The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

6. Laying the Foundation (2)

Swoosh!

Thud, roll.

Wooong.

It’s been three days since I locked myself in the dorm room, dying and coming back to life repeatedly.

Through various experiments, I learned a few things.

First, just because you repeatedly die and resurrect doesn’t mean your mana will increase indefinitely.

Second, once you come back to life and your mana increases, it won’t increase any further for about six hours.

Third, the amount of mana that increases when you die and come back to life up to four times a day is much greater than the mana you can accumulate through regular ‘breathing techniques.’

“Wow! This is crazy, absolutely crazy.”

I looked down at the notebook where I recorded the trial and error of the past three days and smiled with satisfaction.

The mana problem that had been holding me back since my previous life.

I never imagined I could solve it in such a ridiculously absurd way.

‘The method of accumulating mana is a bit…’

Four times a day.

Since you have to kill yourself every six hours to increase your mana, no matter how you package it, it’s hard to see it as a normal method.

“So… I just have to die as soon as I wake up in the morning, die after lunch, die after dinner, and die one last time before going to bed?”

Damn it.

Even I think this is insane.

“Sigh. Well, what can I do.”

Since I can’t accumulate mana through normal methods, I have no choice.

If it were my previous life, the moment Iris found out, she would have beaten me to a pulp, but now there’s no one to scold me for being reckless with my life.

“…Tsk.”

Suppressing the thought that I wanted to hear her scolding, I continued my thoughts.

‘I was a bit worried that if I kept using this method, the stigma might wear out or disappear.’

Originally, the power of the primordial fire was to consume and eliminate the stigma.

For some reason, even after absorbing the primordial fire, my stigma remained intact, but I couldn’t help but worry that if I kept using the power of the primordial fire, the stigma or the blessing of resurrection within it might disappear.

‘So far, there hasn’t been any change.’

The stigma engraved on my left chest was intact without any worn or missing parts.

The blessing of resurrection within it also brought me back to life from death as usual.

“Sigh.”

Thinking this way, the current situation seemed quite amusing.

‘I endured such a long time just for the sake of death.’

Now, I find myself worrying about the blessing of resurrection disappearing.

A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily.

Anyway, it was good news that the primordial fire couldn’t erase the ‘blessing of resurrection’ embedded in my stigma.

‘If I can continue to increase my magic power like this… I can reach a much higher place than in my previous life.’

If that happens.

I can protect those I couldn’t protect.

I can save those I couldn’t save.

No more.

I won’t lose anyone.

“…….”

Before the memories of my past life, which I had been suppressing, could resurface, I opened my closed eyes.

“Let’s see, now then….”

Having established a solid foundation for growth, it was time to prepare a weapon that would become a powerful force.

‘A weapon.’

I carefully recalled my past life’s memories and organized things that might be helpful.

‘It shouldn’t be a weapon that’s too difficult to obtain or handle.’

Ancient relics or divine weapons.

Several artifacts I had found while wandering the continent in my previous life came to mind, but all of them were difficult to obtain right now.

‘Even if I get them, I can’t use them properly.’

The more powerful the artifact, the higher the level of the owner needed to handle it, but now most of my abilities were reset except for the memories in my head.

Even if I bleed to get the artifact, there’s a high possibility I won’t be able to use it properly.

‘A weapon that can be obtained quickly and become an immediate force.’

One thing came to mind first.

‘Stigma Amplifier.’

A potion that forcibly boosts the stigma, allowing one to temporarily possess great power.

For someone like me, who lacked magic power, it was a weapon like rain in a drought.

‘I wonder if it’s right to call this a weapon.’

Considering its effect, it was powerful enough to chew up any artifact, so it wouldn’t be wrong to call it a weapon.

Of course.

As powerful as the effects were, the side effects were equally immense.

Even a single dose could twist the body’s energy flow, and taking it consecutively could melt the internal organs, in severe cases leading to death.

“Well, it’s none of my concern.”

I glanced down at the stigma engraved on my left chest and let out a faint chuckle.

“Now that the plan is set, shall we get going?”

The place where the creator of the stigma enhancer, and later a hero who made significant contributions in the war against the demons, resided.

That place was none other than…

‘Reynald Hero School.’

Yes.

It was right here, in this very school.

* * *

Professor’s office in the Warrior Department.

Professor Lucas glared at me with eyes that seemed to ask, what is this b*stard planning now?

“You want to meet Professor Jade?”

“Yes.”

Jade Bastian.

A professor recognized as the continent’s best in stigma research.

“Why Professor Jade all of a sudden? He’s a researcher, so there’s no reason for a cadet to seek him out.”

“I want to consult about my future path.”

“Professor Jade is in charge of the Magic Department, isn’t he?”

