Lone Walk, Preparing For The First Step (2)

During the time Kim Han disappeared, how were the Rebound Legion members spending their time?

They endured days of bleeding and bruises, teeth gritted. Practical, combat-style training ran nonstop; no one slept more than five hours.

What was the reason they were pushing themselves like that?

All of it began with a single line Kim Han tossed to Hazel before heading into the training ground.

Two days earlier, Kim Han’s bedroom, late at night.

Two people lay naked under a thin blanket, feeling each other’s warmth.

“Partner, suddenly training?”

“Because I need to get stronger.”

“Stronger than this?”

“Yes. I’m still weak.”

After Kim Han said that, Hazel stopped bringing up the training ground. If she pushed him further, she feared she’d—astonishingly—start to find him annoying, the first time she’d felt that way toward the man she loved…

The next morning, after Kim Han slipped off to the training ground, the remaining members gathered and Lee Hyo-ju asked Hazel why he’d gone.

“Partner said he needed to become stronger.”

“…What?”

For a moment ‘absurd’ seemed written across Lee Hyo-ju’s face. Hazel had one more line, though.

“He said he is still weak.”

“…What!”

This time Arun, who’d been nearby, jumped up to object.

Even Naruan, who’d been mindlessly tackling an orc-shaped steak since dawn, dropped her fork and knife.

Then Proy Rium’s trembling voice sparked the incident.

“Ho—could it be the captain’s indirect way of scolding us? We’ve been partying non-stop lately…”

“Hmm… That… could be.”

When Hazel agreed, the dining hall’s atmosphere shifted instantly.

Everyone shoved food into their mouths and, without waiting for orders, sprinted to the training ground at the back where Talis and Bioss stayed.

Naruan, at the front, drew ‘True Flame’ and swung it at Bioss.

Despite the ambush, Bioss caught the blade of ‘True Flame’ between his thumb and forefinger and bit down.

“Kid, are you insane?”

“Let’s fight!”

Though their approaches varied, they all demanded sparring from the two transcendents; Naruan, the most violent in her request, had her face swell to one and a half times its size and fainted in the corner of the training ground.

After that, the members trained until the two transcendents ordered them to rest—until Kim Han emerged.

For a while he stared blankly at the crafting materials for the recipe.

Not out of disbelief but anticipation; his heart pounded at the thought of what weapon would emerge. Composure mattered above all for the next job.

His hands trembled with excitement, then steadied as he waited for his clouded mind to clear before, after a long time, opening the status window.

The hell of his fourth year showed plainly on the status window.

Considering Strength usually rose by only one or two points, the jumps in Strength and Intelligence were enormous.

The rise in Stamina was even greater, but it had suffered earlier when he continuously injected Deicide and Destruction into his body, so it merely returned to its former level.

As for Luck: at the Exorsus inn Mae Young-ryeong’s manipulation let him ‘absorb’ only Luck, netting 106 points.

Starting from a base Luck of 134, the 106 absorbed points picked up an extra 10 to fit the bracket, bringing it to 144; accessories added 7 to reach 151, and today’s lucky dice added 16, totaling 167.

Of all his stats, Luck—Kim Han, the walking icon of misfortune—easily exceeded 150. It was overwhelming.

After a brief hesitation he steeled himself and spoke.

“Use 1 Free Strength point and 1 Free Intelligence point each.”

“Yes.”

“Phew.”

But was that the end? No further message came.

“…Huh? So?”

Now it even talks to me? This must be that fellow playing a prank…

“That fellow though…!!”

It even answered ‘no’ earlier—about something it alone thought.

In the end the messages quieted. The reward for such a miraculous achievement worthy of praise was merely the Creator’s heartfelt congratulations.

Next time he met Aetas he would definitely ask. What on earth did the Creator do in his spare time to pull jokes like this!

Shaking his head, he took out Sophia’s gift, which had been delivered through Merus, from his inventory.

