Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Mental Strength (5)
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A cluster of light shot from my fingertips decomposed the body of one of the four golems in the room.
Along with its body, the mana circuits in the thoroughly burned golem collapsed.
"What in the world—?! Could it be that you've reached the pinnacle of 3rd Circle?!"
Blen the curse sorcerer's voice leaked from the golem, but it didn't register in my ears.
"Better this way, actually. No way you'd have mana left after casting something like that."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As Blen spoke, three golems began marching toward me from the corner of the room.
I stared at them for a moment before pulling a ring from my inventory.
Mana Circulation Ring
― Grants rapid mana recovery (High) to the wearer upon activation.
【Usable once per day】
Mana Circulation Ring.
An artifact that granted powerful mana recovery once a day.
I activated the ring right away, and explosive power surged from it, rapidly filling my body with mana.
But this alone wasn't enough.
I used the mana recovery rune as well, fully replenishing my mana.
As my mana recovered, Mana Body's effect flooded my entire body with power.
"…You had an artifact too, huh. What a headache. I'd love to shower you with curses, but that'd just slow my recovery."
Blen's mana flowed into the room.
As his mana settled into the remaining three golems, mana-forged runes etched onto their surfaces.
"I'll slap on a mana shield for now. That spell you just used looks mana-intensive. If you don't have any more artifacts, you can only endure one more time."
Thud. Thud.
The three magic stone golems narrowed in on me, as if to surround me.
To avoid getting caught, I darted toward one golem and slipped through a gap in its frame.
It tried to block me, but...
Wooong—
I quickly generated a Void behind the golem's arm, yanking the limb aside.
The golem's arm got sucked into the black space and dragged into the central black point without resistance.
"A 3rd Circle Void spell? Such a rare magic… Do you have more attack spells up your sleeve?"
Thanks to the overflowing power in my body, I broke free of the golems' encirclement and raised my staff again.
My target: the golem whose arm had been completely devoured by Void.
As I drew up my mana, it circulated through my body, heating me up.
At the same time, I began to feel something faintly dissolving from my head and chest.
With the required mana ready, a pitch-black orb shot forward along my staff.
Black Point Massive Explosion.
A spell that unleashed chain explosions in a narrow area—the most destructive for its mana cost.
It was tricky to land, though.
But right now, Void had the golem pinned.
KABOOM—!
The pitch-black orb plunged into the Void, detonating the first explosion.
The golem's body jerked sideways out of the void before getting sucked back in.
Its original arm had already vanished without a trace, so even more of it was pulled inside.
Then.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!!
The fragments from the first explosion spread outward, chaining into explosions on everything they touched.
In an instant, a third of the golem's upper body blew apart.
"Could you truly be at 4th Circle…? Please tell me it's not true…"
The powerful mana shockwave shattered the Void spell, but the golem seemed unable to steady itself either, propping up on its remaining arm.
I drew up mana again.
My body heated up from the mana surging through it.
At the same time… my head felt a bit clearer.
---
"Ah."
What a refreshingly clear feeling.
Like all the white noise clogging my mind had been swept clean—utterly invigorating.
I rose to my feet.
"……"
Looking around, the floor was a mess of golem fragments.
Seeing it jogged my memory bit by bit.
…Right. Corpse Flower and Screaming Weed had bloomed inside me.
It happens sometimes when handling curse materials, but…
I realized I'd been too careless.
[Your mental strength has surpassed its limit.]
[Mental strength increases by 50.]
Then, the status window popped up large.
Mental strength had risen again.
This was the kind of mental strength boost you only got in extreme situations—something I hadn't even considered at my current level.
I'd pulled future hardships into the present, but honestly, I couldn't be fully happy about it.
I slowly surveyed the wrecked room.
The once-pristine magic training ground was now bombed-out, without a single intact corner.
If the magic stones embedded in the walls hadn't held, the whole underground might have collapsed.
At that moment, the tightly shut door opened, and a man stepped inside.
