Lloyd was trapped inside a collapsed tunnel with only about thirty minutes of air. Now there was no going back.
He opened his skill window.
[Loading skill window.]
"I need to do everything I can." Lloyd's eyes moved rapidly. He selected a menu that caught his interest: "Develop Special Skills."
[Searching abilities for skill development]
"Yes, it works." Lloyd clenched his fists. He remembered the time he opened the skill window after earning some RP from Javier. He clearly recalled every word in the message that guided him through it. There was a message that said he could spend RP to develop special skills…
He was right. It allowed his abilities and knowledge to be turned into skills. That's how he was able to develop surveying and designing skills. They came from the civil engineering he learned in college.
There was more. He had upgraded his shoveling experience into a special skill. The long years of doing part-time jobs and shoveling until numb turned out to have benefits too. The system considered shoveling as one of his abilities and advanced it into a skill. This meant that the same thing could happen with other abilities.
Lloyd had no doubt that the skills he needed most right now could be upgraded from the experience he already had. Just as Lloyd wished, a new message popped up.
[Log of special skills that can be developed:
Absorbing mana from surroundings.
Processing absorbed mana.
Amplification of absorbed mana.]
[These skills can be combined into the skill "Asrahan Core Technique."]
[RP needed for skill development = 15]
"Yes!" It was just as he had expected. The result could not be any better. Without hesitation, he invested fifteen RP.
Ding Dong.
"The Asrahan Core Technique has been developed."
Skill Name: The Asrahan Core Technique
Stage: Single Circle Level 5
The skill absorbs the mana around you. Absorbed mana is processed or amplified into the circle produced around your heart. The higher the number of circles, the higher the amplification rate.
Mana amplified to: 120%
[Required RP to level up: 10]
[Current RP: 142]
"Great!" The result was as desired. The Asrahan Core Technique was now a skill he possessed. And even better, he wasn't starting at skill-level one. He was at level five… much higher than expected. "It's probably because of all the practice I did." He had trained quite hard. He had used it in an actual fight during his duel with Sir Neumann.
After that, he used every chance he had to train in the technique. It seemed his efforts were paying off. He wasn't going to be satisfied getting just that far. "If that had been enough, I wouldn't have to use my precious RP." The skill didn't improve his technique at all. The ability to absorb, process, and amplify mana made a difference.
Now he could make more drastic changes, thanks to his technique turning into skills. "I don't have to train and practice anymore. With just some RP investment, I can make vast improvements. That was the biggest difference." Lloyd invested more RP in the Asrahan Core Technique.
[Skill Level Up!]
[The Asrahan Core Technique: Single Circle Level 6]
[Mana amplified to: 125%]
[Required RP to level up: 15]
[Current RP: 132]
One level up and his mana was amplified by another 5 percent. "All right. Not bad." Lloyd added the numbers in his head. Each level-up required an additional five RP over the previous one. "What would happen if I exhausted all my RP? I'd easily go over level ten for the single circle, and if my calculations are correct, I could turn that up to eleven."
"It's a close call, but still possible."
It was a gamble regardless. He would fail if the system consumed more than five RP for each level up. However, he wouldn't know until he tried. Plus, he didn't have time to hesitate right now. "It's all or nothing!" Lloyd must invest all the RP he had to level up.
His Asrahan Core Technique levels soared through the roof. From level six to seven… From level nine to ten…
At last, after draining every last bit of RP, the message he hoped to read appeared.
Ding Dong.
[Skill Class Level Up!]
"Success!" Lloyd clenched his fists again. Just as he expected, one level up from level ten increased his skill class. To his great relief, he did not come up short on RP in the process. He read through the message that popped up in front of him.
"Your Asrahan Core Technique class has been increased to
"Skill options have been made available following your change in skill class."
The Asrahan Core Technique: Double Circle Level 1
"Mana amplified to: 200%"
Skill Option 1: Energizer – Utilizes the double circle to its maximum efficiency. Allows ten minutes of movement without fatigue. (Limit: Can only be used once per day.)
Skill Option 2: Latent Power Surge – Drives the amplification of the circle to the farthest limit. Mana amplification is tripled for 20 seconds. However, after one use, you will be drained of all energy, and you will not be able to use the Asrahan Core Technique for a day. (Limit: Can only be used once per day.)
