Chapter 217 Leader of the Light (1)

The Wizard Kingdom, Fredden. This was the only atheist state on the Seheranbad continent aside from the sword country Bernille. Heated discussions had been taking place in the main hall of Fredden’s palace since morning.

“It is a fire that will spread out of control if you can’t extinguish it immediately. You have to send your troops there as soon as possible.”

“But for what reason do you collect the soldiers?”

“Do you need a reason!”

Fredden was a country sharing the western border of Geronian. So, they were the first to hear the news of rebellion. At first, they were busy laughing, saying that it was bound to happen someday. However, the rebellion broke everyone’s expectations and ended successfully, and Geronian’s backbone was broken.

Then, an organization called the Bloodseeker Sect appeared three days ago and officially announced that they would settle down in Geronian. Up to that, everything was fine. No matter what ideas they had, they were regarded as better neighbors than those who ruled previously.

Until they discovered their Holy War this morning.

“The manifesto holding these ridiculous words is already going around our country! Hurry up and punish them!”

When they came to their senses, the Bloodseeker Sect’s Holy War had already spread to the public. They all read those ridiculous texts. But how could a living human be a god? Furthermore, their ideas and ideologies were also a big problem. They did not recognize any royalty but pursued only freedom and their leader by choice.

“..Calm down. That might be the case with the rescued slaves, but rational citizens will not fall for this type of cult.”

“But didn’t you see the devotion? If they can make ordinary people challengers...”

“Hey! You believe that? Sweet words are needed to lure people in. Perhaps the person called the Bloodseeker is also a fictional character.”

“..”

“We don’t have to draw our swords. Why do you think Geronian follows the evil spirit in the first place? It’s because they live on barren land. For someone to eat well, someone must starve.”

“..”

“Let’s wait and see first. Since they settled there, the hungry people will soon emerge one after another and wake up from their lies.”

The man who preached that they had to cut out their roots quickly kept his mouth shut.

There was definitely logic in that plan. But what was this indescribable anxiety engraved deep in their hearts? It didn’t look like this fire was going to go out anytime soon.

At that time, the person who set fire to the continent of Seheranbad was thinking about something in the waiting room.

‘Why does it feel like I forgot something? Is it my imagination?’

Yoon-seok shook off the thought. He still had much to do so that he couldn’t waste any more time.

‘Let’s check.’

Yoon-seok approached the tablet and checked what he received from killing Asnat.

{Voracity}

Rank S – Daily limit of AP conversion disappears.

Rank A – When all the opponent’s magic is absorbed, an additional boost of AP is obtained.

Rank B – When absorbing magic, the opponent’s maximum magic decreases by the amount absorbed.

Rank C – When you feel hungry when magic capacity is below 15%, the absorption limit rises to 50% of maximum magic capacity.

Rank D – Converts the absorbed magic into AP. Up to 200,000 AP per day can be absorbed.

Rank E – Absorb challenger’s magic-based skill and power during the attack. Absorb up to 10% of the maximum magic capacity.

Rank F – When magic capacity is over 98%, you feel full, and your physical strength and durability levels rise by +4.

As Asnat said, it was a skill similar to b Predation} in many aspects. First, only AP could be obtained with b Voracity}, and unlike {Predation}, its effects were useful in combat. Perhaps because of that, it was much more efficient than Yoon-seok’s b Predation} growth.

‘I mean, if I think about the month of cooldown time, it’s probably not to that extent.’

Enough with the comparison. It was a skill that would be of great help in his future endeavors. He still had many Unique Skills to upgrade, after all. Yoon-seok then checked the looted equipment: a Rank SS+ ring. Although it had several effects attached, nly one main effect held three times the magic of its wearer’s maximum capacity.

‘It’s not bad.’

But it wasn’t that appealing to Yoon-seok, who recovered in minutes even after emptying his magic. Perhaps Asnat wore these rings to control the empty and full conditions freely.

‘I’m not in a rush, so let’s keep this for now.’ historical

Yoon-seok put the ring on. There was still a long way to go before the duel began, and he still had the thunder god necklace if he needed AP right away.

‘By the way, is it finally uploaded?’

Yoon-seok swiped the tablet again. Thanks to his trip to Killian, 19 million AP was accumulated without having to participate in a mission. With this money, he could upgrade one Unique Skill to Rank S, and he already decided on which.

「Rank of b Predation} has increased.」

Upgrading b Predation} had been pushed back due to several urgent problems.

「You’ve reached Rank S.」

Although he still couldn’t figure out Rank A’s harvesting souls when killing creatures, other than that, it had never disappointed him. So, what was b Predation}’s final ability?

「1 of the 5 effects can be chosen.」

It was off to a good start. But even if there were countless options, it would be meaningless if they were empty choices.

*Adept – When winning a duel, a random talent from the opponent is acquired.

