Chapter 40 Part2 (1/2)
<chapter 40.=”” fake=”” hero=”” saga=”” -=”” 2=””>
”Mm.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo saw the Spirits' Spring begin to radiate light, and groaned. In his head, he thought 'Now I've done it!'.
His plan had been to get the spirits to follow his every whim and turn the spirits into an a.s.sault force through the covert use of the Spirits' Spring and the Spirits' Road. Since he thought that was his only option of upholding their request to attain revenge against the Emperor whilst still keeping them safe.
However...
[The Spirits' Spring and all of its spirits have agreed to form a contract with you.]
[The Spirits' Spring has contracted with you as a subordinate.]
Sweat gathered on his forehead. Oh right. He was disguised as a human right now, so his body mimicked human physiological phenomenon. When he wanted to maintain a complete poker face, he should abstain from disguising himself as a human... No wait, now wasn't the time to begin escaping reality!
”What's going on?”
”How would I know?”
[The Spirits' Spring... the will of all the past spirits is responding to the contractor. How can this be... I thought they were exhausted and in a deep sleep.]
Zenon barely stood upright and said; his eyes brimmed with tears, touched by the sight. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could ever so slightly understand what was going on.
The Spirits' Spring was a s.p.a.ce created through the combination of all spirits. It was apt to call it a living world. He was talking with the spirits here, but the Spirits' Spring itself had also responded to his words and had accepted his offer. It had decided that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo would save the weakened and lethargic spirits, and had left everything here to him!
[Ah, aaaah.]
[It's warm. This feeling... it's been a long time.]
[The spring is embracing us. Thanks... Sorry for how I've been.]
The light the Spirits' Spring emitted reached its peak and enveloped both Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and the spirits. At that moment, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo felt as though his magic, as well as all the spirits' magic, had been fused together. No, he soon realized that it wasn't a mere feeling or illusion based on what came next.
[The Spirits' Spring has completely subordinated itself to you. When using the Heaven Door's Key to create a gate to the Spirits' Spring, the amount of necessary bones and magic is reduced significantly and the amount of people you can bring along is increased significantly as well. All stats have increased by 10.]
[By making the Spirits' Spring your subordinate, all elements and resistances grow significantly.]
[High Rank Fire, High Rank Lightning, and High Rank Darkness have become Lv5. High Rank Acid has become Lv4. High Rank Wind and High Rank Earth have become Lv3. Intermediate Ice has become Lv10 and evolves to the high rank level. The Absorption skill has become Lv9. Magic has increased by 250.]
[You have learned the High Rank Water element. Magic has increased by 100.]
[High Rank Fire Resistance, High Rank Lightning Resistance, and High Rank Acid Resistance have become Lv4. High Rank Wind Resistance and High Rank Earth Resistance have become Lv3. Intermediate Ice Resistance has become Lv10 and evolves to the high rank level. Magic has increased by 200.]
[You have learned High Rank Water Resistance Lv1. Magic has increased by 100.]
”Ooooh...”
He'd gone through various experiences thus far, but the change was so severe that he couldn't help but groan. His elements and resistances simultaneously leveled up, and as a result, his magic stat increased immensely. There's no way he could remain calm.
'My other stats went up too, but my magic went up by 660 all at once... What the h.e.l.l!?'
If Jin had experienced this instead, he would've fallen to the floor and rolled around the Spirits' Spring a hundred times. Pain always accompanied growth, especially when one's magic increased by at least 15%; the accompanying pain would be quite intense.
”Hey, you ok...?”
”Leave me alone for just 10 minutes...!”
He hadn't noticed since he was busy groaning in pain, but Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wasn't the only one to change. The spirits of the Spirits' Spring had become subordinate to Lee s.h.i.+n Woo as well and were influenced by the Spirits' Spring; the spirits began to awaken.
[Kuhaaaaaah!]
[Aaaaaaah!]
There was a vast difference in strength between a spirit with and a spirit without a contractor. They were ent.i.ties composed of mana and a soul, so without a medium (a contractor), they found it difficult to influence the physical world. The spirits, who had lost their contractors, had anch.o.r.ed themselves to the Spirits' Spring, which was why they were pretty much immobile.
But because Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had formed a contract with the Spirits' Spring, and by extension all the spirits within it, they were now capable of moving forward. They had regained their minds, which had become hazy over time and thus, they, who were entirely composed of mana and souls, became stronger as well.
[How is this possible?]
[My body is growing...!]
[I'm overflowing... with power...]
That wasn't all. The mana that had acc.u.mulated within the Spirits' Spring was released, strengthening the power of the spirits, and in the process, the level 4 spirits leveled up to level 5.
The level 5s, who had been close to level 6, leveled up, and Zenon (level 7), as well as the original level 6s saw both the growth and strengthening of their magic.
Their combat ability couldn't even be compared to before.
If they attacked him altogether now, they could possibly kill him. Of course, they no longer had any reason for doing so.
[I'm ready to proceed.]
[It's as the human said. He gave us more power.]
[Even the Spirits' Spring, which protected us... I see, we should've made up our minds earlier.]
[We thought to ourselves that it was over. Even though it hadn't even started yet.]
The spirits had become stronger and they had regained their intellect as well. They made some valid points, but he wouldn't last if he had to address each and every one of them.
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo focused on getting his newly acquired magic under control using his Rule of Bone and Magic Acceleration skills. He'd experienced rapid growth in the past, so it wasn't as difficult as he expected.
[The High Rank Mana Bone skill has become Lv5. Magic has increased by 30. You have a deeper understanding of mana and bones, and you are now ready to study the essence of mana.]