[Required RP to level up: 100]
[Current RP: 7]
Thud! Thud!
When Lloyd was almost finished reading the skill description, his heart thumped twice. A strange and powerful sensation gripped his chest.
Crackle…
The single circle he had created before floated perpendicular to a new circle he created. From the front, it looked like his heart was being wrapped in a cross. The new circle started to rotate. Ziting!
"Whew!"
The two circles rotated in harmony. New energy rushed through his blood vessels, waking every single cell in his body. Lloyd sucked in a deep breath unexpectedly. He was overwhelmed by this awesomeness. A gentle smile spread across his face.
"It's done." It was amazing. He was doubtful of the explanation of skills. But now — as his body underwent a thoroughly extraordinary transformation — he realized the power of the double circle.
Up until a little while ago, he was extremely exhausted. But now he didn't feel a trace of fatigue. In fact, his entire body had been revitalized with energy that wasn't there earlier. This vigor and vitality were on a different level from what he felt with the single circle. "Good job, Lloyd. You modified the Asrahan Core Technique into a skill."
Lloyd wanted to gain two things by turning the technique he had practiced into a skill.
One was rapid growth. As soon as it became a skill, he could use his RP to level up and get better. If he was lucky, he could shorten months and years of work and training to a few minutes or hours. His assumptions had been right on the mark.
The second was more skill options following the upgrade in class. Lloyd had already raised the class of survey and design skills before. He had a lot of fun at the time with the skill options he had gained. And he thought the same could happen with Asrahan Core Technique. Once the skill leveled up and reached double circle, he assumed he would be rewarded with corresponding options. This assumption proved to be correct as well.
The options were amazing: The first one transformed him into an energizer that provided him with inexhaustible power for ten minutes once a day. The second one granted him a burst of explosive power for twenty seconds. "These options are extremely useful right now. Okay, let's try them out."
Crack! Lloyd grabbed his steel shovel. And remembered why he spent all his RP to deal with this situation. To clear a path and get out of here. Like this!
Bang! His shovel flew with a sonic boom. Lloyd energetically dug through the gravel that blocked the cave entrance. He shoveled out hunks of earth with unmatched force.
Swoosh! Thwack! Thwip! Whack! His forearms bulged from the effort.
"A little more! Don't stop!" The frantic shoveling stirred up a storm around the place. This was shoveling far beyond what was normally possible. He ferociously dug out huge rocks and chunks of earth, each shovelful removing a bucket-sized hole. He tore through it faster than a starving man eating his first meal in a week.
Thwack! Squash! Smack!
"I'm not getting tired! This is great!" Lloyd had already activated the energizer, which was the first option. It worked just as promised. He didn't tire, no matter how much he dug. No signs of sweat or heavy breathing. Despite the constant shoveling, the double circles amply retained the mana amplified around the heart. He transferred the mana into his shovel. His shoveling grew even more powerful and precise.
"I shouldn't dig like an animal. This place could collapse again." The tunnel had already caved in from the methane gas blast. Any more pressure could make it crumble down again. So, even though Lloyd's shoveling was rough, it was measured. Fierce but careful. Fast but gentle.
It was all the product of his many years of shoveling. It was a good thing that he went down to the job center whenever he needed some money. Lloyd had been praised countless times for his shoveling. In the military. On construction sites. Back in that other world, all that experience digging was what helped him out the most right now.
"That was practically my major. Moving cement around with a shovel. Most other Korean guys who were in the military or worked construction had probably done the job before at least once. First, mix the sand and cement and stack a mound of them up. Then, hollow out a hole in the center. Pour the correct amount of water into it. Finally, you break down the mix surrounding the hole with your shovel and quickly combine it with the water. It was crucial to maintain strict shovel control and keep the water in the mix, not letting any spill outside. This was Lloyd's special shovel training. I can't believe I'm doing this right now!"
Thwack! Crack! Whack!
He had dug into the wall of rubble countless times. The shovel moved and plunged like it was Lloyd's third hand. He adjusted the intensity and placement with precision. It was strong when he scraped and dug the earth and delicate when he scooped and skimmed. When he turned it over and stabbed, he was fast and smooth. Each movement worked in harmony. The integrity of the tunnel walls remained intact even though Lloyd excavated it at awe-stirring speed. Over a hundred feet, he kept on digging… "So, please…! Come on!" He was now five minutes in using the energizer skill. Lloyd bit his lip in anxiety.
