the spectrum of light.
[Skill Acquired]: Prism Flare
[Rank]: EX
[Effect]: The flame’s temperature and power increase in stages over time.
- Stage 1: Red Flame (700°C)
- Stage 2: Orange Flame (1,000°C)
- Stage 3: White Flame (1,200–1,500°C)
- Stage 4: Blue Flame (1,500°C+)
- Overcharge: Continued charging beyond blue further amplifies power
[Special]: The charged flame can be imbued into weapons/skills or released directly
[Usage]: Can switch between passive and active depending on how it is used
[Passive, Active Skill]
“Hoo…”
Olivia let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“That was really hard! Hunter Kim Jun’s skills are all so… still, I’m proud we managed to make something this incredible!”
With a tired smile, she began putting away her magecraft equipment.
Her legs were wobbling. Her mana was nearly exhausted.
Finally, I can res—
“Wait.”
Kim Jun grabbed Olivia’s hand.
“Yes?”
“There are more skills I want to combine.”
“?”
Olivia froze.
“More…?”
“Yeah. I want to try fusing Detection and Acceleration too, and maybe a few others.”
“W-why?”
Olivia’s voice trembled.
Just making one skill had nearly killed her.
Analyzing more than fifteen skills, calculating the optimal combinations, designing the fusion process—it felt like every drop of mana in her body had been wrung out.
“What do you mean, why?”
“But my mana…”
“Oh, did I push you a little too hard?”
“Y-yes, yes, y-yep! I’m a little tired for today—”
Kim Jun calmly rummaged through his pocket.
“I brought a lot of mana potions. Here.”
Tap, tap, tap—
Kim Jun began lining up bottles of mana potion on the table.
One, two, three…
“U-um…”
Five, six, seven…
Ten high-grade mana potions were stacked there before long.
He remembered how, even in the previous life, Olivia would try to weasel out with one excuse or another.
Not this time.
Kim Jun smiled a wicked smile.
“…”
Olivia stared blankly at the potions.
T-this person…
So all she had to do was refill her mana?
What about the physical exhaustion? The mental exhaustion?
“Come on, drink up and start again. We have to move quickly.”
Kim Jun grinned brightly.
“We haven’t even been to the Room of Creation yet.”
“…Huh?”
Olivia’s face went even paler.
Was there no end to the fall?
“T-the Room of Creation too…?”
“Of course. We have to go there too. Today.”
“…”
Olivia weakly picked up a potion.
Her hand was shaking.
And then she realized it.
This night was going to be very, very, very long.
Discount… he’s not going to give me one… damn it…
Olivia’s tiny groan echoed through the Room of Harmony.
[Name]: Olivia
[Affection]: 70/100 (+30)
.
.
.
[Affection]: 30/100 (+30)
59