Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Lucia's Magic Lesson
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Kang Jin-hyuk found Lucia in the deepest part of the dungeon.
She had pitched a tent and set up camp, meticulously investigating the site where the Dragon Temple had once stood.
For it to vanish overnight like a mirage, it was no wonder she was flustered.
Kang Jin-hyuk walked up to the engrossed Lucia and tapped her shoulder with his finger.
Contrary to his expectation that she'd jump in surprise, she reacted calmly.
"You're here?"
Lucia recognized it was Kang Jin-hyuk touching her without even turning her head.
It was partly thanks to her sharp senses.
But truthfully, he was the only human who could reach this place, so it was a natural response.
"You've been at this the whole time?"
"Yeah. A bit more investigation, and I think I'll have the basic principle figured out."
After the old man cast some spell on Kang Jin-hyuk, the Dragon Temple had disappeared from this spot.
Having witnessed it, Lucia was convinced the temple had returned to its original dimension.
The magic circle left behind at the site supported her claim.
"Who spends weeks analyzing a single magic circle?"
"This one's far more intricate than the one that sham of a mage used to blow up the dungeon. One wrong rune, and who knows what could happen."
Lucia intended to decipher this magic circle's principle, recreate it, and open a door back to her original world.
Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to cheer her on, but at the same time, he felt a pang of loneliness.
'Once she returns to where she came from, there'll be no reason for her to come back here.'
For his own benefit, it would be better to hinder her efforts.
But pulling such a dirty trick on someone who had helped him so much went against his conscience.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
"There is something I need, but I can't ask you for it."
"Why? Don't trust me?"
"As if. You passed the temple's trial, after all."
Lucia had long noticed that Kang Jin-hyuk had gained power beyond compare to before.
He tried his best to hide it.
But in her eyes, the intense divine power leaking from his body was plain as day.
"You're at my level now—or maybe even higher."
"......I've gotten that strong?"
"Don't believe me? Wanna test it out?"
Kang Jin-hyuk frantically waved his hands as Lucia grinned mischievously.
"I'm sick of life-or-death brawls."
"Heh heh, whining after just that much hardship?"
Lucia said it like it was ridiculous.
As a half-elf who had lived for centuries, spending half that time as an adventurer.
The number of battles she'd fought was beyond what Kang Jin-hyuk could catch up to in a lifetime.
From her perspective, his complaints sounded like a child's tantrum.
"Looking at you, I bet you'll have to throw down a few more times ahead."
"Ugh...... Don't remind me. I'm already dying without enough people."
"Without people?"
"Exactly—no usable talent around."
Kang Jin-hyuk explained the events outside to Lucia.
He skipped Seo Sang-ho's near-death from internal strife, as he'd mentioned it before.
Starting from how he helped him take down two S-rank Hunters and founded a new guild.
It was a long tale that couldn't be wrapped up quickly, but Lucia listened to the end with rapt interest.
After quite some time, as Kang Jin-hyuk finished his short epic, Lucia gave a small clap.
"No wonder I hadn't seen your face—you've been busy."
"Not busy—desperate to survive."
Someone to help would've made it easier, he grumbled half-jokingly.
Lucia chuckled at that.
"Yeah, right. If I'd known it'd be this fun, I'd have tagged along~"
She said it with mock regret.
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't tell if she meant it or was joking.
"So if you're busy with guild stuff, why come here?"
"To test out a new enchantment."
"Too bad. I've been periodically clearing monsters around here."
Just as Lucia said, there wasn't a single monster presence nearby.
Even checking with his radar skill yielded the same result.
"I put up a barrier to keep the magic circle safe. Hunt somewhere else if you want."
"Hmm...... These were the toughest ones around. What a shame."
Monsters on other floors shredded at the mere touch of his aura.
He couldn't run proper tests on such fragile foes.
"What are you testing that needs sturdy monsters?"
"Wondering what happens if I release all the stored MP at once."
Kang Jin-hyuk continued, pulling out his baseball bat.
Lucia tilted her head, then her expression changed completely upon seeing it.
"What is this......"
In her mana-sight vision, a massive amount of MP stored in the bat flowed into view.
The mana was so dense it gleamed deep blue—like a grand mage's heart.
"Lend me this for a sec!"
Lucia leaned in close, face flushed with excitement.
Startled by her sudden reaction, Kang Jin-hyuk broke into a cold sweat and backed away.
"L-Lend it?"
