Ch.66Rebirth of the Flesh (3)

Crack. Crunch.

A continuous sound of something breaking accompanied by excruciating pain, as if my entire body was being hammered, assaulted me.

What made it worse was that the pain spread from within rather than from outside, filling my mind with the desperate urge to scream.

“Kuhh…”

But despite the pain, my mouth remained shut. Fearing that even the slightest energy might leak out, I clenched my teeth tightly and maintained my focus.

“That’s right, you’re doing well. Just… hold on for half a day more, and we should be done.”

Cecilia spoke as if she were at ease watching me, but the reality was quite different.

While I was concentrating on handling all the ice energy, she was pouring all her focus into managing the fire energy.

From the beginning, this was about clashing two opposing energies.

If the size of the two energies or the location of their collision went even slightly wrong, it wouldn’t just end with severe pain.

‘My body would burst from the inside out.’

In fact, even though there had been no mistakes so far, I could feel my internal mana circuits being strained and damaged.

The healing magic that followed was treating the wounds, but it didn’t change the fact that I was in a dangerous state.

‘I need to move the energy created by the explosion too…’

Handling this energy was the most important task from the start.

Only by moving the energy created by the explosion and activating it within my body could I finally break through the walls known as limits.

And now, after the ice energy was converted to energy, the remaining impurities were expelled along with the turbid energy, while the fire energy was transferred to Cecilia’s body, completing one routine.

‘The problem is that I have to repeat this for at least twelve more hours…’

Moreover, as the energy moving inside my body increased, the space for ice and fire energy decreased, naturally raising the difficulty.

* * *

Cecilia, with her hand on Frey’s back, couldn’t help but marvel at what she was witnessing.

While Frey’s exceptional mental strength and ability to handle mana were impressive, that wasn’t what caught Cecilia’s attention.

‘This is truly a body made for combat.’

What caught her eye was none other than Frey’s body itself.

It was common knowledge that a succubus’s body was not suited for combat. With less muscle mass than even humans, let alone beastkin, this was an obvious fact.

Not only that, but succubi were also known to be one of the worst races in terms of aura efficiency.

But Frey’s body was different.

Although it might have started as a body no different from other succubi, it was now completely transformed.

Frey’s talents and characteristics had gradually reconstructed her body with each growth.

‘My, at this level, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the body of a war god…’

It was a physical structure designed solely for combat and wielding a sword.

After confirming this, Cecilia found it strange that she had only realized this after seeing it firsthand.

It seemed absurd that she hadn’t noticed a body that could be believed to have been crafted by a god even after seeing it directly.

But her confusion was soon resolved by one simple fact.

‘I see… beauty.’

It was almost laughable, but the reason she hadn’t been able to see through Frey’s body was simple.

Frey’s charm had mostly concealed the combative nature of her body.

Not only were there no blemishes or scars, but the calluses and muscles that should have formed from wielding a sword were also nowhere to be seen on the surface.

Despite having gone through arduous deep training, Frey’s hair remained neat without any signs of dishevelment.

The difference became more apparent when compared to Kitsune, who could be considered quite beautiful herself.

If someone were to look at Frey’s current body, they would describe it as healthy and beautiful, but not necessarily strong.

‘No matter how much balance improves with higher levels of mastery, making the body more beautiful, this is clearly abnormal.’

Being beautiful and maintaining that beauty were clearly different matters.

* * *

While Cecilia was examining my body with curiosity, the absorption of the Essence of Flame continued.

As the energy stored in my body increased, absorption became more difficult, but I had developed enough skill to handle it without major issues.

From the middle of the process, I entered a state of complete immersion, even losing track of time.

I only regained awareness when I realized there was no more space left to push in energy.

‘It seems I used up all the ice attribute elixir a while ago, and now my mana is also depleted…’

And matching the filled energy, my mana was completely drained as well.

Although I couldn’t use all the Essence of Flame’s energy, absorbing any more would be excessive.

‘Cecilia will absorb the remaining energy, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.’

At the same time, Cecilia also realized there was no more room and stopped infusing me with energy, removing her hand.

She had a troubled look, as if she had seen something while examining my body, but she first asked about my condition.

