56. A bastard who makes everything he thinks is good...
56. A bastard who makes everything he thinks is good...
Is there anyone in the world who'd be happy to hear they're a loser?
Maybe if you scoured the whole planet, you'd find one, but it sure as hell ain't me.
Some rando I've never even met before suddenly calls me a loser?
Even if I look like a drowned rat right now, that's no excuse.
I knew damn well she was a mess, but I still asked her.
"Are you talking about me?"
The woman hanging in mid-air completely ignored my question and started yelling at the Magic Tower Master instead.
"You fucking dog! Can't break old habits, huh?! Must be nice overflowing with energy!"
The Magic Tower Master's eyes rolled back as she reached out toward her granddaughter.
"Adela! What kind of language is that in front of a guest!"
Rings of water tightening around her.
-Kwaaa!
"Kyaaaaak! Let go! Let me go! Pblb!!! Mmph! Uuugh!"
I averted my gaze from the woman whose mouth was now sealed with water.
I've run into plenty of people picking fights outta nowhere in my life.
Best policy in these situations? Don't get involved at all.
Seeing her veins bulging in her neck as she screamed her head off killed any urge I had to accept an apology.
Feeling pissed off, I looked at the Magic Tower Master.
"..."
The Magic Tower Master pressed her forehead like she had a headache.
"Haa... Let me apologize on her behalf. She's not usually like this..."
No no, no need for that.
"Ah, yes. Hello, Magic Tower Master-nim. You said to drop by anytime, so..."
Mid-sentence, a wave burst from the woman's body, dismantling the water rings.
-Tong! Chwaaak!
Adela landing, Magic Tower Master startled.
And then, water splashed all over me again. I'd almost dried off...
"Fuck!"
"Adela! You bitch!"
"Aaaak! Just kick him out!"
This Adela chick... no, beast, stomped toward the entrance, trying to shove me aside.
"Move, loser!"
Pissed to the max, I roughly swatted her hand away.
-Tak!
"Ouch!"
"I'll move, so get lost."
The woman staring at her flung-back hand for a moment.
Eyes rolling.
Blue light gathering in her hand.
I matched her by drawing my sword halfway.
Ready to chop off an arm if needed.
Right then...
[Do not cross the line.]
-Kuwoong!
The Magic Tower Master's thunderous voice echoed, slamming Adela into the ground.
An invisible attack.
A gruesome crunch of twisting bones, and the woman foaming at the mouth as she passed out.
-Kaduduk!
"Kkorrreuk..."
The Magic Tower Master winced in pain, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment.
Regaining her composure quickly, she absorbed the water soaking my body and bowed her head.
-Shuwaak...
"I'm sorry. My granddaughter was incredibly rude to you, sir..."
Her sincerity hit hard as she bowed.
Snapping at her while she's upset wouldn't be right... Guess I'll just chalk it up as a debt.
"I'm fine, so stand up, Grandma."
"...No. I have no face left."
"Grandma, I'm the one uncomfortable here. She's your acquaintance's disciple—call me like before."
Her head snapped up, face full of emotion.
"Ah... How can you be so gracious... Arin must be so jealous of me today..."
Truth is, she owes me now, and I figured she'd give me something.
Gotta get that settlement... for my mental anguish.
While I was gauging the Magic Tower Master's mood, the mages dragged the woman away.
"Oh dear, miss... Why are you like this? Did the Banshee get to you?"
"Getting bullied at school or something?"
"Her? She'd be the one bullying the world..."
-Woongseongwoongseong
Keeping a straight face, I asked the Magic Tower Master.
"By any chance, the reason you called me today?"
"Ah."
She glanced at the woman being dragged away like a defeated soldier.
"No way, you weren't trying to play matchmaker with your granddaughter..."
Ahem! Ahem! "Of course not! I just wanted to look after Arin's disciple a bit! Haha... Shall we head up first, young man?"
"As expected! Thank you, Grandma! Oh, and I'd prefer to avoid running into your granddaughter if possible!"
"...Y-Yeah... That... makes sense... Of course..."
-Haa...
I grinned wide hearing her deep sigh.
No way I'll get tangled up with her. What're the odds?
The Magic Tower Master had a headache coming on.
She'd brought a fine young man to pair with her wild granddaughter.
But the girl had turned into a wreck after a month and spat unforgivable crap at Ryu-o.
'She's not usually like that...'
Looks like she'd been neglecting her granddaughter lately.
Gotta investigate what happened at the Academy myself.
Anyway, entertaining the guest came first.
Turning back, she saw Ryu-o standing there dumbfounded, muttering 'Big corp?', 'Lab?', 'This is the Magic Tower?'
The Magic Tower Master beckoned to Ryu-o, who gawked like a country bumpkin.
"Haha, young man! Come here quick."
As Ryu-o approached, she activated the moving platform.
Glass dome closing, floor rising.
-Weeeng~
Ryu-o staring blatantly beyond the glass dome.
"E-Elevator..."
"Huh? You know about moving platforms, young man?"
"Ah, no. First time seeing one."
Of course—it's tech even the royals haven't revealed yet.
Feeling proud, the Magic Tower Master asked Ryu-o.
"Hehe, what's your impression of the Magic Tower?"
"It's different from what I expected—surprised."
"Huh? Different? What'd you think it was like?"
"Mages and magic flying everywhere, wooden furniture..."
She smirked knowingly.
"Hmm, I hear remote kingdom Magic Towers are like that."
Pride beamed from her face.
