CLWU 03

Chapter 3

When I opened my eyes, the light of dawn was filtering through the small window.

“Ugh…”

My entire body was stiff and sore.

But strangely, I felt refreshed.

A faint energy that hadn’t been there before was flowing through my body.

‘Status Window.’

[Name: Go Cheol-woo]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[Stats]

Strength: 5

Vitality: 6

Agility: 5

Mana: 1

[Mana Skill]

Thrust (Lv. 1)

[Ability Slots]

0/1

[Trait]

—Check Additional Information.

“It’s real.”

Mana.

The power used by warriors, mages, and every adventurer in this world.

They said that without the talent for it, you couldn’t acquire it even after years of training.

Yet I had managed to create it after only half a year.

‘The basket was a failure, but this alone is a huge achievement.’

I smiled bitterly and got to my feet.

That was when I noticed the Goblin Basket lying in the corner of the room.

“Haa…”

I remembered half of my entire fortune.

I was about to put the basket away so I could forget about it when—

“Hm?”

A red glow was visible through the gaps between the bamboo strips.

Something was different from yesterday.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

I was certain I had put two Ability Stones inside.

But now, inside the basket—

There was only one red Ability Stone.

I rubbed my eyes again, wondering if it was an optical illusion.

But there was definitely only one.

‘Don’t tell me…’

My heart began pounding again.

But—

‘…No way. Did someone steal one?’

My rational side searched for a realistic explanation, afraid that getting my hopes up would only lead to disappointment.

Calm down. Calm down.

“Breathe…”

As I took a deep breath to calm myself, the faint energy inside my body began circulating, soothing my mind.

‘It’s real. So this is mana.’

Smack.

‘This alone is enough of an achievement. So… don’t get your hopes up.’

I slapped my cheeks, preparing myself not to be disappointed.

Then I carefully opened the basket and picked up the Ability Stone.

[Multiple Spirit Domination]

[Strength +9, Vitality +9, Agility +4, Mana +10, Physical Resistance +3, Magic Resistance +4]

‘It worked!’

My hands trembled violently, but I desperately held myself back from shouting.

‘This is possible? It really worked?’

My heart suddenly began beating three times faster, and I could feel my face heating up.

So, to calm myself down, I started by analyzing the numbers.

‘Did it keep the higher stat values from the two Ability Stones? And the name is pretty normal too.’

Still, I couldn’t be certain yet.

‘Check additional information.’

Buzz.

[The two Ability Stones corrupted through the experiments of Klinsmann, the Magic Tower’s eccentric prodigy, were synthesized. Their abilities were combined and their penalties reduced.]

[You can now dominate four lowest-grade spirits. Your consciousness resides within those spirits, allowing you to control them perfectly.]

“Yes!”

I could no longer contain my excitement.

“It worked! It really worked! Hahahahaha!”

The hope I had held onto had been fulfilled completely.

It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from my chest.

It was like a bright light had suddenly descended upon the bleak world I had been living in, illuminating a path forward.

Bang! Bang!

“Char! Is something wrong?!”

If it hadn’t been for Jerik’s voice, I probably would have rolled around my room in delight for quite some time.

“Khmm! No, it’s nothing!”

I shouted back first, then carefully examined the Ability Stone again.

‘So the stats are fixed at the higher value from each of the two stones, while their abilities were combined after one penalty from each was removed?’

I had a rough idea of how the synthesis worked now.

It would have been even better if all the penalties had disappeared and I could even raise the spirits’ ranks, but expecting that much would simply be greed.

‘This is the one I’m going with.’

It seemed far more versatile than the ‘Steel Body’ ability I had originally planned to save money to purchase.

Especially since its stats were almost at the highest level possible among the red Ability Stones, which were the lowest grade.

The moment I made up my mind, the system spoke to me.

[Would you like to absorb the Ability Stone?]

‘Yes.’

Buzz.

[You have absorbed the lowest-grade Ability Stone ‘Multiple Spirit Domination.’]

‘I did it.’

The moment I smiled—

Crack.

‘Ugh?!’

A sharp pain shot through my entire body.

Crack-crack.

Crunch.

“Ugh…”

It hurt, but if I endured the intense pain for a moment, a refreshing shiver followed.

Even that sensation didn’t last long.

And then—

“Whoa…”

I clenched my fist.

Power surged through me.

I could perceive everything around me with newfound clarity, and the mana that had previously felt so faint seemed to have increased tenfold in an instant.

For a moment, I felt as though I could do anything.