Sophia told him at the time that she would send what he needed most. And what Merus brought was this very Talent Orb.

It meant that Sophia, the Creator’s archivist and the most analytical, judged this talent as what he needed.

Without hesitation, he put the Talent Orb in his mouth and it melted away. There was only a sensation like a cold snowflake touching his tongue, with no other trace.

He confirmed the message floating in the air and opened the status window again.

Long, numerous, and flashy!

Above all, the overwhelming thing was the list of sixteen talents. It’s so many that he wondered if he would ever get more. He felt proud.

That all those talents could be absorbed without any conflict must be due to the Fons-exclusive talent ‘Heavenly Genius’, as Ludicer had said.

True to its name ‘a thousand talents’, even when so many kinds of talents blossomed, they boasted optimal efficiency without clashing, and it was the source of occasional growth that even surprised transcendents.

Perhaps due to the talent ‘Analysis’. The status window and skill list looked newly refreshed.

Above all, the sudden increase of his body stats and the harmony with his divine power analyzed his current physical condition.

When both Intelligence and Strength, which hadn’t surpassed the 2nd cap, exceeded 150, the tingling sensation that occurred whenever Chaos moved in his divine power completely disappeared.

Instead of the subtle creaking sensation when Chaos moved, or when drawing Strength or moving his body, his condition and mood felt like they were soaring—like a day where anything could be done.

Strength that had broken its limit coiled and writhed like a spring of great power deep within his veins.

Agility that had broken its limit sensed the flow of air along his fingertips.

Stamina that had broken its limit invigorated him simply by inhaling air.

Intelligence that had broken its limit allowed him in a short moment to summon countless thoughts, compute, and switch to other thoughts.

“This…”

Was this what Ludicer had mentioned before?

He felt he now clearly understood what it meant that Ludicer warned about an imbalance between body and divine power after passing divine power 150 and before reaching the 3rd cap at 200.

“Ha…”

Even his exhalation carried satisfaction. A pleasant fullness. The comfort felt after a restful sleep. The sensation of a gentle spring breeze passing by.

“Good.”

His body felt so good that he unconsciously let the word slip.

He closed the status window and turned his gaze to the skills list.

Then he tried to operate the newly blossomed skill ‘Blood-red Mist in Moonlight’ from the skill ‘One Sun and Three Moons [Ex]’.

Unlike ‘Song of the Hidden Moon’, ‘Blood-red Mist in Moonlight’ consumes a considerable amount of divine power.

“Fireball.”

A spell cast with a simple incantation. A sphere of black flames appeared burning in the air.

He rotated the noticeably larger fireball—larger than the ones that always manifested through the Invisible Window—then canceled it and manifested another spell.

“Shield.”

A translucent barrier enveloped him. He watched it closely.

The talents ‘Analysis’ and ‘Insight’ observed the quickly manifested protective magic and concluded immediately: it was the same ‘Shield’ magic as before.

The conclusion was that the skill clearly conferred positive effects only on ‘attacks.’

Now, since further noticeable increases in body stats were hard to expect like before, he had to turn his attention to improving skills.

And he thought the newly blossomed ‘Blood-red Mist in Moonlight’ would definitely be of great help in the upcoming expedition.

“Good.”

Good. Regardless of comparison with before, it was power that clearly surpassed expectations by far.

A tremendous mountain to overcome had appeared, but if he steadily built his skills, wouldn’t it work out somehow?

Even now his power was embarrassingly greater than initially expected. If he kept working and working, perhaps a day would come when he could easily fend off a joint attack from Talis and Bioss.

‘Of course, it would take a very long time.’

For now, the coming week should be time to readjust his body to the rapidly increased stats.

He wanted to go out and craft a weapon right now, but since crafting also uses the body, he suppressed the impulse and slowly loosened his muscles, feeling the changes.

Now it was time to continue the tedious training.

“Gravity magic x20.”

Boom—