Chapter 361: Extending the Vacation (1)
Vacation.
A beautiful period of rest that serves as a source of comfort, joy, and energy for most employees who support and sustain this society.
But it wasn’t just the workers in South Korea who considered such vacations a sweet delight.
Here, beyond the dimensional wall with no connection to South Korea.
Within Lloyd, now a resident of the Laurasia continent.
The former Spirit King residing in my Mana Heart.
For Pantalaasa, vacation was truly precious, beautiful, and happy.
“Ah, this is good. So good. Life can be this enjoyable. Mhm, hmm, hm.”
Pantalaasa, the former Spirit King of the Pantara Mountains.
He was lying leisurely in a corner of Mana Heart.
His body stretched out on a sunbed shaped from the mana of cold.
Next to him was a glass of perpetual snow juice filled with ice.
He relished the tingling chill of the ultra-cold pool.
He was happy.
It was genuinely a sweet time.
‘Ah, I can’t believe I’ve lived without knowing this happiness until now.’
Pantalaasa quietly reflected on his life.
From the day the Pantara Mountains first rose until now.
Having lived for tens of millions of years, he had never taken a moment to relax.
Always worried that the mountains might be damaged.
That the spirits’ homes might be ruined by environmental changes.
He had lived a life constantly tense with the weight of responsibility and duty.
‘I’ve never had such a break before.’
So it felt awkward at first.
Staying in the Mana Heart of the human Lloyd Frontera.
Taking a break from responsibility and duty to enjoy leisure.
He even wondered if it was really okay for him to do this.
But now?
‘Lloyd Frontera, may you live long and healthy! Please!’
He promised to stay here until that human died.
To enjoy this beautiful vacation as long as possible?
Lloyd had to live long.
That way, he could enjoy the beautiful and absolute crystal of cold attached to Lloyd’s Mana Heart, the Heart of Winter, for a long time.
“That Heart of Winter is always… the best.”
Pantalaasa flipped his body on the cold sunbed like flipping a pancake.
Now lying flat, he directed his gaze to the sky.
He looked at the crystal of cold floating in the sky within Mana Heart with eyes full of longing.
Then the Heart of Winter responded to him.
Like sunlight.
It showered him with intense cold.
“Ah, the best…”
As if enjoying a suntan, he lazily rubbed his body.
Pantalaasa rolled around on the sunbed, enjoying the cold of the Heart of Winter like sunshine.
If only this leisurely happiness could last.
If it could continue forever.
He gently held a small wish in his heart as he nodded off.
But in the midst of this.
…Pzzzt?
Suddenly, there was a strange noise from the sky within Mana Heart.
A very small and faint sound.
A noise he had never heard while staying here.
That sound woke Pantalaasa from his drowsiness.
“Hm?”
Pantalaasa squinted his eyes.
What was that just now?
It sounded like something cracking.
Or was he mistaken because he dozed off?
As Pantalaasa was thinking this and trying to doze off again.
Crash!
A hole appeared in the sky of Mana Heart.
And through the hole… an enormous amount of heat began pouring down!
“…Wha, whaaat?”
Pantalaasa was shocked.
He jumped up without thinking.
In the meantime, the heat pouring from the hole in the sky fell into the ultra-cold pool.
Pffoooosh-!
The collision of extreme heat and extreme cold!
A cataclysmic shockwave and a storm of steam engulfed Pantalaasa.
“Whoa, whoa!”
Pantalaasa instinctively threw himself.
He lay flat on the ground.
He set up the sunbed.
He defended his entire body.
Ssss!
The sunbed made of cold mana melted instantly like ice cream in the scorching sun.
Pantalaasa’s heart sank at the sight.
“…”
This wasn’t normal.
This wasn’t even a nightmare.
This was a clear and present disaster!
“Wh-what is this?!”
Sensing the crisis, Pantalaasa unleashed all his cold.
He summoned a blizzard of cold with all his might.
Wooooosh-!
The cold drink he had been enjoying.
The daily happiness of his vacation.
All swept away in the fierce blizzard.
Pantalaasa shed a tear mixed with icicles at the sight.
Meanwhile, he did his best to block the pouring heat.
“Grrr! Wh… what the…!”
