Etranger - Chapter 120

Episode 3. Book 2: Search – Chapter 5

“How was it?” asked the woman. Her voice was clear but somewhat drowsy.

“It was as you said. They have made great strides physically and mentally. I was very surprised,” replied the man as his gaze stopped at the woman’s fingertips, which were tapping lightly on the table. Her fingers were white, slender, and long.

She was beating a peculiar beat. Each beat seemed to convey a deep sense of worry.

“Kamije must have been very disappointed, no? His title is the God of War, but he lost so thoroughly in his first encounter with them… Ho-ho,” the woman said as she laughed brightly while flipping her fluttering long hair behind her. Her ebony-colored shiny hair rolled around her shoulders and flowed down.

She wore a flowing black dress shirt with a metallic luster. The slight gradations of her blouse gave off a distinguished air. From the woman’s white face and the line that ran down her thin neckline to her chest, a subtle sense of fullness and sensuality could be felt. Her manner of dress was simple, but it didn’t look cheap. Perhaps, if the minimalists who gained popularity on her planet in the second half of the twentieth century saw her, they’d probably applaud her sense of style.

“Kamije probably was a little deflated. Even though his disciple and the two were summoned together, the difference in their abilities was far apart. Kamije will be impatient. Still, he obtained useful combat data, so it’ll help him make great strides going forward.”

A man, who appeared to be in his 40s, stroked his black beard. Though simple in design, his clothing was made of an expensive red satin and silk material, something nobles of this era enjoyed wearing.

“What about the data sent by Siluone? Have we understood more about the mechanism of ‘acceleration’? The last findings and results were very interesting…” the woman asked. Her fingers were still beating against the table.

“She made rapid progress but fell into a bit of a rut. The first and second stages of accelerations were relatively simple to analyze and test because they rely on pushing the physical limits of humans. However, it was very different from the third stage. The two used a novel method of combining their mind and body to resonate with each other. The development of acceleration through this approach allows them to evolve through the stages at a rapid pace.”

“I see.”

“The problem in analyzing their novel approach is that there are so many combinations and variables that it’s difficult to find a uniform rule. In fact, the possibilities are close to infinity. Through their method, theoretically, the ‘awakened’ status and ‘acceleration’ stage could happen in any field, be it martial arts, woodworking, metallurgy, art, scholarship, or even merchant business.”

“So, what’s the problem? This isn’t anything entirely new…”

“These two human specimens take a different approach than any previous approaches that we’ve seen. Very different. The results are amazing. They are able to use at least five Awakened skills at the same time. However, after progressing to the 6th Stage of Acceleration, their progress has seemingly stopped.”

The woman’s expression changed a little after hearing his last comment. She was showing interest for the first time.

“Hoh- they’re already on the 6th Stage? That’s remarkably fast. If that’s the case, that means they’ve discovered some rules… Have you been able to analyze their development structure?”

“Development structure?”

“If they’ve discovered a rule, it means that there’s a repeating structure that they use as a foundation, and if there is a structure, it means that there are components that are based on that fundamental structure. We have to find out what the components are. As you said, if they showed five or more different skills at once, their actions are proof that they know the ‘structure of acceleration’. It suggests a high probability that they have already found the fundamental ‘law’ that dictates how acceleration works.”

“A fundamental law…”

“They’re very clever. They’ve intentionally concealed their understanding and development from everyone. A higher level of experimentation will be required to derive useful data. If they’ve already passed the 6th Stage of Acceleration, I think we should send a ‘combatant’ to catch them and retrieve the data…”

“That’s difficult,” the man replied as he shook his head.

“Really?” the woman rhetorically asked. Her tone seemed sincere and innocent, but a corner of her mouth rose slightly. She continued, “Anyway, you’ll make your decision based on the judgment of your wise race, but keep this in mind, it’s important to increase one’s level of acceleration, but it is even more important to find a unification theory that penetrates all levels of acceleration. That piece of knowledge is the key to confronting the Creator in the truest sense. It’s the power of creation. Anyway, when is their ‘termination’ clause deadline?”

“That’s… in fact, we’ve picked up some very interesting results on that. The termination clause was not applied on the male. However, the 10-year ‘termination’ clause deadline installed in the female specimen’s body is showing quite strange behavior.”

“What…” the woman said without finishing her sentence. Her eyes grew wide. Her fingertips stopped beating on the table. The man, who received the woman’s piercing gaze, narrowed his own eyes. There was probably no one who faced this woman’s gaze so openly and directly. His gaze soon fell and stopped again at the woman’s fingertips.

“First, the speed of her biological clock is very irregular. Even when we administered our life-extending drug, the reaction she exhibited was subtly different.”

“The progress of her biological clock is irregular? You said her lifespan was set for 10 years? Was that too short of time?”

