Lee Seo-jun returned to his massive mansion, his place of residence.
It was the home of his grandfather, Kim Jin-cheol, who had raised him since childhood.
As he stepped inside and looked around, it seemed that Kim Jin-cheol had not yet returned.
Perhaps that was only natural.
A massive terrorist attack had just occurred in Korea—there was no way the president of the Mage Association could be free at a time like this.
Seo-jun walked through the vast, empty living room alone before heading into his room.
Sitting heavily on the bed, he reflected on the events of the day.
The explosion attack, the dying people, Jaun’s sudden appearance.
And the mysterious binding magic that had allowed them to capture one of Jaun’s companions.
“…….”
So much had happened in just one day that Seo-jun still felt trapped in those moments.
Countless questions swam through his mind.
Why had Jaun risked so much to obtain the Broken Black Sword? Who had cast that unknown binding spell?
Lost in thought, he turned on his smart student notebook.
As soon as he searched for Jaun online, numerous articles appeared detailing his past crimes and atrocities—including the terrorist attack at the Pioneer’s Night event.
There was even an online community called “Jaun’s Victims’ Group.”
Posts filled with pain and resentment from people who had lost their families because of him filled the screen.
“…….”
Now that Jaun had resumed his activities, more victims like them would inevitably emerge.
Seo-jun stared at the screen, lost in thought.
At this moment—
What could he do?
…Nothing.
Right now, he was powerless.
The world called him a genius, but in the face of a ruthless criminal like Jaun, he was nothing.
He had felt that more strongly than ever today.
He needed to become stronger.
To protect his family, his friends—his loved ones.
Just then, the internet window closed, and his phone rang.
The name on the screen was familiar.
It was Lee Hyun-joo, his childhood friend—the one who always supported him in difficult times.
Most of the members of Jaun had successfully returned to their hideout.
Not their usual safe house in Seoul, but a secret hideout deep in a mountain cave.
The reason they had gathered here was simple.
A special artifact hidden in this place would allow them to experiment with the “Mana Core” they had just obtained.
“Good work, everyone.”
“Anyone injured?”
“Me. I broke my arm fighting those Dawn’s Blade bastards.”
“Did you get treatment?”
“Of course I did.”
“Tch. Weaklings. This is why you need to train in reinforcement magic.”
Scar muttered in disappointment as he looked at the injured member.
Bert stepped forward and scanned the group before speaking.
“Everyone, gather around.”
At her words, the eight of them formed a circle.
“You all know what happened to Theresa, right?”
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
Even for people as ruthless as them, losing a close comrade was painful.
“I heard… Sigh. And she was taken down in a factory, of all places. She always bragged that she could take on anyone in there…”
Scar muttered in a somber tone.
“So, was Theresa captured or killed?”
“No one knows. But even if she was captured, we don’t have to worry about betrayal—we all took the ‘Blood Oath.’ No force in existence can break that binding magic.”
“That may be true, but…”
“Right. Baek Eun-seong, are you sure you don’t know anything about that bearded guy?”
Jin turned to Baek Eun-seong.
“Huh? No clue. Do you know how many mages have beards? And besides, back in Incheon, he was wearing a hat pulled down low—I couldn’t even see his face.”
“Do you even know anything useful?”
“What did you just say?”
“Alright, that’s enough. We can look into that later. Let’s check out the goods first.”
As the tension rose, Scar clapped his hands to change the subject.
“Yeah, let’s check out what we got. Here’s the item I managed to snag.”
Natasha pulled out the “Broken Black Sword” from her coat and placed it on the central table.
A small cheer went up as the sword, split in two, was revealed.
“Finally, we have His weapon…”
“It’s a shame we couldn’t get Hephaestus’s Hammer, though.”
Jin muttered to himself as he looked at the Broken Black Sword.
With that hammer, which could restore the power of mystical relics, they might have been able to recover at least part of the sword’s lost power.
“Forget it. Don’t dwell on it. That’s not the only artifact capable of restoring mystical power.”
At Bert’s words, Jin nodded.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“But who’s holding onto the Mana Core?”
“I have it.”
Bert reached into her subspace artifact and pulled out a glowing orb radiating pure energy.
“So this is the Sacred Relic, the Mana Core.”
“It really lives up to the rumors. The mana is so dense you can see it with the naked eye.”
“Let’s test it right away.”
Bert carried the Mana Core deeper into the cave.
Inside, a massive cannon-like device covered in complex magitech components came into view.
This was the “Grand Mage Purifier.”
A mystical weapon recorded in history as one of humanity’s most destructive magical weapons—its destructive power was on an entirely different level from ordinary magic.
Bert inserted the Mana Core into a small slot at the back of the Grand Mage Purifier.
Wuuuuung.
At the same time, a strong light flickered from the Mana Core, and a formidable energy began to emanate from the Grand Mage Purifier.
It was rapidly absorbing the infinite mana contained within the Mana Core.
“It’s working.”
Bert watched with a deep smile.
She wanted to test the destructive power of the ancient magical weapon right away, but recklessly firing it into the air might trigger the association’s mana detection system, so that was not an option.
Still, as she observed the mana being absorbed into the weapon, she was certain—This weapon’s power would surpass their expectations.
With this, Jaun had taken one step closer to their ultimate goal.
They had lost a comrade, but the sacrifice of the few for the greater cause was something they had already resolved to accept.
