Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Mad Mage (3)
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Chapter 103
Part 103: Mad Mage (3)
“You seem to be under some misconception.”
Kallid spoke with his characteristic sneer curling his lips.
Misconception? What misconception?
“I’m pretty sure I made this clear back at the mansion too.”
“……”
“Climbing the Silver Mountains is the easiest part of our plan.”
“That’s……”
“Compared to waking a sleeping dragon, it’s like eating cold soup.”
Kallid began to slowly explain about ‘dragons,’ as if he were graciously bestowing his knowledge upon dimwits like us.
Fortunately, Tondra was a ‘Silver Dragon’ who favored two-legged intelligent beings like humans, elves, and dwarves. The biggest reason Tondra still remained on this continent was that he was a Silver Dragon who enjoyed befriending humans.
Most Silver Dragons had left the continent after the fall of Angsar, which they had guarded. Of course, other dragons had also fled to the East or the barbarian lands of Altan to escape the various calamities that followed Angsar’s destruction.
Thus, Tondra remaining in the central continent was a very special circumstance. Kallid said Tondra stayed because of some ‘unresolved issue,’ but even he didn’t know exactly what that was.
“Still, one thing’s for sure—he’s taking a ‘nap.’”
“So he’s in the Silver Mountains, then.”
“Yeah. He said he’d come pick up the item he left with me before leaving the Silver Mountains. Since he hasn’t claimed it yet, he’s still there.”
“What kind of item?”
“Why should I tell you that?”
Tch, as expected, he won’t say. For a dragon to entrust something to a mad mage like Kallid—it must be something extraordinary.
I suppressed my curiosity and moved on to the next topic.
“Climbing the Silver Mountains is unavoidable now.”
Silver Mountains…… In the game, I’d traversed them easily, but thinking about actually ‘climbing’ them in reality made my head spin. The tallest thing I’d ever scaled was the little hill behind my neighborhood or Bukhansan, which my section chief loved so much.
“To climb the Silver Mountains, you’ll need various magic tools.”
“As expected……”
“It’s the mountains chosen by a dragon. You can’t scale them with ordinary climbing gear.”
Kallid began jotting down the types of magic tools required. An air ball to supply fresh air, a staff enchanted with adhesion magic, a small magic pot that boils itself without fire, a thermal stone, and even a darkness lantern that could adjust the density of surrounding darkness.
Among these, the darkness lantern was the hardest to obtain. Unlike ordinary lanterns that simply emitted light to brighten the surroundings, a darkness lantern absorbed the surrounding darkness and expelled it to control the shades of black and white, securing visibility. Since it emitted no light, it wouldn’t alert monsters or beasts, making it essential for climbing monster-infested places like the Silver Mountains. Even haughty dwarves shelled out high prices in Solen for one when they needed to breach monster-ridden mines.
Crafting a darkness lantern was exceedingly difficult to begin with. It required darkness stones, which could only be found in the Dark Forest—a very rare mineral. Darkness stones shattered upon exposure to sunlight, rendering them unusable, so they could only be mined on new moon nights. And since they were exclusive to the Dark Forest, where elves—who had no knack for mining—harvested them sporadically, they were all the more precious.
“I’ll hand over darkness lanterns for 5 gold each.”
Fortunately, Kallid had some. I arranged to receive a total of three.
“What about the other items?”
“You can buy magic pots or thermal stones at shops. I don’t make trivial stuff like that.”
Ugh, what an arrogant jerk. I shot Kallid a quick glare, then flashed an innocent smile when he looked back at me.
“I’ll have to swing by the market district. There’s plenty more to buy besides magic tools.”
Other necessities included various foodstuffs, cold-weather gear, and protective equipment. Ever since the northern Silver Mountains had twisted into the cursed land, the already relentless snowfalls had intensified in frequency and volume. Countless climbers froze to death before even reaching the midpoint, so preparing for the cold was as crucial as bracing for monster attacks.
“We’ll check out the market district tomorrow. Kallid, if you could prepare the magic tools……”
“Mm.”
“And since you’ve visited Tondra’s lair at least once, if you recall its approximate location, it’d help to compare it with the map.”
