Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Sage's Stone Lives
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‘The Sage's Stone is alive...’
Woojin stared at the stone wriggling in his palm, his face full of disbelief.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"The magic circle drawn here was originally an elven one, altered into black magic for summoning purposes."
Woooong...
As Luen's fingertips touched it, the magic circle began to emit light.
"Now that it's regained its original power, it can sprout true life, not some half-baked creation like summoning."
"It's a magic impossible without elves. Humans can't handle life magic."
Even without Irurin's added explanation, it was clear just how incredible elven magic was.
"You're a completely different person from back when you could only use 1st-class spells..."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Forget it."
Woojin shook his head at Luen.
"So... what do we do with this now?"
"Now we wait for it to hatch."
"Hatch?"
"Yes. This isn't something that ends with a contract or summoning—it's a real living being."
"Like hatching an egg."
"Exactly. But there's one problem."
"What's that?"
"I don't know the hatching conditions."
Woojin, who had been full of anticipation, couldn't hide his disappointment at her words.
"So we can't use it right away."
"...Yes. I'm sorry."
"Sorry? It was broken beyond repair, and now at least there's a chance."
Woojin helped her up as she bowed her head.
"What are you doing, anyway?"
Woojin turned to Irurin.
"What else? You said we'd be staying here for a while, so I need to prepare. I'm grabbing some useful stuff."
She started carrying tools and odds and ends into the warehouse.
"Why not use magic to move this junk?"
"Magic doesn't work here."
"...What?"
"My master's workshop in the Red Tower was similar. I don't know how the barrier was set up, but you can't cast spells except through magic circles."
Irurin said as she set down her load.
"Elves are the exception, though."
"Fascinating. Elven magic works, but human magic doesn't."
Woojin scanned the warehouse once more.
"Maybe it's just how superior elven magic is. Even my master tried to use elven magic circles."
"Hmm..."
Irurin spread out blankets from the warehouse on the floor and let out a quiet sigh.
"Ugh... I wonder when I'll get to sleep in a soft bed again. Times like this, I actually miss the Red Tower."
"Over a bed?"
"Yeah. I don't have nightmares there."
"..."
Her master's atrocities.
Her comrades who became sacrifices.
The tragedy she'd endured at such a young age robbed her of even a single peaceful night.
Click.
Woojin unclasped his cloak and handed it to her.
"Use this. Even so, there's no blanket."
She stared at him, eyes wide at his unexpected kindness.
"It smells."
"...Just use it."
Irurin chuckled softly and took Woojin's cloak.
"Then I'll give you this."
She slipped a silver ring off her finger and handed it to him.
"What's this?"
"A ring from my father. He said it was my grandfather's keepsake."
The ring featured an intricately carved wolf's head.
"Actually, I'm nobility."
"...Nobility?"
"Yeah. You probably haven't heard of it. I only know from books, but it's a tiny kingdom."
She scratched her head sheepishly.
"It fell before I was born... but they say my grandfather was an incredible man."
"Who was your grandfather?"
"Aswell Ballan."
"...!!"
Woojin was stunned by her words.
"No way... Tekan Kingdom?"
"Huh? You know it?"
Her surprise was outdone by Woojin's reaction.
"Of course."
Tekan Kingdom.
As Irurin said, it was a small kingdom deep in the central continent.
Its population didn't even come close to the five great kingdoms—maybe on par with a large city nearby.
Yet no one on the central continent dared ignore Tekan.
'Because the Sword Emperor resides there.'
An NPC swordsman even players couldn't touch.
Aswell Ballan himself.
"What a coincidence. A child with magical talent born into a famed swordsmanship house."
"Doesn't seem like it. My father wasn't great at swordsmanship or magic."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That ring—he said Grandfather got it from Fenrir's nest after hunting it."
"Fenrir..."
One of the seven great spirit beasts alongside Camilla, its location still shrouded in mystery.
"My father gave it to me and told me to find Fenrir's nest."
"What's there?"
"He said Grandfather left behind a secret technique he awakened while hunting Fenrir."
'The Sword Emperor's secret technique...'
"So this is a clue?"
"Probably. But no matter how much I studied it, I couldn't figure it out. And... I wasn't that interested anyway."
"Why? It's the Sword Emperor's legacy. Can't be ordinary."
"I don't use swords."
Ridiculous, but her simple explanation made perfect sense. Woojin couldn't help but chuckle.
'In the game, Fenrir's still alive. If I hunt it before the Sword Emperor... what happens?'
The swordsmanship completed after slaying Fenrir.
He had to know.
"I'll gladly take it."
[Grrr...]
That was when it happened.
