The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 57

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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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Chapter 57. Midterm Evaluation (2)
“Well then.”
Returning to my Dormitory room, I settled onto the bed in a cross-legged position.
Normally, this would be the time I should be at the Training Ground, drenched in sweat and wielding my blade for hours, but the ‘new technique’ I’d been focusing on recently didn’t require me to visit the Training Ground at all.
“Shhh.”
I drew in a slow breath and closed my eyes.
My vision darkened.
From within the absolute blackness, a colossal inferno erupted.
The Primordial Flame.
The ancient fire—said to have consumed the World Tree in the distant past—blazed with savage fury as if ready to devour all creation.
An image sculpted from the depths of my heart.
I wandered through the landscape of my inner consciousness, fixing my gaze upon the raging flames.
‘Ignite.’
I extended my hand toward the savage inferno and commanded it.
The Primordial Flame didn’t even flicker.
This much was routine.
‘Now comes the crucial part.’
Ever since my battle with Ashtaroth.
Every night, I’d carved time from my sleep to research methods of controlling the Primordial Flame.
Through repeated experimentation, I’d discovered two key characteristics.
‘First: the Primordial Flame responds to my ‘death’ at roughly 5 to 6-hour intervals.’
I’d already learned this much through my mana cultivation training.
The truly important discovery was the second characteristic.
‘During the 5 minutes when the Primordial Flame responds, if I issue a command infused with strong willpower, I can move the Primordial Flame according to my intent.’
To use a fishing analogy, it felt like I was baiting the Primordial Flame with my ‘death,’ then reeling it in with the ‘fishing rod’ of my willpower.
‘Of course, it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.’
I clicked my tongue and refocused my concentration.
“Exhale.”
I slowly expelled the breath filling my lungs, creating a mana bullet within my body.
A mana bullet far smaller than a grain of rice.
Flowing through my meridians, the mana bullet condensed within my heart.
And then.
Crack!
The condensed mana bullet detonated, and my heart ruptured.
For an ordinary person, it would have been an instantly fatal wound.
Whoooosh!
The blessing of resurrection activated, rapidly reconstructing my shattered heart.
Before my heart fully healed.
The moment the Primordial Flame responded to my ‘death.’
‘Now!’
I stretched my hand toward the fiercely burning flames and commanded with intense willpower.
“Bloom.”
The primordial fire, which had not budged at my command until now, slowly began to move.
A small spark burning in the palm of my hand.
I brought the precariously flickering spark to my left chest.
Whoooosh!
The tiny spark, no larger than a candle flame, began to consume my heart and gradually grew larger.
‘It worked!’
Soon, flames began to engulf my entire body.
I opened my eyes and rose from the bed.
“Haah.”
Gray ash mingled with my exhaled breath.
Sizzzzle!
The sound of flesh burning echoed as gray ash rose like smoke through every pore of my body.
It wasn’t the boundless mana that surged like when I experienced the Fire God state fighting Ashtaroth before.
‘My mana is recovering.’
I could feel mana gradually filling the half-empty stigma.
“Yes!”
I clenched my fist and let out a cheer.
Gray ash flowed like sand between my clenched fingers.
‘Finally, this bastard is moving!’
The sensation of the primordial fire, which had always burned stubbornly while ignoring my commands, now responding to my will sent an indescribable thrill through me.
“Well… compared to when I was in the Fire God state, it’s still far from sufficient.”
I clicked my tongue while looking down at my body, from which gray ash was rising.
Unlike when my entire body burned with flames and gray ash swirled like a storm around me, the ash now rising from my body was as faint as smoke from a dying campfire.
‘Still, the fact that it moved is something.’
Compared to when it didn’t budge at my command, even this much was a tremendous leap forward.
“I’ve confirmed the effect of mana automatically recovering for now.”
What I needed to check next was.
Shing.
I drew my sword and slowly channeled mana into it.
Flames blazed along the blade as if I had set fire to an oiled sword.
Of course, it wasn’t the colossal flames that seemed to devour the entire world like in the ‘Fire God’ state, but the flames wavering along the blade emanated a fierce pressure all on their own.
‘The power of the primordial fire has become infused within my mana itself.’
It was as if the primordial fire had melted into my mana.
Without needing to control the primordial fire separately, as I moved my mana as usual, the power of the primordial fire naturally blended in.
‘Since I’m in a room, I can’t confirm the full extent of its power.’
But considering my battle with Ashtaroth, mana infused with the primordial fire was itself no different from a powerful artifact.
“Good… so in the end, the effects are mana automatically recovering and the power of the primordial fire infusing my mana. These two things?”
Unlike the ‘Fire God’ state, there was no effect of increasing the total amount of mana itself.
Recovery and enhancement—these two effects alone provided more than enough reason to master this technique.
“For now, I suppose you could think of it as a degraded version of the Avatar state…”
Even as a degraded version, its power was formidable enough that even mythic-grade artifacts couldn’t compare.
