WM – Chapter 273: Takatsuki Makoto heads to the Demonic Continent

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Black clouds that continue on endlessly. 

We are riding a black dragon as we fly on.

Of course, the one we are riding on is the White Dragon Mel-san though. 

A white dragon would stand out too much, so she is apparently using Transform to change her appearance. 

Mel-san can do so many things she is reliable. 

“Spirit User-kun, is this the correct direction? I feel like we are going through a terrible roundabout route.” (Mel)

“Yeah, the elites of the demon lord army are hiding there, so we are taking a detour.” (Makoto)

“I am impressed that you can tell that, Master.” (Momo)

“I can’t see that even with my Farsight as an elf though…” (Johnny)

Momo and Johnny-san were straining their eyes. 

“I saw the future. It is handy.” (Makoto)

“““…”””

Everyone made dubious looks at me. 

I am not lying here though. 

Why are you looking over here with those faces? 

(They are thinking you are getting further and further away…from being a human, Takatsuki Makoto…) (Ira)

Ira-sama read the minds of everyone and told me. 

Even if you tell me that, the Clairvoyance activates on its own and I’ve got nothing to do with it. 

I am not the weird one.

(It will take a few days before you reach the Great Demon Lord’s castle in the Demonic Continent. Don’t go wasting your Divinity too much, okay?) (Ira)

I really want to do that, but…as I said, I can’t control my Clairvoyance. 

(Anyways, reserve your strength! Got it?!) (Ira)

Okay…

Ira-sama has gotten as noisy as Noah-sama. 

Wonder if Noah-sama is doing well…

“What are you thinking about, Makoto-san?” (Anna)

Anna-san peeked at my face. 

“Uhm…about an acquaintance of my homeland.” (Makoto)

I can’t speak in detail about the Evil God Noah-sama. 

“I see~. About the 4 girlfriends you say you have? Which girl were you thinking of?” (Anna)

Anna-san pouts as she asks me this.

Didn’t you say you didn’t believe me? 

“Sadly to say, it is a different one from those 4.” (Makoto)

““A 5th one?!””

Not only Anna-san, even Momo joined in for the retort. 

“…The imaginary girlfriends of Makoto-san have increased (in a low voice).” (Anna)

“…What will the background story for this one be? You ask him, Anna-san (in a low voice).” (Momo)

“…Eh?! I don’t wanna! You ask, Momo-chan (in a low voice).” (Anna)

“…It gives me conflicted feelings, so I don’t wanna (in a low voice).” (Momo)

“I can hear you, you two.” (Makoto)

Let’s stop this talk. 

After that, we had harmless talk as we continued our journey. 

◇◇

“Let’s camp here for today.” (Johnny)

Johnny-san found a spot to camp at, and made a table and chairs with wood magic. 

He is also making simple beds. 

Johnny-san is really dextrous. 

Mel-san sets a barrier, and Anna-san and Momo prepare the meal. 

I was also wondering if I can help out with something, so I looked around for a job to do, but…there was nothing. 

It couldn’t be helped, so I trained in my magic together with Dia as I waited.

I shape a variety of living beings with water magic.

I would have them do stuff like fly, run, and converse.

It is so lively it is fun.

“What’s going on here…? Why is there a need to make them talk with magic?” (Mel)

Mel-san was directing eyes here that were as if she were looking at something creepy. 

“With Saint Rank Magic, the magic talks.” (Makoto)

I answer with a slightly triumphant tone. 

It reminds me of the Saint Rank Magic of Rosalie-san. 

That was the fire angel spell, right? 

It is only with Water Magic, but I feel like I have finally reached that level. 

“Communicating with the spell one has made is in order to reinforce the power of the spell. There’s no need to make them talk freely.” (Mel) 

“I also use Saint Rank Magic, but I don’t use it like you, Makoto-dono.” (Johnny)

Even Johnny-san had his opinion after Mel-san.

E-Eeh?

(Your way of using magic -to put it bluntly- is pretty weird, you know?) (Ira)

Eh? No way! 

Even you, Ira-sama?! 

Even though Noah-sama praised me! 

(So it is because of Noah, huh… Why isn’t she teaching her own Apostle the efficient way to use magic?) (Ira)

Magic doesn’t have any strict rules, so Noah-sama told me ‘do as you wish’.

I see. 

So my magic is inefficient. 

It is true that I did feel my growth  has stagnated lately. 

As proof of that…

“Hey, Dia, my Water Magic Proficiency isn’t getting any higher than 999. Do you know why?” (Makoto)

I ask the Great Water Spirit as I show her my Soul Book.

“Hmm… A magic tool of the Holy Gods, huh. I don’t mind such numbers, but there’s no doubt Our King is getting stronger, you know?” (Dia)

“Really?” (Makoto)

I really can’t tell myself, but Dia says I am properly growing. 

When is it going to increase…? 

I was glaring at my Soul Book, and someone called me from the back. 

“Makoto-san♡, preparations for dinner are almost done.” (Anna)

“T-Thanks, Anna-san.” (Makoto)

For some reason, the Light Hero-san wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed herself against me.

She has been really close to me lately.

“You are working hard on your training today as well. After dinner, please check my magic.” (Anna)

Saying this, she pulled my hand. 

She was nervous when we just left, but right now she is calm.

That’s a relief. 

(Women are always happy as long as they can be with the man they love.) (Ira)

Ira-sama’s voice resonates. 

