Chapter 761: No.99 Demon God Liberation (4)

The Great Sage of the Crows immediately showed interest.

“CAW, the more knowledge, the better! Are you saying you possess such a thing?”

“Would I say it if I didn’t?”

I flicked my chin as if it were nothing, but trading knowledge or information was not as easy as it sounded.

Aside from collecting shiny objects, the dimensional crows’ obvious interest was magic.

On top of that, this one was a “Great Sage,” so there was bound to be far more that it knew than what it didn’t.

Which also meant it would be difficult to interest it with ordinary magic.

I do have a way, though.

I had put knowledge on the negotiating table because I had something I trusted.

The Great Sage of the Crows seemed to notice that as well, because it let out an admiring sound and said,

“You are not a sovereign for nothing! I look forward to what kind of knowledge it will be!”

“You can look forward to it. Even you will be seeing it for the first time.”

“CAW, stop drawing it out and show me already!”

“Very well.”

Immediately afterward, I cast a skill.

[Using ‘Invitation.’]

[Cooldown 9 days 23:59:58]

I don’t have to hand over the knowledge myself.

If I sent it into the inner world, my subordinates would kindly teach it everything from start to finish.

In other words, it was [Invitation] task-dumping.

The Great Sage looked at the notification window that appeared before it with fascinated eyes.

“CAW—! What a form of skill I have never seen before! Interesting! Amusing!”

“Choose ‘Accept,’ and something even more amusing will happen.”

“Something even more amusing! I shall choose it!”

“Good. Have a nice trip.”

The Great Sage closed its eyes and sank into the inner world.

Dang Gyu-ri, who had been watching, asked quietly,

“Is that one going to get beaten up too?”

“It doesn’t always have to be sparring.”

Everyone who had been invited into my inner world so far had received an enthusiastic welcome and a beating, but the Great Sage of the Crows was an exception.

Its disposition was relatively mild, and it pursued knowledge more than strength.

There were also a few guys in the inner world who had grown in similar ways, so I thought there was a high chance a forum for discussion would open instead of a blind fight.

Or not.

Even if it got beaten up, wasn’t it fine as long as it learned something?

While I was thinking that, the Great Sage finally opened its eyes.

“CAW—A—A—!”

It must have been extremely excited, because it hopped in place again and again.

Enough that the pointed hat on its head slipped down.

As if that still wasn’t enough, it flapped up into the air, circled once, then came back down.

I asked it,

“Have you calmed down a little now?”

“I have not! Vast knowledge! Tremendous knowledge! Overwhelming knowledge!”

The Great Sage kept flapping its wings.

I did not know exactly what had happened in the inner world, but it seemed my subordinates had treated the guest rather well.

So I slowly nodded.

“I’m glad you seem satisfied. This should be enough as the crafting fee.”

“CAW! More than enough! Rather, I should give you change.”

It seemed my subordinates had treated the guest really, really well.

All that hard work raising them had paid off.

While I felt doubly pleased, [Thousand-Year Evergreen] floated up and flew to the Great Sage’s side.

“I shall put even more care into the [Consecration]! However, it will take quite some time!”

“Would a week or two by outside standards be enough?”

In Meteor Dragon’s case, she had finished in a few days with the assistance of three guardians, but the Great Sage would be doing it alone, so I had set a generous schedule.

But the Great Sage shook its head as if even that was not enough.

“CAW, first I intend to organize the knowledge I obtained today! If I do, I should be able to use even stronger magic.”

“That sounds tempting.”

Who knew? Maybe it would suddenly break through to EX-rank while doing that.

Then an incredible level of [Consecration] would become possible.

Of course, the odds were low, but it was also true that if its level rose even a little, the resulting product would be that much better.

So I flicked my chin.

“There is no need to rush. Still, I would like to receive it within two months.”

After that came summer vacation, and I also needed to meet Mountain Dragon to receive [Consecration].

The Great Sage readily answered,

“Of course it will be finished within two months!”

“Then I’ll come receive it at that time.”

“CAW, what do you want as change?”

After thinking for a moment, something suddenly flashed through my mind.

“I would like to finish learning the skill I almost learned last time.”

Back when I met the Great Sage at <Walking Turtle>.

My original goal had been to learn a “special space-type skill” through a trade.

But unexpectedly, the Great Sage had shown interest in Seo Ye-in and even held some separate conversation with her.

Looking back now, it must have noticed that she was part of the Meteor lineage.

As a result, Seo Ye-in had gotten the chance to learn [Space Fold], but because the payment was slightly insufficient, I had handed over even the statue I had prepared.

That pushed back the timing for me to learn my skill, but now that the chance had come around again, there was no reason not to take it.

The Great Sage looked at me and asked,

“You mean the skill of my kin. What exactly do you wish to learn?”

“[Shift Blink].”

At that, the Great Sage of the Crows seemed to calculate for a moment, but did not demand anything extra.

It seemed the change was more generous than I had thought.

It also seemed to be in a very good mood.

Soon, it pointed to a wide space on one side.

“CAW, I shall teach you! Go stand over there.”

“Very well.”

When I stood where it told me, the Great Sage floated into the air and cast a spell.

“CAA—AW—!”

Immediately afterward, several magic circles, both large and small, formed around me and began to mesh together like gears as they spun.

Then, just as they seemed to turn one by one into spaces reminiscent of the night sky, they were absorbed straight into my body.

