As I imagined the continuous combo in my head and moved my hands, I also felt a still unfamiliar sensation.
‘Did I receive some training in evasion techniques?’
It seemed I wasn’t just practicing the basics in here. According to my master, the absolute evasion technique called ‘Bran’ had also reached a higher proficiency.
The master, who was carefully watching my movements, nodded and said.
[It seems that too much time has passed, and you’ve even made progress with ‘Bran.’ But don’t use it carelessly. You’re not quite ready for practical use yet. If you clumsily apply it, you might end up amplifying the opponent’s attacks.]
‘Understood.’
[Hmm—looking at your condition, we might need to adjust the intervals between these training sessions. If your mind keeps wearing down like this, physical development becomes meaningless.]
In other words, it meant I didn’t need to endure this pain every day.
Since my promise with the master was to train every three days, I could just maintain that schedule.
‘Phew… that was close to death.’
For the next few hours, I continued refining my swordsmanship, determined to keep the sensations I had experienced alive.
Once my basics had been sufficiently solidified, my master got up slightly earlier than usual.
As soon as he disappeared, I signaled Rainy to be quiet by putting my finger to my lips.
(Shh…)
Then I hurriedly followed my master, who was rapidly distancing himself from me.
How long did I follow him, keeping about 200 meters behind?
‘Whoa? How much faster is he going?’
Slowly starting to pick up speed, my master was soon surpassing my maximum velocity.
‘What the!’
In the end, even after using all my mobility techniques to close the gap, I found myself completely unable to keep up.
It didn’t seem he consciously increased his speed because of me.
‘Wow—it’s so fast.’
Even if the Sword Dragon came, I wondered if it could keep up with him.
“Clap, clap, clap!”
I expressed my regret by tapping my teeth together several times, hoping to find something in the surroundings, but nothing stood out.
‘Where’s the end of this place?’
If my sensory abilities deepened, would I be able to discover new clues?
Squish—
I walked towards Rainy while my mind sprinted with thoughts.
(What happened?! Did you uncover the secret of the orb? Sneakily following someone! It’s so… just like a movie!)
As I returned to my spot, Rainy was bouncing with excitement, shaking branches in all directions.
‘No, I missed it because you were too fast. That was really monster-like movement.’
(So, such… a mere orb has such incredible abilities?)
When play-fighting with Rainy, even my master would match her casually, so it was understandable I might not realize how impressive she was.
Rainy, unable to believe it, held her head in disbelief before wriggling her way back to me.
(Chomp- Chomp- Ahh-! This is the taste!)
Trembling—
Now with branches resting on my head, the tree that was sucking my mana shook violently, making odd sounds.
(This is the best… so delicious. A little deeper—)
‘… You can’t wrap around me like yesterday. Maintain this distance.’
When I made that statement to keep my distance, Rainy froze as if time had stopped.
(That’s so unfair… Do you have to make me feel so skinny to be satisfied?)
Of course, I was doing it to avoid raising suspicion from Yeon-hee, but for Rainy, it was necessary to maintain balance.
‘By the way, this message keeps popping up out of nowhere.’
I supplied mana to Rainy while I gazed into the air.
– Would you like to move to the interdimensional channel to challenge the job change quest?
‘No, I won’t. You do have quite the sticky side, huh?’
I complained to the system while visualizing a hypothetical battle in my mind.
The residue of chaos.
The target of my job change quest.
Incredible regeneration abilities and movement techniques.
Leaving that aside, it was a monster with pure physical abilities far exceeding anything else.
The sight of it floating in the air trailing behind me sent chills down my spine.
‘Even if I fought now, my stats would still be lacking. I guess I have no choice but to stack [Flame Explosion] to catch it? It seems likely to get angry.’
After consuming the Great Beast, the fragments of a great being had only slightly relaxed their rage.
Throwing a mere A-rank creature, even one labeled as ‘residue,’ would definitely provoke it.
‘… No way. I don’t know what kind of wrath I’d face.’
This was an entity whose power I couldn’t even begin to gauge, casually handling the Seven-headed Dragon like a child.
With even a tiny mistake posing the risk of obliteration, it was essential to capture it with my strength when possible.
‘So I’ll just have to get stronger before tackling it. Not now. I need to nail that level 80—’
I resolutely pushed aside any lingering thoughts about the quest challenge.
(Phew─ I’m full. Ahh… that feels great!)
Rainy leaned over, executing a pose impossible for a tree while toppling sideways.
(Haha— feeling good.)
No idea what was so great, Rainy continued to laugh uncontrollably.
I lay back and took a restful glance at Rainy’s one-man show as she flailed her branches towards the ceiling.
My body was fine, but my heated brain was still simmering.
Huff─
‘Well then! Shall we give it another go?’
I decided to showcase my sword arts in the formations created by my [Groundbreaker] trait.
From the spots where my swordsmanship passed, rocks exploded outward, and as they formed into consistent sizes, I repeatedly collected them.
