Chapter 144: What We Can Do (2)

Guild Revival's accomplishments quickly spread. It was only obvious. Father said he'd act alone, so only beautiful girls were left to clear Event Dungeons. No matter how weak they were, they would have received attention. What made it worse was that each of them had incredible strength. Even the lowest leveled Shuna had a special ability passed down in her royal family, granting her shocking defensive capability.

Perhaps because she was similar to Sumire in a lot of ways, they got along well. From what I heard in the guild communication channel, it seemed they were best friends. They were around the same age as well.

In any case, the 5 girls didn't hide their identities and confidently marched into the gates of countries that allowed foreign ability users to enter them. Of course, Hwaya provided her private plane for transportation.

Regardless of whether the Event Dungeons were ranked C or A, they cleared them thoroughly. Even when Event Raids broke out, they effortlessly cleared them. Since the Flame Witch Hwaya Mastiford was already well known, people at first suspected that they were affiliated with Britain's Guardian. However, after they identified Ludia and Ye-Eun as the girls who fought with Dragon Knight in America, they began to say that the group was under Dragon Knight's command. They were right.

Their decisive and swift action of destroying Event Dungeons regardless of their ranks drew the attention of other ability users and various mass media. They probably wanted to know our objective, but Hwaya avoided contact with the media. After all, even if Hwaya didn't explain, everyone should already know why Event Dungeons had to be destroyed. Hwaya simply led the others to clear as many Event Dungeons as possible.

Thanks to their action, other regions began to clear their Event Dungeons too. They were probably thinking something like, 'I don't know what's what, but they must be getting something amazing. So Let's do it, too!'

They weren't wrong. Hwaya and the others were getting great benefits from clearing the Event Dungeons. However, these benefits were only available to dungeon explorers, not regular ability users. That said, if they could reduce the harm caused by governments trying to let Event Dungeons turn into Field Dungeons, that would be good for the future.

As each Event Dungeons gave at least 1 bonus stat, Hwaya and the others grew greatly, clearing 88 dungeons in the given time. Since they even cleared Event Raids perfectly, I couldn't help but be jealous after calculating the stat bonuses they must have gotten. Of course, I wasn't so stupid as to make them stop and wait for me. To me, the current training was the most important. I could bear with hearing Hwaya's bragging.

[Huhu, I just cleared my 30th.]

[Congratulations, father.]

Father also destroyed many dungeons by himself. Considering how confident he was of late, it seemed he had mastered high-rank Spear Technique. I was certain, considering how he was bragging about reaching a new height in his spearmanship. He was worthy of the self-proclaimed title of world's strongest.

[How are you doing lately, son? Is your spear training going well?]

[It's so-so. I'm coming close to grasping it.]

[Ho, even so, you won't be able to reach father's level.]

[Just wait and see.]

I had to concentrate on Beyond even more. Today was the last day of the one month period I promised.

With Guild Revival's effort, and Guardian and Freedom Wing trying to clear high-ranked dungeons, 222 Event Dungeons had been cleared so far. It was just over half of the total. There were still two SS ranked dungeons in Russia and America, and 14 other dungeons ranked S+ or above. There were 35 dungeons between A rank and S rank, which the government elites were trying to clear, and 167 dungeons ranked B or below, which various governments were scheming to turn into Field Dungeons.

Good. With just that, it was worth a try.

[Kiaaaaaa!]

[Kyaaaaaak!]

Standing in the middle of a long and straight pathway, I glanced at the front and back. Hundreds of Wraith Queens were screaming and flying toward me.

[Soul Guard became level 7. You develop a perfect resistance to almost all mental attacks. Your league of existence increases further. Weapons without mana can no longer hurt you.]

Ooh, just by being here, I can feel my Soul Guard's experience skyrocketing! However, I couldn't just stay here forever. The hasty Wraith Queens had already begun spitting out ectoplasm arrows.

