They drank all night in Artlanâs castle. Different drinks were served, but they were all very strong. Junhyuk was really tired from the ordeal.
The women poured him a drink, and he gave each of them a shot of it. They all passed out. Junhyuk was able to take it because of Harmonizer. Otherwise, he might be passed out as well.
Nudra and Halo smirked and got up.
âWe should get going.â
Artlan said, âFeel free to.â
Artlan threw each of them a bottle and made a motion with his hand. An old woman with feathered her walked up to him.
âGranny, do you have the coordinates for the Heavenly Kingdom and the Sea Castle Kingdom?â
âI do. Should I send them there?â
Artlan turned to Junhyuk and asked, âAre you leaving as well?â
Junhyuk took a moment to think before shaking his head and saying, âIâll stay a bit longer.â
âYeah? Good idea.â
Artlan made a motion with his fingers and said, âWhile they leave, weâll play.â
Nudra and Halo became suddenly interested in what he had said and protested in turn, âWe arenât leaving yet.â
âIâm not busy, so I should watch this.â
Junhyuk nodded and Artlan and said, âOK. Letâs play.â
Artlan to him to a training room. The room was huge, a hundred square meters.
Junhyuk thought it had been a while since their last match. Artlanâs sixth sense made Artlan his biggest opponent, so he knew the duel wouldnât be easy.
He summoned his swords, and Artlan summoned his sabers.
Artlan smirked and said, âLetâs play!â
Artlan dashed toward him, and Junhyuk dashed to meet the hero. Both accelerated.
Junhyuk, with full control of Harmonizer, took off, and so, they started playing.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
They were sparring, but their clashes were serious and heavy. Their swords cut through everything, but the room wasnât damaged at all.
âHe mustâve coated the ground with magic,â Halo said.
âItâs a nice training room.â
Halo and Nudra conversed.
âJunhyukâs skills have improved.â
âHeâs matching Emperor Artlan.â
âBut Artlan has more energy.â
Their duel picked up in ferocity, and finally, the ground of the training room started to break. Nudra and Halo witnessed the fight.
âArtlan is stronger than he was.â
âYeah. It seems Junhyuk canât deliver a critical hit.â
âWhat about you?â
âItâs his sixth sense. Junhyuk will need something else to get past it.â
âYeah?â
Junhyuk was thinking the same thing as Halo and Nudra talked. He couldnât pierce through Artlanâs defenses due to Artlanâs sixth sense.
Junhyuk was having difficulty landing a hit. He was thinking about using his Spatial Collapse when Artlan slashed at him, but the hero let go of his saber when it clashed against Junhyukâs sword.
The saber seemed alive as it flew toward him. Junhyuk used his other sword to try to block, but Artlanâs saber rushed toward him like lightning.
Clang!
Junhyuk barely managed to block, but the impact was heavy. He couldnât get himself repositioned and was slammed against the wall. By the time he got up, Artlan already had his other saber pointing at Junhyukâs back.
Junhyuk asked, âWas that your Rain from Above?â
âJust an inferior skill.â
Halo laughed and said, âLook, you just copied my ultimate!â
âMine is worthless compared to yours.â
âSure,â Halo said. The hero put a hand on Junhyukâs shoulder and added, âToo bad.â
âI canât defeat him.â
Halo whispered in his ear, âArtlan mustâve been frustrated. That was a dangerous move.â
âIt didnât look that way.â
âWeâve played. Now, letâs drink,â Artlan said.
âAgain?â
âI need to recover from my hangover.â
Junhyuk shook his head, and Nudra and Halo patted him on the shoulder and said, âWe canât stay.â
âIâm drinking alone?!â
âThatâs right.â
Nudra and Halo left, and Junhyuk joined Artlan for another round.
He drank for another day and sparred with Artlan two more times. Junhyuk couldnât win, but he learned a lot from their duels. He was gaining experience.
