Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: To Siliel's Home
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After the Bloodless Sovereign departed, Leyzon sought out the Poison Spider.
"You mean Siliel?"
Leyzon shared the possibility that had come to mind through his baby dragon.
The chance that Siliel, Piran's father, might have done something.
Hearing this, the Poison Spider fell into serious contemplation.
"As you say, Leyzon, it's not impossible. Siel was a bit of an eccentric oddball."
The Poison Spider gave an affirmative response.
"But from what I recall of Siliel's research, there wasn't anything particularly related to this."
"Pirsi-ran didn't seem to know much about it either."
"I see."
Leyzon clicked his tongue in disappointment.
He had hoped there might be a way to create talent.
"What if we go check out Siliel's house?"
Then, unexpectedly, the Poison Spider made a suggestion.
"It's been a long time since Siliel died. Is his house still around?"
"Elves have long lifespans and small numbers. Sometimes they come back unexpectedly even after being thought dead, so they have a funeral culture where they let their belongings rot naturally."
There were all sorts of funeral customs in the world.
Of course, elven goods didn't use plastic like modern ones.
Being all eco-friendly materials, they would naturally decompose if left alone.
"That's a good idea. Let's go."
"Are we going to Father's house?"
Piran, who had been listening quietly from the side, reacted.
Leyzon turned to Piran and nodded.
"Yeah. We're heading to the World Forest."
It was time to see the nostalgic elves again.
He wasn't particularly attached to them, but that was beside the point.
"Piran, want to come along?"
"Yes, I do!"
Piran had never been to Siliel's house.
As such, he showed immense interest.
"Good, Piran's coming too. And Poison Spider, I have a gift for you."
"A gift?"
The Poison Spider tilted his head curiously.
Leyzon pulled out a skeleton soldier in front of him.
The Poison Spider blinked at the sight.
"Hey."
Leyzon tapped the skeleton's spine, and it reluctantly ignited its eye lights.
"Tch."
The skeleton made a tongue-clicking sound despite having no tongue.
"This is Granfin, a beast of the land from outside the empire."
"Outside the walls?"
The Poison Spider's eyes widened in surprise.
It was his first time seeing a being from beyond the walls.
"Yeah, and Granfin is a magitech scholar."
"A magitech scholar."
The Poison Spider's eyes grew even larger.
He realized what Leyzon meant.
"Granfin, the Poison Spider studies primal magic. Just like you."
"Hah, what research could a back-alley hack like this do?"
Granfin snorted dismissively at the Poison Spider.
Leyzon was about to flick the back of Granfin's skull when...
The Poison Spider suddenly bowed to Granfin.
"I am sorely lacking. I would be grateful if you could teach me much, sir."
The Poison Spider genuinely wanted to study primal magic.
Granfin looked at him in bewilderment.
After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Well, you seem to have some grit."
An easy one.
In any case, the Poison Spider and Granfin seemed likely to get along well in primal magic research.
"We're thinking of clearing some dungeons on the way. That cool? You'll be in Syria's shadow anyway."
"Yes, that's fine."
The Poison Spider's eyes were already spinning with thoughts of research.
He was itching to dive into primal magic discussions with Granfin right away.
Even if tucked into the shadow on the way, they'd probably talk all day.
"Um, Leyzon."
At that moment, Piran cautiously called out to Leyzon.
When Leyzon turned to him, Piran clenched his fists tightly.
"Could I maybe clear dungeons too?"
Piran clearing dungeons.
Leyzon's eyes widened at the words.
And in that instant, Leyzon realized one fact.
'Piran was never a pioneer to begin with.'
Piran was born a necromancer.
A child who became a necromancer in an era when they were persecuted.
As such, he never had the chance to dungeon-crawl and ascend.
Yet Piran had innate talent.
The poison magic Piran wielded was far beyond 1st Ascension.
This was because what Piran had mainly learned until now was primal magic.
'Piran became my undead.'
