I Became an Almighty All-Master with EX-Rank Spirits - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10
10
The next morning.
After awakening, there was a fixed routine to follow each day.
Shake off the drowsiness, enter the tower.
No need to check the System Message.
“I’m counting on you.”
That single phrase was enough.
Fire, rising upward, stretched out his hand.
The fourth floor grew dark.
Immediately after, a colossal meteor swallowed the entire floor.
[Fire (EX)’s skill, Meteor (EX), activates.]
Crash-crash-crash-crash-BOOM!!
Then it was just a matter of heading to the destination and it was done.
[Trial Tower, 4th Floor cleared!]
[Monsters: 3,000/3,000]
[Destination: 1/1]
[All traps on Trial Tower, 4th Floor have been eliminated!]
[All monsters on Trial Tower, 4th Floor have been defeated!]
[New record achieved!]
[Trial Tower, 4th Floor world ranking updated to 1st place!]
[Clear time: 12 seconds]
[Trial Tower, 4th Floor cleared overwhelmingly!]
[Stealth Goblin’s Cloak × 235 acquired!]
[Stealth Goblin’s Silent Boots × 124 acquired!]
[Stealth Goblin’s Old Dagger × 198 acquired!]
[Stealth Goblin’s Poison Fang × 209 acquired!]
[Lowest-grade Mana Stone (F) × 156 acquired!]
[Low-grade Mana Stone (E) × 103 acquired!]
[Mid-low-grade Mana Stone (D) × 23 acquired!]
[Mid-grade Mana Stone (C) × 3 acquired!]
[Mid-high-grade Mana Stone (B) × 1 acquired!]
“That’s a solid start to the morning.”
—Chirp!
[Fire (EX) says he’s done his part and demands Mana Stones immediately!]
“Here, take this B-grade one.”
—Chirp!
[Fire (EX) snatches the Mana Stone, calling it amazing!]
Even after eating like that yesterday, he was still hungry.
The moment he grabbed it, he devoured it with gusto.
I set about preparing breakfast as well.
“We had Korean food last night, so let’s go Western today.”
Steak and asparagus.
Too much meat for breakfast, you think?
Not at all.
“You need meat in the morning to get your strength up.”
I placed a T-bone steak seasoned with salt and pepper onto a pan drizzled with olive oil.
Sizzle!
The savory aroma filled the entire one-room apartment.
Fire reacted immediately to the smell of the meat.
Of course—I’d prepared three more portions just for that.
After evenly searing all sides of the T-bone steak, I added garlic.
When the meat was nearly done, I finished it with butter.
A quick sear of the asparagus in the remaining oil, and we were finished.
The taste was, as always, exceptional.
“Mmm.”
It was killer.
T-bone steak in a one-room apartment.
Was there a happier roomer than me anywhere?
Thanks to the abundance of Mana Stones, Fire only took two pieces.
I could take my time with breakfast this morning.
I chewed on a tender steak and logged into the Awakened Person Community.
The Awakened Person Community.
A space exclusively for the awakened—all you needed was proof of your Awakening to join.
It was the place every awakened person worldwide relied on for all manner of information.
There was casual chitchat too, but all the popular posts were talking about the same thing.
A brand new, overwhelming rank 1.
Me, of all people.
“Me?”
It would’ve been strange if I hadn’t become famous.
The results were so overwhelming, something no one had ever achieved before.
There was no way people wouldn’t be interested.
Among the threads, one caught my eye: a post titled “Water Rocket.”
Making a fuss over barely climbing a few floors, apparently.
I dismissed it lightly.
I had my own work to focus on.
They didn’t know who I was anyway.
There was nothing to worry about.
I clicked on the materials section among the many categories.
I went to the search bar and looked for Burning Stone Tree and Burning Cotton.
Among the countless posts that came up, I found a decent information thread in Korean.
<Materials Farming Zones Across the Republic of Korea> (Recommended: 7,664,780)
Burning Stone Tree (Gwanak Mountain Gate, around Gwanak Mountain) 250,000 won each
Burning Cotton (Gwanak Mountain Gate, around Gwanak Mountain) 500,000 won each
…….
…….
Materials farming is tough, so I recommend buying them if you can.
Since a lot of people need them for trait enhancement, there’s plenty of stock at Namdaemun.
That said, prices go up every day, so keep that in mind.
“Another merchant,” I muttered.
At least now I knew where to go.
I could make the trip, but the last part of that post bothered me.
‘I recommend buying them.’