“Research related to stigmas can be participated in regardless of the department, can’t it?”

“Hmm.”

Professor Lucas’s gaze deepened.

“…Career consultation, with Professor Jade?”

His beast-like sharp eyes were fixed on me.

“Do you know how he’s referred to within the school?”

“Of course. How could I not?”

No matter how much time has passed.

How could one forget the infamous ‘Disciple Killer’?

“Do you still want to meet him?”

“Aren’t they all just rumors? That Professor Jade killed his student.”

“Rumors, my foot.”

Professor Lucas frowned in displeasure.

It was hard to believe that this was the reaction of a fellow professor, not some students gossiping behind his back.

He couldn’t help it either.

“It was none other than Professor Jade himself who bragged about killing Candidate Oscar two years ago.”

“Didn’t the investigation conclude it was an accidental incident during an experiment?”

“That’s because he’s of ‘Bastian’ bloodline!”

Bang!

Professor Lucas slammed the desk roughly with an excited expression.

“Even if it was truly an accident, a professor shouldn’t behave like that!”

He continued with a voice trembling with excitement, his fist as big as a pot lid shaking.

“Do you know what that b*stard did in front of Candidate Oscar’s grave? Huh? I clearly heard him insult the dead student, calling him a ‘moron’!”

“Were you just listening? Didn’t you punch Professor Jade in the face back then and got demoted?”

“Uh… that, that was… ahem. I was still young back then.”

“Haha. Anyone would think you’re talking about something that happened 20 years ago, Professor.”

“Shut up, you brat!”

Professor Lucas yelled and kicked my shin.

Whoosh.

I naturally twisted my body to avoid his kick.

“You…”

Professor Lucas glared at me with his characteristic beast-like eyes.

“How can a person change so much overnight?”

“I returned from the future.”

“Bullshit.”

No.

I really did return, but it’s a bit unfair.

“You… you didn’t make a pact with a demon or anything, did you?”

“You know that a hero who has awakened the stigmata of the seven gods cannot become a demon, right?”

“…Ugh.”

Professor Lucas frowned, swallowing hard as if he couldn’t make sense of it all.

If there was one lie he had told him.

‘Actually, even a hero can make a pact with a demon and become a demon themselves.’

Of course, this wasn’t the case now, but a story of a future where the demon’s seal had weakened.

There was no need to say anything more that could cause misunderstanding here.

“Well, even if you’re suspended, it’s not like you’re banned from meeting other professors. I’ll write you a letter of introduction, so go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

“Hmph. Go die or whatever, do as you please.”

Professor Lucas scribbled the letter of introduction with a look of utter displeasure.

I took the letter from Professor Lucas and turned to leave his office.

Click.

As I was about to open the door and step outside.

“…If anything happens, come straight to me.”

I heard Professor Lucas’s worried voice from behind.

I chuckled and nodded.

‘Good grief.’

He really is a man whose appearance doesn’t match his personality.

* * *

Professor Jade’s lab was located in the most secluded part of the school.

The school grounds were so vast that most candidates wouldn’t even know there was a lab here.

-Knock, knock.

I knocked on the firmly closed lab door.

-Knock, knock, knock.

I knocked several times, but there was no answer from inside.

-Thud, thud, thud.

“Professor Jade. I know you’re in there.”

This time, I knocked with a bit more force.

Soon, with a creak, the lab door opened.

As soon as the door opened, a terrible stench wafted out.

Through the open door, the inside looked as messy as a haunted house.

“Who are you…?”

An old man peeked through the slightly open door.

Wrinkled skin and liver spots.

His white hair was so matted it was impossible to tell how many days it had been since he last washed, and he wore a robe so dirty it couldn’t even be used as a rag.

It was exactly how Professor Jade looked in my memory.

“I am Dale Han, a third-year candidate from the Department of Warfare.”

“…What do you want from me?”

“I am interested in your research, Professor. Here, a letter of introduction from Professor Lucas.”

“……”

Professor Jade took the letter and started to chuckle, his shoulders shaking.

“Interested in my research?”

“Yes, particularly in the potion-making that affects stigmas.”

“Uh-huh, hee, heeheeheehee!!!”

Professor Jade burst into a bizarre laugh, like a beast corrupted by the blessing of a demon.

“You… you know who I am, right?”

“Yes.”

“Heh, heh, hehhehheh! So, you want to join my research even knowing who I am?”

Professor Jade laughed maniacally, drooling as if he had lost his mind.

Bang!

He violently swung the door open, which had been slightly ajar, and grabbed my collar roughly.

With eyes gleaming with madness, he glared at me and whispered in a sinister voice.

“You… will die.”

“Oh, really?”

Well, then.

Try to kill me.