My Self-Made Skillbook – Episode 60
Episode 60
Mana Heart.
It was an item I had obtained from killing the boss golem during the first large-scale Overflow.
I had held onto it because it felt like a waste to throw away, even though I didn't know what to use it for.
'Mana Absorption.'
As I inwardly recited the name of the skill I had created on my way down to the first floor, the mana swirling around me flooded into my body.
I could feel my completely depleted mana filling to the brim.
It was a skill I had devised after watching An Ji-uk recover mana with his mana palm using someone else's skill.
Even after entering my body, the remaining ambient mana was then absorbed by Hesto's Bracelet. Its maximum capacity of 1,200 MP was charged in an instant.
I used my skills in rapid succession.
Using [Flame Lightning God Spear] for elemental and attack power buffs. After charging my mana, I used [Godspeed] for a speed buff.
Over 600 MP had already vanished with this.
Both skills had a duration of 10 minutes and a cooldown of 1 hour.
And now that the Mana Heart was gone as well, I had to settle this within 10 minutes somehow.
"Are you done preparing now?"
Looking ahead, I saw Jin Paewang wearing a relaxed expression.
'Strike while he's off guard.'
In an instant, I moved directly in front of Jin Paewang. To onlookers, it must have looked as though I had teleported.
The 9-Word Skill [Godspeed] allowed me to continuously maintain a speed comparable to [Earth Shrink].
I immediately thrust my spear, engulfed in flames and sparks, at the Conqueror King.
"Hmm. At this level, it's no wonder those guys couldn't handle you."
"!?"
The Conqueror King was gripping the spear I had thrust at him. Even as flames and sparks devoured his hand, he still wore a relaxed expression.
"Kuk!"
I retracted my spear and attacked the Conqueror King in rapid succession.
However, he remained in place and deflected all my attacks with his bare hands.
Despite being struck dozens of times by flames and lightning, not a single scratch appeared on his hands. Or more precisely, every wound healed the moment it formed.
'Then how about this!'
I pulled my spear back and gripped it tightly with both hands.
'[Extreme Light Flash]!'
The spear thrust out at tremendous speed emitted light that swallowed everything. The light consumed the Conqueror King as it was.
"Hmph!"
The moment I heard the Conqueror King's shout, the light split in two.
It felt like being struck in the head.
Even after taking the blow that had blown a huge hole in the Evergreen Guild's wall, the Conqueror King was perfectly fine except for some scorch marks on his clothes.
"How about it? Has your mind changed now? If you say you'll come under me even now, I'm willing to accept you."
The Conqueror King spoke with a smile. My body stiffened at the fact that my strongest technique had been ineffective.
'...No matter how high his stats are, this is abnormal. There's another secret.'
A skill or a bound item. There was no way his hand could remain intact like that unless he was using one of the two.
While pondering, I used another 9-Word Skill.
'[Egoless]!'
I saw Jin Paewang's eyes widen.
9-Word Skill [Egoless].
Though it had the drawbacks of lasting only 2 minutes and requiring an hour to reuse, it was an enhanced version of [Invisibility], and its effect was absolute.
No matter how high the opponent's Sense stat, they could not see me.
'With this!'
I approached Jin Paewang while under the effect of [Egoless]. At that, Jin Paewang took his feet off the ground for the first time and moved greatly to the side.
Even though I was using [Godspeed] and shouldn't be visible, Jin Paewang had avoided my approach.
I sharply changed direction and pursued him.
'Got him!'
My hand, stretched out with all my might, touched Jin Paewang's body.
'[Bookmark Creation]!'
The instant the Bookmark entered the Conqueror King's body, his hand gripped my wrist.
"Even if you hide your appearance, you can't erase the flow of air moving with you, the sound of your footsteps, or the sensation when making contact."
I thought that, as expected, this was no human.
"Hmph!"
I felt my body float, then blood rushed to my head.
The Conqueror King had grabbed me and was spinning me round and round. My surroundings became swirling lines, and my consciousness slowly faded.
It reminded me of the G-force training that astronauts undergo.
I gritted my teeth and aimed my spear toward the center of the storm.
'[Single Flash]!'
Flames and lightning poured downward.
"Kuk!"
The moment I heard the Conqueror King's voice, my body flew.
Because he had let go of me, I was sent flying into the air.
After hitting the ceiling and falling to the floor, I quickly used a recovery skill.
"There you are."
The Conqueror King rushed to me in an instant.
I slammed the floor with my spear. An explosion occurred, sending debris and dust flying around.
Taking advantage of the moment he hesitated, I moved from my position.
If he read air currents and minute vibrations, I just had to obscure them with something bigger.
The Conqueror King stood still in place. He seemed to be preparing for my movements.
I summoned my book and turned the page.
It was to check the Conqueror King's status and skills.
--------------------
-Status-
Jin Paewang
HP: 1,446/1,500 MP: 490/490
Vitality: 75 Strength: 80 Magic: 49 Spirit: 60 Sense: 70
……
--------------------
'His stats are over 49?'
Confused for a moment, I soon speculated that it was due to a bound item.
If the stat cap of 49 raised by magic stones had additional bound item effects on top, it made sense.
I lowered my gaze to check his skills.
Unbelievably, Jin Paewang had only one skill.
The name of the unique skill was [Martial God].
It was a passive-type skill with no MP consumption, similar to my [Spear Master].
