Junhyuk was alone. The facility was empty. After having had the heroes gathered there to drink, the place now felt very empty. The heroes had laughed and sparred.
Junhyuk was alone, but he was not sad. There were only two weeks left. A lot depended on what he was going to do with them. Their results on the battlefield would change depending on how much effort he put in his training. But, more importantly, he had to become stronger on Earth.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel!”
Junhyuk wanted to learn the Dimensional Slash. Nobody knew if he would be able to, but he wanted to.
That was his goal now.
Junhyuk knew he had to complete the power by himself. He wanted to reach the same level as those who had taught him. That’s when he would know he had reached his goal.
Junhyuk was training on the Triple Yin Yang, letting himself follow the flow of his swords. Between bright flashes, Junhyuk disappeared. If Layla had seen him train, she would’ve said that he had reached beyond his limitations.
Junhyuk sheathed his swords and smiled. That day, his movements were different than those of the previous day, and he could feel it. Without realizing, he had pushed through his limits.
“Did I break my limits?”
Junhyuk thought about what Layla had said. So far, he hadn’t really understood what she had meant, but now he did. Without him knowing, he had reached a higher tier.
Had what he was enabled him to do it? Junhyuk smiled at his success.
He wanted to duel Artlan right at that moment, but of course, he did not think he would win. However, he wished to know if he would actually strike the hero.
Junhyuk lay on the ground comfortably. Resting was the reward for the training he had done up until now.
He smiled and raised his hand, balling it into a fist and muttering, “Should I practice something else?”
So far, he had focused mainly on becoming stronger on Earth. Now, it was time to get stronger on the battlefield. He would combine his powers with the Triple Yin Yang to get the best result.
Junhyuk swung his swords again, but this time, he teleported, used his Spatial Slash and his Spatial Collapse.
—
Elise was smiling while looking at Zaira standing in front of her. Zaira wasn’t wearing her armor. Instead, Elise had drawn a magic circle on the gynoid.
“When sciences reaches a certain level, it looks just like magic, and magic reaches a certain level, it looks just like science.”
Elise had upgraded Zaira. The gynoid could cast spells now. To make sure she would have the mana for it, Elise had installed mana stones through her body. And by using a core, Zaira was left with a lot more energy. The core had limitless energy, so Zaira could now use weapons comparable to Elise’s.
After the core was installed, Zaira was outfitted with new weapons.
Elise replaced the old, monster weapons with laser weapons. She smiled with satisfaction at the result. It had taken her a whole week to upgrade Zaira. She had only managed to do it because she had learned speed casting from Diane and Vera.
Elise armored Zaira again and walked toward her.
“The basic preparations for the tournament are over,” she said.
Now, it was time to make more set items from the dragon’s body. With her speed magic, she could work even faster.
There was a week left to the tournament, and Elise wanted to do everything she could until then.
“If I become a legend, will they grant me a wish?”
Elise became happy at the thought of becoming a legend and inspected her equipment.
—
Junhyuk’s Spatial Slash, Spatial Collapse and teleportations had changed a bit. He had become stronger, and his powers were affected by that. The Spatial Collapse now had a suction radius of fifteen meters. The range of the Spatial Slash had increased by ten meters, for a total of eighty meters.
The training facility was too small to use his teleportations at full range, but its cooldown had decreased. Now, he could use it every twenty-five seconds, which meant he could use it as his main skill.
“The cooldowns of the Spatial Slash and Spatial Collapse haven’t decreased, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.”
Junhyuk would have preferred the cooldowns had decreased instead of increasing the range of his powers.
The Spatial Slash was his bread and butter. If he were to face Ronga now, he was confident that he would win after completing the Triple Yin Yang.
Aside from observing the champions’ battle, Junhyuk spent the rest of the time training, the effectiveness of which was significant.
After putting away his swords, Junhyuk exited the training facility. He appeared in his room, and after checking the date, he scowled.
“Eltor didn’t do anything!?”
Nothing had happened, which had allowed Junhyuk to focus on his training. However, that made him uncomfortable. Considering Eltor’s previous actions, it felt like the calm before the storm.
Junhyuk teleported to Elise’s lab and saw that she was working on three items at the same time.
Two of the items shattered, leaving only one behind. He had never seen that happen.
“What happened?”
“I managed to save one.” After smacking her lips, Elise added, “The Red Dragon set maxes at seven items. I can’t add any more than that. I’m using the leftover materials to craft another set of four items.”
“That’s incredible! We should sell it.”
“Is that OK?”
“We need to get ready for the tournament, so we should do anything we can to strengthen ourselves.”
Junhyuk could save the four-item set for those on Earth, but it was better to sell it and get more items. The Red Dragon set was like a legendary set, and with stronger equipment, their battles would be more manageable.
“We’ll get the best runestones and spend the gold on upgrades.”
“It’ll take a lot of gold to get all those runestones.”
“You need them anyway, and runestones don’t drop like other items. You’ll also need a new socket item for the runestones. You’ll need another complete set. I’ll take the four-piece set.”
Red Dragon set items sold for 300,000-350,000G. Elise would get 2,100,000G if she sold the entire set. With that, she could get her runestones and socket item.
Junhyuk would spend the rest of the gold on weapon upgrades. The legends wouldn’t be that strong without upgrades, and the same went for their incredible defense.
Just like the legends, the allies needed a plan. With great defensive and offensive powers, the allies wouldn’t die that easily.
Elise smiled and said, “OK. I’ll give you all the copies.”
After some thought, Junhyuk asked, “How about selling the crafting recipes to Bebe? That way, you can get a share of what Bebe sells.”
“Hm. I’ve already used all of the Red Dragon’s body, so that’s a good idea. Recipes for a set should fetch a good price.”
“To become legends, we have to invest and strengthen ourselves. We should do our best.”
“Right. The managers control time and space, so I have my wish.”
She smiled at him, and he said, “The tournament begins tomorrow. It starts at noon, so we should get together at eleven to eat.”
“Where?”
“How about my training facility?”
The training facility was a safe place. Only those with his permission could enter.
Elise smiled and replied, “OK. Invite me at eleven.”
“Sure. I’ll go see Sarang now.”
“Do it. I need to finish my work.”
Junhyuk went to see Sarang, who was surrounded by magic circles.
“What are these?”
“I was practicing high speed casting. Wait a sec.”
Sarang closed her eyes and the magic circles disappeared. Then, she smiled at him.
“Tomorrow is the start of the tournament. What brings you here today?”
“I’m done training, so today, I’m resting.”
“Really?! Then, I’ll do that too!”
“It’s fine. I’ll be alone for today. I’ll invite you to the facility tomorrow at eleven. Let’s eat together before we go.”
“Sure. I’ll head home today.”
“OK.”
Junhyuk went back to his training facility and lay on the floor comfortably. He went over his training in his head. His physical training was over, but he decided to think over everything he had done.
After thinking about what he had done in that month, Junhyuk opened his eyes and contacted Sarang and Elise.
“It’s 11:30 a.m.! When are you going to invite us over?”
Junhyuk didn’t realize he had spent the entire day thinking. He invited them immediately, and Elise and Sarang appeared with instant food in their hands.
“Why didn’t you invite us sooner?”
“I was thinking, and it took a while. Shall we eat?”
They all ate quickly, downing their cups of coffee. Right as they finished those, they realized it was time.
Looking at Elise and Sarang, Junhyuk said, “Let’s go.”
The bright light covered everything, and the world changed.
