Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Mental Power
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Closing the grimoire, I looked around.
The blood that had poured from every orifice on my face had dripped onto the bed, congealing into sticky clumps.
My brain still tingled faintly from the aftereffects... but I pushed myself up from the bed.
If it hardened any more, it'd be a pain to clean.
I wiped up the sticky blood clumps with a rag, then headed to the water's edge to rinse it out.
While I was at it, I scrubbed my face vigorously, washing away every trace of blood.
'That was close to death for real.' I had to make so many trips back and forth to the water—three times over—because I ran out of rags for wiping. The amount of blood I'd cleaned up looked like enough for two people. Without the soulstone's recovery effect, I really might have died. Once I'd tidied up enough, I sat down to recover my energy and devoured the meat bento first. When mental power depletes, rest is enough to restore it, so it was smart to eat first. That said, recovery wouldn't let me read the Void Grimoire any further.
"Still not quite there."
Mental power has a hard limit. As long as you don't exceed it, it ends with brief pain. But push past it like I did, and you risk going mad—or worse, death. I stored the grimoire beside me in my inventory.
"Still, I got through about half."
I'd read roughly half the book. That meant my current limit—half of 3rd Circle magic. What I'd read was imprinted in my mind. But go any further, and the frenzy would start all over. In the end, I needed an item to boost mental power itself.
"Everything available right now... is iffy."
Items that grant mental power are limited. Mages can get Mandrake Elixir relatively easily through 3rd Circle quests, but... That's only for those affiliated with the Magic Tower. I looked down at my body. A physique hard to believe belonged to a mage... Even with my soul elevated via the soulstone, it still felt like too big a mismatch for a mage. Rain Astria. Direct descendant of a fallen magic family, unlocked with solo play. This body had no ties to the Magic Tower. Showing up there out of the blue now would mean starting from the bottom. I couldn't waste years groveling there just for a mental power item.
"Or... should I go see Bess after all."
Black market merchant Bess. I'd just completed my second trade with her yesterday. One more, and I'd unlock the black market. But... our last trade was yesterday. Request another today, and she'd likely refuse. Or lump today's and yesterday's into one. Three trades with Bess aren't just a literal count. It's about building trust over time. Try to rush the third without that, and that sharp-tongued woman would catch on immediately. It might work out, but worst case, she'd lock me out of the black market forever. No way I could gamble now, after coming this far. Plus, even unlocking the black market right away wouldn't solve everything.
"Budget's short."
I checked the platinum coin count in my inventory.
"3500."
Last time, I'd sold mana stones for 2200 platinum coins. And sold the Light-Emitting Ring to black market merchant Bess for platinum. She'd offered 1500, but... the pouch she handed over had 1350. Roughly 10% skimmed off—decent, considering the usual 30% fee. Sure, black market prices would be higher, but with all the restrictions... Still, this wasn't enough for a proper elixir. Maybe use the status window's auction house after all.
8 days until I could use the auction house again.
If no other options, I'd have to use it.
With a month-long cooldown, buying one or two mental power items wasn't bad.
Mental power items don't overlap, so I'd need the auction house eventually anyway.
But... it still left a bad taste.
Investing in mental power—which just needs a certain threshold—over gear that's better the more you stack...
Maybe once geared up, but considering a staff as my only equipment now...
My thoughts circled endlessly.
Every option had its regrets.
I pondered carefully, but no perfect solution in sight.
...No helping it.
With a short sigh, I made my choice.
"Guess it's the mental curse first."
The path I'd hoped to avoid, but no choice.
This game had a glitch: curse your character to massively boost mental power.
Simple method.
Apply a curse to the character—just shy of lethal—targeting the mind, then heal nonstop with another character to endure.
Endure the curse 3~5 in-game days, and all mental power gains from the agony unlock.
Problem was... I was the one enduring it.
"Whatever happens, happens."
The curse would be calibrated not to kill.
I'd done this before—not once or twice—so I knew the exact lethal dose.
With my life soulstone at +10 reinforcement, I'd outlast mass-produced characters anyway.
Decision made, I left the inn immediately.
The merchant selling curse materials was in the city too.
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In a quiet alley on the outskirts of Labyrinth City, where foot traffic was sparse.
A man cast a suspicious glance from inside a shop with no sign.
"...Here for a fortune?"
Curse sorcerer Blen.
He sold curse-related items here.
"I'm here to buy goods."
"A fortune?"
Blen played dumb.
"I want to buy items for curses."
I stepped inside and sat, saying so.
Blen watched me silently, then tossed out a line.
"...You're a knight, aren't you."
"No."
Blen narrowed his eyes at my reply.
...Not buying it at all.
"Sir Knight. This won't do. As I told you last time, I don't sell forbidden reagents."
"That's not it."
"Look, I've already washed my hands of it. If you want to buy, I can sell you some antidote herbs."
Blen cut him off firmly.
From his tone, he'd been inspected multiple times already.
Curses were taboo here too.
Hard to get good press when curses torment rather than just kill.
Anyway.
I was here for curse materials.
"I need these items."
I handed Blen a memo listing what I needed.
"Corpse Flower, Screaming Grass... Whispering Bellflower... Sir Knight. Trap investigations like this are troublesome. As I said last time, I've washed my hands."
"Not that."
"Heh. Won't work."
Frustrating.
Instead of arguing, I conjured Chain Lightning at my fingertip.
Crackle—
Blen dabbled in magic too, so this should suffice.
"Good enough?"
"...Illusion?"
"Touch it if you want."
No liability, though.
I lightened the mood with a joke.
But.
"...What are you doing."
"Ah, you said to touch it, so I almost did without thinking."
Blen approached like he meant it, so I flicked my finger, sending the Chain Lightning into the air.
Well, Blen wouldn't die from mere Chain Lightning... but better safe.
"Jeez. If you're a mage, say so earlier. You from a knight family or something?"
"Does it matter?"
"Nah, your magic proficiency says you'd be fine either way... Just concern from an old-timer."
Blen picked up the memo again.
"So... you want all this?"
"Yes. Need it now."
"Heh... You're after the nasty stuff. Planning to use it all on one person?"
"Yes."
"You're more wicked than you look. I like it."
Blen grinned and continued.
"But you're still green at curses. Let me tweak this for you—wait a bit."
"I'm good."
"Hey now. This setup's just torture—no killing blow. Don't you know?"
"That's what I want."
Gotta use it on myself—can't die.
"That's good...? You're more broken than I thought..."
Blen stared at me in horror.
Never expected a curse sorcerer like Blen to react like that.
"Got the materials?"
"Ah, right. Hang on. Oh, if knights show up, ring this bell quick! Got it? Just once!"
Blen glanced around warily, then headed to the warehouse inside.
From the creaking, he had a secret passage in the shop for curse goods.
A short wait later.
"Here you go. Freshly harvested—efficacy guaranteed."
"How much."
"Let's see... Total, 220 platinum coins."
I paid Blen the platinum and took the curse materials.
"As an expert... these alone won't kill, but they'll shatter the mind. Don't know what they did, but think twice before cursing."
"Yes."
I gave a perfunctory reply and left the shop.
"Right now, anger might cloud your head, but we must resolve through talk."
"Yes."
"Especially, one moment's mistake can lead to irreparable..."
...This guy's chatty.
Ignoring Blen, who'd followed me out, I headed back to the inn.
Phew. Time for the main event.