Final Villain's Broken System: Geniuses Make Me Stronger!

Orwin continued watching Evan construct his mana channels while considering everything involved in moving his Magic Tower to House Orlen.

The relocation itself would be troublesome, but he had enough people and spatial equipment to deal with it. What concerned him more was Sophia.

As one of the three Holy Maidens of the Rathen Empire, she received an enormous amount of funding every year.

The empire provided her with rare cultivation resources, access to restricted libraries, personal instructors and various treasures suited to her progress.

If Sophia decided to follow him to House Orlen, all of that support would disappear.

Orwin thought about the loss for a while, but he wasn’t particularly worried. Geniuses received funding everywhere. Any organization with enough sense would invest in someone like Sophia if given the opportunity.

House Orlen was about to become a ducal house, and Rowena was anything but poor. They would definitely fund his daughter, and even if House Orlen couldn’t provide a few of the rarer items Sophia needed, Orwin could buy them himself.

He was a Paragon Mage who owned an entire Magic Tower.

If he couldn’t even fund the cultivation of his own daughter, then he might as well find a hole and bury himself inside it.

Orwin’s thoughts stopped when the mana around Evan began changing.

The young Squire had reached the final section of his mana channels. His breathing remained steady as he guided mana through the unfinished passage near his upper chest, carefully controlling the amount after Orwin’s previous warning.

The final section gradually stabilized before connecting with the rest.

Once that happened, all the completed channels formed a continuous network throughout Evan’s body. Mana entered through his breathing technique, flowed through the channels and spread across his strengthened tissues.

The pressure coming from Evan increased significantly now that he had broken through to Knight Stage.

He had already strengthened his body using the beast corpses provided by Alaric. The only thing keeping him at the Squire stage had been his incomplete mana channels.

That obstacle had disappeared now.

Evan slowly opened his eyes and examined the unfamiliar sensation of mana flowing through his body. He raised his right hand, circulated a small amount through the corresponding channels and allowed it to strengthen his palm.

Squires couldn’t use mana, but starting from Knight stage, that was no longer a restriction.

Orwin pointed toward one of the thick wooden supports inside the mine.

"Push it. Concentrate the force beneath your palm and stop before you break the entire support."

Evan walked over and placed his palm against the wood. After adjusting the mana flow for a few seconds, he pushed.

A clear palm shaped depression appeared in the wood. The force sank several centimeters into the support, but no cracks spread beyond the affected area.

Orwin’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Most newly advanced Knights struggled to control how much force they used. They strengthened too many muscles at once, wasted mana and caused damage far beyond what they intended.

Evan had concentrated the force beneath his palm and stopped the mana flow at the correct moment. His control was far from perfect, but it was already ridiculous for someone who had become a Knight less than a minute ago.

At the same moment, inside House Orlen’s mansion, a familiar series of notifications appeared before Alaric.

[Quest: Break through to Knight — Evan Lionheart]

[Completed]

[Grade: A]

[Issuing Rewards.]

[The host has leveled up. Talent Point +1]

[Level: 10]

[Reflex Calibration Serum has been placed in System storage.]

Back inside the mine, Evan was still examining the palm shaped depression when a familiar influx of memories entered his mind.

He closed his eyes and remained still until the experience settled.

Evan couldn’t properly go through everything while standing there, but he could already feel that these memories were extremely important.

Every previous set had helped him far more than he had originally expected, and the weight carried by this one made him unwilling to carelessly examine it.

He opened his eyes and bowed toward Orwin.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I would’ve made several mistakes without you."

Orwin waved his hand. "Go back to House Orlen and familiarize yourself with your strength. I need to return to the Rathen Empire and arrange the relocation."

Evan thanked him again before leaving the mine.

Orwin waited until he was gone, then began placing the research material, equipment and everything else inside his spatial ring. Within minutes, the section of the mine he had occupied became almost completely empty.

He gave the place one last glance before leaving as well.

There was a lot to handle in the Rathen Empire.

He had to speak with Sophia, organize the first group of Champion Mages, Mages and Mage Apprentices, researchers, secure everything too dangerous to transport casually and prepare his Magic Tower for a gradual relocation.

*****

Alaric held a small glass vial containing the Reflex Calibration Serum.

The System had explicitly stated when the quest was issued that the serum was safe for Squires. He therefore removed the stopper and drank the entire contents without waiting until his breakthrough.

He had always been of the mind that good things must be used immediately.

