Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 41

41.

I took a deep breath.

Mana moved with my breath, steadily accumulating within the Mana Hole along my meridians.

I was now accustomed to gathering mana using the Breath of Wind. With each practice, the absolute amount of mana increased, albeit slightly.

The Mana Hole had grown significantly larger than when I first created it.

“Before advancing from beginner to intermediate, there’s a sensation of the Mana Hole tearing significantly.”

Today’s training wasn’t solitary.

Soris, who had been interpreting my mother’s Spirit Arts book for quite some time, was with me.

“Even when the Mana Hole is full, continue to circulate the Breath of Wind as if you’re still accumulating mana. If you hold onto the overflowing mana within the Mana Hole, it will eventually move to contain the excess.”

I nodded, focusing on the Breath of Wind.

Soris was indeed insightful, pointing out aspects I hadn’t grasped.

“When mana overflows from the Mana Hole, it accumulates in the meridians and attempts to move freely, exiting through your breath. It’s crucial to restrain the mana at that moment.”

Soris continued,

“Forcibly restraining mana goes against the flow, but accumulating mana in the Mana Hole itself defies nature. The Breath Technique transforms this defiance into a natural flow, and the quality of the technique depends on how naturally you restrain the mana.”

Soris defined the Breath of Wind as the best.

“The Breath of Wind is the optimal technique for accumulating mana.”

As the Mana Hole filled and mana overflowed into my meridians, I intensified the Breath of Wind as Soris instructed.

Until now, I would halt the Breath Technique once the Mana Hole was full, or I would summon spirits or use skills to expend mana before resuming the Breath of Wind.

Whoooosh!

I felt heat emanating from my body.

Sylph spontaneously manifested, stirring up wind within the indoor training ground.

Undine approached my heart, conveying warmth, while Gnome shook the ground, further spreading the heat.

And Salamander perched atop my head, igniting a large flame.

“The spirits…”

What was Soris trying to say?

His voice was agitated.

I focused on the Breath of Wind.

The mana flowing through my meridians surged, causing the Mana Hole to writhe.

I felt the flow of mana intensifying.

Whoooosh!

Soris shouted loudly.

“Concentrate! You must restrain the escaping mana!”

I bit my lip.

Mana moved violently. My meridians felt like they would burst, and the Mana Hole fluctuated wildly.

Mana that overflowed from the Mana Hole struggled to escape.

I restrained the mana, continuously drawing it back into the Mana Hole. The Breath of Wind intensified, forcefully pushing the mana as if it had become the Breath of the Storm.

“Cough!”

“You must suppress it! It’s dangerous if mana leaks out now!”

Soris’s voice snapped me back to attention.

I worried that the mana might run wild, as the mana within my body rampaged uncontrollably.

Sylph stirred up an even greater wind, and Salamander intensified the flames. The ground, shaken by Gnome, trembled as if in an earthquake.

Undine burrowed into my heart.

The pain subsided slightly.

In that instant, the Mana Hole tore.

The Mana Hole wasn’t a bodily organ like other internal organs, but it was undoubtedly a vessel existing within my body.

That vessel was tearing like paper.

Immense pain washed over me.

Undine’s warmth no longer alleviated the pain.

I shuddered.

As mana overflowed through the torn Mana Hole, the pain extended beyond the Mana Hole to my meridians.

It was difficult to control the mana.

“Focus on the Breath Technique! You must restrain the mana now!”

Soris urged.

I desperately employed the Breath of Wind.

The wind stirred up by Sylph cleared my mind.

As the mana began to be controlled by the Breath of Wind, the torn Mana Hole regenerated.

The newly formed Mana Hole was much sturdier than before, firmly holding the mana that flowed roughly through the meridians.

It felt like my soul was being drawn up to the heavens.

The spirits gathered around me.

I heard Soris sigh in relief.

The Mana Hole was now completely reborn.

I calmly continued to circulate the Breath of Wind, and the mana no longer rampaged but steadily entered the Mana Hole.

The Mana Hole seemed to have increased at least threefold.

‘Incredible.’

I instinctively realized that I had advanced to an intermediate spirit master.

It would have been a considerably difficult path without Soris’s assistance.

Blazing a trail alone was vastly different from having someone who had already done so guide the way.

Soris said calmly.

“It seems Your Highness has the greatest affinity with the wind spirit, so you should attempt to contract with the intermediate wind spirit first.”

I nodded, summoning the intermediate wind spirit, Sylphere.

Whoooosh!

Sylphere manifested.

If Sylph had a cute, fairy-like feel, Sylphere resembled a warrior.

-I am honored to form a pact with the companion of the wind.

A deep voice resonated in my ear.

* * *

I formed contracts with two intermediate spirits: the intermediate wind spirit, Sylphere, and the intermediate water spirit, Undairon.

After Soris congratulated me on the successful contracts and departed, I immediately checked my status window.

My character level instantly rose to 25. My bonus stats also increased from 100 to 500.

A total of 400 bonus stats were awarded as a reward for leveling up and becoming an intermediate spirit master.

‘My level is still low. I’m much more efficient than other spirit masters, but I still need to raise my level.’

Character level was the standard for talent and skill levels, so it needed to be raised quickly.

