The Support Ate it All

Chapter 101: Root

The tower master of the Ruby Magic Tower had sharp eyes and usually maintained a neutral or slightly scowling expression on her face which often made her appear as if she was always angry.

And the more I looked at her, the more Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to resemble this tower master.

For this reason, when Hong Yeon-hwa stood in front of the classroom with a fierce aura, those watching couldnt help but speculate whether she had come to pick a fight with someone here.

Hey, did she come here to challenge someone to a duel?

Really? Who?

It must be Song Cheon-hye, obviously.

Wow, are they finally going to clash?

Is this the big match?

And the person likely to be her opponent was Song Cheon-hye who was widely considered to be Hong Yeon-hwas rival.

As if responding to their guesses, Song Cheon-hye silently rose from her seat and began to slowly walk out of the classroom.

As the distance between the two closed, the tension in the room reached its peak.

A duel?

Is she challenging her?

However, contrary to expectations, the two merely exchanged brief nods as they passed each other.

Then who on earth did she come to see?

Curious gazes were focused intensely.

Feeling increasingly annoyed by the pouring attention, Hong Yeon-hwa flashed her eyes menacingly and snapped,

Are you done watching?

It was a deadly aura that seemed fierce enough to burn ones eyeballs if they continued staring at her.

The students gazes suddenly dispersed and each of them hurried away.

Hong Yanhuas eyes darted around the room until the attention on her dwindled and then she quietly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

Her demeanor was exactly like that of the Ruby Magic Tower master.

They really look alike.

?

Hearing my murmur, Seo Ye-in who had been sound asleep until now groggily lifted her head.

She looked at me, tilted her head in confusion, slowly followed my gaze out of the classroom to find Hong Yeon-hwa, and then looked back at me before tilting her head again.

Click,

And then she started to pull out a magic gun from her inventory before I hurriedly stopped her.

No, shes not here to fight. Put the gun away.

Then, a duel?

Not a duel either.

Most of the people who had come looking for me until now had ulterior motives.

Kwak Ji-cheol and Jeong Ji-su had planned to drag me to the Emerald club by force, while the Emerald and Nature clubs once came to propose negotiations through a duel.

On the other hand, it seemed likely that Hong Yeon-hwa had come to me with genuinely good intentions.

She had no intention of fighting, not in the slightest.

Thus, I first made her put away the magic gun and sent Seo Ye-in ahead.

I approached Hong Yeon-hwa and asked,

Hey, whats up?

Ah, hello.

Her previously fiery demeanor quickly softened and became gentle.

Her voice, compared to just a moment ago when she had asked, Are you done watching? was now about half as loud.

Well. I came becauseI have something for you

I casually glanced around.

I had a rough idea of why she had come, but the front of the classroom was hardly a good place for a conversation.

Despite Hong Yeon-hwa glaring to chase them away, there were still many eyes stealthily watching us.

Lets walk and talk.

Mhmm.

Since we were both heading for the mentoring session, I walked with Hong Yeon-hwa toward the dungeon building.

.

The whole time we were walking, Hong Yeon-hwa kept glancing sideways at me.

Even if she was trying to gauge my reaction, the frequency of her side glances was quite high.

It seemed she was trying to find the right moment to start a conversation so I pretended not to notice.

Finally, as if she had mustered up the courage, Hong Yeon-hwa took a deep breath and began to speak.

Um you know.

Yeah, you said you had something to give me.

Mhmm, the president asked me to give this to you

The president here didnt refer to her sister Hong Ye-hwa but to the president of the blacksmithing club.

And what the blacksmithing president had asked her to deliver to me was

A long box and a small box.

Its completed.

The long box contained an equipment item that I had requested upon presenting a [Crafting VIP Ticket].

The small box was something the blacksmithing club president had made with leftover materials after failing to melt together millennium iron and black mithril which I had helped resolve.

