Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Dispel (2)
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5 p.m. The sun had set, and Mist Mountain was pitch black. It wasn't just the fog. At this altitude, sunlight barely reached, making it truly dark all around.
"Whoa. With this, we're definitely taking first place, right?"
There, Soliet's team was in the middle of writing their report. Compiling the information each had gathered, it seemed like a pretty solid report was coming together.
Of course, Soliet's contribution was over 70 percent.
"Yeah. The ecosystem section is basically done."
The ecology of Mist Mountain had been well documented. They'd listed every beast, monster, and plant they'd observed here.
"But this mana... it's definitely water attribute, right?"
However, the easiest part kept nagging at them.
The mana attribute of Mist Mountain was almost certainly water—hydro attribute. The fog itself was likely a product of hydro mana.
Which made it all the more difficult.
It was too straightforward. What if this was a trap?
"Nah. Isn't this that thing? Where it's so easy it throws you off. ...What do you think, team leader?"
Team member Arjen glanced at Soliet while asking. Wearing an MF-94 mask, she'd been crouching and pondering for a while.
"I'm not entirely sure."
"What's not sure? The campfire won't even light."
Arjen pointed to the remnants of the campfire. They'd tried to start one because of the chill, but the embers fizzled out the moment they touched the fog.
"It's just a feeling."
"Come on~ But still—"
"—Your feeling is correct."
At that moment, a voice came from the bushes. The unfamiliar mid-low tone made everyone flinch and turn toward it.
There was a bright yellow buzzcut.
"...What the hell are you?"
"Here to cheat again?"
Sion Askal. Soliet's team grimaced like they were looking at a street peddler, but he brazenly approached and plopped down on the ground.
"No. Not cheating—I'm here to help."
"Help with what? Hey. Hide the report."
They hurriedly flipped the report over. Sion smirked as he scanned their faces.
"You guys aren't even sweating. How's that hydro attribute?"
Arjen shot back.
"It's cold right now?"
"You don't sweat when it's cold? In hydro fog?"
Soliet, meanwhile, was lost in thought. To her, Sion wasn't someone worth ignoring—he just plain wasn't there.
"You sweat the second you move. Stop pretending you know shit."
"No."
Sion held up a finger. A gesture to focus, and the team members perked up their ears without realizing it.
"It's spirit."
Spirit.
Arjen repeated the odd word.
"...Zero? No attribute?"
"No. The 'yeong' from soul."
"..."
The team members all went blank-faced.
They couldn't even laugh it off. It was too absurd—beyond idiotic. If it was a joke, it was trash-tier; if serious, he was insane.
"You serious?"
"Yeah. Dead serious."
"You're crazy."
Among mana properties, the most famous and common were the 'elemental' types, especially water, wind, earth, and fire.
But mana properties were countless. Metal, beast, emotion, light, darkness... as varied as the spectrum. Among them, 'spirit' was extremely rare.
Not something that would appear in a College Board exam.
"Hey. Kielly's on the prowl for you. She's coming soon, so if you don't wanna get caught, just leave... Wait, no."
Team member Karius stood up. He went behind a tree and picked up a paper cup.
"Kielly. You hearing this?"
Hearing the voice directed at Kielly, Sion chuckled.
"Anyway, I told you. Debt paid."
"What debt—"
"...Spirit."
The team wanted him gone quick, but Soliet was the weird one now.
Spirit, spirit, spirit... She murmured it softly, then asked back.
"What makes you think it's spirit? Unless—"
"Aren't there too many mushrooms on this mountain?"
Sion's confident reply to Soliet's puzzled question.
Soliet's eyes widened. Arjen, who'd been snapping at him, gave a wry smile.
"Come on~ Team leader, why?"
"There was a foreign sensation in the fog."
"...Huh?"
That was why she'd worn the mask. With her sharp senses, something kept brushing her skin and nostrils.
"Right. This fog isn't moisture."
Sion Askal raised an eyebrow as he continued.
