Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Preparation (1)
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“Isn't this just reaping what you sow at this point?”
Two weeks later.
Cloi watched Jun enter the office under her usual illusion magic and spoke up.
“No, I didn't do anything there myself. And the same goes for those previous incidents.”
Jun protested at Cloi's look, as if implying he caused trouble wherever he went.
“There were plenty of other ways. Even if rations were short, we could've starved for a few days until reinforcements arrived and taken them down easily.”
“They weren't even strong enough that we couldn't handle them with our forces to begin with... The real issue was the lord entity's corrosion phenomenon kicking in there.”
“Haa... Fine, whatever. I'll take your word for it.”
Jun wanted to clutch the back of his neck at Cloi's dismissive attitude but barely held back.
Whatever the case, he'd gained quite a bit from this trip.
One of those gains was the skill book from the lord entity.
“A skill book, huh... What kind?”
[Beast's Roar].
“Oh. That's pretty expensive, isn't it? The Hertix Adventure Group sure handed it over nicely.”
“We did all the drumming and piping— they can afford to give us this much... Honestly, if we'd taken it by force, we'd be labeled thugs.”
“True enough. Anyway, you scored something good.”
[Beast's Roar] was a type of fear effect dropped by the Giant Twin Head Troll before.
It drew the attention of monsters in the area—a skill invaluable to shield warriors holding the front line.
“It's valuable, sure, but I already used it up.”
“What?! You don't even have a shield warrior!”
Cloi, who had been grinning at the thought of auctioning it off after receiving it from Jun, asked back in utter disappointment. But Jun stood tall.
“It seemed perfect for Aiden.”
“He's not a shield warrior, though...”
“But he's great in group fights.”
[Beast's Roar] synergized perfectly with Aiden's Destroyer's Hide.
Gather a bunch of monsters at once with the roar, then kill them to instantly ramp up the hide's effects. Perfect.
“Plus, it pairs well with Maya. Aiden draws aggro, then Maya cleans up behind. Ideal combo.”
“Well... Shame we can't sell it for cash, but no helping it. You're heading into the Ancient Tower soon, right?”
“Yeah.”
Above all, Jun needed to boost his power right now.
He had to prepare to climb the Ancient Tower soon.
“That said, I'm not leaving just like this. Remember what I mentioned last time?”
“Right here. Got everything.”
“Oh...”
Before heading to the contaminated zone in the 4th layer's Ervantos.
Jun had asked Cloi to procure various magic tomes.
'Time to expand into other attributes.'
Fire magic was covered thanks to the tomes stolen from the Volcatornic Mage Tower, but the others were still lacking.
'Beyond what I've learned so far, I need neutral-attribute lines too.'
Like enchantment series, gravity series, recovery series, and such.
“But do you really need to learn such a wide variety? Mastering one attribute should be enough.”
“You could see it that way, but true value in magic lies in versatility for me. Combining attributes also massively boosts power.”
In fact, Jun's final blow on the lord had been a signature spell fusing three attributes.
“Fair enough. Like how there are many ways to make money, there are many paths to strength in magic too.”
Accepting it roughly like that, Cloi laid out the stack of magic tomes before Jun.
“Unlike before, you got everything without missing a single one?”
Last season, whenever Jun had Cloi source magic tomes, it never went smoothly.
“That's how much ground our guild has gained in Blackout.”
For starters, Cloi was still listing multiple potion recipes at auction, drawing interest from various Mage Towers.
Naturally, to bid on her auctions, they had to make concessions to her.
Especially since the Gilenoi Merchant Guild was backed by Count Mordenaine's name—they had no choice but to play nice.
“In exchange, all these tomes I got are low-circle spells.”
“Doesn't matter. I'll figure out the applications myself.”
Thanks to his newly developed signature spell, [Heavenly Thunder], Jun was brimming with confidence anyway.
“Oh, right. And Charles... no, Chails? The guy you mentioned came down recently.”
The intel network Jun had secured on the surface, Requiem.
They'd finally wrapped up loose ends up top and descended to Blackout.
“What're they up to now?”
“Getting settled under me. They're blind down here unlike on the surface. Training'll take time.”
“Then while you're at it, dig up one piece of info for me?”
“Info?”
“Yeah. About an item... Don't know the name. Just the rough look.”
Cloi replied incredulously to Jun.
“What the heck is that?”
