Evan D. Sherden, Reinforced Fighting Power (6)

“Huh! Damn!”

“Okay, keep going! Step forward from there, Liz!”

“Yes! Damn!”

Evan was also working on the junior class with the by-products obtained from the dragon’s body. Right now, Evan was running on his own feet to solve everything, but he couldn’t be the only one to suffer forever. He was thinking of his younger sister, Elizabeth, as the next Commander of Astray. She was from the Sherden bloodline and showed a similar potential for unimaginable strength.

‘For some reason, I’ve been moving so aggressively, but that’s because other people have become so weak that I just took on the responsibility of protecting them. I should enjoy my life a little bit.’

People in this world who didn’t know the knowledge from the games were mostly weak except for a select few. However, enemies, including the Demon race, were becoming more robust than they had appeared in the game. It was absurd. To confront it, he had no choice but to train the elite in advance. Elizabeth and Eir were just the beginning. He must somehow get children with excellent qualities and raise them as future members of the Astray Knights.

‘After raising the elite, I’ll retire before I’m thirty. I can’t live like this…!’

What was the best way to have a good-quality child? It was to recognize a child born from parents with excellent qualities. In other words, it was getting the children of people around Evan. Bloodline was important! What he was paying attention to now was Raihan’s lovers Hannah and Serpina. If possible, Shine and Anastasia would be happy to do it quickly. It would be Shine who would be beaten to death by the Duke, not Evan.

‘But Lua and I should start…no, but not yet. Maybe…no. Well, not yet. Hmm.’

Evan, who was shy at the thought, was twisting his body. Elizabeth, who was training hard under Evan’s direction, tilted her head as she saw it.

“Brother, are you sick? You want me to massage you?”

“It’s all right. I’m going to take a look at Eir for a second, so keep practicing by yourself.”

“Yes!”

After ordering Elizabeth, who was growing up like a monster, he headed to the second underground training center. Usually, it was used to test large-scale skills or conduct training that was generally difficult to show to other people’s eyes.

“Hi, Evan!”

“Oh! Are you here to help me, Master Evan? I wanted to ask for your help.”

There wasn’t only Eir but also the witch Ctheasil. Now she was working on creating a perfect Devil Rune for Eir.

“How about activation?”

“Well, I thought the Runes were carved into objects, but they haven’t responded yet. It’s my first time to lead the mana of existence, not monsters, to create a Devil Rune, so it’s getting twisted in many ways. Above all, the taker’s intentions are more important than a simple monster, but the will to be intelligent is more complicated, no matter how young that person is.”

“I’ve never carved a Devil Rune on a living person…”

As he had mentioned many times, Eir was an extraordinary person. The mixed-race between man and Elf was special, but Eir wasn’t a pure being but a mutated one made by signing a contract with the Mahwa tribe’s Queen, Rose. As a result, Eir was born with the essence of three unique races: Man, Mer (Elf), and Mahwa. However, the problem was that the Mahwa race was absurdly decisive for only being a quarter of the mixture, so she had strong mana. Rose’s claim to be her mother was somewhat convincing.

“I’ll be honest with you, except for all personal feelings. If I could make it right and activate it, I’d be able to create a Devil Rune that’s more powerful than any other Devil Rune I’d ever made with my previous Monster Experiments.”

“Hmm.”

Evan faced her as she controlled her mana, which bloomed intemperately in Eir’s body, to prevent it from spreading. As if she had no idea how dangerous the power she had was, she just stared at Evan with her eyes the size of large pearls.

“What are you talking about, Evan?”

“We were talking about Eir’s abilities. When Eir’s tattoo gets brighter, she can call the spirits, and she can get stronger.”

Eir couldn’t keep Elizabeth away forever, so she studied for an hour or two a day and trained martial arts with her the rest of the time. Of course, it was confirmed that the work schedule was getting longer because of that, but…Ctheasil turned to Evan with a vague smile and a tilt to her head.

“Does she get stronger when the tattoo gets brighter?”

“Eir, don’t you want to be strong?”

“Of course, it’s more fun than being weak.”

Eir didn’t need to know the responsibility she would carry in the future with her strength right now. Furthermore, Evan, who intended to make her a Knight of the Astray in the future, wasn’t supposed to say anything.

“And then again? Again?”

“And then again…”

Brainwashing…no, the importance of early education was well understood by Evan.

He carefully opened his mouth, thinking about coaxing the child into being the pillar of Astray that would replace him in the future.

“And when you get stronger, you can be more relaxed, too. You can play more.”

“Well, Evan, will you hang out with me a lot? What about Liz?”

“Well, we’re aristocrats with obligations, so we have a lot of things to do. If Eir helps me with that, I can play with you that much.”

Evan thought he could say this. The world was full of give-and-take. Evan thought so and nodded inwardly, but Ctheasil, who watched their conversation from the side, looked dumbfounded. It was then.