‘Eventually, all of this will become blood and flesh.’
Merging training and farming felt oddly advantageous.
‘Wait… these have some weight to them, don’t they? Should I pre-combine a certain proportion?’
People are all different, but I could bring objects within a 2 meter distance without dropping the space.
If I summoned a boulder the size of a house from midair, it would make for an excellent offensive weapon.
As Rainy watched me stack the pieces together with curious eyes, she asked.
(Are you trying to build a house with those rocks?)
‘House? Ah— I’ve already built a small one before. Well, it might come in handy someday, right?’
(Yeah… I guess so. It’s a house I can’t be part of.)
‘……’
Why did she suddenly get so gloomy? Her mood was swinging wildly.
Rainy looked down for a moment before suddenly jumping up, shouting.
(Hah…! I’ll find a way to make it happen!)
‘Um? What are you going to do?’
(Hmph! You don’t need to know!)
‘……?’
It felt like she was secretly preparing something… Still, I was relieved she seemed to be back to her spirited self.
Boom-!
I started my training again.
‘Aah— why do you keep smashing things? Focus on one point!’
I needed to sever cleanly, but even the slightest distraction could turn it into a strike.
That, in its own right, was useful, but it wasn’t good in terms of concentrating force.
I had to slice down from above in one clean go. Just one.
‘Huff─’
I continued training relentlessly until a gigantic doorway summoned itself.
Rainy lay beside me, mouth open as if absorbing the faint mana that spread in the space while I trained.
Deeply embedded in the ground, her roots now covered the entire area. She shouldn’t need any extra mana from me, but it seemed she was definitely preparing for something.
And time flew past swiftly once again.
Clang─!
Without fail, the door leading to our house opened.
When the door appeared, a sense of relief washed over me from within.
The anxiety that someday Yeon-hee might not call for me still pressed heavily on my heart.
The first thought of escaping Yeon-hee came from that very unease.
(Ah… It’s time to go.)
‘Right. See you again tomorrow!’
(Uh-huh, goodbye!)
Thud—
Swallowed by the door, I walked into the now-familiar living room of my new house.
“Tada! Wang-wang has produced another enhance stone!”
“Clap, clap, clap!”
Immediately upon meeting, Yeon-hee boasted about the enhance stone.
Then, still holding it, she circled around me, sniffing.
‘What’s with all this trembling…’
As my mana grew, Yeon-hee’s senses became sharper.
This time, there was no odd feeling, and with a cute smile, she nuzzled against me.
“Every time I come out, it feels so different. It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”
‘…… That’s quite an intuition.’
In fact, it was just like coming out after living for several decades in another space, so she had hit the nail on the head.
Turning my head, I saw Brother 1 combined with others sparring since the morning in the garden, while a group of werewolves stood perfectly still, staring straight ahead.
‘Why are they just standing there like statues?’
In contrast to the other summoned creatures praying in various poses while drinking Irmana’s water.
“Oh, Rakan’s unit doesn’t listen at all. I scolded them a bit as soon as they woke up. I wonder why they’re acting like that now? They were so well-behaved on the first day.”
“Clap…?”
It seemed like the werewolf squad had gotten into a scuffle with the other summons after being summoned in the morning.
Out of anger, Yeon-hee had commanded them with a firm will, and now they stood like wooden dolls.
I spotted several of them with swollen faces, probably having been on the receiving end of a thrashing from the combined Brother 1.
‘Sigh, those idiots. Even if you’re strong, can you really take him on one-on-one?’
“For now, I’m planning to invest completely in dominance. The goal is to make sure the summoned creatures don’t run away when facing the Great Beasts!”
Nodding—
“But why isn’t Il-wol nervous at all about facing the Great Beasts?”
“Clap…?”
Come to think of it, even though I was also a summoned creature, why was I fine?
‘Anyway, is there any way to drastically increase dominance?’
There was a chance that she could override my will, but the fact that I couldn’t use summons against powerful foes was a serious concern.
I mean, I’m technically a summoner. To fight without my summons is just absurd.
So, boosting dominance seemed to be the most urgent task for Yeon-hee right now.
‘When I fought the Orc Legion Commander, this didn’t happen… She must’ve found a solution as she grew.’
For now, I would just have to trust her and wait.
Before Yeon-hee got ready to set off, I summoned my minion, ‘Gori.’
‘Summoning… this is definitely on a different level compared to what Yeon-hee does.’
My ability restructured something resembling a life form based on the information I absorbed using the mysteries of mana.
That was impressive in its own right, but it still couldn’t compare to Yeon-hee’s ability to summon creatures from another world.
I summoned ‘Gori’ using one point of mana.
“Beep!”
Then I called out one more.
“Beep?!”
‘You’re Gori 2.’
And continued to increase my minions.
I couldn’t feel much difference until I reached ten, but once I exceeded twenty, something felt odd.
“Beeep…”
‘… My sense of self is fading more and more. Shall I test it out?’
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