[Skill Hecleus Style Fist Art - Straight Punch has been created.]
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Skill 'Hecleus Style Fist Art - Straight Punch' has been created.
Skill system. When a skill is created, a "correction" is applied to the apostle's actions.
During class, Do-yoon and many other cadets hadn't understood what that "correction" to actions really meant.
The instructors had added some explanations, but it all boiled down to "You'll know once you use a skill."
'But... they said creating skills is so hard, yet one technique and it pops up right away?'
The paths for apostles to grow using the system were incredibly diverse. Leveling up stats, creating traits, collecting rare items, and so on.
'Compared to the old days when it was all just gritting your teeth through training, this is a huge improvement.'
Leveling up skills was one such method.
The system's corrections grew stronger as skill levels increased, so the types and levels of skills were one measure of an apostle's strength.
'Skill correction, huh... I'll have to test it once my body's recovered.'
In his current state, there was no way he could unleash Hecleus Style again.
Do-yoon sat cross-legged on the dorm floor. For now, he needed to focus on clearing his meridians, not skills.
He closed his eyes and drew in the mana from the air through his breathing. Once he'd gathered plenty in his lungs, he compressed it into his heart.
A powerful pump that circulated blood through his entire body. Riding that force, he shot the mana through his whole body in one go.
"Huff...! Cough!"
Black blood sprayed out like a mist from his coughing fit. A fishy, metallic taste filled his mouth. Hemorrhage from internal injuries.
A brute-force method of blasting mana so fiercely through his meridians that it shredded them to clear the blockages. But nothing was more effective.
He'd already confirmed it through experiments. With Stamina at level 7, this shining body had insane regeneration, healing these kinds of internal injuries in no time.
Of course, the process of ripping apart his meridian walls was excruciating.
But Do-yoon wasn't some fragile rookie apostle. He was the hero Enoch Războinic, who had overcome countless trials and crises through seventeen deaths.
For him, pain was routine.
This was a method only Enoch Războinic could pull off—one who neglected his own body and possessed transcendent talent in mana control.
Even as he swallowed the agony of thousands of needles piercing every corner of his body, Do-yoon continued the work without a twitch.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A week had passed since the mana test, marking the end of the second week at the Cradle.
In that time, Do-yoon had holed up in his dorm, devoting himself entirely to clearing his meridians.
He only showed his face during roll call and meals, and whenever he appeared in the cafeteria, instructors swarmed him like bees.
Just like on the training field, they bombarded him with questions without giving him a moment's rest. They were especially interested in his acquired trait, Mana Handicap.
They needed to determine if Do-yoon's Mana Handicap was permanent to properly assess this talent's value.
If it could be cured? No need to say it—they'd recruit him no matter what. The top prospect.
But many backed off after Do-yoon's declaration.
"I'm from Earth."
The instructors let out sighs of regret.
Earth.
A civilized dimension full of dust and not a speck of mana in its atmosphere. The implications were clear.
Do-yoon's Mana Handicap could be cured, but meridians that should have been sensitive had hardened, slashing his potential. His value plummeted.
Of course, Do-yoon couldn't care less.
His body was a Divine Beast's, guaranteed by the system. A little dust in the meridians wouldn't diminish its potential.
Clear that dust, and he'd be in peak condition—but the instructors had no way of knowing the details.
In this world, lagging mana talent was fatal. The major guilds had all pulled out, leaving only mid- and small-guild instructors throwing their hats in the ring.
They still wanted him. Even with lower potential, he was a high-grade talent ready for immediate deployment, no education or investment needed.
Lack of potential aside, his combat prowess from the test already made him a full-fledged apostle.
Still, compared to before, far fewer people bugged him, letting him eat in relative peace.
And there was one other change.
"Find him no matter what! Absolutely!"
Over time, the Boss Monster Killer's identity—known only to the archery instructor—spread like wildfire through the Cradle.
Do-yoon's buzz faded fast. The shooting star rookie and his Mana Handicap made for juicy gossip, but it was a firefly to the Boss Monster Killer's sun.
The Boss Monster Killer's emergence was quickly reported to every guild. Naturally, the Skeletonia Kingdom hosting the Cradle flipped out.
Under royal orders, the guilds signed an immediate info-control pact to keep foreign nations in the dark.
The guilds kept pressuring the Cradle for info on the Boss Monster Killer. The dean and vice-dean were swamped.
Instructors couldn't gather two or more without talking about the Boss Monster Killer.
Do-yoon was briefly a top suspect, but quickly ruled out. The wounds on the boss monster were sword marks.
No one imagined Do-yoon's main weapon was a sword.