“First off, considering that the 7th Stage is known as the human limit, we felt that 10 years would be enough to gather all the necessary data and for them to reach the 7th stage of awakening. In case of emergency, we could continuously extend her lifespan by using the Sage’s Medicine.”

“But… what kind of trend did you see? If the speed is irregular, it means that they’re somehow adjusting the fixed deadline…? Surely…?”

The woman’s eyes suddenly shone brightly. Based on his connotations, this was definitely a novel case.

Even the dragons who lived ten thousand years or the Creator’s messenger sages, no one was able to stop the Creator’s ‘termination’ clause deadline, no matter what they tried. There was no case of circumventing the clause up to now.

The only method that was known to affect the ‘termination’ clause deadline was to prolong it with a very small amount of very special medicine extracted from a dragon’s egg, which was allowed only once every hundred years… the Sage’s Medicine.

Thus, there was a desperate effort, currently underway, to increase the dragon population for the past hundreds of years. The woman in front of the sage played a central role in this effort as she knew the most about the dragon race’s structure and reproductive system. However, her main role in this endeavor had severely limited her range of activity.

‘So, the humans are able to control the speed of the ‘termination’ deadline just with their will?’

“Were there any measurement errors? What was the dosage of the drug that was administered? Are you sure their extended lifespan wasn’t a data collection era due to the effects of acceleration?”

“No. Our sages are not so clumsy,” the man replied firmly.

“If so, does that mean they discovered a way to control the pace of the ‘termination’ clause deadline?”

“I see it that way. The question is, is it a coincidence or intentional?”

“Do you see it as intentional?”

“No… I don’t think that they’re capable of that much. However, I’m unsure. Those two humans have always surpassed our predictions.”

The woman stared at the man. Her alluring lips moved as she spoke, “This is really amazing.”

“It’s still a conjecture at this point, but… it seems like they possess the potential to resolve our underlying fundamental problem.”

“They’re a source of hope that may fundamentally release our shackles… If the variables increase, the analysis will become more difficult… ah, it’s so paradoxical. In the end, we find through human beings the answer that we wanted to obtain to overcome them. Hoho… This is very interesting. How can ‘that person’ be so cruel…”

The woman laughed innocently. Her laughter gently spread out and rang within the room.

The man, also known as ‘Nakun’, one of two ‘King of Sages’, trembled. Somehow, her laughter sounded dire.

The woman stopped laughing as she stared into the air for a long time. After a long pause, she opened her mouth to speak again, “Who knows about this outside of you, Nakun?”

“Siluone, and the dragons who sympathize with us know. However, since they are already transforming into Magic Dragons, there’s no risk of information leaking out.”

“Senun, the other King of Sages, has not yet decided on where to stand, right?”

“We’re persuading him, but he’s still showing a reserved attitude.”

“Doesn’t he possess the ‘Sage’s Book’?”

“That’s correct.”

“If Apian decides to make a move, they’ll look for Senun first.”

“That… will probably be the case. The ‘Sage’s Book’ will have to be retrieved…”

“Is there any way you can obtain it? You too, are a King of Sages, are you not? You have as much of a right as Senun to possess the Sage’s Book, no?”

“Senun is strong. If we clash, one of us will disappear. In addition, even I am forbidden to read the ‘Creator’s Chapter’ written in the Sage’s Book without the consent of Senun.”

The woman again tapped her finger on the table.

“Did you say the names of those two specimens were San Kang and Biyeon Kim?”

“Yes, they are from the 285 Episode World.”

“What if…”

“If…?”

The woman stared at Nakun’s face before continuing, “If they truly are capable of breaking the ‘termination’ clause deadline and do just that, what would you do?”

“A whole new level of superhumans would be born. After we collect the material and data from them, we would dispose of them.”

“How do you rate the risk level of obtaining them once they achieve that status?”

“If they break through to the 7th Stage of Acceleration, we’ll send one of our highest-class ‘Combat’ sages to dispose of them and collect their remains. Based on our assessment and having run various simulations, a single Combat sage would mean defeat, two would mean a 50/50 chance, and three would ensure victory.”

“Since they are two, does this mean that at least four to six Combat Sages must be sacrificed?”

“The estimate is based on scenarios when we’re up against them individually. If they’re together, we’ll have to consider a force of at least ten Combat sages. The combined combat power of the two is difficult for us to gauge. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen such a novel battle style as well…”

“Ten… do you expect them to possess that much combat power? A top-notch Combat sage takes 200 years to cultivate and produce. Furthermore, out of the 2,000 sages that are on the side of the Magic Dragons, the highest-grade Combat sages who have reached the 7th Stage of Acceleration will not exceed 30… Then, in your eyes, King of Sage’s Nakun, you’re estimating that their combat power will rival that of all the sages? Is what you’re saying a plausible scenario? Can they really contend against the sages who were originally specialized and created as messengers to convey the Creator’s will?”