Junhyuk had thought he would’ve been able to win, but he had lost, cementing the gap between himself and Artlan. He had thought his powers would’ve enabled him to win, but he had misjudged the difference between them.

Sarang healed them both and said, “You were beaten completely.”

“He has a long way to go,” Artlan said. “Did you avoid a weak spot intentionally?”

“I thought it would’ve been to dangerous for you.”

“Ha-ha-ha! Interesting.” Artlan smiled and added, “That wouldn’t be the case. I can see the s.p.a.ce around and dodge accordingly.”

“You can sense it?”

“Of course.”

Junhyuk looked at the others, so Nudra got up and said, “If you are curious, let’s spar.”

Looking at Nudra, Junhyuk asked, “Can I fight for real?”

“As you wish.”

Junhyuk wanted to go all out with Nudra, but he got tossed across the floor again. He used all of his powers, but he was utterly defeated. On Earth, there were no restrictions placed on him like in the Dimensional Battlefield, but he still lost.

Nudra’s powers pushed the enemy away, so even though he covered himself in the force field, he couldn’t get close to the hero. On top of that, Nudra also sensed his Spatial Slash and Spatial Collapse and dodged them.

The heroes were all dodging his powers.

“How do you sense them?”

Nudra shook his head and replied, “I can’t really explain it. Within this facility, I’m able to sense them, but I’m not sure about what would happen in the Dimensional Battlefield.”

“I met a few who could also sense them in the Dimensional Battlefield.”

Some heroes had dodged critical hits from him, and in the future, he might come up against those who could dodge his powers completely.

Junhyuk couldn’t accelerate in the Dimensional Battlefield like he could on Earth, so he couldn’t let his guard down. Heroes were existences far beyond what he had imagined. He didn’t know against whom he would fight, but he knew he had to be ready.

Junhyuk had to be stealthy about how he used his powers. He had to find a way to attack Artlan without Artlan knowing, and thinking about that, something flashed in his mind.

Halo emptied his gla.s.s and got up. Halo thought it was his turn, but Junhyuk looked deep in thought, so Halo sat back down. The other heroes stopped talking, and all of them looked at him.

He had his eyes closed while thinking, so the other heroes drank in silence.

Through those two sparring sessions, Junhyuk grasped something and thought hard about it. Everyone watched quietly. They drank everything, but Junhyuk was still thinking. For that reason, all of the heroes returned to their respective places and left a message for Junhyuk, asking him to call them again once he woke up from his meditative state. Only Sarang stayed behind. She had decided to wait for him.

Sarang practice high-speed casting to pa.s.s the time, but Junhyuk wasn’t coming off his meditation. A day pa.s.sed, and then a second, and after five days, Junhyuk finally opened his eyes.

Sarang was taking a nap.

When he woke up and looked around, he saw no one around but Sarang.

After sparring with Nudra, Junhyuk had thought he couldn’t let Nudra sense his attacks, and that had led him to think deeply about the Dimensional Slash. He had gained a clue about the Dimensional Slash and learned something from it, but after waking up, he saw none of them around.

Junhyuk wanted to scream with joy, but Sarang was the only one there, and she was sleeping.

He looked at a bottle in front of Sarang. It was the bottle that Artlan had brought. The hero had left it there to celebrate his epiphany once he woke up. Junhyuk opened it and smelled the contents.

He drank half the bottle. It felt like it was burning his insides, but he liked the aroma left in his mouth. He hadn’t noticed that detail before.

Junhyuk smiled and started drinking the rest of the bottle. Sarang had opened her eyes and watched him drink it most of it.

“Artlan left that bottle for you. He told me to give it to you.”

“I know. I can taste it. It’s good.”

“Can you give me some?”

Junhyuk poured her a gla.s.s. He clinked a gla.s.s of his own against hers and emptied. Sarang drank hers as well, but she screamed right after.

“Aaargh! What is this?!”