I put the small box into my inventory and opened the main dish, the long box,

Inside, on a soft cushion, lay a very short rod just over 30 cm long.

It had an overall black color with a subtle sheen.

At first glance, it might look like a simple metal rod,

But upon closer inspection, there were very precisely implemented joints for connecting to other equipment or attaching parts.

[Root(A)]

Very high mana conductivity

Damage protection (A) applied

Automatic durability recovery.

Upgradeable

Upgradeable

Upgradeable

Upgradeable

As expected, the materials are half the battle when making equipment.

When I incorporated Millennium Iron as the main material, an A-rank weapon came out right away.

It was a high-rank material that could be applied even after graduating from the third year.

It was nearly impossible to destroy, and its high conductivity ensured there was no mana wastage when casting spells.

However, at this moment, it had no special abilities beyond these options.

[Root] was one component of the EX-rank weapon I ultimately aimed to craft.

If you compare it to a painting, it was as if I had just started, just sketched a small corner.

From another perspective, this also meant that it had boundless potential for future development.

Especially since it had four upgrade slots.

If I attach a gem to it, it would become a staff; if fitted with a blade, it would transform into a polearm.

Deciding on the spot, I chose to install a component I had previously crafted in the Magic Engineering Club.

[Root(A)]

Automatic durability recovery

Levitate Zone (C) constantly activated

Upgradeable

Upgradeable

This addition provided one more option.

Levitate Zone.

This wind magic created an upward draft that lifted everything within its range.

It was originally an F-rank when it was based on a cheap iron bar, but it leapt to C-rank upon being equipped to the Root weapon which has much higher mana conductivity.

It was already at a level where it could be effectively used in practice without any shortcomings.

As I examined the Root with satisfaction, Hong Yeon-hwa cautiously asked,

. Do you like it?

It turned out well, better than I expected.

I nodded my head in response, and unusually, a smile appeared on Hong Yeon-hwas lips.

She had played a crucial role in melting the ingot, and the time and effort she had invested were considerable. It seemed that seeing me pleased with the outcome made her proud.

Thanks to this, the atmosphere subsequently became much more relaxed and friendly between us.

Then I posed a question.

What is Aqua Flames rank right now?

Its raised. Its C-rank now.

As expected, the Millennium Iron alloy started to melt quickly once it reached C-rank.

For ranking up, you should proceed in a similar way.

Yes, I plan to. The reaction from the Mage Tower is positive too.

Since Aqua Flame was a fairly rare trait, the method to raise its rank wasnt widely known.

Given this, the Ruby Mage Tower might have been hesitant to pour resources into it indiscriminately, but now that Hong Yeon-hwa had demonstrated concrete results, they would likely support her more wholeheartedly in the future.

But despite this, Hong Yeon-hwa didnt look very hopeful.

Even for the Ruby Magic Tower, obtaining high-grade materials like Millennium Iron was not easy.

Additionally, Hong Yeon-hwas Aqua Flame had become stronger as its rank increased.

Materials of the Millennium Iron caliber would melt away in moments, so something even more robust would be needed for proper ranking up.

For this reason, it seemed that such opportunities would not come around often.

Theres no rule saying you must use materials to increase the rank.

Then?

Instead of answering, I gestured toward the front with my chin.

Our destination, the dungeon building was there.

There are plenty of dungeons and plenty of monsters.

Ah!

Hong Yeon-hwa let out a small exclamation.

She had benefited too much from the Millennium Iron this time and had become fixated solely on materials.

The key to growing Aqua Flame was to continuously burn something imbued with intense cold.

As long as the condition was met, it didnt matter what the target was.

For example, in a dungeon set in a snowy area a lot of ice-attribute monsters would appear.

Entering a dungeon and continuously defeating these monsters was fine as was targeting a powerful boss.

There are many methods besides materials and dungeons. Theres no rush, so lets talk about them one by one.

! Ill also talk about it with my sister.

Hong Yeon-hwas face flushed with excitement.

