Chapter 259
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: Wind Spirit
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No longer bothering to hide its presence, the leader wyvern unleashed brilliant yellow sparks, roaring with a thunderous boom that shook the air.
"...It feels even stronger than before."
"You're right. It gobbled up those thunderclouds."
It had ascended into the sky and sucked in the lightning mana from the storm clouds that formed up there.
Unable to ignore the party that had come right up to the edge of its nest, the beast had appeared alone, without bringing any other wyverns.
"At that level, its mana control must be better than most mages'."
The ominous lightning mana swirling around it was no joke.
Even a clumsy lightning rod wouldn't deflect its attacks.
With no room for minor spells, they had no choice but to respond in kind.
"Everyone knows the plan, right?"
At Jun's words, the party nodded silently.
He had explained it to them several times already.
"Get ready. It's starting now."
The monster wouldn't come down easily.
It had seen the previous wyverns get their heads lopped off by the two up front.
That's why it had absorbed the thunderclouds to amp up its breath's power, maxing out on lightning mana.
'But sucking in that much lightning is a strain even for it. And that's its weakness.'
Yellow sparks crackled wildly around it, ready to fire at them any second.
And then.
Something shot from its maw at the speed of light.
A breath packed full of lightning mana.
This wasn't something a simple [Shield] or [Iron Rampart] layered with [Mana Drain] could block, like before.
So Jun went with a different approach.
[Detecting Target]
[Mental: Marionette Line]
[Enhancement: Elemental Body]
[Infused Element: Lightning]
The moment the lightning mana surged from its body, Jun infused Teariya's Tear with mana and summoned a golem.
He then tossed additional materials to the golem summoned via his dimensional bracelet.
A higher-grade golem core.
Meanwhile, mana that Monghwan had been preparing erupted, forming black storm clouds in the air.
"[Unique Magic]"
"[Heavenly Thunder]"
⟨ Heavenly Thunder ⟩
As the leader wyvern unleashed its breath, the golem leaped into the air, absorbing both the breath and [Heavenly Thunder] at once.
Jun's silver eyes gleamed.
'Your one mistake was greedily hoarding nothing but lightning mana...!'
It was a technique he hadn't needed much lately, but one that had saved his life multiple times.
Mana control seizure.
He'd used it against goblin shamans in the past, and it was perfect against foes with weak mana control like this.
'If you're going to hijack nature's elements so recklessly, you'll pay the price!'
Inside the golem's lightning-infused body, the wyvern's breath and Jun's [Heavenly Thunder] tangled chaotically.
The [Bright Eyes] skill frantically analyzed the swirling mana flows.
Then, imprinting his will onto them, he began wresting control from the lightning mana the wyvern had absorbed.
In a mere instant, Jun's mind plunged into a grueling mental realm.
The two lightning manas clashed in a fierce tug-of-war, the mana sustaining them locked in brutal combat.
And the victor was...
Crackle-crackle-crackle-!
Jun's [Heavenly Thunder].
Rumble-rumble-roooar!!!
With a majestic thunderclap, the wyvern's own breath reversed course, hurtling back at it.
Infused with Jun's [Heavenly Thunder] to boot.
Never imagining its own attack rebounding, horror filled the beast's eyes.
Kyaaaaaaaah!!
The leader wyvern convulsed across its entire body from its own strike.
But this one blow wouldn't kill it.
Even at its worst, it was born of lightning, so it had natural resistance.
Still, it was a solid hit.
The raging lightning mana targeted its wings.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the leathery membranes like webs, black smoke rising as they burned away.
The massive body plummeted.
In the brief moment it was stunned...
[Disaster of Light]
A golden hammer crashed down like lightning onto the falling body.
Crunch!
Jun laid down [Shield] platforms like stairs in the air for continuous summons, and Aiden and Maya dashed after it.
Tatata-tat!
Like flashes of light, Aiden and Maya's forms streaked past the clumsily plummeting leader wyvern.
Its massive head separated from its long neck, sailing through the air.
Soon after, the headless body crashed onto nearby rocks.
As expected, it crumbled to dust and vanished.
But...
"Huh?"
Even from a distance, a shimmering iridescence sparkled where it had disappeared.
Jun's eyes trembled at the sight.
His comrades followed his gaze and froze.
A radiant growth elixir, glowing with prismatic light.
And beside it, a skill book.
"Jackpot."
For the first time since arriving in this world, Jun recalled his [Luck] skill and muttered in a shaky voice.
"Insane..."
A growth elixir.
In the game, it was notoriously rare—something you had to scour hidden pieces for just to snag a few.
Jun and Eleanor had each consumed one already, reaping the full benefits.
And now, it appeared again.
"No way this is real..."
Stunned by the windfall, the party settled on nearby rocks, staring at the leader wyvern's drops.
One was a massive magic stone.
One that occasionally sparked.
Its size rivaled a child's head—worth a fortune to mages.
It was destined for Shylock someday.
But that was secondary.
