Chapter 52
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: A Gift from a Transcendent
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Calm down.
That’s what Dajin, the Spirit of Thunder, told me.
“...Calm down?”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
He shoves an artifact of unknown identity into my mouth and then tells me to calm down.
If someone suddenly injected an unknown liquid into your arm with a syringe and said, ‘Please calm down,’ could you?
How could I possibly calm down, not knowing if the syringe contained life-saving medicine or a deadly poison?
No, it would be a problem even if it were medicine. Don’t even the best medicines sometimes turn into poison depending on the patient’s symptoms and condition?
How would you know if I’d have an allergic reaction, or suddenly start vomiting or get diarrhea?
You crazy deer bastard.
“Calm down, you say?”
Artifacts are not some universally effective power-up tool that works for every character. That’s why I took a firm stance with Dajin and demanded an explanation.
“...Uh, well, yes.”
Dajin seemed genuinely taken aback by my aggressive reaction.
“Ahem!”
Rireu coughed, tapping me on the back for my disrespectful words toward Dajin.
“What is it?”
I asked, turning to face Rireu with a cold expression.
Startled by my short, chilly tone, Rireu hesitated for a moment before leaning in to whisper in my ear.
“Um... could you show a little... you know, manners...”
“...Manners?”
Rireu, you too are driving me crazy.
“Does this look like a situation for manners? An artifact of unknown properties just entered my body.”
“Well, um... it’s still an artifact, so it should be a good thing, right? Let’s just calm down first...”
Rireu seemed to think of artifacts in the abstract, as simply ‘good weapons to have.’ For someone with limited knowledge about them, her reaction might have been natural.
After all, the only artifact she’d ever seen in her life was probably the ‘Red Crystal’ I carried floating over my shoulder, shooting beams of light.
The Red Crystal was an artifact with a rather simple effect and, in return, no demerits. So, her reaction wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
“Calm down, my ass...”
But if Rireu knew that some artifacts shorten the user’s lifespan to two years, she’d be reacting the same way I was.
You’re a race that lives for over 4,000 years. If you picked up that artifact, you’d lose about 3,978 years.
Let’s see if you can still be polite after losing 3,978 years of your life. Should I test it?
“Well... I can guess what you’re worried about. Some artifacts do have negative effects on one’s lifespan, health, or even intelligence.”
“You know that full well! Then instead of just shoving this thing at me, shouldn’t you have warned me first, saying something like, ‘This staff is an artifact, so be careful’?”
“No, because it’s not that kind of item. My, what a temper...”
Dajin looked at me with a peculiar expression as I fumed, speaking as if he were fed up.
Listen to this guy. Anyone would think I’m the weird one.
Who was it that forcibly shoved an object into my mouth when I didn't know what it was and couldn't spit it out once swallowed?
“Then explain. What are its effects?”
“Hmph! Very well. That staff, you see, is none other than...”
“Skip the backstory. I’m not interested.”
“...”
At my sharp retort, Dajin’s head drooped slightly, a look of disappointment on his face.
“Tsk. Well, to put it simply... think of it as a staff with the function of summoning me.”
Dajin clicked his tongue lightly, then spoke in a deflated voice, as if all the excitement had drained away.
“...?”
He got straight to the point, yet I couldn’t quite grasp it. I just stared at him in silence.
Summoning me?
No, I mean, summoning *you*?
“...Excuse me?”
Rireu’s voice came from behind me. It seemed she hadn’t understood Dajin’s words either.
“...”
I turned my head and met eyes with Rireu, who wore a dazed expression.
...I didn’t just mishear that, did I?
“Why the strange atmosphere?”
“Um... summoning you?”
“Yes. It is a staff that can summon me.”
“...Summoning, as in, you’ll fight in my place...”
“Of course, that’s possible too. What, is there a country you don’t like?”
Dajin asked in a casual tone, like an old man asking if you want anything from the convenience store he’s heading to.
“...”
“...”
Rireu and I looked at each other once more.
Thankfully, she also looked dumbfounded, as if her brain couldn’t quite process reality.
Dajin, the Spirit of Thunder.
A transcendent being, known as the origin of lightning magic.
In this world, transcendent beings were practically gods.
They possessed overwhelming magical power incomparable to the combined mana of all the mages in the world, and a resilient life force that made them impossible to kill. They were omnipotent beings who could casually ignore the physical laws of this world.
With a single nod, they could evaporate entire oceans and reduce the land to ashes. Beings who had truly entered the realm of gods.
And he was saying this was a staff that could summon such a Spirit of Thunder at will...?
“...Insane.”
I let out a hollow laugh, unconsciously looking at the palm of my right hand.
A nuclear bomb had just landed in my hand.
What in the world is this situation?
“Let me ask one more time... you’re sure it’s not bad for my health, right? No demerits to my mana or anything else?”
“Did I not say it has no such restrictions? That staff was created by a mage skilled enough to imprison me within this small stone. It would be an insult to compare it to items made by other riffraff.”
...It’s a cheat item.
A truly insane cheat item.
If an artifact like this were implemented in the game, the balance issues would be so severe that every player would flock to the mage class.
Now I understood why I’d never seen this staff before.
“...Isn’t this, like, enough to end the war?”
Rireu asked me, still wearing a dazed expression as if reality hadn’t sunk in yet.
Oh.
Right, we were in the middle of a war, weren’t we?
I’d completely forgotten about that, what with a nuclear bomb suddenly appearing in my hand.
“End the war? Ah, you mean the war with that demon fellow who crawled back up? I’m afraid that’s a request I’ll have a hard time granting.”
“What? Why?”
The sourcebooks described the respective powers of the five spirits who were the origins of magic as being powerful enough to rival the demons that crawled up from hell.
