Chapter 45

“You are not of our kin. Yet how do you possess dragon blood?”

“You said it yourself. You called the System a divine miracle. You can’t claim to not understand something with your knowledge and then say it’s impossible.”

“That is true.”

“So, as it turns out, I no longer need the dragon blood.”

Gersia began to ponder.

“But there’s no need to be so disappointed. There’s still something I want from you.”

“Is that so? What is it?”

At that, Gersia’s expression relaxed a little.

“Do you remember the conversation you had with Seungho when you came to my home?”

“Seungho…… you mean the human who lives in this house?”

“Yes.”

“What do you take a dragon’s memory for? Of course I remember.”

“Then you already know what I want.”

“……You want me to teach that human?”

“Why? If you put your magical knowledge to good use, it shouldn’t be difficult.”

At that, he thought for a moment before speaking.

“But human talent is far too random. If that human named Seungho possesses a low level of talent, it could take years for him to learn magic. I do not wish to remain in this world for that long.”

“In this world, there exists a System called a divine miracle. And people who Awaken through the System fall into one of two categories. One hundred percent random. Or……”

“Humans blessed by mana?”

“Correct.”

“So you are saying I should teach that human magic and Awaken him?”

“Once he Awakens, that kid will soak up all your magical knowledge like a sponge. Assuming he Awakens, it’ll take at most a year for him to become a decent mage. Isn’t a year enough? Enough for you to explore this world’s knowledge and make it your own.”

At Jaeha’s words, he began to think.

“Then let us do this.”

“What?”

“I will teach that human named Seungho. In exchange.”

“In exchange?”

“I will teach him only until he Awakens.”

“Hmm.”

“The abilities one gains through Awakening are, after all, quite different from the magic of our world.”

“That does seem to be the case.”

“So I will help him up to his Awakening. After that, you handle it yourself. And while I am here, I will accommodate your requests to the best of my ability.”

At his words, Jaeha began to think.

“That’s not bad. Fine. Then I’ll leave it at that.”

“Good. Then we will proceed accordingly.”

“Deal.”

With that, Jaeha shook his hand.

“By the way.”

“Hm?”

“This computer…… could you get me a better one?”

“Sure. It’s not like money’s an issue—get the highest spec you can.”

With that, Jaeha left the room.

* * *

“Master~”

Jaeha, who had been resting, rose from his seat at the sound of Sia’s voice coming from the floor below. Spotting Sia entering the room, he looked at her and spoke.

“What? What’s up?”

“That person we met before, John Smith, contacted us.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. They said they want to meet.”

“Then tell them to come to the house.”

“Yes.”

Sia went out, and before long, she returned. Then, looking at Jaeha, she spoke.

“They said they’ll arrive in 30 minutes.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Then prepare some drinks.”

“Yes~”

With that, Jaeha got up from the bed and turned off his cell phone.

Before long, the guests arrived at the house. Jaeha greeted them.

“Took longer than I expected.”

“Not everyone was at the hideout, so it took some time to gather them and explain the documents. Our apologies for the delay.”

“Let’s head inside.”

With that, Jaeha went inside. Then, watching Sia bring the tea, he spoke to John Smith.

“So, how have you been?”

“Of course.”

“But who is that person?”

As he spoke, John pointed at Sia.

“Ah. That’s Sia. Homunculus can change their appearance whenever they want.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, let’s take a look at the contract first.”

At Jaeha’s words, John Smith took out the contract from his pocket and handed it over. Jaeha received it and quietly scanned through it. The contract bore exactly 225 signatures. Once he signed it himself, the contract would be complete.

“Hmm.”

Jaeha quietly reviewed the contents of the contract. The terms were simple. They restricted betrayal and prohibited taking out any of the knowledge Jaeha provided to the outside.

Perhaps because Sia had drafted it, the contract had no loopholes whatsoever. Looking at it, Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“You’ve already familiarized yourselves with the contents, and you know that once you sign a contract with me, it can never be broken, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Good. Then let me ask one last thing.”

With that, Jaeha looked at him.

“Any regrets?”

“No, sir.”

“Good.”

Nodding, Jaeha let a single drop of his blood fall onto the contract.

Chapter 17

Once the contract was complete, Jaeha smiled. Then, looking at John and his group in front of him, he spoke.

“The contract’s done, so now I need to teach you alchemy, but……”

At Jaeha’s words, they looked at the contract.

“Should we keep this?”

“Do whatever you want. Even if it burns to ash, the contract stays valid. Throw it away or keep it—doesn’t matter.”

“Ah, I see. Then we’ll hold onto it on our end.”

“Go ahead.”

Jaeha said that and watched them put the contract away. Then he looked at him and spoke.

“What do you want to do? Want me to teach you alchemy right now?”

“Right…… now? Is that possible?”

“Of course.”

“Yes! Then please, we’re in your care!”

John Smith said in a loud voice. At that, Jaeha rose from his seat. Then, looking at the three people sitting before him, he spoke.

