Ranker Who Lives Twice

Chapter 365 Sky Wings (3)

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays, Seven(temp)

『I suddenly had a thought.』

“……?”

Yeon-woo looked at Jeong-woo, waiting for him to speak.

『You’re not planning on absorbing me or anything with Bathory’s Vampiric Sword to get Sky Wings, are you?』

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

『…….』

Jeong-woo slowly took a step back.

He was joking, but Yeon-woo seemed serious.

* * *

『There were two main foundations for creating Sky Wings. Perfect Adaptability, and my link with Kalatus.』

Jeong-woo began to explain how Sky Wings was made up.

Yeon-woo’s forehead wrinkled.

“Both of them are your specialities, though?”

『Yeah. This will probably be the greatest obstacle when making the skill.』

Perfect Adaptability was the trait that allowed Jeong-woo to grow so fast.

The effect of being blessed by all mana and ability to use it freely allowed for his brilliance regarding magic to shine through.

On top of that, his link with the ancient dragon Kalatus helped him to learn how to use magic power.

If these two were properly used, it would only result in growth.

『The link heightens the potential of Draconic Blessings that one has, and Perfect Adaptability combines all kinds of skills and magic. So when the skill was activated, a variety of additional effects followed.』

“Then I need to find something to replace these two.”

Yeon-woo thought deeply about his specialty skills.

The first one that came to mind was Cold-blooded.

If it was the trait that helped him to be level-headed in any dangerous situation……

There were times when the skill didn’t work because he was too animated, but Yeon-woo had definitely benefited from the Cold-blooded trait.

In the beginning, he had gained immunity and resistance thanks to it, and the skill he used the most, Time Difference, came from it.

‘When various powers, skills, spells, and buffs are activated, my body is bound to waver. My mind would also be a bit distracted at that time. As long as I can fix this.’

Although it wouldn’t be as effective as Perfect Adaptability, which could harmonize various skills and powers, it should still have been able to play the part.

If so, what would he use to replace the link with the ancient dragon Kalatus?

Luckily, something quickly came to mind.

‘The Philosopher’s Stone.’

To be precise, it was a Philosopher’s Stone that swallowed a Soulstone.

The purple energy that Yeon-woo got a glimpse of was so diverse that it seemed to have been created from various types of magic power. If he could make use of it, he would be able to embrace all of those powers and link them together.

Yeon-woo talked about his idea.

『That might work.』

Jeong-woo nodded, his eyes wide as his thoughts spun around in his head.

『Then, the process of the skill would start with the effect of your specialty, followed by the factor activation, body awakening, making contact with the power, and controlling the effects?』

To be precise, the order was ‘Start up→ Cold-blooded→ Philosopher’s Stone→ Activating the Draconic, Magic, and Divine factors→ Maximizing the Possibility→ Awakening the third stage of the Dragon Body→ Arming the spells→ Making contact with the power→ Controlling it→ Revealing the effect.’

『It’s so complicated.』

Jeong-woo went over the process in his head before clicking his tongue lightly. The process was really complicated because there were many things Yeon-woo had to do.

It hadn’t been so complicated for him.

Yeon-woo’s was different in many ways. A particular concern was that the calculations required for every step would be incredibly complex and the amount of energy that would be consumed would be enormous.

It was filled with inefficiencies.

The problem was that none of these steps could be discarded.

『First of all, I believe the most urgent priority would be to find several patterns and create algorithms to efficiently accomplish each step.』

“That would take a lot of data.”

『The more samples and data collected, the better.』

From then on, Yeon-woo began focusing on collecting data on the operation of magic power.

He sat in the lotus position and concentrated his thoughts on the Philosopher’s Stone.

Brrr—

The Philosopher’s Stone trembled slightly. This stone, which had not changed at all despite swallowing a large amount of purple energy, began releasing its magic power as if it agreed with his idea.

No, he wondered if it could even be called magic power now. Not only did it have the three Blessings—Draconic, Magic and Divine, but it also had the power of the Soulstone, which was hard to express in words.

Yeon-woo began to circulate the mana with Heaven Wing Mana Control while spinning 360 cores at the same time.

However.

Wiiiing—

Something unexpected happened.

‘It’s so fast.’

Until now, even when Yeon-woo entered a new awakening stage of the Dragon Body, even when he continually accepted new factors or gained several powers, and even if it might have been too much of a burden for his body, he never thought that there would be a problem with the operation of magic power.

Whenever his constitution changed, the Heaven Wing Mana Control would also have to be changed a bit in order to find the most efficient route.

But it was different this time.

When his constitution changed, it was like the hardware of a computer changed. Therefore, the software had to be adjusted to match it.

However, the changes caused by the Philosopher’s Stone, which was basically an engine, were different.

It was like saying a sports car, which was already quite fast, had transformed into an aircraft. In other words, it was on a different level.

