Junhyuk inspected his equipment. All of his items made up one set new, and their shapes had changed to make one cohesive suit of armor.

It was very streamlined.

He touched his new equipment. The pieces were now blue with black accents throughout, and there was a little Asian cloud drawn on his chest.

He inspected the chest piece.

—

Junhyuk Lee’s Cuira.s.s

Piercing +300

Defense +3,100

Magic Defense +3,100

Health +1,000

The Vampire Lord Lujet’s Cuira.s.s was upgraded and combined with Junhyuk’s energy. It has enormous defense and magic defense stats. It increases health by a thousand, piercing by three hundred, and defense and magic defense by thirty-one hundred.

A complete set increases the item’s power.

Two-Item Set Effect: Attack +200

Three-Item Set Effect: Piercing +400

Four-Item Set Effect: Critical Hit Rate +25%

Five-Item Set Effect: Critical Hit Damage +50%

Six-Item Set Effect: 25% Chance to Ignore Defense

Seven- Item Set Effect: On Hit, 3% Extra Damage

Eight-Item Set Effect: On Hit, -10% to Enemy Attack Speed (Stacks 3x)

Nine-Item Set Effect: On Hit, +10% Attack Speed (Stacks 3x)

Ten-Item Set Effect: On Hit, -10% to Enemy Defense. (Stacks 3x)

Fifteen-Item Set Effect: On Hit, 3% Drain

Twenty-Item Set Effect: On Hit, Extra Hit (Extra Hit Damage = 50%)

Full-Set Effect: On Hit, -10% Power Cooldown Time

—

Junhyuk was stunned by his equipment. His items had been upgraded and changed into set items, and their overall power was better than the Vampire Lord set.

In regards to the full-set effect, if he landed ten hits, he would be able to use his powers again, and that included his ultimate. Thinking about how his enemies’ items had become sets as well, he realized that his next battle wouldn’t be easy.

Scratching his chin, he said, “You can buy legendary items and upgrade them, so how do you keep things fair?”

“You can only purchase items that have been upgraded up to +5. The rest of the upgrades have to be done by the buyer.”

“So, you can upgrade them more after the five basic upgrades?”

“We’re not sure if they managed to upgrade their original legendary items, but that’s the basic benefit.”

Junhyuk inspected his items. As they were, they weren’t upgraded. Knowing that he had enough gold to upgrade them now, he thought he was better off than the legends.

The legends all had legendary-level equipment, but his own Vampire Lord set items had lacked in quality when compared to his items now, and those had been copies of a set that had already evolved.

He hadn’t expected there to be that much difference between his own items and the legends’ items.

“s.h.i.t. The problem is that I don’t have a lot of gold right now.”

Even if he spent all of his gold, he wouldn’t be able to upgrade all of his items. Once they reached a certain level, he didn’t know how much he would need to keep going.

Junhyuk thought his situation was better, but he didn’t know how many upgrades his enemies had managed during their tournament. Smacking his lips, he checked out the other pieces.

“Our victory will depend on how many upgrades I’ll manage on each item.”

“Your items won’t be the deciding factor.”

“But I can’t ignore them either.”

Agenchra smiled and said, “I’ll go visit the others.”

“Right.”

Agenchra disappeared, and Junhyuk continued to look over his items. There were a lot of effects that triggered when he hit his enemy, and some of them stacked. They could really change things for him on the battlefield, and his enemies wouldn’t be able to ignore those effects.

However, he had to land a hit. His skills had improved, but they were not absolute.

The enemy team was strong, so he wasn’t sure he could win. He wanted to train more, but for that, he needed a partner.

Junhyuk contacted Artlan, who was drinking. Artlan smiled at him and said, “What’s the matter?”

“I need help, please.”

“Help?”

“My items have become a legendary set, but a lot of the effects only trigger on hit.”

“Hm… You want to spar with me?”

“Yes.”

“Then, come over.”

Junhyuk thought about Artlan’s palace. He could remember the coordinates of the places he had been to, so he used his Dimensional Shift to reach the palace.

He could read the flow of Artlan energy and saw that he was in his nest. Artlan had more energy than anyone around.

Junhyuk headed toward Artlan and found him drinking. He could see plenty of empty bottles around.

