“No. That isn’t possible.”
The large amount of mana ingested through the Dragon Pill—Grid’s vessel was insufficient and the ferocious overflowing energy was trying to smash him apart. All of this energy was sucked into Braham’s soul. Braham devoured the Dragon Pill, which couldn’t be fully digested even by the members of the tower. All of this could be seen as greedy.
Grid’s heart was full of excitement as he felt the fully restored soul of Braham.
“What is a house? Let’s build a castle. The largest castle in the world.”
[He was a lost person who could only watch the death of a blacksmith he loved.]
-...I’m looking forward to it.
[’He’ was a victim of fate piercing his heart with the dagger of a trusted blacksmith.]
“I.”
-I.
[His steel soul was tempered by the loss of a relations.h.i.+p.]
“I’m not going to betray your expectations.”
[The soul of ‘he’ who had been betrayed and worn down by fate was strengthened.]
-I believe in you.
[He couldn’t stand alone and craved for him.]
-I believe in you as much as you do in me.
[That’s why he was able to be a savior.]
....
...
[An unknown person has completed the third page of the epic!]
[The third page of the epic has been completed.]
[Your status has risen to the next level with the completion of that epic.]
[You have understood the concept of ‘Heart.’]
[The skill ‘Formless Will’ has opened.]
[The special stat ‘Willpower’ has opened.]
[There is some resistance to the type of skills that expresses the willpower that doesn’t exist.]
[You think you know a bit more about how to transcend the concept of s.p.a.ce.]
[The information of the ‘Shunpo’ skill is activated.]
[Your Deity stat has increased by 1.]
[Based on the contents of the epic, you have gained the new t.i.tle ‘Soul Companions.’]
[Soul Companions]
[You can communicate with people you share a deep bond with beyond the heart to the soul.
The Bond system has strengthened.]
[You feel a deep bond beyond liking with Legendary Great Magician Braham.]
[Bond]
[A list of targets you currently have deep bonds with.
★ Piaro ★
★ Braham ★
Bond Lv. 1.
All stats will increase by 3% when you are together.
Can detect if the health of the bond target is at a dangerous level.]
[The Soul of a Great Magician Who Lost his Power has been restored to Braham’s Soul. Thus, something special will occur.]
[The skill level of Magic Contemplation has risen!]
[Braham’s soul has entered a ‘complete’ state. Thus, something special will occur.]
[Braham has completely transferred his Duke of Wisdom t.i.tle to you. Even if Braham’s soul leaves you, the effect of Duke of Wisdom is maintained.]
[....!]
“Eh?”
The third epic was very special to Grid. Bond—the system certified the worth of the concept he valued most so Grid had been deeply moved. He was dominated by indescribable joy. Yet at this moment, all his emotions and joy cooled down.
Braham would transfer his Duke of Wisdom t.i.tle to him? It meant that the resurrected Braham would no longer be the Duke of Wisdom. It meant a loss of power. Braham read Grid’s feelings and scoffed.
-It’s funny that you’re worried.Knowledge is acc.u.mulated through memories and experience.It is different from a substantial thing and won’t disappear just because I transfer it to others.
“Ah... I’m glad.”
Grid was relieved. He had been holding Mercedes’ hand throughout the conversation with Braham. He demonstrated the skills of his hands with sincerity, hoping to reduce her pain by even a bit. Perhaps because of this, Mercedes bowed her head with a somewhat emotional expression. She recognized that Braham’s soul had completely recovered just based on Grid’s great growth.
“Congratulations. First, you’ll have to go to the Sword Grave.”
The Sword Grave. It was where Braham’s body was enshrined. Trapped in the ice by Pagma, he had spent hundreds of years as a colorless existence.
“Yes, let’s go today.”
Grid nodded and sent a whisper to his sister, Ruby.
-Can you come to the palace’s training hall right now?
-If Oppa is calling then I have to go.By the way, why?
-Mercedes is injured.
-I’m coming right now.
“......”
Grid looked sadly at Mercedes’ hands that had been damaged by burns and Mercedes hid them. The calluses and wounds on her hands were all evidence of hard work. Mercedes was proud of them and never felt ashamed, but she didn’t want to show them to Grid.
-I’m tired of this.
It happened the moment Braham clicked his tongue.
[....!]
The notification windows stopped with the exclamation point. The system was silent for a while, seemingly needed more interpretation before finally delivering the information.
[It has been confirmed that you fully embodied the Dragon Pill!]
[It is a miraculous achievement!]
[I commend your strength for enduring the pain that occurred during the process of taking the Dragon Pill!]
[Your persistence stat has risen by 20.]
[Your willpower stat has risen by 100.]
[You have completely transcended the limits of your cla.s.s by completely taking in the Dragon Pill. Your mana core is expanded to the fourth stage.]
[Your mana has permanently risen by 3,000.]
[Once your mana is completely depleted, 5% of mana is instantly restored and any magic or skills used within the next two seconds won’t consume mana.]