FWAAASH!

[‘Shift Blink(F)’ has been learned.]

I raised the corner of my mouth as I looked at the notification.

Finally.

It was a somewhat difficult skill to learn, but because it was extremely versatile, it had been popular both with me and among players.

Nicknames included [Shift], [Shblink], and the like.

To summarize this skill’s effect in one line:

★Blink★ used on someone else.

It could move a target’s position elsewhere or swap the target with something else.

Hearing only that much, it sounded like some absurd cheat skill, but there were many tricky points when it came to actually using it.

Obviously, control is hard.

There were Song Cheonhyes everywhere who could not even properly use ★Blink★, which moved their own bodies. Moving another target was not going to be easy.

Even moving something just a few steps had an enormous level of difficulty, and the farther the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) distance, the more the difficulty rose exponentially.

Not only that, but it was also very prone to cancellation because of outside factors such as obstacles or the environment.

In other words, of course it could not be used to trap an opponent deep underground, and even when used normally, there were many factors to consider.

Judging from the control issue alone, most mages would gain nothing from learning it.

I was good at everything except the things I couldn’t do, though.

As for the other drawbacks:

It eats a lot of mana, and the cooldown is long.

When “moving” a single target, it cost exactly twice as much as ★Blink★.

When “swapping” the target with something else, it cost a full five times as much.

Thanks to [Great Sage’s Ring] and [Golden Pocket Watch], my situation was at least better than most, but I still needed to use it carefully.

And most decisively, the startup delay is big.

Once you grow used to ★Blink★, you can practically pop around just by thinking.

But with [Shift Blink], even if Ancestor Grandpa Kim Ho used it, there would still be a delay of several seconds.

Enemies were not idiots, either, so there was a high chance they would dodge during that window.

Then I just have to make it so they can’t dodge.

I had wind, I had freezing, and I had more than enough means to control enemies.

I would have to wait and see how far it worked, though.

Either way, learning it is learning it.

It was a tricky skill to use in all sorts of ways, but it was an excellent way to provoke rage.

That meant I had achieved the intended result.

So I looked at the Great Sage of the Crows and grinned.

“Thank you every time. I’ll make good use of it.”

“CAW! Likewise, Sovereign! This, too, was a satisfying trade!”

It was about to leave, then turned its head toward Dang Gyu-ri.

“Child of deep shadow, do you still have business with me?”

“Yes. I mean, yes, I do. I would like to trade too.”

Unlike me, who was acting in arrogant sovereign mode, Dang Gyu-ri answered with respectful speech every time.

It seemed the S+ rank dimensional crow still felt somewhat difficult for them to deal with.

At the same time, Dang Gyu-ri took out two items.

A lump of obsidian and an elephant statue carved from jade.

“Will these do?”

“CAW, a shining jewel! A pretty statue! They will!”

“Then I’ll do it. The trade.”

“What do you seek to obtain?”

“I want to strengthen a skill.”

Dang Gyu-ri answered while pointing at the ground beneath their feet.

They used [Shadow Leap] more often than ★Blink★, so they were trying to raise its performance.

This time as well, the Great Sage of the Crows readily nodded.

“CAW, not a difficult request! You go stand over there too.”

Immediately afterward, the two items floated up and entered the Great Sage’s inventory.

Then it waved its staff again and manifested magic.

“CAA—AW—!”

Magic circles that were similar to the ones from when I learned my skill, yet also different, appeared.

They rotated around Dang Gyu-ri for a while before being absorbed one by one.

FWAAASH!

“......!”

Dang Gyu-ri’s eyes shone as they clenched and unclenched their fists.

Just like when they had beaten down the Demon God fragments and absorbed the energy.

I asked them,

“How is it? Has it improved?”

“By a lot.”

[Shadow Leap] also had its own conditions. The shadow had to be above a certain size, and the contrast between light and dark had to be clear.

Apparently, those conditions had been considerably relaxed.

Its movement distance, stealth, and other performance factors had also greatly improved.

Sneaking around will be a bit easier now.

Especially when moving around the deep layers.

In any case, that meant the trade was complete, so we looked at the Great Sage of the Crows.

“I’ll say it again. Thank you. We’ll meet again next time.”

“CAW, by then I shall have finished the [Consecration] as promised! See you again, Sovereign!”

Then it flapped its wings, rose into the air, and swung its staff through empty space to open a rift.

“CAW—!”

And it crossed over into another dungeon.

Dang Gyu-ri glanced at the sight and murmured as if to themself,

“We got a lot today. Strengthened a skill, increased a slot.”

“Since you brought it up, let’s go increase that last slot too.”

If we beat down just one more Demon God fragment, every objective we had in this dungeon would be complete.

Dang Gyu-ri seemed to think the same, because they grinned and said,

“Sure. Let us hurry, grown-up sovereign.”

“Summon the Feathered Serpent, child of deep Gyu-Gyu shadow.”

“......Hey, hold on.”

Dang Gyu-ri’s shoulders shrank slightly at my words.

They rubbed their arms as if goosebumps had risen.

“It tickles when I hear it from you. It was fine when the crow said it.”

“What is there to be tickled about? The priests prayed, the crow acknowledged it, child of deep Gyu-Gyu shadow!”

“......So my karma finally came back to me.”

With a sigh, Dang Gyu-ri summoned the Feathered Serpent.