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Chapter 147

“You monster! Do you even have a human heart in you... arrgh!”

And though the Vermillion Bird did whine a bit during the process, the work was completely relatively smooth since they were bound by a contract.

Sizzle-

Having chosen the head, Se-Hoon neatly planted the Blazing Flower in its crown. Using the Vermillion Bird’s mana and flames, the Blazing Flower’s leaves grew and grew, becoming larger and more vibrant in color than they were initially.

“Hmm... it turned out better than I thought.”

He had expected it to take a while, but at the rate he was seeing, it would grow to a usable size in about ten minutes. The amount of help the Vermillion Bird’s abilities provided him pleased him quite a bit.

In stark contrast to Se-Hoon though, the Vermillion Bird was sobbing and covering its face with its wings.

“Sniff... I, as one of the Four Sacred Beasts...”

Apart from the pain of having a flower implanted in its head, the frustration from being unable to resist a mere human who was much weaker than itself hurt the Vermillion Bird the most. It had experienced nothing but a series of humiliations since its resurrection, and yet none were as disgraceful as this moment.

And unfortunately for it, Se-Hoon didn’t care. Ignoring the Vermillion Bird writhing in self-loathing, Se-Hoon moved on to the next task.

Now the Eternal Pill.

Taking out the violet-tinged orb, the Eternal Pill, he wrapped it in his earth mana, Purified Earth, and then gently enclosed it with both hands.

Woong-

Noticing the faint purple light seeped through Se-Hoon’s fingers, the Vermillion Bird stopped writhing and moved its wings aside to look at Se-Hoon.

What is that monster up to this time...

The Vermillion Bird tensed even more, glancing up at the Blazing Flower implanted in its crown.

At that moment, Se-Hoon, who had been staring at his hands for a while, called out, “Hey. Come over here if you’re done sobbing.”

“...I wasn’t sobbing.”

Suppressing its rising emotions, the Vermillion Bird approached Se-Hoon. A second later, Se-Hoon glanced over to confirm that the Vermillion Bird had gotten close before unfolding his hands like a bowl.

Slosh-

Seeing a violet liquid, enveloped in earth mana, simmering, the Vermillion Bird observed it with its single eye.

It’s been processed to be more easily absorbed.

It had become less stable, but the mana efficiency was much higher in that state. As a consequence, direct consumption also became extremely dangerous, but it was perfect for the flames of the Vermillion Bird to process it.

Regardless of his personality, his skills are solid.

Just as the Vermillion Bird was thinking it was no wonder the Emperor of Ascension had an eye on him—

“Alright. Here it goes.”

Se-Hoon mercilessly thrust his fingers into the Vermillion Bird’s beak.

“What the... gahhh!”

The liquid Eternal Pill flowed into the Vermillion Bird’s mouth, its violet energy permeating its flaming body and causing a transformation.

“You... bastard...”

Its consciousness and fiercely burning flames slowed. It was as if it alone had been put in a slow-motion world.

Picking up on the change and the Vermillion Bird’s struggle to adapt to the accelerated thought process, Se-Hoon quickly said, “Don\'t resist and just channel it into the Blazing Flower. You can at least do that, right?”

“You... damn...”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Just do it quickly.”

Woong-

The Vermillion Bird\'s body glowed red, consuming the violet energy invading its body and sending it to the Blazing Flower in its crown. When the energy entered, it interweaved like veins among the crimson petals, allowing Se-Hoon to confirm its successful infusion.

This guy is more useful than expected, thought Se-Hoon in admiration.

Currently, the Vermillion Bird’s body condition was being accelerated several times over by the effects of the Eternal Pill. And while the heightened senses allowed for detailed work, maintaining focus for a prolonged period wouldn’t be easy at all. Yet despite that, the Vermillion Bird was perfectly transferring the energy to the Blazing Flower.

Living up to your S-rank magical beast title, I see.

He observed for a while, and eventually, the Vermillion Bird, having successfully transferred all the energy, returned to its original state.

“You... you dare...!!”

While it endured the accelerated state, Se-Hoon dared to watch it with amusement. Unable to bear it any longer, the Vermillion Bird gathered its flames to strike Se-Hoon, but its intentions were thwarted instantaneously.

Bzzzt

It instinctively flinched, feeling the spatial power emanating from the transparent cube that appeared around its body.