For starters, this was the kind of thing he was expecting. Skills, equipment, stats, soul. Due to the nature of b Predation}, he thought a new item could be obtained through duels when it reached Rank S.

‘Talent..’

Yoon-seok stopped for a while and rubbed his chin. Stats, skill, and power. These three were everything in the Tower, so one might have to ask what the use of talent was. However, Yoon-seok’s perception was a little different. It would be much more beneficial than a few increases in stats if he could receive Cheon-ma’s sword or King of Steel’s martial arts talent.

The talents mentioned here were likely not one-dimensional. Instead, the more talent accumulated, the more he could overcome any situation.

‘But this isn’t what I expected.’

Would he get a random one instead of the best? He didn’t like it. Yoon-seok moved on to the next option.

*Host – Convert harvested soul into desired points.

Arena Point (AP) of duels, the Dungeon Point (DP) of explorations, or the mission Point (MP) of missions. Even the LP (legend point) available in the achievement store to the wish point (WP) is used to purchase power.

‘No way, is this the main effect?’

In his experience, there was always one main ability that fit what he desired among the Rank S options. And intuitively, Yoon-seok realized that this was it.

“..”

Yoon-seok swallowed. If it were before, he would’ve chosen this ability without checking the others. However, the situation had changed. AP could be obtained by Pioneer and b Voracity}, and WP could be obtained by Heart of the Destructive Monarch. Although the points were never enough, the value faded as there were other alternatives.

Yoon-seok chose to hold off for now.

*Dreamer – Absorbs part of the opponent’s memory after winning a duel.

He thought this one was a bummer. Was there a benefit to absorbing memories? A few things came to mind, but he didn’t see a point in choosing this.

‘Were my expectations too high?’

Removing cooldown time or getting two skills at once, he didn’t expect anything like that. But even though more than half of the five options had been confirmed, he was attracted to none.

‘Still, two left.’

Even if Yoon-seok was disappointed, he decided to read the rest of the options. At the next one, he smiled.

*Wrongdoer – After winning a duel, acquire a random power from the opponent.

The part he was looking forward to was finally here. Although it’s random, considering the utility of the powers purchased from Elle, it was much more valuable than stats or equipment. Yoon-seok gathered WP day and night to gain such power.

‘Nice.’

Thanks to this, Yoon-seok was able to move on to the last option more comfortably.

*Hunter – See the unseeable. When this ability is chosen, another Rank S effect can be chosen.

The last option was similar to b Divine Ultimatum}’s break the unbreakable.

‘Hunter?’

He smiled. Yoon-seok knew that the Tower’s purpose was to kill the Queen, and this type of ability was essential to achieve that purpose. The intention was so stark. From the Tower’s standpoint, in the end, challengers were hounds.

‘This is fun.’

「New abilities will be given to Unique Skill b Predation}.」

Who would be the one defeated after the hunt? He would find out one day. However, Yoon-seok could feel it instinctively.

The day was near.

{Predation}

Rank S – See the unseeable. When this ability is chosen, another Rank S effect can be chosen.

No sudden changes. Setting aside his feelings about the Tower, Yoon-seok chose Hunter and Wrongdoer. To see the unseeable, these were the sharp teeth that the Tower gave to its hounds. So, there was no need to refuse.

“..”

Finally, Yoon-seok finished organizing his haul. He was quite satisfied. It was a pity that the Rank A effect was useless because he didn’t choose Host, but.. come to think of it, as it was not an option but a fixed ability, there must be some use for it.

‘Then should I get going?’

After that, Yoon-seok returned to Earth. Lee Su-yeon, who had left to complete a mission or exploration, had yet to return, but he wasn’t very worried. She did her job well.

“You’re here.”

Yoon-seok returned to Earth and ate up the precious objects Ashton collected from all over the world, collecting a total of 3.8 million WP. There were no more excuses for him to postpone the meeting with her since he was done saving up for Elle’s clairvoyance.

However, before meeting with Elle, Yoon-seok decided to resolve one last thing.

“The restored painting.”

Only half a day after asking if he could recover the painting obtained from Duke Carpaine, Ashton returned to Yoon-seok with a restored painting.

“..”

Yoon-seok slowly removed the cloth covering the painting. Red hair and a white robe met his eyes. As expected, it was a portrait of Elle. As soon as Yoon-seok saw it, he couldn’t hide his bitter smile.

‘She looked like this when we met before...’

Looking at her young features and round eyes, she was the spitting image of the child who followed Kanna around on the 8th-floor mission. The period before being dragged away by the Trejan Cult, losing her eyes, and suffering all sorts of hardships. The girl in the picture was smiling brightly.

“..”

Was it the influence of his previous life? Yoon-seok was heartbroken. At the same time, a voice echoed in his ears, and his eyes blurred.

—Are you looking at that picture again?

Rick Gerssey’s memory began.