Chapter 96: 95

Chapter 95

 

Dawn broke.

YuWon chowed down on the meat of a big wild animal while eating with others.

“It’s tomorrow, right? The test,” Buar asked in disappointment.

Not only was he disappointed that he couldn’t beat Yuwon once, it seemed that he had grown close to YuWon.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to come back after the test?”

YuWon thought for a moment before nodding. “I will if I remember.”

YuWon wasn’t the type to make empty promises. He was being serious about possibly visiting if he ever came back to the 20th Floor.

“So you’re not totally heartless, even if you do talk like a jackass.”

“Eat your food.”

Bonk—

Nwiar hit Buar in the head with a slab of meat. 

Buar was an obedient big brother, so he did as she said.

Nwiar let out a sigh while looking over to YuWon.

“I’m sorry that my big brother is still so childish…”

“It’s okay. I know he didn’t mean anything bad.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Munch, munch—

As always, Buar chowed down on a mountain of meat.

YuWon was no small eater, but he couldn’t match how much food a Giant ate. For example, Vulkan was tearing apart meat off the bone from a chunk that was bigger than YuWon’s entire body.

Around the time the meal was ending, Buar asked a question as it popped into his head, “Didn’t you say you were searching for the Stone of the Sea?”

It was something he had forgotten about because he had been so focused on fighting YuWon.

The 「Stone of the Sea.」 It was an item that was passed down as part of a legend in the world of the 20th Floor.

YuWon had approached the Giants in search of an item that people weren’t even certain actually existed or not.

“Yeah,” YuWon said.

“What happened to that? Are you going to come back down after passing the test and moving onto the next floor?”

YuWon shook his head.

Buar squinted because it didn’t add up. He asked, “Then what?”

“I’m going to find the Stone of the Sea before I go to the next floor.”

“But didn’t you say earlier that you were taking the test…” Buar’s eyes widened while talking.

One would have to be really stupid to not understand the meaning behind what YuWon just said.

“Is it at the test site?” 

YuWon didn’t answer since they would know the truth soon enough.

“Does the Elder know?”

“More or less.”

“Hahh…” Buar exhaled. “So that thing really was connected to us…”

The Giants possessing the 「Stone of the Sea」 was a rumor that had been floating around for a long time, and due to that rumor, Giants had suffered at the hands of countless players and Rankers. They would demand the stone, asking where it was, to tell them everything they knew.

“If your father is one of the Giant Gods, then it’s highly likely he knew. He just didn’t tell you guys,” YuWon said.

“Is that item really that important?”

“It’s very important.”

“Then why can’t we just take possession of it? Why—” Buar’s question got cut short.

“Are you dumb?” Nwiar asked while letting out a sigh of disappointment. “Why do you think he’s taking the test tomorrow? It obviously means the Stone and taking the test are connected.”

“Is that what that means?” Buar asked.

YuWon nodded his head.

The 「Stone of the Sea.」 Its other name was the 「Divine Sea Crystal,」 and it was also known as the 「Trident’s Fragment.」

And that item was connected to the test of the 20th Floor.

“So why did the Elder ask for you?”

“Because I’m the strongest.”

YuWon’s blunt answer made Buar, Kwant, and Vulkan make a sour face. But none of them could say anything in response.

If you only looked at the 20th Floor, then YuWon was without a doubt the strongest player. On top of that…

‘There’s a chance he might be close to having the power of a Ranker…’ Buar thought while looking at YuWon.

The legend of the 「Stone of the Sea」 has been tormenting the Giants for a thousand years now, since the end of the Gigantomachy.

And now, the guy standing in front of Buar might be the person to bring an end to that legend.

“How could the Elder do this?” Kwant said while throwing the meat he was eating back onto his plate. “He knew the truth, yet he purposely stayed silent all along? He knows how much we’ve been tormented because of this stupid legend.”

“Kwant.”

“Am I wrong? Do you know how many times people have picked a fight with me because of it? I almost died a few of those times, damn it.” Kwant progressively raised his voice, “Why couldn’t we have just given them that stupid stone?! Is that treasure more valuable than the safety of our children?! Huh?!”

Giants ended up in altercations large and small as they climbed the Tower. While some were intimidated by their size and stayed away, others intentionally picked fights with them, knowing the Giants’ situation.

And more than half of those fights were with people who were after the 「Stone of the Sea.」

Buar and Nwiar couldn’t say anything to rebut Kwant. Normally, they would be stoutly defending Urpha, but this was a situation where they had nothing they could say because Kwant was right. Even their meeting with YuWon was because of a gang of players picking a fight with them.

“What could a stupid stone be worth that the Elder—” 

“He made the smart decision,” YuWon interrupted Kwant. 

He had finished his meal and was getting up. Kwant’s sitting height was taller than YuWon’s standing height. 

He stared at YuWon with eyes bloodshot from rage.

“He made the smart decision?” Kwant asked.

“That’s right.”

“You’re not even a part of our race. Don’t talk like you know everything…”

“If that stone fell into the wrong hands, you guys would all be dead by now,” YuWon said while turning around. “Anything’s better than complete genocide.”

“I said, don’t talk like you know everything!” Kwant shouted, jumping into the air and swinging his fist.

Unfortunately, his opponent was someone that they couldn’t beat even while ganging up five on one.

Grab—

Yank, slam—!

“Kugh!”

