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Anisida summoned the fastest and most agile spirit he could summon from among the wind spirits.

It was the swiftest child among the wind spirits.

“You called me?”

A spirit shaped like a cloud materialized before Anisida.

“Save that young man, save him!”

Anisida cried out urgently.

He had to save Ethan. If this continued, another person would die at his younger sister’s hands.

“Yes, I under… Hiek!”

The summoned spirit was instantly dispelled, unable to withstand the intense lightning energy.

The Lightning Guardian was exerting even greater power than usual in her fight with Ethan, overwhelming the wind spirit.

“Damn it!”

It was urgent. Ethan and the Lightning Guardian were moments away from clashing.

“What are you doing?! Your master is about to die! Weren’t you supposed to guard him?”

Unable to use spirits anymore, Anisida turned to berate Yerica instead. Yerica was undoubtedly Ethan’s guard.

For a guard to simply watch as her master faced peril…

Had she frozen in fear from that earlier shock?

If so, she had no qualifications as a guard.

Before Anisida could say anything more, Yerica shook her head.

“No.”

Yerica spoke. Her voice held not a trace of fear.

“He hasn’t ordered us to retreat yet. Ethan hasn’t given up.”

“Even after seeing that…!”

The Lightning Guardian’s lightning had nearly charred Ethan to a crisp. If not for his exceptional horse, he would have died right then and there.

Desperate, Anisida resolved to summon the strongest spirit among his contracts.

While his body had recovered, he was not fully healed internally.

It would be straining himself, but to save Ethan, he had no choice but to endure.

“Hear me, Spirit King.”

As he tried summoning the Spirit King, Ethan spun around and charged straight at the Lightning Guardian.

“H-He’s insane!”

To charge head-on at the Lightning Guardian when they should be retreating? Moreover, it didn’t seem like he was drawing his sword, but attempting to shoot another arrow instead.

Flustered, Anisida raised both hands, but in that moment, the lightning in the Lightning Guardian’s grasp moved first. Ethan simply held his drawn bow.

Crack! Crackle!

A blinding blue lightning burst forth.

Anisida instinctively shut his eyes, but strained to peek through the slits.

And what he saw was…

“Impossible…”

Dadagdak. Dadagdak.

The Ochuma carrying Ethan slowed to a stop right there.

While he had been in mortal danger of being skewered by the lightning, apart from a singed scarlet wound on his chest, he was completely unharmed.

“Kuk. Kuheuk.”

In contrast, the Lightning Guardian, struck precisely by Ethan’s arrow, could only drop the lightning she had been holding.

It was Ethan’s perfect victory.

***

“Ymir!”

Anisida inadvertently called out his younger sister’s name. But that was no longer his sister.

Just the depraved, insane Lightning Guardian.

And yet, to Anisida’s eyes, she still looked like his sister from back then.

That young sister who always wanted to be helpful to her older brother.

“Whew.”

Ethan slowly exhaled and dismounted from Ochuma.

He had inflicted a fatal wound on the depraved Lightning Guardian. With this, she was completely incapacitated.

‘Since Monsters’ Calamity doesn’t work, I couldn’t see her weaknesses.’

But he had an overabundance of information on her. Which is why he knew her weaknesses clearly.

-Quest cleared!

-Deliver the lightning to the Thunder God!

-Achievement unlocked!

-Gained Likes from the [Bullseye] achievement!

-Gained 3 Likes!

-Stamina stat increases!

It had really been dangerous this time.

‘If I hadn’t realized it at the last moment, I would have had to flee with a fatal wound.’

But thanks to Hood and Jumong’s teachings, he was able to clear the quest.

“Good work, Ochu.”

Ochuma whinnied a few times, as if to say it was nothing, then disappeared.

With this, the quest was over.

By offering that lightning to the Thunder God, Ethan could seek the Thunder God’s forgiveness, and as the one who led that effort, he could become the new Lightning Guardian.

‘This desolate Titi Valley will become a place life can inhabit again, and Silk Valley will be rebuilt.’

Until now, that was how he had been completing quests.

But Ethan believed there was a way to perfectly clear this class quest, just as he had with his first class.

There was still something unsettling, something lacking.

‘There’s more. There has to be a way to complete the quest even more perfectly.’

Ethan immediately took out a flask and began making a decoction by adding the remaining ingredients.

Seeing that Ethan seemed to be doing something for Ymir, Anisida hurried over.

“Shouldn’t I… send her off one last time?”

“Anisida.”

Anisida looked at Ethan with an expression like he was about to cry. Ethan spoke to him calmly.

“If you have any hidden ingredients, bring them out now.”

“Surely not…”

“Healing is difficult. But isn’t it also wrong to send your younger sister off like this? This will be the last time. Shouldn’t there be a final farewell?”

“Did you… think of me?”

“I didn’t have a biological younger sister, but I did have a close one. She passed away from illness at a young age, and I never got to say goodbye. It’s been weighing on my mind ever since.”

It wasn’t Ethan’s own story.

It was from when he was Yedam.

“All the more so for an actual younger sister, I’d imagine.”

“I still don’t even know your name… yet why are you…”

Ethan had cleared this quest multiple times before, but never once had he empathized with Anisida.