“You seem fine, but can you try using the gathered energy?”

“…”

Instead of answering, I began to move the energy directly.

Woong-

As it flowed through my mana circuits and started to move them, a completely different world unfolded before me.

My body was enhanced beyond what aura could achieve, my senses sharpened, and my detection range expanded.

It was so remarkable that I could sense the energy of every living being in this lower level.

I could detect not only the boss monsters in their nests but also the monsters hiding their presence in the lava.

As this state continued, I was filled with a sense of omnipotence, feeling like I could do anything.

“There doesn’t seem to be a big problem… No, there is one.”

Cecilia was saying something to me, but it didn’t register. Even if it had entered one ear, it would have flowed out the other.

‘I think I can do it now.’

With an inexplicable confidence, I drew my sword.

“Sigh, yes… Such a reaction can occur when power suddenly flows in.”

Cecilia seemed to say something again, but that wasn’t important.

I channeled energy into my sword, and that energy was forged into sword energy. But it didn’t end there.

The energy forged into sword energy was compressed and compressed again until it eventually formed a sword aura.

When I had attempted this before, it required hours of concentration, but now a perfect sword aura was created just by willing it.

“Was it always this easy…?”

It was so simple that I wondered if I was mistakenly thinking that a crudely gathered sword energy was a sword aura.

Seeing my doubt, Cecilia approached and made a simple suggestion.

“If you’re uncertain, why not test it? Try cutting with all your might. I guarantee the durability, as we prepared for explosions.”

Looking at Cecilia’s eyes as she spoke, I could see they were sparkling with expectation and interest, showing her curiosity.

If expectations were placed on me, it was only right to respond.

I immediately took a stance at Cecilia’s words, to meet her expectations.

No, that was just an excuse.

The current me was so intoxicated with euphoria that I couldn’t bear it unless I did something.

“Huu…”

The sword was swung in a semicircle and soon hit the black wall. Normally, it would have been unable to proceed further and would have bounced back.

Slash-

But the sword wrapped in sword aura cut through the wall like tofu. However, an unpleasant sound followed.

Crack-

It was the sound of something breaking. And the source of that sound was none other than my right arm.

My right arm, which had been holding the sword and channeling aura, had burst from the inside, and was now swollen and bruised purple.

Not only that, but the circuits seemed to have overheated from this brief action, as I felt a burning sensation.

And as I recognized these facts, a delayed intense pain also arrived.

Clang-

Was it due to the unexpected pain, or because my arm was broken? I dropped the sword and staggered for a moment.

“Ugh…!”

“As I expected, your circuits couldn’t withstand it. So, come to your senses now.”

Cecilia approached me as I staggered, placed her finger on my forehead, and cast a mental stabilization spell.

Only then was I able to shake off the omnipotence and euphoria that filled my body and regain my senses.

“Sigh… I showed you a very embarrassing side of me…”

“Embarrassing? You were as cute as a hatchling learning draconic tongue for the first time, so don’t worry.”

“It can’t help but be embarrassing for an adult to be treated like a child…”

As I said this, I began to slowly release the energy that had filled my body.

Since the circuits wouldn’t withstand a sudden outpour, I released it at the lowest output possible.

‘I remember in the game, using skills in this state would drain HP, yet I still did this. I must be crazy…’

While there was a need to activate the energy, the original plan was not to use that activated power.

I knew full well what the result would be if I used that power in that state, so I had no intention of using it.

But in my euphoria, I had completely forgotten that fact.

That’s how high my current level had been elevated. But the problem was that neither my mind nor my body could keep up with such an elevated level.

“Huu…”

After hours of self-reproach while extracting energy, I was finally able to remove all the energy, given its vast amount.

And only after emptying all the energy that had tightly filled my body could I see my current state.

“Huu… It feels refreshing. Like something that was blocked has been cleared.”

The sense of omnipotence that had filled my body was gone, but a cleaner body without barriers awaited me.

‘Though my mana is depleted so I can’t be certain, the efficiency seems to have increased several times…’

And around me was a large amount of waste that had been expelled from my body, but strangely, there was no foul odor.