172 – Sacrificial Ritual – 5

―You have overcome the invincible golem born from an ego dwelling in orichalcum and obtained the metal of the god. This fantastic story will be told in Uralta for a long time to come. You have obtained 500,000 Leta points. Charm has increased by 1.

―Your level has risen by 3, becoming 49. Strength (L) increased by 3, Dexterity (L) by 3, and Endurance (L) by 3.

―The Moonlight Blood Fangs (L), Lucy (L), and Salutaris (L) skills have increased by 1 level.

―By coming into contact with the divine metal and blocking it head-on, you have obtained a fundamental understanding of the mysterious metal. The level of the Adamant (L) skill has risen by 10, becoming level 60.

―You have overcome the invincible golem born from an ego dwelling in orichalcum and obtained the metal of the god. This fantastic story will be told in Uralta for a long time to come. You have obtained 500,000 Leta points. Charm has increased by 1.

―Your level has risen by 3, becoming 49. Strength (L) increased by 3, Dexterity (L) by 3, and Endurance (L) by 3.

―The Moonlight Blood Fangs (L), Lucy (L), and Salutaris (L) skills have increased by 1 level.

―By coming into contact with the divine metal and blocking it head-on, you have obtained a fundamental understanding of the mysterious metal. The level of the Adamant (L) skill has risen by 10, becoming level 60.

Walking behind his party members who rushed to find the hot spring first, Gi-jun slowly checked the harvest from this hunt.

Perhaps because he had experienced a massive level-up after defeating a false god just a short while ago, he did not feel that much of an impression even though his level had risen by as many as three levels all at once.

Perhaps, since Tilla’s role in this battle had been absolute, even more so than Gi-jun’s, the experience points would have been distributed more to her.

‘More than that, a problem is slowly rising to the surface. Even though my level rose by three, my Light Mana and Spiritual Power didn’t increase by even one.’

Currently, his Light Mana and Spiritual Power were stuck side-by-side at 93.

But the funny thing was that because their growth had slowed down from the moment they exceeded approximately 80, his stats were concentrated in Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity—and these three stats had also reached 85 in unison.

At this rate, the remaining stats would naturally break through 90 soon.

He roughly knew from Biche what would happen if the stats obtained from leveling up could not be distributed, but if possible, he wanted to grow either Light Mana or Spiritual Power to Epic rank before that.

‘And the rapid growth of the Adamant skill… Well, actually, I did have that kind of feeling.’

If Orichalcum was divine metal, then Adamant was divine iron.

From the moment he blocked the bastard’s fist with the shield clad in Adamant, he had felt a strange sensation along with a vibration; he wondered if perhaps the two metals of similar status had clashed and caused a resonance.

The same went for when the Pupil first saw Gi-jun and called him the incarnation of Adamant, and perhaps there were still possibilities sleeping within this skill that Gi-jun did not yet know about.

“Jun, come quickly.”

“Tilla.”

Tilla, who had returned with a flushed face as if she had already checked the hot spring Laura found, grabbed Gi-jun’s hand and pulled him along.

Her hand was still holding a burning heat.

“You worked hard, Tilla.”

“I just did what I am good at. It would have been impossible without the divine relic that Ur and Jun lent me.”

“If you want to use it, you can keep using it, Tilla. After fighting today’s battle, I felt that it was an item that suited you even more.”

Since it was an item that even he had no trouble handling, he had not even considered in the first place that Tilla, a Legendary-grade Flame Human, would be rejected by the divine relic.

Still, just in case, he had sent Ur along with her as insurance, but insurance, my foot.

She handled the divine flame far more skillfully than Gi-jun had imagined.

For Gi-jun, the flame was merely a part of the power he could wield, but for Tilla, it was everything.

Judging the party’s combat power calmly, it was only natural for Tilla to possess it.

“No, it’s fine. If I get too intoxicated by that power, I feel like I won’t be able to wield my own true flame.”

But Tilla unexpectedly rejected his proposal flat out with a strange theory, and after thinking for a moment, she added.

“And when I really need it, couldn’t we just share the power instead of you having to hand the hammer over to me?”

“That sounds like something related to a Unique Territory… Hmm.”

Isn’t it possible?

Gi-jun stared at Vulcan’s Hammer in his inventory and imagined sharing this authority with Tilla, but of course, it was not something that could be achieved with just such a half-baked idea.

―Kit!

“Huh? Ur, you think you can do it?”

―Keeet, kit-kit!

