Chapter 182: New Abilities
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 182: New Abilities
"Alright, all done!"
In front of the cold operating table, Teacher Mela clapped her small, joyful hands, signaling the completion of the preliminary construction of the Alchemy Core within Muen.
It wasn't just the Alchemy Core; a total of 3,621 magic patterns had also been inscribed into Muen’s body. Although this was still negligible compared to what was needed to connect to the entire Eternal Clock, it represented the first successful step toward fulfilling her long-held ambition.
"Huh? Didn't I say it’s finished? Why are you still lying there?"
Mela leaned over, looking confusedly at Muen. Despite being released from his restraints, he remained sprawled out motionless, looking like a dead fish.
Seeing him lying there, refusing to get up...
She tapped her palm with her fist in realization. "Could it be that my technique was so comfortable you fell asleep?"
"Comfortable? Teacher Mela, doesn't your conscience hurt?"
Muen finally turned his head. Under Teacher Mela’s "skilled" technique, his handsome face was... covered in tears.
"It hurts. It hurts so much. Teacher Mela, do you have any idea how much pain I was in?"
Actually, it wasn't so bad at the start. The scalpels, thin as cicada wings, slicing across his body felt like little more than a tickle to Muen—hardly worth mentioning compared to the ordeals he endured every night inside the Black Book.
The problem arose during the construction of the Alchemy Core. Teacher Mela had prepared a golden solution using Ancient Dragon Heart Blood as the raw material. When that solution was injected into his body, it didn't feel like a liquid at all—it felt like she was pouring in molten iron!
The molten iron seemed to sear his flesh inch by inch, gnawing at his bones and piercing his heart. It was an agonizing, soul-crushing pain.
With his resistance to pain, he could have endured it for a short while. The issue was that this "pleasurable" experience that sent him straight to the heavens lasted for an entire day.
A whole day!
Twenty-four hours!
One thousand, four hundred and forty minutes!
Do you know how I survived that?
Do you know how many times I passed out from the pain?
And yet you think I was comfortable? You don't care about me at all!
You even got distracted halfway through to go do something else, and when you came back, you still had half a chicken leg in your mouth! I saw it!
"If you can't even handle this much pain, you're not cut out for this, kid."
Teacher Mela curled her lip, a hint of disdain flickering in her crimson eyes. "When I was young, I wouldn't have let out so much as a whimper from this level of agony."
"...Is that so?"
"Of course."
"Then Teacher Mela, why won't you look me in the eye?" Muen stared at her shifting gaze.
Don't talk so big while looking like a little girl who would cry for ages if she got punched!
"Ahem, let's set such trivial matters aside for now. How does your body feel? Any discomfort?" Teacher Mela cleared her throat, changing the subject.
"Tsk..."
Muen clicked his tongue and moved his body around.
"No discomfort, really. It’s just that my back still feels a bit hot."
"A burning sensation is normal. Come, look at the results of your twenty-four-hour endurance test."
Mela produced a mirror from somewhere and gestured for Muen to turn around.
In the reflection, Muen finally saw the result of the day's excruciating pain.
It was a complex pattern of extreme precision and solemnity. Thousands of golden lines surrounded an Alchemy Core that resembled a rising sun, spreading across his torso in layers. The golden lines pulsed rhythmically with his breathing, exuding a mysterious and profound beauty.
"This is only the first inscription, just to establish a preliminary connection between you and the Eternal Clock. Once your body grows stronger, I will expand upon this foundation with at least 106,000 more magic patterns and install seventeen more Alchemy Cores. Only then will the second stage truly be complete."
"One hundred and six thousand..."
Muen’s lip twitched. "Is there even enough room on my back?"
"Oh? Who told you the next ones would be inscribed on your back?"
Teacher Mela arched a delicate brow, her gaze sweeping over Muen’s body. Her eyes lingered on a certain area for a good while, her lips curling into a meaningful smirk.
"Don't you have plenty of space elsewhere?"
"Huh?"
Muen froze. Following Teacher Mela’s gaze downward, his forehead broke into a cold sweat. He clutched his lower abdomen and wailed, "Teacher Mela, there are some places where you absolutely cannot draw weird patterns!"
"Relax, relax. I wouldn't intentionally draw a little pink heart on there that you could never wash off for the rest of your life." Teacher Mela blinked. This old loli, who loved acting young, currently wore an expression of pure, innocent stupidity.
"Saying it like that makes me even more worried!"
"I'll be gentler next time."
"I don't need that kind of gentleness!"
...
After fighting for his dignity for a long time and finally securing a promise from Teacher Mela that she wouldn't mess around, Muen spent a good while preening in front of the mirror.
He couldn't help but feel... that these golden patterns, combined with the increasingly solid contours of his back, looked pretty damn cool.
"Maybe in the future, I can win the hearts of countless ladies just with this handsome back of mine," Muen thought, striking a bodybuilding pose and getting lost in his own reflection.
A perfect "demon back," and one that came with built-in golden LED lighting—who could possibly resist that?
"Personally, I think the probability of attracting male perverts is much higher."
Teacher Mela ruthlessly shattered Muen’s fantasy, her expression turning slightly more serious.
"Alright, enough chatter. It’s time to test the actual effects."
"Actual effects?"
"You've established a preliminary connection with the Eternal Clock, after all. You should be able to use a tiny fraction of the Eternal Clock’s Authority through it now.
"Though it’s a negligible amount, for the current you, the boost should be extremely significant."
Teacher Mela pulled out her little pink watering can. Just as Muen thought she was about to habitually water the flower sea, she suddenly hurled the watering can toward him.
"Channel mana into the Alchemy Core," Mela commanded.
"Yes!"
Muen reacted instantly, rapidly directing the mana in his body toward the Alchemy Core on his back.
Despite being an artificial, externally carved creation, Muen felt as though those magic patterns had completely merged with him, becoming an extension of his own meridians. The mana flowed through those patterns as smoothly as it did through his own body.
In an instant, the Alchemy Core, flooded with a massive amount of mana, began to vibrate slightly, as if resonating with something.
Dong.
In that moment.
Muen felt as if he heard the midnight tolling of the Great Clock Tower.
The world fell silent instantly, but it wasn't a void of sound.
Rather, every sound seemed to distort and stretch out, except for his own heartbeat and breathing.
"This..."
Muen’s eyes widened in shock. The watering can Teacher Mela had thrown was suddenly suspended in mid-air.
No, it wasn't suspended; it was just flying incredibly slowly, as if someone had pressed the slow-motion button.
Muen could clearly see droplets of water slowly leaping from the spout, blooming into crystal-clear silver flowers in the air that lingered for an agonizingly long time.
Through those shimmering droplets, Muen saw Teacher Mela still holding her throwing posture. Her slightly chubby, baby-faced features looked incredibly cute in the static frame.
Time Stop?
Yellow hair?
Loli?
Muen suddenly felt as if a scene he’d seen somewhere before had actually manifested before his eyes. Every box was checked.