Chapter 135: The Strongest Hatchling (1)
―My disciple, are you alright?
“Yes, I can endure…….”
Choi Hee-yeon nodded at the Heavenly Thunder Sword’s question.
After the battle with the Prophet of Wrath Edgar Malone ended, the Heavenly Thunder Sword finished purifying the contaminated zone and returned, but the situation had already concluded.
―The others also look terrible.
“Are you trying to rub salt in the wound?”
When Yoon Soo-ho asked while glaring with sharp eyes, the Heavenly Thunder Sword flinched and trembled its blade.
―Rubbing salt? I’m just worried. It’s fortunate that none of you died and survived.
“What were you doing that you only came now, old man?”
Even the exhausted Chae So-young added a word.
―This seat had no choice because I was purifying the contaminated zone. If I had just a little more time, I would have split that wicked demonic cultist bastard in half and killed him. Unfortunately, I missed him.
“Anyway, since Psycho junior went after him, that guy won’t survive.”
―Then that’s a relief.
Yoon Soo-ho stared quietly at the Heavenly Thunder Sword conversing with Choi Hee-yeon.
Feeling something off, he spoke.
“You seem to have changed somehow.”
―Me? You have good eyes.
Tsztsztztsztz…
Blue currents flowed out from the Heavenly Thunder Sword’s blade.
It felt like power on a completely different level from the Hunters’ unique mana.
―After absorbing something called Creep that creates contaminated zones, I regained the power I had forgotten.
“How does one raise the level of mana that high?”
Yoon Soo-ho asked with sparkling eyes for the first time.
The mana emanating from the Heavenly Thunder Sword was majestic to that extent.
He thought that if he could obtain power of that level, he wouldn’t lose to Edgar Malone, whom he had just fought.
And if he developed further, he might even be able to stand on equal footing with Psycho.
―This power? Ordinary people can never obtain it no matter how hard they try for a lifetime. In my case, it took about a hundred years.
“A hundred years?”
―If one cannot achieve the reversal of aging, it should be considered practically impossible. Otherwise, one would have to obtain a life-extending elixir or learn demonic arts to forcibly extend lifespan. It’s not an easy task and requires mobilizing all kinds of methods. How great I am…
The other Hunters started ignoring the Heavenly Thunder Sword’s increasingly long speech from the middle.
They each had different thoughts while looking at the high-level mana flowing from the Heavenly Thunder Sword.
Yoon Soo-ho thought about shortcuts to reach that realm.
Choi Hee-yeon wanted to learn properly from her master and acquire it as quickly as possible.
Unlike the similar pair, Chae So-young had a different thought.
‘It feels like energy?’
Because she handled psionic energy, she could make the guess.
She would know the exact details if she asked her older brother.
It was about time for him to finish dealing with Edgar Malone and return, but there was still no news.
She considered sending telepathy, but decided to wait because it might disturb him.
Since there was no way her older brother would lose to a prophet, she wasn’t particularly worried.
While they were catching their breath like that.
She felt a group of Hunters running toward this place.
Yoon Soo-ho and Choi Hee-yeon, who were higher level than her, had already noticed and were looking in the direction the group was coming from.
The Heavenly Thunder Sword had already been put back into its sheath so it could no longer chatter.
The people who approached were none other than Hunters affiliated with the association.
Vice Guild Master Cha Se-hyeon, Secretary’s Office Head Myung Ji-yoon, and personnel dispatched from various guilds.
“Are you all alright?”
Cha Se-hyeon stepped forward and asked.
“We have each taken one bottle of elixir, so our bodies are fine. Mental fatigue should be resolved with some rest.”
The association Hunters felt relieved at Yoon Soo-ho’s words.
“It’s truly fortunate, but from next time, I hope you don’t overdo it. If something happens to the Guild Master, the entire Republic of Korea will be in danger.”
Even though Myung Ji-yoon had relieved her worries, her expression was still not good.
She had tried to stop it from the moment she first heard the news from Chae So-young, but they hadn’t listened.
Even though she knew the Guild Master was strong, she couldn’t help feeling anxious.
The opponent wasn’t just anyone but Edgar Malone, who had one-sidedly overwhelmed Hannah Adams.
In the worst case, Yoon Soo-ho could have been defeated before the support force even arrived.
“I went first because I was confident I wouldn’t die to the prophet. And even if I were defeated, Psycho is still in South Korea.”
“But… Haa, never mind.”
Myung Ji-yoon shook her head without arguing any further.