I’d have to try it myself to know it’s hard.
Still, a post with that many recommendations wouldn’t steer me wrong.
I checked the current market prices.
Today’s materials prices were also available on the community forum.
There was no need to go all the way to Namdaemun.
I froze when I saw the current prices.
[Burning Stone Tree: 960,000 won]
[Burning Cotton: 1,420,000 won]
“I need forty of the trees and five of the cotton, so…”
-That would be 38.4 million won and 7.1 million won respectively, for a total of 45.5 million won, human.
“…….”
Money really was the enemy.
I’d have to collect them myself.
“What? The price is several times what it was? Looking at this, the info thread is barely a year old.”
Grumbling, I searched for farming methods.
The method wasn’t complicated.
A sturdy, solid axe and heat-resistant protective gear—those were the absolute necessities.
Everything else was optional.
The Burning Stone Trees were too hard and dense, and both materials gave off intense heat.
The rest was up to preference.
“With a body blessed by the Blessing of Spirits, I should be able to handle the heat without problem, right?”
-It is possible. You will withstand that level of heat with room to spare.
“Do I need to find an axe? Fire, back when you used Hellfire on a small scale, can you do Meteor the same way?”
-Chirp!
[Fire (EX) hesitates for a moment, then nods firmly and cries out ‘Of course!’]
That saved me the cost of an axe and protective gear.
Fire would handle the protection for my clothes too.
Even when he’s mischievous, he’s still the king of fire spirits.
Thanks to the Spirit Shelter, I can use Meteor without worrying about the cost.
“I should just head to Gwanak Mountain then.”
Preparation complete.
But as they say, more is always better.
“I should get a skill before I go. Come on, spirit stone.”
Whimper!
[Fire (EX) rushes toward the spirit stone in just 24 hours and 7 seconds!]
“Do you really count every single second?”
The System Message appears once he finishes eating.
[You have consumed a Lowest-grade Fire Spirit Stone (C-)!]
[Hunger has increased by 1.2 times compared to usual!]
[Hunger reduction has decreased by 1.3 times compared to usual!]
[This lasts for 24 hours!]
[Hunger has reached 32,000!]
[Fire (EX)’s Level has increased by 1!]
❰Fire (EX) Lv. 7❱
❰Skills Possessed: Hellfire (EX), Meteor (EX)❱
❰Hunger: (0/64,000)❱
……New Skill unlocks at Level 10
……New Skill for Lee Chan-yeong unlocks at Hunger 64,000
I thought it would take until tomorrow to achieve this.
It was thanks to the spirit stone buff and the filling hunger.
One spirit stone remains.
I’ll need to gather a few more by today or tomorrow.
‘Since I have Spirit Detection, I don’t need to gather a lot all at once. More importantly, what about this skill?’
[You have successfully achieved Hunger 32,000.]
[You obtain the Skill ‘Protection of Earth Spirit (C+)’!]
<Protection of Earth Spirit (C+)>
Description: The earth, commanded by an earth spirit, protects you at any time and strikes back as well.
I’d been needing better defense anyway—my attacks were strong enough, but I was bleeding out vulnerabilities.
A hard lesson from the Gate yesterday.
“I can go without worry now.”
The meal finished right as I obtained the skill.
I dressed quickly, throwing on clothes.
Gwanak Mountain was a fire-material hotspot, so I’d heard it draws crowds.
Few Gates, but many Awakened Persons.
Even if materials are plentiful, they’ll disappear fast once you account for how many Awakened are after them.
And I can only enter F-rank Gates anyway.
In situations like this, you need to be quick.
Today I even took a taxi to hurry there.
* * *
“Made it!”
The time was 8:30 in the morning.
Gwanak Mountain, when I arrived, had fewer people than expected.
Not empty, but roomier than I’d imagined.
I’d be able to gather what I needed without difficulty.
‘Start from the entrance and work my way up—that’s how it goes, right?’
I was practically bouncing with energy after eating steak this morning.
As I moved to enter, the people getting ready started staring at me like I was a madman.
“Is that guy completely insane? He’s walking into Gwanak Mountain right now with nothing on—bare-bodied?”
“He doesn’t seem to know Gwanak Mountain’s a fire-type dungeon now. Shouldn’t we try to stop him?”
“Leave him. Why waste breath? If it gets too hot, he’ll turn back on his own.”
The conspicuous outfit—even under the Veil of Darkness—was drawing attention.
Needless worry.
My body, blessed by the spirits, warded off the heat.
