Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Chapter 9 Star Fall (18)
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"Fi, Fireball!"
Splash!
"Ron Diad's [Living Flames]!"
Splash!
"Uwaaaah! Flames born from the ashes! Burn the enemy's breath and twist it! [Ash Flame!]"
Crackle!
Hm, the last spell was pretty powerful. Maybe because he realized I had no intention of striking first, he started countering with stronger incantations that took longer to prepare toward the end. Thanks to that, the Blood Armor that blocked the magic felt a slight anemia as it sucked in blood.
Clink, clink.
"Hey, you okay? Humans have thirty-two teeth... looks like about twenty-four left. No time, so let's hurry it up. Yeah? Hit me with those strong spells! That way you build up momentum and sweep the rest away."
"Euuugh... Uwaaaah..."
As the Professor picked up the knocked-out teeth and asked, the wizard, who had collapsed and was backing away, clutched the hem of his red robe.
"M-Master! Th-this isn't right! He tricked people with cunning words and used physical force in a wizards' duel to beat me senseless! It wasn't a duel, it was assault, so it's self-defense on our side! Master, burn him-"
"Sticky Flame."
Whoosh!
"Uwaaaack!"
The red-bearded wizard, whose face was even more grotesquely twisted than when arguing with Ottman, chanted a spell, and flames erupted onto Sevram's puffy face as he blabbered beside him.
"Uwaaaack! Hot, hot! So hoooot! Master! Please! Pleeeease!!!"
"...My disciple is making a fool of himself."
"'Made' a fool—no, he's still making one. Is that okay? Fire wizards aren't completely immune to flames, right?"
At my words, the wizard glanced at his screaming, rolling disciple, then snorted and turned away.
"Hmph! If he burns from a spell like that, he's only worth that much. I never raised my disciple to be extinguished by mere embers. If he dies from it, he must have slacked on his training. That's not my concern!"
"Well, that's your business, so handle it yourselves. Anyway, your wizard fled, so do you acknowledge defeat?"
"That's... How dare a mere water wizard defeat our Ron Flame..."
Seeing the red-bearded wizard Malcur start trembling, heat waves rising from his body, I quickly threw myself in front of the counter to block him. A wizard at the edge of 4th circle or the start of 5th. One with the epithet 'Spear Flame'—if he rampaged, this inn would turn to kindling in seconds.
"I can't accept it! It's impossible! Water can't beat fire! I, Malcur of the Spear Flame, will prove it myself-"
Thwip thwip thwip!
"Urk!"
"Hey now! What's with this? In a duel with an official witness, one side runs, and now you're trying to flip the whole thing! Even for a wizard, isn't this too much?"
Just before Malcur could unleash the gathered heat around him, five daggers flew from a corner of the inn, aimed precisely at his vital points. Malcur successfully layered small flame rings to block the daggers, but he had to cancel his attack spell.
"Who is it! Who dares interfere with the Ron Flame school's event!"
"It's the referee halfling, you old geezer! I'd just watch if it was a duel where you're killing each other for fun, but money's on the line! If you flip the table and I don't get my fee, you gonna pay up? Huh?"
"Exactly. Not content with fleeing in a fair duel, now the so-called master refuses defeat and threatens the winner. That's no way to act."
"Hey! Drunk on booze, pocket full of cash, mood soured—wanna swing my axe?"
"Hey, Malcur, was it? Sorry, but most folks here operate under the name 'hero'? They make a living enforcing justice, see!"
As the tavern patrons who had been watching scolded him, Malcur bellowed right in their faces.
"Y-You... Trash who don't even know the Flames' Secret!"
.
.
.
.
.
Rumble!
Creak!
Spring! Spring spring! Crash!
"Eeeek, he cursed! The wizard cursed!"
"Heavens! Trash, he said! My righteous heart is insulted! I can't stand it! Duel, wizard!"
"Even among fire schools, Ron Flame's extremists are so prickly they can't maintain relationships... The rumors are true. Hard to listen to."
"Fight? Count me in!"
"Duel! Get my gauntlet!"
"Take mine too!"
"Woooo! Get lost!"
Jeers rose as patrons stood one by one, hurling gauntlets at Malcur. Some even infused them with aura, launching them like cannonballs.
"Grk... Damn it! I won't forget today! All of you will melt in the hottest flames someday!"
"Woooo! Lame dialogue even when running!"
"Scram, third-rate! Go light a bonfire and jerk off to the flames!"