They drank somewhere Artlanâs mage had prepared for them. It was an area at the top of a mountain. The top of the mountain was narrow, and there was an opening on the cliff. It was extremely high.
Artlan liked the place. The two drank together there, but there wasnât much space.
Artlan said calmly, âMy councilors are scared of this place.â
âWhy? You just have to be careful and you wonât fall.â
âAbout ten councilors have died here.â
âWhat?â
âAll those who have drank with me here and survived have their own kingdoms now.â
âIs this a test?â
âRight.â
âDo I have to drink a lot?â
âI can tell what you are thinking by what you think.â
Artlan poured Junhyuk another drink.
âSeems like itâll be tough work ahead.â
âItâll last about forty hours.â Artlan smirked, clinked his bottle against Junhyukâs glass and said, âCongratulations on your victory in the tournament!â
After Artlan complimented him, Junhyuk felt better about having beaten Artlanâs team. He smirked and emptied the glass in his hand.
âThis is killer.â
âOf course! That bottle costs three castles.â
âWhat?!â
Artlan smiled at him and said, âNudra, Halo and you drank enough bottles to buy a kingdom.â
âWe drank a lot.â
âHalo and Nudra drank all night. I have some nice bottles they donât have.â
Junhyuk laughed and said, âThey drank with vigor.â
âYeah. They werenât interested in the women, but they do like to drink.â
By the end, Artlan said, âYou head back. Iâll drink some more.â
Junhyuk threw his empty glass down the cliff and said, âIâll be off then.â
Artlan kept drinking, and Junhyuk used his Dimensional Shift. He appeared inside Eliseâs lab. When he looked around, he saw Gongon and Vera. He smiled at Vera and asked, âAre you done here?â
âYes. Send me back.â
âSure, Iâll take you.â
Junhyuk teleported to the coordinates Vera had previously given him. He thought she could find her own way back.
Vera smiled at him and said, âIâll give you another set. Teleport there.â
âSure.â
He teleported with her again. Teleporting was easy for him.
They appeared inside a lab, Veraâs lab. There were many books, magic circles and spell ingredients around. He looked around with wonder while Vera searched for something. She found two books and said, âTake these.â
âWhat are they?â
âGive this one to Sarang, and this other one to Elise. Theyâll know.â
âSure.â
Junhyuk put the books inside his Spatial Bag, and Vera chuckled.
âDo you need anything?â
âNo. Iâve been drinking.â
âIf you drank with Artlan, you mustâve drunk a lot.â
âTill I dropped dead.â
Vera patted his shoulder and said, âI hope that what we made will help you.â
âWhat did you make?â
âElise will show you.â
âSure,â Junhyuk said with a smile.
He left Vera and returned to Elise. When he got there, Gongon was looking at a monitor.
âWhat are you doing?â
âIâm checking on what I made.â
âIs it complete?â
âItâs working. Vera shouldâve given you something,â Gongon replied.
âYou knew?â
âOf course! Give me the book.â
Junhyuk laughed and handed the book to Gongon, who scanned through it and smiled.
âOK. This will work.â
âIs it important?â
âItâll be finished by tomorrow.â
Both of Gongon and Elise headed down to the basement again, and Junhyuk shook his head. He went to see Sarang instead.
Junhyuk could see what Sarang was making. It looked like a rifle, but there were magic circles etched all across it. He inspected it with wonder.
âThis must be for magic hunting.â
âRight. It can fire up to ten shots continuously, and after ten minutes, it can fire again.â
âItâll help during monster hunts.â
âOf course!â
Weapons crafted with cores could be used in the battlefield, and Sarang seemed proud of her work.
Junhyuk gave her the book from Vera and said, âVera wanted me to give this to you.â
âVera?!â She shook her head, and after scanning the book, she exclaimed, âI needed this!â
âWhat is it?â
Sarang smiled and said, âThis is a book on magic circle compression. I can add another five magic circles now.â
âThatâs an amazing book.â