The battle with the Great Demon Lord is approaching though. 

(Be kind to Anna-chan, okay? The power of the Light Hero Skill will change greatly from that.) (Ira)

I see…

I don’t really like such calculative actions though.

But the only attack method that works on the Great Demon Lord is the Light Hero Skill.

The Light Hero Skill is affected by the emotions of the user…apparently.

So, I can’t sour the mood of Anna-san. 

But well, Anna-san was talking to me all smiles while we were eating. 

For dinner, we cooked animal meat that we got from the forest, fruits that we collected nearby, and bread that we brought from the dungeon city. 

They are all tasty. 

After dinner, I tagged along in the training of Momo and Anna-san. 

Mel-san who had been carrying us all the way here was lying down and resting, and Johnny-san was sipping the liquor he himself made. 

After a while, Momo and Anna-san said their concentration was lacking already, so we were taking a break. 

I was continuing my water magic training. 

Lately, no matter how much magic I use, I don’t get tired at all.

Is this even serving as training?

I am a bit unsure about this. 

I continue the use of water magic as I look around, and I noticed that Johnny-san was looking up. 

“Johnny-san, what are you looking at?” (Makoto)

“Aah…this tree is a cherry blossom tree, isn’t it?” (Johnny)

“Cherry blossom tree?” (Makoto)

Being told this, I direct my gaze there.

There’s no flowers or leaves, but judging from the trunk and branches of the tree, it does look like a cherry blossom tree.

But this is a parallel world. 

(A guy had been transferred to this world and spread cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom trees aren’t rare in this world.) (Ira)

Ira-sama told me. 

Hooh…I see. 

In my previous world, I didn’t really take a careful look at cherry blossoms, but it is nostalgic now.

But well, it is currently in a saddening state of having no flowers or leaves though.

“Let’s see. Since there’s the opportunity, let’s have it bloom.” (Johnny)

“Eh?” (Makoto)

Johnny-san says as if it were nothing and chants something. 

Buds were visibly showing from the cherry blossom, and faint pink petals were opening. 

“Wow…” (Anna)

“So pretty…” (Momo)

Anna-san and Momo let out their voice in admiration.

“Hooh, this is impressive.” (Mel)

I heard the voice of Mel-san. 

Looks like it is a spell that can impress even an Ancient Dragon.

After a few minutes, a cherry blossom tree in full bloom showed up.

It stands out quite a lot, but thanks to the barrier of Mel-san, they shouldn’t be able to find us. 

The wind blew and faint pink petals danced in the air. 

“It is beautiful.” (Makoto)

“Nice, right? A cherry blossom dance.” (Johnny)

I nod at the words of Johnny-san.

“We are having a cherry blossom viewing. Makoto-dono, let’s drink.” (Johnny)

“Let’s.” (Makoto)

I am in the middle of training, but I gratefully accept the cup.

If I don’t drink here, I wouldn’t be japanese. 

“Do you like these flowers, Master?” (Momo)

“Yeah, they are flowers that bloom in my homeland too.” (Makoto)

I would like to show Sa-san too. 

I am sure she would be happy. 

“Then, once we are back at the dungeon city, let’s plant a whole lot of this.” (Momo)

“Nice idea, Momo-chan. I will help out too.” (Anna)

Momo and Anna-san were heating up there. 

Rather than flowers, it is a tree though. 

I won’t go saying tactless stuff. 

I definitely would like cherry blossom trees to spread more in this world. 

I finished that day with a peaceful mood as I watched the cherry blossom I hadn’t seen in a while. 

◇◇

After that, we take two whole days to cross the West Continent, and we arrived at a deep black sea. 

The sea that separates the West Continent and the North Continent. 

We are travelling on the back of Mel-san to fly above that sea. 

By the time I was getting bored by the dark view of the sea, an ashen land showed up in front of us. 

“It’s coming into view.” (Mel)

“White Dragon-san, that’s…” (Makoto)

“Yeah, that’s the homeland of the demons. You humans call it the North Continent, right?” (Mel)

Those words made everyone talk less. 

Even Johnny-san seemed to be nervous. 

The North Continent…its other name is the Demonic Continent. 

(Now that I think about it…this is my first time coming here…) (Makoto)

I have fought demons and a Demon Lord in the future, but I never went there. 

This would be my first time landing there. 

And in this way, we stepped into the continent where the Great Demon Lord is. 

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112 thoughts on “WM – Chapter 273: Takatsuki Makoto heads to the Demonic Continent

        1. No that’s still a bad idea, the reason Noah sealed it was both because it consumed Makoto and its banned by the holy gods and will make him a target to be eliminated like last time when Eir killed him

      1. Probably…
        But, it seems will slowly fading with time or with every use of summon undines. In other words, instead of using his lifespan, he probably will use his Divinity to summon undine.

    1. “(They are thinking you are getting further and further away…from being a human, Takatsuki Makoto…) (Ira)”
      Isn’t that a good thing that he gets stronger ?

      ““Sadly to say, it is a different one from those 4.” (Makoto)
      ““A 5th one?!””
      Not only Anna-san, even Momo joined in for the retort.
      “…The imaginary girlfriends of Makoto-san have increased (in a low voice).” (Anna)
      “…What will the background story for this one be? You ask him, Anna-san (in a low voice).” (Momo)
      “…Eh?! I don’t wanna! You ask, Momo-chan (in a low voice).” (Anna)
      “…It gives me conflicted feelings, so I don’t wanna (in a low voice).” (Momo)”
      HAHAHA. Makoto, don’t talk about girls anymore.

