“Ha… haha…”

Dohyuk was dumbfounded. It was one strike. One punch.

He could not even react, nor did he see it coming. His body was thrown toward the wall of the dome and he smashed into it.

“Ha… ha…”

He couldn’t even breathe. His entire body had been paralyzed except for one of his arms and back muscles. And that was after 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes, he had to fight to stay alive and breathe. If this was a real fight, he would’ve been killed.

“T-this isn’t… your…”

“Not my 100%,” Blass sat down in front of Dohyuk who was slumped on the ground.

“I guessed the maximum that your body could take, but it looks like it was a bit less than what I guessed.”

“How much… is it… in comparison to your full… is 10…”

“I would say 4… maybe 3.”

“30%…”

It wasn’t an accurate calculation, but it seemed like Blass was able to use a power that equaled Jung Ilgyu’s with just 30% of his strength. Yet it was only natural since he was the one who had stayed alive to the end of the illumination.

“I was stronger than this when I had my real body,” Blass commented as he looked down at his metal fist. “This body is only a vessel for me to hide from Casita. I haven’t lost a lot of it, but… I lost something more important than just a part of my strength.”

“And what is?”

“Potential.”

“…!”

Blass raised his fist to the sky. Like a human body, his metal muscle squirmed. But it wasn’t a real muscle.

“Without Casita’s coins, there is almost no way to increase your physical strength. Even then, hidden potential always lies in a living body.”

This was also why Blass had spent centuries in training his ‘skills’. After he had obtained the metal body, his growth in strength plateaued.

Dohyuk tried to move his body. He was now regaining control very slowly. After a while, he was barely able to stand up.

“Something’s really changed.”

“…”

“I couldn’t guess what it was, other than how I look, but I can feel it now. That beating gave me a good grasp of it.”

“…What did you do to your body?”

“Oh, you realized it too, huh? Yeah, maybe you felt that it was different when you hit.” Dohyuk added, “Do you know sword called Kerubac? It’s an SS-rank item.”

“I have not heard of it.”

“Hmm.”

Dohyuk then described how he got the item from Ilgyu.

“I see. So the equipment that only allowed him to transform his arm, gave you a bigger transformation.”

“I can’t be too sure, but…”

He then opened his arms wide.

“My bones changed.”

“…”

Blass had noticed this also. Dohyuk’s muscles weren’t the only things that changed. The entire bone structure of his body had changed, which saved him from the attack that Blass delivered to completely knock him out.

“Without this…”

Dohyuk readied himself again toward Blass. His body still shook, but it was much better than a while ago.

“I would have crushed my ribs, my arms, and my legs… so I would’ve had to consume equipment.”

He knew the limits of his body because of his fight against Jung Ilgyu. Now, he was much more flexible than before. It was much more than just having a few more stats. Something weird was happening to him from the inside.

“So I don’t even have a hint on what brought about the change. It just happened.”

“…I see.” Blass nodded, “So, you wish to know what change happened to you?”

“Yeah.” That’s why Dohyuk taunted Blass to attack him with his best to feel the difference more clearly while withstanding the pain.

“I didn’t drink it myself-”

“Huh?”

“I know something called the Water of the Beautiful Spiritual Ground. If you drink it, the Egg of Spirit within it is born and grows inside of the one who drank the water as it feeds off of their mana.”

Dohyuk then remembered a goddess who was asleep inside him.

“Unlike other spirits, that spirit needs to have contact with its master for its power.”

The master’s character directly determines how the spirit will grow and react. Blass pointed at Dohyuk.

“I have not seen how that Kerubac works, but there is a difference between the one you saw and the one you currently have.”

“And you claim that it differs because of the character difference between Ilgyu and me?”

“It’s a theory. But in that case, you need to know what is it about you that Kerubac reflected.”

Strength?

Character?

Belief?

Whatever it was, it probably contributed to the Kerubac’s transformation. It first took its form as a bone sword to slice and kill anything at will, while morphing into various shapes to bid its master’s will. And now…

‘A body fit for any battle…’