According to Ur, although it was difficult now, if he regained a little more of his strength, it seemed he would be able to share the effects of the divine relic with Tilla using himself as a medium.

At the guy’s strangely confident attitude, Gi-jun ended up nodding his head.

If it did not work when the time came, he could just lend her the hammer.

“Nyaaa—the smell is a bit strange, but it’s warm, so it feels good, nyaaa.”

“Nabinya! Jun-nim has not even entered yet, so what do you think you are doing!”

“Ha, seriously, if only Hye Noona were here…”

The sound of the group who had found the hot spring first chatting noisily drifted over.

With a smirk, Gi-jun took out his Letaphone and accessed the point shop to order swimsuits—and soon, the fairy merchant revealed herself in that spot.

It was the fairy merchant he knew all too well—in other words, Viv.

“Did you call, Jun-nim!”

“I clearly ordered from the shop, so why did you show up?”

To Gi-jun, who asked in disbelief, Viv spoke with a very smug smile for some reason.

“That’s because I am your exclusive agent, Jun-nim! More than that, you ordered swimsuits, right? What on earth possessed someone who has virtually no hobbies other than cooking to order swimsuits… It’s hot!”

Viv, who was fluttering her wings in fright at the belatedly rushing volcanic heat, narrowed her eyes upon discovering Gi-jun’s party members gathered at the hot spring inside the cave.

“A hot spring… and it’s even mixed bathing. How vulgar.”

“Your phrasing is strange. First, could you give me the swimsuits?”

Snatched the swimsuits from Viv’s grasp, Gi-jun was about to look for a place to change out of sight when Tilla grabbed his hand again and playfully suggested.

“Shall we change together?”

“No, no thanks.”

“Since we’ve already seen each other naked anyway.”

“What did you say?!”

Viv, who was still lingering without returning, shouted in fright at those words, but Gi-jun explained that it had merely been a ritual for Tilla’s rank advancement and added.

“You might have seen me, but I didn’t see you, okay?”

“Oh, really? Then, to be fair, this side should also—”

Just as Tilla was about to make a bold approach, a sword flying from somewhere, shining with a sharp blue blade light, stabbed into the ground at her feet.

Laura, glaring at Tilla from across the hot spring while maintaining the posture of having thrown the sword, spoke with one of her eyes dyed blood-red.

“Do not get too close to Jun-nim. You know that, right?”

“You’re quite shameless too, Laura. Weren’t you clinging to Jun earlier while pretending to be an anemic patient?”

“I-It was not an act! Anyway, let go of Jun-nim this instant!”

“Sigh, now that a formidable enemy like Beatrice has appeared, this is no time for us to be keeping each other in check…”

Although feeling thoroughly disappointed, Tilla let go of Gi-jun’s hand, pulled out the sword stuck in the ground, and headed toward the hot spring.

…

“What?”

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders at Viv’s gaze pouring from the side and made an excuse.

“It’s not always like this. In fact, this is a rare case.”

“Which means you are in a state like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.”

“Isn’t it amazing of me, managing it as the leader so that it doesn’t explode?”

“Why have you become so shameless in the short time I haven’t seen you?”

A short while later, after changing into swimsuits separated by gender under Viv’s thorough supervision, the Lumen party members soaked themselves together in the hot spring and exhaled a sigh in unison, going, ‘Phew.’

For reference, Viv was floating gently on top of the hot spring water, squeezed between them as if it were only natural.

“This is nice… I feel like my fatigue is melting away.”

“It’s the place where the Orichalcum Golem stayed, after all. Could it be that some miraculous energy is gathered here?”

“That’s persuasive. Certainly, compared to the hot springs operating in downtown Uralta, the hot spring in a Legendary-grade dungeon would likely have higher additional effects.”

Whether it was really effective and not just a joke, the moment he soaked his body in the warm water, he felt the muscle fatigue that had not been fully relieved even by leveling up gently melt away.

He also felt his nerves, which had been on edge from the successive fierce battles, relaxing.

The one who interrupted such a situation, where he felt he might fall asleep if he let his guard down, was none other than Eun-shin.

“Ooh…”

For a while now, the guy had been staring intently at Gi-jun’s upper body muscles from up close, letting out exclamations of admiration.

“Hyung, your muscles are insane. You look like the male lead in a superhero movie. They definitely weren’t this great in the past!”

“That’s because for ten years, training was all I did. …And since it’s creepy, back off a bit.”

“I agree with Shin as well. Jun-nim’s body is certainly beautiful.”

