Chapter 770: A Gift for the Disciples

[Collected Ingredients - 60%]

[Unidentified Ingredients - 40%]

The number of highest-grade ingredients I had gathered so far was six in total.

Each ingredient accounted for about 10%, which meant I was still missing four ingredients.

But now.

[You have obtained ‘Highest-Grade Ingredient - Seed of the Netherworld Flower’.]

The missing ingredients.

Began appearing before my eyes.

Then.

[Collected Ingredients - 70%]

[Unidentified Ingredients - 30%]

The message window that had been floating right before my eyes.

The message changed in real time.

[You have obtained ‘Highest-Grade Ingredient - Heart of a Lava Giant’.]

[Collected Ingredients - 80%]

[Unidentified Ingredients - 20%]

This achievement was the fourth achievement I had accomplished.

The higher the stage became, and the greater a chef’s skill grew.

The harder the achievement became to accomplish.

But.

At the same time, I thought.

[Highest-Grade Ingredient - Single Horn of a Heavenly Demon]

[Collected Ingredients - 90%]

[Unidentified Ingredients - 10%]

That was the law of this System.

The System gave greater rewards the more difficult the feat one accomplished.

It was not without its somewhat irritating aspects, but in that regard, it had always remained consistent.

In that case.

'......Even after reaching a realm where there was almost nothing more difficult left to accomplish, someone still managed to achieve it.'

Rewarding even that without fail.

That, too, meant it was the law of this System......!

[Highest-Grade Ingredient - Bone Powder of an Ancient Reaper]

As it happened, right now.

Mirinae, the powerful being that had been sealed by the System, had been released.

Put another way.

It also meant that the immense power used to seal Mirinae had returned to the System’s grasp.

[Collected Ingredients - 100%]

That power.

The immense power that had bound a being so enormous that even a vast world had been too narrow for it, forcing it to go outside.

[You have collected all ingredients required for the ‘Stat-Increasing Potion’!]

The System.

Apparently decided to grant it without holding anything back.

***

FWAAAAASH.......

After I checked all the System messages and even received the reward items.

Only then did I feel my body emerging somewhere.

THUD.

As my feet touched the ground, I thought.

'The reason I came here was to obtain the power needed to deal with the threat in the north.'

Mirinae had agreed to help me at the optimal moment.

But there was no way to know whether that optimal moment would arise while resolving this matter.

Because of that, it was difficult to say that my objective had been properly accomplished.

But.

'I got it.'

Just now.

I felt that I had finally obtained the clue needed to resolve it.

Of course.

I had only just obtained the ingredients.

I had not discovered the exact recipe.

If merely possessing the ingredients allowed anyone to make the same dish, there would be no need for chefs, and even less need for recipes.

A research process would be necessary to discover the recipe.

'But that will not be difficult.'

As it happened.

There should currently be two chefs in the Legion devoted to recipe research.

They would have accumulated knowledge and experience through that research.

With them, discovering the recipe would not be difficult.

I was smiling at that thought.......

At that very moment.

“Ah, aaah.......”

“......Hm?”

I heard voices.

Voices that seemed to belong to the beastkin.

“Sergeant Shin?”

It seemed that I had taken the longest to pass through the Gate.

Everyone else had already arrived beyond the Gate, at the cliff below Mount Myohyang.

And.

“Look over there.”

“I think you should see this.”

Those who had arrived first.

When the wounded Legion commanders spoke with hollow laughter.

I looked in the direction they were pointing.

There stood the two martial arts instructors.

And the five beastkin of the martial hall.

'......Huh?'

Right.

I could understand those seven.

The problem was.

'......There are more than seven.'

Come to think of it.

That other world...... Cheonsan Martial Hall had ultimately collapsed.

But we had not been the only ones inside it.

I had failed to consider what might have happened to the others.

Mirinae would not have simply abandoned them.

But it could not have kept them together in that empty void where nothing remained, either.

I had wondered how that problem would be resolved.

“Senior Brother, Senior Sister!”

“Junior Sister, your condition......!”

Now.

The answer to that question was unfolding before my eyes.

“......It seems I had a long dream.”

Seven beastkin.

Those who were raising themselves with the support of those seven.

“......At first, it was a nightmare. A nightmare in which Master devoured the immortals and the earth, while enormous evils swept through everything.”

