The Support Ate it All-Chapter 334: Underworld Dragon King (3)
Unfortunately, my worries had come true.
The Underworld Dragon King put the adamantite ingot away and revealed the next destination.
“We’re going to the workshop.”
Not only was he planning to use it for crafting, but it seemed he also intended to help with the processing himself.
He must’ve thought her father wouldn’t be capable enough.
Father Seo had some expertise in magic engineering, but working with S-rank metal might’ve been beyond his skill.
Adamantite was often accompanied by the phrase “indestructible”.
Among S-rank metals, it was one of the most durable, and it even had the ability to block mana.
That made it almost impossible to process with ordinary magic. Only by bombarding it with space magic could one even have a chance.
The Underworld Dragon King knew this, which was why he had decided to step in personally.
He’s not a godfather in name only.
Considering how easily he handed over the gift and willingly took on a difficult task, perhaps the bond between Seo Ye-in and the Underworld Dragon King was deeper than I’d thought.
The same seemed to apply to the Hye-seong Group and Meteor Dragon.
Still, one question kept circling in my mind.
Is this really worth all that?
A dragon joining in to craft with adamantite, just to make… a dented pot?
It was impressive, yet at the same time, it all felt somewhat ridiculous.
On the other hand, Seo Ye-in didn’t seem to think that at all, as she looked at me with eyes full of excitement.
“Ultra-durable pot…!”
***
Along with the creation of the ultra-durable Kim Ho Kim Ho pot,
The Underworld Dragon King also began participating in Seo Ye-in and my training.
So when he said he’d invest, he wasn’t just being polite.
There was no investment more solid than assigning a dragon as a personal coach.
Especially when he’s got his own hands full.
As we had discussed in the chairman’s office, the vast majority of S-ranks were now racing toward EX-rank.
The Underworld Dragon King was surely no exception, and yet he was choosing to dedicate two whole months of his precious time to us.
His opportunity cost must be sky-high.
From their perspective, even if they poured two months into training, there was no guarantee they’d even reach the threshold of EX-rank.
Even the most prominent powerhouses hadn’t found a clear breakthrough yet.
On the other hand, if he spent that time on Seo Ye-in and me, growth would be certain.
As the Monarch grew quickly, it only made sense that his companions would be elevated rapidly as well.
So while Seo Ye-in received one-on-one impact bullet training from Ahn Jeong-mi,
The Underworld Dragon King personally took charge of training me.
He spoke in a disinterested tone.
“Young Monarch. If there’s something you want to learn, just say it.”
He probably assumed that someone of Monarch level would’ve already set a direction for themselves. And he wasn’t wrong.
A few goals immediately came to mind.
Strengthening my foundation, managing penalties, and crafting items based on the Crow Branch.
Among these, the top priority was:
Strengthening my foundation.
Of course, I was already working on rank-building through sparring with Seo Ye-in, so what I needed was a different kind of foundation work.
I also need to manage the copy slots.
▷Copy – Traits [2/3]
1. Retrocovery (S)
2. The Sovereign’s Crown
3. (None)
One slot was still empty, and I had obtained a Fixed Pin through the final exam quest.
If it was an S-rank dragon, he was more than qualified to fill that empty slot.
So I asked politely.
“I’d like to observe time freeze.”
“And why’s that?”
“I want to experience it once, and if possible, come up with a countermeasure.”
At that, the Underworld Dragon King’s attitude turned indifferent again.
“You think you can come up with a countermeasure just by seeing it once? Besides, with your skills, you won’t even be able to perceive it.”
He wasn’t looking down on me. He was just stating the reality.
Even if the Underworld Dragon King used time magic, no one currently in the training room would be able to notice it.
Not me, not Seo Ye-in, not even Ahn Jeong-mi.
It would be like showing something to a blind person. What would be the point?
Of course, I was aware of that too, but I insisted because it was something I absolutely needed.
“Even so, I’m asking you, please.”
“It’s pointless, I’m telling you. Well, fine. Watch closely.”
Before long, an immense amount of mana began to gather around the Underworld Dragon King.
The turbulent mana gradually took the form of a complex magic formula, and the moment the fully-formed spell was unleashed—
Tick— Tock— Tick— Tock— Tick— Tock—
The ticking sound echoed in my ears, then slowly faded away.
And when I came to my senses, the Underworld Dragon King was standing in a completely different place from where he had cast the spell.
At a glance, it looked as though he had used teleportation magic, but in reality, he had activated [Time Freeze], just as I had requested.
It was an S-rank time spell, with an overwhelming effect that stopped time within a designated range.
If the Underworld Dragon King had harbored any ill intentions, the three of us would have been as good as dead.
“Did you see it?”
“I didn’t.”
“Didn’t I tell you? You just made me waste my mana for nothing.”
The Underworld Dragon King grumbled.
And it was no wonder. Time magic, despite its immense power, had atrocious efficiency.
Not only did it consume a ridiculous amount of mana, but it also required a long casting time and a complex incantation. Yet even after all that, the spell’s duration lasted only a few seconds.
It probably wasn’t much of a burden for a dragon, but naturally, he wouldn’t be pleased about wasting it for no reason.
Though it wasn’t meaningless.
I had achieved my goal.
From the beginning, I hadn’t been aiming for [Time Freeze] itself, but for the trait that manifested alongside it.
[Time Resistance].
A trait that allowed one to resist various time distortions. Such as time freeze or slow.
