Chapter 119 – Black Market Tenth Shopping (8)

“Insights… tell me in detail . ”

“The Ring of the Great Sage you wear is undeniably powerful . The ability to use all existing blue magic as well as multiplying the Magic Power by 5… You could buy a country if you were to sell the ring . ”

Sungjin lifted up his hands to take a look at the ring inside which a strange blue material floated around within .

‘But it looks like any old cheap toy ring you could buy for a dollar at a street vendor… and this thing is worth as much as a country?’

“But as you can probably tell, you can only make use of the amplified Magic Power if you have sufficient mana to handle it . ”

“Hmm…”

“There is a great deal of Blue Magic that would become very useful with higher mana pool . Even if it isn’t a spell at the pinnacle like the 9th class spells, there’s still Ice Shield, Teleport, Ice Lance, Blizzard Storm and other powerful spells that exist in every class . But the only spell you can use right now is…”

“Yeah, the 2nd class or below, Frost Bite; Just one . ”

“Yes, that is correct . I believe it was said that you can use the effects of the Ring of the Great Sage for up to 30 seconds upon activation… but that’s not all that important . There is too little mana to matter…”

“Mmm…”

He was not wrong .

“Then… I need to raise Mind Power from this point on, right? And a lot of it?”

“Yes, that is correct . ”

“And avoid raising Magic Power for now?”

“That is also correct . While it is nice to have a high amount of Magic Power, you can’t use any of it as it is right now . And if possible, using higher class magic will be more useful . The common belief is that it is a much more effective use of mana to use one class 4 spell than two class 2 spells . ”

“Hmm… really?”

“Yes . ”

Sungjin pondered for a moment . In the past, Edward had most certainly said

‘One shot of Fireball is better than two rounds of firebolt . ’

“But if you think of it that way, then the most efficient use of mana is to just use the 9th class magic . ”

“Yes, that is the case . I have never used it, so I do not know for sure… but if you are able to turn back time… anything should become possible . Especially for Master who is skilled with the sword…”

“Mmm yeah… what do you think about my current level of Magic Power? How many seconds would I be able to go back in time with the 9th class spell? Assuming I have enough mana . ”

“For the exact number… I cannot say . However, I will say this that Master is already an excellent mage . And with the help of the ring, Master can rise to the prominent ranks of a Great Wizard and leave a mark in history as a user of the 9th class magic . ”

“Really? Mmm… Then I should first aim to raise my mana . ”

“For that purpose, please look at this . ”

Soldamyr placed a sheet of paper on top of the table . Sungjin took a look . On the paper was written

‘11119, 13725’

These were somehow a familiar set of values, but Sungjin couldn’t immediately recall where he had seen them . Sungjin asked Soldamyr

“What is this?”

“This is Master’s current Magic Power and Mind Power . ”

“Ahh, I see . ”

Last night, Soldamyr had asked

‘Master, what is your current Magic and Mind power levels?’

So he answered with

‘Operator, show Soldamyr my current stats . ’

But he soon forgot about it . Soldamyr pointed towards the numbers on the page .

“Those are master’s basic stats . ”

He then quickly wrote additional values .

‘12787, 15784’

“These are in the case of 15% bonus, which is when you have any title equipped other than Master Hunter . And these are”

‘14455, 17843’

“Your stats when you use the Master Hunter title . If you raise your Magic Power by 5 here, it becomes 72275 . And if you multiply another 9 on top of that, it becomes the amount of mana required to activate the 9th class blue magic spell Time Reversal, which comes to 650475 . ”

“What an absurd amount . ”

“Yes, it means you need roughly 50,000 more Mind power in order to use it just once . ”

“If I had known this would happen, I would have invested fewer points into magic power . ”

“No, not at all . If your magic power is too low… it could result in going back by a mere second or two after using all that mana to cast the spell . That would also be very unhelpful . It is better this way . Just work hard towards slowly building up your mana and unlocking one class at a time . ”

“Hmm… yeah . But it is still a little disappointing . I had thought I might be able to use the Time Reversal right away . ”

“9th Class magic were often called Spells of the Divine Order . Typically only Dragons are able to cast them as they are the true masters of magic power . Without a Dragon’s Heart…”

Sungjin tilted his head when he heard that .

“Hmm?”

“Yes?”

“Just now… did you say Dragon’s Heart?”

“Yes, Dragon’s Heart . ”

“That… I got one last raid . ”

“Excuse me? Dragon’s Heart? The origin of mana?”

“Yeah”

Soldamyr’s mouth was agape .

“What?”

Now that he thought of it, Soldamyr was not around when Sungjin had picked up the Dragon’s Heart . Sungjin had called him out after meeting Ariane and not even once after returning to Ninety Nine Nights did he have a chance to see it, as Sungjin left it behind at the Black Market as soon as he arrived .

“That… where is it now?”