'Strength, stamina, and sense enhancement, combat techniques granted, recovery and physical defense increase...... Additional weight scaling with base stats......'
In short, the higher his stats, the more bonuses he received.
'Did the Conqueror King rise to the top of Korea's number one guild with just this one skill?'
I checked the time.
The 2-minute duration of [Egoless] was almost over.
'I need to come up with a plan before I'm revealed.'
I stared holes into the book.
Stats raised until they surpassed the limits of a hunter. And skills further strengthened by those stats.
He grabbed the spear coated in [Flame Lightning God Spear] with his bare hands, and his super senses even saw through [Godspeed] and [Egoless].
Monstrous stamina exceeding 1,000 and infinite buffs from a passive skill with no MP cost.
Even his spirit was high, so debuff-type skills didn't work, and his recovery was so high that wounds healed immediately.
At a glance, he seemed no different from invincible.
'Think. Think. If I give up, it's over. There has to be a way.'
An opponent I could never win against with my own strength.
'......Ah!'
At that moment, a memory from the past came back to life.
I had survived against such an opponent before.
I hurriedly moved my pen.
Just as I was writing down the 9 words and watching the skill form.
I saw a shadow cast at my feet.
The shadow wasn't mine. Goosebumps rose all over my body.
"Are you writing something in this situation?"
To make matters worse, the duration of [Egoless] ended, revealing me. I immediately dispelled my book and swung my spear behind me.
Clang!
A sound like metal clashing rang out.
I saw the Conqueror King's fist catch the blade of my halberd.
When he exerted strength in his hand, the blade of the halberd shattered into pieces.
I pulled back the broken spear in panic.
"Hmph!"
The Conqueror King threw his other fist. I hurriedly thrust the spear shaft forward to block it.
"Kuhk!"
However, the Conqueror King's fist broke through the spear shaft and into my stomach. As the spear broke, [Flame Lightning God Spear] was canceled.
Just as my body rose into the air, another impact found me.
The Conqueror King had leaped up and driven a kick into me.
I crashed to the floor.
I couldn't put strength into my body.
Two attacks carried out in an instant brought me to the brink of a coma.
I couldn't tell if my bones were broken, and my mouth was filled with blood.
As I somehow tried to move my hand to my inventory, Jin Paewang walked over with heavy steps.
The Conqueror King stopped in front of me and raised his foot.
"Kuaaack!"
My right arm broke like a toothpick. His foot was stepping on my elbow.
"Thanks to you, I had fun for the first time in a while."
As my consciousness faded, I saw the Conqueror King's foot rise again.
Clang!
A metallic sound echoed through the hall.
The Conqueror King kicked something with his raised foot.
'O Se-yeon......'
Over there, O Se-yeon stood before the wall, gripping a longsword and glaring at the Conqueror King.
O Se-yeon swung the longsword repeatedly. The Conqueror King deflected the invisible sword strikes with his hands and feet, and with each deflection, the wall behind them crumbled away.
"Don't be a nuisance."
The Conqueror King rushed at O Se-yeon and forcefully kicked the hand holding the sword.
The longsword left O Se-yeon's hand and lodged itself in the ceiling.
"Urgh!"
O Se-yeon's groan was heard. The Conqueror King was choking O Se-yeon's neck with one hand.
I put all my strength into my left hand and brought it to my inventory.
A staff was grasped in my hand.
When I used the recovery skill, my ruined body returned to normal.
The Conqueror King glanced this way and threw O Se-yeon to the floor.
"You have many skills. Strange. I thought Listeners usually only have one skill."
I raised my staff and ran at him. Although [Flame Lightning God Spear] had been canceled, the effect of [Godspeed] still remained.
I thrust the staff toward the Conqueror King's head.
However, the Conqueror King slightly twisted his body to avoid my charge and snatched my staff-wielding hand.
"Foolish. You couldn't win even with a spear, yet you approach for close combat with something like this?"
The Conqueror King spoke while looking at my staff. I smiled inwardly.
"You should fix that habit."
"What?"
I moved my fingers to point the end of the staff at the Conqueror King.
"That habit of catching someone else's weapon with your hand first."
I used the skill.
"Kuk!"
Enveloped in blue light, the Conqueror King released my hand and hurriedly retreated.
Soon, the Conqueror King wore a puzzled expression.
"What have you done? Have you gone mad?"
I held my staff and looked at the Conqueror King.
"What are you planning to do by restoring my stamina?"
Without answering, I silently watched the Conqueror King.
"Huh?"
The Conqueror King's mouth fell open. Blood was flowing from his nose.
"How about it? Killer effect, right?"
I smiled.
"W-what is this......"
The blood flowing from the Conqueror King's nose increased more and more until it was pouring out like water from a faucet.
I looked down at the Conqueror King, who couldn't stand properly and had fallen to his knees.
"Your skill grants more effects the higher your stats, right?"
The Conqueror King's eyes widened.
"Strength enhancement, stamina enhancement, sense enhancement, combat techniques granted, physical defense increase. It even adds recovery."
The giant wolf raised by Jang So-yu came to mind.
"I learned how to deal with enemies with strong recovery a long time ago."
I aimed my staff at the immobilized Conqueror King and opened my mouth.
"[Instant Recovery]."
Blue light enveloped the Conqueror King's body once more.
"Aaaack!"
The Conqueror King screamed. His arms and legs were twisting.