Chapter 503. Enlightenment |
Chapter 503. Enlightenment
To grow curious now about a miracle that only activates upon taking a life. Even Kang Changho seemed to sense that this was an ominous prelude.
"[Improvement] doesn't require any sort of preparation exercise."
The physical enhancement practitioner, who had been picking up stone fragments, adjusted his posture. He turned back toward me and asked.
"But I don't understand why someone like Hunter Kim Giryeo would suddenly be curious about that at this moment."
"It's just..."
However, I couldn't give a detailed answer to the question Kang Changho had just posed.
"It's nothing special."
More accurately, it was a situation where there was no need to. After all, [Improvement] was about to be triggered in reality. I was surprisingly planning to voluntarily fulfill the conditions of that antisocial skill—killing a person to steal their ability.
At this point, let's bring out an essential item for hunters. I pulled out the item box I had kept in my pocket.
Light.
Between almost going bankrupt by overlooking 40 billion won in taxes and breaking my deadly poison generator while dealing with a monster that looked like an angel... having been exposed to various disasters throughout my life, I didn't actually have many belongings to carry in such a subspace chest.
Setting aside the fact that I didn't walk around in clean clothes and weapons like Jeong Haeseong. Since the [Midnight Gloves] or a single golem were my only decent combat support devices.
"Is this really the inventory of a thriving S-rank?"
The item box had plenty of interior space left due to several circumstances. However, right now, that trait actually worked in my favor.
"Still, if it could store a truly important item, the box has fulfilled its purpose anyway."
Sip.
Soon, an object 14.9 cm in length was pulled out from the subspace. It was something with a hard handle and a translucent sharpness that revealed itself toward the tip. Incidentally, it seemed acceptable to refer to the tip as a 'needle.'
"It was never meant to be normal equipment."
I had mostly carried this on my person ever since I completed the specific instrument at the seaside villa. Composed of common materials that could be bought at an auction house anytime. And a design that simply attached a long needle to an appropriate base... As evidenced by the viable adhesive residue, this was clearly a prototype.
But it would not malfunction.
"Its structure is hardly complex."
To use a deeper analogy. It resembled the pin used to replace a mobile phone's SIM card.
"The object only creates the starting point; in the end, the I one who actually has to perform the miracle."
If I were to introduce what I held as a [Soul Separator], how would that Earthling react?
"A soul separator mixed with plastic. Honestly, it's so excessively modern that it's almost funny."
Preparation was complete. As with the subject of the thought I just had, I was actually planning to manipulate my soul for a very brief moment.
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★ Earth's mammals have evolved insufficiently and possess too little usable mana.
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Even as a second Awakening, the body named Kim Gi-ryeo was shackled by innate limitations in firepower. Moreover, since this ceiling couldn't be raised in a short period no matter how much effort was put in... well then, wouldn't all problems be solved if I just left this body behind?
Some might dismiss such a notion as nonsense. Yet for me, it was possible.
Even among Alphaians, who led the cutting edge of magical scholarship, I alone uncovered the nature of the soul. Additionally, I had the achievement of safely settling on Earth after traversing the universe in a mental state.
[The Resurrection of a Cherished One]
Furthermore, since I had recently conducted overnight research for a certain goal. The technique I am about to demonstrate now... is, in fact, merely a byproduct of the main research I conducted previously.
[What is a soul?]
When I began wanting to revive someone, I established the fundamentals of the research topic step-by-step. Of course, despite these efforts, the resurrection ultimately failed spectacularly. But it's fine, because there was something gained.
Through that process of analyzing the soul, I became capable of perfectly maintaining my own 'spirit' alone. So, from now on, it's actual combat. As I said before, this was a means that cleanly solved all the problems of a primitive body.
"It is only a matter of slightly opening the carrier—the body—that holds the soul."
Sip.
As a procedure before revealing my soul, I handed the object to the other person.
"In any case, Hunter Kang Chang-ho. Since there's a monster before us, I won't offer a lengthy explanation. Take this."
"Mm."
"Grip it firmly so it doesn't waver, and stab here on my behalf."
