Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Lacking Conversation (3)
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Federback leaned his arms on the window of the castle tower, gazing down below.
Cardina was setting out on an expedition, leading a massive force.
The Meursault House's elite knights flanked her on both sides.
In the center, surrounded by soldiers, numerous miners and their families had gathered.
'With this, the Meursault House will grow even more prosperous.'
He had handed over the complete version of the Meursault Swordsmanship unearthed from the Secret Vault, so Cardina would diligently practice it.
The dangerous magical beasts inhabiting the Bovoir Abandoned Mine District had been wiped out, leaving only the remnants.
They were perfect opponents for Cardina to hone her swordsmanship.
'When we meet again, I hope she's grown beyond recognition.'
Federback closed his eyes, recalling Cardina's miserable early death before his regression.
That wouldn't happen in this life.
Never.
As the expedition heading to the Bovoir Mine District departed from the castle, Federback immediately made his way to the training cave.
Rorschach came looking for him with documents needing approval, but he sent him away.
'Right now, the top priority is digesting the Ice Dragon Adara.'
Federback stationed a few soldiers at the entrance to the training cave.
"Don't let anyone in."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers, stiff with discipline, nodded.
Shouldering a leather sack of food, a wooden barrel of drinking water, and a chest containing various research materials, Federback ventured deep into the training cave.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—
His footsteps echoed through the empty cavern.
This cave, carved into the back of the Meursault mansion, was deep and winding.
The interior was still far from comfortable.
The walls remained covered in moss, mushrooms, and vines, while cold groundwater trickled down and sharp stalactites jutted like monsters' teeth, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Federback settled in a spacious area deeper inside.
He used to swing his sword here, drenched in sweat, but not anymore.
Federback sat cross-legged, hands resting on his knees.
Tsutsutsutsutsu...
There was another pulse, lagging slightly behind his heartbeat.
The Dragon Core.
It throbbed belatedly with each heartbeat, creating discordant ripples.
The energy of the Ice Dragon Adara, dormant deep within his body, began to rampage.
Federback focused his mind on a single point.
Crack—craaaack—craaaack—
White frost formed around him, followed by rime ice creeping up.
The entire cave was freezing solid, centered on Federback.
'Let's see.'
With eyes closed, Federback contemplated his mental world.
His mind was a vast, pristine white snowy expanse.
Sharp ice spikes protruded everywhere, with cold blizzards whipping through the gaps.
Federback thought.
'Before entering the Nightmare Devourer Swamp, I should at least toughen my body a bit.'
Over the past few days, Federback had been preparing to meet the mage.
'They're unpredictable.'
No matter that he was a regressor, he couldn't predict every action of madmen.
Mages were that dangerous.
Clad in human skin, but harboring something entirely alien inside.
They shed common sense and universal concepts... Eccentrics, in polite terms—or lunatics, bluntly put.
Federback recalled the mages he had encountered before his regression.
'Every one of them had deranged eyes, their souls twisted into something utterly alien.'
One had replaced his entire skin with barnacles, another grafted spider limbs onto his own, yet another swapped all his organs for magitech devices, and one had gorged on the grudges of the dead until his soul bloated grotesquely. Sane ones were rare.
Mages affiliated with the Magic Tower at least operated within the empire's framework, but wandering mages had no such restraints.
They were true madmen, living solely for their research obsessions.
Mad, going mad, or about to go mad.
'To sit those lunatics at the negotiation table, power is essential.'
Like most madmen, issues with mages could be resolved with force.
Thus, Federback planned to fully absorb the Ice Dragon Adara's power before accepting the mage's invitation.
Tsutsutsutsutsu...
He awakened the Dragon Core's energy buried deep in his mind.
Federback peered into his mana core, located in his dantian.
The mana core rippled like a black swamp.
Three layers of ripples spread across its pitch-black surface.
A phenomenon signifying the 3rd Circle realm.
'3rd Circle at fifteen. Not bad, but hardly impressive.'
If anyone else heard Federback's thoughts, they would be too stunned to respond.
No genius from any prestigious house had reached 3rd Circle at this age.
Not even the empire's prodigy, the Knight King's sheltered only daughter from the south, the crown prince hailed as one to usher in a mythic era, nor the famed demonic noble houses in the Demon King's army, diligently preparing invasions even now.
Yet Federback remained unsatisfied with his current state.
The 3rd Circle allowed full manifestation and tangibilization of mana.
He could tear iron with bare hands and visually perceive plants' breathing.
'But it's still insufficient to counter the variables mages will throw at me.'
He had confidence in defeating mages in combat.
But killing them and subjugating them alive were entirely different matters.
Federback sank deeper into his mental world.
'The answer lies within me.'
A power to deny the magic system and bend it to his will.
In the center of the snowfield, Federback confronted the soul of the Ice Dragon Adara.
Beyond the blizzard raged the white dragon's wraith.
This ice construct was also the crystallized mana that escaped when the Dragon Core shattered.
The dragon's factor.
Federback had merely imprisoned it within his inner mental world; he hadn't fully absorbed it yet.