      ““Communicating with the spell one has made is in order to reinforce the power of the spell. There’s no need to make them talk freely.” (Mel)
      “I also use Saint Rank Magic, but I don’t use it like you, Makoto-dono.” (Johnny)”
      He looks like a guy who yearn from talking to someone.

      “Even though Noah-sama praised me!
      (So it is because of Noah, huh… Why isn’t she teaching her own Apostle the efficient way to use magic?) (Ira)”
      He is really devoted to Noah. For just a moment, he looked like Cain.

      ““Makoto-san♡, preparations for dinner are almost done.” (Anna)
      “T-Thanks, Anna-san.” (Makoto)
      For some reason, the Light Hero-san wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed herself against me.
      She has been really close to me lately.
      “You are working hard on your training today as well. After dinner, please check my magic.” (Anna)
      Saying this, she pulled my hand.
      She was nervous when we just left, but right now she is calm.
      That’s a relief.
      (Women are always happy as long as they can be with the man they love.) (Ira)”
      Anna really fell for him, huh. Her love for him increased drastically.

      “The Light Hero Skill is affected by the emotions of the user…apparently.”
      Is that why Sakurai was stronger when Makoto was at its side. Also, it is also sad because it means that there wasn’t someone that Sakurai could really trust from the bottom of his heart.

      Cherry blossom, huh.
      https://i.imgur.com/mTQbxWk.jpg

      1. Sad but true regarding Sakurai. We already knew how much confidence he had in Makoto since he first left the Water country when selected by the Sun country.

        With how popular Sakurai was in his previous world, he had time to be able to see everyone’s abilities and personality most likely (even if it was a peaceful time) and no one could compare to Makoto (even if Sakurai wasn’t really looking at people that way but experiences like that stand out for people I’d think).

    1. “Hey, Dia, my Water Magic Proficiency isn’t getting any higher than 999. Do you know why?” (Makoto)
      I ask the Great Water Spirit as I show her my Soul Book.
      “Hmm… A magic tool of the Holy Gods, huh. I don’t mind such numbers, but there’s no doubt Our King is getting stronger, you know?” (Dia)

      Ohhhhhh, so he’s proficiency is above 999? So that was a problem with the Soul Book itself haahhh.

      “Makoto-san♡, preparations for dinner are almost done.” (Anna)
      “T-Thanks, Anna-san.” (Makoto)
      For some reason, the Light Hero-san wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed herself against me.

      It feels like Anna is slowly becoming a yandere. Isn’t that like Noel? Those “♡” scares me man.

      “Aah…this tree is a cherry blossom tree, isn’t it?” (Johnny)
      “Cherry blossom tree?” (Makoto)
      Being told this, I direct my gaze there.
      There’s no flowers or leaves, but judging from the trunk and branches of the tree, it does look like a cherry blossom tree.
      But this is a parallel world. 
      (A guy had been transferred to this world and spread cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom trees aren’t rare in this world.) (Ira)

      Johnny gives the vibe of an otherworlder but I don’t think he is. Maybe his ancestors or parents were?

      The North Continent…its other name is the Demonic Continent. 
      (Now that I think about it…this is my first time coming here…) (Makoto)
      I have fought demons and a Demon Lord in the future, but I never went there. 
      This would be my first time landing there. 
      And in this way, we stepped into the continent where the Great Demon Lord is. 

      To the Demonic Continent! I’m excited to see what it looks like and what awaits for the party there. This is all Ira-sama’s plans so we can expect some failure to happen anyways so looking forward to that.

      1. Probably his parents or ancestors. I think a lot of Japanese Otherworlders reincarnated into the Eastern Continent. I mean, they also have katanas there.

        Furthermore, they said that the East Continent is in a turbulent period in the present: “There’s currently a lot of countries fighting for the hegemony of the continent. ” (Chapter 173). It kinda reminds me of the Sengoku Era.

        1. I think so too. He said he wants to travel the world so maybe he wants to visit the Eastern Continent and meet his relatives there?

    1. So 999 is the cap level huh? That’s a bit disappointing then. Well he got divinity albeit temporary so he’s still OP tho.

      “Sadly to say, it is a different one from those 4.” (Makoto)
      ““A 5th one?!””

      Nope, if we count Ira and Janet, it’ll be 7 then

      1. Aah yes mary, if I recall she kisses him in the LN right? I did consider her too but in the WN she’s pretty much forgotten by the author so I’m not sure if the author wants to make her a heroine candidate too or not.

      2. If even with divinity he can’t get to 1000, I wonder what will happen when he’ll be there… that must be awesome!

        1. I wonder if 999 is the limit it can monitor, not a set limit like the one the gods had placed but a hard limit that the item itself cant register unless they get a better one(if they exist)

      3. Maybe it’s the same situation as back then, where the cap looked like 99 and then Noah illegally lifted it.

      4. No, 999 is simply the highest level it shows. She just told him that he’s still getting stronger. His soul book showed 999 at the point he came to the past. If he has gotten stronger than that, then he clearly must be above 999, even as it doesn’t show up in the soul book. It may be the case that he was above it even when he went into the past.