Even if my skill proficiency was good, the skill level wouldn’t increase if my character level was low.

“The talent levels for Companion of the Wind and Guardian of the Water have risen to 5, so contracting with intermediate spirits should be easier… Now that I’ve reached the intermediate level, I need to focus more on skill levels.”

The power of the Wind Chains used with Sylph and Sylphere would clearly be different.

I wanted to test it immediately.

It was a bit much to use skills in the indoor training ground, but I couldn’t resist my curiosity and summoned Sylphere.

The warrior-like Sylphere unleashed Wind Chains according to my will.

Boom!

I gaped at the power of the Wind Chains that struck the wall.

It was definitely on a different level from Sylph.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight of the dent in the wall and pondered.

‘It would be good to use Sylph’s Wind Chains to restrain and Sylphere’s for a big hit.’

I also researched how to utilize Undairon, and it seemed best to use bonus stats.

Now that I was an intermediate spirit master, there was a high probability that skills suitable for intermediate spirits would appear if I drew skills with bonus stats.

This was why character level and grade were important.

The skills that appeared differed depending on the level.

‘So far, I’ve been lucky and only gotten A-grade skills… I have a feeling my luck with these draws is as good as the protagonist Karen.’

The protagonist Karen also drew all A-grade skills whenever she used bonus stats.

Of course, the protagonist Karen also drew B, C, and D-grade skills, but she initially obtained far more bonus stats than I did.

‘Well, she was the protagonist of the novel I wrote, and I set her luck to be incredibly good with protagonist buffs.’

Karen was Karen, and I was me.

I used all my bonus stats with a slightly nervous heart.

It wasn’t a bad investment.

I focused on the status window with the expectation that at least a C-grade skill would appear.

-A Water Storm has been unlocked.

The skill was unlocked and naturally entered my mind.

‘It’s an attack skill using the water spirit.’

Water spirits were specialized in defense and healing, so their attack efficiency was slightly lower than wind or fire spirits.

But I was satisfied enough. It was greedy to demand efficiency from an A-grade skill.

I summoned Undine and Undairon simultaneously.

I wanted to check their respective powers, so I had both spirits use Water Storm at the same time.

Undine smiled shyly and rotated her body.

Undine also had a humanoid fairy appearance similar to Sylph, and when she rotated her body, she transformed into a water droplet.

On the other hand, Undairon had a warrior-like appearance like Sylphere.

The blue warrior Undairon also changed his form into a water droplet when he used the skill.

A much larger water droplet than Undine’s rotated.

Both spirits flew towards the wall simultaneously.

Boom!

The power of the skill was more impressive than I had imagined, even more so than the Wind Chains used by Sylphere.

‘Sylphere is faster though. Water Storm takes a bit of time to cast.’

I pondered how to utilize Water Storm in combat.

Just thinking about it was very enjoyable.

Fighting alongside spirits, researching their utilization, and pondering how to fight more efficiently were unimaginable in modern times.

“It seems to suit me.”

I smiled and summoned all the spirits I had contracted with.

It was good to carry out training without missing a single day.

* * *

In the morning, Ken visited my office, smiling and offering his congratulations.

“I heard you’ve advanced to an intermediate spirit master. Congratulations.”

I returned the greeting with a smile.

“Thank you. It’s thanks to Soris. And your contribution in recommending Soris to me is also significant.”

“If someone’s skills improved rapidly just by being guided, there wouldn’t be the title of ‘strongest’ in the world. Everyone would be strong.”

Ken added, unable to hide his surprise.

“Already intermediate… No one will believe it.”

“Is that so?”

“It hasn’t even been two months since Your Highness started learning spirit arts. Perhaps… if I said I saw someone become an intermediate spirit master in two months, I would only be ridiculed.”

I was now a little more aware.

‘I must have underestimated my talent too much.’

Perhaps it was because my standards were unknowingly set to the hero Karen.

The Karen I set up grew strong at a truly frightening pace.

‘Well, it was a munchkin novel [a story where the protagonist is overpowered from the start]… her growth rate was fast, and she easily acquired capable companions. She obtained every stroke of luck.’

Certainly, my growth rate was enough to surprise people.

Until recently, wasn’t I the epitome of a fool and incompetence?

“I still have a long way to go.”

Ken nodded at my humility.

“Yes. Ah, the reason I came this morning is because of Sir Gale.”

My voice unknowingly rose.

“Has there been news from Gale?”

“Yes. There’s good news and bad news.”

Ken quickly continued.

“First of all, Sir Gale is safe.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The fact that Gale was alive was the most important thing.

“The bad news is… the knights dispatched with Sir Gale have been annihilated. And Sir Gale is missing.”

My voice hardened.

“Missing?”

“The western lords, acting on His Majesty’s orders, only found traces of the knights. Some of them found torn corpses… It seems they only managed to find traces of Sir Gale’s escape. So, a major conference has been scheduled now. A major setback has occurred in the west ahead of the conquest war.”

Ken added in a heavy voice.

“It seems the spring evaluation tournament will be brought forward, and instead of a conquest war, an investigation into the revival of dark energy will take place. News is that the dark energy in the Dark Forest… has become even stronger.”

I swallowed a groan.

‘Goran’s revival… is much faster than the timeline I wrote.’