I shot out a few crossbow bolts, shooting down the arrows I couldn't possibly avoid. Then, I lowered my center of gravity. Below my feet, light whirlpools appeared, sending me flying. After Peruta Circuit reached level 7, I became able to apply Peruta Circuit to a certain extent.

"Ha!"

Shooting forward forcefully, I slashed the Wraith Queen in front of me. Immediately afterward, I stepped on the ground, shooting up like a spring and activating a skill. It was Gale Track.

[Kiaaaaaa!]

"Third, fourth, fifth!"

Gluttony Spear beamed with golden Spirit Aura as it pierced through all enemies blocking its path. As Spear Technique leveled up, each attack drew out more damage. As a result, the Wraith Queens in Gale Track's path died instantly when they were unlucky. Of course, once I killed ten Wraith Queens, adding 50% bonus damage to my attack, they all died instantly.

"Huaaaaaa!"

[Kyaaaa!]

[My... heart....!]

Peika was infused in my spear, while Ruyue stayed on the outside, hindering Wraith Queens' movements and leading them so that I can kill them more easily. Peika's ability focused on attacking, while Ruyue's ability could be used in various ways.

"Every single one of you, come!"

[You used Provoke! All enemies in the area attack you with great hostility!]

[Kill that human!]

[Don't let him leave!]

[Make him our ally!]

[A male... ally... Wraith King?]

[Make him our ally!]

[Husband... I mean, ally!]

Huk! The Wraith Queens' eyes were flashing strangely! They were like the eyes Loretta sometimes had!

Using Gale Track, I charged through to where the gate was, shredding all Wraith Queens on my way. Once I was in front of the gate, I turned around, surging with great rotational force. The wind energy gathered on the tip of my spear, seemingly wanting to burst out at any moment. It traveled around my body, then gathered on the tip of my spear again.

I raised my spear. There were still about a hundred Wraith Queens left alive.

"Elemental Tempest!"

[It's a festival!]

[Wind, fan!]

[Super spin spin~!]

Elementals flew toward my spear, where wind energy spiraled around. With the addition of the elementals, the spear gave off a rainbow light. The explosive wind energy and power from the elementals caused my hand holding the spear to shake, but I firmly gripped my spear with a snort.

Then, I thrust it forward.

[Kyaaaaaaa!]

With 50% of my mana instantly leaving my body, a sense of fatigue swept through my body. I stretched my foot back and prevented myself from falling. The Wraith Queens filling up the pathway died in mass, and I constantly heard messages that I obtained 3,000 gold.

"Hu, it's over."

It was really over. Seeing the wide pathway completely empty, I was deeply moved. Now, I couldn't grind even if I wanted to.

Currently, my Spear Technique was level 9. This had happened almost two weeks ago. Still, I didn't know if the last two months of grinding would let me master my Spear Technique. Skill experience wasn't something I could calculate. However, I couldn't just stay here forever.

Even if I couldn't master high-ranked Spear Technique, it was fine. It didn't mean that the two months of training was meaningless. I grew more used to practical application of Peruta Circuit in battles, and I was confident I had reached great heights in my spearmanship. Soul Guard had reached level 7, and my Elementalist abilities also grew. That was enough.

"Alright then... let's go!"

With a sense of unease, I stepped beyond the gate. In that instant, several messages rang in my ear.

[You conquered Beyond's 3rd floor. You can challenge the dungeon's 54th floor.]

[Your maximum HP and MP increase by 2%. You obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[Experience has been added to skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond's 3rd floor.]

[High-rank Martial Arts became level 5! Positive effects will be added to all actions using your body!]

[Mid-rank Crossbow Marksmanship became level 8. You can shoot without aiming and hit your target's vital points.]

[You mastered low-rank Gale Track! The wind energy gathered for the final blow is amplified.]

[You learned mid-rank Gale Track! Every time an enemy is pushed away, your attack power increases by 7% up to 200%!]

[Mid-rank Dash became level 6! Positive effects will be added to all charge type skills!]