But I forcibly pulled myself back to reality.

‘No. Get a grip. Even so, I’m still only at the level of a novice adventurer who hasn’t even obtained a class.’

The information I had gathered while struggling through this barbaric world for more than a year helped me suppress the feeling of elation.

Even so—

[Name: Go Cheol-woo]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[Stats]

Strength: 14

Vitality: 15

Agility: 9

Mana: 11

Physical Resistance: 3

Magic Resistance: 4

[Mana Skill]

Thrust (Lv. 1)

[Ability Slots (Full)]

Multiple Spirit Domination

[Trait]

—Check Additional Information.

These numbers were completely different from yesterday.

I had trained myself to death for half a year just to raise my Vitality and Agility by one point each.

Yet a single Ability Stone had multiplied my stats several times over.

Only now could I truly understand the difference between an adventurer and an ordinary person.

That was when—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Char!”

Jerik’s voice came from outside the door.

“What was that noise just now?”

I hurriedly covered the basket with a cloth and pushed it underneath the bed.

“Nothing!”

“If it was nothing, why were you shouting?”

“I had a good dream!”

“You woke up and shouted?”

“The dream was still lingering!”

A brief silence followed.

“…You’re late for work.”

“What?”

I looked toward the window.

It wasn’t the light of dawn anymore.

Morning sunlight was streaming through it.

“Damn it!”

I hurriedly got dressed.

When I opened the door, Jerik was standing there with his arms crossed.

“You got mana and now you’re sleeping in on your first day?”

“I’m sorry. I was really tired yesterday…”

Jerik narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

His gaze slowly traveled from my face down to my shoulders, arms, and legs.

“You.”

I flinched.

“What happened to your body?”

“My body?”

“You became a completely different person overnight.”

As expected, the eyes of a former adventurer were difficult to fool.

But I couldn’t tell him about the basket.

I pulled out the excuse I had prepared in advance.

It wasn’t even really an excuse.

“I absorbed an Ability Stone I had purchased.”

“An Ability Stone?”

“Yes.”

“What ability?”

After hesitating for a moment, I told him only part of the truth.

“It’s an Ability that lets me dominate four lowest-grade spirits.”

“Four?”

Jerik’s eyes widened.

“Did you have enough money to buy an Ability Stone like that?”

“It was cheap because of the side effects.”

“What side effects?”

“As far as I could tell, there weren’t any problems.”

Jerik knew about my trait, so he soon nodded.

“If you confirmed it with your own eyes, I suppose I can trust it.”

He patted me on the shoulder once.

Pat.

It was a light touch, but unlike before, my body didn’t stagger.

The corners of Jerik’s mouth rose slightly.

“Still, you have to go to work.”

“I know.”

“And tonight, show me the spirits first… Ah, do you need Spirit Stones?”

Spirit Stones.

Special stones formed from condensed attributes in places deep within the labyrinth where mana was abundant.

My ability was Multiple Spirit Domination.

It wasn’t about increasing affinity and forming contracts with spirits that already existed.

So—

“Yes. I need lowest-grade Spirit Stones.”

“Right. Well, lowest-grade Spirit Stones are practically lying around in the deeper floors. I’ll see if I can get some.”

“…Thank you.”

“And since you’re late, run.”

“What?”

“Run at full speed to the general store.”

“But then I’ll be drenched in sweat while working.”

“You’re going to become an adventurer. You can’t handle even that?”

I couldn’t argue with him.

I ran toward the general store.

But my body felt much lighter than expected.

Every time I took a step, it felt as though the ground itself was being pushed backward.

Even the distance that normally left me gasping for breath passed in no time.

‘So this is why people absorb Ability Stones.’

I finally understood why even someone who had trained for years couldn’t stand against an adventurer who had acquired an Ability.

But at the same time, I forced myself to calm down.

‘Even so, it’s only a lowest-grade ability.’

I had only just earned the right to stand at the entrance of the labyrinth.

There were countless novice adventurers who had entered the labyrinth while intoxicated by their newfound strength and died.

What I needed now wasn’t to become intoxicated by power.

I needed to learn how to properly control this new strength.

Even so—

The work at the general store didn’t feel tedious at all that day.

That evening—

“Here. I got them. Spirit Stones.”

Jerik laid out four stones of different colors in front of me, and I immediately bowed my head.

“Thank you, Master. Here’s the money…”

“Forget it. We’re close enough that I can do this much for you. It wasn’t difficult anyway.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Lowest-grade Spirit Stones were worthless junk items that could be found in the deeper floors.