Although she said she would talk about it, the deal was as good as settled.

Theres no way she would refuse.

Whatever the cost of helping the growth of Aqua Flame was, it would be cheaper than sourcing materials superior to Millennium Iron.

This would also allow for an ongoing exchange of business between me and Ruby Magic Tower and we would maintain a mutually beneficial relationship.

***

Kerluk?

The goblin flailed its arms and legs.

Its body hovered about an inch off the ground.

The situation was similar for the other goblins around.

This was the effect of the Levitate Zone.

It created an upward current within its range and lifted everything up in the air.

The strength of the wind was not very strong, but its continuous nature was what mattered.

A gentle push with Wind Force sent the floating creatures flying easily.

Grrr

The Beheader Goblin lasted a little longer but the outcome was much the same.

It had been charging at me and wildly swinging a cleaver for a while but it was merely marching in place against the headwind.

Then, with a gentle shake of the Root weapon,

Whizz

Winds from all directions converged and rendered it immobile.

Its posture shifted slightly sideways with the swirling wind.

While I repeatedly cast similar wind spells, a notification message appeared in the corner of my vision.

[Acquired Twister (F).]

Ive learned it.

After creating countless whirlwinds and launching goblins over the past few days, I had finally acquired this new skill.

Dang Gyu-young had been sitting near a statue of a goddess, lost in thought, but she turned her head toward me when she felt the wind suddenly increase.

What? Youve mastered it already?

Yes.

Really? In just three days? It doesnt seem like an easy skill.

If you focus and work hard, you can do it.

Sometimes, you can be really annoying.

The wind magic required continuous control of the flow, and the complexity of creating whirlwinds made it a skill with a relatively high difficulty to learn.

My control had surpassed the level of a veteran and reached that of a fossil, and Twister was a path I had walked many times before.

With the added bonus of mentoring, there was no reason I couldnt master it in three days.

What exactly is the skill youre using?

See for yourself.

No, dont use it on me

Whoosh!

I deliberately cast Twister on her.

The whirlwind enveloped Dang Gyu-young and tried to restrict her movements.

Ack!! Really, you!

Dang Gyu-yeong was horrified as if a bad memory of hers from the sticker duel battle came back, then she merged with her shadow below and disappeared only to suddenly appear behind me.

She then stretched out both hands, grabbed my cheeks, and pulled them long and hard.

I told you, not to use, that wind magic.

Mmmph

When I apologized with a smile on my face, Dang Gyu-young pouted and looked into my face.

Her expression which was initially strained as if she couldnt bear it any longer gradually relaxed, and she gently tugged at my cheeks a few times before letting go.

You keep creeping up on me lately. I should really tear those cheeks off.

But why do you keep pulling my cheeks?

Theyre soft and nice to pull, thats why.

When she spoke so boldly like that, I actually didnt know what to say.

Dang Gyu-young half-opened the exit as she asked,

So its over now, right? Can I go?

Its not over. I need to raise my rank.

Ugh, fine. Do whatever you want, junior!

Dang Gyu-young shook her head in dismay and sat back down beside the statue of the goddess,

Whoosh!

I pulled the goblins into a whirlwind made with [Twister] and trapped them.

The trapped goblins spun violently like laundry in a washing machine.

Looking at the green laundry swirling around, I thought to myself.

Ive gained equipment and learned skills.

I think I need to adjust my traits again.

Copy-Attribute [2/2]

1. Elemental Resistance (S)

2. Priest (D)

The second slot trait Priest had been quite helpful in my mana training, but with my [Core] having reached C-rank, it would be more efficient to overwrite it with another trait.

However, I hesitated to overwrite it immediately since I felt it might still be useful one more time.

I looked down at my feet.

Its about time to go down again.

To the underground levels.

********

TN: She likes pulling on his cheeks so I think shes the girl in the illustration in novel updates. That girl is also pulling on his cheek.