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Chapter 66 - Awakening (4)

“Senior, I apologize for bothering you with this.”

“There’s no need to lower your head like that.” The first leader of the Wyvern Knights, Emil Bolton, replied to Douglas Payne. He frowned as he noticed Kang Shin-hyuk standing next to Eleanor; perhaps he had heard of today’s entrance test.

“I never thought you would join the Wyvern Knights, what kind of change of heart did you have?”

“Well, there’s some circumstances around that… I’m rather surprised to see you here as well.” Emil Bolton. In his heyday, he was an exceptionally strong superhuman who was among the top 300 in the world rankings. Now he was in charge of Shinyoung’s male dormitory. In hindsight, it made sense that he would’ve had a close relationship with Shinyoung before becoming a supervisor. And, if he had attended Shinyoung, it would be unlikely that he, with his reputation for his swordsmanship, wouldn’t have joined the Wyvern Knights. However, it was surprising that he was their first leader. He must have a good knowledge of taming as well.

“Senior, to tell you again why we’ve brought you here today…” Douglas Payne stood between Shin-hyuk and Emil to switch the topic. There was no way he would be happy with his ‘enemy’ conversing with Emil Bolton. Not to mention, Kang Shin-hyuk had taken another member’s position with the help of the vice-captain today. Emil Bolton waved his hand like he didn’t want to hear any more.

“I know, I remember. So, who’s repairing the artifact?”

“He’s from my family.” Shinyoung didn’t normally open its doors to the outside unless it was for a big event like a sports festival. That was no exception for Douglas Payne; then, he seemed to have received approval today. Two men appeared in the direction he pointed, with their heads politely bowed. Emil stared at them as if to silently test them before nodding.

“If they’re members of the Payne family, then they’re trustworthy. I was surprised to hear the artifact was broken, but your attitude towards fixing it is worth noting.”

“I will put it back in order so that it doesn’t tarnish your name.”

“But there is one small problem.” Emil Bolton seemed genuinely embarrassed.

“The artifact isn’t originally mine. Even if a dragon were in front of me that could fix it, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Yes?” Even Douglas Payne and Eleanor seemed embarrassed as they watched from the sideline. Shin-hyuk had roughly guessed this would happen, however, as Emil Bolton had no talent in production. Emil Bolton had acquired it, but he didn’t make it.

“Well, though, you are the original owner of the artifact, so you can check it once it’s repaired…”

“Of course that is possible, but will it really work? This is the first time I’m hearing it is broken. I’m not here to make it your fault, but I need to clarify why it was broken and whether it should be left to the knights in the future.”

“Oh…” Emil’s strict remarks landed heavily on Douglas. He continued without paying his appearance any heed, however.

“Douglas, you know that your actions so far bear a significant penalty. The broken artifact has been hidden so far, then you called outsiders to repair it and even called me here to verify it.”

“…”

“When did the Wyvern Knights become a group to strengthen their own authority by borrowing power from others? If you had won the hearts of your members, this wouldn’t be necessary. If you had confidence in yourself, you wouldn’t need to hide it was broken in the first place.”

“…Yes.” No matter how proud Douglas Payne was, he had nothing he could say in front of one of the world’s top 300. He had apparently thought Emil Bolton would help him save face, but things weren’t going as he wanted.

“Well, whatever the reason, you’re now trying to get the job done. I won’t blame you. Whatever the reason, if you properly repair the artifact and are recognized as the rightful owner of Meloy, I will admit it too.”

“Senior…!”

“Fortunately, the person who made the artifact is nearby. I asked him to visit. He will be better suited to this than I, who can only scare my juniors. He’ll be able to figure out what went wrong and why it’s broken, as well as if the people you brought are doing their job.”

“Yes?” For the second surprise of the day, Douglas’s eyes opened wide once more as Eleanor grabbed at Kang Shin-hyuk’s arm. Meanwhile, Shin-hyuk was convinced. The mystery before him was being solved as he realized why Claire reacted the way she did to the saddle. She recognized whose work it was…

***

Twenty minutes later, an old man arrived at the Blackwood Training Center. It was Lee Manwoo, the teacher in charge of the Artifact Production Club.

“If I realized it was this, I would’ve told you not to bother me.”

“I’m sorry, sir. It was the request of my juniors, so I couldn’t leave it be.” Emil Bolton bowed his head, and the other students quickly joined him in bowing to Lee Manwoo a second later. Lee Manwoo looked at Kang Shin-hyuk with an expression of displeasure.

“You need to study artifacts, what are you doing here?!”

“That’s why I’m here today, sir.”

“What? Hmmm? Oh, is that so?” Lee Manwoo tilted his head at the words but soon seemed convinced.

“You’re cheeky. Let’s see if you’re up to it.”

“I’m not confident, but I think I have a chance.”

“How do you manage each day? Even if I didn’t have the skills, I would’ve acted confident.” Kang Shin-hyuk smiled bitterly, but he couldn’t help it. As his synchronization rate increased, sometimes that old man’s attitude would appear. Meanwhile, Douglas Payne was looking more disheveled as he watched Shin-hyuk and Lee Manwoo converse. He realized things weren’t going as intended.