And so, the fire wizard crew fled the tavern amid the patrons' jeers and curses.
Watching their pathetic retreat, Ottman approached the Professor with a bright face, as if a decade-old indigestion had lifted.
"Heh heh heh heh! Good work! I knew you'd flatten their noses! That's your specialty!"
"From midway, they self-destructed. Tsk tsk tsk. That's why you gotta watch your mouth. If he'd quietly accepted defeat and asked for a match himself, I might've obliged. But it ended all awkward."
"Now now! Sorry to interrupt, but let's end the match! Winner, raise your hand high!"
The gray-soled halfling, who had suddenly wedged between them, stacked a couple chairs on a table due to his short stature, acrobatically climbed up, and raised the Professor's hand.
"There we go! Red flag surrenders and disqualifies—defeat! Winner! Blue flag! From the 2nd circle Leadflow school! Hero Professor of the Radiant Church!"
As the Professor raised his hand in the now-empty arena, the patrons cheered lightly and clapped.
"Good job!"
"Thanks to you, I won my drinks! Come to my table later!"
"Not bad, bro! If you're free sometime, visit the Aegis Hero Company! Wanna team up!"
"It's on me! Half my winnings as tip—buy the most expensive stuff! Hahaha!"
"Ah, what a shame. If that idiot hadn't wrecked midway, it would've been a better show."
Clink, clink!
Ding-!
[Info Update: Heroic Points: 993]
Ding-!
[Info Update: Heroic Points: 1002]
Ding-!
[Info Update: Heroic Points: 1013]
"Si, silver coins! Silver raining from the sky!"
"Points! Heroic Points pouring in! Keeps climbing endlessly!"
The halfling screamed in joy at the tip shower, while the Professor watched his points rise as various heroes and high nobles recognized him, and their eyes met.
No words exchanged, but they instantly knew they wanted the same thing.
"Um... Hero Professor? If you're free now, wanna do a lucrative side gig?"
"Was just needing a referee who knows how to hype the crowd. Duel ended awkwardly, killed the vibe—gotta take responsibility, right?"
"Hee hee hee. Of course! Heroes gotta shoulder that responsibility!"
"Exactly! You get it! So... how about we run it like this?"
Whisper whisper.
"Oho! That's brilliant! If it works, the crowd'll go wild! Yes, perfect!"
The Professor high-fived the halfling, stripped off his shirt to flaunt his scar-covered muscular build, and returned to the arena. The halfling shouted in a shrill voice.
"Alright~ folks! Not over yet! Those fire freaks got us warmed up~ then bailed, so you're all itchy, right? Stuck waiting for war, afraid your honed edge dulls! For that, we got a special~ event! Friendly bout with Church Hero Professor!"
"Oho."
"Sounds fun?"
Smack!
"Not just fun! Hero Professor has insane regeneration like a mutant! Confirmed fact, straight from the Radiant Church! Come on! Bout tickets 3,000 shilling each! Rare chance! Spar with a mutant-type body showing top-tier combat skills for just 3,000 shilling! Best warm-up ever!"
"Me! I'll do it!"
"Wind Whisper school wizard! Got spells I wanna test on high-regen target!"
"5,000! 5,000, so take me first!"
"What the hell, punk! Think I'm broke?"
"Punk? Look at this weakling yapping before warm-up."
"Jealous? Fight me, bastard! I'll end it quick and warm up!"
"Fine! Grab your weapon!"
Hero parties already restless, wandering the streets—rich ones stuck using fancy inn rooms, tied down as reinforcements in this cramped, boring spot—how frustrated were they?
"Ahh, ahhhh... My inn... Honey, sorry... I couldn't protect the inn..."
Seeing the Professor face his first opponent in the circular cleared space at the tavern center, and heroes drawing weapons to power up, the innkeeper clutched his wife's photo enshrined under the bar and wailed. Beyond the rough widower's sobs from running the inn alone in the capital rang harsh impacts and cheers.
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"So, not content with that dust-up with the fire wizards, you went wild with other guests and ended up like this?"
"Uh... yeah, basically. You know? If I don't stress my body daily to the limit, the infection factor eats me alive. Kinda force majeure-"
"Good job! Real goooood! Now we're sleeping on the street! Where to now?!"
That evening, returning Borca and Aldritch saw the inn with its entire second-floor ceiling collapsed, the Professor battered and carrying their luggage, went into combat stance, then after hearing the story, gaped in disbelief. A hero doing paid friendlies? And others accepted?
