The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 263

The crystal orb didn’t look special at all. And that remained the case even when one pulled up its information message.

[Water Jade Orb]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Poor]

[A crystal orb carved from crystallized water.

Infused mana can be converted into water mana that can even be amplified beyond a certain limit.

It allows the storage of water mana-attributed skills inside, and by consuming mana, the activation process of the stored skills can be skipped and directly used.

*Can convert mana into water mana and amplify it

*Can store skills that use water mana—Currently used storage: 89%

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Spell Release’]

Going by its performance, the Water Jade Orb had likely been crafted to support low-ranking heroes. In fact, its Hero tier actually made it more valuable than its actual usage.

Compared to the other items in the storage, it was utterly insignificant. And yet...

“No, I want this.”

“...”

No matter how much Raphael tried to explain it to him, Se-Hoon didn’t listen, not even bothering to pretend to.

Why... why is he doing this?

Raphael nearly grimaced. Se-Hoon had already ruined the Watchers’ most critical plan, and now he seemed intent on destroying even the smallest of gains.

She wanted nothing more than to tear Se-Hoon apart in frustration, but barely managed to suppress her emotions with considerable effort and decided to consult Casper.

“What should I do?”

“...”

Looking through Raphael’s eyes, Casper met Se-Hoon’s piercing gaze. From how Se-Hoon stared at them to the way the situation kept turning against them, it felt as if their identities had been exposed.

But Casper remained rational and considered the situation carefully.

It’s more likely that he’s trying to keep the Seraphim Guild in check. He shouldn’t know about my presence yet.

Given that Aria was also monitoring Raphael, Casper thought it was likely Se-Hoon had planted something on Jake as well. Given the circumstances, Se-Hoon might have been simply guessing that there was something hidden in the Water Jade Orb rather than fully knowing its secret.

If we show any more attachment, we’ll only reinforce his suspicions. In that case, it’s better to let it go for now.

To understand the Water Jade Orb’s secret fully, they needed the other pieces anyway, so there was no need to worry too much for now.

“Let him have the orb. If you show too much attachment, it’ll make you look suspicious.”

“...Understood.”

Swallowing her frustration, Raphael sighed and made sure to manage her expression.

“Fine... take it, if you insist.”

Practically throwing the Water Jade Orb at Se-Hoon, who accepted it with a slight smile, Raphael yielded with an exasperated look.

“Thank you.”

“...”

Then, not bothering to respond, Raphael stormed out of the room irritably.

And once she left, Miles, who had watched the entire exchange, quizzically asked, “Were you trying to rile her up?”

“Partly, yes. The orb looked interesting, too.”

There were two distinct reasons Se-Hoon took the Water Jade Orb from Raphael. Firstly, it was something that Succession had chosen personally. And secondly, it resembled an item he had heard about before the regression—something tied to a particular rumor.

I might as well confirm it right now.

Gripping the Water Jade Orb, he infused his mana into it.

Woong-

Seeping inside, his mana slowly began transforming into water mana. And as the orb filled with what looked like rippling water, the stored skills naturally came to Se-Hoon’s mind.

It was something about following the flow...

Carefully examining the orb, Se-Hoon watched the water mana inside swirl slowly. Soon, as it got closer to the top, the movements of the water mana inside began gradually becoming visible, even on the surface.

Fixing his gaze on the now easier-to-see swirling mana, Se-Hoon noticed a particular flow.

Is that it?

Finding a subtle flow induced by the mana circuit used for storing skills in the Water Jade Orb, Se-Hoon guided his mana to follow it, drawing a specific shape inside the orb.

Click-

He felt something click into place at his fingertips the moment the shape was completed.

“What are you staring at?”

“...”

Though the Water Jade Orb appeared unchanged, Se-Hoon had obtained the answer to his doubts.

This really is the Jade Crescent Mirror.

Looking at it with certainty, Se-Hoon recalled the Jade Crescent Mirror—a piece of the Five Element Equipment, just like the Fire Heaven Greatsword once owned by In-Cheol.

Technically, the orb was only a fragment of the Jade Crescent Mirror, but it was still enough to make Se-Hoon unable to believe his eyes.

I didn’t think the rumors were actually true...