“But I do know it's circulating among junk shops. Location's the 4th layer.”
“Junk shops in the 4th layer...?”
From the 4th layer on, fields expanded exponentially, so gathering intel took ages.
“Yeah. Looks like a fossilized stone. Etched with tree root-like patterns.”
“Hmm... That'll take a while. You good with that?”
“Sooner the better, but not urgent.”
“Got it. But... you okay?”
Suddenly, Cloi eyed Jun with concern.
Jun gave her a puzzled look.
“Huh? With what?”
“Just... you seem kinda rushed or something.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Like... back then.”
“Back then... Oh. When I was at the Mage Tower.”
At Cloi's words, Jun glanced at the mirror in the office corner.
He couldn't tell himself, but... up close, his brow was slightly furrowed.
“Got some things on my mind.”
“Mm... Okay.”
She'd seen him like this plenty before—deep worries that took ages to resolve—so Cloi held her tongue.
'Maybe that item he just asked about ties into it?'
Anyway, after that, Cloi took Jun's report on the Ervantos contaminated zone and prepared a letter to send to Count Mordena ine.
“How the hell do I even package this nicely...”
Beautifying the messes Jun stirred up wherever he went was always a chore.
“Ah, hyung. All done with work?”
“Yeah. You did great this time too.”
“Haha... No, not at all.”
Truth be told, the party returned to the Black Forest so quickly because they'd been hounded nonstop in the Hertix Adventure Group's territory.
The sudden field boss, the corrosion phenomenon, and it being a lord-type unprecedented in the 4th layer—not to mention a barely year-one White Whale Mercenary Corps taking it down—had everyone buzzing.
Jun, dragged around everywhere and exhausted, gave the Hertix folks a separate heads-up, cast illusion magic, and fled back to the Black Forest fortress.
“Couldn't restock there, so we dropped to the 1st layer... Looks like we'll stick around another month.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yeah. Need time to digest all this.”
“Mm... Hyung. Mind if I head out on my own for a bit?”
Jun tilted his head at Aiden's request.
The guy who always stuck close wanting to go solo? Suspicious.
“What's up?”
“Well, while gauging my mana lately, I feel like I'm onto something... But meditation's hitting a wall.”
“Ah-ha. Wanna smash through in some fights?”
“Haha... Also, need to get used to the skill you gave me this time.”
Aiden said it bashfully, but Jun got it completely.
'Maya's growth lit a fire under him.'
Not a bad call.
“Talk to Joseph about it. Heard he's planning to push layers soon too.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. Says he's aiming max 3rd layer this season.”
Joseph and his crew, who joined the mercs—excluding the Jinrang twins—were all ex-military.
If they grew well, 4th layer easy; greedy, even 5th or higher. Plenty for Aiden to learn.
“Take Maya along too. He needs to consolidate his insights from this run.”
“Got it!”
Aiden, thrilled at the prospect of traveling with new faces, left beaming.
Meanwhile, Jun headed to Eleanor's room.
“Uh... you're here?”
Unlike usual, Eleanor greeted him utterly drained.
“How about easing up a bit?”
“You damn captain... If magic was this brutal, you could've warned me...”
“Magic's tough by nature—what, you thought it'd be easy?”
Jun had grown this far thanks to 'Lee Jung-jun's' memories, Intermediate Magic Talent, and his own aptitude—magic wasn't simple.
“Still, you're making solid progress. You held my spell steady last time.”
Indeed, when the lord's carpet-bombing rock barrages threatened to shatter Shield on the troll's body, Eleanor had reinforced it.
“Also tinkering with holy magic in various ways. Kinda stuck everywhere.”
“Then it's not my fault...”
“Shut it. Just take my venting quietly.”
Currently, Eleanor mixed Jun's old tomes with ones he'd custom-made, focusing hard.
Plus dawn workouts for stamina—two bodies wouldn't cut it.
'I'll be like that soon.'
His dimensional bracelet brimmed with tomes to learn; this was his future.
'Mm. Going smoothly, though. As an advanced priestess, she picks up fast. Once my research wraps, pass her these new tomes.'
Thinking she'd elbow him if she heard, Jun casually approached her desk.
“This formula's off.”
“What...?”
“See? This messes mana transfer efficiency in the pattern. So the later formulas don't get proper flow.”
“Ah... Damn it...”
Eleanor clutched her head again. Jun shook his.
'Gotta hold off on more tomes for now.'