Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 101

Standing Alone

– Shoooong. –
A lever sliced through the blue sky. This lever belonged to the Harmony Clan and was none other than the Nexus Jet.
The lever flew towards a point on the Screaming Land for a while before gradually slowing down and landing on the ground.
Isaac disembarked from the lever, sending the Nexus Jet back to its magical space, and surveyed the surroundings.
In his right hand, he held the Karna Blade, now his beloved sword. The blade hummed periodically as if to protect its master.
– Rumble. –
As soon as Isaac appeared, a giant tree monster burst from the ground. The monster growled and glared at Isaac, but then suddenly flinched and lowered its stance.
“Visi…tor. Strong…visitor.”
“Yes. Even for a champion-class, you recognize me well. Your intelligence saved you.”
“Th…ank…you… Why…come…here?”
“Hmm, it seems the translator Timberlord modified is working well. You seem to understand my words too.”
Isaac murmured gracefully, now quite familiar with the tone of an Awakened. The natural elegance in his actions made the champion-class tree giant instinctively feel intimidated.
“Isn’t there a cave around here called the ‘Abyss of Guilt’?”
“C…ave. Many…there…are.”
“Really? Guide me to the oldest cave among them.”
“Under…stood…”
The tree giant spoke as slowly as a sloth. However, its speed of travel through the water veins was quite fast, so Isaac summoned the lever again and chased after the champion-class Ligno Giant.
– Screech! –
– Roar! –
While flying at low altitude, Isaac saw various monsters scurrying to the sides of the forest. They were frightened by the presence of the champion-class Ligno Giant moving through the water veins, not the Nexus Jet.
Even though Isaac commanded it like a servant, the Ligno Giant was the most powerful dominant species in the Screaming Land.
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Ten days had passed since the heroes left the Screaming Land. Today was exactly December 20th, the day the Hero Tournament would be held.
Whether the sub-quest was cleared depended entirely on Hwang Man-deuk and Yeo Jin-soo, who had returned to Earth first, following Yoho and the Flame Emperor.
Before diving into the Other World, Yeo Jin-soo’s final popularity rank was 33rd, but if luck was on his side and a hero ranked within the top 32 had their preliminary qualifications revoked, Yeo Jin-soo could also aim for the title of ‘Hero of the Year.’
‘All that remains is to leave it to luck.’
It was a time when luck was crucial in many ways. Perhaps by now, fierce battles were taking place at the stadium between the DRR executives and the S-class heroes. Hopefully, God Hand had recovered well after consuming the expensive elixir made from the plant. They absolutely needed to, as being captured in this monstrous lair was all because of that single elixir plant.
– Wooooong. –
The Karna Blade hanging from Isaac’s waist buzzed again. Isaac drew the sword, savoring the refreshing energy flowing from the blade.
Remarkably, the Karna Blade had a latent function of storing magic. The first change in the blade occurred when it purified the combined sand specter in one strike. Later, when he activated the final finish against Chief Timberlord, the weapon was further enhanced, increasing its magic storage capacity to 50 MPS. This was the average magic capacity of 3-star heroes.
– Flare! –
The ember of Ifrit, which was initially only the size of a finger, grew to the size of a fist. Ifrit, a summoned spirit that shared Isaac’s magic, manifested this phenomenon as Isaac absorbed magic through the Karna Blade. Although he still lacked the ability to directly deploy magic spells due to his poor control over magic, his ability to sense and circulate magic had significantly improved through several days of training. Essentially, he was using the Karna Blade as an external magic circuit.
– Swish. –
After absorbing a significant amount of magic, Isaac sheathed the Karna Blade again. Although the periodic resonance of the blade remained unexplained, like a pet seeking affection from its owner, a single touch would calm the resonance.
‘It’s like a weaponized version of Gunggi.’
Buying this sword had changed his fortunes. The energy that had filled his entire body began to seep away gradually. Despite his body lacking a magic circuit, he overcame this critical penalty with just one weapon.
– Saaah. –
‘It looks like I’ve found the right place this time.’
A cold chill emanated from inside the cave, and the passage was mostly smooth rather than jagged. On his third attempt, Isaac discovered a cave similar to the description of the ‘Abyss of Guilt’ on the scroll.
“Hmm.”
Isaac halted abruptly upon facing the eerie black space. His gaze fell on the tree giant kneeling humbly before him.
“Looks like this is the place. Lead the way. We can’t use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.”
“I…will…guide…you.”
The guide was very obedient.
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At the edge of a pond emitting a blue glow.
In the center of the pond, which shone mysteriously like starlight pushing back the darkness, something was wriggling.
At first, it was just ripples, but soon the water became turbulent, and then an insect-like monster resembling a water beetle emerged from the surface.
– Grumble. –
As the creature heaved its body, the pond’s glow momentarily dimmed. The blue current converged towards the beetle monster’s carapace, and shortly after, its form became completely transparent.
The predator quietly waited for its prey to come closer.
One step, two steps.
Thousands of compound eyes watched the prey.
– Thud. Thud. –
Eventually, the sluggish tree giant cautiously peered down at the edge of the pond.
