Chapter 22
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I looked at my changing stats.
This ring was one of the best items I could have gotten.
[One item received.]
[Persephone's ring]
[Persephone ring active skill:] removes the user's magic power limit while attacking.
Magic power limitation was a big problem for humans.
When I read this sentence, my face smiled a little.
The meaning was as follows.
If you were a main character like Arthur or Sofia, your magic power would be very high.
Even though they were 1st year Dome students, both of them had a statistical value above 10.
However, the logic of using magic was not that easy.
They couldn't use 13 points of mana in its full form, so instead they had to reduce their magic power and fight that way.
Mana wanted to move from a less dense place to a more dense place.
To explain with a simple problem, let's say you have 10 units of mana.
There would be a huge difference between the mana control you need to use 2 units of it and the mana control you need to use 4 units of it.
In one case, the remaining 8 units of mana would be somewhat more stable, while in the other case, your 6 units of mana would want the mana that came out of your body back.
It would be impossible to focus all of our mana on a single attack, as our bodies have a much higher concentration of mana than the atmosphere. Of course, with a lot of effort and years of mana training, this problem could be mitigated to some extent.
This item helped me eliminate the problem.
Even though my magic power was 4, I couldn't use all my mana in one attack.
However, the Persephone ring put all my mana under my control.
Thinking about the thief I had to sacrifice for this left a bad taste in my mouth.
I didn't want to kill him, but I had to make a sacrifice for the Persephone ring.
I didn't kill him myself, so I didn't feel too guilty.
Even if I had released him or sent him to Aspendos, the organization called demons (inferno) would have killed him so that he would never speak.
I put the ring on my finger.
It seemed like my work here was done.
The only question that remained in my mind was how much damage this action would do to the novel.
Persephone's ring was found in the middle-late part of the novel, in the inferno, in league with the demons.
I wasn't sure what would have happened to me in the early part of the story if I hadn't given such a powerful weapon to Inferno.
But even the Inferno didn't know the full value of the ring, so there was a possibility that they wouldn't pay attention to me. They must have wanted this ring to give +2 points on all stats in the first place.
Anyway, it's too early to think about that.
I hung the ring on the chain necklace around my neck and hid it under my Dome jersey.
With slow steps I started walking out of the warehouse towards the entrance of the museum.
Arthur and Sofia should have finished their work by now.
They had one additional person with them. With Phenomenon, everything should have been finalized.
There was nothing I could do there. Arthur would have unleashed his hidden power and dealt with this Djinn easily. Sofia, astonished by Arthur's power, would stop being his rival and admire him, and her friendship with the main character would begin.
This was the touchstone for the beginning of their friendship.
I slowly climbed up the stairs to the underground.
* *...
As soon as I did, a figure passed by me and crashed into the wall behind me.
I turned my head and looked at the figure that had crashed into the wall. As I passed through the wall into a circular area, a black-haired figure pulled himself out of the rubble.
"Arthur?"
A question mark appeared on my face.
Why was the main character stuck to the wall like a fly?
At that moment, a window opened in front of my eyes.
[Urgent mission appears.]
[Participation mandatory.]
[Story mission: a Djinn appeared in the museum. Help kill it.]
[Failure: Death of main characters Arthur and Sofia,]
"..."
"..."
What the fuck!
Sofia and I are both speechless.
Strange.
Something was definitely weird. This shouldn't have happened. After being pushed back a bit, Arthur should have unleashed his hidden power and defeated the enemy.
"Uuuuu... "
Fortunately Arthur got to his feet, but he didn't look in good shape.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
I poked him in the arm and pulled him to his feet.
He was covered in scratches and the top of his head was split open.
"I'm fine."
Arthur needed some time. While I was taking care of Arthur, a dark-haired girl came over and started to heal Arthur.
At that moment I noticed the Djinn walking towards Sofia.
Sofia was wounded just like Arthur, but she looked a little better.
As Djinn moved towards her, Sofia lunged towards the muscular man.
The Djinn's left arm was metal and covered in black mana. Sofia swung her short swords at him but Djinn blocked the attacks with his arm.
* tinnn
Sofia then threw herself to the ground and tried to drive her sword into his leg.
*Tinnn
As the sword bounced off the man's leg, Djinn kicked towards Sofia.
Dragged a few meters, Sofia clutched her stomach.
"His skin is so thick, fuck!"
Sofia muttered in surprise. The Djinn had a solid body, and in the novel I hadn't envisioned him as someone Sofia could defeat. Sofia's attacks were fast and agile, and she was no match for Arthur or Seth in sheer strength.
Sofia's face paled as fear and terror spread through her.
"Just support me!"
Arthur tapped me on the shoulder and ran towards the djinn.
Arthur jumped in front of Sofia and swung his sword at the djinn. But it was far from an effective blow to the man's left arm.
What had happened to make the situation like this?
Arthur should have easily defeated this man, but that was not to be.
I had to help him.
I looked at Phenomena standing next to me, her face tired from consuming large amounts of mana.
it looked like.
"Hey. Can you hold this Djinn still for a few seconds?"
The girl looked at me and for a few seconds her green eyes sparkled again.
I pulled out my gun and waited for the right moment.
Arthur continued his attacks while the Djinn's left arm was accumulating mana.
The man finally caught Arthur's sword in mid-air. The motors in the back of his arm kicked in and with a sudden blow he punched Arthur solidly in the stomach.
Arthur collapsed to the ground but could not get to his knees.
"Fuck!"
The Djinn left Arthur in that state and turned to Sofia, who was also on the ground, staring at him.
He grabbed the auburn-haired young girl's face and began to crush her throat.
At that moment I realized that Sofia was having one of the panic attacks she would have for the rest of the novel.
"I'm fucked...."
I muttered.
It was on a whole different level to the novel I was writing. What was wrong with that left arm that even Arthur was able to land an effective blow.
I definitely had to do something. At this rate, both Arthur and Sofia could die.
I pulled out my gun clip.
To think that I would have to use this ability so soon...
I closed my eyes and put a single bullet into my gun.
A 4 mana attack.
I took a deep breath and came up from my hiding place.
Arthur looked like he was about to use his ability while Sofia was trying to save him from the djinn.
Arthur's eyes bloodshot, the muscles in his body began to grow and bulge.
"He's about to use Extreme."
But the real problem was Sofia.
Either she couldn't breathe or the magic power of the goblins was poisoning her, Sofia's neck had turned purple.
Now! I set the signal in my head
"Hey!"
Then I shouted.
With my Phenomenon signal, she pulled 4 vines from the ground and wrapped them around his arm.
"Now stand still, there is no room for error in my novel!"
I pulled the trigger with a calmer mind, and a bright light flashed from the barrel, as if a flashbang had gone off. The bullet radiated pressure and heat as well as brightness. The pistol couldn't withstand the force and exploded in my hand. Shards fell as I writhed in pain. Fortunately, the trajectory of the bullet did not change. It hit Djinn squarely in the left shoulder.
The bullet exploded with a loud bang and the djinn's metal left arm detached and fell to the ground.
Sofia, on the verge of death, also fell to the ground.
Arthur seized the opportunity and jumped on the djinn with "extreme" strength.
It was his [F] level skill
As the mana in his sword glowed, Arthur drove his sword into the djinn's heart with the last of his strength.
Guuuu!
There was a deep growl and I turned quickly. The djinn held its breath without its arm and knelt in front of Arthur.
'We've managed to win.
" Guuuu... "
I felt all my strength drained from my body and I fell to the ground.