Chapter 168

The pain was pretty bad.

Badump! Badump!?

In fact, the area where Hamchi applied the medicine started to throb in pain. 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Kyuuuu! Kyuu~ Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!?This is revenge! You punk ass owner!” Hamchi exclaimed in delight.

“R-Revenge…?” Siegfried was in disbelief. He had no idea what the hamster was talking about.

“What? You forgot about it already? You told me you’ll pull them out in three, but you pulled them out in one! Kyu!”

It was often said that pets would take after their owners, and it seemed that Hamchi was as petty as his owner because he had been harboring a grudge all this while. It became clear that the saying birds of the same feather flock together existed for a reason.

“Are you a hooligan?! Why the hell are you taking revenge over something like that now of all time?!”

“Kyu~?Kyuuu~?Feels good~”

“HEY!” Siegfried screamed, “What the hell did you put on me?! Aren’t you going too far?!”

“I put this!” Hamchi replied and showed him a bottle.

[Red Potion]

[A medicine that has been proven effective in healing wounds, but it causes agonizing pain for the patient.]

[This medicine is also often used for torture.]

[Type: Consumable (Potions)]

[Rating: Unique]

[Price: 100 gold]

This medicine that was made out of god-knows-what cost a pretty penny, and it seemed to have been designed to replicate the medicine Povidin?in real life.

“U-Used for torture? HEY! What the hell are you putting on me right now?!”

“KYU!?Suck it up like a man! This medicine works wonders on all injuries! It’s a panacea!”

“Why the hell are you talking like an army sergeant all of a sudden?! Do you really think that we’re in the Korean military or something?!”

“What’s a Korean military?”

“There’s something like that, stop asking!”

“Kyu?”

“Cut the bullshit with your medicine! Do you really think that a panacea exists—huh?”

Siegfried was about to berate Hamchi for his boasting, but he stopped talking when he realized that the pain disappeared. His wound had also completely healed without leaving even a scar behind.

The medicine was unbelievably effective, and it quickly healed his wound.

“It works really fast…?”

“See! I told you it’s good for you despite how painful it is!?Kekeke! Stay still, you still have a wound here as well! KYU!”

“Aaaaack!?Slowly! Be gentle! Be gentle!!”

“No pain, no gain! Kyu!”

The Maestros laughed in disbelief at Siegfried and Hamchi’s sitcom.

“They really suit each other,” Luna said with a smile.

“Hey! What did you say just now?”

“Take back what you said!”

Siegfried and Hamchi shouted at her.

However, the Maestros became even more convinced of their thoughts when the two replied at the same time.

‘Wow… They really do suit each other…’

‘Hmm… the owner and the pet are basically a carbon copy of each other…’

‘How can an animal take after a human so well?’

They were vehemently denying being similar, but the Maestros were thoroughly convinced that they were a match made in heaven.

***

After his tirade with the hamster, Siegfried resumed beating Shakiro’s disciples one by one.

“Let’s go,” Siegfried said.

His next opponent was Hestia, a Maestro specializing in weapons suitable for assassinations, such as daggers, et cetera.

“Okay,” Hestia replied. She raised her hands with multiple kunai between her fingers.

The duel soon started.

“Wow!”

“I wonder who is he? How is he so adept with weapons?”

“Don’t you think big brother will have to come out at this rate?”

“Who in the world is he…?”

“It has been a while since I saw someone as skilled as him…”

The Maestros of the Weapon Academy couldn’t hide their astonishment. Siegfried was definitely not an ordinary person in their eyes, especially the fact that he was skilled in many different weapons.

He had only been using a hammer during his duels, but the Maestros could see that Siegfried was very familiar with every weapon the Maestro he was up against was using.

It also seemed that Siegfried knew every weapon’s weaknesses and how to take advantage of them to seize victory.

The Maestros were confident that the result would have been the same even if Siegfried were to use a different weapon against them, judging by Siegfried’s level of understanding of each weapon.

“It… It feels like I’m watching Master…” Luna muttered in awe.

When Luna’s words fell, Siegfried suddenly switched out the hammer that he had been using into a set of green throwable weapons. He hurled them at Hestia’s thigh.

Shwik!

“T-Throwables!”

“He can use throwable weapons, too?!”

“How?!”

“What did I just see…?”

“He managed to land a blow on Hestia using throwables?”

The Maestros couldn’t believe their eyes, even though they personally saw what happened just now.

Shwiiik!

Siegfried’s hammer stopped five centimeters away from Hestia’s head.

“…!” Hestia’s eyes shot wide open in horror. When she realized what would have happened if Siegfried’s hammer connected with her head, cold sweat broke out all over her back.

“I… I admit defeat…” she said.

“Thank you for the duel. I learned a lot,” Siegfried said and retrieved his hammer.

“N-No… I am the one who learned something today,” Hestia replied in shock. It seemed that she had never expected that she would lose after getting hit by throwable weapons, which were one of the weapons she had mastered.

The Maestros watching were in shock as well. In fact, Siegfried’s display of his ability just now shocked all of the Maestros except for the Sword Maestro, who was still missing.

Who could have known that this unknown challenger would end up defeating every Maestro here?

However, the man responsible for shocking the Maestros, Siegfried, was also surprised by what happened.

‘Wow, I thought I was going to lose. Why the hell are they so strong? They’re much better than those Abusers at the Arena. As expected of Shakiro-nim’s disciples…’?

He couldn’t help but look favorably at the Maestros because they were Shakiro’s disciples. He had only spent a short while with Shakiro, but their relationship ran deep.

He also treated Shakiro as his master.