– Shraaaak! –
The concealed predator’s claws shot towards the tree giant’s head like a flash of lightning.
– Crunch! –
“Roarrrr!”
The tree giant fell backward. But the water beetle monster’s claws tightened around the prey’s neck, aiming to decapitate it. The enraged tree giant grabbed the beetle’s claws with its heavy hands and pried them off with immense strength.
– Shooo. –
– Boom! –
At the same time, a blue fireball struck the beetle monster’s carapace. The one who threw the flame was a small, blazing blue bird. It was none other than Isaac’s second summoned spirit, Ifrit.
The fire spirit spewed out scorching blue flames in quick succession instead of red ones.
– Flare! –
The blue flames clung to the relatively softer underbelly of the beetle. The creature thrashed violently and slashed with its claws to break free from the tree giant’s grip.
– Splash. –
The presence of the beetle monster, which had jumped into the pond, suddenly disappeared without a trace. The tree giant, having been caught off guard by the insect monster’s stealth ability, did not dare approach the pond again. Instead, Ifrit continued to launch blue fireballs at the pond from a distance.
– Boom! Boom! –
The water splashed up as if a torpedo had exploded. However, the water beetle monster seemed to have dived deep into the pond, as the water soon calmed.
– Saaah. –
Isaac frowned as he held the Karna Blade in his right hand. Suddenly, the pond began to swirl. A much larger monster emerged from the center of the whirlpool.
– Fwoosh! –
It was no longer a water beetle. It had a sharp horn on its head and insect wings attached to its carapace, trembling violently.
“Master! Its body size has amplified to the level of a Lord.” Ifrit urgently warned.
The tree giant, who had guided them, retreated in fear due to the rapid mutation of the water beetle monster. Even a champion-class Ligno Giant couldn’t face a Lord-class opponent.
– Shrieeeek! –
The mutated insect monster took to the air. In its disgusting compound eyes, it wasn’t the tree giant or the flame-cloaked bird, but Isaac that was reflected.
– Flap, flap, flap! –
The monster’s wings flapped at an invisible speed. In the blink of an eye, it aimed its sharp horn at Isaac’s chest.
Startled, Isaac moved his left hand with all his might.
– Wooooooong. –
– Slash! –
Immediately after a violet mist bloomed in the air, a beast’s claw accurately severed the monster’s head from its body.
“Ki…eh…?”
The insect monster, flung away, rolled its eyes.
‘Why can’t I move?’
– Quiver, quiver! –
Its headless, heavy body pitifully twitched. It was the futile end of a water beetle monster that had lived in the pond for decades.
– Fwoooosh! –
The small bird, scattering blue flames, revealed a magnificent presence like a mythical phoenix. The blue flame bird, which had been only the size of a pigeon, had grown to several meters in size.
As the giant flame bird flapped its wings, blue flames shot out and incinerated the insect monster’s body. Within seconds, the monster’s body melted away, leaving only its carapace and wings.
“Groar… Groar…!”
The tree giant, who had guided them to the depths of the cave, was exposed to the intense energy emitted by the giant bird, the winged black tiger, and Isaac, causing its breathing to become labored.
Isaac, regaining his composure, tossed three mid-level magic stones to the tree giant and gave a casual dismissal order.
“Stand guard outside the cave and let no one enter.”
“Und…erstood…!”
The tree giant, bowing deeply, hurriedly dashed out of the cave. Isaac, having retrieved the humming Karna Blade, carefully examined the monster’s carapace and wings that Ifrit had neatly peeled off.
“It has the property of converting magic power into negative energy. It’s not extraordinary, but it seems to have undergone a unique mutation to adapt to the ecosystem.”
“In other words, we’ve found the magic well.”
“You’re right. I never expected such a place in the Screaming Land.”
Isaac threw a disc onto the cave floor, deploying a wide-area protective barrier. As a result, the protective shield made it impossible to see inside from the outside.
– Swoosh— Thud. –
In addition, he summoned the Nexus Jet and landed it on the flat cave floor. The Nexus Jet was equipped with emergency rations, cooking facilities, a makeshift toilet, and even a shower.
With just this one lever, it was possible to survive in the cave for several months.
A satisfied smile spread across Isaac’s face as he looked down at the pond. The information window for the special terrain “Magic Well” had appeared before his eyes.
The Magic Well continuously produced water infused with pure magic, increasing the ethereal magic power of anyone breathing in the area. Conversely, it had little to no effect on monsters, or it could even act as a poison, leading to the area’s natural abandonment over time.
It was the perfect place to hone magic engineering skills and practice the basic magical rituals given by Chieftain Timberroad.
‘Let’s consider this an opportunity.’
There were still fifteen days left until the ‘Night of the Two Overlapping Moons’, when the tier 2 variant Eaglemaw would appear.
Thanks to the Karna Blade, Isaac could now use magic even in normal times, and his mind was filled with a fervent desire to immerse himself in the world of magic as soon as possible.
But there was something he had to do first.
‘Let’s see what we got.’
Isaac boarded the Nexus Jet and opened his inventory, gently tapping on the “Low-Rank Combat Skill Draw Ticket,” fervently hoping for a useful combat skill to appear.