Instead of ascension, he must have gained Corruption Levels.
This realization sparked a question in Leyzon.
'If an existing pioneer becomes undead, do their stats convert straight to Corruption?'
Pir-si-ran was a pioneer, but she was a dead body.
Naturally, no Pioneer ID either.
Piran's case: never registered as a pioneer, so no ID.
'This piques my curiosity a bit.'
Above all, Leyzon had one major question.
'I have ascension EXP saved up to 18th Ascension.'
Even now, it felt like 19th was imminent.
Ascension required permission from the Pioneer Mixer.
But Corruption Levels rose freely without limits.
'Maybe.'
Upon becoming undead, the banked ascension EXP might apply immediately.
Thinking this way, turning undead right away didn't seem bad.
However, there were still too many uncertainties.
'Worst case, the ascension EXP could vanish.'
What Leyzon was attempting was something no one had done before.
'Better to proceed cautiously.'
He wasn't watching his Hero-grade allies for no reason, with ascension blocked unnecessarily.
Besides, new possibilities might arise before then.
'Haste makes waste.'
Leyzon recalled his ancestor's old advice and lifted his head.
"Alright, let's go together."
He couldn't baby Piran forever.
Piran was Leyzon's undead too.
He needed to grow strong enough to protect himself.
"Leyzon, thank you so much! As expected, you're so magnanimous."
Piran beamed brightly with gratitude.
"Maybe because you're a fellow Half Dark Elf, you get it."
Syria, watching from the shadows, puffed up proudly for no reason.
'Am I picking undead based on kindness?'
How did he end up with such good kids?
"Estelle, Pauli."
As Leyzon called, two undead appeared by his side before he knew it.
"I'll leave Saha Village to you two like before. Okay?"
"Yes, leave it to us."
"I'll build the sturdiest fortress in the world!"
Both undead were optimized for fortress defense.
They'd handle it just fine on their own.
"Then I'll go fetch Hanok."
It was decided they were heading to the World Forest.
Leyzon moved to pick up Hanok right away.
Since they'd hit dungeons en route, Hanok was essential.
Hanok would be in the training hall as always.
Leyzon headed straight there and kicked the door open.
"Hanok, explosion—no, dungeons!"
"Eek!"
As Leyzon burst through the door, Hanok was there.
Hanok flinched and looked his way.
But Leyzon slowly shifted his gaze beside Hanok.
There was a girl he'd never seen before.
She looked about Hanok's age.
Leyzon blinked.
The training hall was warmer than usual.
The air heated from their intense movements.
Both Hanok and the girl were drenched in sweat.
Leyzon watched them quietly, then slowly closed the door.
"Hanok, you've grown up."
"L-Leyzon, what are you talking about?!"
Hanok panicked and rushed to fling the training hall door open.
His face flushed red to his neck, clearly embarrassed.
Leyzon shifted his gaze to Hanok.
The girl with braided chestnut hair had charming freckles.
She shrank back shyly.
But the greatsword in her hand made her look anything but shy.
"So, who are you?"
"Ah, I'm Yusia, daughter of Briaden from the Wild Wolves."
Leyzon had once reviewed all Steel Wolf Guild member names.
True to his exceptional memory, it rang a bell.
"I didn't know Briaden had such a pretty daughter. How'd you meet Hanok?"
He'd never seen her, but Leyzon was like her boss.
As a boss, he had to compliment the subordinate's daughter.
Leyzon praised the girl sincerely.
"We went to an upper dungeon together recently. I learned a lot from Hanok."
Hanok had recently teamed with the Steel Wolves for an upper dungeon.
Leyzon had been too busy to take him along.
The Steel Wolves wouldn't mind Hanok being Sword-Tooth Clan.
The issue was Hanok shying away from new people.
It was a habit from his timid nature.
But he couldn't idle while Leyzon worked.
Hanok gritted his teeth and dungeoned with the guild.
And Hanok truly shone there.