"I think it's spores from fungi—mushrooms—and mana byproducts."
It was a perfectly reasonable deduction. Soliet nodded, her face lighting up with the major hint, and the other team members slowly shifted their stance.
Arjen first grabbed the report.
"Uh, yeah. Right. Look, every photo we took has mushrooms."
The photos taken with the exploration camera for ecological survey. Mushrooms were in every one. Even the tree bases nearby had clusters of small ones sprouting.
"Then the campfire going out when it hits the fog..."
Sion answered Arjen's murmur.
"Spores blocking oxygen? Probably."
"...Oh."
"Yeah..."
The team members looked at Sion with newfound respect.
"H-Hey!"
Suddenly, Karius burst from behind the tree. Clutching the paper cup, he shouted in shock.
"Kielly got jumped by someone?! She asked for help and then it cut off!"
"What?!"
Arjen yelped in surprise, and Soliet moved first. The others tried to follow, but she stopped them.
"Stay here and wait. You won't help."
"...Ah. Right."
We couldn't keep up with Soliet's speed anyway, and getting lost would be worse. Better to wait here.
The team sat back down.
"Ahem."
But Sion cleared his throat and stood. Arjen grabbed him.
"Hey. You sit too. Don't do anything stupid."
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, the sound of flames roaring. Sparks of mana scattering from Soliet.
It was Mana Body. Not ordinary Mana Body. Dense mana filled her from head to toe.
A mere high schooler had perfectly manifested 'One Belt Four Lines'.
Before the onlookers could marvel, she dashed off like the wind.
"...Mana Body like a pro. Penetrates to the soles, right?"
"Yeah. But how's the mana that red? Weird."
As the team murmured blankly, Sion Askal stared intently in the direction Soliet had run.
Like he had some lingering attachment.
"Staring won't show you anything."
Arjen sneered. He kept gazing and replied.
"...A little."
His expression was gravely serious. He glared for about five minutes straight, then suddenly frowned and stood.
"Hey, hey. She said stay put—"
Whoosh—! He kicked off the ground and leaped up, instantly climbing a tree. Grabbing a high branch, he swung to another tree, then another—like a monkey swinging through the canopy until he vanished.
"...What kind of beast is that guy?"
"When'd he learn that?"
The team marveled at Sion for a different reason than Soliet.
"Anyway, let's finish the report."
They had no worries. Soliet was beyond high school level—a 6-star prospect rated better than some active knights in certain ways.
"Kielly probably just met a bear or something."
A bear? Wouldn't even take one punch.
About 30 minutes of running later, Soliet arrived at where Kielly's thread had snapped. Deep in the thick woods, a crumpled paper cup lay on the ground.
"..."
She bent down and picked it up. Sniffed it. No real clues.
She walked forward. Soon, a cliff appeared. Pebbles and dirt crumbled away as she stepped to the edge.
It was dizzyingly deep.
She wouldn't have fallen here. A slip would make recovery impossible.
That was when she turned back.
—Mmph! Mmgh!
A sound came. She whipped around. As the fog parted, Kielly appeared in the darkness, bound.
"...Kielly?"
"Mmgh! Mmmgh!"
Soliet rushed over and grabbed the black rope binding him.
"What—"
She flinched and let go. It wasn't rope. It was squishy fluid.
"Mmgh! Mmmgh!"
"Who the hell...?!"
A split-second instinctual warning rang in her mind.
She rolled aside. Thwack—! A black harpoon speared the spot she'd stood.
—Keh heh heh. You bit the bait.
The voice drifted from the attack's direction, like a scorched throat.
Soliet turned.
—Foolish human, blame your curiosity.
He spoke standard Edsil common tongue, sounding like an Edsil citizen, but his appearance was grotesque.
Nearly 2 meters tall, stick-thin like a pole. A baggy cloak draped his body, with spindly arms protruding—far too long, hands oversized. Fingers nearly brushing the ground if extended.
Even the hands weren't human. Bulging veins and sharp claws—like some beast's grafted on.