        He encountered this in the past, when he *thought* he was stuck on 99. Noah lifted the limit on the soul book – but really that’s just the limit on what it indicates. Just as a car may be able to travel faster than the speedometer is capable of indicating. The soul book is merely a tool, to measure. It doesn’t limit you. What might limit you is thinking you hit a cap and ceasing your training there – under the (incorrect) assumption that you can’t get any stronger.

        I wonder what the real number would be…

      5. I think it could be more like it takes a lot to go from 999 to 1000 and Dia can perceive that he is like 999,3 and then 999,4 but the progress is really slow?
        But of course that could also be only a problem of the book. In that case maybe Ira could do something? Wasn’t she the one who made the skill descriptions?

    1. Well, now I’m almost sure that Jonny is either a transfered person or a reincarnaited one, together whit the fact about his name being an obvious reference to a certain famous alcoholic drink.

      I see Anna and Momo are being cute in this chap as well. Umu, thats good civilization

  1. Thanks for the chapter, looks like I realy have to manually check out the updates now. The app have periods where it doesn’t show notifications at all. Then show it all at once

  2. Those two are going to be so disappointed later on when they find out he does have 4 girlfriends + a goddess he’s incredibly devoted to. Momo less so, but Anna…

    Thanks for the chapter!

    1. 4 and a goddess is the short list as there are some that may qualify not to mention the great sage waited 1000 years to be included.

  3. I think that he should cented more in other magics, to not waste the Divinity of Ira-chan then he should center in Light Magic, and specially center in forms to conbine the the magics of differents elements, I said my propose a chapters ago about water + lightning.

  4. If makoto wants to feel he still getting stronger, instead of emulating 1000+ butterflies, he should emulate 100000 chickens versus 1000 trex and enjoy the water slaughter

  5. Cherry Blossom chapter
    And how exactly does talking with your spell increase its power?
    Is it like raising their spirituality to give them sentience and thus allowing them to control more power to support you? or something else entirely?

    1. I think it’s another level to exercising complexity in spell development and manipulation or it could be something like layering a spell using a spell

  6. I think Makoto creating sentient magic is getting pretty close to what the titans god made to nature. They gave it a will. I think someday Makoto may be able to creat his own lifeform spell that is independent from him

    1. He might be able to do that before he goes back to the future.

      Imagine if he’s able to create demi-spirits through magic that grow at the rate of a Human.

      He could give Anna a child before he is forced to leave.

  7. Thanks for the chapter !
    Hanabi, un?
    That’s so beautiful! And I like the interactions with Johnny. Not sure why momo dislikes him in the future, it sure doesn’t seem so bad. A bit too Japanese to be a pure elf, anyway

  8. Thanks for the chapter!

    Johnny is still cool, not sure where the hate comes from.

    And Anna falling more in love has me concerned in case she learns the truth. Will she come back to the future with Makoto? All the time shenanigans has made the Waifu Wars so complicated TT_TT

  9. I had thought the way Makoto would win the Great Demon Lord battle would involve Noah, but I feel that 999 water proficiency is a flag and in the middle of the fight he’ll reach 1000, which’ll allow him to do something crazy. If I recall correctly, 1000 water prof was the requirement to synch with Undine? Maybe he’ll somehow fuse all the Undines back to their original form, or maybe he’ll become a god! I can’t wait~

    1. I think you are missing the bigger implication here. In the past Makoto had over 99 magic proficiency, but it was stuck at 99 until Noah modified his book. What Dia is saying is that his water proficiency is higher than 1,000, but the display on his soul book made by the holy gods is stuck at 999.

      If Makoto does not have 1,000 water magic proficiency then he would see Dia or Undines. 105 is needed to just see spirits of that element.

      1. It’s not that he wouldn’t be able to see them without 1000, he wouldn’t be able to sync. And we don’t know if the soul book maxes at 999 but it can go further, I think that the gap between 999 and 1000 is extremely large and has special implications, so while he is stronger than a just 999, he hasn’t yet broken through to 1000. Perhaps to get to 1000 just training isn’t enough and some special requirement must be met

    2. He had 999 (or rather that is what he soul book displayed) even before traveling back in time. It may be that it was higher than that – yet the soul book (a measurement tool) doesn’t register it fully – even before going back,
      Even if you assume he was exactly 999 at that point, we just learned affirmatively that he has gotten stronger than he was when he came back. Therefore, he absolutely must be above 999 at this point.

      Think of a car speedometer with a maximum value – if the car goes faster than that, it shows only the maximum value anyhow. This is how it was previously, when it only displayed up to 99 proficiency. He was still getting stronger, but it didn’t reflect in the soul book til Noah adjusted it.

  10. Heh Anna and Momo getting surprised when Makoto says he’s thinking of another girl aside from his 4 girlfriends. Despite thinking his girlfriends are imaginary, they’re still wary of more competition.

    Now they’re having a cherry blossom viewing while drinking alcohol. Johnny is getting more and more Japanese. He must have had a Japanese ancestor. I think it would be unlikely for him to a reincarnated Japanese otherwise he would have definitely commented on Makoto’s name and appearance. Anyways I was honestly expecting Makoto to begin crying since this should be the first time he’s seen cherry blossoms in years.

  11. Johnny’s ancestors or parents came from the east continent. That continent might have had isekai people because they do have summoning magic and it feels like its in warring states period like Japan’s past civil war. The only elf that has red hair is Lucy that was half-demon, so Johnny might be part demon too.