Leyzon's grueling dungeon runs had paid off big.
His past ordeals made him stronger than anyone.
The Steel Wolf upper pioneers even asked to call him anytime.
Thanks to that, Hanok completed his Ascension quest safely.
Hanok now had 6 tails.
Proof of 12th Ascension.
And her going with Hanok meant she was an upper pioneer too.
She looked so young, yet already upper-tier—not ordinary skill.
"You look so young. Impressive."
"Well, to a Half Dark Elf, I must seem young."
She smiled bashfully.
"But I'm twenty-four this year."
Leyzon's face froze solid.
She was older than Obilon from Sun Castle Guild.
"My apologies."
"Haha, it's fine. I get told I look young a lot."
Now he understood Hanok's reaction.
Turned out Hanok was just getting pampered.
"Well, I'll be off then. Thanks for the training help, Hanok."
"Ah, y-yeah, next time too."
At Yusia's words, Hanok's tail shot straight up.
As Yusia left, Hanok's tail drooped limply.
Leyzon watched quietly.
'Crow likes ten years younger, huh.'
Hanok was the opposite of his master.
"Hanok, grow strong."
Leyzon patted Hanok's shoulder.
"......It's not like that."
Hanok gazed wistfully at the door Yusia had left through.
"She just reminded me of Mom when she was young."
"Oh."
He'd unintentionally messed up.
"Ahem, yeah, that happens."
Kids notice parents' resemblances and want to dote more.
Leyzon agreed a hundred times with Hanok.
But which parent?
Adoptive parents?
Hanok's parents were two, confusing.
"......More importantly, Leyzon, didn't you say explosion earlier?"
"What? I said dungeon."
Hanok eyed Leyzon suspiciously.
But soon nodded.
"I'm all for dungeons. Been itchy lately."
Hanok had endured Leyzon's mad dungeon clears.
So upper pioneer dungeons felt boring now.
"Plus, I got two new skills I wanna test."
Hanok spun his training spear deftly.
His spear skills seemed sharper lately.
And he'd grown taller too.
Once only to Leyzon's chest, now up to his neck.
"Hanok, Sword-Tooth Clan lifespans are shorter than humans', right?"
"Yes. Human 2 years is about 1 for us."
That explained Hanok's growth spurt.
"Kids really shoot up."
"I'm not a kid anymore. Adult in a month."
Hanok puffed his chest proudly.
Straightening to look dignified.
"Showing off."
Syria snickered, but Leyzon understood Hanok.
To Leyzon, fresh adults were still kids.
But to him, it was a once-in-a-lifetime coming-of-age.
Different thrill.
"Then we should throw a coming-of-age party soon."
"Woof!"
Harron, shaped like a head on Hanok's shoulder, barked approval.
"I'll let the Shadow Warlord know too."
"R-Really?"
At his brother's mention, Hanok's dignity vanished, eyes sparkling.
Still a kid at heart.
"Yeah. So let's get stronger before then."
"I'm in!"
Leyzon planned to hit Hero-grade by year's end too.
'Hope I find Gaijun before that.'
The former Gray Mage Tower Lord, clearly undead himself.
Leyzon wanted his advice on undeading.
Hero-grade blocked further ascension.
Ascension required the imperial family.
And with their schemes unclear, maintaining status quo was risky.
"Good. Target is northeast this time."
To find Eden, Leyzon had gone east before.
Too busy then to clear dungeons.
So this time, sweep every dungeon along the way.
"Full throttle!"
"Yes!"
Clunk!
"Leyzon!"
As Leyzon and Hanok shouted with resolve.
Leyzon turned with an uneasy expression to the open door.
He'd finally wrapped up everything.
His ascension zeal brimmed after so long.
Leyzon hoped his surging will wouldn't be betrayed.
"Crow, what is it?"
Crow stood in the direction Leyzon looked.
Crow panted as he spoke.
"The Judgment Sovereign is dead."
What?