"...Freak."
A freak: human who'd abandoned humanity, accepting monster flesh or mana.
The continent called such anti-humans 'freaks'.
—You're useful. More than that one.
The freak grinned sinisterly.
Soliet pulled her Mana Body into combat mode. No proper weapon—just the exploration kukri at her waist.
—Plenty worth taking.
Then, the freak's cloak rippled. Soliet peered closely.
Not a cloak. Inky black shadow, resonating with the freak's mana.
Shraaa—!
He launched the shadow like a harpoon. Clang—! She parried with the kukri, but sharp fragments followed relentlessly.
Soliet deployed Arkne defensive swordsmanship to deflect, but the short blade nicked her hand. Mild pain furrowed her brow.
The shadow showed no mercy.
Thraaaack—!
This time, a wide scythe arc, aiming to cleave her entire position.
Soliet raised the kukri high.
Tzzzzzt—!
She channeled mana into it to block, but the blade cracked. Anticipating more, she snapped the kukri in half with her hands—one piece per hand—and raised sword aura immediately.
—...Hm?
But the freak paused, frowning.
—You're just standing there, not moving. Why?
He scratched his chin with a huge hand, tilting his head.
Thanks to his leisure, Soliet caught her breath, but he snapped his fingers as realization dawned.
—Aha. Because of the one behind you?
He bared his teeth in laughter. Gums dark red like a monkey's, veins crawling onto his fangs.
Repulsive.
Thraaaack—!
Shadows fired again, blatantly curving toward Kielly behind Soliet. She twisted her body to block them all. Some grazed her arm, blood spurting from her grip, but bearable.
—Hahaha.
The freak stomped the ground laughing. Boom—! Shadow spikes erupted from the shockwave. Like a tidal wave, Soliet crouched to defend.
Kwaaa—!
The impact jolted through her body. Bones and joints felt crushed.
—Keh heh. Humans are fools, as always.
Victory odds were slim now. Soliet scanned for escape with Kielly, but the freak's shadows licked at every direction.
—Choosing death for a worthless comrade.
As the freak muttered nonsense and prepared his finisher.
Whiiiing—.
Something flew from the rear woods. Soliet saw the silhouette.
A massive rock.
—You humans are the problem—
Thud!
It smashed into his head.
—...
The freak lost his words momentarily.
—Ha. You humans are the pro—
He sighed lightly, trying to ignore, but thud—! Another hit his temple dead-on.
—...
The freak fell silent.
Whiiiing—.
A third rock hurtled straight.
Crack—! Unable to endure three, he raised an arm and crushed it. The boulder crumbled to sand in his giant hand.
—What mongrel bastard.
Veins bulging on his forehead, he turned toward the rocks' origin. Dense woods. Fog descended like a gray veil.
—Mongrel's you, isn't it?
Another voice from the opaque fog. A tone Soliet recognized. She kept tense and asked.
"...Sion Askal?"
—A trash mongrel who shoved some random monster into himself.
Definitely.
Sion Askal.
—That's you.
He taunted from hiding in the woods.
—Haha. Human jealousy is revolting. Blab all you want.
The freak sneered and shook his head.
—You crippled beggar fuck. Who botched your chimera graft? Even then, you gotta pay premium—fail like you did, and it's irreversible—
—You cunt-splitting shitstain shut your fucking hole!!!!
He snapped instantly. His eyes flooded with black veins. The shadows around him writhed visibly.
Kwaaa—!
—You pathetic human scum daring! Daring to insult me!
Shadows lashed wildly, tearing through the trees. All his focus locked on the bushes whence the voice came.
Seizing the gap, Soliet burned the shadow binding Kielly.
"...Grraaah. A-ah, I, grrraa..."
He vomited the moment he was free.
That was tolerable.
"Th-ah, uuuugh... grrraa..."
But puking on the ground while crawling away pathetically.
"What a fucking loser..."
Soliet was utterly disgusted.