With Fire handling my clothes and boots as well.
[Fire (EX)’s protection seeps into every part of you!]
[Fire (EX) protects you perfectly from the heat!]
I don’t even feel hot.
His breathing and footsteps remained unchanged from usual.
Only his mood seemed inexplicably brighter.
Fire in particular was practically beside herself with excitement, thrashing about like a fish in water.
—Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
[Fire (EX) declares that Gwanak Mountain is absolutely wonderful!]
[Fire (EX) says she’s incredibly happy!]
[Fire (EX) asks if she can play here!]
Only after agreeing to gather materials first and then let her play was he able to calm her down.
He even used high-grade Mana Stones.
At the entrance, he quickly found a Burning Stone Tree.
It was only seedling-sized, but the heat radiating from it was no joke.
He didn’t need to dig it himself.
Fire emerged and reached out her hand—a tiny dimensional rift opened up right beside the tree trunk.
A small meteor shot out from it, cleanly severing the tree trunk in one stroke.
[Fire (EX)’s possessed skill, ‘Meteor (EX)’, activates.]
Crack!
—Chirp?
[Fire (EX) asks if this is the right way to do it.]
“Yeah. Good. Keep it up like that.”
Burning Cotton was easier still.
Pick it by hand, drop it in the Inventory, done.
Just like finding things in a Gate.
Locating them was the same as well.
Eye of Nature pointed out every location automatically.
Fire too.
All he had to do was go, collect, and store in the Inventory.
‘At this rate, I’ll gather everything faster than expected.’
He realized he’d been worrying too much.
He’d exhausted what was near the entrance and had just reached the midway point when it happened.
“There’s more up higher… wait—?!”
“Kyiiiieeek!”
A monster’s howl erupted from right behind him.
Whether clawing up from the earth or plummeting from the sky, a body blessed with Eye of Nature and Blessing of Spirits couldn’t possibly fail to react.
There was no way he wouldn’t sense it.
But his thoughts didn’t need to catch up.
Even as he began to turn, one Skill activated first.
The earth surged upward.
Crunch!
It crushed the monster flat, killing it outright.
[Protection of Earth Spirit (C+) shielded you from the monster’s attack.]
He was startled.
Now that he thought about it, he’d forgotten that detail while farming.
‘Right—monsters spawn randomly here.’
On Gwanak Mountain, as the terrain shifted to a landscape of flame, monsters generated at random.
Fire Slimes.
The monsters themselves weren’t particularly strong.
All they could do was headbutt.
But on a mountain like this, even a headbutt could be dangerous.
Good thing Protection of Earth Spirit was there to guard him.
He should head to the outer edges instead of going deeper.
Monsters spawned less frequently there—or so he thought, for just a moment.
His gaze fell on the dead Fire Slime.
As the corpse dissolved, a murky blue stone emerged.
He recognized it instantly.
‘An F-rank Mana Stone?!’
The outer edges could wait.
The monsters would be handled by Protection of Earth Spirit anyway.
Which meant he could have his cake and eat it too.
There was no reason not to.
His plan was to finish quickly and then head to the Gate.
‘Now things get interesting.’
He ventured deeper into Gwanak Mountain.
* * *
The entrance to Gwanak Mountain.
Veterans suited up in protective gear, preparing to enter.
Today was no different from any other.
They checked their equipment multiple times, confirming that nothing was amiss, and periodically assessed their physical condition.
For work this dangerous, safety inspections were non-negotiable.
The change came just as they were about to head in.
“Hey, Kim! Didn’t some lunatic go in about thirty minutes ago?”
“A lunatic? What are you talking about?”
“I can’t remember his face for some reason, but this madman just went in wearing regular clothes. Since he hasn’t come back out yet, we might end up having to clean up a corpse.”
“Corpse? The Fire Slimes will just burn whatever’s left of him.”
They didn’t give it much thought.
There was no shortage of such madmen.
It was just a minor incident.
A mudfish stirring up the water, nothing more.
Whoever he was seemed to possess some special fire-resistant trait or skill.
‘He’ll come running back soon enough once the heat gets too much. There’s a reason we Awakened wear protective gear, after all.’
And so they entered Gwanak Mountain.
What greeted them made them doubt their own eyes.
The materials respawned little by little each day.
Not a single resource was left where they should have been scattered about.
No matter how long they searched, no matter how deep they ventured.
Only traces of something—or someone—cut down and harvested remained.
Faced with a situation unlike anything they’d encountered before, everyone froze in place.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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