74. Night Sea
74. Night Sea
Yuma's party, including the White Night Clan and the Mulren tribe, all boarded the Silvilia and returned to the island.
'Damn, I'm tired.'
After exchanging greetings with his companions, Yuma immediately fell asleep.
And once he had fallen into a very deep slumber, he opened his eyes again.
As had always been the case, the morning after killing a powerful being was filled with status windows.
[You have achieved a feat far exceeding your own capabilities.]
[Rewards are being granted!]
[Growth potential does not exist.]
[Stats are increased as a reward for the achieved feat.]
[Name: Yuma
Lv.100
Personality Trait: Cool-Headed
Strength: 110 Stamina: 125 Defense: 110 Agility: 130 Growth Potential: 0
Status: Mortal - Transcend your physical rank to a transcendent level to shed your mortality.]
His level had risen by 20. His stats had also increased by 20 across the board.
Still, that probably only amounted to the strength of a fledgling Sword Master.
'I have to shed my mortality.'
Only then would he be able to properly use the stats he could raise through these feats.
'Because I have to prepare for events that might happen, no matter how unlikely.'
He never knew when a moment would come where he couldn't use <Parrying>.
The enemies he was now facing were gods, after all.
He had to shed his mortality. He had to learn swordsmanship and accumulate ki.
[All stats obtainable through feat achievements have been acquired.]
It seemed the maximum level achievable through feat rewards was 100.
This meant that to achieve further physical growth, he truly had to shed his mortality.
The notification sounds continued.
It seemed he had also acquired some skills.
New!
[Hyper Focus - Selflessness: An evolved form of the existing 'Hyper Focus' skill. In a fleeting instant, you can pierce through the very essence of everything that rushes past.]
New!
[Eccentric Wall: A mental barrier-type passive skill. You are unaffected by evil spirits, mental magic, mental-type divine authority — anything at all.]
Originally, <Nobility> also possessed a mental barrier-like power. <Nobility> alone would likely have been enough to withstand mental magic.
'Is it because of the gods' appearance?'
The status window seemed to be telling him exactly that.
That he need not worry about having his body usurped by a god.
Normally, the notifications should have ended there.
But then, a few more sentences appeared before Yuma's eyes.
[You have eliminated a vassal of the Evil God. Your path is not wrong. Believe in yourself.]
...This bastard, getting all sentimental all of a sudden.
Yuma had already determined that fully trusting these notification windows was dangerous.
[Shed your mortality. At that moment, we will be able to face each other wholly.]
The eradication of the Evil God.
Its desired objective for him was endlessly clear, yet it seemed to have no intention of revealing its identity easily.
'Shedding mortality.'
He was planning to do it anyway. To prepare for any eventuality, he had to do everything within his power.
Having organized his thoughts, Yuma slowly rose to his feet.
The top-priority objective of making the Fishmen Tribe into an alliance had been achieved.
Thus, there was no particular business remaining in the seas of Mulren.
'Still, I should leave in about four days.'
Stabilization.
He wanted to observe the Mulren lands stabilizing, at least for a little while.
And this place was an environment where Cloné and Bell could grow — one that wasn't so easily found elsewhere.
Jeobeok─
When Yuma opened the tent flap of his quarters and stepped out, everyone's gazes turned toward him.
Yuma sensed that their gazes were quite unusual.
Eyes filled with awe.
After all, from their perspective, he was the one who had killed the being that had oppressed them for months in a single blow.
And he was also the one who had split the sea.
Yuma walked toward the sea.
Unlike the day before, the sea was filled with numerous Mulren tribespeople heading out.
Hilgeut!
Yuma spotted a small Fishmen Tribe young boy and young girl standing behind a massive tree, staring intently at him.
"What's this?"
At Yuma's quiet words, the young boy opened his mouth.
"What do we do!"
"What do you mean what do we do, give it to him!"
When the young girl tapped his shoulder, the young boy scurried over.
"God of War, thank you!"
The young boy held out something with both hands.
It was a bracelet meticulously woven from small seashells that shimmered with a blend of pink and violet.
"Thank you."
When Yuma took the bracelet and immediately put it on his left wrist, the young boy beamed with a proud smile before disappearing.
