Chapter 68 : Chapter 68
Chapter 68. Enhancement
After the banquet with Lionel, Hyunwoo returned straight to his dormitory.
He looked at the document in his hand, which contained Van's personal information, and tilted his head.
“……What is this?”
He felt as if he had been bewitched by a ghost.
He couldn't even think about things like ‘Bation's Potion’ and the ‘Free Sparring Pass’ that he had tucked into his coat.
That was how shocking the fact that Van's race was ‘High Orc’ was.
[Race: High Orc]
No matter how many times he looked, the words ‘High Orc’ written in the race section did not change.
‘Van was a High Orc?’
‘Orc’ and ‘High Orc’ were only two characters apart, but they were completely different races.
The difference between the two races was as great as that between a Werewolf and a Lycanthrope.
‘High Orcs’ were characterized by enhancing their physical abilities through tattoos imbued with curses.
However, Van had no such tattoos on his body.
The first question that came to mind was.
‘Since when was Van a High Orc?’
He realized he had just had a stupid thought.
Of course, it would have been from birth.
He wondered if Van had deceived him, but on second thought, Van had never introduced himself directly.
Hyunwoo had just mistaken Van's smooth(?) body, which had no tattoos, for that of an ordinary Orc.
He had only asked for Van thinking he would get a strong porter to handle chores outside…
‘I hit the jackpot.’
A smile naturally formed on his face upon learning Van's race.
A High Orc.
If he was raised well, he would surely be more than capable of pulling his own weight.
Another question arose.
‘Why did Lionel hand over Van, a High Orc, so readily?’
High Orcs were a strong race comparable to demons.
The only problem was that Van had no ‘tattoos’.
He could guess what Lionel was thinking.
‘Did he judge him as useless?’
A High Orc without tattoos would be of no interest to him, and that must be why he had transferred ownership to me.
…Or, he might not have cared about Van's existence at all.
In either case, he didn't need to worry about it.
‘It's not a problem for me.’
If he raised Van according to the ‘High Orc training method’ he knew, he would surely be able to do his part.
Hyunwoo nodded, organizing his thoughts about Van.
Just then, the door to the dormitory opened, and Van came in.
He naturally approached and plopped down on the sofa.
Then he began to pour boiled water into a teacup.
“Do you know about High Orcs?”
Hyunwoo looked at Van and opened his mouth.
Jjoreureuk.
Van's hand, which had been filling the teacup, paused.
“…I've heard of them.”
Van fidgeted and averted his gaze, as if uncomfortable.
‘What? Heard of them?’
It was not a fitting answer for someone of his own race, ‘High Orc’.
“Why do you bring that up all of a sudden?”
“…It's nothing. I just heard there's such a race in the Demon World and wondered if you knew.”
“I don't know much.”
Hyunwoo was about to ask him more questions but stopped.
‘His expression…’
Van's restless expression looked precarious.
It seemed there was some story behind it.
It was strange that he, a High Orc, was owned by the arena, and it was also strange that he had no tattoos on his body.
In many ways, there were some shady aspects to it that made it difficult to ask directly.
He thought it would be better to talk after finding out the reason.
‘Lotus.’
Perhaps he could get information about Van there.
There was something he had to do before going to Lotus.
‘Bation's Potion. I have to drink this first.’
As Hyunwoo fiddled with the potion in his coat and slowly got up from the sofa, Van spoke.
“…Where are you going?”
“To the training room. I have something to do for a bit.”
“Alright. Don't stay out too late.”
Even though Van knew well that Hyunwoo wouldn't listen to him, he nagged him every time.
Because that was what an administrator was supposed to do.
It was almost a formal relationship now, but anyway.
Hyunwoo's eyes, heading for the training room, were filled with a sense of grim determination.
Gulp―
‘It’s going to hurt like hell, isn't it……?’
Hyunwoo still hadn't forgotten the pain from when he had acquired Physique I.