Of course, in pure combat power Psycho held the advantage, but the Hunter trusted by the majority of the citizens was Yoon Soo-ho.
Because he carried the symbolism of representing the Republic of Korea, any problem with him would inevitably cause an even bigger repercussion.
On the other hand, this side of Yoon Soo-ho also served as justification for serving him as Guild Master.
After all, he had rushed in risking danger to save the life of an Awakener Intelligence Department agent.
“Everyone must be exhausted, so please return quickly. We have prepared vehicles, so you can move comfortably.”
At Myung Ji-yoon’s words, the three Hunters moved to where the vehicles were parked.
Chae So-young, who was boarding an off-road SUV.
A telepathy she had been waiting for reached her.
―So-young.
‘Oppa? Are you done?’
―Yeah. Come to the Awakener Intelligence Department secret research division right now. You can come with Advisor senior.
***
“This is pretty well made.”
“Thank you, Agent-nim.”
Jeon Yu-hwan bowed his head at Jin-young’s praise.
In his hands was a large mana stone sparkling with a brilliant blue light.
He had succeeded in processing the Dragon Heart into a mana stone.
Of course, he had gone through trial and error, even blowing up two hearts previously.
He had created an item that surpassed the level of existing 1st grade mana stones.
It was slightly inferior to the Zero-grade mana stone Jin-young had obtained from the Disaster-grade Dungeon, but he was satisfied.
In fact, after filtering out the red mana from a Zero-grade mana stone, it was roughly similar.
Moreover, there was still a Dragon Heart one level higher than the ones he had entrusted this time.
“Right now you should be able to do this too.”
Shuut-
Jin-young took out an even larger Dragon Heart from his sub-space. It had a more brilliant color and far denser mana concentrated in it than the previous ones.
It was the heart of the guardian dragon Zetakrax from the treasure vault.
With this, he might be able to create a mana stone on the level of a Zero-grade mana stone, or even better.
Jeon Yu-hwan unconsciously swallowed his saliva upon seeing it.
His skill had improved steadily while working on the previous Dragon Hearts, but this was on a completely different level.
“I will definitely succeed.”
Of course, Jeon Yu-hwan did not lose confidence and immediately accepted the Dragon Heart.
However, even before starting the work, he had no choice but to make a distressed face.
It was because of the additional mana stone Jin-young took out from his sub-space.
The one with a reddish tint was the same Zero-grade mana stone he had seen last time.
“I just cleared one more Disaster-grade Dungeon in the Philippines.”
“Ah… I see.”
It wasn’t something he was particularly curious about, but Jeon Yu-hwan reflexively answered and left the workshop.
Left alone, Jin-young quickly absorbed the Zero-grade mana stone as he had done before.
Tszkwakwakwakwakwa-
He separately filtered the red mana and put it into the sub-space.
He rapidly absorbed the blue mana into his body. Normally, if a Hunter absorbed it at this speed, their mana would flow backward and they would die, but it caused no damage to Jin-young.
Instead, it promoted mana circulation and produced the additional effect of enhancing his mana power.
Jin-young even caught the aftershock that tried to mess up the workshop with psychokinesis and sucked it in completely without leaving any behind.
Gooooooo…
A different current than before was wrapping around his body.
Zero-grade — the rank evaluated as having reached the peak of physical ability and mana power.
Of course, since Jin-young appeared, the prestige of Zero-grade had dropped significantly.
But in the Hunter world, it was clearly the heavenly realm.
‘So this was the power of Zero-grade.’
Even though Jin-young had already been lingering somewhere in the ambiguous area between 1st grade and Zero-grade, he could clearly feel the distinct difference.
Just walking lightly felt as light as walking on air.
Mana that endlessly welled up.
And even sensitive senses that could capture small changes in the surroundings.
It wasn’t for nothing that they were treated as the ultimate weapons of each country.
However, he could also clearly feel that even Zero-grade Hunters still had a long way to go.
『The amount of mana itself is quite large, but it is still lower in level than a dragon. In fact, compared to the one we saw in the treasure vault, the quantity isn’t that much either.』
The tentacle evaluated Jin-young’s mana and spoke.
‘Just how much more mana do I need to accumulate before I can compress it into Mystic Energy?’
『Around twice the current amount might make it possible. The same goes for other humans called Zero-grade.』
‘That’s why I still can’t rest easy.’
Zero-grade Hunters needed to gather enough mana to compress into Mystic Energy in order to leap to the next stage.