“The entrance to a dragon’s lair shifts periodically……but for now, I’ll try to jog my memory.”
“Thank you.”
With that, we parted ways. Kallid returned to his mansion, El and Ayla headed to their room, Lloyd went off to check on the horses and carriage, and I stayed at the inn’s tavern, sipping wine.
‘Silver Mountains, huh……’
Meeting a dragon should be thrilling, so why did it feel so stifling and heavy? I scratched my chin, staring blankly at the crackling bonfire, then drained the last of my glass and headed upstairs.
I opened the old book, and pages filled with the skills I’d acquired and various bits of information flipped past. I opened the [??? Map] section and began comparing it with the Silver Mountains map I’d bought earlier. Though there were minor differences in details, the overall flow of the mountain range matched closely.
“……”
I traced my fingertip over the spot marked with Earte’s fragment. The most treacherous area of the Silver Mountains, right against the cursed land’s cliffs. That was where Earte’s fragment lay.
If luck was on my side, I could get the dragon’s help.
If not, I’d end up as the dragon’s breakfast.
‘I need to think of backup plans.’
A way to survive waking the dragon from its nap.
‘Come to think of it, that old hag made something like that……’
I began jotting down ‘something’ in the old book.
* * *
The next day.
We headed to Solen’s market district to stock up on magic tools, climbing gear, cold-weather supplies, and more for the Silver Mountains ascent. I invested generously from the reward for fulfilling Mrs. Silvanus’s request, snapping up the finest items available. We bought so much that by the third shop, the owner called a cart to haul our purchases.
“Lloyd, could you and El head back to the inn to sort these out?”
“And you?”
“I’m off to buy foodstuffs and seeds.”
“Got it.”
Lloyd nodded and turned toward the inn with El and the cart. Ayla and I leisurely strolled through the market district.
First, I stopped at a butcher shop and bought several cuts of meat for jerky. Then, at the candy shop dubbed ‘the mages’ diner,’ I picked up mana candies to aid mana recovery. I’d make energy bars myself, so I skipped grains and fruits—those I could get from the [Dimensional Garden]. I also grabbed a few more small magic glass bottles that could store dozens of liters of water, then headed to a shop selling crops and seeds.
The reason I sought out a shop, despite already having an abundance of seeds and plants, was simple.
My current seeds were diverse, but none suited for polar extremes like the Silver Mountains. Sure, with my skills, I could force any plant to sprout even in the cold. But rather than burn mana on that, it was smarter to prepare plants that could thrive and endure in polar conditions from the start.
“Show me seeds that survive well near the Silver Mountains.”
“Silver Mountains? Hmm, Silver Mountains……”
Plants that survive polar regions are rarely beautiful. All their stats are dumped into sheer tenacity for survival. They lack potion-worthy effects too, so customers seeking Silver Mountains flora weren’t common. That’s why the shopkeeper rummaged through seed drawers for quite a while.
“Here we go. Sorry, this is all I have.”
The shopkeeper handed over just a few seed pouches. Six—no, five in total.
The first pouch contained snowflower tree seeds. Despite the ‘tree’ name, they didn’t grow that large. But among polar plants, they were rare for blooming pretty flowers, drawing animals that fed on them. Useful.
The second held ice moss tree seeds. This very lightweight plant grew fluffy, ‘tasty’ moss—not just edible, but versatile. No matter where it sprouted, southern varieties grew first, making it a natural compass. Mana in the Silver Mountains might render compasses useless anyway, so I’d buy it.
The third had snow lotus seeds. Like lotuses, they had tough, leathery stems that never froze—a strength rivaling ropes. I’d bring ropes, but just in case……purchase.
The fourth contained silver snowball seeds. These bloomed white rabbit-like flowers, and their fruits could serve as smoke bombs. Impact burst them, releasing countless fluffy fibers to obscure vision. In the ever-snowing Silver Mountains, it might come in handy. Purchase.
Finally, the fifth pouch held snowfield pea seeds.
“This one.”
Snowfield peas had a peculiar trait. To endure the cold, they formed rock-hard peas, which they ‘shot’ far away—their unique habit for seeking rooting ground through evolution.
‘This’ll be really useful.’
I took the five seed pouches and paid the shopkeeper.