“Ugh...”

Torn, the Vermillion Bird trembled and contemplated for a while in that state before finally suppressing its hostility and extinguishing the flames it had summoned.

Whoosh!

Simultaneously, the cube vanished as if nothing had happened.

Having seen the entire process, Se-Hoon thought, The moment it harbors any hostility, Ludwig\'s power suppresses it, huh?

It was a simple structure that suppressed the Vermillion Bird with force, yet it was arguably a safer method than psychological constraints, as those could be cleverly avoided.

With his safety confirmed, Se-Hoon moved closer and patted its trembling body, which was still seething with suppressed anger.

“My bad. I\'ll be less forceful next time.”

Instead of replying, the Vermillion Bird turned its head sharply, deciding to just ignore him as it couldn’t do anything about it.

For an S-rank demon beast, it sure is narrow-minded...

Clicking his tongue internally, Se-Hoon checked the state of the Blazing Flower and picked up the last remaining elixir, the Shadow Root.

“Whew...”

From this point on, the outcome solely depended on how well he was able to manage it. Taking a deep breath, Se-Hoon summoned his darkness mana, Moon Shadow, into the hand holding the Shadow Root.

Woong-

The moment the Shadow Root felt his darkness mana, its coiled roots unfurled and wrapped around his hand. Simultaneously, a chilling sensation began to spread from his left hand. It was as if thousands of needles were piercing him at once, and he could feel something thick begin to burrow through his arm and into his body.

It\'s so eager to invade my body...!

The core of the Shadow Root, the seed of the Shadow Tree, was trying to get to his heart through his veins. But rather than blocking it immediately, Se-Hoon observed the roots enveloping his hand.

A few moments later, the roots melted and seeped into his body, becoming darkness mana to nourish the Shadow Tree\'s seed that was approaching his heart.

Just a little longer...

The longer he endured the process, the more darkness mana he would be able to absorb later on. So he held on, focusing all his senses on the seed that was rapidly approaching his heart.

Then, the moment when the seed reached his heart, he noticed that the darkness magic making up the Shadow Root had been perfectly absorbed into the seed.

Now...!

He immediately used Soul Honing to expel the seed from his bloodstream before it could root itself in his heart.

Thump-!

Succeeding, the seed was pushed away from his heart by a sudden rush of blood. Se-Hoon then quickly grabbed the Vermillion Bird and bit off a petal of the Blazing Flower blooming from the crown of its head.

Fwoosh!

As soon as he swallowed the petal, the Blazing Flower\'s flame spread throughout his body. Feeling the immense amount of fire mana and energy from the Eternal Pill, he steeled himself and began to control it.

Damn, even after refining it once, it\'s still this potent.

The energy of the Eternal Pill had barely seeped into his body, yet his sensations were amplifying rapidly, increasing his cognitive abilities. However, instead of fearing that a single mistake could turn him into a cripple, he just sharpened his senses even further to better control the Blazing Flower\'s flame that was infused with the energy of the Eternal Pill.

Woong-

Had they been in their pure form, they wouldn\'t have been easy to control, but since they had been converted once into flames through the Vermillion Bird, it wasn\'t too difficult.

Drawing in the flames using his fire mana, Scarlet Flame Wheel, he then surrounded the Shadow Tree\'s seed, which was attempting to burrow into his heart again, with them.

Fwoosh!

The Blazing Flower’s flames imbued with the energy of the Eternal Pill began to heat the seed, triggering the darkness mana of the Shadow Root to surge out to desperately protect the seed. But he had already prepared an appropriate countermeasure for it.

Slosh!

Having separated his body into parts using Soul Honing, he channeled the stream of darkness mana into the mana circuit where Moon Shadow resided and sealed them off completely.

Then, when the Shadow Tree\'s seed, infused with the energy of the Eternal Pill, lost control over the darkness mana, Se-Hoon acted.

“Hmph...!”

Se-Hoon stabbed the White Light Dagger near his heart.

Crunch!

And pulled the Shadow Tree\'s seed out of his body with a light twist.

He proceeded to look at the Vermillion Bird, which was staring at him with wide eyes in shock. “I’m going to absorb it now, so assist me as needed.”

Giving it just those words, he began to utilize the mana he had absorbed into his body, surprising the Vermillion Bird again.

Is this guy... crazy?