A woman with a warm appearance.

“After that, although I was clearly asleep, my body began moving on its own. I could do nothing but watch as my body attempted to commit evil deeds...... It was a dreadful nightmare.”

A man with large horns.

“But later, it was different.......”

A girl with rabbit ears.

And the largest man among them.

The enormous man, with wild-looking fur hanging down from his body, spoke blankly.

“I saw Master.”

I stared blankly at that man.......

No.

At that man and the other three beastkin around him.

“And...... Master asked us to fight alongside the humans of this land.”

Then.

The message that appeared before my eyes.......

Was more shocking than I had expected.

[Race : Beastkin - Tiger Man]

They were originally supposed to have remained sealed.

Unlike Mirinae, whose seal had been completely broken.

They had only been able to move within Cheonsan through the authority of Mirinae, the ruler of that world.

Now that they had come outside, the System’s seal should still have remained.

But.

There was one surprisingly easy way to resolve that seal.

A method already proven through Miho and Seohwan.

That was.

[Awakened - Cheonho]

[Lv.75 Martial Artist of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Awakened - Ungyeon]

[Lv.69 Axe Warrior of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Awakened - Hyeonchuk]

[Lv.69 Hammer Warrior of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Awakened - Myojeong]

[Lv.68 Swordswoman of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

......By resolving to live together.

And becoming part of the System.

Since the System’s seal existed to prepare against enemies.

It was an extremely obvious method that the seal would not be directed at allies who would fight alongside us.

***

“We were discourteous earlier.”

The beastkin of Cheonsan Martial Hall.......

No.

The newly awakened looked at me and clasped their hands together in a strange form.

It was easy to tell that this was their own way of showing courtesy.

“When our minds were elsewhere and our bodies began moving on their own, we were deeply bewildered.”

“Malice could even be felt from those movements...... We wanted to stop ourselves, but there was simply no way.”

“Thank you for stopping us.”

That greeting was not directed only at me.

The unit members who had been with me.

It was directed at them.

“......We only did it because our superiors ordered us to beat you down.”

“Besides, you were unconscious. It was not anything great enough to deserve thanks.”

The unit members scratched their heads at those words.

It occurred to me again that these guys were truly awkward about receiving praise.

At the soldiers’ modesty, the beastkin smiled and said.

“Though we were unconscious, we have trained our martial arts for many years.”

“There are martial arts our bodies execute on their own even without conscious intent. We do not say this out of arrogance, but we were confident that alone would make us more than a match for most opponents.”

“You stopped me and my fellow disciples despite that.”

“......You were incredible.”

I had not seen that battle.

But.

Those four had remained asleep within the seal until the very end.

According to the other beastkin, they had held special positions even within Cheonsan Martial Hall.

'For people like them to speak so highly of them.'

Their expressions as they looked at the Legion soldiers contained awe.

The relatively young-looking rabbit girl’s eyes were practically sparkling.

It must truly have been an incredible battle.

'The System grants rewards befitting difficult achievements.'

I could instinctively tell.

The power used to seal Mirinae had been reclaimed by the System.

And the System had invested that power into a reward for me.

And as I now realized.

Those four beastkin...... no.

[Miyang]

[Lv.63 Shield Artist of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Shin Jong]

[Lv.62 Martial Artist of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Gyeonsul]

[Lv.62 Greatswordsman of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Gyeyu]

[Lv.61 Twin Swordsman of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

[Sarin]

[Lv.63 Poison Artist of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts]

Those who were looking at their fellow disciples.

Those five beastkin also seemed to have resolved to live together.

Five beastkin, each no different from a highest-grade boss monster.

And four beastkin who surpassed even them.

They, too, had been freed from the seal.

That meant the power invested in sealing them must also have returned to the System.

Heh.

'I thought I might soon catch up to Gwangil’s martial arts...... but this will make it difficult.'

It was easy to guess where that power had been reinvested.

Just as I had grown stronger, the Legion’s squad leaders were pursuing me at a frightening speed.

And that was not all.

“We are sorry to make such a request after causing so much trouble.”

Those who had apologized for their discourtesy.

Bowed their heads once again.

The first time they bowed had been to apologize.

This time.......

“Even if only to repay the trouble we caused, we wish to entrust ourselves to the Legion and fight alongside you. Would you be willing to accept us...... the disciples of the martial hall?”

