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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
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Chapter 12
Seeing the change in Zeke's demeanor, Dexter grinned.
'This little guy. Is he finally ready to try?'
The more he saw him, the more peculiar he found him.
Countless talented individuals had sought him out, but he had never paid attention to any of them.
After ten years, someone had finally appeared who piqued his interest.
'Let's see what you've got...'
But then Zeke's figure darted towards the escape route at the back.
Dexter's eyes, expecting Zeke to charge at him, were filled with bewilderment.
'Huh? Look at this kid.'
He hesitated for a moment, then started running.
In an instant, Dexter was blocking Zeke's path.
Zeke gritted his teeth and changed direction again.
As if amused, Dexter once again moved ahead of Zeke, blocking his path.
Zeke stepped back and spoke to Dexter,
"Why are you doing this to me, sir?"
Dexter looked at Zeke in disbelief.
"I've seen people beg me to teach them, but this is a first."
Zeke shook his head and said,
"I have no such intention, so please just let me go."
"Huh... really? You have no desire to learn anything from me?"
Zeke nodded.
"I don't have enough time to master what I already know."
Crack!
Veins bulged on Dexter's forehead.
His body shimmered and disappeared.
Reappearing, Dexter tossed the sword towards Zeke.
Catching the claymore, Zeke asked,
"Can I go now?"
Dexter crossed his arms, looked down at him, and said,
"No, you can't just leave."
Now Dexter was feeling challenged.
His body shimmered again.
And at that moment, a line stretched across the greenhouse between Dexter and Zeke.
He looked at Zeke and said,
"I don't care what you do. If you can cross this line, I'll grant you anything you desire."
"How can you make such an irresponsible promise when you don't even know what I might desire?"
"I said I'll grant you anything! You impertinent little brat!"
Zeke, as if he had no choice, took a stance with the claymore in hand.
"You made a promise."
Dexter grinned.
"Alright. Come and get it."
Holding the claymore, Zeke activated Quick Step towards Dexter and charged at him.
Dexter simply stood still beyond the line.
Whoosh!
He was clearly running forward, but suddenly the floor and ceiling were reversed.
'Huh?'
The ground rushed towards his face.
Thwack!
A tremendous impact struck his face.
Zeke found himself sprawled on the dirt floor.
'What was that...?'
As he lay there, Zeke recalled a similar experience with his master before his return.
'Damn it, it feels awful to experience this again after so long.'
Zeke sprang to his feet.
Dexter was yawning and picking at his ear.
Zeke charged towards Dexter again.
Crash!
The result was the same.
He found himself lying on the floor, staring at the greenhouse ceiling.
"Whew..."
Seeing Zeke exuding a different aura than before, Dexter grinned.
"So, are you finally getting a bit interested?"
Zeke gripped his claymore tightly.
Then he lunged forward again.
The result was the same.
Dexter watched Zeke get up, panting, and savored the feeling of satisfaction.
'You arrogant brat. After getting thrown around ten times, you'll be clinging to my leg and begging for mercy.'
As Dexter expected, Zeke continued to charge and was repeatedly thrown to the ground.
But as time passed, Dexter's expression gradually darkened.
'Wait, how many times has it been now?'
He had been changing the direction of his full-force charges and slamming Zeke to the ground, so his back must be aching terribly.
But this kid, no matter how many times he was thrown down, ten or twenty times, he would get up again without tiring.
When it passed two hundred times, Dexter realized something was wrong.
He spoke to Zeke in a low voice,
"Kid. Just admit defeat."
Zeke staggered, panting as if on the verge of collapse.
Nevertheless, he gripped his claymore tightly and charged at Dexter.
The result was the same.
Crash!
This time, he fell with a louder thud than before, as if he had hit something wrong.
But once again, Zeke staggered back to his feet.
Zeke's bloodshot eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Even Dexter flinched at that gaze.
'What kind of eyes are those for a child...'
He looked like a mercenary who had spent decades on the battlefield.
Then,
Suddenly, Zeke straightened his posture and charged forward.
Surprised by Zeke's sudden charge, Dexter tried to suppress his bewilderment and counter the attack.
But the reaction was completely different from the previous two hundred times.
[Skill Dragon's Majesty has been activated.]
An aura of murderous intent and pressure emanated from Zeke, sending chills down Dexter's spine.
For a brief moment, his movements faltered.
Zeke didn't miss that opening.
[Skill Dragon Eye activated.]
Charging at high speed with his sword, Zeke used Dragon Eye to grasp Dexter's movements, which had been invisible to him until now.
The moment Dexter tried to grab and deflect his charging sword, Zeke let go of the weapon and immediately activated another skill.
[Skill Quick Step activated.]
He dropped his sword and dashed forward, rolling low to the ground.
The line was right in front of him.
That's when it happened.
Tsssss!
In an instant, Dexter's body split into multiple figures.
These duplicates lined up, blocking Zeke's path.
'What's this...?'
Zeke's body was flung into the air again.
The ground and ceiling flipped.
Crash!
He felt his entire spine shatter.
He heard the system's voice in his ears.
[Due to excessive skill usage, fatigue has exceeded critical levels.]
[Consciousness will be forcibly shut down for user safety.]
Other messages popped up, but Zeke could no longer hear them.
'N-No...'
With the line right before his eyes, Zeke's vision blurred.
Soon, darkness enveloped him, and he lost consciousness.
***
Zeke woke up in his bedroom on the Platinum Floor.
"Are you alright, young master?"
As he opened his eyes, Decker approached him.
Sitting up, Zeke asked,
"What happened?"
"You're asking me that, young master?"
Decker adjusted his monocle and continued,
"You were lying unconscious on the lobby sofa."