YuWon grabbed Kwant by the collar and drove him into the ground. 

He then asked Kwant, who was lying limp on the floor, “What about you? What do you know about Elder Urpha?”

YuWon looked at Kwant and the other young Giants with disappointment before turning around and saying, “Being ignorant isn’t a crime, but if you don’t know anything, you should at least keep your mouth shut.”

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Step, step—

YuWon then walked away from the commotion. 

Buar watched YuWon walk away for a moment before turning his focus to Kwant, who was lying on the ground.

“You okay?” Buar asked.

“Jeez… What’s up with that stupid amount of strength…?” 

“It’s not just strength. If we only looked at strength, I’m stronger than him.”

“Whatever. Help me up already. I feel like I pulled my back or something. I can’t get up.”

“You idiot,” Buar remarked while he helped Kwant get up.

Kwant groaned as he got up with Buar’s help. He then looked in the direction YuWon disappeared, saying, “That guy knows something, doesn’t he?”

“Don’t get up to your weird ideas again. No matter what you try, it’s not going to work.” Buar warned him.

“Do I look like a kid?”

“No, you’re even worse than a kid.”

“Ngh…” Kwant couldn’t say anything. 

“But I do agree that he knows something. I can tell by how he sought out Elder Urpha and what he just said.”

Buar was talking about how if the 「Stone of the Sea」 fell into the wrong hands, the Giants would be annihilated.

What YuWon told them stuck in their minds, and Elder Urpha would have been the type of person who probably would have kept the Stone a secret, knowing such a thing.

“I don’t know what exactly it is that the Elder hid from us…” Buar said, his words cutting through the thick atmosphere, “but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

* * *

YuWon returned back to his room.

The only things inside the room were a 10-meter-long bed, a pole to use as a clothes rack, and a nightstand. 

This was the place that YuWon had been staying in for the last ten days.

Flop—

YuWon jumped up onto the bed and laid down.

The bed was so big, it was taller than YuWon’s height.

Wince—

His head still hurt. 

It was the side effect of using [Cinder Eyes] and [Sensory Field] nonstop for the last ten days. 

‘I should restrain myself until the start of the test.’

Maintaining your condition before a test was a must, so he decided to ban himself from using [Cinder Eyes] and [Sensory Field] together until the start of the test.

Vwoom—

His right hand, which was equipped with 「Kyneē,」 vibrated.

YuWon stretched out his hand towards the ceiling. 

Kyneē was letting out a sound.

Vzzt, vzzt—

It then started to release mana on its own. 

This was a phenomenon that happened when YuWon let down his guard even the slightest bit.

“… It’s going crazy again.”

YuWon made mana flow into his right hand to forcefully suppress the mana coming out of 「Kyneē.」

Spark, crackle—

There wasn’t much of a resistance.

Fortunately, 「Kyneē」 could be suppressed quickly. But it still felt like holding onto a bomb that could explode at any moment.

‘Is it because of the Trident’s Fragment?’

The Trident was a weapon that symbolized Posiedon, the God of the Sea.

The 「Trident’s Fragment」 was an item similar to Kyneē’s crafting material, the 「Divine Dark Crystal.」 And it was potentially a different part of the ‘eye’ that YuWon saw not too long ago.

‘Kyneē’s been responding to it since I got to the 20th Floor.’

At first, it only reacted once every few days, but that time frame had begun to progressively get shorter and shorter.

YuWon had a few hypotheses, but there was one more likely than all the others.

“… Are they really reacting to each other?”

There was no way to be certain, but he started to think it was very plausible.

When he first thought they might be reacting to each other, YuWon had a silly thought: ‘Can I maybe use Kyneē like a Dragon Ball radar?’

It was a silly thought, but it wasn’t impossible either. If the three fragments were originally one, then it wouldn’t be so strange if the fragments responded to each other.

Because of this hypothesis, YuWon started practicing handling 「Kyneē」 after coming back to his room.

The room was so large, it was more than sufficient to use as a training space.

YuWon extended his arm and clenched his hand. 

Thinking back on it, YuWon didn’t have a chance to properly use 「Kyneē」 after it was completed. But that was because he didn’t have a worthy opponent for it yet.

He did try and practice using it little by little, but he had yet to use it to its maximum effect yet.

‘If this is the key to this floor’s test…’

For YuWon, the test on the 20th Floor was a test to obtain the 「Trident’s Fragment.」 So if 「Kyneē」 could be a clue for it, he needed a way to know for certain.

YuWon closed his eyes and focused on 「Kyneē.」

‘Open your eyes.’

Fss, fssss—

A black-tinted mana started to flow out of 「Kyneē.」

This time, it wasn’t 「Kyneē」 acting independently. It was acting in response to YuWon’s will.

‘Open… your eyes.’

YuWon thought back to the black wall that surrounded him and the mysterious yellow eye.

That thing was 「Kyneē」 itself and a part of something. A being that wanted to recover a part of itself, the 「Trident’s Fragment.」

YuWon continued to search for it, but the problem was that it was now the day before the test, and there was still no response.

YuWon’s patience started to wear thin.

Fwoosh—

YuWon showered [Holy Fire] down on 「Kyneē.」

“Stop sleeping…” 

That was when…

Fssss—

… A black wall started to surround YuWon, just like when he first got ahold of 「Kyneē.」

YuWon continued, speaking to the yellow eye that appeared in front of him, “… And wake up.”

 

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