Digging up a storm, he used the surveying skill at the same time. He could see fifteen feet ahead of him in the path he was making. But there was still no sign of hope. Fifteen feet. There was nothing but earth. Making matters worse, the air was slowly growing murky.
"I won't even be able to use Bangul." There wasn't enough room for Bangul to turn gigantic. He also feared she would consume all the oxygen in the tunnel. Giving her a red seed was out of the question. Lloyd clenched his teeth.
"I need to do this by myself." The future looked bleak, but he couldn't stop now. There would be nothing but despair if he did. He started digging even more relentlessly.
Thwack! Thwack! Crack! Whack! The excavation expanded. It had gone from eighteen to twenty-one feet. Just then…
"Huh?" Lloyd noticed something straight ahead. It was a space as small as a fist. "Could it be…?"
Wham! Thwack! Lloyd sped up his shoveling. He advanced faster. Each time he took a step forward, the space fifteen feet ahead of him grew larger. It started at just the size of a fist. Then it grew to the size of a watermelon. Then to the size of a barrel. Finally, he could see the whole width of the passage they had drilled. "Found it!" The tunnel stood right in front of him — fully intact — just fourteen feet away.
"Javier!" Lloyd shouted. "Follow me! If you can't walk, crawl!" His head started pounding. He started seeing double. Symptoms of hypoxia. He was running out of oxygen.
"I don't have much time." He was feeling drowsy. Soon, he would lose consciousness. He'd drift off to sleep, slowly suffocating to death. Hypoxia. Anoxia. All the air gone. Fade to black.
Every time drowsiness clawed at him to drag him down, he bit his lip and moved his shovel. "A little more. Just a little more!" Just about nine feet more. He didn't even have to dig out the entire wall. Just a small hole. As small as a fist. Big enough to let the oxygen in. That was their shot at survival.
Ding, Dong!
[Energizer has reached its ten-minute time limit.]
Ten minutes were over already. As soon as the message appeared, he lost all strength. The fatigue was devastating. A thorough assault on mind and body. "No, it can't end here."
There wasn't much left. Just a little more. Even as he struggled against the drowsiness from lack of oxygen, Lloyd's eyes suddenly flew open. "Latent Power Surge!"
Ding Dong.
[Asrahan Core Technique skill option, Latent Power Surge, has been activated.]
[Amplification of the double circle is active up to the maximum limit.]
[Mana amplification rate has been tripled for 20 seconds.]
[Mana amplified to: 600%]
Fwoosh! Thwack!
No more careful shoveling. Like a ferocious beast clawing its way out of a trap, Lloyd stabbed, scooped, scraped, and dug away the dirt in front of him. He was getting very close to the intact part of the original tunnel, which was their only way out.
Crack! Smack! Thwack! Six feet… Four feet… Three feet… Two… He forced his way forward for survival. And at last, the only obstacle that stood before him was a one-foot-wide wall of dirt.
[Latent Power Surge has reached its 20-second time limit.]
[A consequence of activating the option is complete exhaustion.]
Clunk! He suddenly became weak. The shovel slipped out of his hands. His knees buckled. He tried to force his eyes open, but it was no use.
"Shit." He held out his hand to grab the shovel. "I'm almost there. It's right in front of my eyes." He dug about thirty-six feet in ten minutes. "I just need to take one more step. Is this how I die?"
Lloyd was frustrated. Lloyd was also sorry. And Lloyd felt way more wretched when he looked at Javier, who was lying sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. "I shouldn't have dragged him into this." A bitter smile escaped him. And sleepiness slowly crept in.
That's when he started hearing things.
"Ppodong!"
"Eh…?"
But something was off. The sound was too clear to be a hallucination. Mustering the last shred of strength he had, Lloyd lifted his head. And… P-Pop! That hole the size of a fist he so desperately wished for suddenly appeared in front of him. A hole made by a hamster the size of a fist, who poked his head through and said…
"Ppodong!"
Translator: https://bettertranslation9.wordpress.com