Chapter 125: Endless Night (1)

Kwon Oh-Jin shut his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating on the left side of his chest. Within the total darkness under his eyelids, constellations shimmered in many vivid colors. He reached out toward the most radiant among them—the Stigma of Lyra. Blue mana brilliantly fanned out from the constellation, filling him up from within. Blue lightning then materialized all around him. Crackle! He grabbed his spear from his waist and gripped it firmly with both hands. The fundamental principles of spearmanship flowed into his mind through Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories, but he quickly dismissed them. There’s no need to be bound by all that. After all, he wasn’t a martial artist who had dedicated their life to mastering the spear. Being able to pierce and slash with it was enough for him. What matters more is... “Haaa.” He compressed the mana circuits within. [Exceed Lv5 has been activated.] [Using this skill for an extended period may lead to a state of overload.] Blue lightning roared and crackled around him. When he first used Exceed, its severe side effects left him unconscious for days. Now, it was a skill he could utilize as naturally as breathing. I still can’t maintain it for too long, though... The skill had reached level 5 thanks to his relentless training. Its duration was significantly increased from the original five minutes to fifteen minutes without overloading himself. It was no longer a self-destructive technique that drained his life force, but a proper buff he could rely on. “Well then...” He walked toward the training room wall and flipped a switch. From mounted laser pointers in the room, thousands of beams scattered in all directions. Unlike the deadly laser weapons in sci-fi novels, these were nothing more than flashy disco lights, the kind used to hype up a karaoke session. However, he convinced himself otherwise. If I touch that light, I'll die. My flesh will burn, blister, and tear till there's nothing left. He imagined the erratic beams were the lethal black feathers of the King of Owls, whispering the lie to himself over and over again. Finally, he launched off the floor. “Huuup!” Lightning trailed behind his movements. Crackle! While evading the thousands of lasers raving chaotically within the training room, one grazed his left forearm. Whoosh! Blue lightning suddenly flickered along his arm. Crackle! His flesh was scorched black in an instant. “Haa... Haa!” Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. A shiver of exhilaration spread through him, followed by a sharp pain. This isn’t just image training anymore. The moment the laser touched him, his mana reacted on its own, searing the contact point. His subconscious responded instinctively to the lie he fed himself. Is this some kind of hypnosis? He had developed this training method recently after the lie initially meant for image training started to result in actual wounds. Of course, no matter how much he refined it, it could never capture the tension of a real battle. Zzzzng! “Haa... Haa!” At the very least, it was far more effective than mindlessly repeating the same routine workouts. Stigma of the Hourglass. In an instant, the erratic beams of light froze in place, and he moved into the gaps between them. Cheon Do-Yoon... As he recalled the encounter with the King of Owls, the wrinkled old man appeared before him with a bizarre, hollow laughter. Crackle! Blue flames ignited along the blade of Kwon Oh-Jin's spear as he thrust it forward. However, the imaginary Cheon Do-Yoon easily dodged it. "Hahaha! You're slow, Wolf of the Weaver." Cheon Do-Yoon snapped his fingers, and black feathers swirled through the air, twisting together into the form of a longsword before launching straight at Kwon Oh-Jin. “Huff... huff...!” Kwon Oh-Jin tightened his grip on the spear and struck upward to deflect the feathers aimed at his head. Clang! Even though he wasn’t actually hitting anything, he felt a sharp impact reverberate through his palms. It’s not enough. With what I have now, I can't face Cheon Do-Yoon. Once again, he drew in a deep breath and focused on his chest. Dark, heavy clouds gathered in his mind’s eye. Within them, a dragon lay coiled and hidden. Though the mana of the Dragon's Vein was still beyond his full control, he could now tap into it at least partially. The blue flames along his spear flickered and twisted until a dragon emerged, blazing into form. Whoosh! The blue lightning dragon coiled around the shaft of the spear while he charged forward. “Haaaa!” The lightning spread out in six directions before converging back to a single point and shooting straight toward Cheon Do-Yoon. After being struck by it, the King of Owls faded into thin air with his unique, eerie laughter. "Hahaha..." Kwon Oh-Jin steadied his ragged breath and switched off the laser pointer. Ring! [Kwon Oh-Jin has successfully utilized a fraction of the Dragon Vein’s mana!] [Kwon Oh-Jin has acquired the skill Azure Dragon Strike Lv1.] [Thunderbolt Lv9 has influenced the proficiency of Azure Dragon Strike.] [Azure Dragon Strike has reached Lv4.] [Exceed has reached Lv6.] [Lightning Flames has reached Lv5.] “Oh, wow. My skills have been skyrocketing lately.” Is