Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Ch. 53 .｡.:✧ Elvenguard (6) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It couldn’t be.
How could a person have absolutely no talent?
If I was a loser in every other area, I should at least have talent in magic.
With that thought, I kept training. And I kept hitting a wall.
“Hmm? Wh-why isn’t this working? It should work normally?”
“Give me some tips.”
“There are no tips. Just visualize the symbol of each attribute in your mind and release mana. That’s all there is to 1st tier magic. It’s that easy.”
“…”
Was Alicia saying that because she was a genius who couldn’t understand the mundane?
No.
Alicia was speaking the truth.
According to the setting, 1st tier magic was shitty magic that anyone could use.
“This is the first case I’ve seen too. Usually, people struggle a lot with mana control, but I’ve never seen someone get blocked at 1st tier magic. If you can handle mana control, you should be able to pass the 1st tier in one go… How can you perform mana control so perfectly yet be unable to use magic?”
Each of Alicia’s words became a dagger flying and piercing my heart.
Only then did I realize.
The old man who first taught me magic wasn’t a scammer.
‘You’re a lost cause in magic. If you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of others, only learn inconspicuous magic like a petty thief.’
None of the old man’s words were wrong.
From the beginning, my body wasn’t capable of using high-tier magic.
I could only handle thief-exclusive magic that wasn’t classified by attributes…
“Wow… Already at 2nd tier? She’s learning magic way too fast?”
Meanwhile, Undecided’s progress was rapidly advancing.
She was already spewing fire from her hands and swinging an electric whip, causing a commotion.
I decided to think of it as fortunate.
At least one of us had talent in magic.
From now on, Undecided could handle the magic.
“D-don’t be too discouraged. Not all magic is connected to elemental magic. For example! Healing magic isn’t classified under any attribute and exists independently? Maybe you have talent for that kind of magic!”
“What tier is that?”
“7th tier…”
“What’s the possibility of me mastering 7th tier right away?”
“Unless you’re a saintess, it’s close to 0…”
Alicia, who had raised her tone to comfort me, gradually stretched out her words.
When I was already blocked at 1st tier magic, there was no way I could suddenly master 7th tier magic.
Thinking like that, Yulia suddenly started looking amazing.
In the case of elemental magic, you start from the 1st tier and gradually climb up the tech tree.
But for healing magic or blessing magic, you have to learn it from scratch without any prerequisite tree.
‘I thought she was just a crybaby saintess who only knew how to whine.’
She just had one screw loose.
Yulia was also a formidable genius.
With that thought, a sense of helplessness spread throughout my body.
“Teach Undecided magic for a bit. I’ll go rest and come back.”
“Okay…”
I needed some time alone.
Roughly stroking the head of Undecided, who was immersed in magic, I left the training ground.
Outside, the weather was unnecessarily nice.
The sunlight filtering through the gaps between the leaves of the huge World Tree was warm.
Birds were chirping.
The scent of flowers was fragrant.
It was such a nice day that I wanted to give up on everything and just enjoy an outing.
“Sigh…”
I found a sunny spot and plopped down.
I knew every minute and second was urgent.
I knew it would be much more helpful to swing a sword even once during this time.
Just a little.
I just wanted to rest for a very short while.
Because I was tired.
Because I wondered if I was really such an untalented guy…
‘I should have realized it from the moment I was given a cheat ability like regression.’
Come to think of it, if I had talent, I wouldn’t have reached the 13th round.
But letting go of expectations made me feel much better.
The problem was that this was the final round.
Even if I discovered the limits of my talent, there was no way to make up for that weakness through regression anymore.
Sighs kept escaping.
“Bro.”
“Hmm…?”
At that moment, I turned my head at the unfamiliar voice calling me from the side.
An elven kid was standing there, staring at me blankly.
“I saw it. You putting out the fire.”
“Really? Congratulations. Go tell the high elves. They’ll probably give you candy and tell you to be quiet.”
“Did you come to fight too?”
“What?”
“My dad was a really strong mage too, but he left for the World Tree saying he was going to fight and never came back. Are you going to help my dad too?”
I wondered what he was talking about.
It seemed he was the family of someone who had entered the dungeon and sacrificed themselves.