Before the regression, the Five Element Equipment often disappeared whenever their owners changed. And among them, the Jade Crescent Mirror’s whereabouts had been unknown for an exceptionally long period.

It had simply reappeared one day out of the blue, when a collector was killed by a demon, along with a rumor that the Water Jade Orbs in the collector’s possession had fused to become the Jade Crescent Mirror.

I thought it was just baseless gossip since no one knew how they obtained all three pieces... ridiculous.

Staring at the fragment of the Jade Crescent Mirror in his hands, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes. According to the rumors he heard in the previous timeline, the orb had three fragments in total. In other words, he needed to find two more.

Hmm... it’s going to be tough to find them myself.

It wasn’t as though there were only two more Water Jade Orbs, and distinguishing the right two out of them all wouldn’t be easy either. But more importantly, the collector’s death weighed on his mind.

It’s difficult to believe their death was a coincidence, given that Succession precisely targeted this.

Just as Offering had been connected to the Fire Heaven Greatsword, the Watchers were also tied to the Jade Cresent Mirror, likely having a great interest in restoring it. @@novelbin@@

Pondering the various possibilities of what could have occurred, Se-Hoon organized his thoughts and turned to Miles.

“Am I allowed to take the item I chose right now?”

“Huh? Well, yeah, you can... but are you really going with that one?” Unable to understand, Miles couldn’t help himself from asking.

“I think it’ll be quite useful as material. I can just feel it.”

There was no reason to hand it over to Succession, and he already had a way to unlock the orb’s full potential in his mind anyway.

Observing Se-Hoon’s slight smile, Miles just accepted it.

“Well, if that’s what you think, I guess.... If you ever change your mind, let me know. I’ll try to switch it out without my brother noticing.”

“Thank you.”

With the orb secured, Se-Hoon followed Miles deeper into the storage.

“From here on, it’s all swords.”

Just as Miles said, the section of the storage they entered was completely packed with various blades—far from a few display cases. And given the long history of the collection, there were numerous Hero-tier ones and even a few Legendary-tier ones, though those were now damaged beyond repair.

These all seem like weapons that broke during battle and couldn’t be repaired.

While weapons like these were usually either stored away or melted down for materials, the Myers family had opted to display them instead of recycling them.

I would have melted them down right away... Huh?

Walking around the area, examining the surrounding swords, Se-Hoon stopped in front of one particular sword. With its nearly two meters in length and width as wide as a person’s head, the greatsword was massive. Unfortunately, its edge was dull and cracks ran deep into its blade, rendering it useless as a weapon.

Yet none of that had been what caught his eye; it was a certain trace left behind on it.

“What’s this sword?”

“Huh? Oh, that one.”

Following Se-Hoon’s gaze, Miles, who had been following behind, looked at the greatsword in the display case as well.

“That’s Glare, a sword my eldest brother used for a long time. He found another sword after it ended up like that.”

Learning that it had belonged to Gilbert Myers, Se-Hoon examined it more closely.

“Do you know how it ended up like this?”

Nodding, Miles answered, “You’ve heard about the White Tiger of the Four Sacred Beasts, right? That’s the sword that severed its head.”

“The White Tiger...”

“The beast was classified as an S-rank, and its skin was insanely tough.... That had been a Legendary sword, but just slicing off the White Tiger’s head had rendered it unusable.”

Recalling the event, Miles clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Se-Hoon stared at Glare with fascination.

I don’t remember seeing it the last time I came here... it must’ve already been dealt with by then.

With almost twenty years between the events, it wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t seen the weapon back then.

Staring at the unexpected encounter, Se-Hoon’s gaze returned to the trace that had drawn his eye earlier.

There, within the crack, was a barely visible faint light emanating. At first glance, it appeared to be a reflection from the room’s lighting, but it was, in fact, the sword itself that was emitting the faint sharpness that was intertwined within the cracks.

There’s no way this is unintentionally leftover.... Could it be the White Tiger’s blood?

It seemed the White Tiger’s power had invaded the blade, likely having seeped into the initial cracks, destroying its functionality.

If the White Tiger was on the verge of death then, it’s not surprising that there’s still a trace of its desperation left in here.

Having found out that the sword was imbued with the White Tiger’s lingering resentment, Se-Hoon stared at the sword thoughtfully.

Perhaps...

