To Hell With Being a Hero!

Chapter 310. Merak (5)

Chapter 310

[Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia- Page(1/1)]

1. ‘7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent’: Reach at least 80% trust (Complete)

2. Become acknowledged by ‘Byeok Ran-Eum’, the Celestial Realm’s examiner, and become her disciple (Complete)

3. Awaken ‘Incomplete Lightning Fire’ above F rank (Complete)

4. Use at least 4 and at most 6 points of ‘Blessed Luck’ (Complete)

All the conditions have been fulfilled.

[The Power to Rule the World has been used.]

[Innate ability [Blessed] Luck consumed (69->63).]

[The Power to Rule the World has ‘repaired’ Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia’s innate ability ‘Lightning Fire’.]

The choice made by The Power to Rule the World was none other than restoration; it had judged that restoring Emmanuel’s original ability to normal was enough. Like the time Chi-Woo used this ability on Eshnunna, there was a short flash of light as if a light bulb had been turned on. However, like before, the result was far from simple.

1. Name & Rank: Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia (????)

7. Heavenly Title: Incarnation of Thunder and Lightning

1. [Lightning Fire S] – Ability to conjure thunder and lightning… After the first awakening during the adjustment period, several wrong procedures and methods had a negative effect on the user. However, through user Choi Chi-Woo’s blessing, all negative effects have disappeared, and positive effects have been added. The user’s original ability has not only been restored to its original potential, but received significant boosts.

After reading Emmanuel’s updated user information, Chi-Woo clenched his fists and cheered inside his mind. His predictions had hit right on the mark. Emmanuel’s unstable Lightning Fire, which had been only F rank, successfully rose to S rank. As a result, Emmanuel’s title changed from ‘Lightning that Failed to Strike’ to ‘Incarnation of Thunder and Lightning’, and his potential had also risen. And like this, the second four-star hero born after Ru Amuh fell into Chi-Woo’s hands.

Chi-Woo’s gamble had been successful. He hadn’t just affected a small change, but struck big. Emmanuel must be feeling even more amazed than him. A hero of his level should be noticing the change without checking his user information. He must have sensed what had changed inside of him and what had happened to him. To prove his point, Emmanuel looked completely dazed as if his soul had left his body.

As light shone brighter in the dark, Emmanuel felt intense emotions pour out from his heart, tasting hope after falling deep into the abyss and being rescued from the edge of a cliff. “Ah…” Emmanuel made an indescribable expression. “Ah…ah…!” He looked like he had a lot of things to ask and say. However, he suddenly jumped to his feet instead. After finally obtaining what he had long been yearning for, he had no time to waste. He left so urgently that he opened the window instead of the door and jumped out. As soon as he landed, he unsheathed his fleuret and started swinging it around.

When Chi-Woo followed after him, thunder and lightning was already running rampant outside. Emmanuel was performing Eustitia's 12 Special Arts. Lightning patterns, thunderbolt, sound of thunder…

Crackle! Cracccckle! The Eustitia’s special forms that Emmanuel knew but haven’t been able to carry into action came flooding out of him like a river bursting through its banks. His ability was definitely different from the Heavenly Drum. Rather than just generating lightning, electricity of ultra-high voltage that seemed hot enough to rip apart and burn the whole world crackled, bringing about powerful tremors.

“…What’s going on?” Byeok, who had gone out at the sudden disturbance, asked blankly while looking at Emmanuel. She could clearly see with her eyes that Emmanuel’s potential had not only reawakened, but reached a new level. She had no idea what had happened, but one thing was clear—Chi-Woo had kept his promise as the leader of Seven Stars.

Byeok gave him an incredulous look, but Chi-Woo replied with a mysterious smile. Then when the air coughed up warm currents, and a burnt smell spread, Emmanuel, who had sliced and stabbed like crazy, slumped down to the ground as if he had exhausted all his strength. As he steadied his breath, there was an indescribable expression on his face. Then he looked back at Chi-Woo with visible ecstasy. Chi-Woo felt a little awkward to be stared at so intensely by a man.

[‘7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent’ has been opened.]

[The amount of trust that Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia has towards user Choi Chi-Woo will be measured.]

[Measuring… Measurement is complete.]

[Trust 92.6%: Parents are like the whole world to a child. By being able to do things that a child cannot do, the child thinks of their parents as their own gods. Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia has realized the long cherished dreams he hadn’t been able to achieve since he was a child thanks to you. His feelings towards you have become stronger as his endless despair changed into hope. You’re already more than a parent to him.]