Junhyuk tousled her hair and said, “I couldn’t taste anything before, but now, it tastes good.”

“Hm…” Sarang yawned and asked, “Are you going to invite them over?”

He smiled and said, “After making it mine, so not yet.” Staring at her, he asked, “Can I train by myself until the tournament begins?”

“I can’t stay here?”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

Junhyuk had gained a clue about the Dimensional Slash, but he did not think it would be safe for others to watch him train in the facility. Sarang got up and asked, “When you complete it, will you be able to hit Artlan?”

“Maybe?”

“OK. I’ll go.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll buy my own training facility so I can train with Vera.”

“Buy something small. This place is made for many people.”

“I need a larger s.p.a.ce because I’m a mage.”

“I can buy you one.”

“Really?”

Junhyuk nodded, and Sarang left. Alone, Junhyuk summoned his swords. So far, he had used his attacks to strike at his enemies. He could tear up s.p.a.ce and attack, but Artlan and Nudra had sensed it happening, which couldn’t use that against them.

Junhyuk thought about the dimensional tear and its border, where life and death mingled. He focused on the death and decay around the tear.

Junhyuk realized something then, the nature of his powers. His powers were similar to the structure of dimensional tears.

He decided to try tearing up a dimension. He focused on a point ahead of him.

Slash!

A cut appeared in a dimension far away, and something else happened. A small dimensional tear appeared in front of him, but it disappeared.

Junhyuk had done it. It was his first successful Dimensional Slash.

Junhyuk didn’t know what he had target on the other side, but he had learned something from it. It was different from a Spatial Slash. The s.p.a.ce in the facility wasn’t affected. He had torn through dimensions, and the only result on his side was the small dimensional tear.

He was satisfied with what he had accomplished even though it was only half of what he wanted.

He smiled, but suddenly, he felt dizzy and staggered. He fell to his knees and then collapsed. Junhyuk had lost consciousness.

When he woke up, Ariel was there. Junhyuk had pa.s.sed out for two days, and it was time to view the champions’ battle.

Junhyuk searched through his soul, but it wasn’t damaged.

“Whew! I did not expect that!”

[What happened?]

Junhyuk looked at Ariel. He could see her right in front of him, but she wasn’t really there. He was able to tell now. He still couldn’t find his target across dimensions, but he could tell if something was real or not.

“Nothing. Did the returns change?”

[It settled on 170 percent.]

“OK. Let me watch the battle.”

Junhyuk sat down comfortably and watched Ling Ling’s battle. However, the whole time he was thinking of something else. He was thinking about his motivations to develop the Dimensional Slash.

He had only used it once, but afterward, he had become so tired that he had collapsed. Tearing dimensions required too much mana.

He had a lot more mana available to him now, so Junhyuk pulled out a core and absorbed the mana from it. However, there was a limit to how much mana he could absorb. The Dimensional Slash couldn’t kill in one strike, so he needed enough mana to be able to use it multiple times. The core would give him the answer.

Gongon would give him a refurbished core, and with that, he would look into how to absorb the limitless mana from it. Without a refurbished core, he could only use the Dimensional Slash once, and that’s not what he wanted.

He had to tell the difference between the two slashes, so he used his senses to a.n.a.lyze them. That way, he was able to make sure he knew which slash he was using.

After that, Junhyuk focused on the battlefield.

Ling Ling’s team had the lead, but the battle was evenly matched. In the end, Ling Ling won, and Junhyuk smiled. Ling Ling had fought well.

Junhyuk hadn’t lost the 500,000G, which was good.

He turned to Ariel and said, “Give me the winnings and send me back. I have work to do.”

[Sure. See you next time.]

The world turned blinding white, and after a while, Junhyuk slowly opened his eyes and raised his hand. His mana was replenishing, but it was doing so slowly.

Junhyuk grabbed another gore and absorbed more mana from it.

“This is just the beginning.”