"Yeah! This is exactly what I've been looking for—an artifact storing massive mana!"
Even perfectly decoding the dimensional magic circle that returned the Dragon Temple required vast mana to activate.
Lucia had plenty innately, thanks to her elven blood.
But it wasn't honed through magic training, so it fell short for dimensional spells.
She'd been agonizing over how to supplement it when Kang Jin-hyuk's bat showed up enchanted like this.
A stroke of luck for her.
"Not borrowing long—just once, so lend it a bit."
"No, I want to, but this thing's bound to me only."
"Oh."
Lucia sighed, recalling the fact she'd momentarily forgotten.
The dwarf had engraved a binding effect on Kang Jin-hyuk's bat.
The most fundamental function from the first enchantment—even the dwarf couldn't remove it.
But Lucia had no intention of kicking away this good fortune.
If she couldn't borrow the item, she'd just borrow its owner.
"Sit here."
She patted the spot next to her firmly.
"Huh? Why?"
"Have to teach you magic from the basics step by step."
"Wait, why do I need to learn that?"
"You asking 'cause you don't know? I need to go home!"
Lucia grabbed Kang Jin-hyuk by the scruff and forced him to sit beside her.
He struggled desperately to escape, but each time, her joint locks pinned his limbs.
Their strength was equal, but her experience far outmatched his.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Give up and listen! Just need to activate the magic circle—basic theory's enough!"
"Fine! Fine, so stop twisting my arm!"
In the end, Kang Jin-hyuk gave up and was force-fed the equivalent of ten books' worth of basic theory.
He'd felt it before, but Lucia's teaching had no mercy.
At the end of each section, she quizzed him on the content.
Wrong answer or a stutter, and she repeated the explanation without hesitation.
"Even school wasn't this brutal......"
To escape her fervor, he had no choice but to focus and memorize everything.
Kang Jin-hyuk listened intently with concentration he'd never shown even in his senior year.
As his ears rang like they might bleed and fatigue dragged his eyelids down.
Finally, after 17 hours of torment, the basics wrapped up.
Confirming he'd mastered it all, Lucia smiled.
"Now you've got the basics down, right?"
Desperate to flee this hell, Kang Jin-hyuk nodded furiously like a motor had been attached.
He wanted to bolt to his bed right now.
That single thought dominated his mind.
But Lucia's tyranny didn't end there.
"Alright, now for the advanced stuff."
"......"
Kang Jin-hyuk, soul drained and mouth agape, focused his aura into his legs.
Then, like a spring, he launched from his seat and fled from Lucia.
"You little......"
Puffing her cheeks in annoyance, Lucia drew her bow and nocked an arrow.
The taut string released, and the arrow pierced Kang Jin-hyuk's sleeve hem.
It didn't stop, embedding deep into the wall—and dragging him along like a framed picture.
"Damn it!"
Before he could wriggle free, more arrows pinned his remaining limbs.
Lucia's divine archery pierced only his clothes with pinpoint accuracy, leaving him helpless.
Carrying a small chair, Lucia calmly approached the wall-pinned Kang Jin-hyuk.
She set it down in front of him, cleared her throat with a cough.
"Stuck like that, you can't run. Let's continue the lesson."
"Fuck......"
Whether he cursed or vented rage, Lucia ignored it.
Her goal: ensure he grasped enough theory to activate the magic circle himself.
One mistake, and the circle's effect could go catastrophically wrong.
To safely return home, she had to drill him harshly.
"Where were we? Still on basics?"
"Advanced! You said we'd move to advanced!"
"Oh, did I? Can't remember. Let's start from basics again."
"You bitch!!"
As Kang Jin-hyuk thrashed in fury, Lucia gagged him with a cloth from her bag.
Even muffled, she added kindly.
"Don't let the gag fool you. I'll quiz you at the end."
Wrong, and back to square one. No exceptions.
Hearing that, Kang Jin-hyuk pleaded to be killed instead.
But only muffled groans escaped his gagged mouth.
Lucia interpreted it as enthusiasm for learning.
"This theory's priceless—you couldn't buy it. So listen gratefully."
And so, pinned to the wall, Kang Jin-hyuk endured the unwanted premium education over sleepless days and nights.
The flow of mana and principles of runes.
Once force-fed the essential theory for activating the magic circle.
A message appeared before his eyes.
[You have awakened to the theory of magic.]
[You have acquired a skill.]