“I left it with the smithy, to make another weapon . ”

“Huh… In that case… we’ll just have to believe in the skill of the blacksmith . I do not know what kind of blade would be made but… It would be great if the sword retained the true nature of the Dragon’s Heart . ”

Sungjin asked him

“By True nature…”

“Supplying Mana . If the sword can do that, You might be able to use the Time Reversal as early as the next round . ”

“Mmm, I see…”

Sungjin paused for a moment to look out the window as he thought

‘Well, we can’t help but believe in Kargos… He promised to make a spellblade… I’ll just take his word for it . ’

But then he remembered his words .

‘“I treat all items that pass through my hand as my own children; I give it my best for my children . But just because I am their father it does not mean that I can predict how they will end up as adults . ’

The die has already been cast . Now all he could do was pray that the roll was favorable .

*

Four Thirty in the morning, Sungjin headed towards Darker than Black again .

“I’ll buy that emperor staff or whatever you called it . ”

“I guess the troll hunt is going well? Here you go . ”

Sungjin received the item and held it above his head .

Staff of Helix – Sceptre of the Warlord
Heroic Staff – Strength B Dexterity C

Active Skill
Draft (I) – Summons all Chosen Ones . Chosen ones are able to reject the summon .
Cooldown 1 day .

Mandatory Draft (I) – Forcefully summons the Chosen Ones who rejected the Draft . Those who are summoned this way are unable to leave the Dimension for 10 minutes .
Cooldown 1 day .

Inspection (I) – Select a Chosen One and check the situation . May choose to teleport to the Chosen One being viewed .
Cooldown 5 minutes .

The child grinned jestfully as he said
‘In the world of kings, I will become the smallest, yet the largest king of the jungle’
But his eyes were filled with certainty .

Sungjin accepted it . It had all the functions he was promised . Summoning and observing . But then it also had a peculiar function he did not expect .

“Can refuse the summon… and then forcefully summon…”

Sungjin muttered to himself . The Darker than Black Merchant said

“If there is a king… there is bound to be a disobedient subject . Perhaps even a rebel…”

“Mmm…”

Sungjin thought for a moment . Nada, Franz, and Serin . He had only gathered people he trusted, so he didn’t think about the possibility of betrayal before .

‘Well… That probably won’t happen . I picked them myself…’

Sungjin thought to himself as he looked up . But then Darker than Black merchant broke into a grin and said

“What do you think, what if you lost your memories of the past and had run into Edward . Don’t you think you would have chosen him too?”

Sungjin stiffened up from his words . Edward had been extremely gentle and kind . If Sungjin had not regressed to the past and had met Edward

‘I would have chosen him, without a doubt . ’

It was true . He had a great personality, high ability, and great skill with magic . And he even managed to gather all the parts of the “Stories from the West”, obtaining a book equal to the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ . Thinking of its possibility, it deeply shook Sungjin .

‘Betrayed by the people I picked, with the bonus stats that I gave…’

That would be dangerous . He had told Nada that he would conduct an interview, but an interview was nothing more than a single momentary interaction . It couldn’t reveal a person’s innermost nature .

“If I were you, I would put that eye to good use . ”

“Eye?”

Sungjin stared at him . Sungjin noticed that the man’s gaze was off to the side . He was looking at his ears instead of his eyes . Sungjin realized that the ‘eyes’ he was referring to was the earring, ‘Eye of Jeremiah’, the mind reading earring . Then he got an idea

‘What if… I use it on this man?’

So Sungjin intentionally touched the earring as he said

“Ahh… this . Yes, this is very good . ”

The man immediately replied

“Yes, but don’t go trying to read my mind . ”

Sungjin visibly withered .

‘As I thought, it doesn’t work . ’

The merchant pointed at Sungjin’s hands and said

“You seem… to value that ring a lot, but I think differently . I think that earring will be far more useful to you . ”

Sungjin thought about it carefully .

‘He’s not wrong . ’

And then the man muttered

“Well, both of them contain power of half **** half humans… but anyway, this is it for shopping, right?”

“An… . no . I still have…16215 coins . So I want to buy an elixir . ”

“I told you last time, but you can buy the Elixir in multiples of thousands .

“Then I’ll buy as many as I can . 16,000 complete transaction . ”

“How cool, you are . ”

Sungjin raised both his hands and replied

“I already bought everything I needed . ”

The man took out a glass bottle containing a black colored liquid . The bottle had exactly the same design as the Holy Water of Baptism .

Except, the liquid contained within was of a different color . Sungjin accepted it and drank it right away . Although the color was black… Sungjin felt odd and checked the bottle after he drank it .

“The color is black… but there’s no flavor or smell . ”

“Well, it’s that kind of item . ”

Sungjin said while looking at him with eyes full of suspicion .

“Operator, how many unallocated stat points do I have?”

[You have 3200 Unallocated Points . ]

Sungjin stopped being skeptical .

“The effects are good . Then… Once the next raid is over… I will be back . ”

“As you wish . ”

Sungjin placed the King’s Sceptre into the Cube as he left Darker than Black . Kargos should be close to finishing turning a Dragon’s Heart into a sword .

Sungjin headed towards the Black Market . But meanwhile, he recalled the Merchant’s words .

‘Perhaps even a rebel . ’

Sungjin muttered to himself in the empty Black Market street .

“Rebel… A rebellion…”