    It is interesting to know that you do not need to use an angel to utilize saint-rank magic. Magic is able to talk at this level. Higher rank magic have wills. It makes sense.

    As expected, Makoto’s water magic proficiency display on his soulbook is stuck at 999. My guess is that the soulbook made by the holy gods is only meant for limiting or discouraging mortals from going any higher. If people could honestly see their levels going up normally, it is encouraging to reach newer heights. Without being able to see these level ups, it slows the motivation of the person training. So I get how Makoto is feeling down that he cannot see his real water magic proficiency like in rpg games. It is hard to make training efficient without that crucial attention to detail.

    Makoto already had 1000+ proficiency since he first met Dia in the past or in the present when Lucy saw his soulbook at 999. I kind of resent the gods for limiting the soulbooks display. They really do not want people to learn spirit magic.

    Makoto’s Girlfriends~
    Number 5: Noah
    Number 6: Ira
    Number 7: Janet
    Number 8: Mary
    Number 9: Momo
    Number 10: Anna
    Number 11: Mel

    I wonder how he will explain this to the first four? XD

  12. Makoto’s still got practically no days of life left. He needs to either sacrifice some enemies or apotheosis.

    1. If Ira’s words are true, Makoto has Infinite Life. Makoto’s life, then, is measured in Divinity rather than Life Span.

      Which is fine, because either way, they’re just no-regen MP to him.

  13. Love affects the Light Hero. Wait a moment, Sakurai displayed his rainbow strike against the Taboo Dragons & the Beast Lord with Makoto! I detect the presence of Yaoimaru!

  14. Thanks for the Chapter (´-﹏-`)
    That ♡ tho…
    I see that Anna’s adding “devoted love interest” to the genre now

  15. Hmmm. When Makoto first meets Momo she warns him that being a follower of Noah will cause him massive problems…. if Anna is in the ice coffin and she went in there not knowing is a follower of Noah…

    1. Personal theory: on their first encounter, it was before some changes rippled in. She didn’t actually know Makoto then. That was simply the original timeline’s Great Sage/Momo. For example. the statue of Abel was still white (chalk) when Makoto first visited Highland. He met Momo well before going to highland, and therefore before that particular set of changes occurred.

      Later it was greenish like the Statue of Liberty (copper) – indicating the past had been altered to some degree as changes rippled in. Only Makoto’s memory was unaffected. Ira *should have* noticed this happening, and probably would have if she wasn’t descended the whole time. In later encounters, Momo was favoring Makoto way too much. That Momo knew everything, though she kept quiet about it.

  16. Thanks for the chapter! That said, I’ve started rereading the WN now knowing what I know now. The bifrons fight is a massive spoiler. Man, this story was so plotted out in advance. I wanna question how much is actually changed..

  17. Somehow got a feeling that Sakurai-kun is in fact reincarnation of Johnny. Professional reincarnating hero?
    With how Anna and Momo tease Makoto about girls being imaginary I can’t help but anticipate the moment he waltzes away. “You thought I was joking? Now you two also became ‘virgin’s blueballed girlfriends’, just like the rest(smirk)”….sadly, he won’t tease them in such way.

    1. Yeah, a shuraba will happen before he can get this opportunity.

      By the way, I posted an imaginary scenario about Ira getting Charmed by the headpats of Makoto on chapter 272.

  18. Hmm. Johnny continues to show a very Otherworlder vibe. Either he’s descended from some, or reincarnated, right?
    Meanwhile, Anna’s love is…getting heavier. Now I kinda dread what’ll happen if she follows him to the present day, because she’ll probably be hella pissed at how Highland leaders have been treating him.

    So Takki’s reached the level where he can casually cast spells that emulate life… Talking is actually mechanically a very complex thing, so it’s pretty insane that he’s casually doing it.
    According to Dia, he’s getting stronger. So is it that he’s already crossed the 999 mark? Or is it just that 1000 is a really crazy high benchmark so even if he gets stronger, it won’t mark the change until he crosses the ceiling higher than the sky?

    ….Come to think of it, he transformed into a spirit last time, but what would happen if he tried to transform into a god as he is now? Noah is apparently crazy strong, so let’s go with the apparent weakest Noah or the Eir for the best affinity.

    1. The soulbook is just a measurement tool made by the holy gods with ulterior motives. They arbitrarily locked the display cap at 99 before to discourage going any higher just so people would not see spirits at 105.

      Makoto’s modified soulbook display cap is stuck at 999. His water magic proficiency will still go up, but it will always display as 999. For example 2,000 or 1,5000 will display like 999 as the maximum value due to the tools limitation. Dia a great spirit even said it is going up and talked dismissively about the soulbook.

      Noah even said he needs 1,000 to even call out to Undine, so he is way above 999 at this point. Logically speaking, it has been 6+ months and and Makoto is training fanatic and he had 999 when Lucy saw his stats. If Makoto has not, then that is just poor writing.