It was a bit of a gamble but definitely one worth the challenge. With his mind made up, Se-Hoon opened the display case and pulled out Glare.

“Hm? You’re going with that one?”

Compared to the crystal orb from earlier, it wasn’t a bad choice, but a broken sword was still not the best choice he could have made.

However, contrary to Miles’s guess, Se-Hoon shook his head.

“No. I’m giving this to Aria.”

“Aria...?”

Miles frowned. Giving such a damaged sword, which looked like it would break with a single swing, to his reckless niece seemed absurd.

And it’s way too big for her to comfortably wield...

Wondering if Se-Hoon was just planning to pick something random and reap the rewards, Miles got a sinking feeling that it would end badly.

But at that moment, Se-Hoon placed his hand on Glare’s blade and slowly ran it toward the tip.

“I’m going to fix it up a bit first.”

Drip.

Seeing the blood flowing from his palm on the blade, filling the cracks, Se-Hoon activated Soul Honing and controlled the flow so that the blood only filled certain sections.

Then, just before it overflowed, he drew on the power of Boundaries.

Swish-

Racing across the blade, a line formed the outline of a new sword, as if a sword was emerging from it. And once the outline was completed, Se-Hoon promptly pressed it into the boundary between life and death.

“...”

Nothing seemed to happen; the sword remained unchanged. However, Se-Hoon tensed, focusing.

Gurgle-

Bubbling all of a sudden, the blood within the cracks moved, causing the sword to tremble violently. It was as if something within was being reborn within the blood.

Wasting not a second, Se-Hoon swiftly pulled out the Forgefire Hammer from his void pocket at the sight and gripped it tightly.

Clang!!

Using all of his might, he struck the outlined section with the hammer.

***

Aria sat alone at a table in the mansion’s backyard, sipping tea. However, her gaze kept wandering toward the mansion, each glance following a sip.

“I’m expecting too much...” Aria muttered to herself, seemingly embarrassed by her anxiousness.

The greater the expectations, the bigger the disappointment. Having faced such emptiness countless times, Aria usually tried not to expect anything. But today, she just couldn’t help it.

I guess being too proficient at something is also a problem.

There had only been two instances in recent years where Aria’s predictions had been completely off. The first was when she wielded the strange sword Se-Hoon had used during the assault on Babel. And the second was when Jake successfully manifested his Essence of the Sword.

How could she keep her expectations low when it came to the man who had surprised her twice?

“...”

However, while that anticipation wasn’t unpleasant, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that it might end abruptly, like the many times before. Unsure of how to feel, she silently drank her tea.

And eventually, the moment came.

“Aria, we’ve got your sword!”

Catching the sight of the door to the backyard opening and Miles walking out, Aria set her teacup down and looked at him.

“What kind of sword did he pick?”

“Well... you should see for yourself.”

Pulling out the sword from his void pocket, Miles handed it to Aria, who looked down at it without a word.

A sharp, silver rapier—nothing was particularly special about it, and the information message didn’t show anything remarkable either.

[Glare]

[Tier: Hero] [Quality: Awful]

[A rapier made from special ore.

It once possessed great power, but none of its previous abilities remain.]

“...”

While it was impressive that Se-Hoon had repaired a shattered legendary weapon, it was just a plain sword with no abilities.

However, just as Aria’s gaze began to dim in disappointment, Miles spoke up. “If you’re not satisfied with it”—Miles hesitated before continuing—“he said to try drawing out your sword aura on it just once.”

“...”

Would drawing out her sword aura on a weapon like this really change anything? Uncertain, Aria just stared at the sword for a moment before making up her mind and channeling her mana.

Woong-

Glare was enveloped in a golden aura in the blink of an eye, and at that moment, something began to surge from within the blade.

A second sword aura?

A second layer of sword aura, one thinner but distinct, had coated the blade like a sheath.

Staring at the phenomenon, Aria felt something unfamiliar.

It was as if the weapon was mimicking her movements, as though the sword was synchronizing with her in a way she had never felt before.

Then it struck her.

She belatedly realized that the assimilation rate between her and her sword, which had been perpetually at zero, had finally climbed and reached ten percent for the first time in her life.

“How can I not get my hopes up if he’s like this...”

With a golden flash, Aria became the youngest S-rank hero in history.