Some Zero-grade Hunters like Liu Qinglong never stopped training, but most, like Hannah, focused more on politics, administration, and training the next generation rather than training itself.
That was why he planned to do joint raids and sparring sessions like this to improve the level of Zero-grade Hunters.
Once the Zero-grade Hunters got on track to some extent, they would directly pass on their secrets to 1st grade Hunters.
Then to 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and even 9th grade Hunters. If a systematic training system was established within the Hunter world, the overall level would rise.
It would mean gaining the forces capable of responding to Dungeon Raids, contaminated zone purification, and future dimensional invasions.
Only then would the world Jin-young desired be created.
『It’s quite idealistic. Do you think that’s possible?』
‘Things that seem impossible often become possible when you try. Well, not all Hunters will follow, but I think it’s enough if only those with the will participate.’
There were many Hunters who wanted to become stronger but had no opportunity to do so.
Jin-young before his regression had been one such case.
It would be enough to have someone who could pull up the lagging Hunters and someone who could do their best when pulling them.
『While we’re on the topic, let me ask. Aren’t you curious about the humans doing Hell training?』
‘I’m not particularly curious about those two. How is Executor senior doing?’
He wasn’t really curious about how well Jacob or Dmitri were doing.
They had all their mana taken away, but their physical abilities were at 1st grade level, so there was no need to worry.
And since they had originally been compatible with Black Mana, their bodies were in the optimal state to accept Void energy.
What he was curious about was Executor Hong Jun-su.
It wasn’t that he was worried whether he could endure it.
He was simply curious about how well he was doing.
『As you expected, he is adapting the fastest. Thanks to a will stronger than his innate talent, his physical ability is improving quite quickly.』
‘Really? How much longer do you think it will take before he can accept Void energy?’
『At the current pace, probably half a year. But it could become shorter or longer. If he gains momentum it will shorten, and if he falls into a slump it will lengthen.』
‘So the middle value is half a year. Not bad. How about the Dragon Egg?’
『No news at all.』
Right now in the sub-space was the Dragon Egg received from the quasi-divine Nekraksia.
The tentacle had allocated one part of the sub-space exclusively to the Dragon Egg and accelerated the flow of time.
By Earth’s time, nearly a year had already passed, yet there was still no sign of hatching.
‘Hmm, maybe it needs the mother dragon to incubate it. Or perhaps the hatching period is different from the dragons in Renard.’
The Dragon Eggs he saw in Renard usually hatched within about a year, but this dragon might be different.
Since there was no rush anyway, he had no choice but to keep watching over time.
When Jin-young came out of Jeon Yu-hwan’s workshop, Chae So-young and Choi Hee-yeon had just gotten off the elevator.
“Oppa. Is something wrong?”
“I came to check if you’re training well.”
“What? You called me all the way here just for that? We could have done it at home…”
Chae So-young frowned and glared at him.
“And this too.”
Jin-young handed the newly made Dragon Heart mana stone to his sister.
“…I could have done it, but if oppa tells me to come, I have to come.”
Chae So-young slightly drooled as she received the mana stone that clearly contained extraordinary power.
Jin-young also handed one to Choi Hee-yeon and said,
“Senior, even though you’re not Zero-grade yet, you’re already giving off that kind of atmosphere.”
“Thank you. It’s probably because Heavenly Sword Master is teaching me well…”
Clunk.
As if it had a lot to say, the sheath containing the Heavenly Thunder Sword trembled violently.
Choi Hee-yeon let out a small sigh and drew the sword from its sheath.
Jin-young narrowed his eyes.
The moment the sword was drawn, he felt a power he had never sensed before.
―How is it? The excellent nurturing ability of the Heavenly Thunder Sect. If the location had been Heavenly Thunder Mountain, it would have absorbed the energy and grown even faster…
“Heavenly Sword.”
The Heavenly Thunder Sword felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding at the low voice calling it.
―W-what do you suddenly want to say?
“I’m quite interested in that energy of yours.”
Seeing Jin-young’s eyes flash with greed, the Heavenly Thunder Sword tried to return to its sheath.
But it already knew well that was impossible.
The Heavenly Thunder Sword, unable to move even an inch due to psychokinesis.
―N-no…
“Yes, it is.”
_____________________________________________
TL Note:
This novel is fully completed.
You can either:
- Unlock this novel individually through its Collection "Transcendent Psychic Regressor" and access all remaining 66 Chapters for only $3
- Or join the Premium Tier ($7) for access to all 6 novels and ongoing updates
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
____________________________________________