Yuma approached closer to the sea.
Cheok-
Yuma looked at the man standing beside him.
It was Yerkur, the king of the Mulren tribe.
Yerkur gazed at the sea and spoke.
"Grand Duke Yuma. It is thanks to you that our Mulren can once again rule the Great Sea in its entirety."
The reconstruction of the sea.
The Mulren tribe was slowly reclaiming the sea that Leviathan and its minions had been devouring.
"That Atlantis you first spoke of. I shall use this opportunity to revive that legendary scenery."
Yerkur, who must have been at least 260 years old this year, wore an expression of immense enthusiasm.
"That's fortunate."
Yuma looked toward the left side of the sea, where Cloné and Tisha were diligently training.
Tisha had been helping to refine Cloné's mana circuits until Cloné had fully attuned to the Mulren tribe's mana circuits. But now, Cloné was handling sea-based magic with considerable fluidity, so Tisha also stood opposite her, training her own magic.
Yerkur gazed at Tisha training across from Cloné with a look of pride.
"At first, I understood that your subordinate took motivation from my daughter and began training. But now, it seems the opposite has happened."
Yerkur looked at Yuma and continued.
"What do you intend to do now? Do you plan to return to the Astes Empire?"
"I should. After I see the situation settled. I plan to depart in four days."
Yuma's gaze also fixed directly on Cloné and Tisha.
"They won't get an opportunity to train like this very often."
Yerkur slowly nodded.
"You are right. Meeting such an evenly matched rival is not luck that comes around often."
For some reason, Yerkur gazed at Yuma steadily and continued.
"It seems no one from this sea would be to your liking."
Yuma could only wonder inwardly why this old man was acting this way.
From Yerkur's perspective, it was only natural that Yuma appeared as a God of War who far transcended the martial power of a demigod.
Yerkur turned his head, looked back toward where Cloné and Tisha were, and continued.
"Tisha. If you think she is useful, feel free to take her with you. The same goes for anyone else."
A glint of interest appeared in Yuma's eyes.
A 5th-circle mage like Cloné.
She was a sufficiently useful asset. Unlike the Cat Tribe and Lion Tribe, who were the worst races for magical growth and were on a similar level to humans, the Fishmen Tribe could grow with somewhat greater ease.
'A comrade who can grow alongside her.'
If she could become that kind of comrade for Cloné, she was well worth taking along.
The night deepened.
Yuma sensed that the number of Fishmen Tribe on the island had drastically decreased.
Now that the sea had become safe, most of them had probably gone into the deep sea to sleep.
"Why are you still at it?"
Cloné was still in the water, waving her hands as she practiced magic. Tisha seemed to have gone into the deeper sea.
"Ah, Yuma-nim."
Cloné turned her head to look at Yuma.
Cloné smiled softly.
"The sea seems to be a really wonderful place."
Behind Cloné, blue water currents rippled gently.
"I'm grateful that it shapes my magic the way I want."
...That's just because you're an overwhelming genius, isn't it?
Originally, the sea wouldn't respond that readily to the call of mana.
Yuma couldn't bring himself to drive that fact into Cloné's smiling face.
Cloné continued.
"This tribe is truly peaceful. Even when they were being oppressed by that monster, they were the same. Their bond of mutual trust is incredible. I also met Tisha unni's mother. She was so cheerful."
Cloné's golden eyes held the night sea within them.
Yuma sensed a faint longing in Cloné's words.
"Let's walk for a bit."
Cloné smiled brightly.
"Shall we."
Sabak... Sabak...
Yuma and Cloné walked barefoot along the sandy shore. Their two sets of footprints were engraved side by side in the sand.
"There's still so much I don't know about you."
Cloné thought Yuma's words were quite unexpected.
Because she believed Yuma had no need to know about her.
'Though I do want to know more about Yuma-nim.'
Sabak...
The sand was soft. Yuma continued.
"Tell me your story. About your mother, perhaps."
Witch.
Yuma only knew that Cloné's mother was a witch.
Prying into the details could only have caused more pain.
But now, she was a comrade he had spent quite a long time with. And a comrade he would have to spend so much more time with in the future.
Cloné looked up at the sky. At the serene, settled scenery of the night.