“When did he go in?”
“Ten nights ago.”
Ten days ago.
Then you could assume he was 100% dead.
The inside of a dungeon was a place where self-sufficiency was impossible.
Even a great mage couldn’t survive in a dungeon for ten days.
The moment he fell asleep, monsters would swarm in and share his flesh.
This kid’s father was probably wandering somewhere in the dungeon as a skeleton by now.
“Yeah. You’re right. I came to help your father.”
“Really? Where is my dad now? Is he hurt? Did he kill a lot of monsters? The adults won’t answer me even if I ask.”
“Well…”
It became a bit difficult to answer.
It was a question that was hard to give a definite answer to.
Should I tell him the cold reality that he was probably dead?
Or should I make him hold on to a vague hope that he might be alive?
Neither could be considered the correct answer.
I couldn’t guarantee the survival possibility of an elf I had never even seen.
“Is your father strong?”
“Yes, he’s really strong! He runs a school and has many disciples, and many mages respect him!”
“Do you believe in your father?”
“Yes. I believe in him. I’m sure he’s fighting more bravely than anyone else right now.”
“Then he must be alive and well. Since he has a child who believes in him like this.”
The only thing I could do was make him have as much hope as he believed in.
Anything more was a luxury, and anything less was hopeless.
I didn’t want to teach this child how to become accustomed to despair and helplessness.
‘While people are dying in real-time, what luxurious worries was I having?’
Thanks to that, my thoughts were sorted out.
I had no talent?
I didn’t have the leisure to make such a full-bellied complaint and whine.
Because people who truly had no talent were dropping dead all over the world right now.
Who knows?
While I sat down for a moment, people who could have helped me in the future might be dying.
To put it more extremely, there was a possibility that my future comrade who would defeat the final boss for me later might die absurdly because I was taking it easy.
“I’ll go save your father right away. Can you hold onto this until then?”
“Ugh…”
Swish.
I took out a hat from my bosom, unfolded it nicely, and put it on the kid’s head.
The only one of its kind in this world.
It was a custom-made baseball cap I had made myself.
With it on the blonde elf boy’s head, the sense of incongruity was no joke.
“Keep it safe. How old are you?”
“51 years old.”
“Ah.”
Suddenly, my immersion was completely broken.
Come to think of it, the age of majority for elves was 100 years old.
He was definitely a child by elf standards.
But thinking that I had been putting on airs in front of someone 30 years my senior, I suddenly felt a sense of self-loathing.
“How old are you, bro?”
“Well, about that… I’m older than you.”
“100 years old? 120 years old?”
“No, that’s…”
“Mr. Cheon Michael Jackson.”
At that moment, a cheerful voice called out to me.
I didn’t even need to turn around to know.
This sweet voice belonged to the priestess, Mia.
As I turned around with the elf boy, an elf who seemed to be the boy’s mother had quickly run over and took the child’s hand, leaving.
“I’ll definitely return the hat when you come back…”
“You seem to have already become friendly with the children here.”
“We just had a little chat. So, what brings you here? Have you reached a decision regarding the request?”
“About that, please give us a little more time. The meeting is still in progress.”
Mia approached, removing the veil that had been covering her face.
It was the first time I had seen it.
The face of Mia, the priestess of the World Tree.
Light green hair. And a face that looked much younger than I had expected.
However, from her resolute expression, a strong will could be glimpsed, and I had no desire to look down on her.
If Undecided seemed to lack emotion due to her childlike innocence, Mia gave the impression of suppressing all her emotions.
“The World Tree’s prophecy is ready.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, apart from the request, I had received a prophecy voucher as a reward for catching Ifrit.
It was like having a taste before receiving a lifetime free pass.
Following Mia, who turned around with a meaningful expression, I headed towards the World Tree.
Soon, a small tunnel appeared below the base of the World Tree.
Mia entered without hesitation.
The attendants and guards all waited outside the tunnel.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”
“I’m coming.”
It was a damp and dark tunnel that I really didn’t want to enter.
By the time my eyes got used to the darkness, a huge cavity with a flickering bright light could be seen on the other side.
‘It’s been a while. The World Tree’s Eye.’
This place was called the ‘World Tree’s Eye’.