What on earth was this sudden disaster?
He had only been enjoying a vacation for the first time in his life.
Had he done something so wrong to deserve such a sudden catastrophe?
Why was he caught in such a hardcore mess?
He felt an overwhelming sense of injustice.
The more he thought about it, the more unjust it felt.
“…Grrrrr, grraaah!”
Resisting the heat with the blizzard.
Jumping around to avoid getting even a toe burned by the heat.
Feeling like a piece of rice cake on a heated stone floor.
Pantalaasa shouted in anger and injustice.
“Lloyd Frontera!”
♣
[Ding dong!]
[Asrahan Mind Method Skill Option ⑤: Rapid Recharge activation time has ended.]
The notification sound rang forcefully in his ears.
At the same time, a message appeared before his eyes.
Hissss…
Lloyd’s mana circle calmed down.
With the rapid recharge skill deactivated.
The fierce energy subsided.
Lloyd slowly opened his eyes.
He looked down.
At the special storage box he was holding.
He looked inside.
‘It worked.’
The box was empty.
The orb that had been radiating heat like the sun was gone.
The moment he confirmed it.
A new message appeared before Lloyd’s eyes.
[You have absorbed the divine relic, the Eye of Summer.]
[The divine relic, the Eye of Summer, exerts a hot influence on your Mana Heart.]
[The cold accumulated in your Mana Heart from using the Heart of Winter has disappeared.]
…It was the words he had been longing to hear.
He really wanted to hear that one sentence.
So he went up to the heavens and bargained with the archangel, engaged in psychological warfare with the king and the nobles, and even laid a railroad across the rugged mountains.
Thanks to all that, finally, at last, he could feel the results in his entire body.
‘…Phew.’
It was right after confirming the message.
A strange sensation began to fill one side of his chest.
It was like a faint candle being lit in the small world inside his chest.
But the candle gradually brightened.
It grew larger.
It burned like a torch.
It became as hot as a campfire.
It seemed to blaze like a furnace.
Then it spread rapidly like a wildfire.
And it surrounded the Mana Heart.
Pouring heat from all sides.
It was like…
‘Like a beauty salon. You know, when you get a perm or dye, they apply something to your hair and then heat it with something that rotates above your head.’
Lloyd could instinctively feel it.
The Heart of Summer he had just absorbed through rapid recharge.
The divine relic he successfully devoured with Javier’s help.
Its heat seemed to be exerting influence on his Mana Heart.
Melting the cold in his Mana Heart with its unique heat.
Like warming frozen, cracked hands in winter.
Like a hot pack received after shivering in the field all day.
It warmed his chest, heart, and Mana Heart.
Thanks to that.
‘The cold is disappearing.’
The side effects from using the Heart of Winter.
The cold that had accumulated like cancer cells was melting away.
His entire body felt lighter.
It felt like gulping down a hot bowl of soup on a winter evening.
At the same time, even more welcome messages filled his view.
[Ding dong.]
[The cold that had been parasitizing your Mana Heart due to the Heart of Winter has completely disappeared.]
[The power of the season contained in the Eye of Summer has melted into your Mana Heart. This rare experience has greatly influenced your Mana Heart skills.]
[A new Mana Heart skill option has been unlocked.]
[Mana Heart Skill Exclusive Option ⑦: Momentary Foresight]
‘What?’
Lloyd squinted.
‘Momentary Foresight?’
He had just absorbed the second divine relic, the Eye of Summer.
He had been expecting to gain new skills or options as a result.
‘I got Time Freeze from the Heart of Winter. And now… Momentary Foresight? Is it something like intuition or foresight?’
Lloyd carefully read the detailed description of the skill in front of him.
[Mana Heart Skill Exclusive Option ⑦: Momentary Foresight – Manifest the power of the Eye of Summer embedded in the Mana Heart to momentarily accelerate the perception of time by the soul. During this time, the user can glimpse into events that will occur shortly.]
[Detail (1): The limit of foresight is determined by the size of the Mana Heart and the total amount of mana possessed by the user. Currently, you can glimpse a maximum of ‘5 seconds into the future.’]
[Detail (2): Each use of the option releases a massive amount of heat from the Eye of Summer. This heat immediately accumulates in the user’s body, raising body temperature by approximately 1℃ per use.]
