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.

“......!”

chair. Grid’s hammering also came to a halt. They all turned to look outside the shattered windows,

far away, but the violent energy it gave

“...A dragon.”

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

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

entire palace was bustling with activity. Knights climbed onto the castle

Grid said. “There is

Cranbel. People recognized him and exhaled in relief.

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

times from

“......”

Grid that he had no animosity. However, he

one could kill

had a trump card. However, everything was uncertain when it came to Grid. Cranbel 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 off

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

tell me this is... Have you

where space rifts have appeared.

“Um...”

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

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

a bigger problem. The map that Cranbel handed over was the map of the West Continent. If there were as many ritual sites on the East Continent as there were here... They really couldn’t prevent

to worry about the east area. The old

with a skeptical

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

“I see.”

relax. He nodded and ushered Cranbel

so let’s

say sister, are

“Yes.”

“......”

He knew he would have no

***

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

of their horn and heart. If either of those were wounded, the dragons would continue to lose health and mana until they were

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

was used to help his horn recover. He was back

need to

“...Thank you.”

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