“First, let’s head to the mountain behind the house.”

“The mountain……”

At that, they nodded and immediately rose from their seats.

“Alright. Sia.”

“Yes?”

“Bring the kids to the mountain.”

At Jaeha’s words, Sia nodded. Then Jaeha looked at John’s group and spoke.

“You all follow me.”

And so, the group headed for the mountain.

* * *

Arriving at the mountain, Jaeha spoke to John’s group.

“Just wait a bit until Sia gets here.”

“Yes.”

After waiting for a little while, Jane Smith looked at Jaeha and asked.

“Um, I have a question—while we wait for Lady Sia, may I ask?”

“Huh? You won’t have time for that.”

Just as Jaeha said, a few seconds later, Sia walked over to where Jaeha and the group were.

<Giggle.>

Seeing the spirits playing and horsing around with Sia, Jaeha spoke up.

“The beginning and end of alchemy is right there.”

“What…… is that?”

“What else would it be? Spirits.”

“Spir……its?”

“In the past, it seems alchemy was carried on with the help of will-less spirits, not manifested ones like these.”

“……”

“Somehow or other, I ended up contracting with spirits in this complete state.”

“So that’s…… what spirits were. That’s why we could never succeed.”

“Spirit contracts—I’ll help you with my own spirits. But contracts are only possible as far as the spirits accept. So don’t be too impatient. There are tons of spirits anyway. Surely among them, there’s at least one that catches your fancy.”

“Yes……”

Then Jaeha made a request to the spirits, and before long, numerous spirits appeared. Using his Spirit Arts skill, Jaeha created spirit contract circles.

And fortunately, they were able to form contracts with the spirits without much difficulty. However, they couldn’t contract with all of them.

‘John Smith contracted with three spirits excluding the Gnome, Jane Smith with a Gnome and a Salamander, and finally Von Dane with an Undine and a Sylph. They split them up nicely.’

Thinking that, Jaeha spoke to Sia.

“Go to the blacksmith shop and teach them alchemy at a basic level, appropriately.”

“Me?”

“Don’t want to?”

“No, it’s fine. It seems like it’ll be fun.”

Saying that, Sia led the three alchemists and disappeared into the blacksmith shop.

* * *

Back at home, Jaeha decided that since his new trait had given him talent in close-quarters combat, he should learn a skill useful for melee fighting.

Lying on his bed, Jaeha began browsing through videos. He flipped through the video list, but none of the hunters’ skills really caught his eye.

Most of them were skills at the High to Rare rank. Of course, a few of Jaeha’s own skills were at those ranks too, but the ones he used as his mainstays were at minimum Hero rank, and most were Ancient.

So Jaeha couldn’t be properly satisfied with ordinary hunters’ skills.

‘In the end, I’ll have to search again.’

Letting out a sigh, Jaeha started flipping through videos again. A few decent skills came up as he browsed, but nothing that really appealed to him.

‘Should I look into martial arts?’

After searching for a while without finding anything he liked among the ordinary sword skills, Jaeha decided to check the martial arts category. Continuing to dig through videos, he found one that seemed suitable.

[Taiji Sword]

[Rank: High]

[The easiest yet most difficult swordsmanship]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 100]

[Proficiency: 100%]

‘Hmm. High rank, huh.’

Honestly, the rank bothered him a little. But since it was a martial art with a name similar to the Taiji Divine Art he was already practicing, he felt somewhat drawn to it. In novels, this kind of sword art usually appeared as something good for building a foundation, so he figured it wouldn’t be a bad choice and learned the skill.

“I wonder if I’ll get a synergy from learning this.”

Of course, it wasn’t completely impossible, but the odds were probably low.

‘But the description is a bit strange.’

Jaeha thought for a moment after reading the description—the easiest yet most difficult swordsmanship.

“Somehow, it draws me in.”

After deliberating briefly, Jaeha smirked and learned the Taiji Sword.

‘Why bother agonizing? If it’s garbage, I can just learn something else.’

With that thought, Jaeha immediately learned the skill.

[Congratulations. The skill has received a synergy and your Proficiency has increased.]

[The skill is evolving.]

[We are in awe. You have obtained a skill that will go down in history for the first time.]

“Oh-ho?”

Jaeha checked the skill’s information.

[Taiji Sword]

[Rank: Ancient]

[A peerless swordsmanship that elevates the principle of striking second to seize control to its absolute limit]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 3000]

[Proficiency: 100%]

“Striking second to seize control?”

Jaeha looked up the meaning of the phrase. Once he understood it, he nodded. It meant “to act belatedly and subdue the opponent”—essentially, countering the opponent’s attack.

‘A swordsmanship that elevates the principle of countering the opponent’s attack to its absolute limit…… that’s what it is.’

Having fully grasped the meaning, Jaeha smiled. Then he got up from his seat and headed to the blacksmith shop.