“Let me see… the name… yes, I’ll call it ‘Ignition.'”
Ignition—from the concept of setting something ablaze.
When the technique activated, the sound of flesh burning across my entire body combined with the gray smoke that rose made it a fitting name indeed.
‘Giving a technique a name that suits it is important, after all.’
Especially for a technique related to mental imagery like this one.
‘If I use the Stigma Amplifier on top of this…’
The Stigma Amplifier would increase the ‘quantity’ of mana, while Ignition would elevate the ‘quality’ of that expanded mana.
If that happened.
“I might actually be able to stand against the Archbishop?”
Of course, both the Stigma Amplifier and this newly mastered ‘Ignition’ had a five-minute duration limit.
But within that timeframe, I would wield enough power to hold my own against the Archbishop without falling short.
“Well… I won’t need either of them for this midterm evaluation anyway.”
Why would I need to reveal my trump cards just to hunt a few Rank-F magical beasts?
‘Besides, I already promised not to use the Stigma Amplifier during the exam.’
I could use Ignition if I wanted, but I wasn’t desperate enough for first place to resort to that.
‘I still can’t perfectly control the Primordial Flame anyway.’
Since the Primordial Flame itself was a power with far more unknowns than known aspects, I needed to exercise caution in its use.
“Well then.”
Pshhhhh.
As time passed, the gray smoke rising from my body ceased with the sound of air deflating.
And what remained was.
“…I guess I should clean up the room first.”
Looking around at the room covered in ash, I began gathering cleaning supplies.
* * *
The next day.
The Warrior Department Candidates finished arming themselves and moved to the Test Site.
“You have eight hours! Your midterm evaluation scores will be determined by whoever accumulates the most points in that time!”
With Lucas Kane’s shout, the Candidates lined up in their respective chosen zones.
The zone I’d chosen as my starting point was Mountain Terrain.
As the most straightforward terrain, it had a line nearly twice as long as the other zones.
“Alright, ten of you—step up to the warp device.”
Ten Candidates from the line stepped onto the warp device.
“Once the warp device activates, you’ll be transported to a random location within your chosen zone.”
Lucas Kane continued speaking as he activated the device.
“You might get unlucky and spawn right in front of a magical beast, so stay sharp.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And don’t forget—if things get dangerous, send a distress signal through your Hero Watch. Don’t be reckless and get yourself killed. Understood?”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
With that resounding affirmation.
“Then, good luck to you all.”
The warp device activated.
The Candidates disappeared in a swirl of azure light.
“Dale.”
Before stepping onto the warp device, Yuren—who had chosen the Mountain Terrain alongside me—turned back and spoke.
“…I won’t lose.”
“It won’t be easy.”
I chuckled softly and followed Yuren onto the warp device.
Whirrrrrrr!
A sensation of weightlessness enveloped my body as the azure light lifted me above the clouds.
* * *
“Ugh… it’s been a while since I’ve warped.”
I steadied my slightly spinning head and surveyed my surroundings.
Dense undergrowth. Trees towering over fifteen meters tall.
The primal scent of nature assaulting my senses.
“Ha.”
A faint, hollow laugh escaped my lips as I took in the landscape.
“I never thought I’d land in the exact same place as my previous life.”
The scenery felt oddly familiar, and upon closer inspection, I realized it was the location where I’d been dropped during the midterm evaluation in my past life.
‘Whether it’s coincidence or fate, I’m not sure.’
Being here again stirred memories from my previous existence.
“Now that I think about it, this was the day.”
A faint smile crossed my face as I recalled those past memories.
The reason this place felt so familiar.
‘This is where I experienced death for the first time.’
While trembling in terror and moving through the undergrowth.
A demonic beast burst from the brush and tore into my throat.
‘Back then, I thought my life would end right there.’
Not only did I awaken the ‘Blessing of Resurrection’ and come back to life, but I even regressed through time to the past.
Thinking about it now, my life had been quite tumultuous.
“Well then, let me move about diligently.”
I knew the ‘One-Horned Beast’ was first discovered in the Mountain Terrain, but I didn’t know its exact location.
Back then, my mind was too preoccupied wondering why I was still alive despite having my head torn off.
Rustle, rustle.
As I parted through the undergrowth and moved forward slowly.
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
A dark silhouette burst from between the bushes with a ferocious roar.
“Well, well.”
I sidestepped the beast’s attack with a subtle shift of my body, then created distance to observe the creature that had burst from the undergrowth.
Its appearance resembled that of a wolf.
Drool dripped steadily from its grotesque fangs, and its claws were sharp as blades.
Three eyeballs gleamed with a crimson hue.
“Huh?”
Upon seeing the beast emerge from the vegetation, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
And for good reason.
“Well, well—it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
The beast standing before me was the very creature that had granted me my first experience of ‘death’ in my previous life.
“Have you been well?”
I burst into gleeful laughter and waved my hand toward the wolf beast.

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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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