“When did you start drinking?”

“Since the tournament is over, I have nothing else to do. So, I’m drinking.” Junhyuk shook his head, and Artlan asked, “Is anything better now that your items are a set?”

Junhyuk summoned all of his items. They were all blue with black accents, and when Artlan saw them, he smirked and said, “It all matches now.”

“Did they look funny before?”

“I couldn’t even look at you before.”

Junhyuk had only cared about the quality of the items, so the overall design had been all over the place. He sighed and raised his swords.

“I’ll be restricted in the Dimensional Battlefield. I’m sure it won’t be easy.”

“We’ve fought them already. They are certainly not easy.”

“Are they that strong?”

“You should know. You fought them as well.”

“I was so much weaker back then.”

“Right. You should be able to match them now, but there’s no certainty that you’ll win.”

“I know.”

Junhyuk was willing to do anything to win. He clashed against Artlan. He had to overcome Artlan’s sixth sense. If he managed to do that, he would be able to fight anyone.

—

Junhyuk thought that Artlan would be helpful, but after thinking about it, n.o.body in the enemy team used dual swords like Artlan.

Nudra and Halo would be able to help him much more on dealing with close-range combatants.

Junhyuk wanted to see Halo and Nudra, so he went to see Vera. She gave him an item with their coordinates, and Junhyuk went after them. He met Halo and Nudra and also Diane, who told him to take her with him.

He had met her in a beautiful place where the roots from the trees had taken over the ground, and at the center of it all, there was a lake, which was about the size of one of Seoul’s districts. It was ma.s.sive.

There was a huge three among the others, and that was Diane’s house.

When he saw her, Diane gave him a big hug. He hugged her back, and she caressed her b.u.t.t.

“I’ve missed you.”

“Would you spar with me?” he asked.

“My arrows will hurt you.”

“That’s fine.”

“Let’s go then. I’m bored.”

Junhyuk teleported with Diane back to Artlan’s palace, where she greeted everyone.

He sent Vera to Earth as a favor to Sarang, who had her own set now. Her items covered her in electricity.

It could be said that she was the personification of lightning now. Sarang would spend her time sparing with Vera.

After leaving Vera with Sarang, he returned to the palace, where Nudra, Halo, Diane and Artlan helped him train.

By the end of it, Junhyuk was tired. He shouldn’t be feeling tired, but the anxiety was making him feel that way. The heroes spared with him until he got tired. His amount of Harmonizer was ma.s.sive. He had the most energy out of all of them, but energy did not decide the victor.

Junhyuk was evolving.

On Friday, he returned to Earth and shut down all the tears. Battleship Elise could fire every four minutes now, so he spent a lot less time closing tears.

Another expert became a champion, but there were still no new heroes.

Junhyuk focused entirely on training for the revenge match. During his training, he learned about his sparring partners’ experiences and characteristics.

Artlan’s style of swordsmanship was very free. His sixth sense allowed him to change on a whim. He was definitely not an easy opponent.

Halo maintained a certain form. He didn’t need it, but his swordsmanship had been built around that form. His attacks were always decisive.

Nudra was soft. He could push any enemy away with his soft strikes, but his damage was absurd.

Diane was different from all of them. As an elf, she moved nimbly to dodge most attacks. Her arrows were extremely sharp. Junhyuk was learning about long range attacks from her.

He could also see their individual skill, those that were restricted since they were close to powers.

Junhyuk was gaining experience. When they started, Junhyuk hadn’t been able to land a hit on them, but now, things were different.

He couldn’t defeat Artlan yet, but he had beaten Halo twice, and Nudra and Diane ten times each.

While sparring in the castle, Juhyuk was given a royal treatment. There was no end to the amount of drinks and food. It was like they were in a perpetual party, and sparring was the main event of that party.

Suddenly, Junhyuk felt another sense within him, and he focused on it. It was foresight.

Clang!

Junhyuk had managed to guess where Artlan would attack and blocked. He countered, aiming his sword at Artlan’s neck, but the hero stepped back and out of his range.

Artlan stopped then and, staring at him, asked, “Did you just develop a new sense?”

“I think so.”

Everyone smiled. Sparring was extremely valuable, and the results were showing.