It was literally a place where the World Tree could see, hear, and speak.
Here, the World Tree conversed with the priestess and gave prophecies.
Even the air here was different.
Unlike the slightly stuffy outdoors filled with mana, there was almost no mana here, giving a refreshing feeling.
It was a pleasant space despite being quite humid.
“I’ll tell you the prophecy right away, so wait comfortably.”
“…”
Mia strode across the ground filled with the World Tree’s roots and placed her hand on the central wall.
Then Mia closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
It seemed to take time to fully read the prophecy.
In the meantime, I found a spot on the ground and sat down…
‘She’s really freaking pretty.’
I couldn’t take my eyes off Mia’s face.
Elves were a race known for having only handsome men and beautiful women, but she seemed exceptionally pretty even among them.
I hadn’t been able to see that face even once during the past 12 rounds.
I had wasted 12 years of my life.
“What are you staring at so intently?”
“Oh. Was I caught?”
“Currently, the World Tree’s senses are connected to me. Even with my eyes closed, I can see what you’re doing through the World Tree’s eyes.”
“I’m sorry. If it’s a disturbance, should I turn my back?”
“No… There’s no need to apologize. It’s not that it’s a disturbance. I was just genuinely curious as to why you were staring like that.”
Mia shook her head with a perplexed expression.
I thought she was in a bad mood because of her rather irritable tone.
It seemed that was just her usual attitude.
Then what was the reason she had avoided facing me and only conversed through the veil throughout the past 12 rounds?
In fact, aside from when she was delivering prophecies, she never engaged in small talk at all.
But this time, Mia was the one who initiated the chat.
Did she suddenly have a change of heart in this round?
“It’s just… I don’t think I’ve seen the priestess’s face before.”
“I apologize for that. I know it’s rude to cover my face, but because of a certain prophecy… It seemed like you weren’t the person mentioned in that prophecy, so I removed the veil.”
“I’m glad. I thought the priestess might have hated me.”
“Th-that can’t be! I’m truly sorry for making you misunderstand.”
“If you’re sorry, will you treat me to a meal later?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve already enjoyed plenty of banquets with the elders. Now, excluding those old farts, I want to have a conversation with the priestess.”
“…”
It was so regrettable I could die.
I had thought of her as a cold and indifferent extra throughout the past 12 rounds.
But the round where I finally opened up a conversation with Mia was the last one.
I wanted to know more about Mia as a person.
Not the character explained in detail in the game’s setting and story.
Because I could only know about Mia as an individual living and breathing in this world by directly meeting and talking to her like this.
I thought I had seen all the hidden elements of the game.
But when an unknown achievement suddenly popped up, I wanted to unlock it no matter what.
Any gamer would understand my feelings.
“Pft. Old farts… You’re the first human to speak like that. Most can’t even distinguish between an old elf and a young elf.”
“They must lack discernment. The vitality shown on the face is different.”
“That’s true…”
“So, will you treat me to a meal or not?”
“Hmm…”
Just as Mia was pondering with a faint smile, making a nasal sound.
“Ah. The prophecy has arrived.”
The World Tree cut off the flow.
I hadn’t received an answer yet.
What a tactless fellow.
But let’s hear what the prophecy is.
Mia’s expression gradually stiffened.
“What’s wrong?”
“The prophecy is a bit strange. It’s not the World Tree’s usual tone…”
“For now, just recite it as it is.”
“Okay. Ahem.”
Mia cleared her throat and parted her lips again.
But at the first word she uttered, I froze.
“Belphegor…? So you were the human he spoke of.”
“…!”
“What in the world does this mean? Belphegor, it sounds like a person’s name.”
I immediately realized.
This wasn’t the World Tree’s prophecy.
That way of speaking belonged to Kali.
“Damn it…”
The moment I turned around in surprise, the tree roots adorning the walls wriggled.
This was the World Tree’s eye, ear, and mouth.
If this place fell into Kali’s hands, it could be used as her eye, ear, and mouth.
My existence had been exposed to Kali.
“Mia!”
“Huh…?”
Rumble!
With a roar, the dirt wall collapsed, blocking the entrance.
The fireflies all dropped at once, plunging the place into darkness.
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