"She wasn't a victim of an unjust witch hunt. She was unmistakably a witch. My mother."
She was not a victim of a witch hunt falsely raised.
A mage who had achieved the 7th circle. Worthy of the title of Archmage.
"My father was a mage too. 4th circle. He was closer to a scholar. My father researched all kinds of magic. Elemental magic, magitech engineering... and even black magic. If it could satisfy his interest in magic, he would dabble in it a little, no matter how far it deviated from the proper path. Of course, the people around him didn't seem to know about that."
Cloné and Yuma continued walking along the sandy shore.
"But it seems my father found out something he shouldn't have known. He realized that the Blue Magic Tower Lord of the magic city of Wollen, where my father worked at the time, was moving under the orders of a lich. My father noticed... and that lich noticed him too."
A lich.
That meant a mage of at least the 8th circle.
"So my father was killed by that lich. Eleven years ago."
Four years old.
Cloné recalled that she had been four years old at the time.
Her father had recorded everything, she said. Only her mother, Bines, had read that record book made of mana.
"My mother, who was likewise a freelance mage in Wollen, took me and fled. And she didn't teach me magic, fearing that the lich might track us using black magic through my father's blood as a medium. That's how we lived in hiding."
They lived an ordinary life like that for six years, she said.
"Five years ago, the year I turned ten. That lich named Lemos didn't give up for six years. In the end, he used my father's blood as a medium to find my location. And tried to kill us. My mother and me."
We were the only ones who knew his true identity.
A lich who had sacrificed his humanity for the power of force had no reason to leave them alive.
"He brought imperial knights with him, too. Nearly a thousand of them... Most likely, he used the traces of my father's study of black magic as evidence to falsely claim that my mother was a witch."
Bines had to face countless enemies alone.
"To fight Lemos, my mother ended up resorting to black magic. The kind my father had researched. Black magic that sacrifices lifespan. Sacrifices talent. Gains power far greater than one's own."
Black Flame.
That title was completed in that moment.
Bines, who had already possessed exceptional skill in flame-type elemental magic, burned those who came to kill her with that power.
"She should have stopped. But she lost consciousness."
Black magic steals a person's reason.
No matter how strong a mental barrier one possessed, if one had not built their vessel purely with black magic from the start, it was difficult to block that encroachment.
"She burned everything in sight."
A mage of overwhelming talent.
Became a witch more powerful than anyone.
"Everything around her. Everyone, except for me."
After burning the lich.
She even burned the life vessel held by the Blue Magic Tower Lord.
And burned even those who had originally been the Empire's 9th and 10th Seats.
"Back then, I said that Kainegal of the Imperial 8th Seat, who died by your hand, Yuma-nim, met his end at the hands of the Imperial Ten Seats."
As she walked, Cloné slowly shook her head.
"They didn't kill my mother. After turning two entire cities completely to ash, she self-destructed in her own flames."
There was no falsehood in the claim that Cloné's mother was a witch.
There was simply a truth hidden within that no one else knew.
Uttuk
Cloné stopped walking and turned around to face Yuma.
"Are you disappointed? That I am the daughter of a witch."
Yuma stroked the black hair of the young girl with the shining golden eyes.
"I am not disappointed in you."
The wind of the night blew fiercely.
Yet Yuma's voice rang perfectly clear in Cloné's ears.
"There's no reason for me to be. The one who has the right to be disappointed in your mother... is you."
Tears welled up in the corners of Cloné's eyes.
"Right... I should be disappointed."
She had read the records thousands of times, which said most people had been evacuated.
But among the innocent people who hadn't tried to kill her mother, there must have been some who got swept up.
Cloné slowly leaned her body down onto the sandy shore. Countless stars filled Yuma's and Cloné's eyes. Stars that looked as though they might spill down at any moment.
"I couldn't be disappointed. In my mother."
She only missed her.
She was only terribly lonely.
The void left by the existence called Mother, who had believed in her blindly, was simply too vast.
Yuma waited quietly while Cloné gazed at the stars for a long while.
"So... I won't let go of you, Yuma-nim."
"Alright."
Yuma and Cloné walked along the sandy shore of the deep night once more.