[Peruta Circuit became level 8! Even in fierce battles, you can circulate Peruta Circuit and recover mana like normal. At the same time, you can effectively attack and defend using the flow of mana.]

[Soul Guard became level 8! Your lofty league renders most mental attacks ineffective and reflects them back to their user. You will not be intimidated by enemies stronger than you, and as your existence becomes more complete, your resistance to dark mana increases greatly.]

[Overwhelm became level 2! Just by existing, you cause all enemies to tremble. It decreases all of your opponent's abilities by 10%. The chance of your opponent failing to activate a skill increases by 10%]

[High-rank Spirit Mastery became level 2. All souls connected to you obtained the possibility to leap past their souls' original potential.]

And.

[You mastered high-rank Spear Technique! When you're holding a spear, aura will form automatically. Even without a spear, you can create a spear using your aura. You greatly intimidate enemies with lower levels of weapon techniques. Your spear begins to sprout the potential to covet godhood.]

[Now, you must create your own Spear Technique. This path is long and arduous, and is bound to happen slowly. Do not get impatient. If you can seek help, it is recommended that you do so. Unique Spear Techniques that surpass high-rank Spear Technique are not created so easily.]

"Thank you for your concern, message noona."

[...]

"But instead of worrying about that, first..."

Seeing Loretta widening her eyes, I grinned and waved my hand. Then, I shouted inwardly.

'Yes! I mastered Spear Technique! '

"Shin-nim, you finally came back!"

"Yeah, I obtained what I wanted."

"What is it?"

"High-rank Spear Technique master."

Loretta's jaws dropped.

"Did... Did you just say master? A high-rank weapon technique?"

"Yes. Father seems to have mastered it too. Shouldn't most Gold ranked explorers have it mastered?"

"Do you want come with me to the Residential Area and try shouting that out loud? I can promise you, people will start throwing stones at you within 30 seconds."

"I worked hard for two months, you know."

"Whew, I don't know what to say to Shin-nim, but... I'm glad you're back safe and sound."

Because Loretta's gaze was making me feel slightly uncomfortable, I took a step back. Loretta's eyes quickly narrowed.

"This is our reunion after two months. Can't you be happier, Shin-nim?"

"I just have a lot to do. I'm going to be busy from now."

"..."

Loretta stared at me intently. Her golden eyes were so clear and bright that they seemed to be sucking out my soul.

"W-What's wrong, Loretta?"

"Shin-nim, with me..."

"With Loretta?"

Loretta's lips lightly budged. It seemed she was hesitating to say something.

"With me... No, nevermind. It's nothing. What am I saying... Huu, it's nothing. Shin-nim is doing well. I'm just feeling a bit uneasy."

"Can you say it so I can understand?"

"I meant Shin-nim should let me know when things get rough. Let me know even if things don't. I can at least give Shin-nim a massage. Though, I'll take proper compensation for it that's not money, huhu..."

"I know you're saying that because you're worried about me, but I won't ever ask Loretta for a massage."

"Tsk."

Loretta clicked her tongue. Then, she laughed lightly.

"This much should be fine. But Shin-nim, you can't overwork yourself. When things get too tiring and difficult, you have to let me know. I'm saying this seriously, okay?"

"It's not tiring and difficult at all, but sure, I will."

Tiring and difficult? It seemed Loretta didn't know me that well. As I headed to my mansion after saying goodbye, I thought, 'I've never been more full of energy in my entire life! Strengthening my abilities, learning spearmanship! Reaching new heights I've never seen! These things were erasing the irritation I was feeling from everything!'

There was no one at the mansion. It seemed everyone was busy working. That was good. If possible, I didn't want to be bothered.

I headed to the basement training room. Standing in the middle of the dark and spacious room, I closed my eyes.

"Deific Manifestation!"

It wasn't someone calling my name1. It wasn't even me calling my own name.

[Using half of your mana and vitality, you manifest the Mythological Heroic Spirit, 'Peruta Rello Vatifoa,' for 37 minutes and 21 seconds.]

It was a call for the guide who would help me take a step forward.