Ryu-o, having seen such grandeur, praised her lavishly.
"As expected, the Labyrinth City Magic Tower is on another level."
She knew it was flattery, but coming from a handsome young man, it felt good.
Shrugging her shoulders, the door opened to reveal the top floor with full-glass walls.
Neat solid wood furniture, a huge lab table scattered with herbs.
Even the floor was transparent, showing the outside clearly.
"Do you have no privacy here, Magic Tower Master-nim?"
Laughing, she clapped her hands.
-Ppakppak!
The glass room instantly wrapped in white marble.
Revealing a pristine interior.
"Wow..."
"Built with special materials. The tech involved is..."
As she excitedly explained, Ryu-o nodded along with affirmations.
'Such a shame... Perfect son-in-law material...'
Desperate to solidify the connection, the Magic Tower Master rummaged through her subspace memories.
"Sit down first."
"Yes."
Across from her, Ryu-o peeked at her slyly, smirking.
'Heh, crafty kid... Hehe, can't hate him though.'
Chuckling indulgently, she got straight to the point.
"Right, nice and transparent. Here! Take this!"
She pulled a book from her subspace.
Ryu-o stared at the cover and said.
"A book? 'The Martial Artist Who Performed Miracles'? What's this?"
"Do you know that Easterners who make a Dantian can't use magic?"
Swordsmen who create a Dantian or Mana Core can't form a mage's Circle.
Vice versa too.
An obvious truth of the world.
"Yes, I know. Don't tell me this book..."
She'd picked the most valuable thing for a martial artist from her collection.
It pained her—it was super rare—but she decided to invest in the future.
"Yeah, this book was written by a madman who used magic with a Mana Core. One of a kind in the world."
Ryu-o, visibly excited, fiddled with the book.
"Are you giving this to me?"
"Yeah, read it. Ask if anything's unclear."
"Thank you, Grandma!"
"Hehehe! Good~ Seeing you happy warms my heart!"
He probably won't master it quick.
Magic's tough even with Circles—using it with a Mana Core?
But there's precedent, so possible.
Selling it would net a few gold coins... Tch...
"Must be tough. It's defying the natural order."
Watching Ryu-o dive into the book, she sipped tea.
Old age leaves time—watching future sprouts grow is the best use of it.
And she had another dark ulterior motive...
'Come visit often. Make her snap out of it—even if you gotta beat some sense into my granddaughter...'
The more she saw, the more she wanted him.
Recently collaborating with the Guild Master.
Blaming Ryu-o's rumors on Magic Tower gossip had naturally brought her the tales.
The long story of Ryu-o reaching just the 10th floor.
Unbelievable feats, a solid path laid before him.
But...
'Who to blame... My fault for spoiling her.'
She'd gently lured him in, but her granddaughter ruined first impressions from the start.
Sighing deeply at the regretful timing, Ryu-o crossed his legs and circulated Mana.
'???? Found a clue already?'
Mouth agape, the Magic Tower Master stared at Ryu-o.
Blue energy flowed from Ryu-o as he closed his eyes and breathed in.
'Whoa... Incredible. How long's it been? A month? Month and a half?'
Amazed at Ryu-o's well-refined state in such short time, she swallowed her awe.
'...How old again? Stronger than that bitch Arin in her youth?'
Soon, Ryu-o started emitting fierce energy from the other side.
'Red! That's Heavenly Demon Divine Art???!?!? What, what! Did the Heavenly Demon snatch Arin...? No way? Hmm?'
Ryu-o, who'd broken another person today.
The Magic Tower Master jaw trembling, stared blankly at him.
The energy from Ryu-o's body swirled gently, forming a circle.
But the energies wouldn't connect, just pushing each other away.
Yet Ryu-o grunted, trying to link the blue and red energies.
How do I know? Their tails were biting but repelling.
Energies that seemed impossible to merge rotated while pushing.
Slow at first, but speed built up...
-Wingwingwing!
Ryu-o twitching, sweating coldly.
A sight even the mighty Magic Tower Master had never seen.
It looked purple at a glance, like a spinning circle.
But the two energies still weren't connected.
Just an optical illusion.
-Weeeeeeng!
"C-Crazy? Hah?"
At the ominous scene, she reached out but hesitated.
Whether martial arts or magic, you don't touch someone in that state.
Still worried, she focused her vision, peering intensely at Ryu-o.
Beautiful sight of Mana surging wildly.
'Always amazing body... If I'd found him first... No. Pointless.'
Shaking off stray thoughts, she monitored Ryu-o's condition.
Ready to save him if things went south.
Ryu-o, gritting teeth, began shrinking the circle.
As size decreased, rotation sped up.
Forming what looked like a purple circle.
It tightened around Ryu-o's body...
-Weeung!!
A ring settled in Ryu-o's chest.
"!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
"Huh?! Hah, they won't mix... Huh? What? Transmigrator..."
"Choooongaaaak!!!!!!"
Eyes bloodshot, the Magic Tower Master grabbed Ryu-o's shoulders and shook him.
"How! What! I told you to use magic with Dantian! Make a Circle!"
Panting heavily, body trembling, she freaked out Ryu-o.
"G-Grandma! What's wrong!"
"What's wrong? That's my line! How'd you do it! A warrior with a Circle..."
Touching Ryu-o directly, she examined his body closely.
"Huh... Two Mana Cores? Circle on top... Euk! Euuk!"
"G-Grandma!"
Ryu-o urgently shook the Magic Tower Master clutching her neck and collapsing.
"C-Call someone!!!!"