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Without this trait, even a skilled person on the level of Lee Soo-dok would be completely helpless the moment time magic was activated.
So I had always planned to learn it whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Otherwise, I’d have to intentionally get caught by an enemy using time magic in order to copy it.
And now, I had a chance to obtain it without shedding a single drop of blood. How could I possibly let that slip by?
I’d better snatch it right away.
[Activated ‘Copy-Trait’.]
[The target’s trait ‘Time Resistance (S)’ has been registered in the slot.]
▷Copy – Traits [2/3]
1. Retrocovery (S)
2. The Sovereign’s Crown
3. Time Resistance (S)
The Underworld Dragon King’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.
“…Young Monarch, you did something, didn’t you?”
“I told you I’d come up with a countermeasure, didn’t I?”
Since it was bound to be exposed soon anyway, there was no need to hide it.
“This is interesting. Let’s see what happens.”
As expected, the Underworld Dragon King seemed to have a temperament that couldn’t stand curiosity. He cast [Time Freeze] once again.
He gathered a large amount of mana, combined the spell components, and unleashed the magic.
Tick— Tock— Tick— Tock— Tick— Tock—
The ticking sound echoed in my ears.
What was different this time was that I could clearly perceive the distortion of time.
Everything came to a halt, stripped of color like a black-and-white film.
Seo Ye-in stared at me blankly, and Ahn Jeong-mi stood upright beside her.
The only ones who could move, even slightly, were the Underworld Dragon King and me.
That alone was enough to confirm what we needed, so we didn’t take any further action.
Tick— Tock— Tick—
After a few more ticks, the hall regained its color.
Time Freeze was lifted in just four or five seconds.
No matter how you look at it, the efficiency is terrible.
All that complex effort, just for barely five seconds.
And against someone like me who possessed Time Resistance, it was worse than useless.
“……”
Meanwhile, the Underworld Dragon King kept staring intently at me, seemingly surprised that I had already come up with a countermeasure after falling victim to it just once.
“Amazing. Even a little brat is still a monarch.”
“It’s all thanks to your help.”
Since there was no need to reveal the [Copy] trait, I simply offered a light word of gratitude.
Seemingly even more intrigued now, the Underworld Dragon King made a suggestion this time.
“If there’s anything else you’d like to see, just say the word.”
“I think I’ve seen enough for now.”
The slots were full, and to copy anything else, I’d have to overwrite a slot or use a fixed pin.
Of course, if a skill or trait worth the trouble appeared, I’d gladly copy it.
A list of the Underworld Dragon King’s skills and traits quickly flashed through my mind.
I excluded unique skills and traits since I couldn’t copy those anyway.
And I also ruled out anything that was just high in rank but mediocre in function.
After excluding high-rank spells that were unusable anyway,
The defensive traits look somewhat useful.
But there wasn’t a clear way to draw them out.
If I said something like, “Can I hit you ten times?” like I did to the principal, he’d probably blow up in anger.
Even the principal had seemed reluctant back then, likely because his dignity had taken a hit. How much worse would it be with a dragon?
So I decided to postpone the copying for now and moved on to my next objective.
“I’d like help with managing penalties.”
“There are many types of penalties. Which one are you referring to?”
“Of course, the cooldown.”
In fact, this was the Underworld Dragon King’s area of expertise.
As befitting the title of “the Underworld King “, he possessed numerous skills related to lifespan…in other words, time.
That was why my first request had been, “Please use Time Freeze.”
He was such a pain to deal with when we were enemies.
Alternating between Time Freeze and Slow was his basic attack pattern.
On top of that, the duration of buffs I managed to apply would sharply decrease, wearing off quickly, or skill cooldowns would be massively extended. He was the main reason time management had been so difficult.
He was also the reason the difficulty of the Meteor Dragon raid skyrocketed.
But now that we were on the same side, all those tricky traits were bound to be a huge asset.
Eventually, the Underworld Dragon King gave me a sidelong glance and nodded as if he understood.
“Speaking of cooldowns, there was something bothering me anyway. Show me.”
“Yes, understood.”
I immediately caught on to what he meant.
There was only one skill currently on cooldown.
Hardship.
It had a massive cooldown applied because I used it with Octopus Limbs.
And since the Underworld Dragon King was especially sensitive to time-related elements, he must have sensed it.
I pulled up the relevant part of the notification message.
[Cooldown: 44 days 16:32:39]
“Forty-four days, huh… It’s rare for it to take this long. As expected of the young monarch. Everything’s different with you.”
“This will probably happen often from now on. I’m in a situation where I need to find a breakthrough.”
After all, there are four people I’ll need to assign the Hardship quest to moving forward.
If cooldowns aren’t managed properly, someone might end up having to wait even after clearing their quest.
During the semester, there’s no way I can even think about linking Octopus Limbs with Hardship.
Of course, I brought this up because I was confident the Underworld Dragon King could solve the issue.
He was already fully aware of my skill and trait setups, and the solution was among them.
Sure enough, he responded with a calm expression.
“It’s not a difficult task. While we’re at it, let me show you.”
Then, with a light wave of his hand toward the notification message,
[Cooldown: 22 days 08:16:19]
The cooldown was slashed in half.
It was one of the Underworld Dragon King’s unique skills.
And it was exactly the skill I’d been hoping for.
“It’s called [Time Share]. Want to learn it?”
Obviously, there was no reason for me to refuse.
“If you’re willing to teach me, I’d like to learn it.”