Se-Hoon was currently absorbing flames that could cause permanent neurological damage if improperly absorbed. At the same time, he was also ingesting a seed that could kill him instantly by infiltrating a vital point. Both required the utmost caution if ingested, yet he was attempting to simultaneously consume them to maximize the efficiency of the entire process.

And while the positive effects would be tremendous, the slightest mistake could lead to disaster—just as one would expect.

I should keep my distance from him.

With such adaptability and confidence, who knew what Se-Hoon might do to its body next? Resolving to hide its power as much as possible, the Vermillion Bird maintained a safe distance while transferring his flames to Se-Hoon.

Woong-

Thanks to the regenerative power of the Vermillion Bird\'s flames, the wound on his chest and his internally damaged flesh began healing.

Hmm... I should be able to handle a bit more.

Confident that his body wouldn’t be utterly destroyed even if he pushed himself a bit, he boldly used Soul Honing to move the two types of mana within his body.

Rumble!

The fire mana spread like wildfire in all directions, while the darkness mana seeped everywhere like shadows. The proximity of respective mana circuits caused them to suppress each other, but his earth mana then penetrated between them to form boundaries like fences.

Woong-!

Now, instead of spreading wildly as a mix, the fire and darkness mana began settling into their designated mana circuits.

Upon confirming that the newly absorbed types of mana had perfectly integrated, Se-Hoon drew in the Vermillion Bird\'s flames, which had been hovering outside, into his body.

“Wha—What...”

Although the Vermillion Bird seemed startled for some reason, Se-Hoon had no time to pay attention and just continued applying its flames like ointment to his internal wounds. As a result, his body, which had been slowly healing, began to regenerate rapidly, like spreading flames.

Se-Hoon\'s eyes sparkled with delight. I should use this guy for a long time.

Noting down the Vermillion Bird\'s utility, despite its efforts to hide its abilities, he aligned the healing of his body with the blueprint in his mind. Then, as soon as his form was aligned to a certain extent, he struck.

Clang-!

Slamming down with a hammer drawn out in his synesthetic mindscape, he fixed his body in place.

“Ugh... cough!”

His body convulsed briefly, and black smoke poured from his mouth. After coughing out all the impurities from the burning waste, he moved his body lightly.

“Hmm... this should be good enough.”

Stiff muscles that felt like they would tear with even a slight movement now stretched flexibly like rubber. Moreover, he felt a vitality incomparable to before he was injured.

And just as he started feeling satisfied by the outcome, he was bombarded with notification messages.

[The effect of ‘Soul Honing’ significantly boosts all stats.]

[The elemental mana ‘Scarlet Flame Wheel (D+)’ has been enhanced to ‘Scorching Wheel (B)’.]

[The elemental mana ‘Moon Shadow (D)’ has been enhanced to ‘Moonlit Shadow (C+)’.]

[Skill ‘Master of Flames (C)’ has been absorbed by \'Ruler of Flames (A)\'.]

The two types of elemental mana are one thing... but Ruler of Flames?

Just from the name of the skill, it seemed quite useful, so he immediately checked his updated information.

[Lee Se-Hoon]

[Strength - B (218) Endurance - B (224)

Mana - B (231) Agility - B (215)]

[Scorching Wheel] 『B』

[Crimson fire mana that radiates through repeated cycles.

It specializes in absorbing mana as fuel and can reflect the effects of burned materials.]

[Moonlit Shadow] 『C+』

[Darkness mana that is as clear as a shadow under the moonlight.

It specializes in dominating and eroding objects and is capable of imparting their properties to rooted targets.]

[Ruler of Flames] 『A』

[As ruler, control over burning flames has been granted.

The entire body gains strong resistance to flames and can exert great control over them with minimal input of mana.

It is easy to control entities with weaker fire mana, but with those on a similar level, it may result in a struggle over controlling the flames.

*Gain strong resistance and control over flames

*Easily control entities with weaker attributes to fire mana]

“Wow...”

Se-Hoon was awed by his own stats. His body, once frail at the time of admission, had now reached an average B-grade. Moreover, the enhanced types of elemental mana had been refined to be more useful for forging.

With these stats, it should be okay to brag about being an honor student of my college.

Considering that the stats of the top-ranking students in Aqar Quf averaged at least B-grade, his current stats placed him quite high within Babel.

But while it was a significant milestone that he reached before the end of the first semester, he felt both joy and disheartened.