the extreme mental conditioning really that effective? The most important skill, Thunderbolt, is still stuck at level 9, though. As Riarc previously mentioned, the jump to level 10 wasn’t easy. “He said something special happens at level 10, but...” Since Kwon Oh-Jin had already learned the supposed reward of Lightning Flames, he had no clue what else he would get. Well, I’ll think about that later. He scrolled down his status window and stared at the section labeled "Open Heaven." I still have no idea what this is or how to use it even after all that training. He clicked his tongue and closed the status window since staring at it wouldn't magically give him answers. “Damn, it hurts.” Now that things had settled in the training room, he realized he was covered with several blackened burns. Guess I should heal myself before leaving. After soaking in a pre-filled, extra-large bathtub to treat his wounds with the Stigma of Aquarius, he finally made his way back home. “Ha-Eun~!” He approached Song Ha-Eun, who was sitting on the living room couch. “You just finished training?” “Yeah.” “Good work.” She turned her head away bitterly. Here we go again, he thought. She's been like this ever since we came back from the dungeon. “Why do you keep looking like someone just died?” he asked. “Mind your own business, idiot.” “How am I supposed to ignore it when it’s about you?” She suddenly flinched. “Ugh...” Glancing at him with wavering eyes, she then quietly got up. “Wait here. I’ll make dinner.” “Spare me.” “What?” “I mean, I’m really looking forward to it.” She scoffed as she headed into the kitchen. After dinner, Kwon Oh-Jin took a shower and flopped onto his bed. “You’re sleeping already?” Song Ha-Eun asked. “I’ve been training like crazy lately. I’m exhausted.” Ever since he started using extreme image training, his physique had been in shambles. Fatigue built up quickly. “Alright...” she replied. “Sleep well.” He soon drifted off to sleep, and the room fell silent. She lay down on her own bed. Since her new prosthetic hadn’t arrived yet, she could still feel the emptiness below her right thigh. She stared at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. “How pathetic of me,” she muttered. Her voice was laced with self-reproach. After blankly staring at the ceiling for a while longer, she carefully sat up and looked at Kwon Oh-Jin. Oh-Jin must've been really tired. He fell asleep within less than a minute of lying down. She sat beside the lower bunk where he was sleeping and gently stroked his hair. She felt a sharp pain jabbing at her heart like a needle as she recalled the things that had occurred in the dungeon. "Ha-Eun!" Kwon Oh-Jin had desperately reached out his hand to save her while the floor collapsed. Yet again... I was the one being saved. She bit her lip hard. Despite wanting to be even just a little helpful, she had only become a burden for him in the end. It’s always been like this. No matter how far back she searched in her memories, she could only remember him protecting her, standing between her and danger every single time. She felt uneasy, worrying that he'd grow sick of it all one day and abandon her. What if he leaves me behind and chooses to be with someone else instead? Like Isabella, maybe. She thought of the beautiful, platinum-blonde young lady from one of the most prestigious families in Europe. Although Song Ha-Eun still held a higher rank at present, there was no telling when Isabella would surpass her. She was a globally renowned super-rookie, after all. No, it's not even about that. As a support-type Awakener treated like nobility in raid parties, Isabella could offer Kwon Oh-Jin a lot of assistance. And what about me? What can I do? She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.“No.” The thought of him leaving her side was unbearable. They had only just found a way to be together again. Oh-Jin... She lightly caressed his forehead while recalling a distant past she could barely remember. Their first time meeting each other. He was so gloomy back then. When Kwon Oh-Jin first arrived at the orphanage, he was a quiet, gloomy child. Since she was like a leader among all the kids, she tried talking to him several times in vain. Then came the day when she was brutally beaten by the bald orphanage director. Seeking refuge, she snuck up to the rooftop where she ended up talking to Kwon Oh-Jin for the first time. What did he say back then? The one thing she could remember was that he slowly started following her around after that day. “It's really been a long fucking time, huh?” With a faint smile, she gently stroked his cheek. I won’t let anyone take him away. She bit her lip, eyes glinting with resolve. I don't care if I'm being shameless or selfish. Oh-Jin's mine. She clenched her fist tightly. Rising from the bed, she returned to her own bunk and lay down. There was only one sure way to keep Kwon Oh-Jin from ever leaving her side. “Let’s see...” She pulled out her phone and opened the search bar. “How to confess... 'to a little brother?’ What the hell?! Not incest, Boogle, you sick freaks.” Frowning, she quickly cleared the search bar and started over. “How to confess... to a younger guy...” Click, click. In the dark room, her phone's screen glowed like starlight.