Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Hunter Approaches
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Creak-.
The man with radiant silver hair slumped staggeringly into his chair.
“……Ugh.”
Pain from grueling training stabbed at spots all over his body.
But what tormented him even more was something else.
It was this vise tightening around his heart.
“Huff……!”
It was the agony stemming from the “Mana Deficiency” he’d been born with.
Gasping for breath as if he couldn’t breathe properly, the man clutched his heart and said.
“Time…… is running out.”
He’d consumed countless elixirs to cure the Mana Deficiency, but none had improved his condition.
They only delayed the onset of symptoms a little.
Even so, the man wore a faint smile.
A few months ago, by sheer chance, he’d found a sliver of hope.
“They must be…… nicely ripened by now.”
The black-haired man who’d fearlessly broken through the 6th District gate from the 7th.
Though a beggar, Shuhan had seen it clearly.
With the skill [Measurement], which gauged an opponent’s power and growth potential, he’d detected the enormous mana latent within the man.
‘A monstrous fellow.’
The quantity of mana wasn’t particularly vast, but the man’s mana exhibited constant outward expansion.
As if its regeneration outpaced its consumption.
Even more astonishing was the man’s growth rate.
The mana had only begun to sprout recently, it seemed.
A few months at most.
Translating that talent into knightly terms…… it was talent enough to surpass even his own.
And if it was the heart of a mage with such talent.
‘It can cure this disease.’
It could cure this condition that endlessly consumed mana.
Even if it meant the unethical act of consuming another’s heart, stealing the fate of a man who might become a great figure someday.
Shuhan saw that too as the man’s destiny.
This was a world where the law of the jungle reigned supreme.
“Now then…….”
Clink, clink.
Once the pain had somewhat subsided, Shuhan rummaged through a drawer and pulled something out.
What emerged was a handful of black hair.
Hair he’d snipped from the man during their first encounter.
Shuhan placed it atop a scroll-shaped artifact.
A one-time-use artifact with the function of tracking a target via the user’s mana: [Path of Tracking].
Using this would reveal the black-haired man’s location.
That was why he’d let the man go so willingly.
Of course, made for mages, the artifact required mana to activate…….
But Shuhan was a knight who had mastered “Aura.”
That was no issue.
“Hup!”
Crimson aura extended from Shuhan’s fingertips.
Carefully pushing it into the artifact.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The artifact vibrated, signaling its activation.
It was only natural.
Mana and aura were different powers, but their essence was ultimately the same.
Whoosh!
Miasma bloomed along the hair and drifted toward somewhere.
Guiding him to the black-haired man he sought.
Instead of following with his feet, Shuhan grabbed the miasma with his hand and read its intended direction.
And shortly after.
The miasma abruptly snapped off at an unexpected location.
“Hm?”
It seemed the man had noticed the artifact’s use on him.
But the location was already pinpointed, so it didn’t matter.
“……Aldeon, is it.”
The Aldeon Magic Tower.
The place recently flooded with reports of demon cultivation, where the situation was graver than thought—a request for Shuhan’s support had even come in.
“……Hah.”
Shuhan let out a hollow laugh.
He’d first met the man just a few months ago.
“I thought he’d be holed up somewhere in the 6th District, fumbling with magic on his own…… and he’s already entered a magic tower?”
Entering a magic tower meant the man had become a fairly credible mage.
At the same time, it meant the chances of curing the Mana Deficiency had increased.
“Hey!”
“……You called, sir?”
At Shuhan’s shout, a waiting attendant entered and bowed.
Shuhan said quietly to the attendant.
“Tell the guard captain. I’m heading to the Aldeon Magic Tower myself.”
It was finally time to uproot the well-grown elixir.
An expectant smile spread across Shuhan’s face.
***
Two months since entering the Aldeon Magic Tower.
Contrary to his worries, life in the tower had flowed more ordinarily than expected.
Eating at set times each day, attending classes, researching magic, then bed.
Repetitive days without special demands or issues.
Of course, that didn’t mean there were no changes.
The first change was the most important.
“Light.”
He had mastered light magic.
Whumm!
Intangible light materialized at his fingertip.
At a glance, it seemed no different from the elemental magics he’d mastered before, but in truth, it was.
This was a higher-tier elemental magic, one rank above the others.
One influenced by his holy power stat, no less.
‘If only I could finish absorbing this.’
For some reason, his gaze drifted from the finger emitting light to his wrist below.
There, the silver bracelet still glowed undimmed.
[Bracelet of Holy Oil].
The item he’d swiped from the plunderers’ hideout.
The problem was he hadn’t fully absorbed the holy oil within it yet.
‘It’s about time, though.’
The stat increase from the [Bracelet of Holy Oil] occurred only when the holy oil was fully absorbed and the bracelet shattered after fulfilling its role.
