Rogue Villain-Chapter 280: I Want Your Body

After explaining that Heavenly Iron was a material not of this world that even the gods desired and how the few pieces currently on Millmeria were most likely from before the gods enforced their monopoly on it, Ackster reluctantly accepted that he might have to wait a little.

His fire right now wasn’t strong enough since it wasn’t any stronger than Trana’s flames, which couldn’t even leave a mark on the broken trident, not to mention the Sun God Token, which was also made from Heavenly Iron.

Ackster had to find a fire hot enough to smelt Heavenly Iron before he could do that.

"Millmeria’s core or the Celestial Smithy are your best bets for that." Trana nodded with a serious expression.

"Neither of those sound easy..."

’Especially not the Celestial Smithy. How am I supposed to go to the realm of the gods and snag part of their fires for myself?’

Ackster sighed. He would have to put refining the Heavenly Iron into his own body on hold. But Heavenly Iron was the absolute best material there was. Until his Smelting Furnace was hot enough, he could just smelt and refine other materials.

"...That’s why, please give me your body, Trana."

Ackster looked into Trana’s eyes with a clear and honest gaze. Trana, being approached so directly, could only be flustered by it.

"W-what?! N-nonsense! To think you practice the lecherous arts of dual cultivation! That is one method through which I won’t help you!"

Trana huffed and turned around, refusing to meet Ackster’s eyes any further.

"Stop being delusional. Don’t you shed your skin, scales, and claws now and then? Can’t you give them to me to eat?"

"You think that’s any better?!"

Still embarrassed, both by what she thought was Ackster’s proposal and her own reaction, Trana lashed out and sent Ackster crashing into a nearby mountainside.

"Sorry. I worded that badly. It’s just that these things aren’t doing much. I need better materials. And as far as I can tell, the best material around here would be your body."

Trana had mixed feelings. It was the first time someone had complimented her with such honesty. But Ackster had complimented her worth as a material for his consumption.

"No. I won’t give any of those to you. But I will go look for better materials, so stay put."

Without waiting for an answer, Trana transformed back into a dragon and took to the skies, disappearing after a few moments.

"Now, My Lord! Let’s run!"

Mara tried to grab Ackster by the arm and run off with him. But she couldn’t move Ackster from the spot.

"You do that if you want. But just remember that Trana put a tracking spell on you. Before you try to run, you should consider breaking that."

"I already did."

Mara let go of Ackster with a secretly proud expression, subtly hoping for praise.

"Really? Both of them?"

"Both?"

"You didn’t think Trana only put one spell on you, right?"

"Shit. I knew it was too easy."

Mara’s expression darkened, and she returned to her magic-training spot.

’I think you’re the only one who would think Trana’s magic was too easy to break...’

Ackster shook his head before finishing the remainder of the precious materials Trana had provided and continuing to train his mana. It had already risen from C to A-rank, but it seemed like it wasn’t making as much progress as before. Ackster wondered if he was doing something wrong or if he had missed anything. But the only thing he could think of was that he wasn’t at sea.

Although Trana had done her best to fill the air in the valley with her cave and cabin with water element mana, it wasn’t the same as when he had been stranded at sea. The salty scent was nowhere to be smelled, and the mana was too tame in the valley. At sea, it was much freer and wilder.

Ackster decided to take a break and focus on Nold’s secret technique’s second stage. It was a little different from the first stage, but the overall idea was the same. He had to destroy his skeleton and bones in such a way that they regenerated stronger and better.

He had already completed one cycle, but strapping the miniature torture rack-like device to his bones after digging through his skin and flesh was still a weird thing to do. Still, it made his bones more flexible, and they were more likely to bend than break if pressured.

Ackster continued training his mana, skeleton, and martial arts, occasionally sparring with Mara, until Trana returned.

"Good news! I found information about the Sea God and the other half of his trident!"

She had a beaming smile on her face even before she transformed into a human. It would have looked scary to anyone except Ackster, thanks to Dauntless. Besides, she came bearing good news. Why would he be scared?

Since the Sea God was only one individual in the annals of time, Trana hadn’t known about him the same way she knew about the Calamitous Cycles and the origins of Calamities, which she would hopefully tell Ackster more about now that she had returned and seemingly forgotten what prompted her to leave.

Trana set down, polymorphed, and was about to begin telling Ackster what she had discovered when she whipped her head to the side and transformed back into a dragon. She looked into the distance with sharp eyes and a growl.

Ackster followed the direction of her gaze but didn’t see anything. He used Limit Breaker to turn his Overhuman Senses beyond their limit. Only then did he vaguely feel an incongruity with the rest of the world in one tiny spot in the air above the mountains. It was so vague that Ackster still didn’t see it. It was just his gut saying that there was something off with that spot.

He was about to ask Trana what was going on when a chill ran down his spine.

"Oh my, even a lowly human noticed me. It seems I’ve gotten rusty. But then again, this one is also the one who interfered with my plans, no?"