For activation, the translucent needle had to sink fully into my neck.
"That's the carotid artery."
As the question suggested, an ordinary human would die if pierced by a long needle of 14 cm. But if I thought about it, wasn't there a skill right here that triggers upon death?
I am a strong being with mana vastly superior to the Awakened before me, and if this is stuck in my neck, my soul will depart for a while."
I don't know what the ability of this primitive man, Kang Changho, prioritizes. But once the demonstration concluded, [Improvement] would likely activate as well.
If the spell-stealing magic succeeded as calculated, Kang Chang-ho would be in a position to settle his long-held secret desire. Moreover, since the target was a Grand Mage regardless of which technique was copied... the profit to be gained if [Improvement] succeeded was enormous.
"Perhaps if Kang Changho obtains satisfying power, he might stop paying attention to others?"
Shaking off a stalker. Testing a trump card. And even the three birds-with-one-stone opportunity to kill the dungeon boss immediately once the soul departure is cast.
"Stabbing someone's carotid artery with this..."
Kang Changho spoke.
"Is it a material that melts once it enters the body?"
I tried to correct him and say no, but I was a step too late.
"This man really is a Korean."
After roughly checking the item, Kang Changho immediately drove it into my neck as if throwing a spear. The man with blue hair didn't even deliberate for three seconds. Furthermore, seeing how his expression didn't even change after stabbing a weapon into a person's carotid artery... I thought to myself that a man with experience really is different.
"Ugh."
It seemed there was another reason for his composure.
—Thud.
Since his colleague had told him to stab it himself... well, he might not have expected this result to come out...
"As expected, the feeling isn't great right when the technique is first cast."
Flop.
As soon as the needle was driven into my neck, my body fell to the floor. An aesthetic consciousness would usually flinch and stiffen the body at a time like this. But I simply collapsed like a tree cut down by a chainsaw.
However, the thing that surprised me at this point was the humane reaction shown by the S-rank right next to me.
—Snatch!
When the person in front of him collapsed, the man with blue hair caught the head of the specific body with the top of his foot.
The top of his foot...
"Can't you bend your waist and catch it with your hands?"
Of course, looking at the situation as a whole, there were many more unkind parts like this, but I decided not to point that out. After all, if you think about it, Kang Changho must be just as dumbfounded.
"Hmm?"
Anyway, this was precisely the function of the device I invented.
"Hmm?"
When struck in the carotid with that needle, a mage died with certainty.
"Hunter Kim Giryeo."
But there was no need to worry. This was an object that caused a delicately calculated shock and blockage to detach the soul relatively without damage. Therefore, the phenomenon shown from now on was merely a fake death.
"Come to think of it, I believe they call a similar phenomenon a near-death experience on Earth."
Beside me, Kang Chang-ho was jabbering something, but I couldn't answer and triggered the following reaction. Loosening the latches of the complex carrier that stores the ego. Taking advantage of the brief vulnerability of the body to reveal the true state I had hidden until now. At any rate, it was something I hadn't done in a truly long time... Soul Embodiment.
[Did it work?]
As soon as my spirit popped out of the body, I tried manifesting a certain sorcery.
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Basic activation
• Spell to protect the unconscious body
• Spell to prevent the dispersion of soul particles
• Spell to maintain a tether from soul to body
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[It worked!]
However, if one were to ask how a person who just had their soul pop out could do such a thing when mages usually perform miracles through breathing...
[It operates similarly to wielding a magical artifact.]
The answer was simple.
[Internal mana might not have been such a critically important factor as the Al-Paurians thought. Miracles can be born as much as one wants through consciousness, synthesized rituals, and external mana alone.]
I almost blinked my eyes out of habit. But in this state, I naturally couldn't move my eyelids. Above all, even though it had been quite a while since I made the planetary move, I was still defining my own self-image as a grotesque picture.
[A high-quality mage draws mana simply by existing... I wonder if my soul's form is visible to those [Dragon's Eyes] by now indirectly?]
