Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 80
Right after parting ways with the 1st Elder.
I took in the sight of the mansion, mulling over how I would reclaim this place one day and what I should do with it.
"It's an old mansion, so maybe that's why. It has way too many rooms just for show. Once I take back all the rights, I should cut down the number of rooms and rework the layout and their uses from the ground up."
Contractor.
"What's up, Tamamo? Got something to ask?"
Tamamo, ever the familiar spirit, trailed right behind me like a shadow.
She hesitated for a moment before mumbling awkwardly.
Do you know what the Fire Hell is?
"That's what you were hesitating about? I thought you had some big question."
Her drawn-out tone had made me think it was something profound.
But the question was so basic that it threw me off for a second.
Huh? If the Fire Hell isn't something big, then what is? Anyway, it's fascinating. How did humans in this era learn about the afterlife? Did they invent a spell to bring back the dead or something?
"...Sorry, but you didn't seriously think Fire Hell was like the Buddhist hell, did you?"
...Huh?
"Yeah?"
What? She actually did?
I shot her a look that said I meant it, and her face turned beet red.
Hahaha... As if I'd misunderstand something like that.
"Right? I thought you were talking about some actual afterlife hell. How's a living person supposed to know about that stuff?"
Of course. Contractor, isn't that a bit rude? How could you think I'd make a mistake like that?
Her voice trembled as she continued.
How could I not? I can tell just from what you're saying.
She was so bad at lying, she'd never make it as a con artist.
"Sorry about that. Anyway, you asked what the Fire Hell is?"
I switched topics to avoid dragging it out.
"The Fire Hell of Yoton, or just Fire Hell for short. It's one of the three unconquered dungeons in Korea that've been rated impregnable."
Unconquered dungeon...? One question first. What's a dungeon even mean?
"...We starting from there?"
Dungeon must be throwing her off since it's an English loanword.
She didn't seem to get it, so I gave a quick rundown.
"A dungeon's like a secondary dimension where monsters live. They're full of all sorts of beasts, plants, animals, and unknown environments."
And?
"Kill the monsters there, and you get mana stones, which are the main resource these days. Monster corpses, unique plants, and minerals only found inside are valuable too, of course."
Tamamo shot her hand up like she had another question.
So this world has no resource worries? Dungeons are secondary dimensions, so no land shortage either.
"Nah, not quite. They pop up randomly in arbitrary spots, and if you leave them too long, you get what's called a dungeon break."
Dungeon break? Too many foreign wordsI'm lost. Can you simplify it?
"Basically, the dungeon itself explodes. The space holding the monsters, plants, animals, and environment collapses, blending it all into reality."
For example, a city in Greece got turned into a massive volcanic hellscape when a volcano-themed dungeon broke, wiping out tons of infrastructure.
Honestly, losing infrastructure would be lucky.
The real killer is the monsters rampaging into civilian areas, causing mass casualties.
"So no matter how precious the resources inside, players, guilds, and associations aim to clear and close dungeons whenever they attack them."
Got the gist of dungeons now. They spawn randomly, full of unknown worlds and resources, but leave 'em too long and they merge with realityso you gotta wipe them out proactively. Right?
"Yeah, that's spot on. Side note: the three great unconquered dungeons are the ones no guild could ever clear."
Isn't that dangerous? If you can't clear it for too long, like you said...
She trailed off.
No need to spell out what came nextit was obvious.
Tamamo swallowed her words, and a recent conversation flashed in her mind.
The one I'd just had with the 1st Elder.
'The Fire Hell of Yoton. You've finally lost it, Family Head. Ready to end your life of debauchery?'
'Not planning to die yet.'
'Family Head, that's called suicide. Jumping off a cliff doesn't make it not suicide.'
'You think I'd die from a little freefall?'
'That's why I'm saying it. We don't die from that. But what you're proposing is way riskier than naked skydiving.'
The 5th and 1st Elders.
Even in her long life, she'd rarely seen powerhouses like them.
If even they couldn't clear it...
We'll need to prepare thoroughly. Screw up, and it's not just you the ring might drag me down with it.
"I've got a plan for that, so no worries. Hearing your questions, looks like there were no dungeons back in your time?"
I'd asked without thinking.
Not in my era, at least. No mention in ancient records either, so probably a recent thing.
"...Yeah."
I lapsed into thought.
Her answer complicated things in my head.
How much had changed in the millennium since her death?
System, status window, dungeons.
None existed in her time.
But to modern humans, they were everyday facts of life.
Everyone's born linked to the system, gets a status windowtotally normal. New moms casually brag about their babies' mana or stamina stats.
Like, "My kid's stamina was F+ from birth." "Ooh, but Chul-su next door hit D- agility at fivemaybe we'll get a marathon champ in the neighborhood."
That's just daily chatter here.
My thoughts spiraled deeper.
Still pondering, I naturally headed for the Family Head's chamber.
I needed to jot down these ideas on paper or in notes ASAP.
Tamamo kept talking to me along the way.
To hide that I was ignoring her and focusing inward, I nodded along vaguely.
Then, as I opened the door to the chamber, her hand landed on my shoulder.
Oh my, didn't expect you to be so eager for my teachings.
"...What?"
If you die in that Fire Hell place, the ring on your finger goes poof too. You just nodded yes to my offer to teach you spells right now.
"Wh-when did I...?"
You just nodded and said okay. You're not gonna back out now, are you?
Oh. Guess I did.
That's why you gotta listen properly instead of spacing out.
I inwardly scolded myself but figured it wasn't a bad deal.
She asks a question, I answer honestly.
In return, she teaches me a spell.