      1. Counterpoints:
        1. Noah already modified the soul book so sticking a new cap on it doesn’t make sense, especially since titans value freedom.
        2. Dia talked dismissively about the Soul Book and the concept of proficiency levels. Even if he’s objectively getting stronger, it doesn’t mean it’ll register in proficiency levels when it’s being measured under this system. It’s already been established that raising proficiency gets harder the higher the value is. We’ve hit 999 during the Spirit King incident, so maybe it’s just a huge gap and it’s technically more like Takki’s raising his level from 999.000001 to 999.00001.
        3. Undine can be called because Takki has access to Charm magic. That’s been the case since the first contact, and 1000 proficiency isn’t necessary for that for him specifically. At best, he hit a threshold where his charm bonus can consistently connect him to Undine instead of it only being circumstantial. Being able to interact with Undine is hardly a marker of anything at this point.
        4. It’s not bad writing to just say that the gap between 999 and 1000 is big. It’s explicitly been a plot point that he seemingly hasn’t hit it yet. There are plenty of other directions to go before jumping straight to “bad writing”.

    2. 1. So you agree deep down, but being the devils advocate?

      2. Makoto is currently not Noah’s follower. In order for Makoto to call Undine in the Sun Country he needed to fulfil three conditions. 200+ proficiency, charm on, and Noah’s follower and even then Undine might not respond due to being whimsical.

      999.1 to 999.2 is just plain foolhardy when it has not been used since the beginning of the series to now. Makoto went from 90 to 91 in water, while Lucy gained 1-2 levels in the single digits in fire. That point is kind of moot in the context of the beginning of the series. It is just a matter of how you train.

      In the LN, it is sort of explained that using low level magic is better to raise proficiency like 1,000 butterflies that Makoto uses.

      4. It is bad writing if he is still stuck at 999 at this point (my point 999 is simply the display cap for the measuring tool). This is not a cultivation novel set in a xanxia world where breakthroughs are important. There is already a precedent in this series of a previous example where Makoto thought he was stuck, but was not. His soulbook displayed 99, but Noah assured him that he was improving until she finally modified his book to cheer him up. The soulbook will not limit him, but his thoughts about not improving will limit his ability to improve further.

      5. 1000 is not the domain of gods. It is simply the number that Noah told Makoto he could request the aid of undine or other great spirits reliably. Makoto did not call just one undine, but several undines. It is better explained that he has 1000+ proficiency the reason why Dia refers to him as “our king affectionately” and he can use water magic on higher scale than before he arrived at the past. Fog of war over an entire forest, submerging the demon lord’s castle city, ice comets, etc. These magic already surpass anything Makoto has done before and without fine control (1000+ magic proficiency) he would never have been able to control them at all. Friendly fire would have been an issue.

      1. 1. Don’t know where you got that, but no. Don’t put words in my mouth. Maybe some ideas you offer are true, but we don’t know any of that for certain, and your phrasing spoke as if it was. I just thought the logic you offered didn’t track and so wanted to counter them.

        “The soulbook is just a measurement tool made by the holy gods with ulterior motives. They arbitrarily locked the display cap at 99 before to discourage going any higher just so people would not see spirits at 105.”
        Factual statements, except for the ulterior motives thing which is more just basic deduction.

        “Makoto’s modified soulbook display cap is stuck at 999. His water magic proficiency will still go up, but it will always display as 999. For example 2,000 or 1,5000 will display like 999 as the maximum value due to the tools limitation. Dia a great spirit even said it is going up and talked dismissively about the soulbook.”
        You don’t know for sure that the display cap is stuck at 999. Maybe Takki’s proficiency is still officially 999. It’s one of the mysteries that only one of the gods could answer. Dia gave her impressions of his strength, but actually said nothing about proficiency level because great spirits don’t work with arbitrary systems set by the holy gods.

        “Noah even said he needs 1,000 to even call out to Undine, so he is way above 999 at this point. Logically speaking, it has been 6+ months and and Makoto is training fanatic and he had 999 when Lucy saw his stats. If Makoto has not, then that is just poor writing.”
        Noah’s statement about calling to Undine is factual, but also it doesn’t encompass the current circumstances surrounding Takki. There are plenty of explanations for Water proficiency to stay locked at 999. The logic that he has to have surpassed it by now is based on assumption.
        It might be true, but it might not and it’s jumping the gun to call it bad writing when there’s plenty explanations being ignored.

      2. 2. I don’t remember the Noah connection bit so I’ll take your word for it. He still has charm magic. Maybe his proficiency is high enough to cheat the threshold with that alone.
        My point isn’t that 999.1-999.9 exists. My point is that the 10th point of proficiency is not worth the same as the 100th point of proficiency. At the very least, it’s much harder to acquire. Who’s to say that it’s not also a more demanding benchmark of increasing power? Maybe the amount of power you need to gain to go from proficiency 999 to 1000 is also the amount of mastery you need to go from 100 to 800?
        We honestly know very little about the mechanics of the proficiency system in terms of how they increase and what the differences are besides the obvious benchmarks.

        3. The fact that Noah modified the soul book in the past should be a point in favor of him actually having proficiency of 999, not a precedent of the same thing happening again. Why would it suddenly have a cap again? It happened in the past and the lock was removed. So it should indicate his level accurately now.

        4. None of what you said means it’s bad writing. At best, it goes against your expectations, which isn’t an indication of it’s quality at all.

        5. 1000 is an unheard of proficiency as far as we know. How do you know 999 isn’t enough to control a fog of war over a forest, or drown a castle? This stuff doesn’t have to be in the realm of gods. As a strategic-scale magic by reputation, Spirit Magic could just do that because it gives the user access to infinite mana and the proficiency can absolutely be high enough to control it.
        As for Summoning several Undines, that was the equivalent of sacrificial magic that shaved off lifespan; while he isn’t offering it up to a god, it’s certainly not strange for the result to be of this scale.

