Chapter 40 – Smash, Charge (3)

Meteor Call and Iceberg weren’t level 20 yet.

These were skills that would only level up quickly when hitting multiple opponents.

The level 18 dungeon only provided 10 to 15 monsters.

Other skills would be very weak at lower levels, so I headed for the manticore dungeon to level them up.

But even at level 1, these skills dealt insane amounts of damage.

So I didn’t mind it that much.

Typhoon Hole and Gigantic Whirlwind.

A ranking attack skills.

If I leveled them up, they should display incredible amounts of damage with my strength stat that is over 1,000.

The fight between me and the guild will probably occur within the week.

I regretted not leveling my skills faster until I was faced with a crisis like this.

Like a bad author who writes right before the deadline.

I was planning to use the entire day to level up skills.

One day wouldn’t be enough for A+ ranking skills that required a cast time and have cool downs.

Time to raise Eye of the Storm to max level as well. I’ve been procrastinating on that.

To see the synergy firsthand.

I entered the succubus dungeon that can only be hit with physical attacks.

It was to gain even a little bit of growth while leveling my skills.

Around evening when the leveling session was about done.

Meteor and Iceberg were level 40.

In 14 hours, I had raised them from 19.

An incredible feat only made possible by casting on hundreds of mobs.

Despite being hit by these powerful spells, they did not budge an inch due to their immunity to magic.

Even if considering high ranking magicans like Yoon Jong-sun, less than 1% of all magicians have leveled these mana-hungry spells to 40

A message came from the midget that a seller has appeared.

The trade will be occurring in his office.

[Please come to the office by 10.]

[Sure.]

The need for a good shield, which was my biggest worry, would finally be taken care of.

However, I did not have even a fraction of the money required to purchase the Mana Shield.

Money comes and goes.

Is that why I’m trading in person?

That I was planning to beat up and steal it from the seller?

No way. I won’t do that to people whom caused me no harm.

I only become cruel to those whom cause me physical or mental harm.

I arrived near the midget’s office.

In the parking lot, there were multiple cars I’ve not seen before.

Probably here to do the trade.

Since a hefty amount of currency was involved, not surprising.

Looking at them briefly, I moved on.

There was a man who seemed to be the seller inside the office.

Age probably around Jong Ho’s?

Acknowledging each other briefly with our eyes, I asked the midget in a quiet voice.

“Looks young for someone selling such a high ranking shield?”

“Most people send young ones with some skill to trade. Nothing good comes out of learning each other’s faces.”

“You knew that, but decided to have the trade take place at the office?”

“Well, I’m not doing the trade. Just providing the location……”

“Not my concern. What’s in that vault?”

My hand pointed at the huge vault behind the midget.

“Eh? What… really?”

“What do you mean. Isn’t your job lending money and taking interest from it?”

“Well… That’s true but…..”

“I’m just borrowing it for a bit. Should I take it myself? Or do you wanna open it without any property damages?”

“…..”

With a face that looked like he ate shit, he looked only at his feet. Passing him, I moved my body towards the vault.

Only then did he abruptly grabbed my arm.

“I’ll! I’ll open it.”

“Thank you. I’ll be talking with him to find out how much he wants.”

“……”

I went to the young seller on the sofa.

On the table was a small box made of oak.

It was obvious the skill book would be inside of it.

I spoke first.

“Hello.”

“Yes.”

From the moment we met, he did not let down his guard.

Well, he wasn’t here to sell just any item.

And it was a direct trade in person, not through a middleman.

“Can I check the item first?”

“Sure.”

In the oak box was a skill book.

I pointed at the smartphone to him.

It was a gesture that I will be scanning it with my phone, and it seemed he understood.

He nodded his head and sipped on the coffee.

-Mana Shield-

Usable Class: Magician, Shaman (Other classes will gain no effect when used.)

Mana Cost: Equal to the amount of damage received, both physical and magical.

Skill Introduction: Absorbs damage both physical and magical.

*When taking damage, drains mana instead of health.

*With one cast, continues until all mana is lost. (Can be canceled by user.)

*(??)ranking skills cannot be absorbed.

*(??)ranking monster’s attack cannot be absorbed.

CD: None. (Channeled)

Skill Ranking: A

Additional Explanation: Casts continuously with one hand.

ex) Using the Mana Shield leaves only the other hand to cast spells.

Skill Book Cost: ???

It’s the real thing.

The Mana Shield, a skill that lets you have cheat-like defense.

Of course if all my mana was consumed, the shield would collapse and I would cease casting it.

But how can I use up all my mana when I have infinite amounts of it?

