The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 295

293. Item Explanation (2)

“Hello.”

It was a boy who looked to be around twelve. He wore a robe that was too big for his body and a longsword at his waist with a patterned sword belt. Curly black hair, white skin, red eyes. The boy sitting on the large rock resembled my brother.

As soon as I saw him, I reflexively gritted my teeth.

“…Again, my brother’s appearance.”

“Because.”

“I know.”

I heard it from the jellyfish [referring to a previous encounter with an entity]. A familiar appearance to me is easier to enter this world, and so on. That sword—was it a trap? It was advertising at the level of ‘Choose me!’ But I didn’t think it would directly cause problems with the system or the item shop, especially right after the Changeling blocked it.

“How long has it been since the jellyfish died, and you’re already a newbie?”

“Oh, you’re treating me like a newbie? Thanks.”

The boy laughed out loud. Cute. Damn it. Don’t be fooled. It’s just the appearance, not cute.

“Get to the point quickly. I’m worried about my brother—”

The boy’s figure disappeared. Before I could even properly recognize it, my body tilted. My legs were lightly brushed, and I lost strength as if I had become a wooden block. At the same time, he grabbed my arm and shoulder and gently laid me on the floor.

It was too different of a movement to simply describe it as knocking me down and laying me down. I didn’t feel even a small impact. Even when he hit my leg, I didn’t feel anything more than a light tap. The floor was definitely hard, but my back touched it more softly than lying on a bed.

I felt detached from reality, and my head went blank.

“…Skill?”

“It’s a technique, but the meaning is slightly different.”

The boy bent down slightly, looking down at me. If the meaning is different, is it not a skill that uses magic, but his pure skill? I felt a slight chill.

“Why are you so weak? It’s like you haven’t had a bite to eat.”

He rolled up his flowing sleeves and lightly pressed my chest. It was like he was giving me a diagnosis. Then he frowned.

“Who engraved the mana imprints? They must have been unskilled, just shoving them in haphazardly.”

…It was the guard with the most experience and the best skills who did it. Anyway, the atmosphere was strange. I thought he was a new filial piety addict [someone excessively devoted or subservient], but he didn’t show any hostility. Rather, he seemed worried about me, like he was clicking his tongue at a child playing in the water without knowing anything.

“Turn around.”

“…Huh?”

“Lie on your stomach.”

I hesitated and turned over. My top was quickly pulled up.

“Um, I think my brother will worry.”

“Don’t worry. He won’t know. Opening the mana veins should be done slowly over time, but opening them all at once like this—can you handle it? Even for a Mana Vein Holder, it’s too much.”

“…Mana Vein Holder?”

“Also called a born S-Class. It’s fortunate that it was blocked, or else your body would have been torn to shreds. If it had been left as it was, your five senses would have gradually become paralyzed, and only your mana sense would have been maximized, eventually driving you crazy.”

That was a scary story. I had no idea there were such brutal side effects.

“I’ll fix it so it opens slowly. 100,000 points.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I can’t move without a price.”

If what the boy said was true, it wasn’t a waste. Surely he wasn’t scamming me. I nodded, and a message window appeared in front of me asking if I would like to pay 100,000 points. Immediately after accepting, a warm energy touched my back.

“Even so, the fundamental problem remains. If you want to live a long life, you should stay as quiet as possible, but if you were that kind of kid, I wouldn’t have met you like this.”

“I have to live longer than my brother.”

“Mana Vein Holders live at least two hundred years unless they are in an extremely mana-deficient environment or deliberately deplete their life force.”

It’s good that my brother’s lifespan is long, but I’m losing confidence. Two hundred years is impossible.

“What should I do to live about two hundred years longer?”

“If you take good care of your body, you’ll live about 20 years longer.”

“That’s too stingy. I’ll give you a million more points.”

“To extend your lifespan in your current state, you can only become subordinate to a higher-ranking being. But there aren’t many people who would accept you.”

“I’m quite popular, you know.”

The jellyfish was very interested in me.

“That’s not the problem. If you’re still alive in 10 years, I’ll help you.”

The touch stroking my back felt as good as receiving a hot stone massage. My eyes closed on their own.