[Detail (3): Excessive use of the option, causing rapid body temperature rise, can have significant adverse effects on the user’s health and life.]
[Detail (4): If the ‘Auto Activation in Emergency Situations’ menu is activated in the option settings, the Momentary Foresight option will automatically activate right before a situation threatens the user’s safety or life.]
[Would you like to activate the ‘Auto Activation in Emergency Situations’ menu for this skill?]
[YES / NO]
‘Yesss!’
After reading the message, Lloyd clenched his fist tightly.
It was an option better than he had hoped for.
‘Being able to foresee 5 seconds into the future? This is huge.’
Some might think it’s not much.
But to Lloyd?
It was more than enough.
‘Depending on how I use it, it could be limitless. It could save me from deadly danger in critical moments.’
In truth, he had already achieved almost everything he aimed for.
His family and territory had solid foundations, his wealth was abundant, and his future was wide open like a runway.
If he could resolve the phenomenon of fate restoration?
He could live the rest of his life in bliss.
But there was one thing.
‘You never know when or how an unlucky accident might happen.’
No matter how much of a Sword Master he was.
Looking through history, even the greatest Sword Masters had sometimes died from malicious ambushes or unlucky accidents.
He was no exception.
So an option related to safety like this?
‘The more, the better. It’s always good to have more.’
Be it in driving or in life.
Safety is always the best.
With that thought, Lloyd chose ‘YES’ without hesitation.
[Mana Heart Skill Exclusive Option ⑦: Momentary Foresight has been set to automatically activate in emergency situations.]
‘Good.’
With this, the side effects of the Heart of Winter were resolved.
And he gained a better-than-expected new option.
Lloyd smiled contentedly and looked to the side.
As if waiting for it.
Javier’s eyes sparkled as he asked.
“Is it done?”
“Yeah.”
“Did it go well?”
“What do you think?”
“It seems you’re quite satisfied, judging by your smile.”
“My smile?”
“Yes.”
Javier nodded.
Calmly and coolly, he remarked.
“In fact, you have a particular smile you only show when things go satisfactorily. You probably don’t realize it yourself.”
“Really? How do I smile?”
“It’s a smile that makes people want to distance themselves socially the moment they see it.”
“…”
“But don’t be too disheartened.”
“Why shouldn’t I be disheartened?”
“Because there were not many people socially close to you from the start.”
“Hey, you.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a bit harsh. You don’t know, but I have a lot of people I’m socially close to.”
“Oh, really?”
“Of course.”
“Then name them.”
“Huh?”
“Name the people you are socially close to.”
“…”
“Surely, you didn’t just think of the lord and his wife and Young Master Julian.”
“…”
“Or did you immediately think of me?”
“…”
“Sigh, it’s a pity. Tsk, tsk.”
“…Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“Pardon?”
“Just accept my thanks, and let’s call it even, alright?”
“Heh.”
“…”
This guy Javier, he seems to have perfected the art of not just hitting where it hurts but completely pulverizing it.
Lloyd felt a chill.
But that feeling was fleeting.
Despite Javier’s biting words, Lloyd felt grateful to him.
‘Honestly, without this guy, I wouldn’t have dared to absorb the Eye of Summer.’
It was the same when he absorbed the Heart of Winter.
At that time, right after absorbing it?
He thought he had absorbed it on his own.
But thinking about it later, it didn’t seem likely.
‘It’s a royal divine relic. After absorbing it, I felt the intense cold was no joke.’
So he thought.
There was no way he absorbed it on his own.
Javier’s help must have been there when he was passed out.
‘My guess was right.’
So this time, he outright asked Javier.
When he got the divine relic Eye of Summer, to help him absorb it.
Javier had readily helped.
And he successfully absorbed the Eye of Summer.
‘This guy is really amazing.’
Watching Javier again made him feel reassured.
If it weren’t for this guy, he wondered if he could have come this far.
So he didn’t want to lose him in the future.
He wanted to keep him by his side, bickering forever.
He was holding onto this small, personal wish carefully.
“Hey! Lloyd Frontera!”
Suddenly, the former Spirit King’s angry protest burst from inside Mana Heart, poking at his eardrums.