Zeke roughly understood what had happened.
'Duke must have brought me here after I fainted.'
Decker got up and said,
"I'll call a healer if you're feeling unwell."
Zeke waved his hand dismissively.
"No, it's fine. I was so focused on training earlier that I took a short break and must have fallen asleep on the sofa."
Despite the implausible explanation, Decker simply nodded without any further questions.
"Understood. Please call me if you need anything, young master."
As Decker left, Zeke sat up in bed, recalling the events at the greenhouse.
"Damn it... I almost made it."
Zeke was well aware of the strengths of his abilities.
Inexhaustible stamina and recovery.
He had been knocked down and gotten back up over two hundred times, inducing Dexter's carelessness.
The moment he sensed an opening, he used Dragon's Majesty and Dragon Eye to press his attack.
It was an unorthodox tactic, but Zeke had used all his abilities to exploit Duke's weakness while concealing the power of his middle dantian.
'As expected of someone who was a Black Knight in the past. This isn't enough to beat him?'
The reason Zeke knew about Duke's true identity was thanks to Andrei Draker.
In his previous life, he had accidentally learned about the relationship between Andrei and Duke while carrying out a mission.
In the future, Andrei Draker would earn the nickname "Crimson Knight."
The reason he was able to become a Red Knight at such a young age, despite not having awakened his pureblood abilities, was because he was the disciple of Duke Draker, who had passed on his secret techniques to him.
'After receiving Duke Draker's secret techniques, Andrei was able to grow rapidly even without the special abilities of a pureblood.'
Zeke gritted his teeth.
'If I could have learned Duke's secret techniques, I could have become stronger much faster than now.'
Just then, a message popped up before Zeke's eyes.
[You have an unread message. Would you like to check it?]
'An unread message?'
When Zeke chose to confirm, a message window appeared.
[D-rank skill 'Quick Step' has been transformed into C-rank skill 'High-Speed Movement.']
Seeing the message, Zeke nodded.
"C-rank skill, huh. At least I gained something."
Then another message appeared.
[Your strong will has caused your soul to grow.]
[Along with the growth of your soul, the administrator's system function has been activated.]
[Would you like to check the function?]
'System function?'
He didn't know exactly what it meant, but he decided to check it out.
[You can activate the following functions with Karma Points: Activate Minimap (20) / Activate Inventory (20) / Activate Beginner Quest Book (45)]
"What is this?"
Zeke pressed the explanation button.
— Minimap: Allows you to grasp the structure of terrain and features in the form of a map.
— Inventory: Allows you to store items up to the allowed capacity.
— Beginner Quest Book: Provides tutorials and missions for the efficient growth of lower-level administrators.
'Hmm... I don't understand even after reading the explanation.'
He could only understand the function of inventory activation.
'Activating the minimap and inventory each require 20 Karma Points.'
He currently had 40 Karma Points, so he could activate both the inventory and the minimap right away.
'I don't quite understand what it means to be able to store items. Does it mean I get something like a bag?'
After pondering, Zeke used his points to activate the inventory.
[Inventory function activated.]
Ding!
With a signal sound, a grid of five rows and five columns, a total of 25 squares, appeared before his eyes.
[When you designate an item you want to store, it will be stored in your inventory.]
After reading the explanation, Zeke tilted his head and picked up the claymore that was leaning against his bed.
'Is this how I store it?'
Suddenly, the claymore in his hand disappeared.
"Huh?"
The vanished claymore was now in one of the squares floating before his eyes.
"What is this?"
Zeke's claymore occupied two of the 25 squares.
[The size and weight of an item affect how much space it takes up in the inventory.]
[If you want more storage space, expand your inventory with Karma Points.]
[To take out a stored item, think of its name or form.]
'Name or form?'
Zeke concentrated on the claymore.
Whoosh!
Instantly, the claymore appeared in Zeke's hand.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
"This is much better than a subspace box."
It wasn't that artifacts that could distort space and reduce the volume of luggage didn't exist.
However, the problem was that they were incredibly expensive.
Even Zeke in his previous life, due to the nature of his profession, had a small subspace box, but it wasn't as cost-effective as the inventory.
"And on top of that, I can increase the storage space. This is a real windfall."
He had failed Duke's test, but he had gained a new power instead.
Zeke was once again impressed by the usefulness of the administrator system.
'If this is what the functions of a Low-rank Administrator are like, what about higher ranks?'
There could be unimaginably useful functions.
The problem was the Karma Points needed to activate the functions.
"To get more points, I need to hunt monsters..."
Originally, he had planned to leisurely explore dungeons and hunt monsters after becoming a Purple Knight.
But if Karma Points were this valuable, he needed to move up his dungeon hunting plans.
"I... need to revise my plans a bit."
Knock, knock!
Just then, someone knocked.
Zeke sensed Decker's presence beyond the door.
"Come in."
Decker entered the room and said to Zeke,
"A message has been delivered to you, young master."
"A message?"
Zeke received the note that Decker handed him.
Unfolding the note, he saw a line written in crooked handwriting.
〈Kid. If you want to challenge me again, come find me.〉
Zeke grinned at the message.
'He blocked me with a secret technique at the last moment, so is he giving me another chance to challenge him?'
It wasn't a complete failure.
He still had a chance to learn Duke's secret techniques.
Then Decker said to Zeke,
"Young master. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I found the blacksmith you mentioned last time."
Zeke nodded at Decker's words.
"When is the appointment scheduled for?"
At his question, Decker's expression darkened.
"Well... there's a bit of a problem."
Decker adjusted his monocle and said,
"The blacksmith you mentioned refused the appointment, saying he doesn't make weapons anymore."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
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