“Then, the artifact. I have to see what the hell is wrong.”

“Yes.” Eleanor, who had been in charge of storing it so far, brought it out right away. The badges of the previous captains were sticking to it once more. Shin-hyuk had recovered some of the energy that had weakened inside it, but a ridiculously difficult process still remained until it could completely recover.

“Ha…these superhumans. Even their brain is a muscle.” Lee Manwoo lamented as soon as he saw it. As the creator of the artifact, he was able to grasp the problem immediately.

“Wasn’t I clear? When the user changes, the badge changes.”

“Yes, sir. I conveyed that to my juniors.” Emil Bolton responded politely. However, he had yet to realize the essence of the problem. Each time the user changed, so too did the badge. It didn’t occur to him to remove the previous badge.

“Hah… I’m wrong. I was wrong for not writing an instruction manual. Yes, try to fix it.”

“…” Lee Manwoo set it down, and Douglas gave instructions to the men he brought. They didn’t move, however, as they stood still and stared at Lee Manwoo.

“Are you Lee Manwoo, the chief of the field?”

“No one knows such a strange nickname.”

“Teacher…”

“Ah, it’s loud!” The two men bowed their heads.

“It’s an honor to meet you!”

“I thought it would be amazing to see the taming artifact, but I didn’t realize…!”

“What, what is it?” Douglas Payne seemed embarrassed, but Emil Bolton took their attitude for granted. After all, he was familiar with Lee Manwoo back in his heyday. But what would be the response of someone who wanted to keep himself hidden?

“If you tell anyone outside, I will make you regret it.”

“We will keep it in mind, sir!” The men were eager to bow, which only increased Lee Manwoo’s annoyance. They finally approached the artifact to check it out as Shin-hyuk shook his head.

“The internal structure is completely twisted. I’m sorry, but it is impossible to recover even for Lee Manwoo.”

“Unless you could turn back time…”

“What? I’ve heard several reports that it can be fixed!” Douglas Payne couldn’t help himself as he angrily shouted. However, the two craftsmen shook their heads firmly.

“There are several ways to revive a low or mid-level artifact with a simple structure. You can even rebuild it from scratch. However, this is out of our reach. The number of craftsmen who could handle this…”

“Even if they could fix it, it would be temporary. It’s been used wrong, now it’s almost dead.” It wasn’t dead. Kang Shin-hyuk thought of the Heroic Shield, which had completely lost its will. It was almost dead, but he was able to recover it.

‘Actually, has the Godslayer sword finished digesting the Heroic Shield?’ He pushed the thought away, deciding now wasn’t the time to think of it as he took a step forward. Eleanor nodded and spoke up.

“If so, how about leaving it to our new member Kang Shin-hyuk this time? He is knowledgeable of artifacts and is capable enough to create his own. I don’t think it would be bad to test his abilities.”

“Didn’t you hear these guys? Even the finest craftsmen couldn’t touch it.”

“Well, can you alone create artifacts at your age?” Douglas Payne laughed her off, but the artisans shouted in anger.

“Alone? Huh, looking at your conversation with Lee Manwoo…are you his disciple?”

“Disciple? He’s already making things on a different level than me. I’m just paving the way a little for him.”

“Ah…!” Lee Manwoo responded honestly, getting a good reaction of surprise out of the craftsmen. Douglas Payne was growing upset with his plan falling apart, and Shin-hyuk hoped the craftsmen wouldn’t be treated too badly.

“Is that really okay? He’s only a freshman. It may result in the artifact being destroyed.”

“Douglas, you are the one who broke the artifact.” Emil Bolton rebuked Douglas, but he also had a look of anxiety. He wasn’t aware of Shin-hyuk’s abilities, so he looked at Lee Manwoo for confirmation. Lee Manwoo clicked his tongue.

“Where will you do it? It would be nice to get a good look.” With that, Lee Manwoo took a seat. Emil Bolton joined him, and Douglas ground his teeth and backed off. The artisans of his family were watching with anticipation, as did Eleanor.

“Then I’ll try it.” With a deep breath, Kang Shin-hyuk approached the artifact. He began to pull out the badges hanging from it. Douglas tried to stand up angrily, but Emil Bolton stopped him.

“We shouldn’t have left them all in. I liked it because I felt that it was handed down from the generations, but it was wrong.”

“Muscle heads. These magic tools are delicate.”

“Wow.” It was a clean hit to all of the leaders of the Wyvern Knights. Kang Shin-hyuk handed the badges over to Karen, who was standing nearby and pulled a potion out of his clothes. It was the regeneration potion Claire had given him.

“What is that?!”

“Huh!” Lee Manwoo stood up and shouted. He could tell the value of the potion just by looking at it.

“This is…ah, networking.” Kang Shin-hyuk replied vaguely and poured about half the potion on the saddle. He immediately activated his spiritual power to communicate with the saddle once more.

Now it was time to wake up this artifact that slept like the dead.