"A growth elixir and a skill book? Okay, calm down first. So, Captain, what's this skill book?"
"[Gliding]... Eleanor, this one's for you."
Skill: [Gliding].
Honestly, it wasn't that great.
It was infamous for not living up to its name.
The title suggested flight upon acquisition, but nope.
It was an auxiliary skill for flight magic or skills, allowing freer movement in the air.
It didn't fetch much on the market.
But for Eleanor, it was different.
She'd recently learned a holy spell to summon golden wings.
More precisely, she'd replicated the disposable enchant book's flight ability into 'Lament of the End.'
For Eleanor, struggling with flight practice, it was a huge help.
"Hehe. Guess I get something out of this too."
"That leaves the growth elixir..."
Jun glanced at his comrades.
"Haha... Senior, I won't lie—I want it. But I'm already struggling to control this mana."
Aiden, focused on mastering the ancient emperor's mana, bowed out quickly.
Next, Maya.
"Same school or not, I want it. But I've eaten a spirit elixir already. Haven't fully absorbed it yet."
Maya passed for that reason.
Last was Eleanor...
"I'm good with this..."
Even Eleanor, content with [Gliding].
Jun cleared his throat awkwardly and placed his hand on the prismatic elixir.
"Ahem... Guess I'll put it to good use then."
He was in a rut with magic insights lately. Perfect for his [Intermediate Magic Talent].
Without hesitation, Jun swallowed the growth elixir.
Disappointingly, no change came to [Intermediate Magic Talent].
But in its place, a sort of enlightenment dawned.
6th circle. The stage right before forging one's own micro-universe. Jun had laid the foundation to build it up.
'Now, I can vaguely see it.'
Until now, the 7th circle wall had been hazy, intangible.
But absorbing the elixir made his personal micro-universe sharpen into focus.
'Feels like when I was at 5th circle, delaying the jump to 6th—similar, but something's missing.'
A small trigger.
Or some insight, and he'd break through. His intuition said so.
"Whew..."
Still, growth like this was rare.
Back in his gaming days, elixirs rarely brought such dynamic shifts.
Leveling a single skill repeatedly devoured resources.
'Must be the [Demon God Body] effect kicking in.'
He suddenly wanted to pat his past self for picking [Luck].
Whether this was true luck or not, it felt that way.
"Congratulations, Senior."
"Congrats from me too."
"Heh heh. Congrats, Captain."
As Eleanor stroked the skill book with her final well-wish, Jun bowed in thanks.
Jun had shone brightest in the leader wyvern fight, but his comrades sealed the deal.
"Thanks. For yielding it so easily."
A rare sight in other parties.
Even longtime comrades often drew blades over treasure—it happened all too often.
"Anyway... time to get to why we came here."
It was quiet now with the leader dead, but in days, other wyverns would swarm to claim the spot.
They needed to finish up and leave fast.
"Finally..."
The mountain peak where fierce winds howled.
Daytime, yet the sky loomed black from the height.
A normal human would've collapsed from oxygen deprivation long ago.
But mana-infused bodies shrugged it off.
"It's breathtaking up close. The cosmos... feels within reach."
"Right? Ancient texts say the ancient elves' world tree looked just like this. Hard to believe? A mere tree, mountain-sized."
"So, that's why we came all this way?"
"To recreate the world tree's environment. Not sure on details, but this spot's the boundary between our world and the cosmos. The world tree acts like an umbrella shielding from outer space."
In Blackout, the world tree appeared under specific conditions.
Jun had seen it in-game.
Vaster than 'big' could describe—a tree embracing the universe.
Even through a monitor, it stole your breath.
"That's why I came here myself."
Jun pulled a gourd from his dimensional bracelet and uncorked it.
A gale fiercer than words exploded out.
It filled the area instantly.
But bound to the gourd's energy, it couldn't fully escape.
Instead, it formed a massive sphere, keeping distance from the party.
So powerful, it obscured the cosmic vista and the cloud-river landscape below.
"Th-that wolf isn't coming back, right?"
"Don't worry. The spirit fully dissipated. This is just its energy."
This scale of wind, Fenrir's high-grade wind spirit energy as a top wind spirit, and the location near the world tree's peak...
All elements to stimulate the wind spirit within Aiden.
And.
Jun drew an enchant book he'd prepared long ago.
Since chatting with the wind spirit via Monghwan at the ancient tower.
Back then, it demanded wind mana infusion, but impossible, so he'd used Aiden as proxy with wind buffs.
Now, with the world tree's essence, he could infuse wind mana directly.
Using Fenrir's energy inside as a conduit, he'd summon a compatible wind spirit from the world tree's essence.
"Aiden, focus. I'm about to infuse you with wind mana for the guy inside you."
"What do I do?"
"Accept my mana without resistance. Reject it, and it could get dangerous."
"Ah... That's familiar. No worries."
Aiden often took Jun's buffs. Nothing new, so Jun nodded.
"Alright, here we go."