The liquid had an unpleasant medicinal taste. Within a few minutes, warmth spread from his stomach toward his spine, then through his neck and into his head.

His eyesight and physical speed remained the same, but he gradually noticed a change in how quickly his body followed his decisions.

Alaric went to his private training hall and activated one of its practice formations. He inserted mana crystals into the formation, selected the random attack setting and walked into the marked area.

Several padded practice rods were installed within the walls. Once the formation began operating, they would strike from different directions and at irregular intervals.

The first rod shot toward his right shoulder.

Alaric noticed its angle and moved aside before it could touch him. Another came from behind, forcing him to lower his body, while a third targeted his ribs when he was still recovering his posture.

He understood that stepping away would work, but chose to deflect it instead.

His left forearm moved across his body and struck the side of the padded rod, changing its direction without throwing him off balance.

Alaric’s eyes brightened.

Previously, there had been moments where his throwing mastery told him the correct response to be in an optimal position to throw knives, but his body had already begun carrying out a different movement.

By the time he understood that he should duck instead of retreating, his legs might already be pushing him backward.

The difference involved a tiny amount of time, but that tiny delay mattered in battle.

Now he could perceive the approaching strike, choose between the responses available to him and carry out the one he selected.

His thoughts and body felt far cleaner when working together.

This was a big upgrade to his combat prowess and his survivability!

Alaric increased the formation’s speed and continued until a rod finally struck his side.

His eyes were practically shining when the test ended. When the rod finally struck him, the formation was running at the speed at the level of a considerably strong Knight.

Which meant he would be able to dodge the strikes of a newly advanced Knight without much issues despite being a Squire!

The serum hadn’t given him combat knowledge or increased his raw reflex speed by some absurd amount. Its value came from allowing him to use what he already possessed more effectively.

For someone with Minor Mastery of Throwing Knives, that was already a substantial improvement.

Alaric then opened his talent panel.

[Talent Points: 18]

After investing twenty five points into Body, he had saved another seventeen. Most had come from Mira awakening the Dragon Rider Path, while Evan’s breakthrough had now given him the eighteenth Talent Point.

He invested all of them into Magic.

His Body talent had already reached its first threshold. Combined with the Mana Channel Construction Orb and his remaining Lithy Flowers, it was enough to carry him toward the Knight rank.

Magic remained his completely untouched weakness.

The new Academy would be teaching Magic Path without requiring him to sign some ridiculous contract with a Magic Tower.

He couldn’t afford to waste that opportunity because his natural talent was too terrible to properly understand the lessons.

Especially when he possessed the means to change that talent.

After spending several days cultivating with twenty five Talent Points in Body, Alaric had formed a rough understanding of what the numbers represented.

Twenty five points had raised his Body talent to the level of an ordinary Knight. This included people who needed most of their lives to reach the Knight stage and only succeeded when they were already old.

Fifty points should place him above average, within the range of people capable of reaching Knight before old age.

Seventy five points represented the kind of talent that would make a noble house willing to invest in a Squire. At that level, the chances of the investment producing a useful Knight were high enough to justify spending resources.

One hundred points could reasonably be called a genius.

As for how many points he needed to reach Evan’s level, Alaric had no fucking idea. That bastard had obtained Minor Mastery in swordsmanship while still a Squire and was already halfway toward another Minor Mastery.

Alaric also suspected that each Talent Point was less effective for him than it had been for Evan in Tales of Golden Era.

His altered System allowed him to complete quests at a much faster rate than Evan in Tales of Golden era.

His Talent Point income was already more than twice as fast as Evan’s had been in the novel, and it would grow even faster if the System connected with more Geniuses.

Reducing the effectiveness of each individual point would make sense under those circumstances, though he had no way to confirm the suspicion yet.

After investing the eighteen points, ambient mana felt slightly easier to distinguish. He still lacked a Magic breathing technique and had no mana core, so the improvement couldn’t do much for him right now.

That could wait until the Academy.

Alaric took out the Mana Channel Construction Orb and the partially consumed Lithy Flower before instructing his attendants not to disturb him.

He then sat down, began his breathing technique and placed both hands upon the Orb.

The session continued without any messages, political emergencies, unexpected visitors or troublesome Paragons appearing around his people.

Several hours later, Alaric examined the network forming throughout his body.

Every mana channel except one had finally been completed, leaving only the final channel between him and the Knight rank.

Finally! I am about to reach the Knight Rank!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!