Chi-Woo’s mouth slightly gaped. Emmanuel’s trust level was way too high from the start. If he remembered correctly, Ru Amuh’s trust level had been 87.5% in the beginning. The result of flipping Emmanuel’s emotion from despair to hope was greater than he thought.

[His trust in you has exceeded the necessary requirements.]

[Will you choose Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia, ‘Incarnation of Thunder and Lightning’, as your second star?]

Chi-Woo saw the message and nodded. “…Yes.”

[You have chosen Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia, ‘Incarnation of Thunder and Lightning’, as your second star.’]

Just as Chi-Woo finally got rewarded for his success, another message appeared.

[Page 2. ?Parents are like wings and roots to their children. Parents should generously support and encourage their children, but shouldn’t expect anything in return. Don’t forget that you shouldn’t use your child as a means to achieve your goals.]

Chi-Woo’s elated mood subsided a little. It seemed the method he had chosen this time had not been favorably looked upon by ‘7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent’. Chi-Woo stared at the last message and soon closed all the windows to face Emmanuel, who had already come up to him.

“Congratulations.” Chi-Woo reached out his hand with a smile.

Emmanuel, who was about to shake his hand, paused for a moment. “There are many things I want to ask you, but…” Then he carefully wrapped his hands around Chi-Woo’s as if he was grasping a holy object. “I won’t dare to question you.” He dropped to one knee before continuing, “Whatever it may be, you reached out to me and worked hard to help me. You proved your every word.” The best way to prove one’s words to a doubtful individual was to show it directly; after experiencing it themselves, they had no choice but to believe.

“So I won’t doubt you anymore. From now and ever,” Emmanuel said with a quivering voice, as he was still overcome with emotions. Chi-Woo felt Emmanuel’s hands shake severely as he grabbed both of his hands. Then Emmanuel said, “Because miracles are something you accept as they are.” He bowed and pressed his forehead to the hands in his grasp like a follower worshiping his god. “I extend you my sincerest admiration and awe in the name of Eustitia, not to the Choi family, but Chi-Woo.”

Chi-Woo smiled bitterly at the sight because he now knew the meaning of the message: ‘You’re already more than a parent to him.’

* * *

One of the perks of the ‘7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent’ was the sharing feature. Chi-Woo could share one of the hero’s abilities that he accepted as his star. He immediately thought of acquiring the Lightning Fire ability that Emmanuel had, but on second thought, there was no reason for him to do so.

Although this ability was very powerful by itself and held especially great power over certain natural elements, Chi-Woo already has a similar ability, one that far surpassed Lightning Fire. Above all, Chi-Woo couldn’t reverse his decision afterwards. He thus decided to put it on hold for now, thinking he should exercise more discretion, and he might have to absorb the shared ability entirely as his own like he did with Ru Amuh’s synesthesia.

Emmanuel was now able to start growing properly, and considering that no one knew what kind of new abilities he might bloom in the future, Chi-Woo thought he should wait with anticipation. Although Chi-Woo wanted to talk to Emmanuel more about various matters, he sent Emmanuel back for now because he heard that the long-awaited tenth reinforcements had entered Shalyh. Moreover, since Emmanuel was also the leader of an organization and had been absent for a long time, Chi-Woo thought he must have a lot of things to prepare as well.

“Sir, have you slept well?”

However, Chi-Woo assumptions were shattered the very next day. Emmanuel came visiting at the break of dawn, and Chi-Woo had to receive his morning greeting in a drowsy state while rubbing his bleary eyes. Then he was asked an unexpected favor. Emmanuel wanted to spar with Ru Amuh, who followed Chi-Woo. Although it was an unexpected request, Chi-Woo said he would ask for Ru Amuh’s opinion.

Surprisingly, Ru Amuh agreed, and the result was as expected. Chi-Woo realized the greatness of Ru Amuh once again. Even though he hadn’t won by a mile, Ru Amuh still beat Emmanuel, who used his newly acquired Lightning Fire. However, their expressions looked flipped; the winner looked a little dazed, while the loser looked full of confidence and didn’t seem to care about his loss.

“How…” Ru Amuh roughly breathed and stared at Emmanuel. Emmanuel had changed so much since their last spar, when Ru Amuh easily overpowered him. Although Ru Amuh had fought seriously, he would have lost if his attention had strayed.

