Overgeared

A non-human demonic beast managed to condense a spiritual root? Grid was left speechless for a moment. He thought about it for a bit.

‘Well, a spiritual root is similar to a mana core.’

Beings who used magic had mana cores, regardless of their species. Using that logic, it wasn’t that unusual for Noe to have a spiritual root.

What should be noted here was that Noe learned and understood the method of condensing a spiritual root on his own. The demonic creature had made good use of the man-made technique book...

“I have some type of new energy in my body that I’ve never had before, ong.”

Noe returned to the form of a small cat. His black fur had a subtle, silver hue. He had an enigmatic aura around him, but his expression and way of speaking were just as cute and amusing as before.

“The book you just read contains information about converting spiritual energy into demonic energy, right?” Grid asked as he checked Noe’s status window. “How did you use a technique that can only be used by someone who already has a spiritual root?”

Noe replied with a hint of satisfaction, “I removed part of my mana core and converted it, nyang.”

“How?”

“I just read the book and it worked...! In the end, it is all the same to you, nyang!”

Noe couldn’t give out a proper explanation, but Grid wasn’t disappointed. Noe was pretty talented to use a technique like this simply by reading and understanding its concepts.

Others might also be likely to have the ability to naturally understand and acquire certain techniques like Noe. Would one person in a hundred be able to pull off what Noe just did? Or maybe one in a million? Grid would have to wait and see just how common this talent was.

‘Anyway, I just have to put the technique books in the library and let people read them freely. Someone will eventually do the same thing as Noe.’

Grid was very grateful that the technique books weren’t classified as one-time consumables. This made training cultivators much easier than initially expected.

Grid felt relieved and reignited the furnace.

“Okay, let’s start again. If you understand something when reading a book like you did just now, sort it out in a separate room.”

“Why bother sorting it out, nyang? I just have to learn it right away...”

“You have only one technique slot left. You have to be mindful until your realm accumulates.”

“Oh...”

“Don’t be disappointed,” Grid said in a comforting manner. “The higher your realm, the fewer restrictions you will have on the techniques you learn. That is why you have to be more careful when choosing the second technique.”

Grid increased the speed of the bellows. The smithy, which had been chilled to the bone, was now warm again.

Randy couldn’t help but smile as the voice of Noe reading the books overlapped with Grid reciting the spell for body manufacturing. Spending time with dear friends meant a lot to her. She swore to protect them for a long time after gaining a body and becoming stronger.

“......!”

Grid’s hammering also came to a

but the violent energy it gave off was fiercer

“...A dragon.”

more powerful a beast was, the harder it was for it to find opponents. This was why Noe was intimidated every time he encountered a dragon. However, this time, Noe didn’t hide. Using his mana core and spiritual root, he was ready to fight using not one, but two types of demonic energy. Before he knew it, he ran outside with Randy, who had transformed into

head and chased after Noe and Randy. ‘I don’t have a chance to focus on

noticing what was going on, the entire palace was bustling with activity. Knights climbed onto the castle walls, ready to pull

Grid said. “There is

The source of the approaching gray light was the top dragon, Cranbel. People recognized him and exhaled in relief. Some

you. I’m relieved to see that you are safe. However, you seem a lot weaker. Let’s go in. We can have a chat after you

several times

“......”

convey to Grid that he had no

hierarchy where one could kill any enemy or survive in

had never been more intimidated than now. Grid was smiling softly, but Cranbel still felt overwhelmed. He had a hunch that he wouldn't be able to pull

of silence, Cranbel regained his senses and handed over a map. “...Thank you for your consideration. I came looking for you

opened the map with a puzzled expression. His eyes widened. “Don’t tell me

where space rifts

“Um...”

places marked on the map that Cranbel gave him. He had to assume that there was at least one soul transformation cultivator or

time left—they only had thirty-five days left to stop the ritual. Considering the physical distance between the places marked on the map, it was unrealistic that Grid and the Overgeared members would be able to stop the ritual before the deadline, even if they moved in

Continent. If there were as many ritual sites on the East Continent as there were

He explained, “You don’t have to worry about the east area. The old dragons have already left to deal

up with a

dragons too much, so Cranbel said, “They are the self-proclaimed guardians of the world, so they will do their best. They will probably

“I see.”

Grid seemed to relax. He nodded and

summoned my sister, so let’s wait a bit before

are you talking

“Yes.”

“......”

upon hearing this. He knew he would have

***

their total health and mana pools were incredibly high. It would take them a considerable time to return to a ‘perfect state,’ even if they had the same recovery ability as

If either of those were wounded, the dragons would continue to lose health and mana until

Cranbel’s horn was wounded, a result of Kubartos’ relentless pursuit. However, Cranbel recovered quickly thanks to Ruby’s heals that

instantly. The excess healing was used to help his

drenched in sweat, declared with a proud face, “Done. From now on, you just need to

“...Thank you.”

know what to think anymore. He was mentally exhausted after fighting against his own kin, being chased by Kubartos and a group of cultivators,