Flip side: I ask for spell lessons, she demands knowledge as payment.
We fill each other's gapsa symbiotic setup.
But it could turn into a leash around each other's necks anytime. More questions put her in the subordinate spot; more lessons do the opposite.
In this murky dynamic,
Tamamo chirped happily, claiming she'd already earned payment for the dungeon Q&A.
My disciple. Never took one in my twilight years. Who'd have thought I'd get one after death? What a twisty life. Anyway, I'm the master during lessons, so I can be strict, right?
Wasn't just joy over the "payment."
She grinned with sadistic glee, clearly planning to drill me hard.
She brimmed with confidence, ready to teach me the fundamentals I needed most.
Oh boy, this feels ominous.
* * *
On the wide desk in the Family Head's chamber.
Tamamo spoke in a serious, authoritative tone, like a lecturing professor.
Compared to the other foxesespecially the 1st and 5th Elderswhat do you think you're lacking?
"Dunno, number of tails maybe."
Nope, not even close.
Tamamo drew an X in the air to nix it.
Impressive she can manifest in front of me as a familiar spirit.
Guess as long as she's in range, familiar or possessor spirits are fine.
Tail count is just the 'result' of what you're lacking compared to others. Not wrong entirely, but without knowing the 'process' and 'reason,' you'll never make it big.
Her tone was beyond firmabsolute conviction.
So I asked,
"That bad? What am I missing?"
Looks like you tossed my earlier answer in the trash with your earwax. Fine, I'll explain again.
"Ouch, savage comeback."
Watch your words. It's not me being harshit's that you don't know what someone of our kind should.
Tamamo gave me a "you don't even know this?" glare.
Then she formed a fire spirit in her left hand and an ice spirit in her right.
Tiny gems in her grasp,
brimming with intense fire and cold energy.
That's when I got what she meant.
"Harmony of yin and yang? Not wrong in theory, but with my body..."
I know. Solar Vein Blockage, right? That's why you think that.
Harmony of yin and yang?
Impossible.
For a normal mage or martial artist, sure, balancing yin-yang could advance them.
But my living body can't even maintain the subtle natural yin-yang balanceit's been tipped toward yang energy for ages thanks to Solar Vein Blockage.
Fixing this warped balance the normal way? No dice.
Only one method in my knowledge.
That would be
"You want me to form Taiji or something?"
Taiji.
Taoism's ultimate pursuit.
The perfect union of yanglike the sun beyond clouds, warming and illuminating all
and yinlike the sun shrouded in clouds, cloaking all in dark chill.
From this arises Taiji, the primal origin of the universe, predating heaven, earth, and man.
Ancient sages chased transcendence through Taiji, records scattered across histories worldwide.
Taiji, huh? Not a bad idea.
"...For real?"
If you can melt Taiji into your body, nothing better. It'd elevate you beyond a yang-blocked nine-tails, embracing and transcending all yin energy you need.
"Sounds good, but you know implementing Taiji is..."
Insane.
Historical attempts all ended the same: failure to harmonize yin and vital energies led to spontaneous combustion, no exceptions.
I know. I saw it happen multiple times. Taiji was just a figure of speech from me, so drop it. Enough chit-chatmove already. Time for the next step.
"...Huh?"
She conjured a translucent jade throne with sorcery, lounged on it with chin propped and legs crossed, then said,
You saw me make the ice spirit? Copy it exactly. The spell framework's simpleyou'll pick it up quick.
"But Solar Vein Blockage messes with my channels. Can't harmonize yin-yang."
Don't sweat that. I'm not fixing your constitutionjust correcting the extreme imbalance. Heh, no need to tense up.
She looked skeptical I'd manage even once today. She knew the entry-level difficulty of her sorcery was sky-high, basics or not.
Obviously.
Even in an era millennia ago teeming with shamans and spells, this was ancestral pinnacle sorcery.
Hard to master? Entry alone was a beast.
That should have been the case.
"..."
Once, twice, thrice.
...
177th time.
178th.
The man before her burned through lake-deep mana reserves over and overdepleting, refilling, depletingwithout drying up.
Tamamo watched her contractor, deep in thought.
His proficiency's no joke. At this rate, he might master the basics by end of day.
His heart held mana like a lake, but the veins around it burned sun-hot.
Water drawn from the lake wouldn't evaporate instantly, but it'd boilthat's the principle. His mana was primed for fire spells.
Ice spirit sorcery? Worst matchup for his body.
Should've been impossible, yet
he shattered that logic in three hours flat.
Unbelievable growth.
She knew the source.
'Hmm... Magic Saint talent, was it?'
She recalled peeking at Seung-woo's status window.
One unforgettable term.
It openly marked him as sage material.
A sage: pinnacle of wisdom and virtue, the ideal human.
Sages command universal reverence.
No flaws allowed.
Even for magic sages, same deal.
Among ten thousand mages, top dog. If lacking teachings, the one with the brightest, most radiant talent.
That's Magic Saint.
Makes sense, then.
Seung-woo's spell handling grew more precise by the second, improving constantly. Minute gains per second, sure.
But an hour in, specks built a mountain.
Who knew he had talent like this. Shouldn't have offered spell-for-question deals. Feels like I got scammed. Heh.
Tamamo eyed her contractor, holding back words.
A faint ember now, but if he inherited all her ancestral sorcery fully. And her nine-tails madness too.
How would he act?
Whatever he does, won't be boring.
Scammed or not, excitement trumped annoyance.
How long since she last felt this?
Tamamo's lips curved up slightly.
The future tantalized her; she licked her lips instinctively, savoring it like fresh hot udon.