Unexpectedly, Laura stepped forward in agreement.

Perhaps she just wanted to find an excuse to openly observe Gi-jun’s body, though.

“Ji-hye Unni also didn’t know how to take her eyes off Jun-nim, who was shirtless, during every morning training session.”

“…Wait a minute.”

Eun-shin, who had been admiring the muscles while letting out pure exclamations of awe, had his voice grow sharp the moment he heard Laura’s following words.

“Hye Noona did?”

“Yes. It was a very blatant look.”

“Sorry, Laura, but you were at a similar level to Ji-hye. And even now, for that matter.”

Tilla, who was relaxing her body and enjoying the hot spring, narrowed one eye and pointed at Laura.

At those words, Laura cleared her throat with an ‘Ahem’ and tried hard to control her gaze, but to no avail as her gaze soon fixed on Gi-jun once again.

Beside Gi-jun, who felt slightly pleased thinking that Laura looked somewhat like a pubescent middle schooler, Eun-shin quietly cried out in despair.

“Hye Noona, Hye Noona to Jun-i Hyung…!”

“No, it’s not like that, so don’t get any weird ideas.”

“But it’s a fact that Hye Noona likes muscles! Then that means Hyung has a higher chance of ending up with Hye Noona than I do…!”

“No, there is no such possibility. Even if she were interested, I wouldn’t be.”

“What’s wrong with Hye Noona!”

“Someone stop him, please.”

Fortunately, Eun-shin soon calmed down.

Since he had already been harboring a one-sided love for over twenty years, there was no way he would be seriously hurt now just because Ji-hye had briefly glanced at another man.

…Gi-jun was certain that while Ji-hye was one thing, this guy was also incredibly twisted.

“As I thought, I should also build up my muscles.”

In the end, the conclusion Eun-shin reached was to improve himself.

“No, it’s not like I built these muscles because I wanted to, you know?”

“Please train me one-on-one from now on, Hyung. Exactly as you learned from that Demon King… Beatrice!”

There seemed to be no way to stop Eun-shin, who had already firmly made up his mind, but since the guy wanted to get stronger, there was no reason for Gi-jun to refuse.

“Right, let’s train with the goal of going to the beach alone with Ji-hye this summer.”

“Yes!”

Eun-shin clenched his fists, steeling his resolve.

Going to the beach was something he could not have dared to imagine during the tutorial, when he had been filled only with the sense of duty to defeat the Demon King.

Wondering if they had now come to look for ‘entertainment’ here as life became more comfortable, he smirked; before he knew it, Tilla, who had narrowed the distance between them, leaned slightly against his shoulder as she sat down and spoke.

“The beach, that sounds nice too. Where on the Leta continent would be the best place to visit?”

“Since Gratia is completely landlocked. The most famous sea on the Leta continent right now is indeed the Sea of Death bordering the northwest end of the Frontier, but that place is not suitable for a vacation, so…”

Even if they went to the beach, that would strictly be the Lumen party’s business, yet Viv was seriously contemplating it as if she intended to join in no matter how one looked at it.

Meanwhile, Laura, who had approached by cutting through the water from the opposite side, quietly took possession of Gi-jun’s remaining shoulder and spoke.

“I heard that the Empire has highly developed vacation spots.”

“Right, there was the Empire. Since the Empire is also a cultural powerhouse, it could certainly be a decent choice, but going all the way to the Empire just for the beach is a bit… Ah, I think I heard that the Magic Kingdom also has some nice beaches!”

“That’s perfect. Weren’t we scheduled to go to the Magic Kingdom soon anyway?”

“We can also obtain magic tools that will help on our future journey. I like that too.”

“Alright, so back off, you guys.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Gi-jun pushed away the women occupying both of his sides.

No matter how much of a tank Gi-jun was, now that he had no armor, it was difficult to endure when attacked from both sides.

It was even more dangerous because the other parties also had no armor.

―Contractor, I will protect you from those vulgar women!

―Keeey!

The moment Lucy, clad in a swimsuit and glowing brilliantly to attract everyone’s attention, lunged toward Gi-jun with an energetic shout, Ur quickly jumped in front of Gi-jun’s eyes and created a massive barrier of flame as if to block her.

“Ah.”

Naturally, the hot spring, unable to handle the heat emitted by the two spirits, evaporated completely.

As the party members stared at Lucy and Ur with indescribable expressions, Gi-jun clapped his hands and declared.

“We’ve rested enough, so let’s head down now.”

The short rest was over.

It was now time to return to reality.