Slash—
He cleaved the wind with his sword.
The sharp blade turned ice to snow, then snow to water.
The Ice Dragon Adara's wraith let out a screeching roar and thrashed wildly.
Federback continued slashing the dragon's factor with his sword.
It fragmented into tiny pieces, melting into the darkness of the mental world.
Federback thought.
'Dragons are mana-eating lifeforms by nature. No more efficient way to stand above the magic system than absorbing their factors.'
But the massive wraith before him was far too vast and powerful.
Federback discarded impatience and methodically continued his cuts.
Meursault 1st Form Bloodletting, Meursault 2nd Form Skin Peeling, Meursault 3rd Form Bone Extraction.
The three motions—exsanguination, flaying, and deboning—steadily carved away at the Ice Dragon Adara's wraith.
When its movements visibly slowed, Federback halted his slashes.
'Greed is the enemy. Better stop here.'
By now, the entire cave was likely filled with ice.
Continuing further might overwhelm the body he'd left behind.
'Next time, I'll fully subjugate you.'
Federback declared to the rampaging remnant mana of the Dragon Core.
...Right then.
Roooooooaaar!
Something utterly unexpected occurred, even to Federback.
Hot flames erupted from somewhere, enveloping the pale mana taking the form of the Ice Dragon Adara.
The churning Dragon Core energy gradually subsided, beginning to absorb into Federback's mental world.
'What is this?'
Federback stared at the sudden aiding energy.
It took the shape of a very small dragon.
'...A Fire Dragon?'
Red scales tinged with a golden aura.
It was unmistakably the energy of a Fire Dragon, the polar opposite of an Ice Dragon.
But why was this energy here, now?
Federback was startled by the Fire Dragon's energy infiltrating his inner mental world.
However.
'I don't know what it is, but it's an opportunity.'
He could fully crush the remnant mana of the Ice Dragon Adara, which he'd only planned to subjugate by thirty percent.
Using the Fire Dragon's energy as a catalyst, Federback amplified his momentum.
The Meursault 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Forms unleashed by a 3rd Circle swordsman.
They diced the Ice Dragon Adara's wraith into pieces, shattering it utterly.
The Ice Dragon's energy—more precisely, the energy of Meurso Mountain—dwelling in the Dragon Core scattered across every corner of Federback's inner snowfield.
The moment he subjugated the Ice Dragon Adara once more.
"...!"
Federback opened his eyes.
He was in the cave.
His body was trapped in an ice cavity, with only a few centimeters of clearance.
Frost had formed around his seated form, culminating in the entire cave filling with solid ice.
Yet a faint wall of warmth enveloped Federback.
Without this gentle energy, he would have been buried deep within the massive ice block.
'What helped me?'
Federback turned his head.
Then.
'...!'
The only thing in the cavity not frozen came into view.
The source of the mysterious warmth sustaining him.
It was the dragon egg picked up from the Ice Dragon Adara's lair.
Before entering the training cave, warmth had been leaking from the chest containing the egg.
Crack!
He swung his sword, and the ice wall split with a sharp sound.
Federback shattered the ice and stood.
"Was it you who helped me?"
No answer came from the vermilion egg in the chest.
Federback stroked his chin.
Until now, he had assumed this egg was laid by the Ice Dragon Adara.
But.
'Maybe not.'
Come to think of it, magma flowed beneath the Bovoir Abandoned Mine District.
Hot springs had erupted abundantly in the area, and diverse plants had grown following the mountain's energy flows.
Before Meurso Mountain froze as it was now, the ecosystem might have been entirely different.
'...For instance, ruled by a Fire Dragon instead of an Ice Dragon.'
Why had the entity inside this egg helped Federback fight the Ice Dragon Adara?
No one knew, but Federback had one hypothesis.
An aged Fire Dragon that once dominated Meurso Mountain.
One day, it fell to a young intruder, losing its life and its sole egg seized.
The young intruder not only stole the old master's territory but, in mockery, buried the egg deep in the ice.
Trapped in ice, the egg harbored hatred—endless hatred—for the young killer of its parent.
Then, its nemesis died.
Slain by another new intruder—a tiny human, no less.
"In a way, we shared the same enemy."
Federback tapped the crimson-tinged dragon egg a few times.
Thanks to this unhatched egg, he had perfectly absorbed the Ice Dragon Adara's energy.
Harboring faint expectations from the unexpected ally, Federback drew up his mana.
Tsutsutsutsutsu...
Regrettably, the mana rising over his body took only a dense gaseous form, not yet reaching liquid state.
'A bit short of mana liquefaction. What a shame.'
Federback's power had risen to the peak of 3rd Circle, just knocking on the door of 4th Circle.
This level alone would demote countless prodigies to mediocrity and bring tears of blood to renowned geniuses.
'No matter. This is plenty for entering the Nightmare Devourer Swamp.'
Federback merely clicked his tongue lightly.
"...Hitting 4th Circle there before coming out wouldn't be bad either."
He muttered to himself words that would horrify any listener.