Chapter 134
The two stood inside the training ground of the Grand Duke's estate.
A message floated in front of Suhyeok.
[Due to Ego Sword ‘Seong-a’, Skill ‘Borrowing (S)’ is currently active.]
[For a limited time, you may borrow and use the Ego Sword's stats. Maximum duration: 5 minutes.]
[While Borrowing is active, the target's stats will not be applied.]
Borrowing.
A new Skill Seong-a had gained as she grew.
Just as the name implied, it allowed Suhyeok to temporarily borrow her power.
Suhyeok drew his sword.
Blue Mana flowed across the blade like waves.
He gave the air a single test swing and smiled.
As expected.
I can't use my own personal combat power...
But I can use someone else's.
The drawback was that it could only be used once per day, for five minutes.
And the amount of power he could borrow also varied greatly depending on Suhyeok's condition.
Whoosh.
"Keugh...!"
The moment their eyes met, Kasim tightened his grip around his daggers and became extremely wary.
Naturally so.
The aura Suhyeok was releasing right now was overwhelming.
[Trait ‘Disaster (S)’ is active.]
[The ‘Curse of Amplification’ amplifies your Mana quantity.]
Normally, Suhyeok's body would've collapsed under the increased Mana.
But...
[Trait ‘Half-Human, Half-Dragon (S)’ and ‘Mana Heart (S)’ withstand the Curse of Amplification.]
Suhyeok concentrated the overflowing Mana into his sword.
The power that had been surging like crashing waves gradually settled into something as calm as a still lake.
[Borrowing remaining duration: 3 minutes 23 seconds.]
"Come."
Kasim had been given the first move.
Even so...
He couldn't bring himself to attack immediately.
Instead, his grip around the dagger handles only tightened further.
And for good reason.
From Kasim's perspective...
There wasn't a single opening anywhere in Suhyeok's stance.
It felt like facing an enormous wall.
Gulp.
...Why did he hide his identity all this time?
There were plenty of rumors in the capital about Waven Castle.
At the center of them all was the claim that Hail Waven was nothing more than a puppet Grand Duke.
After the previous Grand Duke died, the retainers supposedly swallowed the Grand Duchy whole.
Hail eventually became a lunatic who never left his room.
When people were secretly sent north to investigate, the reports had mostly matched.
He might not have been completely insane...
But he rarely left his room.
And yet...
The Waven Castle Kasim had actually seen...
And the Grand Duke standing before him...
Were nothing like the rumors.
Hail had skillfully commanded his soldiers and successfully stopped a Wave.
He was also extremely popular among the people inside the castle.
His Grace?
He's our lifesaver.
Thanks to him, not a single person died.
And he got rid of those rotten retainers in one fell swoop.
That alone was enough to make all of us feel better! Hahaha!
Everyone had nothing but praise for him.
And that wasn't all.
Kasim had seen the knights while entering the Grand Duke's estate.
The Knight Commander.
The other knights.
Even the rank-and-file soldiers.
Every one of them was stronger than expected.
...But the Grand Duke himself is still the biggest surprise.
He wasn't some madman from the rumors.
He was cold.
Calculating.
Strategic.
He had noticed Kasim's hidden power when even the Empire's Sword Master-class Grand General had failed to notice it.
And then there was this aura before him.
So overwhelming that the very idea of opposing it disappeared.
"You seem distracted."
Suhyeok's voice was calm.
"Five seconds."
"If you don't attack within that time, I'll move first."
That brought another question to Kasim's mind.
Why?
Why had someone like this hidden behind the retainers all this time?
What had he been waiting for?
Kasim shook his head, forcing the questions from his mind.
Then he raised both daggers toward Suhyeok.
His instincts screamed at him to retreat.
But he didn't.
Even if the outcome had already been decided...
He wanted to know.
The true distance between himself and the man before him.
CRACKLE!
Blue lightning exploded outward.
For an instant, the entire Grand Duke's estate flashed brightly enough to turn night into day.
Thunder ripped through the air.
Kasim's speed was incomparable to before.
But...
CLANG!
"..."
One of Kasim's daggers flew from his hand and spun behind him.
And, just as expected...
A sword blade rested against his neck.
It was a complete defeat.
The next day.
All anyone in the territory talked about was the enormous thunderclap that had shaken the estate the previous night.
Except for Wayne and Lee Hyein...
No one seemed to realize Kasim had caused it.
"...You may leave now."
Suhyeok looked at Kasim.
"I only need your help during the Wave."
"No."
Kasim stood perfectly straight.
"I would like to remain by your side and continue learning, Your Grace."
Ever since their spar the previous night...
His eyes had become absurdly bright whenever he looked at Suhyeok.
For some reason...
They were filled with pure respect.
He followed Suhyeok around whenever possible.
He took notes.
He assigned meaning to every single thing Suhyeok did.
At this point, he was practically a stalker.
Even Siren was shocked by how different Kasim had become overnight.
"...Wayne."
"Why are you acting like that too?"
Wayne glanced toward Kasim as though staring at a rival.
Then answered solemnly,
"I will work even harder, Your Grace."
What the hell are these two doing? lol
LMAOOOOOOOO
And they apparently haven't even properly spoken to each other yet ㅇㅇ
He's seducing men now too?
(Blushing while licking lips.) Hehehe.
HEY HEY HEY
Crazy bastard lol
As expected, Great Suhyeok can charm even men
Suhyeok couldn't understand what was happening.
Still...
He decided to ignore it.
A little competition between them might actually be useful.
Ding!
[Improper use of an ability has been detected.]
[Following review, the cooldown of Skill ‘Borrowing (S)’ has been reduced from 5 minutes ---> 30 seconds.]
So it ended up like this after all.
The once-per-day restriction had effectively become once per Wave.
Suhyeok had expected some kind of penalty.
He just hadn't expected the System to react this quickly.
At that moment...
Melk, the dwarf overseeing the repairs, approached while wiping sweat from his face with a towel.
"Looks like the repair work is mostly done."
"The weapons and Mana cannons are more or less repaired too."
"Oh."
"And the thing you asked for before?"
"That's finished as well."
What Suhyeok had secretly asked Melk to work on...
Was whether the Mana cannons could be modified to carry elemental attributes.
The basic principle behind a Mana cannon was simple.
Compress Mana to its maximum density.
Then fire it as an overwhelmingly destructive beam.
As they'd seen during the First Wave...
Its power was enormous.
It would probably have no trouble wiping out monsters again this time.
But there was one major problem.
The monsters of the Beast Forest could regenerate from external injuries.
Even if neutral Mana blasts crushed and mangled their bodies...
They would simply regenerate and charge again.
To kill them completely...
They needed to exploit the weakness of plant-based monsters.
