Chapter 106: Compensation (3)

[Wonderful achievement!]

[You have defied fate and twisted your given destiny.]

'…Destiny, huh.'

[An ability of your unique trait will be added.]

[The unique trait, Eternity, will be granted a new ability.]

[Eternal Moment, Momentary Eternity is created.]

[You have obtained an S-grade trait selection right.]

[You can rank up one of your traits.]

[Only traits of A-grade or below can be ranked up.]

The blue status window popped up.

'Eternal Moment? Momentary Eternity?'

This seemed like something I needed to see for myself.

The current abilities of my Eternity trait were as followed:

[Eternity]

: Imbues magic with the eternal attribute.

: The user becomes eternal.

: The special skill, Eternity, becomes usable.

: The special skill, Eternal Moment, Momentary Eternity, becomes usable.

[Eternal Moment, Momentary Eternity]

: Interferes with time.

'Interference with time.'

The description was quite unhelpful.

But I soon set aside my complaint.

The fact that the description was so vague and simple likely meant it had a lot of potential applications.

The more I learned about the system and its traits, the more I realized that simplicity was best.

I might need to research this a bit.

I moved on to the next one.

An S-rank trait selection and the ability to rank up one trait.

'It's best to upgrade an A-rank trait to an S-rank trait.'

It didn't upgrade S-rank traits, though.

'Well, the power these have is extraordinary.'

According to Yoo Eunchae, there was a rank above S-rank called Ex-rank.

Ex-rank traits were said to have tremendous capabilities.

She even said that just one of them could put you on par with a transcendent being.

'You think you can be on par with a transcendent with just one trait?'

Although the information Yoo Eunchae provided might be wrong, this part shouldn't be.

So, one of the Ex-class traits could indeed be equal to a transcendent.

'Is that even possible?'

A transcendent.

Having become that entity twice, I knew how absurd that notion was.

To think that just obtaining one trait could make you equal to that.

An Ex-class trait…

The first person I sought out was Yoo Eunchae.

"Long time no see! You secretly took Yoo Seolrang in a princess carry, did you solve the problem?!"

For some reason, Yoo Eunchae was a bit aggressive.

"It was resolved well. But have you heard anything?"

"Heard anything?"

"Never mind then."

"Hmmm, has something happened recently… Ouch! Why did you hit me!"

"Well, you suddenly acted all cutesy."

"…No, isn't this too violent?"

"Is it?"

Hmm…

Was I too violent?

I pondered for a moment.

'I thought I was being rather merciful.'

"Are you really reflecting on it?"

"Well, violence isn't good."

"…Have you lost your conscience, ouch!"

I lightly reprimanded Yoo Eunchae and asked her my question.

"Do you have time?"

"Time? I can make time for you, Professor, but there might be a bit of a cost…"

Yoo Eunchae glanced at me cautiously.

"…Ahem, put your fist down. If it's not Professor but Master, I should always make time."

"Really? Then tell me about some good traits."

"Traits? Recommending good ones is easy, but the combination of traits is crucial. I'm quite good at combining them…"

"No, after dealing with those involved in the Demon King's revival, they gave me a trait selection option."

"What, they gave that to you?! Who did you deal with?"

"The Iron-Blood Sword Clan."

".....................…What?"

"I raided the Iron-Blood Sword Clan."

"The Iron-Blood Sword Clan…."

"The place where I was born."

"And you wiped them out… Well, that's just like you."

Yoo Eunchae nodded and said.

"Anyway, my recommendation depends on what I know about you."

"Really?"

"But considering your traits, how about upgrading something different?"

"Something different?"

"For example, utility."

"Is it necessary?"

I didn't need utility traits right now.

When it came to speed, no one was faster than me.

Wind God Step.

Since I mastered this, if it was not the Heavenly Demon who mastered it, I was confident that no one could catch me.

"Anyway, you don't know."

"No, could you stop looking at people as if they're useless?!"

"I've never looked at anyone like that."

However, it couldn't be helped that I saw her value as low.

"But, actually, talking about this is meaningless."

"…?"

"The trait selection option is just a fancy name for a choice; it reads the user's information and guides them towards the unique traits and traits listed in the status window."

"Really?"

"Yes, so I don't know what will come out."

"I see."

I turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"To the faculty office."

"Are you going to choose alone?"

"Yeah."

If it's not about choosing from all traits, there's no need to be with Yoo Eunchae.