“It’s done.”

“…Already?”

I reluctantly turned around and sat up. The boy held out one hand. A jet-black sword appeared on his palm: the Corrupting Sword of the Overlord.

“Here, it’s my sword.”

If it’s that boy’s sword…

“…Young Chaos?”

“I’m embarrassed to be called young at this age, but…”

I received the sword he offered. The scabbard made of smooth leather was slightly warm. Young Chaos stopped me as I was about to draw it without thinking.

“It’s a nasty one. It’s dangerous for you.”

“Is it alive?”

“It’s asleep now, but it still mumbles in its sleep.”

“That’s amazing. Is it because you put the heart in it?”

“The whole thing went in.”

“What? The explanation said it was made with horns.”

“I pulled out the horns to make the basic frame and took out the heart. I cut off the wings, peeled off the scales, tore off the skin, made a furnace with the bones, and lit a fire with the oily flesh.”

A black, smoky flame circled around him.

“I wrapped the melted scales around the blade, hammered it, and wrapped it again, until the black scales, filling five carts, completely permeated the four-foot blade. The skin became the scabbard, the largest canine became the tang [the part of the blade that extends into the handle], and the wings and claws became the handle. Finally, the heart was crushed and engraved on the blade, completing it—a sword that *is* the Black Dragon itself.”

…It seemed like a more amazing sword than I thought. So, if I revive the Black Dragon’s heart, it will grow to L-Class? Does that mean…

“Was that Black Dragon L-Class?”

“Probably. It was hard to catch. It was located in a mountain range made of bronze and black iron, melting metal with its flames to create rivers and swallowing them, constantly regenerating, so I had to blow away the entire mountain first.”

Young Chaos, reminiscing about the old days, sat back on the rock and looked at me.

“Ask me anything about the sword. I’m here as an instruction manual.”

“What about other things?”

“No. I’ve already said enough. It’s outside the scope of the item description.”

It only works for things about the sword. I thought for a moment and opened my mouth.

“I want to know more about the person who made the sword, the owner.”

“Nice try, but no.”

“Why did the sword end up in the item shop? It didn’t seem to be there originally.”

“This is ambiguous. It’s a kind of investment.”

I asked this and that, forcibly linking it to the sword, but most of the answers were refused. Inevitably, I asked what I was most curious about regarding the sword.

“How can I revive the Black Dragon’s heart?”

“You’re asking now. There will be a fragment of the Black Dragon’s heart in the item shop. Grow it.”

“Grow it?”

“Like that magic stone.”

The boy’s finger pointed to my heart.

“The front is already full, so split your back with my sword and put in the heart fragment.”

“It’s not dangerous, is it? As I said, I have to live longer than my brother.”

“It’s similar to growing a combined magic stone.”

Then of course I have to do it. I quickly bought the Black Dragon’s heart fragment from the item shop. It was only 10,000 points.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

I politely handed over the sword, but Young Chaos didn’t take it.

“Leave it to the new owner.”

Oh, that’s a bit… Will Yoohyun do it? Just thinking about persuading him is already giving me a headache.

“Can’t you do it?”

“No.”

“Then what about other people? There are several S-Classes. There are also the same born S-Classes.”

“No. That’s also one of the conditions.”

I can’t help it. But it was much better than not knowing how to grow it. I had no choice but to coax him well.

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll use it well.”

I bowed my head politely. Judging from his expression, it was like he had lowered a weapon that was originally L-Class to SS-Class and sent it to me, which was really appreciated. I wish those parricidal bastards [referring to individuals who commit patricide or betray their family] would treat me this well. I was uneasy because I didn’t know the exact reason, but he fixed my mana imprints, so I was very thankful for now.

The red eyes stared silently at me bowing my head. Then he let out an exaggerated sigh, “Hoo.”

“It would have been much better if it was a world with abundant mana from the beginning. Why did it have to be such a place? Not just you, but your brother too.”

“My brother too—is there a big difference?”

“Of course, there’s a big difference. If the surrounding mana is abundant, a Mana Vein Holder will have S-Class stats around the age of ten just by staying still, and grow to SS-Class around the age of twenty. But in your world, mana was scarce, so he would have been only slightly better than an ordinary human. He wasted the time he could have grown.”