And so, the Cradle's noisiest intake yet wrapped up its second week.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Acquired trait 'Mana Handicap' has vanished. Skill 'Războinic Style Mana Circulation' has been created.
Do-yoon's meridian clearing was complete.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hoo..."
A deep, heavy exhale escaped from Do-yoon, still seated cross-legged, sinking heavily into the air.
He shuddered at the refreshing coolness enveloping his entire body.
He opened his eyes and looked at the blood pooled on the floor.
Throughout the meridian clearing, he'd been hacking up dead blood from internal injuries, all soaking into the wooden floorboards.
No time to clean while focusing nonstop for a week—it was inevitable.
'...Should I report this?'
The Cradle handled cleaning via contractors on a schedule. Dorms too.
Do-yoon could sleep in a stable if needed, but this was Cradle property, not his home.
Better report before the stains set.
Do-yoon glanced at the clock.
'Still a bit before morning roll call...'
He closed his eyes again. With the work done, time to properly check his body's status.
Taking a deep breath, he moved the solidly packed mana in his dantian. The Divine Beast's impeccably pure mana circulated through him.
From fingertips to toe tips, every capillary. Mana flowed smoothly without a single snag anywhere.
What Do-yoon felt most acutely while clearing his meridians was how ridiculously cheat-like this Divine Beast body was.
'At least the payoff for slaying the Demon King is worth it.'
First off, his mana affinity was insane.
Normally, natural mana in the air couldn't be used directly. It had to be refined and stored in the body. Mana circulation methods made that possible.
But as a Divine Beast, Do-yoon's stored mana was purity itself.
'Even including my past life, this is the purest mana I've ever had.'
Not a speck of impurity. Its sheer density and purity promised tremendous power.
And once the meridians were cleared, they were so clean and spacious—mana slid through like a waterslide, fast and smooth.
Faster mana flow was hugely encouraging news for Do-yoon.
It would massively boost the output of his main technique, Localized Acceleration Control.
And what surprised Do-yoon most of all.
'Regeneration... it's straight-up monstrous.'
The Hecleus Style he'd unleashed during the mana test was a watered-down version.
Even prime Enoch couldn't have withstood its recoil. Hecleus hadn't taken a single disciple in Enoch's 18th run for good reason.
He'd modified Hecleus Style to reduce destructive power and bodily strain.
Even so, he'd braced for a week bedridden after the test, planning to clear meridians while down.
But he'd walked fine from day one, fully recovered in two.
Same with the internal injuries from meridian clearing. His body was perfectly healthy now.
No special treatments—just raw recovery power.
'Exaggerating a bit, it's troll-level.'
Do-yoon checked his status window and notifications.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Acquired trait 'Mana Handicap' has vanished. Skill 'Războinic Style Mana Circulation' has been created. Stat 'Mana' has increased by 1 level.⚔ STATUS ⚔⚡ Strength: Lv. 5💨 Agility: Lv. 2✨ Mana: Lv. 1💪 Stamina: Lv. 7🍀 Toughness: Lv. 4Name: Han Do-yoon Race: Human / Divine Beast Affiliation: - Talent: GeniusInnate Traits: [Trauma (Satiety Obsession)] [Divine Beast] [First Războinic] [First Guild Master] [Acquired Genius] Acquired Traits: - Skills: [Războinic Style Mana Circulation Lv. 1 Rate. D] [Hecleus Style Fist Art - Straight Punch Lv. 1 Rate. S]
There were significant changes in his status window.
Acquired trait [Mana Handicap] was gone, Mana had risen, and a second skill was registered.
'Rate... the direct indicator of a skill's value, right?'
Hecleus Style Fist Art was S. Războinic Style Mana Circulation was D.
A harsh rating for a technique he'd created himself, but Do-yoon nodded.
It made sense—Războinic Style Mana Circulation had massive drawbacks compared to its advantages.
Unlike standard methods that gathered mana in the heart, it stored mana in the dantian.
The heart was the flow's center, while the dantian stagnated. Storing in the dantian raised purity and made control easier per the user's will.
But there were reasons others didn't do it.
Only Enoch could handle Războinic Style Mana Circulation, thanks to his sole talent as a dullard from lowly birth.
Hecleus Style Fist Art had huge recoil too, but its power earned S-rank even accounting for that.
But dantian-storage mana circulation offered minor gains against absurd drawbacks.
Hence the stingy D-rate.
But Do-yoon didn't care about the system's rating.
Whatever the evaluation, this circulation massively boosted his main technique's output, forming a huge part of his combat power.
The technique that enabled Demon King subjugation and made Enoch who he was. Efficient for him, rating be damned.
Right now, Enoch was far more interested in the skill system itself than rates.
'So that's what skill correction means...'