"...Huh?"
With a faint sound, Camilla—who had been asleep—opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Finally awake."
Eyes that seemed to draw him in.
So beautiful, yet the moment she saw his face, she reacted with wary caution, as if beholding something forbidden.
[Grr...]
As Woojin approached the divine deer for blood, it let out an eerie noise, as if trying to block him.
"Calm down. He saved me and you."
Luen soothed the tense Camilla.
"Can you share a little of your blood with him?"
[Pweeeee—!!!]
That was when it happened.
The divine deer unleashed a piercing cry.
"W-Wait!!"
Luen hugged its neck to calm the suddenly rampaging Camilla.
"Kyaa—!!!!"
But some unknown force flung Luen's body against the wall.
Bang—!!
She collapsed motionless, as if knocked out.
The divine deer didn't stop there. It charged at Woojin, breathing heavily.
"What the...!"
Irurin hurriedly tried to cast a shield, but before her incantation finished, the deer was already upon them.
"Move!! It knocked Luen out in one hit!!"
Woojin shoved her aside.
"...Guh!!"
He barely saved Irurin, but the antler pierced his side instead.
"Cough!"
A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth.
"Damn it... Didn't you hear? I'm the one who saved you!!"
Grip.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the divine deer's fur as it kept pushing him.
"...Damn it!!! Why are you doing this to me!!"
[Grrrr...]
But the deer only growled low.
As if trying to drive him away from this place.
In that moment, Woojin met the divine deer's eyes looking down at him.
Something was off.
He felt no hostility in the eyes of the beast attacking him.
"Damn..."
Ziiing—!!!
At that instant, a stabbing headache hit, just like the day he'd been forcibly transferred here.
Kaboom—!!!
The deer's head jerked upward violently, and Woojin's body flew back.
"...Guh!!!"
His consciousness faded.
What the hell...
Why?
"Gah...!!"
Woojin pushed himself up from the floor, gasping for breath.
"Ugh..."
The pain in his chest made it hard to even breathe.
"A-Are you okay?"
Luen rushed to support him.
"The divine deer? What happened to that damn thing?"
"...Divine deer?"
As he yelled at Luen, something felt wrong.
This Luen looked somehow clumsy, not the one he'd just been talking to.
"Are you alright, Master?"
Woojin quickly looked around.
"...Master? You vanished so suddenly... Are you okay?"
'Back in the game? This suddenly?'
He stared at the worried Luen with confused eyes.
"Uh... Yeah. More importantly, you? Nothing happen while I was gone?"
"Of course not. It was just a moment."
"A moment?"
"Yes. Not even one or two minutes."
'Here...'
Only then did Woojin realize where he was.
[Alchemist's Lab] entrance.
'Days passed in that world... but no time passed here.'
As he thought that, he touched his side.
Fortunately, no wound.
But the pain was vividly etched in his mind.
'...If I keep returning like this, my body might hold, but my mind will break first.'
He clicked his tongue and sighed softly.
'At least I got lucky this time.'
He'd made it back, after all.
No guarantee for next time, though.
This was the second time.
'There has to be... a common factor.'
He had to find it.
Traveling between worlds was a special power, but without control, it could be poison.
That was when it happened.
A notification appeared before the lost-in-thought Woojin.
"...Hm?"
Quest item?
Woojin rummaged through his inventory and pulled out something shimmering.
"This is..."
"Phantasm...?"
Woojin gazed at the blue stone.
Ding.
Phantasm's Egg
▶ Grade: SS
▶ Hatch the Phantasm's Egg.
[Required Materials]
1. Divine Deer Camilla's Fur. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★★★★★)
2. Ulldin Elf's Blood. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★★★★★)
3. Scales of the Earth. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★★★)
4. Vicious Enzyme's Carapace. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★★)
5. Black Spider's Leg. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★★)
6. Battle Bee's Stinger. (Acquisition Difficulty: ★)
▶ Gather the materials to hatch the egg.
▶ Time Limit: 60 days
[Will you accept the quest?]
Woojin couldn't help but be surprised the moment he saw the quest window.
'The hatching materials are listed?'
Luen had said she didn't know the conditions when she made this egg.
"Ha, haha... Right. This is a game."
Woojin let out an involuntary exclamation.
Quest windows always spelled out clear conditions.
"Two top-grade items. Fitting for an SS-rank."
Even the hardest items available on the central continent topped out at three stars.
Five stars here.
At the current stage, it was practically impossible.
"Divine deer's fur?"
But the moment he saw the material name, something clicked. He hurriedly opened his palm.
"...Insane."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
A clump of fur remained in his hand.