But they were items you couldn’t even see in a general store in the Ninth District.

“But how did you get them?”

“I did a favor for one of my juniors and got them in exchange for some information.”

“A junior? Information?”

“Forget it. Hurry up and try your spirit domination. I’ve never seen anything like it myself, so I’m curious.”

There was no reason to pry into something he clearly didn’t want to explain.

All I needed to do was thank him and show him what he wanted to see.

“…Yes. Then…”

The ability of my Ability Stone, Multiple Spirit Domination, allowed me to ‘dominate’ existing spirits.

In other words, I controlled them.

Unlike spirit summoners, a rare group who formed contracts with natural spirits, this was an Ability that forcibly controlled spirits.

In other words, it was a monster skill.

And according to the additional information, it seemed to be more than simple domination.

Even I was a little nervous as I prepared to use it for the first time.

“You know how to do it, right?”

“Yes.”

As I answered, I carefully moved my hand and naturally let my mana flow into the four differently colored stones.

Buzz.

The moment my attribute-less mana seeped into them, the four stones began to glow, followed by the sound of cracking.

Crack, crack.

Then beams of light burst from the splitting stones and gathered into four different colors.

‘Come to me. Obey.’

I stretched out my hand and activated the power of my Ability.

At the same time, the lowest-grade spirits that were just beginning to take physical form were instantly sucked into my body.

Then, with my mana and will overlaid upon them, they transformed and extended back out from my body.

And immediately—

My vision became dizzy.

—Huh?

—Oh!

—So this is how it works.

—Interesting.

The spirits, formed from the attributes of fire, water, earth, and wind, floated through the air in tiny, two-heads-tall versions of me.

“Hmm…”

“Oh? Are these all your clones?”

“…Well, something like that.”

That was the only way I could explain it.

Their forms were undeniably cute, but since they had my face, it felt strange to call them cute.

Leaving that bizarre feeling aside—

“Ugh…”

The sensations and vision experienced by the spirits were fully shared with me, making me feel slightly seasick.

Still, it was bearable.

‘The mana consumption seems lower than I expected, too.’

There were many ways I could use them in combat, but more importantly—

“How is it? Can you use them for reconnaissance as we discussed?”

“Yes. They’re even better than I expected. I can see and feel things almost exactly as I would myself.”

“Good. That’s a relief.”

As we had discussed beforehand, using them for reconnaissance seemed much more efficient.

“Let’s practice. Try using them in combat as well.”

“Yes.”

A short while later.

After practicing several things with the spirits alongside Jerik, the results were satisfying.

“Maximum range is about fifty meters?”

“Yes. Exactly as expected. But I can still see through their eyes from that distance. So in practice, they can scout even farther.”

“I originally thought it would be good enough if you could use them to explore alleys in a maze…”

“I think they’re more useful than we expected.”

I was satisfied.

The lowest-grade spirits weren’t particularly useful in direct combat, but the fact that my consciousness was projected into them and allowed me to observe my own fighting from completely different angles was a huge advantage.

‘Multiple perspectives. That’s the best part.’

It was an excellent ability that could compensate for my inadequate martial arts skills.

I had gained an advantage I had never even considered.

“Yes. That’s definitely a powerful weapon. But don’t let your guard down.”

“What?”

Jerik hardened his expression as he spoke to me, who was clearly getting excited.

“Your stats have become decent for a beginner, and you’ve obtained a fairly good ability, but you’re still a beginner. Excessive confidence will only hurt you.”

It was a warning that the labyrinth was more dangerous than I thought.

“Now that you have mana, learn at least one more Mana Skill before entering the labyrinth. Kirk will also be coming of age soon, so if the two of you go together, you can rely on each other as companions.”

Kirk was essentially Jerik’s protégé, the boy who had inherited all of his teachings.

He even resembled Jerik physically, and if not for his blond hair, it wouldn’t have been strange to mistake him for Jerik’s son.

“Kirk… and me?”

“Yes. Your first labyrinth expedition will be dangerous, so you should make it as safe as possible.”

There wasn’t a single thing he said that was wrong.

Before, I had only vaguely thought that I needed to become an adventurer.

Now, it had become a reality right in front of me.

“Wait three months. Until the day Kirk comes of age. In the meantime, train hard.”

“Yes.”

I didn’t feel any resistance to the idea.

Just listening to Jerik explain the various dangers and preparing and training for them meant that three months wouldn’t be very long at all.