Blen the curse sorcerer.
"…Back to your senses?"
The one who'd watched over me—head and heart sprouting curse flowers—to keep me from doing anything rash.
"I'm sorry."
"No need. I told you, curse sorcerers have to help each other."
"But…"
"No, no. Once flowers bloom inside, there was nothing I could do anyway. You overcame it all on your own. …That's what I'd like to say. Just like my master did."
Blen gave a small smile.
"By the way, that was monstrous magical prowess. Are you at 4th Circle by any chance?"
"No, not quite."
"I see. Still, you seem right at the edge of 3rd Circle. I never imagined you'd destroy all the golems in just one hour. Talent is a fearsome thing. A kid barely over twenty, demolishing mana golems."
Blen examined the golem debris on the floor with a slightly bitter expression.
"Do you remember what I told you?"
"Yes."
"These golems… my master made them."
"…I'm sorry."
"Oh, I didn't mean for an apology. They were things that needed clearing out eventually. You might not have noticed, but in this town, I'm like a thorn in their side."
Blen picked up a magic stone from the golem wreckage.
"It's been ten years since my master, a Labyrinth Lord, vanished. Being a curse sorcerer is a profession others naturally shun. It was fine while she was around, but… it's been ten years since she disappeared."
He carefully lifted the four magic stones, then handed one to me.
"Lately, the knights' pressure has been mounting. They want to drive the city's last curse sorcerer out. They don't say it, but I can feel them distancing themselves. So, can't I make a friend or two?"
I reached out and took the magic stone Blen offered.
"If they ever force me out, I planned to smash these golems myself. My master's incantations are complex; they might overreact to the knights. Attacking a knight would be the biggest problem."
"…Is your master the Curse Queen Leia?"
"Hm? You know of her?"
"…I've heard the name."
Curse Queen Leia.
Back when this was the game Another World, she was the final scheduled update character.
Not just her.
The previous generation's Labyrinth Lords, before the current ones.
An update for them was announced, but the devs went silent for three years, delaying it.
They ended up shutting down service and going offline… but anyway, I knew the name.
I'd waited three years specifically for the previous Labyrinth Lords update, only for service to end without it.
Impossible to forget.
"Well, given her stature, it's no surprise you'd know the name."
Blen nodded with a proud little smile.
He looked somehow lonely, and my mouth moved on its own.
"…She's alive. The Curse Queen."
"Even the words are appreciated."
"I mean it. Probably inside the dungeon…"
Previous Labyrinth Lords update preview.
The quest outlined there was explicitly 【Rescue the Lord】.
The backdrop was the dungeon, so if she existed, she'd be inside.
"Rescue" implied she was alive.
The Curse Queen and all previous Labyrinth Lords were surely alive inside the dungeon.
Whether in human form… that was uncertain, but still.
"Yes. I believe she's alive too. She wasn't one to go quietly. If she returns someday, she'd come back to her own workshop."
Blen gazed at the magic stone in his hand, his eyes slightly reddened.
"So I have to hold this place down until then. Who knows when the knights might cause trouble, though."
"If that day comes, I'll help."
"I appreciate the words, but don't. To defy a nation, you need real power. When the time comes, I'll go along with it."
Blen fell silent after that.
He said he'd comply, but when the day actually arrived, it wouldn't be that simple.
"Alright, let's head up. This place needs cleaning."
"…Let me help a bit."
"No need. No compensation required. It was my own decision. Even if I'd left you alone, maybe nothing big would've happened."
"……"
Would it?
Hard to say.
With curse flowers in my body, careful mana depletion could've removed them easily.
But if combat had broken out in the process…
It might've been irreversible.
Noticing my complicated expression, Blen spoke up again.
"If you're that insistent, make me a promise."
"What is it?"
"Someday, if you delve deep into the dungeon, look for my master. I'm at 4th Circle, but as a curse sorcerer, parties don't take me."
"Got it."
Blen nodded with a small smile, as if that settled it.