“Then, good! I want to be strong!”

“Haha.”

‘If you want to be stronger, how would you like to be strong right away?’

Evan, thinking that, canceled his idea the next moment. Dark black light began to erupt from her whole body.

“What, did you just get enlightened from the conversation?”

“I don’t know what I did, but let’s get started!”

The Devil Rune’s necessary work had already been completed long ago. Now, the imprint of the light shining faintly throughout Eir’s whole body had proven it. There was just a step left to activate it and process it to Eir’s end, but now it had started. The Devil Rune’s strong will was as crucial as dealing with the Runes, and as a child, Eir recognized what Evan meant by ‘getting stronger.’ Her Mana finally moved to form the runes!

“Master, focus!”

“I’m concentrating. I’m not going to let Eir’s Mana run out, so don’t worry.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

Eir, who felt the flashing imprint on her body and wild blooming Mana, applauded innocently and rejoiced. Of course, the situation wasn’t so good. There was a possibility of a storm if the mana wasn’t wholly controlled. However, Evan, who had experience dealing with Devil Runes himself and had defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings with the Devil Rune, was more than capable of the job.

‘Come on, don’t be trapped in a cramped body and run out of it all. I’ll lead you in the direction, so follow me gently and settle down.’

‘Be a shield that protects only her, for it comes from Eir.’

‘Be a sword that cuts down all enemies against her.’

‘Be the wind that blows away all obstacles that stand in her way according to her will.’

“Okay, it’s starting to stabilize! The mana flow in the body is changing! Mana isn’t circulating in the body but is being absorbed directly into the Devil Rune…!”

“Thank you for your kind explanation, Ctheasil.”

Evan replied with a light smile to Ctheasil, who explained the situation in an operator-like manner. He was feeling it, too. Initially, the Devil Rune’s activation wasn’t this simple, but mana originating from Eir settled on her skin and stably formed the Devil Rune without the intent of rebelling under Evan’s control.

“Evan, I think I’m getting stronger!”

“Oh, yeah? You feel it too.”

Eir shouted innocently, touching the Devil Rune shining on her skin to reveal intricate patterns. Did she feel it right away? She was a child full of capabilities. Evan patted Eir’s head gently with satisfaction.

“I feel like I’m getting a lot of energy!”

“I suppose she is.”

The Devil Rune’s ability depended on the user’s knowledge and personality. It was only possible to induce some of its direction, and in fact, their reference was none other than the Devil Rune engraved on Evan’s boots.

‘It’s the strengthening ability. If my Devil Rune normally rejuvenates energy and greatly amplifies my physical abilities when activating it, this Devil Rune is a minor…no, it’s a modified version.’

The Devil Rune in Evan’s boots was clear. It could gain enormous power when activated, but the waiting time was too long. Furthermore, Evan himself had such a vast ability that it didn’t matter, but he must also activate curses and tie his power to conserve energy properly. Since the owner was Evan, he could achieve great results. It was an OP ability. With it being too difficult for Eir, Evan improved the Devil Rune in a universal direction through more research with Ctheasil. That was the identity of Devil Rune, which Eir now harbored.

‘From the moment you activate the rune, the passive reinforcement effect and the active reinforcement effect will have drastic improvements. Usually, it’s just about 20-percent stronger, but if you activate it properly, you’ll get explosive power for a short time.’

Of course, it would be much less than Evan’s boots’ amplification rate, but it was an essential limitation to having penalty-free power.

“Master Evan, success! We’ve finally placed the Devil Rune on an intelligent creature, and not on a monster!”

Deeply moved by the sight of Eir, who completed the Devil Rune, Ctheasil, who seemed ten times more excited than Evan, jumped at him with cheers. Evan waved his hand, skillfully avoiding her charge like a matador holding a red cloth.

“Calm down, Ctheasil. It was possible because it had mana…”

“Oh, this will solve my long-standing obsession and forgetfulness. Why don’t we spend time together tonight, Master Evan? I want to let Default know about this too…”

“Sorry, the hurdle is too high for me.”

What a terrible and terrifying witch to take the opportunity to cajole Evan and her brother all at once!

“Wow, I’m stronger! I’m going to let Liz know!”

“Oh!?”

It was unexpected. In an instant, Eir, who gained transcendent power, immediately left the training ground! Evan and Ctheasil were embarrassed and hurried after her, but what they could see was that Eir and Elizabeth were playing in a brawl.

“What, Eir, why are you so strong all of a sudden?”

“I can have more fun with you because I’m stronger! What the heck!”

“Geez, I won’t lose!”

Yes, Elizabeth wasn’t backing down against Eir, who had awakened the Devil Rune. Would Eir be able to reveal her power to the full extent?

“Master Evan…”

“No, don’t look at me like that. I know it was a little too much…”

Evan turned his head away from Ctheasil’s gaze. The early education of the Astray Knights was successful.