Why did I have to add a useless setting like extreme pain related to rapid physical growth…
Hyunwoo muttered a curse and entered the training room.
A moment later.
Keuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah―!
Hyunwoo's ear-splitting scream filled the training room.
The pain was dozens of times greater than he had expected.
It was a relief that the training room was well soundproofed.
***
The pain from the physical enhancement was not something he could endure, even though it was reduced by ‘Pain Tolerance’.
Hyunwoo rolled around on the floor of the training room in agony.
Keueuk― kkeuk―!
In the game, it had ended in an instant.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
After the terrible experience where one minute felt like an hour.
A short while later, Hyunwoo, covered in sweat, collapsed on the floor and breathed heavily.
“Heok, heok…”
He really thought he was going to die.
‘Bation, that son of a bitch!’
After a brief moment of cursing at Bation for gifting him with extreme pain.
As the pain subsided and he came to his senses, Hyunwoo examined his body.
He could feel that his body had changed.
His appearance hadn't changed from before.
What had changed was the contents inside. His bones had become harder, and the density of his muscles had increased.
A strange sense of fulfillment, similar to the feeling of obtaining mana, enveloped his entire body.
He slowly clenched his open right hand into a fist.
Ppudeudeuk―!
The sound of bones and muscles interlocking was heard gruesomely.
A strong pressure felt from his clenched fist.
He felt an overwhelming power that a human body could not originally produce.
A strong physical ability that far surpassed the laws of physics.
The result of that was engraved as a new trait, ‘Physique II’.
⌜Trait: Physique II
Description: ‘A strong mind dwells in a strong body.’
You can use physical abilities on par with mid-grade Demon World residents. This is the stage of transcending human limits and looking beyond.⌟
Physique II appeared where Physique I used to be in the status window.
After checking the status window, Hyunwoo got up.
‘It was worth the trouble.’
Still, Bation was a son of a bitch.
Hyunwoo muttered a curse under his breath.
Now it was time to try moving.
Adjusting to his changed body, he slowly raised Cheonbyeondo.
His body had changed completely in an instant, but since this was his second time, he quickly got the hang of it.
Hyunwoo swung the raised sword down in an instant.
He had only swung it strongly, but the sound from the sword was different.
Hwoooong―!
The air screamed and was pushed to the left and right.
A sound like a club being swung, not a sharp sword cutting through the air.
This was what it meant to have a body that defied the laws of physics.
‘…It's tremendous.’
Even though he was the one who swung the sword, he was dazed by his changed physical ability.
That was how vast the difference between Physique I and II felt.
‘With this much, it might be possible.’
The ‘Cross Barrage’ of the Crux Swordsmanship, which he could barely use after doping with various potions that increased his physical abilities.
Hyunwoo took a stance to use ‘Cross Barrage’.
⌜Crux Swordsmanship (3-Star)―Cross Barrage⌟
After achieving 100% proficiency in the Crux Swordsmanship, a movement that was clearly drawn in his head.
Hyunwoo's sword was swung in the air, following that movement.
Shuuuuung―!
A procession of cross-shaped sword auras advancing in a line in an instant.
The cross-shaped sword auras successively adorned the empty air.
And.
“Ugh!”
Hyunwoo, whose mana was completely drained, collapsed on the spot.
It seemed it wasn't a technique that worked just by having the physical support.
The mana consumption was too great.
The mana that erupted from around his heart was cut off around his wrist.
Pissit―
The mana emanating from the sword went out futilely like a candle.
‘I… can’t use this carelessly.’
After using ‘Cross Barrage’, his mana was completely depleted.
It seemed he could use it once if he squeezed out his mana, so he would have to use it at a decisive moment or when the final blow was certain.
It might be possible if he doped with potions like before, but he couldn't use a method that required him to be bedridden for three days often.
Having finished experimenting with his newly acquired physical abilities and swordsmanship, Hyunwoo put down Cheonbyeondo.
Due to Bation's Potion, he had acquired Physique II, and the power behind his swordsmanship had changed.
