The Only Enhancer - Chapter 131

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

Episode 131
131 – Characteristic Mana (3)
2.
Characteristic mana refers to mana infused with a particular trait.
At first glance, one might think this renders skills meaningless, but it’s quite different.
Taking Mary as an example—while her mana is mixed with lightning, using that to teleport her body itself is difficult with mana alone.
Moving rapidly by infusing lightning into her body is possible, certainly.
Yet it’s not without merit.
Consider another example: the ability to manipulate mana and exert physical force through it was an absolutely tremendous advantage.
Like now, for instance.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Lightning swirling from all directions converges into a single point and fires forth like a flash.
The speed of that solitary bolt of lightning, compressed and released, approached the speed of light itself.
It had reached a velocity where evasion should have been impossible.
Yet Min-jun dodged it with ease.
The trick was reading the direction of Mary’s lightning before she released it.
If you discern it before the shot, no matter how fast, it cannot connect.
But the fired lightning suddenly shifts direction mid-flight.
It bends at an angle impossible for a physical object, hurtling toward Min-jun.
A technique only possible because lightning is pure energy.
Watching such lightning, Min-jun smiled faintly.
Since this was unavoidable, Min-jun wrapped himself in lightning as well and casually swatted it away with a wave of his hand.
From Mary’s perspective, it was utterly frustrating.
To think he batted away her lightning—unleashed with all her might—so effortlessly.
Yet she felt no disappointment.
She hadn’t expected anything less, but it was still fine.
Her opponent was Min-jun, after all.
‘Let’s go.’
Seeing Min-jun deflect her lightning, Mary immediately charged forward, lightning coursing through both her legs.
As she rushed forward as if bounding through empty air, lightning erupted skyward.
Flashing and flickering like a strobe, each burst closed the distance in an instant—like a ghost from a poorly made horror film.
A speed where even tracking her movements was nearly impossible.
Mary, surging forward like a single bolt of lightning itself, thrust her spear forward.
Whoooooosh―――!
The air tore apart at the extended spear’s passage, detonating with explosive force, and the spear, driven even harder by the recoil, descended like a lightning strike falling from the heavens.
It was a devastating power that even a Disaster Rank 5 monster could not escape fatal injury from.
Yet Min-jun caught Mary’s spear with merely two fingers.
Crack!
“Ugh.”
As the spear was seized, smoke rose from her palm as if her grip were burning, and her entire wrist and arm trembled violently.
It seemed the bone was damaged; beyond the sharp ache, there was a twisted sensation.
Given how powerful the attack was, I should have prepared for impact, but I hadn’t.
Watching Mary, Min-jun nodded.
“Hmm, that’s a fast and powerful attack.”
“Th-thank you.”
Her words faltered from the pain, but she smiled inwardly satisfied.
However.
“You know the weakness, right?”
“…Yes, I do.”
“Good then.”
With that, Min-jun healed Mary.
‘Should I do more?’
Min-jun pondered the question.
He’d called Mary to learn attribute mana, but she’d grasped it faster than expected.
Watching her control it with near-perfect finesse was quite satisfying.
But when Mary’s expression turned wistful, Min-jun smiled knowingly.
Then, as if asking whether she wanted to continue, Min-jun looked at her, and Mary nodded, speaking.
“Please, I’d appreciate it.”
Well, if she asked, there was no refusing.
Min-jun nodded and gestured for Mary to come, and she rushed at him without hesitation.
Lightning arced in all directions, laying waste to the surroundings.
Though Min-jun was holding back, Mary was giving it her all.
Despite being only level 5, Mary possessed enough power to reshape the terrain.
She displayed strength greater than any other level 5.
Of course, excluding Min-jun.
Watching Mary, Min-jun reflected.
Feeling she was worthy of attribute enhancement, he put more effort into the sparring.
During the North Korea campaign, had luck been on their side, she might have reached level 6, but unfortunately, realizing the condition late meant she remained level 5—a shame.
The guild members were growing stronger steadily, and it wouldn’t be long before everyone reached level 6.
If they conquered a land as vast as North Korea, they could raise all party members to level 6.
But was it really that easy?
They needed permission from other nations, and with various complicated procedures involved, it was bound to be difficult.
But that was fine.
‘Because Jung Ji-hwan is looking into it carefully.’
The next place to conquer after North Korea.
Jung Ji-hwan was diligently searching for it.
The completion of an unprecedented guild was truly not far away.
3.
The executives of the Reinforce Guild were all inevitably busy.
Jung Ji-hwan was occupied with guild affairs and searching for the next hunting ground, while Ma Hyun-seok was busy leveling guild members who hadn’t yet advanced.
Gwen and Andrew? There was nothing to say about those two.
Mary was equally occupied, sparring with Min-jun to master her characteristic mana.
The remaining two executives?
Isabella and Kim Woo-jin.
These two—or more precisely, Isabella—was letting out a small sigh.
Kim Woo-jin’s socialization training.
Isabella understood well enough that it was more important than anything else.
Even if Woo-jin was only eight years old, she was well aware that he was a formidable asset.
However.
Munch, munch, munch, munch.
He learned various things quickly and picked them up well.
But whenever food was in sight, he became like this.
One might say he couldn’t hide his wild nature?
Isabella didn’t understand it, but this too was related to his characteristic mana.