Thus, his current holy power stat was 0.
Holy power had little use outside fighting demons, but it was still regrettable.
If he’d incorporated holy-infused training into his two months of magic practice, it would’ve been much better.
In any case.
“No. 1! Take a look at this!”
“Oh? You succeeded.”
“See? I wasn’t a talentless mage after all! Haha!”
This was the second change.
Following Uncle Thompson, every resident in the dormitory had successfully mastered light magic.
According to Seventh Elder Oli Didan, those without talent could practice light magic for a hundred days and still fail to grasp it—so everyone’s success was undoubtedly encouraging.
And the final change.
“Thompson, don’t get too excited. You were the last to manifest it.”
“……Don’t piss me off, blond noble.”
The ten noble mages, commoner Thompson, and himself. The twelve of them had grown quite close.
It could be called the most dramatic change.
Even the faint remnants of discrimination had vanished completely, and until leaving Aldeon, they’d compromised on using casual speech among themselves.
Free time for commoners and nobles alike.
Unimaginable outside the mage profession, where ability earned respect.
Even accounting for that, it was still a rare sight.
Surprisingly, Roan had been the first to propose it, gaining the other mages’ agreement.
“Yoo Han. How’s your magic?”
But Roan himself preferred polite speech and opted out of free time.
If that was the case, why propose it in the first place? What an odd guy.
Whoooong-!
“About this much.”
“……Tch.”
Oh, and for reference, he and Roan had sorted out their pecking order to some extent.
Over two months of the same process, the gap in talent had become clear.
It had taken Roan a month to learn light magic. For him, two weeks.
“What’s with that smirk? Wipe it off. I can do that much too!”
“……Oops. I slipped on my expression management.”
“You insufferable mage……!”
It was only natural.
No matter that Roan was the academy’s star prospect, a once-in-a-millennium magical genius……
‘Not against mythic-grade.’
From observing Roan, he could infer the trait latent within him.
Legendary trait, [Prodigy of Magic].
Precisely one step below his own [Prodigy of Magic].
He was the perfect superior version.
Thus, Roan catching up was naturally impossible.
“Just wait a bit. I’ll make the exact same light magic as yours.”
“……Do as you like.”
It was a slightly bitter fact.
In a way, it meant all talent in this world was predetermined by data.
‘I wonder how he’d react if he knew…….’
Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.
That thought spawned another question in its tail.
No, less “spawned now” and more a question he’d long ignored despite curiosity.
Was this world truly a game, or another reality……?
He hoped for the former.
To dismiss this place as another reality…… was too horrific.
‘……Keep thinking of it as a game.’
A question he couldn’t answer himself anyway.
He’d just go with what was comfortable.
So he could view someone’s death as merely an NPC’s.
……To preserve his last shred of humanity.
“Tch.”
He clicked his tongue at the suddenly heavy heart.
“Oho!”
Uncle Thompson, who’d vanished somewhere earlier, burst into the room beaming.
“No. 1! I got permission!”
“……Permission for what?”
“What do you mean? Permission for our party!”
“Party……? Oh.”
Come to think of it, a few weeks back, such talk had floated around.
If everyone mastered light magic, they’d celebrate together.
It seemed Thompson, remembering that, had gotten the elders’ approval.
He’d thought it was just talk.
“You’re really doing it?”
“What? No. 1 doesn’t like parties?”
“……Not that I hate them.”
It wasn’t exactly welcome news.
Trouble always brewed when things were going smoothly.
And there were actual concerns.
‘The silver-hair might show up.’
A few days ago, someone had used [Path of Tracking] on him.
The only likely culprit was the silver-haired knight, Shuhan.
He’d severed it immediately upon noticing, but his location might already be exposed.
Thus, he needed to stay vigilant against ambushes……
“Aw, come on! Backing out now ain’t manly! Let’s prep the party!”
Uncle Thompson clearly had no intention of listening.
‘……Well, one day shouldn’t hurt.’
In the end, he was dragged into the party.
But once underway, it was surprisingly fun in many ways.
“What is this food…… Did they cast magic on it? How’s it taste like this?”
“Ahh— that’s what cooking is.”
Unlike the first day, everyone enjoyed the spread.
“So I smashed that assassin’s head right……!”
“Hahaha!”
They laughed at Uncle Thompson’s tales of dominating back alleys before awakening his mana.
“Next time we face a demon…… I won’t back down, no matter what.”
“……Good attitude.”
They nodded solemnly to Lief, the hot-tempered mage who’d lost his sibling in the evaluation.
They were deep in the festive mood when.
“Hm?”
“……To Aldeon’s light.”
“To Aldeon’s light.”
“Yoo Han. Spare a moment.”
It was then that Tower Lord Dershion Pigma called him with a gravely serious face.
Somehow, it didn’t feel good.