Early in the morning, I visited a famous equipment store in the city to find a weapon for using the Mystic-Scooping Ladle.
Weapons of S-rank or higher were usually obtained through auctions or bartering, but A-rank weapons and below could occasionally be found in regular weapon shops.
“Hello. Are you looking for a weapon?”
As I stepped inside, an employee who appeared to be a clerk greeted me.
“Yes.”
“What kind of weapon are you looking for?”
“A sword. A-rank.”
I already had a B-rank sword I had obtained from a demon during a mercenary trial. Since I needed a weapon of the same type but a different rank, I wanted an A-rank sword.
“An A-rank sword, you say?”
“Yes.”
The clerk gave me a curious look.
Swords were the most popular weapon among mages, and an A-rank sword sold for at least 4 billion won.
He must have been wondering if I was some famous mage, considering I was trying to purchase such an expensive weapon.
“Is this for purchase?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Understood. Please follow me. A-rank weapons are displayed separately.”
I followed him as he walked ahead.
After a short walk, we arrived at a space where countless weapons were on display.
I looked around.
“All the swords here have been appraised as A-rank. You can check their performance in the quality certificates below.”
In this world, item appraisals had to be conducted at appraisal institutions, which issued quality certificates.
Of course, that didn’t matter to me—I had the Outsider’s Privilege.
“Hm.”
Using the Outsider’s Privilege, I scanned the swords and found that all their actual performances matched what was written in the certificates.
That meant they were all genuine.
As expected of A-rank weapons, their stats were impressive.
After browsing for a while, I picked up a sword.
“I’ll take this one.”
I paid a hefty sum of 5 billion won and purchased an A-rank sword. Then, I immediately moved to an empty stairwell in a building.
After checking my surroundings, I drew the newly purchased sword.
Srrrng.
━━
[Azure Moon Sword (A)]
Type: Sword
Description: A sword imbued with moonlight.
[Passive Effects]
▶ Piercing Power
Deals 30% additional damage to enemies shrouded in mana.
Increases mana amplification by 15%.
Durability: A
Destructive Power: B
━━
It increased mana amplification by 15% and dealt 30% additional damage to enemies enveloped in mana.
In other words, it could bypass defensive techniques like protective aura or mana barriers, dealing 30% more damage to opponents using them.
It seemed like a good match for my current sword, so I chose it. Most importantly, it was a versatile weapon with universally useful options.
Next, I checked the sword I had obtained during my mercenary trial.
━━
[Scatterblade (B)]
Type: Sword
Description: A mana-activated sword.
[Active Effect]
▶ Blade Separation
When mana is infused, the blade splits into ten separate pieces and floats in the air.
The blades move according to the user’s will.
Increases stamina and strength by 5.
Durability: A
Destructive Power: B
━━
The weapon’s effects were just as I remembered.
I had been wondering how to utilize it effectively, but now, the time had finally come.
“All right, let’s do this.”
I took out the Mystic-Scooping Ladle.
As I infused mana into it, a brilliant light radiated from the ladle, and an indescribable power emanated from it.
I brought it close to the Azure Moon Sword.
A white, smoke-like substance slowly drifted out of the sword and into the ladle.
That smoke must be the “mystery” contained within the sword.
Amazed that I could see it with my own eyes, I then brought the ladle to Scatterblade.
Vwoooong…
A blinding light flashed.
The smoke that had been stored in the ladle trickled down and seeped into Scatterblade.
[Achievement unlocked: ‘Mystery Crafter.’]
[You have received 6,000 points as a reward.]
“Oh.”
The system message confirmed my success in transferring the sword’s mystery.
I immediately checked the weapon.
━━
[Scatterblade (A)]
Type: Sword
Description: A mana-activated sword.
[Passive Effects]
▶ Piercing Power
Deals 30% additional damage to enemies shrouded in mana.
Increases mana amplification by 15%.
[Active Effect]
▶ Blade Separation
When mana is infused, the blade splits into ten separate pieces and floats in the air.
The blades move according to the user’s will.
Increases stamina and strength by 5.
Durability: A
Destructive Power: B
━━
“It’s done.”
Success.
I had briefly hoped that merging A-rank and B-rank effects would upgrade the weapon to S-rank, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Still, it wasn’t bad at all.
A sword possessing two unique effects like this must be incredibly rare.
With that goal accomplished, it was time to move on to the next step.
I set off for the item appraisal center.
Late at night.
As soon as I returned home, I logged into ‘Uday,’ an auction site, on my smartphone.
I clicked on my favorites tab, and the sword I had listed appeared.
Its current price was 3.2 billion won.
There were still seven days left until the auction ended.
“Hm. I hope it sells for at least 7 billion.”
Since I had bought the Azure Moon Sword for 5 billion, I needed to make at least a 30% profit.
After organizing my thoughts, I checked my account balance.
About 3 billion won remained.
I pondered how to use the money over the next seven days and decided, as always, to invest in stocks.
After all, my plans depended on selling the weapon first, so I had time to spare.
Due to the ‘Night of the Pioneers’ incident, Hanseong Group’s stock had taken a significant hit. Buying now wouldn’t result in a loss.
“Oh, the market’s already closed.”
Tsk. Nothing I could do but wait until tomorrow morning.
Just as I set my smartphone down absentmindedly, it suddenly vibrated.
[Uday]
[You have received a message.]
[Hello, seller. I really love the item, and I’d like to purchase it directly.]
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