With the Sword Saint and his party here, they could handle the Demon King while Dajin handled the other demon. We could probably end this war in a month...
“Look at my current state. Is my true form not bound to this small stone?”
“It is.”
“My power will weaken the farther I am from this forest.”
“...What? It weakens? By how much?”
“Well, near the noisy front lines up north... I’d be about as strong as that old mage you travel with. The farther I go, the weaker I’ll get. By the time I reach the northern ends of the land where that demon fellow is, I’ll probably only be able to muster the power of a 6th-Circle mage.”
“That’s it?”
Aww, seriously?
What a letdown.
“Please, a little more politeness!”
Rireu, horrified by my bluntness, poked me in the back again.
“Come on... honestly, you were a little disappointed too, weren’t you, Rireu?”
“You’re not supposed to show it so openly...!”
Rireu glanced at Dajin, then cautiously stood up again and whispered into my ear.
I don’t know why she keeps whispering. The deer in front of us might be a transcendent being, but does she really think he can’t hear her just because she’s speaking quietly?
Come to think of it, she seems to be the one treating Dajin like an idiot the most.
“Well, if you wish to awaken my true power... it’s not entirely impossible.”
Dajin, finding our exchange amusing, smiled and dropped a meaningful hint.
“If you release the seal binding my true form, I will be able to use my full power wherever you are.”
“...You were trapped?”
I blinked, hearing this for the first time.
“I told you, the one who made the staff now inside your body trapped me in this stone. The name... what was it, I’ve forgotten. The names of you mortals are all so difficult. An Ancient One, was it? That’s what they call that race these days.”
This was another new piece of lore.
I had always thought that spirits could only be communicated with through runestones.
In the game, there was no other way to converse with spirits, and even then, the dialogue was limited to a few lines.
The sourcebooks didn’t mention anything like this either.
But to think that the runestones, which allowed communication with transcendent beings, were actually their prisons.
“The Ancient Ones were a people with technology advanced enough to create artifacts. But even with their skills, to think they could imprison a transcendent being like you, Lord Dajin, in a runestone...”
Rireu said with a stunned face, deeply shocked by Dajin’s circumstances. It seemed she, too, had believed Dajin resided in the runestone of his own free will.
“The one who imprisoned me was a mage worthy of being called a genius. He trapped me and intended to use me like a slave with that staff. An arrogant idea, befitting a genius.”
Dajin didn't seem to resent the mage who had trapped him in this tiny stone. In fact, he almost sounded a little nostalgic.
“Well, he was the first mortal to try and handle me in such a way, so it was quite entertaining. He was capable, highly ambitious, and talented, so I thought it would be fun and played along for a few years. But, being a mortal, he died rather quickly.”
“You seem to think quite highly of the mage who imprisoned you.”
“Isn’t it amusing? Other mages were busy worshiping me as a god, but that one saw me as nothing more than a tool to fulfill his own desires. I like those with stiff necks. I like them even more if they’re reckless fools who run wild, confident in their talent. They’re fun and amusing to watch.”
...Only then did I begin to understand why Dajin had given me such a powerful staff.
“Sounds to me like you see me as nothing more than a toy for your amusement.”
“Less a toy... and more like a cherished doll, let’s say. Among all those who have sought me out, none have been as talented and stiff-necked as you. And on top of that, you carry a terrible ‘restriction’ to match that talent.”
I knew instinctively that the restriction Dajin spoke of was not merely my physical weakness.
Even if he was trapped in a runestone, Dajin was a transcendent being, the origin of lightning magic. He must have known from the moment we first met that ‘Blooming’ was the only magic I could use.
To Dajin, it just seemed fun.
I hadn’t bowed my head or knelt before him like Rireu.
Not only that, my mana stat was absurdly high compared to other mages.
Yet, despite that ridiculously high mana stat, I could only use a single spell.
It was no wonder he found me interesting and curious.
“...That’s unpleasant.”
Hearing my response, Dajin smiled quietly.
“But I am enjoying myself. What a shame.”
A sly smile flashed across Dajin’s lips. I felt as if I had just gotten a small glimpse into the true nature of this transcendent being.
“Th-Then how do we break the seal that binds you, Lord Dajin?”
Rireu, sensing the subtle tension between Dajin and me, quickly cut in to change the subject.
She seemed worried I might pick a fight with him.
“I do not know.”
“...Ah. I see.”
Rireu looked at Dajin, who had confessed his ignorance so frankly and confidently, with an expression that said she had no idea what to say.
“You can ask the one who imprisoned me here directly.”
“You said he’s already dead.”
I spoke to Dajin, my voice laced with annoyance. What kind of nonsense was this, telling me to ask someone who died thousands of years ago?
“His research records should remain in a bunker in the northern lands... what you people call a dungeon. If you find it too troublesome, you could always develop a spell to break this seal yourself.”
The northern lands were a late-game region in the game, teeming with level 90 Overlords and monsters of comparable strength.
Telling me to investigate a dungeon somewhere in the land where the Demon King and the other demon had settled... it was an impossible quest for me at my current level.
“...I’ll just keep it in mind for now.”
Just surviving day to day was overwhelming enough. The prospect of wielding the true power of a transcendent being was tempting, but I had a mountain of other problems to solve first.
“Well, it doesn’t have to be you who breaks this seal. A genius like you, or perhaps even greater, will appear someday. They always do.”
“Sounds like you don’t mind being trapped. You don’t seem to want to be free.”
“Freedom? It matters little to me. As long as I have some entertainment, I am content.”
The thought processes of transcendent beings were truly beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal mind.
...Actually, maybe this guy was just plain weird.