It was to make a request.

After receiving that request, I stared blankly with my mouth open and thought.

'Power that cannot be fully explained by their levels as awakened...... people possessing overwhelming martial arts.'

Their levels as awakened were already overwhelming.

But when a being from another world became awakened, the assigned level was based on physical ability or supernatural powers.

Yet all of them possessed power that could not be fully explained by their awakened levels...... martial arts.

'Cheonho’s martial arts level is...... 89? Good God.'

Cheonho, who had supposedly been on the verge of ascension, possessed a martial arts level just below 90.

Knowing how large the difference became every time a martial arts level increased, I found it difficult even to properly estimate his skill.

If there was a being comparable to him...... it would be the grand duke I had met in China.

He might have been around the same level as the grand duke when I first encountered that being.

'But...... hm?'

Even while stunned by that strength.

A question suddenly surfaced in my mind.

'Cheonho was said to have been right on the verge of becoming an immortal...... but his level is 89, not 99?'

There was little difference in the sense that both were overwhelmingly powerful.

But I had believed that the levels described by the System represented the stages leading toward becoming a transcendent being.

According to Luca’s theory, this System existed to produce a max-level being...... a transcendent who could replace the god of this world that had vanished.

Yet the martial arts level of Cheonho, who had been on the verge of becoming the transcendent being known as an immortal, was lower than expected.

I could understand it if martial arts levels and awakened levels followed different standards, and level 90 was the maximum for martial arts.......

But even that seemed somewhat strange.

As for any other reason I could imagine...... well.

'......Could even immortals not be the System’s final destination?'

I did not know the exact reason.

In any case.

“......Of course.”

I had not a single reason to refuse that request.

When I nodded, smiles spread across the beastkin’s faces.

“Eldest Senior Brother.”

At that moment.

The other beastkin behind him looked at Cheonho and spoke.

“What did you discuss with Master?”

“Will we never be able to meet Master again?”

Those four beastkin had said they met their master and spoke during the final moments of their dream.

However, they had not explained the details.

Mirinae had remained within the world of the martial hall and would someday head outside.

The beastkin seemed to believe they would never have another chance to meet Mirinae.

At the very least, they wanted to know their master’s final words.

But.

“I do not think I need to explain that myself.”

“......?”

“Of everything Master said, I believe I may tell you this much.”

Looking at them.

Cheonho gave a playful smile.

“Master said a gift had been prepared for the disciples.”

“A gift......?”

“We heard that as well. Did it not refer to Eldest Senior Brother and the other three?”

But at that very moment.

RUMBLE.......

I felt the air tremble behind me.

There was a black hole there.

The Gate leading to Cheonsan Martial Hall, a world that had now vanished.

'Everyone who was coming out should already be out.'

Even though I should have been the last to emerge.

For some reason.

The entrance of the Gate was rippling.

“Ha ha, are you saying we are the gift? I am grateful you would put it that way, but.”

“Master said a gift would be given to the disciples.”

“The four of us are also among those disciples, so we cannot be our own gift.”

Was I not the only one who felt the Gate’s vibration?

Everyone present turned their gaze toward the Gate.

“So, as for the details.”

And.......

“Let us hear them from the gift itself.”

Something walked out of that black hole.

“......Ah.”

Upon seeing that figure, I could only stare blankly and let out a short sound.

That was only natural.

The figure that appeared from within.

Dressed in beautiful Eastern-style palace robes.

Looking around with a relaxed expression.......

A beautiful woman whose appearance was extremely familiar to me.

'......I see.'

Looking at that figure.

I was able to realize one thing.

The countless beings I had seen within that pure white space.

One of them had certainly been among them.

Yet until the very end, there had been one whose identity I had been unable to determine.

“It was you?”

As for that identity.

“N-no way.”

“M-Mas......!”

While all the beastkin stared in shock.

I gave a hollow laugh and thought.

'I did come here because I needed power.'

That was right.

I had come here to obtain the power needed to resolve the threat.

I had invested about a day because I thought it would not take long.

I had headed to the martial hall thinking that if I failed, then there would be nothing I could do.

But now that I looked at it.

That power.

'......I may have obtained more than enough.'

Perhaps.

I had obtained a little too much.