    3. 1. The ulterior motives is a fact though with soulbooks and not just a deduction when the gods like Eir themselves admit it, Noah even stated it as such that the holy gods passed that knowledge as truth to the inhabitants and their followers as the absolute truth. All skills are capped at 99 is the common misconception that the holy gods have purposely spread. Makoto thought his clear mind skill capped at 99, but he can go to 100. Magic proficiency can go higher than 99, but will be displayed as 99. There is already a precedent here to look back to.

      “Maybe Takki’s proficiency is still officially 999. It’s one of the mysteries that only one of the gods could answer. Dia gave her impressions of his strength, but actually said nothing about proficiency level because great spirits don’t work with arbitrary systems set by the holy gods.” It means it is immeasurable then. The soulbook simply cannot measure the magic proficiency to gauge a number due to its limitations as tool. Currently, Dia’s impression are more reliable than the soulbook which has stopped measuring after 999.

      2. “Maybe the amount of power you need to gain to go from proficiency 999 to 1000 is also the amount of mastery you need to go from 100 to 800?” This is already disproven in the author’s own writing. The amount of time it took Lucy to gain 1-2 levels in fire proficiency in the single digits, Makoto gained 1-2 levels in water proficiency in the 90’s. 999 to 1000 or higher is no different.

      3. “The fact that Noah modified the soul book in the past should be a point in favor of him actually having proficiency of 999, not a precedent of the same thing happening again. Why would it suddenly have a cap again? It happened in the past and the lock was removed. So it should indicate his level accurately now.” 999 is simply the limit of the measuring tool. Cars for example can go beyond their speedometer’s upper limit, but it will not be displayed except the maximum value.

      Charm, Divinity, etc do not substitute for magic proficiency requirements or expertise. Makoto is using pseudo-god rank magic here and without the corresponding level, it would all go wrong and he would fail to control it. The higher your magic proficiency, the more magic you are able to finely control.

      4. “None of what you said means it’s bad writing. At best, it goes against your expectations, which isn’t an indication of it’s quality at all.” It is bad writing when the author goes against the logic in his or her own work. It is established that he needs 1000 to even get the attention of one Undine and he calls several of them at once. There is zero reason why the author would go against this notation that he or she wrote. Hence, it is more likely the soulbook is no longer functional as a measure tool for Makoto’s real proficiency that is above 999.

      Author does not always need to explicitly state such obvious things, he could just as easily imply it through actions or character’s reactions if he or she is good writer and storyteller. Makoto’s daily training already gives insight into this aspect.

      5. “1000 is an unheard of proficiency as far as we know. How do you know 999 isn’t enough to control a fog of war over a forest, or drown a castle? This stuff doesn’t have to be in the realm of gods. As a strategic-scale magic by reputation, Spirit Magic could just do that because it gives the user access to infinite mana and the proficiency can absolutely be high enough to control it.
      As for Summoning several Undines, that was the equivalent of sacrificial magic that shaved off lifespan; while he isn’t offering it up to a god, it’s certainly not strange for the result to be of this scale.”

      This part is wrong. Makoto is not the only person to reach 1000 or the very first great spirit user in history. He is the first person in a while to have Undine by his side.

      Lucy has nearly limitless mana, but she has low magic proficiency so she gets mana dizziness. The fact the Makoto does not get mana dizziness is his high magic proficiency. In the past he is using mana on such a grand scale like never before that it rivals or even surpasses demon lords and ancient dragons alike. Without a corresponding magic proficiency in response the grand scale of mana used, Makoto would not be able to handle it as adequately as he does.

      Tens of thousands should have been translated as tens of millions.

      1. 2. Wrong. It has been explicitly stated on multiple occasions that Takki is a bizarre case, presumably because he trains so obsessively that it overcomes the difficulty curve. In the very example you mentioned, Lucy felt discouraged because that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Every time Takki showed his soul book stats early on, his proficiency was noted as bizarrely high. Even the Great Sage’s proficiency from a thousand years of practice hasn’t come close to 500. It’s already been established that increasing proficiency gets more difficult the higher the value increases.

        My entire point with 1 is that perhaps 999 is where he hits his limit in the difficulty curve and can no longer increase it easily. He’s pushing all the limits he can and still doesn’t feel strained. The only reason it hit 999 so soon to begin with as because he turned himself into a Spirit King, which channeled all the water in the world. Maybe that’s the scale of “practice” he needs to increase it now.
        As a metaphor, in a game it’s easy to level up from 1 to 5, but harder to level up from 80 to 85. Just because he’s gaining experience at level 99 doesn’t mean he definitely has to be level 100 now. Maybe his fondness of grinding meant he barely felt the tougher requirements early on and it’s finally caught up.

        3. …Fair. Maybe the soul books just functionally can’t measure past 1000 even if their limiters are removed because no mortal is supposed to be able to approach that level anyway. Maybe a different, special tool is needed for that.

        4. Then it’s not bad writing because the logic is still intact at the moment. Calling multiple Undine was special circumstances of sacrificing lifespan. Takatsuki Makoto in his entirety is just a special circumstance with his prior transformation as a Spirit King, so Undines are worthless as proof that his proficiency is higher than 999. All we know is, “he’s getting stronger” with no comment on his arbitrary proficiency level. It is perfectly in line with what we’ve learned so far for the 1000th level of proficiency to just be “really, really hard to reach”.