‘Now, if I just learn one new swordsmanship, it will be perfect.’
Hyunwoo checked the status window.
⌜Name: Kim Hyunwoo
Title: Champion of the Bellatus Arena (New!), Calamity Hunter
Skill: ■Crux (3-Star)―100%(M), ■Skirma Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M), □
Unique Trait: Swordsmanship Synthesis, Master of Copy, Swordsmanship Genius, Pain Tolerance, Oxygen Tank, Mana Circulation
General Trait: Physique II (New!), Swiftness II, Balance I, Mana I⌟
A status window filled with various skills and traits.
It was human psychology to be more drawn to what was lacking than what one had.
The single empty slot in the middle was particularly eye-catching.
He had been learning the Crux Swordsmanship and focusing on the special match, so he hadn't had the time to learn a new swordsmanship.
Originally, he had been debating between a 2-Star and a 3-Star, but after confirming the conditions for acquiring a 3-Star swordsmanship in the arena this time, he had decided to learn a 3-Star.
‘There are quite a few Gold gladiators who have learned 3-Star swordsmanship.’
The condition to obtain a 2-Star swordsmanship with ‘Master of Copy’ was an affinity of 50 or higher with the target.
In the case of obtaining a 3-Star swordsmanship, a more difficult condition was required.
Hyunwoo recalled the copy conditions for the 3-Star swordsmanship he had seen in the previous match.
⌜Claymore Swordsmanship (3-Star)⌟
⌜Swordsmanship Copy Condition 1. Affinity ― 65 or higher.⌟
⌜Swordsmanship Copy Condition 2. Aspiration ― To become an immortal being that does not die.⌟
⌜Leopard Swordsmanship (3-Star)⌟
⌜Swordsmanship Copy Condition 1. Affinity ― 65 or higher.⌟
⌜Swordsmanship Copy Condition 2. Aspiration ― To obtain forbidden knowledge.⌟
In the case of 3-Stars, two conditions had to be met to learn the swordsmanship.
The first condition, the affinity condition, was the same for all at 65 or higher.
Raising affinity was not that difficult.
The problem was the ‘aspiration’.
The second condition, ‘aspiration’, was different for each gladiator who possessed the swordsmanship.
‘Aspiration’ was the target's greatest desire.
…The aspirations of the guys in the Demon World were usually crazy things.
‘Wanting to become an immortal being that doesn't die, or obtaining forbidden knowledge, is child's play.’
He could just kill them well (?) and turn them into undead, and for forbidden knowledge, he could just throw them any hidden piece.
The real problem was the completely unattainable aspirations like ‘conquering the Demon World’ or ‘destroying the sun’.
Even if he found a swordsmanship he liked, whether he could resolve the target's aspiration was another matter.
‘If I can just resolve the aspiration well, I should be able to get a 3-Star swordsmanship.’
This was why he had asked Lionel for the Free Sparring Pass.
With the Free Sparring Pass, he could easily check the gladiators' swordsmanship conditions.
‘Then the first thing to do is… find out which guys have learned 3-Star swordsmanship, right?’
Hyunwoo brushed himself off and stood up.
He felt his stamina recovering while he sat and thought for a moment.
It seemed the effect of Physique II also enhanced his recovery speed.
Hyunwoo nodded and left the training room.
On his way out, his eyes met with Van, who was still sitting on the sofa sipping tea.
“…What. Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Just watch the house well.”
“Where are you so busy running around every day?”
“I have a lot of things to do.”
“It seems like you're the one making things to do.”
“……”
Hyunwoo stared at Van once more and left the dormitory.
He might not have intended it, but it wasn't something the guy who had thrown him the question of being a ‘High Orc’ should say.
From now on, what he had to find out was the gladiators who had learned 3-Star or higher swordsmanship.
And, information related to ‘Van’.
‘To find out information, as expected…’
Hyunwoo, who had left the dormitory, headed straight for the Market.
It was time to visit Lotus.