In fact, Siegfried could consider himself a comrade of the Maestros since he had also learned from the Weapon Master. If Shakiro had opened a school, then he would be classmates with Shakiro’s disciples.

Of course, Siegfried would be like a transfer student.

“Can we rest for a bit before continuing?” Siegfried asked the Maestros.

The Maestros nodded in agreement. There was only one remaining Maestro, and he was the first disciple of Weapon Master Shakiro—Sword Maestro Hakken.

***

Sword Maestro Hakken was the dean of the Weapon Academy. As usual, he was currently instructing the youngsters who were dreaming of becoming swordsmen and swordswomen.

Needless to say, the sword was the most popular type of weapon out there, and it was the reason why Hakken had more students under his wings compared to the other Maestros.

“Is that true? A challenger managed to defeat all of my brothers and sisters?” Hakken asked.

“Yes, Hakken-nim.”

“Everyone, today’s lesson ends here,” Hakken said. He immediately dismissed the entire class and headed for the arena.

‘He’s either a master of weapons like us or a genius…’?Hakken thought as he headed toward the arena.

Hakken couldn’t help but think that the challenger was a genius because the existence of the Aura of Balance meant that only those with superior talent, combat sense, and control would emerge as the victors in a duel against the Maestros.

“Ah, you’re here, big brother.”

“Hello, big brother.”

“Welcome, big brother.”

The Maestros greeted Hakken with respect the moment he entered the arena. The disciples of Shakiro weren’t blood-related, but they treated each other as family.

“Why do you guys look so…?” Hakken asked in surprise.

He was taken aback upon seeing his brothers and sisters.

They looked pitiful. They looked like they got whacked left and right by a blunt object.

“Hello, my name is Siegfried.” Siegfried approached Hakken and greeted him before adding, “I wish to challenge you, Sword Maestro-nim.”

“Ah,?you must be the challenger who won against my brothers and sisters,” Hakken replied while inspecting Siegfried from head to toe.

“If you don’t mind, I wish to learn a thing or two from you,” Siegfried said.

“I most certainly don’t mind,” Hakken replied.

Hakken wasn’t the type of person who would get caught up in petty vengeance. He viewed Siegfried’s challenge as his honor.

Soon, the duel between Siegfried and Hakken started.

“T-They are neck and neck!”

“Big brother is getting pushed back!”

“This is unbelievable!”

“Crazy…”

“What am I witnessing right now…?”

The Maestros were stupefied once again while watching Siegfried and Hakken’s duel.

The two resembled a dragon and a tiger while exchanging blows.

***

While exchanging blows with Siegfried, Hakken was astonished.

‘H-he’s strong…!’

Whenever the two of them exchanged blows, Hakken could feel Siegfried’s might down to his very bones.

However, the same could be said for Siegfried.

‘Wow, he’s indeed the strongest among them… If it weren’t for the Aura of Balance, I’m sure he would have beaten me to a pulp by now!’?Siegfried thought.

Hakken was a whopping Level 230 Swordsman, so Siegfried was sure that he would have lost long ago if it weren’t for the Aura of Balance.

Sword Maestro Hakken was so skilled and powerful that Siegfried knew that he would lose even if he could use the cheat-like abilities of the Debuff Master.

It was then…

[Alert: Your skills are now available!]

[Alert: The cooldown time of your skills has returned to normal!]

[Alert: Don’t worry! The damage dealt by your skills will still be adjusted by the Aura of Balance!]

The duel was neck and neck, and it was obvious that neither of them was willing to back down and lose. The Aura of Balance finally allowed them to use their skills to put an end to this duel.

This happened as well when Siegfried fought Meowbro back then.

The duel continued…

The spectators’ jaws fell to the floor as Hakken and Siegfried continued to display their jaw-dropping techniques.

Hakken was eventually forced to activate a skill.

Puuuuk!

Blood spurted all over as a gash appeared on Siegfried’s waist.

“O-Owner punk!” Hamchi exclaimed.

Shwiiik!

Hakken then thrust his sword toward Siegfried’s chest, but his thrust failed to connect.

Flash!

A bright light flashed as Siegfried replaced his hammer with a spear and kept Hakken at bay.

“T-That is!” Luna screamed in surprise.

She was extremely familiar with the skill Siegfried had used just now, the skill wasn’t the only one that was familiar to her. The fact that he was able to suddenly change his weapon using his belt could only mean one thing.

The belt had to be Megingjord.

‘T-That’s…!’?Hakken was shocked.

Zero Form of Lightning and Megingjord.

Hakken was stupefied to see the mysterious young man using his master’s skill and artifact.

However, the shock of the Maestros and Hakken didn’t end there.

Whooosh!

Siegfried hurled two disks.

Chwaaaaak!

The disks scattered into thousands of sharp projectiles.

Shwaaaaa!

A flower rain of death descended upon Hakken. However, the projectiles didn’t cut even a single strand of Hakken’s hair because they stopped mere centimeters away from him.

However, the projectiles still ended up completely surrounding him.

“…!”

The Maestros were absolutely shocked and speechless.

Hakken was the first to break the silence as he muttered in utter disbelief, “Torrential… Flower Rain…!”

He had never imagined—even in his wildest dreams—that a random young man would walk into their academy one day and display his master’s ultimate skill.

“W-who are you? How did you—how can you use master’s ultimate skill?” Hakken asked.

“Err… Can we talk somewhere else?” Siegfried asked as he withdrew the projectiles.

‘Ah, how should I explain this…?’?he pondered.

Siegfried pondered how he would tell them that Shakiro had already passed away.