Eyes, Ears. All important sensory organs were sealed, but it was fine. Upon completing the Soul Embodiment, the sixth sense unique to a mage became sharp, and I became able to distinguish the form of my ego using this.
[At any rate, I think I'd only regain my tentacles after becoming a mental entity.]
[The boss monster's location is that way.]
The difference in mana density between life and inanimate objects flowed subtly through my sixth sense.
—Bang!
For the record, the [Blinding] restraint magic had broken as soon as my body collapsed.
—Flap! Flap! Flap!
So that must be why the transparent fish was running wild like that. But its rampage didn't last even three seconds.
—!
Kwoocom.
The vast amount of water that had been pooling around suddenly formed a single pillar and rose continuously. And by the time the dungeon floor had dried up like a rice paddy in a drought as a result of this process, I used the gathered water to hack the boss to pieces.
—Slash!
Pieces of transparent, jelly-like fish flesh soared into the air. But this time, the regeneration ability the beast possessed didn't play much of a role. Break it if it restores. Break it if it restores. Break it if it restores. Break it if it restores—
Since this process was repeated at least ten times per second, anyone dependent on the limits of a physical body would soon exhaust their internal mana.
—Splash!
Killing a water-attribute beast with moisture in reverse. This could be considered a bit of a cruel treatment. But honestly, from my perspective, there was no need to deliberately showcase techniques outside of the attributes already revealed.
[It's working well]
No one heard the thought.
[As expected, once the shell is removed, I can perform magic as much as I want according to the knowledge I've acquired. It's as easy as I speculated.]
The feeling wasn't bad when I was selected as a Guardian, but this so-called [Soul Embodiment] even allowed me to use sorcery completely outside the limits of the body. Naturally, the impression could only be even more special.
In this state, even an Archmage, could create a giant meteor and wipe human civilization back into regression... Could this sense of omnipotence be easily obtained from any discipline other than magiology?
[Hehehe.]
Of course, there was no way I would carry out the meteor idea I just had. Earthlings could rest easy.
[Well then, since I've left my inferior body behind anyway. While I'm out for a stroll, shall I forcibly 'rip' the information out of this damn gate?]
But at any rate, this astral projection I tried this time is quite good. Honestly, I was a mage of such a magnificent level, but how much trouble every day has been since being trapped in the hide of a mammal.
Having temporarily regained my power, I analyzed every nook and cranny of the surrounding environment. Right now, I was unlocking the mana limit through the trick of leaving the body. If such a fact were to leak to an alien of a magical civilization higher than mine, it would naturally be a disaster.
[If that happens, well, I'll just die.]
That's roughly how it is.
[There's no answer anyway. If the opponent is of a being that high a level, it's impossible to compare no matter what I thought.]
[But I'm an old soul who's lived long enough, so my situation is at least better than the human race of Earth...]
Like a mage who primarily uses water attribute techniques, I coolly acknowledged the series of problems. And I prepared to return to my body shortly.
[This is enough.]
The sensation that followed was the same movement as when I was reborn on Earth. I opened my closed eyes.
—Blink.
And I pulled out the tool stuck in my neck and immediately poured in the recovery potion I had prepared; in this process, a massive amount of unpleasantness also flowed deep into my body.
[★ Caution upon soul separation]
[Earth inherently rejects alien souls.]
The reason for the unpleasantness that just occurred could be explained concisely. Simply, because the core of this planet is an idiot...
"You ignorant fool! I am your chosen Guardian!"
Unlike Alphaur, Earth has a tendency to actively prevent foreign invasion. However, Earth's immune response surprisingly didn't treat a Guardian as anything special.
"At any rate, seeing this, it's clear that what's in the core isn't a normal creature! How can a transcendental being not even control a single immune response with its own will..."
Regardless, once an alien soul was detected, this planet reflexively tried to tear the perceived particles apart.
• Guardian Qualification
Drawback: using higher magic damages the under-evolved body through backlash.
• Soul Embodiment
Drawback: surpasses limits even more thoroughly than the above method, but each activation leaves a scratch upon the soul.
Moreover, injuries incurred as drawbacks accumulated permanently with repeated use.
It's not severe, but...