It’s going to be difficult to experience such rapid growth from this point onwards...

Hero-tier elixirs typically only worked effectively up to those with B-grade stats. If he wanted to dramatically enhance his physical abilities again, he would need to consume Legendary-tier elixirs or higher.

I bet Ludwig has several of those... but I\'ll consider them later on.

Since Legendary-tier elixirs weren’t common items, extreme caution was to be exercised.

Having concluded his review of his updated information, he dismissed the information messages and looked down.

“So, what are you doing?”

The Vermillion Bird was currently peeking out of his chest. He had noticed earlier, but he ignored it. So now, when he had calmed, the strange situation became puzzling.

Responding, the Vermillion Bird yelled out in frustration, “It\'s because you suddenly drew me in and fixed me in place here!”

“Oh, I see.”

It seemed that while he was using its flames, he had ended up drawing in the Vermillion Bird\'s clone due to the insufficient quantity.

Chucking, Se-Hoon pulled the Vermillion Bird out by the head.

Fwoosh!

Upon separating, flames flared up and instantly regenerated the Vermillion Bird\'s body. Then, with a glance down at its own body, the Vermillion Bird once again looked at Se-Hoon in disbelief.

I know we’re connected by a contract, but to think I was dragged in without even being given the chance to resist...

Even though its current body was a clone, it was still composed of the flames of its main body. As such, it should have priority over the control of the flames, regardless of Se-Hoon’s abilities. However, while assisting the monster-like person before it, even the control over the flames constituting its body had been taken over.

Such a thing implied that, albeit briefly, Se-Hoon\'s control over flames had surpassed the Vermillion Bird\'s main body.

What’s the extent of what this monster is truly capable of?

Having inherited In-Cheol’s knowledge, the Vermillion Bird was familiar with blacksmithing and thus understood how preposterous such an ability was. It watched Se-Hoon with wary eyes.

“But this is a bit different from what I expected,” Se-Hoon suddenly murmured in a slightly disappointed voice.

“...What do you mean?”

“Since you are known for your regenerative abilities, I thought the healing speed would be faster than this. This is honestly quite disappointing.”

If it had been quicker, he could have boosted his physical abilities even more. Se-Hoon gazed at the Vermillion Bird, who stared blankly back at him, with disappointment.

Until now, the Vermillion Bird had endured being thoroughly used, smoldering its rage. Yet now, at Se-Hoon’s evaluation, its whole body puffed up and it exploded, shouting, “In this incomplete resurrection state, having this much power should already be incredible enough, yet YOU DARE TO INSULT ME...!!!”

Bzzz!

However, before it could finish venting its anger, the transparent cube reappeared and enveloped its body, rapidly compressing.

Boom-!

Subsequently, it was reverse-summoned by Ludwig and vanished in a flash, leaving behind the confused Se-Hoon.

“Is it because of Ruler of Flames... it seems way more sensitive to my insults than before.”

Given its temperament, who knew what might happen whenever he exploited it in the future? Realizing the danger, Se-Hoon decided to humor it appropriately while making use of its abilities, at least until he was stronger than the Vermillion Bird.

Anyway, with my body taken care of... the remaining issue is Yeom Sung-Ha, Se-Hoon thought, rising from his bed.

He pondered what he could forge to prevent mana interference and Sung-Ha’s manas from resonating with each other.

Armor would probably be a waste of materials.... Should I just make a necklace?

While a necklace would save materials, it would probably be so thick that it would look more like a collar for a prisoner or a pervert.

No, he’d probably refuse to use it if I made it like that.

Tossing those ideas away, Se-Hoon thought about a cleaner solution. Looking for inspiration, his gaze landed on an object on his bed, the seed of the Shadow Tree. Having absorbed the energy of the Eternal Pill, it had calmed down and would no longer infiltrate a person’s vital points if planted in someone’s body. It would just slowly absorb any darkness mana.

...Wait a minute.

The memory of a skill he had encountered before flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Remembering the curse that Inoue Ren, Erika’s brother and the heir to the Inoue family, had him when they first met, its structure became a blueprint in his mind and was revised into various forms.

[Skill ‘Black Weaver (D)’ has been absorbed by \'Shadow Thread (B+)\'.]

Just like that, one of the Inoue family\'s secret skills became Se-Hoon’s.