        5. …What? I don’t remember any of this being stated. When has that proficiency level been mentioned to be reached by anyone other than him? Mel-san has implied that she’s seen spells of crazy scale before, but yeah, his are on another level. I don’t see how that’s an indication of his proficiency not being enough at 999 though.

        And I just don’t know what you mean by tens of millions.

    4. 2. “Wrong. It has been explicitly stated on multiple occasions that Takki is a bizarre case…. Even the Great Sage’s proficiency from a thousand years of practice hasn’t come close to 500. It’s already been established that increasing proficiency gets more difficult the higher the value increases.”

      You just said Makoto is a bizarre case as in a special case. In order to accurately judge Makoto’s abilities, you need to think outside the norm. 😛

      It is not an issue for Makoto from what we have seen so far. It is more likely that he is over 999 than not if you consider the above. Even if you use rpg terms, so far it has not been the case for Makoto where it has limited him from going up in proficiency in record speed. His issue is that he cannot see his progress like in rpg games where levels are quantified on the status screen.

      I agree being a spirit king has sped up his water magic proficiency and made him hit the max value on his soulbook. However, his growth did not stop there at 999. To Undine and gods the concept of numbers in magic proficiency is nonexistent and the fact that she said Makoto is getting stronger despite his display being 999 on his soulbook means he is also among them (not a god, but his proficiency is off the charts). He reached a point in magic proficiency that the soulbook compiling it into a numerical value is moot or impossible to quantify.

      3. 999 is simply the limit of the soulbook or Noah did not think he would surpass 999 in such a sort timespan to add four digits to the display.

      4. He needs 1,000 to attract undines and to SYNC with her successfully, otherwise he would be overwhelmed. It is much more believable that the soulbook has hit its max value to display like what happened in the past than him being stuck at 999 for 6 months. Makoto being over 1,000 would also somewhat explain why Undines call him “our king.”

      5. It is how Reigokai translated a specific Japanese numerical term into English. It was translated into tens of thousands when it should have been tens of millions. It is a term used often in the past during combat or statistics, but using thousands downscales the significance. Tens of thousands of water dragons vs tens of millions of water dragon both have different impact on imagination.

      Mel is young for an ancient dragon who is not even 10,000 years old. I think Johnny also mentioned how rare it is to see Undine. Author’s afterword: God > Spirit King > Demigod

      1. 1. “From what we’ve seen so far” isn’t the same as right now. Maybe this is the point he’s hit the difficulty wall.
        ” It is more likely that he is over 999 than not if you consider the above.”
        Firstly, this is the first time you’ve called it a possibility instead of treating it as a certainty. Secondly, it’s not more likely. There’s no proof that this is how it works.

        2. The fact that he’s a special case means the rules are inconsistent with him. That he’s an anomaly interacting with a system we don’t know a lot about isn’t proof of anything concretely. Is he above 999? We don’t know. Is the soul brook at it’s limit? We don’t know. Do this or that restriction apply to him? We don’t know. This trait makes many theories possible, but only makes what it actually is more vague and hard to figure out without an expert (a god’s) opinion.

        3. It’s possible, but we don’t know that for sure.

        4. Undine already stated that they follow him because they sense he will become a Spirit King “one day”. I speculate that this means simply having been a Spirit King before is what makes the Undines so obedient. Then again, it could be as we said earlier and it’s just that Takki is a weird case. Either way, his interactions with the Undines have too many variables to be proof of his proficiency.

        5. Ah. I don’t remember the context, but I assume that’s referring to there being Spirit users with proficiency levels comparable in the past? I’ll take your word for it then.

  19. Is it possible the elementals are magics that the gods allowed speach ?The gods and titans view them as weapon so Makoto is doing the same thing.

  20. Did even Noa not expect Makoto to surpass 999 proficiency, so she only tweaked it for one extra digit?
    Well, looks like we’re heading for the climax of this arc. Since I’m almost certain Makoto will choose to return to the present after Iblis is defeated, it’s only a question of how it goes. I’m guessing he’ll use the remaining divinity of Ira’s after the battle to do something like stopping time for himself for a thousand years to he can return to the present. The big question is the girls. It doesn’t look like Mel is joining the harem, though she should still be around somewhere in the present, likely under instructions not to show herself until Makoto returns to keep his past on track. We already know what happens to Momo, though the conversation will probably be emotional. It’s also seems given that she’s looking after the dormant Makoto until he wakes up. The question is Anna. It’s going to be a difficult chat when he comes clean. Maybe he can request for Anna’s mentor to be resurrected to reduce her grudge? Is there a time limit on how long after death it can be done? And if she can accept it, will she follow him to the present? I’m guessing she won’t go immediately. She’ll stay behind to defeat the other demon lords that are dead in the present, make sure history goes according to plan and then leave to “keep her promise” like in the story Noel told him. Though that does raise the question of who her ancestor is? Is the resemblence coincidental? Still a lot to wonder about.

    Thanks for the translation!

  21. thanks for chap
    what are the chances the gliched part of mc’s status board is really important?

    and i wonder how iblis-chan looks like,as far as i can remember they have implied she’s a loli

  22. Too bad it will power down fully soon… And not knowing if you level up in Prof. must suck, seeing the stats rise was a huge motivator probably.
    Also, will Anna not come back to the future? Because if she doesn’t then that is just sad

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