Characteristic Berserker was especially like that.
By now he could speak and understand words, but it was nearly impossible to teach him manners and etiquette.
Woo-jin understood too, but he would tremble as if he couldn’t help himself, itching to act out, so Isabella had half given up.
She had barely managed to teach him that he couldn’t attack ordinary people, that he had to wear clothes, and that he had to walk properly on two legs in the city.
Despite nearly two months of effort, this was the limit.
‘Sigh.’
Watching Woo-jin munch away, Isabella let out a helpless chuckle.
Still, having him around had made her grow fond of him—she found it hard to hate him anymore.
“Is it tasty?”
“Yeah! It’s tasty!”
Compared to how he used to only say things like “Ugh! Ah!”, this was quite an improvement, though his lack of formal speech was a bit bothersome.
Well, she’d given up on that, but it was still a shame.
Still, this much was acceptable.
‘I think I can return now.’
That’s what Isabella thought, at least.
Besides.
‘The increase in combat power will be tremendous.’
Isabella had heard that the newcomer Mary was impressive, but she thought Woo-jin was no less so.
You don’t know unless you see it directly.
Occasionally when Woo-jin talked back, Isabella’s spine would run cold.
Of course, thanks to the Level 7 equipment Min-jun gave him and Min-jun’s name, she could seize the initiative, but each time Isabella couldn’t help but shudder.
That child needed to hunt monsters periodically, or stress would build up.
More precisely, she sensed something close to madness in him.
If he didn’t express it, he would occasionally talk back, so they often went hunting.
And the sight she witnessed then was utterly incomprehensible.
‘He was beating monsters to death without equipment.’
It was common knowledge that hunting monsters without reinforced items was difficult.
This was because of the mana barrier that spread around the monster.
To ignore it, one needed reinforced items with stats at least equal to the monster’s level.
But Woo-jin was different.
I trembled at the sight of him tearing through the barrier with attacks wrapped in madness and striking the monster.
Isabella couldn’t know it, but that was Woo-jin’s characteristic mana.
The trait of a berserker—reducing his own defense to zero while rendering the opponent’s defense equally useless.
This trait came with the demerit that he couldn’t wear armor, yet Woo-jin didn’t even care about such things.
Or more precisely, he didn’t even know about it.
Looking at the trait alone, it was far superior to even Mary’s.
At the same time, Isabella was certain of one thing.
This child was a wild beast that couldn’t possibly live in the city.
He would need to regularly hunt monsters.
Perhaps because he was so well-suited to the Reinforce Guild, Isabella smiled softly.
“Woo-jin, you must always be careful in front of the guild master.”
“Huh!? Y-yes, of course!”
Woo-jin still spoke in clumsy words while trembling.
Yet it was somewhat strange that he liked him anyway.
It was ironic—being afraid while liking Min-jun.
Well, it made sense.
‘Because he’s both the kindest and the most terrifying person.’
That’s the kind of person Min-jun was.
Thinking this, Isabella spoke to Woo-jin.
“Then let’s head back to the guild.”
“Wow! Great! Going to the guild! I can help too!”
“That’s right. You’ll be helpful now.”
“Hunting monsters! They’re my enemies! Monsters are my enemies!”
“Yes, yes.”
Isabella, who had heard about the circumstances in which Woo-jin had been found, nodded with a bitter smile.
She knew well that burning with vengeance wasn’t good.
But should she teach this child that as well?
Since she couldn’t be certain, Isabella didn’t tell him.
To tell a child whose life purpose had become hunting every monster, calling them enemies, to give that up might be too cruel.
So she held back.
Hoping that from now on, he would think and judge for himself, not by her guidance.
She wasn’t too worried about that much, since Isabella had already taught him the basics.
She believed Woo-jin would be more than capable.
“Reinforce Guild! My home!”
She watched Woo-jin chatter excitedly with a complex and subtle gaze.
4.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Andrew were throwing themselves into research with manic intensity.
They had reached a level where they no longer even needed Baya’s confirmation.
Andrew, who still received scolding from Gwen and Baya as they immersed themselves in research alongside Bella the Homunculus, had at least seen the frequency of his reprimands drop considerably.
How many days had it been since the two of them plunged into their work with such fervor?
Since the laboratory was located underground, my sense of time had grown hazy.
I could only gauge that a considerable amount of time had passed by observing how my mental energy was draining away at a frantic pace.
That was when Gwen let out a hoarse cry.
“Done, it’s done!”
Though her voice was weak and devoid of strength, the brilliant gleam in her eyes revealed just how elated she was.
Seeing this, Andrew gazed at Gwen with uncertainty, his pupils trembling.
Had she really pulled it off?
As I looked with that thought in mind, I caught sight of a mystical magic stone radiating with iridescent brilliance, and I too could comprehend what had transpired.
“Ah.”
—Gasp!?
It was complete.
It could be nothing but complete.
A magic stone—the very heart of a monster.
Though Gwen had created magic stones before, this one was unmistakably different from her previous works.
Gwen hastily installed the freshly crafted magic stone into the doll before it could flicker out.
The doll then convulsed and began to move, and the system intervened in the process.
[A Level 4 Homunculus awakens.]
We had truly succeeded.
Now all that remained was—
—You useless lot! Let’s hurry up and create metal bodies too!
“Yes, understood!”

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