-You’re lucky. A fourth stage expansion of the mana core is an area only available to great magicians.
“Wow...”
The maximum amount of pain that was acceptable to a player. Grid had endured the level of pain that was equivalent to fists. .h.i.tting his back for more than 10 minutes. The pain had lasted repeatedly without any break and had occurred simultaneously from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. He thought it had been too intense but these rewards were hidden.
‘I thought I couldn’t hold out for long.’
He never thought his persistence that developed from his school days would help in this way. Grid shook his head as he confirmed the information of the newly obtained stats and skills.
[Willpower]
[It is a willpower strong enough to distort reality.
* Stat points can’t be distributed to this stat.]
[Formless Will - Entry]
[Attack the target with a solid willpower.
* The amount of damage done by Formless Will is the same as the willpower stat combined with the strength stat. It completely ignores the target’s resistance and defense.
* Targets with the willpower stat will ignore this attack.
Skill Resource Consumption: Half of the maximum sword energy.
Skill Cooldown Time: 24 hours.]
Grid didn’t know it but Sword Saint Kraugel had already opened up the Manifestation of Will skill a long time ago. In addition, Formless Will was only a part of Manifestation of Will. It was a hidden piece of the Sword Saint cla.s.s so it wasn’t an area that Grid could cross. Grid was satisfied enough with Formless Will.
‘There is a tremendous versatility.’
Grid had witnessed Formless Will being used by Kirinus and the imperial dukes several times. An attack that was triggered immediately and couldn’t be avoided because it had no form—it could be very useful when ambus.h.i.+ng a player or attacking an enemy casting magic or skills to cancel the casting.
‘It is a shame that the cooldown is too long.’
Once he built it up, he would be able to use it in succession like Kirinus and the dukes. No, considering that Kirinus and the dukes weren’t transcendent yet, he might become more proficient in it than them.
‘Shunpo... it is a crazy fraudulent skill as I expected.’
[Shunpo]
[It transcends the concept of s.p.a.ce.
You can reach a place within your ‘field of view’ in one step.
* Not yet fully learned. It can’t be used intentionally and has a terrible chance of activating.
Resources Consumed: Unknown.
Skill Cooldown Time: Unknown.]
Teleporting to a desired location in his field of view. Garam and the grandmaster looked great because of the effect of this skill. Grid had been stunned and shrank back every time he saw them pop up in front of him. It was a completely unknown territory and he had been afraid because he couldn’t understand it.
That wasn’t the case anymore. It was no longer unknown. Grid was becoming like them. Grid felt incredibly proud. ‘Just wait, Garam.’
He would return double the despair and humiliation he had experienced every time he met Garam. Definitely, by all means.
“Oppa!”
Grid was just vowing when Saintess Ruby arrived. Then there was a miracle. She healed not only the burns on Mercedes’ hands and back but also the uneven calluses.
“Ah...”
Mercedes looked dazed. How could she imagine that she would reclaim such white and beautiful hands after becoming a sworn knight?
“Thank you,” Mercedes politely thanked Ruby.
“I am the one who is always grateful to you. Please keep protecting Oppa,” Ruby replied with a smile.
Her beauty was just as radiant as Mercedes. Grid was anxious about his beautiful sister as she became an adult.
‘I hope the flies don’t get twisted around her.’
***
Grid didn’t delay. He used Sticks’ help to quickly move to the Sword Grave to capture the moment of resurrection that Braham had been waiting hundreds of years for. The interesting thing was that Ruby, s.e.xy Schoolgirl, and a number of Overgeared members accompanied him. It was because they wanted to witness the historic moment when a legendary great magician was resurrected. However, he had mixed feelings when he saw the eyes of the female guild members s.h.i.+ne in an unusual way.
“Don’t expect too much. How much more handsome could he be? It will be the standard of an older Noll at most.”
Zednos was upset and tried to dampen their expectations, but it was useless.
“If he is an adult version of Noll, won’t he be the most handsome man in the world?”
“I"m more curious.”
The expectations of the Overgeared members soared into the sky. Their minds were focused on Braham’s beauty that had been exposed when he a.s.similated with Grid. It wasn’t just them, but everyone in the world. The videos of ‘White-haired Grid’ boasted hundreds of millions of views on YouXV and was still visited daily by people to leave comments.
“Looking forward to it...”
Now even the men had s.h.i.+ning eyes. An overwhelmingly beautiful person was the envy of all genders.
“Pagma’s Eyes.”
In the midst of the turmoil, Grid activated the eyes as he looked at the Sword Grave. His eyes shone mysteriously and the 4,179 swords present at the Sword Grave moved. Inside...
-It has been a while.
Grid approached a sword and the sword greeted him. It was a sword with the ego of 5th Pope Franz. However, it was a little strange. Unlike a few months ago, there were traces of damage on the blade.
“What happened?”
-There was an intruder.Ah, don’t worry.Braham"s body is safe.
“Intruder?”
-The Templar of the Rebecca Church.They managed to find this place.
“...!”