And I didn’t need to level up the skill.

Only the mana cost would be reduced as it leveled up.

It didn’t affect the amount of damage absorbed.

However there was a bit of a problem.

While casting mana shield, I wasn’t able to dual cast spells from each of my hands.

One hand had to be casting Mana Shield.

Another issue was that it cannot block ?? ranking skills.

But skills categorized not by ranking had only rumors floating about them.

It was true that I had no solid information.

From what I’ve gathered, there are Awakened that have learned them.

I had no information on what skill and the abilities of the said skills however.

Well this shouldn’t be a huge problem.

Casting another shield and quickly spamming spells with both hands, I’ll give up one hand to cast Mana Shield if the other Shields lose durability, just to be on the safe side.

And skills beyond being ranked, highly doubt the members of Noblesse has them.

Maybe those in the upper ranks.

While I was thinking about the skills, the man sipping the coffee spoke.

“Are you done confirming?’”

“Yes. How much did they tell you it was?”

“It’s something that you cannot get easily. With money…..”

“Yes I know. You’re not here to get an apple box filled with money, right?”

“…..”

Quietly, he put the business card from his breast pocket onto the table.

On the back side of the card had instructions he received.

Seeing that, I stood up and headed towards the midget.

“Did you open it?”

“Yes…..”

“Do you have two Awakened Essences?”

“Yes… Yes?? Not money, but Awakened Essences?”

“Why are you acting like this. I’m not taking them, just borrowing. And you know that it can’t be bought with money?”

He looked at the vault as if his soul was lost.

It didn’t take long to search the vault.

Within the vault, I could see there was a small space separately built in from the rest of the vault.

“Bingo.”

Without a doubt.

As if putting a golden cow in good care, he had stockpiled them well.

These stones the size of a thumb, I wonder why they’re so expensive.

Exactly two.

To be honest, I knew that the Mana Shield would cost about two Awakened Essences.

And I currently owned two.

So if the midget didn’t own any essences, I would have used mine to purchase them.

But here he is. A businessman who lives from earning interests off of what he has lent, a law abiding righteous citizen.

I was planning to borrow these essences for a bit.

For just a little while.

“I’ll be borrowing these.”

He nodded with an expression of not regretting a thing in his life.

“And we don’t need anything like paperwork or something, right? It’s not like today is the first day we saw each other.”

“…..”

I went back to the table the seller was at.

Quietly, I set down two essences next to the wooden box.

With a solemn look, he confirmed the essences and put them in his breast pocket.

“Farewell then.”

He was trying to leave with the business card.

However I took the business card from his hand.

“I think we will be meeting each other often from now on, so I’ll be taking this. Is that okay?”

“Go ahead.”

“Then. We’ll be in touch.”

Not even looking back, I left the seat while learning Mana Shield on the spot.

The skill book started to glow and was absorbed completely into my body.

‘Mana Shield’

As I casted the spell, a blue barrier that outlined my body formed.

All shields I’ve received so far had a shape similar to a shell.

But the Mana Shield fit me like a glove.

I had one of the goons cast enchant on his weapon.

“Hit me as hard as you can.”

“Yes.”

Momentarily, I saw a smile creeping across his face, but turned a blind eye to it.

His enchanted knuckle directly dug through my chest.

But unlike what I expected, there was no massive ringing.

It was like all the shock was completely absorbed, and I’ve only felt a small vibration afterwards.

I couldn’t tell if my mana went down from the hit though.

Because I didn’t have a mana gauge to begin with.

Previously when his knuckle hit my Frozen Shield, massive amounts of steam released and parts of the shield became eroded.

Mana Shields must be effective on another level compared to other shields.

Different from the shields that sacrifice itself to block attacks.

It completely absorbs damage and instead of depleting health, takes mana instead.

Looking at this, I didn’t know if there was a skill fitting me any better.

I kept my amazement brief though.

Turning around, I saw the midget’s face that was at the embodiment of someone who lost everything.

“Okay. By when do I need to pay back the two I borrowed? If you’re coming to my house, please call ahead.”

“No. Why would there be a time limit. But please… Please return them.”

“Eh… These aren’t cheap. How could I just take them from you? Anyways, thank you for today. I’ll see you again.”

“Yes……”

“Yes! Please head back.”

Seems they haven’t fixed the door that was broken yesterday.

I quietly snuck in and prepared casually, heading for the office.

“Teleport, Mana Shield for when I need to rest. Reflect Shield for when I’m hunting… I am the one who can block all attacks. I can’t wait to see the look on Park Hyun’s face.”