That’s… that’s a real loss. If Yoohyun would have already been SS-Class… I was very disappointed.

“But in that kind of environment, it would have been difficult to play the role of a caregiver.”

Young Chaos suddenly came closer to me. Before I knew it, I was bending over. I felt a hand lightly stroking my head.

“See you next time.”

And the surroundings brightened up. I blinked. Yoohyun was standing in front of me. He was looking at my face with a worried expression.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“You were suddenly standing there blankly and didn’t say anything. Are you still tired?”

“No, ah!”

The Sword of the Overlord! I quickly looked down at my hand, but I wasn’t holding anything. I was startled and checked my inventory, and the sword was there. Thank goodness. I quickly took out the jet-black sword and proudly showed it to my brother.

“Look at this, Yoohyun.”

“What sword is that?”

“I told you the point shop appeared. I just bought it. It’s an SS-Class sword.”

Yoohyun’s eyes widened. With a proud heart, I handed him the sword, telling him to check it out quickly. Yoohyun took the sword. He grabbed the handle and silently drew it. The blade was simply black without even a reflection of light. Yet, the deep darkness seemed to emit light on its own.

Even without checking the item description, it was clear that it was no ordinary weapon just by looking at it. My lips curled up as I watched my brother carefully examine the sword. I resisted the urge to ask him what he thought.

After a long time, Yoohyun let out a small, sigh-like breath.

“It’s chilling.”

“Huh?”

“I have SS-Class equipment too, but this feels different. It’s heavy.”

The black sword was held out. Flames rose from Yoohyun’s fingertips. Blue flames swept up the blade, and faint blue patterns appeared below, then disappeared. The tip of the sword, sharply cutting through the air and spinning half a circle, landed on his white hand. Holding the sword with both hands, Yoohyun’s gaze once again examined his new weapon.

“But I really, really like it.”

His voice sounded lightly intoxicated, even dreamy. And then he smiled brightly. I, who had been a little nervous, also smiled broadly.

“It used to be an L-Class weapon.”

“L-Class?”

“Yeah. The grade dropped because it was old. It doesn’t melt in fires below L-Class and can be grown. You have three skills now, right? If you grow it, two more will be added? Since it was originally L-Class, the existing skills might also increase in grade.”

There was a good chance of that. S-Class and A-Class skills don’t suit an L-Class weapon. Yoohyun looked back and forth between me and the sword with admiring eyes.

“Hyung… thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. I said I’d take responsibility for your weapon.”

“But you didn’t just get it for free… You only used points, right?”

“Of course! It’s worth 450 million, that thing. Other SS-Class swords were around 2-300 million, but this is the most expensive sword. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s incomparable to the weapons I’ve used so far. As always, you’re the best!”

Let’s talk about growing the heart later, when we get home. Yoohyun smiled brightly, saying he was looking forward to the skills.

“It’ll be hard to adapt right away if the maximum length is 5 meters, but I want to use it soon.”

“Hold on. Absolutely not here.”

“I’ll have to practice inside a dungeon. Should I find a low-level dungeon and go in right away?”

“I have to go once too, so let’s go together.”

I’ll also meet the newbie and tell him about my regression, and get the rewards for catching the SS-Class monsters.

While Yoohyun was repeatedly examining the sword and I was feeling proud watching him, the plane entered Korea. It hasn’t been many days in reality, but it feels like a long time to me. I’m thinking of going home and resting for a day without doing anything.

“Uncle, look over there!”

Yerim shouted. Wondering what was wrong, I looked out the window that Yerim was pointing at.

“…What is that?”

A half-destroyed plane was visible. The surrounding area was also not intact. I wondered if a monster had appeared, but I was told that Korea had been quickly cleaned up. But that scene didn’t look like it was made long ago.

Part of the black burnt plane and the scorched ground. Could it be…

“Looks like Sung Hyunjae, right?”

Moon Hyuna, who had approached at some point, said. The traces indicated that it was almost certainly him, and my mouth felt dry. …What on earth did he do?