Chapter 147

Chapter 147 With the amicable negotiations with the Vermillion Bird concluded, Se-Hoon immediately began planting the Blazing Flower. “St—stop it... I swear, there’s something on my head...!” “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- [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.