Naturally, this made it difficult to control the power to continue following the existing routine.

In fact, the speed at which the mana was moving was so fast that even his own Demonic Divine Dragon Body became difficult for Yeon-woo to control.

At this rate, his body would collapse before a new pattern was found.

‘First, I need to fix the Heaven Wing Mana Control.’

The operation of magic power was the most fundamental and essential part when it came to creating a pattern.

If he was to try to continue from where it was now, everything would become a mess. Since a new vessel was needed to contain new contents anyway, he decided to think of this as a good thing.

Fortunately, there were no major issues while restructuring the Heaven Wing Mana Control.

Over time, he had gained a deeper understanding of internal force as he climbed towards the ranks of the masters, his experiences accumulated through practice, the mysteries of the Monkey King that he gained after obtaining the Heaven Bracket, his knowledge of Dragons added by absorbing the Summer Queen, and the understanding of the world view that he gained by robbing Poseidon’s factors.

In addition, he was able to make use of the data from Jeong-woo’s countless privileges, as well as some knowledge from Vimalacitra connected to the Sea God.

There were so many sources he could refer to.

The knowledge that Yeon-woo had was not small. Through events that even the Nine Kings couldn’t accomplish, such as creating the Philosopher’s Stone and Kynee, the insights and understandings he gained were fully incorporated into the martial arts.

It wasn’t too difficult to interpret and apply them in his own way.

[Time Difference.]

‘There are many things to fix.’

That’s what the system message said in the first place.

In any case, he’d just have to make a few new arrangements.

In fact, there were many parts that were forcibly removed.

The limit to the amount that could be outputted at once had been increased by several times, and the pathways had been widened and strengthened so that they rotated smoothly. When necessary, the position of some musculature was partially changed.

Crunch, crunch—

Like replacing old parts, he had no qualms about changing his body.

『I think it would be better to strengthen this part a little more. The core here rotates abnormally quickly. I think it would be better to lower its output a bit and put a few things to perform cooling functions near it.』

Jeong-woo used Draconic Eyes to inspect Yeon-woo’s body before pointing out parts that needed to be changed or helped.

Because of the connection between them, Yeon-woo could see exactly what he had in mind without him having to say anything, which smoothened the process considerably.

In particular, since Jeong-woo had more knowledge when it came to dealing with Soul Stones, enough to make the pocket watch, there was no doubt that it would be extremely helpful for Yeon-woo.

『Each of the fourteen Soulstones has a different name and property. So if you want to create something, you have to pay attention to that.』

Jeong-woo got a very sharp awl, then he sat quietly beside Yeon-woo, who was still sitting in the lotus position, and began to stab him.

If the awl was just pushed against Yeon-woo’s rubber-like skin, there wouldn’t even be a mark. So instead, Jeong-woo used his spirit energy to push the awl.

This caused a slight tear to appear in the skin from which blood started to spill.

In that way, Yeon-woo’s body gradually became covered in blood.

『The characteristic of ‘Pride’ is its tendency to overwhelm everything. It tries to crush everything around it and push them down.』

The bloodstains slowly gathered and twisted until they gradually formed a tattoo. When this tattoo almost completely covered the right arm, a pattern suddenly appeared, emitting a strange light.

These were the magic rune characters that had been engraved on Yeon-woo’s bones for a long time.

『But the ironic part is that it still prefers equality in the hierarchy, except for itself, since it forces its way above everything.』

Jeong-woo combined the tattoos with these magic runes to draw an entirely new diagram. A Magic Square which had never been revealed to the public.

This was something that he and the ancient dragon Kalatus had theorized about a long time ago, but they were never able to make it a reality.

However, the moment he saw the magic rune characters on Yeon-woo’s body, a flash of inspiration occurred, and he began to engrave on his body as if he was drunk.

『So that you can treat them all equally, I’ll play the role of ‘assistant’ so that Hyung’s magic power can flow more smoothly. Centered around the Philosopher’s Stone, let the mana circuit, physical function, power, spells, skills, specialties, and even your thoughts rotate on equal footing.』

The magic square engravings on Yeon-woo’s body gave off a shimmer of light as all of the parts connected before sinking back into his skin.

And in response, a mana circuit was quickly reconstructed, centered around the Philosopher’s Stone.

[The skill proficiency of ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control’ has increased significantly after responding well to the ‘Mana Circuit.’]

[Heaven Wing Mana Control: 71%, 72%, 73%… 91%…]

[Mana Circuit: 80%, 81%, 82%… 95%…]

[Congratulations, you have succeeded in raising the proficiency of ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control’ and ‘Mana Circuit’ to the max.]

[All stats related to these skills are improved.]

[Strength increased by 20.]

[Agility increased by 30.]

…

[You have gained enlightenment about your skills. The two skills have become connected and have combined to form a new skill.]