"Ottman, why didn't you stop him!"
"W-Well... I was cheering during the fire wizard fight..."
"And! When they did those friendlies!"
"I thought it was too much then and tried to stop it, but the halfling who took the bout fees had vanished! Chased his trail in a panic, came back empty-handed, and the inn was already..."
"So you trusted a halfling with the money and hoped they wouldn't run? No halfwit like this halfwit! Lucky we weren't robbed blind with that halfling around."
"Ahem! Ahem!"
"No way... the silver pouch too?"
"S-Sorry..."
"Oh no, oh nooo!!"
Aldritch felt the sky spinning. Left his promising new disciple—good personality, overflowing talent—for lessons, returned to find the party leader trashed the lodging, and the one who should've stopped it got pickpocketed. Worst, many spirits held grudges against silver, so he'd entrusted his silver pouch to Ottman too!
"Good lord. 'Soul mages okay with evil spirits, but skip wizards'—not for nothing. Wizards always like this?"
"Least from what I know. Ottman was abnormally normal for one. Professor... never once in my memory entered the normal range, so par for the course."
"Guwok. Ghost old man teacher. Growing male pup, fights often. Can't fight when wants, grows into small male. Big small-human made good choice."
"Notum... you're the only one on my side!"
Knowing he'd messed up, the Professor, head bowed like a dead rat, ran to Notum at her warm words, but startled at the faint human-face heat hazes flickering around her and backed off.
"Wh-what's that! Curse from grave-digging?"
"Dead humans. Ghost old man teacher said try soothing this one's heart, said stuck in one place rotting the mind, go travel—and they've followed me since."
"So... you convinced all those one by one?"
"Nope. First one, then they all piled on at once. Must've been close."
Looking up, not one or two spirits. Even before sunset, some strong ones showed vague forms, and haze-like ones swirled around Notum like an aura, countless.
"Unlike dumb Ottman and you, Notum spent her time productively! Soul mages are rare black mages, so we chat whenever paths cross, but I've never seen talent like hers in my life! Reaches realms others train decades for—instinctively! This girl lived years as ordinary troll in forest? If ignorant fools had exterminated her, it'd be one of humanity's greatest losses! I stake my name!"
- Jokasss : 3rd world early money guide poster, take it down~ GG history's dumbest shit, they say~
- Soy Sauce Gaybar : Scraped the post. [Early post-noble war, starting bare-handed? Tough money-making. Weird troll named Notum in Turan forest, naive and dumb, believes people easy. Trick and bring, or cut tendons and sell to circus for fat cash.]
- Holy : That kind sweet pure troll...ㅠㅠ
- Deer Drug Please : Kekekeke just edited for real kekekekek watching the guide writer's stream?! Cutting that sweet kid's tendons wtf? Reflect!
- Soy Sauce Gaybar : Fact. First seller was Levit Princess.
Sure enough. Circus tops at 20k shilling, but Notum's potential defies money.
Day by day, month by month—skills shot up like bamboo sprouts. Unlike growth heroes treated as next-seed after world clear, she'd match party in months, no, one month.
"Story's out, so where to now? Professor, can the Church get new lodging?"
"Hm... possible, but since it's like this, let's just head out."
"Head out? Where? No enemy moves at front yet. Another detachment?"
Frowning, Aldritch reeked of dislike, so I showed him the letter the archbishop entrusted instead.
"What's this? [Apology to the Brothers I Turned From]?"
"Church secret, can't show contents, but roughly pope's letter to subraces. Don't say you saw, obviously."
"I get that. Archbishop's letter in your hands means you're the courier, so recipient is..."
"Subraces. Our party's going to their leaders, deliver Radiant Church apology, recruit as reinforcements."
"Heavens, Radiant Church—humanism vanguard—seeks peace with subraces. Historic."
Aldritch eyed the pack-laden Professor top to bottom, sighed deeply.
"Too historic for torn clothes and wrecked inn backdrop."
"Hey, soul mage. Judge the inside, not shell."
"All talk. So, where first?"
"Past Blueline: west worldtree forest, south great jungle, east desert. Pick one."
Time squeeze might allow all, but only one archbishop letter. Key quest item—no system msg, but pick one hint.
'Elves, orc/troll monster subraces, east ancient humans—unclear if human or sub? Which?'
Professor gripped the sole letter, deep in thought.
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