I left Yoo Eunchae behind and used the trait selection option.

[Checking user's traits, unique traits, and stats...]

[Please select a keyword.]

[Magic, Martial Arts, Traits]

I fell into a moment of contemplation.

Once chosen, could it be undone or not?

That seemed to be quite an important question.

"Can this be chosen and canceled?"

[Yes, it is possible.]

I pressed the magic.

Then, four keywords appeared.

[Flame, Ice, Magic, Lightning]

'All of them are useless.'

There were things that could be dealt with. Flame had a versatile innovative Brilliant Blazing Fire, though its power was weak.

Ice had Glacial Heavenly Moon.

'I don't feel much lacking in magic power thanks to the young dragon's heart.'

Moreover, I consumed Dragon's Core, making it even more so.

Lightning wasn't even worth mentioning.

If Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique destroyed everything, Divine Thunderbolt obliterated everything.

It left nothing behind. That was Divine Thunderbolt.

I skipped magic.

Next was martial arts.

[Heaven-Surrendering, Soul Origin, Great Sky.]

"…"

This was unexpected.

My strength lay in Heaven-Surrendering and Soul Origin.

'But the Great Sky.'

Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra.

It means they had also grasped its power.

"This is a bit intriguing."

But for now, I let it slide.

Those three could be managed if I grew in this state.

I pressed the trait slot.

[Time, Space, Divinity.]

'…'

I understood time and space.

Time had eternity, and space had the power of severance.

'But divinity?'

Divinity, huh.

Did I have divinity?

'I do have many to send.'

Divinity required numbers.

I did consider myself a man to be revered or worthy of divinity.

But typically, divinity needed numbers.

There should be more who revered me than those who opposed me.

'They say opposition can be refined into the divinity of an evil god, but still.'

Anyway.

That's not the important part.

The system, whatever it might be, judged that I possessed divinity.

'What could it be?'

Although I met the conditions for divinity, it was true that I hadn't realized the crucial essence.

'But, it does make me curious.'

Divinity was different from other powers.

If martial arts and magic began by creating their own worlds.

Divinity borrowed from external sources.

However, if…

If I could gain this power called divinity as a trait and accumulate it internally, the story would change significantly.

'There's also the trait of eternity.'

The user became eternal.

This effect was particularly effective with divinity.

As soon as I saw the unique trait of eternity, I thought.

This life would be immensely powerful, to the point that it would be hard to catch up even when compared to the peak of the next life.

The power to become eternal was specialized in that direction to the extent that such thoughts arise.

'Is there no need to worry.'

The path to becoming the strongest.

Other things can be replaced, or I can somehow manage them.

"This might be a bit difficult."

I could't quite grasp it.

[You have chosen Divinity.]

So.

This seemed to suit me best.

"I have a question."

"Don't be curious."

"Why don't you use manifestation, Master?"

"…It's permanently consumed."

"Permanently consumed?"

Yoo Eunchae spoke in a tone of disbelief.

"Manifestation reflects what you've built up. How can it be permanently consumed?"

"Well, if I were to give you a hint, it's about storage and restoration."

"What kind of hint is that? [Storage] and [Restoration]…"

Yoo Eunchae had a bewildered expression.

"What on earth are you storing and restoring that it permanently reduces the number of times…?"

Yoo Eunchae stopped speaking.

Her pupils began to tremble more and more.

As if she was seeing something unbelievable.

"No, wait. Come to think of it, the reason why you were so reckless with the principal at first… and the principal just accepted it…"

"Well, something like that."

"No way, is that even possible?!"

"That's how it is."

Yoo Eunchae's mouth dropped open.

"Is that really possible?"

"Well, I tried it and it worked."

When was it?

At first, I didn't think that way.

In my second life.

As I entered the high realm, I originally intended to make something else my manifestation.

Back then, I had delightful dilemmas.

Should I bombard with thousands of spells at once, or should I construct the entire domain with the magic I had accumulated—such thoughts crossed my mind.

However, as I observed my Manifestation, I came to a realization.

The karma I bore.

The karma of my previous life.

I didn't know how long my previous life would last, but I continued to live.

At that moment, I understood.

How I should create my Manifestation.

'Storage and restoration. It's really simple.'

For that, I gave up creating a domain for my Manifestation, and even something that could be made at the stage of a transcendent being.

And it was worth it.

Well, to put it simply:

My Manifestation was,

'Summoning my prime self.'

That's roughly the story.