[High rank skill ‘Mana Operator’ has been created.]

[The proficiency for the ‘Mana Operator’ skill has increased significantly, and has quickly reached the maximum value.]

…

[Calculating player’s stats to find new skills.]

[Obtained the high-ranked skill ‘Chakra Mastery.’]

…

[The proficiency of the ‘Chakra Mastery’ skill has increased significantly…]

…

[The effect of the ‘Buddha Art Magic Square’ has been applied.]

[Some of the ‘Transcendence’ obtained from the ‘Killing of a God’ is used to discover new skills.]

Ding—

[The high-ranked skill ‘Atman System’ has been created.]

[Atman System]

Numbering ???(Measuring)

Proficiency: 0.0%

Description: Breathing is the most basic act of life to survive, and it acts as the link between nature, both outside and inside. Flowing air constantly contains mana that guides ‘I’ to the universe and nature, and it enables one to be reborn as a transcendent being after exceeding certain limits.

* Samara Operating

Based on mental strength and physical function, this rotates energy along the endocrine system. It operates freely along 6 large and 88,000 small clusters, and it causes certain physical and magical changes along the various connected nervous systems.

* Mukti Reed

This releases processed energy outside of the body that reveals amazing effects. There’s no significant time difference between the mental command and the subsequent response, and the effect varies greatly depending on the type of energy and the level of the user’s understanding.

**This skill is ‘Unique,’ meaning there is only one of its kind in the tower. If you successfully pass it on to others, the ‘Unique’ title will disappear, and instead, you will be given additional benefits as the creator.

**This skill is still incomplete. However, its potential is incredibly high, so completing it will give it a high rank or Numbering.

The Mana Circuit, which only the Dragon race had, and Heaven Wing Mana Control, which Yeon-woo invented, had combined to create the Mana Operator skill.

Naturally, it was completely different from the system used in the tower.

[The godly society 〈Asgard〉 exclaims at your accomplishment.]

[The godly society 〈Church of Heaven〉 is deeply interested in the mana control method you created.]

[The malicious feelings felt by the godly society 〈Deva〉 begin to change favorably.]

……

[The demonic society 〈L’Infernal〉 once again puts off their agenda to discuss you.]

[Many Gods are troubled.]

[Many Demons, who had only been slightly interested in you, have begun to consider you seriously. They do not hide their desire to make you their apostle.]

[A few Gods show their concerns about the use of the Soulstone, ‘Stone of Pride.’]

[A few Demons consider how to deal with you.]

Yeon-woo immediately felt the perfect harmony between his body and his mana that had been working separately before.

‘Since we’ve found the perfect mana control for my body, we now know which direction to look for the right data.’

Feeling the flow of mana in his body, Yeon-woo awakened all of the dormant Authorities.

As the Dragon Body awakened, the powers within him became active.

It was at that moment.

[Agni, a God from 〈Deva〉, shows interest in you.]

[Bach, a Demon from 〈Jie Sect〉, shows great interest in you.]

[Current available Authorities: 692]

The number of Authorities was steadily increasing.

* * *

After the creation of the Atman System, Yeon-woo was able to obtain data at an extremely fast rate.

He tested the three factors individually to see if there were any metabolic changes.

Despite the physical changes that took place after the awakening of the Dragon Body, the Atman System was able to gradually improve its function so that it could operate naturally without needing a cooldown period.

There were some bad situations, such as operating the mana through a route that had never been used before, changing musculature, breaking a core, causing a backflow in his mana, or even reaching a point where he had to cut off his limbs.

Whenever that happened, Yeon-woo would just restore his body with Regeneration without batting an eye.

And Jeong-woo recorded every single physical change.

At that moment, they were so focused on their research that anyone who was watching them work would feel extremely tired.

It would be almost impossible to find someone who would so readily use their own body as a test subject.

He treated himself like a sample laying on a cold operation table.

Thanks to these observations, Yeon-woo was able to quickly grasp the secrets of his Demonic Divine Dragon Body.

With Jeong-woo’s ideas added to the mix, the proficiency of the Atman System rose rapidly. Now, his mana control had become so easy that he no longer needed to be envious of the ‘Perfect Adaptability’ trait.

After he believed he’d obtained all of the necessary data on his body, Yeon-woo’s mind, which had been completely focused on his body, began to turn to other directions.

The gazes locked onto him had already reached 5,000. And Authorities were constantly being added as a result of this.

Fortunately, no matter how many Channelings he had, his body would no longer be burdened by it.

However.

‘Getting everything under control is an entirely different story.’

The transcendents beyond were fully aware of what Yeon-woo was attempting to do. They were all curious as to how he would accomplish this task, and a few cynical ones didn’t believe he could do it.

It wouldn’t be easy.

But Yeon-woo intended to swallow all of these Authorities.

Beneath the Sky Wings.