“I have—a goal now,” Emmanuel stood up and said. “I heard that you were Teacher’s first star.”

When Chi-Woo was mentioned, the pure admiration in Ru Amuh’s eyes changed into a sharp glint. First place, first position, pioneer…being someone’s first was generally given great weight.

“Of course, I have no intention to change the order that Teacher set, but…” Emmanuel twirled his fleuret once and put it back into its sheath. “Other people’s evaluations are dependent on their individual opinions.”

“…”

“In the first place, stars that shine brighter tend to stand out more, right?”

Ru Amuh’s eyes sharpened.

Emmanuel continued, “I’m going to get stronger in the future. Let’s both work hard.” He sounded polite, but what he was actually saying was anything but. Ru Amuh got that it was a declaration of war. Ru Amuh smiled as Emmanuel turned around—not his normally soft smile, but a cold one. Soon, his eyes became piercing, and he began training on that very spot.

As the poster-child for hard work and earnestness, Ru Amuh trained every day without fail, but he started training with a much higher intensity than usual, as if he was never going to let anyone take his position. It was of such intensity that one could mistake him for trying to slice Emmanuel with one slash.

Evelyn stared at the fiery sparks between the two men and quickly looked back at Chi-Woo, “You sure are popular.”

Chi-Woo was a bit taken aback. Although Emmanuel had called him Teacher and treated him with utmost politeness in the future Chi-Woo once experienced, he was still not used to Emmanuel’s change in attitude towards him, or his attitude towards Ru Amuh. Even though Chi-Woo had hoped that they would get along, he couldn’t force them to become friends. Moreover, a competition in good faith was always welcome. Even then, Chi-Woo had not expected Emmanuel to state his intentions in front of everyone like this.

On the other hand, the one who was happiest about Emmanuel’s change was neither Byeok nor Chi-Woo—it was Eval Sevaru. Eval had wanted at least one organization to become their subordinate, and was overjoyed that Eustitia would be taking this position. Anyway, the matter with Emmanuel was successfully resolved. Frankly, Chi-Woo had thought this was enough for now. Starting with bringing the fenrir cub, he had awakened Eshnunna’s powers, established the basic frame of Seven Stars, and even accepted Emmanuel as his second star. Steam Bun had also returned to him. Chi-Woo had been having a really hectic time since coming back from the Hala Forest.

The end was another beginning. Maintenance was more important than finishing a plan. Chi-Woo had initiated many grand plans, and although he thought they were all necessary, he didn’t want to increase his workload more than he could handle. It was important to strengthen internal stability as much as increasing the size of the organization.

Nevertheless, this new event was an exception. It was an event important enough for him to leave everything behind: the tenth reinforcement heroes had entered Shalyh, and notably, they were called reinforcements rather than advance teams. Chi-Hyun did not hesitate to proceed with the onboarding right away. Earlier, he had asked all the organizations in Shalyh for their plan and received their answers. Then they held the drafting event the very next day after the tenth reinforcements arrived. When the sun came up, all the famous heroes from Shalyh gathered in the tower that Zelit built, Apertum. Chi-Hyun summoned the organization leaders separately and held a briefing session for those participating.

Having heard how the drafting would proceed, Chi-Woo went on a short restroom break. After taking care of his business, he fell into thought while washing his hands. ‘Fate has been decided, but it’s not fixed.’ This was what the old dingo named Boboris had told him. She neither affirmed nor denied fate, but even she made one exception: she had told him to recruit the first person he encountered among the tenth reinforcements at all costs. He wondered how crucial this figure was that she would be so certain of her words. However, the important part was that this person was very likely to be essential for Liber’s salvation.

Chi-Woo had a lot of worries since he didn’t know when and where he would meet them, but he organized his thoughts to go with the flow and leave it be. That was how fate worked. Although things didn’t automatically go his way if he just stood still, things that were bound to come might get further away if he chased it too hard. Rather than trusting her blindly, he needed to keep her advice in mind. And if it was really fate, Chi-Woo was bound to meet them anyway.

At perfect timing, Eval Sevaru contacted him, saying, 'Where are you? They’re about to come in.’ He also sent other messages telling Chi-Woo to quickly come back. After replying that he’d soon be there, Chi-Woo turned around.

Then Chi-Woo realized that fate was quite a prankster and loved to play jokes on people. Chi-Woo’s hurried steps stopped as soon as he left the bathroom.

“?”