To Ethan, this was merely a class quest to quickly obtain a class and maximize efficiency.

But now, it was different.

‘While it’s for the quest.’

He wanted to at least give him a chance for a final farewell.

“I have some ingredients. Remember when we hunted those monsters before entering the cave? I fully processed them back then.”

Yerica handed Ethan the monster byproducts.

And then Anisida approached.

“Add this too.”

What he handed over was a shard.

“It’s my mana crystallized. I made these little by little, thinking I would be trapped and die inside.”

Ethan accepted the shard he gave him.

“Really… is it possible? For me to bid my younger sister a final farewell, for me to…”

“I cannot give a definite answer. Whether possible or not, I will simply focus on treating the patient before me.”

“…”

“That’s what my teacher taught me.”

Ethan began making the decoction.

‘I just need to suppress her madness.’

She was currently afflicted by the madness of a dark spirit. So if he gave her a detoxifying decoction to resolve that, it would be enough.

However, it needed to be a decoction potent enough to overcome the darkness.

Ethan focused.

He thought of the madness-afflicted patient before him, Ymir.

Ding!

-You’ve made Madness Detoxifying Decoction!

-Evaluating grade…

-Madness Detoxifying Decoction [S-Grade]

-Heo’s Decoction Mastery 2/10

It was the second S-grade he had achieved since receiving the Master Quest.

Ethan immediately had Ymir drink the decoction. Ymir’s body convulsed greatly, then she opened her eyes.

The eyes that had been bloodshot from madness just moments ago had returned to their original green hue.

“Ymir, Ymir. It’s me, your useless older brother.”

“…Older brother?”

Ymir looked at Anisida. Anisida’s tears flowed freely.

As if all her memories returned, Ymir had a pained expression.

“I tried to do well.”

Ymir said.

“But I didn’t do well. I’m sorry, brother. I’m really sorry.”

Anisida had a lot she wanted to say.

He wanted to lash out words of resentment at her.

Why did you do that? Why did you make that choice? Don’t you know how dangerous the spirit of darkness is? Why did you make a deal with that thing?

But all those words were swallowed back. Anisida simply hugged Ymir.

That was enough.

Ding!

[The Thunder God is satisfied with your good deeds.]

[The Thunder God bestows upon you the blessing of lightning!]

[You have perfectly cleared the quest!]

[Rewards will be enhanced!]

-The side quest [Anisida’s Regret] has been cleared as well.

-Additional rewards have been obtained.

As Ethan had thought, there was an even better way to clear this class quest. To remove Anisida’s regret, the owner of the quest.

And to resolve the Thunder God’s anger not by killing the Lightning Guardian, but by another method.

‘The Thunder God may have been angry, but it wasn’t something that happened of its own will.’

The Lightning Guardian was the person the Thunder God had chosen as its protector.

So instead of killing her, the best choice to resolve the Thunder God’s anger was to incapacitate her by another method.

<The Thunder God grants you its power.>

[You have gained the <Lightning Guardian> class.]

-Survival probability has increased!

-With the increased survival probability, your trait is enhanced.

[Survival Instinct]

Whenever your survival probability increases, all your stats receive additional bonuses.

<<All stats currently +8>>

Thanks to the Double Caster trait, Ethan was now able to officially gain the second class of Lightning Guardian.

‘Done.’

He now had a balance of offense and defense. All that was left was to obtain the additional rewards.

‘It will be an enjoyable task.’

“You have saved me.”

Ymir looked at Ethan and stood up unsteadily. Her life force was still fading. She needed to spend a bit more time with her brother.

“Don’t get up. At least a little more time with your brother.”

“It’s alright. If it weren’t for your kindness, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my brother with a clear mind like this. So I will repay your favor in my own way.”

Ymir picked up a fallen lightning bolt.

The lightning that had raged in her rage-filled hands had now calmed down, and as soon as Ymir took it, it immediately transformed into the shape of a complete sword.

“To the one who will become the next Lightning Guardian after me. I will pass down the Lightning Guardian’s sword techniques. The Thunder God would want that too.”

Ymir took a stance. She sheathed the sword and demonstrated the first skill, the Thunder Shockwave Strike.

This was the same sword technique she had used to attack Ethan and Yerica earlier.

Similar to martial arts strikes but with the speed of lightning strikes, and the lightning imbued in each strike far surpassed the realm of sword techniques.

Moreover, the Thunder Shockwave Strike she demonstrated after being freed from her rage, returning to her original state, even possessed a momentary beauty of drawing arcs in the air.

“Including this Thunder Shockwave Strike, I will pass down four techniques to you.”

‘Four?’

Ethan’s expression changed slightly.

Up until now, the only skills he had learned upon gaining this class were just two.

The Thunder Shockwave Strike and the Thunder Frenzy.

Both skills imbued with the power of the Thunder God. But she was going to pass down four techniques?

‘Is this the additional reward?’

Ethan smiled contentedly.

“And this.”

Reward obtained.

[Thunder Sword – Ymir] has been acquired.

“It is the emblem of the Lightning Guardian. This sword now belongs to you, the new Lightning Guardian.”

Ethan had completed his transition to the second class, Lightning Guardian.

Author's Thoughts

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