Chapter 175: Mirage of the Mitra Great Desert (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 175: Mirage of the Mitra Great Desert (3)
Every breath tasted of grit, as if sand had settled deep in his lungs.
He walked by day and shivered under his blankets by night, plagued by an unbelievable cold and a gnawing loneliness. Each morning, he would wake to find his bedroll hardened and encrusted with sand, looking like a dusty cocoon.
Once, he was bitten on the ankle by a scorpion that didn't even have a scientific name. Every living thing in the Mitra Great Desert seemed to harbor deadly venom. Had he not obtained the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor, it would have been a fatal encounter.
He ate the scorpion to conserve his rations. He devoured nameless bee-like insects and two-headed snakes covered in black scales whenever they crossed his path.
Perhaps it was because he had swallowed too much sand, but Jin hardly noticed the foul stench or the horrific taste of the creatures he haphazardly cooked with magic.
Crunch, crunch.
The snake’s bones shattered between his gaunt cheeks. Even the venom that leaked out served as a substitute for water. Once again, Jin felt a surge of gratitude toward Yona.
Three days had passed since he left the first mirage behind.
If not for the rising and setting of the sun and moon, he wouldn't have known how much time had passed. The Great Desert offered the same monotonous landscape no matter how far he traveled.
There really is no one here... in this entire desert.
That was the most painful part.
He had likely never experienced such profound loneliness in his entire life. Though only about ten days had passed since he left Tikan, time in the desert moved with a completely different density than the world outside.
Another week passed.
Neither snakes nor scorpions appeared anymore. Jin was utterly alone, walking endlessly across a vast, vague sea of sand.
It might have helped if he could talk to himself, but his canteen was empty again, leaving him unable to spare even that much moisture.
And then, the phrase "misfortunes never come singly" proved its relevance.
It was an expression perfectly suited for the Mitra Great Desert on December 11, 1796.
My remaining rations... are gone?
That morning, Jin couldn't help but let out a strangled cry the moment he woke up.
The food he had carefully tucked away in the bag he’d slept clutching all night had vanished. Everything else was untouched, but the food was gone—cleanly and completely.
Not a single strip of jerky or a handful of grain remained. Even when he stuck his head inside the bag, there wasn't even a lingering scent. It was as if there had never been any food in the bag to begin with.
"Ha."
A surge of nausea hit him. He hurled his empty canteen and spat curses at the sky. He wanted to demand an explanation—to ask why the world was doing this to him.
But Jin’s voice left no echo, scattering into the hollow air of the desert.
Still, he had to walk.
Staying still meant waiting for a meaningless death. Moreover, the sheer unfairness of it all fueled a stubborn refusal to let it end like this.
However, no matter how strong a human is, they cannot endure without food and water. He pushed forward with superhuman willpower, but in truth, there was no solution in sight.
After one day, the sky turned a jaundiced yellow and stayed that way.
After two days, his body began to suffer intermittent tremors. It was a miracle in itself that he had survived two days against the Great Desert without eating or drinking.
By the third day, there was still no sign of a spring, an oasis, or even a beast to hunt.
Thud...
His foot slipped, and he collapsed. The strength had abruptly drained from his ankles and calves.
A mouthful of sand entered his parted lips. His mouth was so parched that the sand didn't even stick to his tongue.
He had only fallen once, but a profound sense of lethargy spread from the depths of his bones. An impulse to just close his eyes and sleep surged over him like a tsunami.
Resisting such an impulse is harder than one might think—especially in a situation as desperate as the one Jin was in.
Damn it, I just tripped once. I only fell once...!
Pah!
Grimacing, he spat out the sand.
Then he stood up again. The sunlight reflecting off the sand brought a wave of vertigo, and his staggering legs felt as if they didn't belong to him.
Suddenly, a hand holding a canteen appeared out of nowhere.
Someone had stepped right up beside Jin and held it out. Naturally, there shouldn't have been a single soul in this desert capable of doing that.
Is it a mirage?!
Whether it was a mirage or a real person didn't matter.
The crucial fact was that they had approached without a sound and offered a canteen. If they had swung a sword instead, he would have been struck down before he even realized they were there.
Shring!
He knocked the canteen away with his pommel and drew his sword. Without even checking the person's face, he spun around to take their back and pressed his blade firmly against their throat.
He had his opponent’s life in his hands before the canteen even hit the ground.
It was a lightning-fast movement. Even Jin didn't understand where that strength had come from; his body had simply reacted on instinct.
Despite the blade at her throat, the owner of the canteen showed no sign of panic. It was then that Jin realized the person was a woman wearing a robe.
Furthermore, in her other hand—the one not holding the canteen—she gripped a staff. It was clearly made of silver pine, and for some reason, it looked incredibly familiar.
The woman’s red hair was familiar as well.
Red hair and a silver pine staff... could it be!?
Jin’s eyes widened. In his memory, there was only one person who possessed such vibrant red hair and used a silver pine staff.
"Valeria...?"
"Move the sword. Unless you actually intend to stab me."
Jin slowly lowered the blade from her neck.
She sighed and turned around, revealing the face he had missed so dearly.
Valeria Hister.
She was the one who had taught Jin magic in his previous life.
"How..."
No, it wasn't "how."
It had to be a mirage. What Jin was seeing now was the twenty-six-year-old Valeria—exactly as she had looked the last time he saw her before his death.
But perhaps because the grueling days in the desert had been so hard to bear, the moment he saw her, the loneliness, sorrow, and longing he had suppressed threatened to burst out all at once.
"It was the same three years ago, the day I reached out to a disciple who had collapsed on the street. Even then, you instinctively pointed a sword at my throat. Though your skill back then was pathetic compared to now."
Three years ago, the current Jin had been in the Garden of Swords.
But in Valeria’s "three years ago," he hadn't been. In her memory, Jin was the man who had just been exiled from the Runcandels and was wandering the world like a wreck.
"...Valeria. No, Master. Are you the second mirage?"
"It seems so."
"What is this? Do you actually know that you're a mirage?"
"Yes, I know. Though the actual me, who is about to turn fifteen, probably doesn't."
"Then what I have to do is..."
"Kill me and move on."
Cruel.
That was the first thought that came to mind. Jin could feel it instinctively.
The mirages of the Great Desert were neither magic nor divine authority. The mirages he had encountered so far were real people existing deep within his subconscious.
People who stood vividly in his heart and memories. That was why it had felt like cutting down his actual brothers when he struck the Tona brothers, and why it felt like meeting his real master now.
"I didn't want to reunite with you like this either, Disciple. It would have been nice if we could have met when things were a bit more... presentable."
"Don't do this, Master. Why does it have to be you?"
Valeria picked up the canteen from the ground and tossed it toward Jin.
"Drink. If you fight me in that state, you'll die at the first incantation."
"Is there no other way?"
"You know better than anyone. Don't deny it. I heard you became incredibly strong after being reborn, but it seems your mental strength was better in my memories. You're talking soft."
With trembling hands, Jin picked up the canteen at his feet.
Inside was the water he had searched for so desperately while walking through the living hell of the desert for the past few days. It sloshed, full to the brim.
But he didn't want to drink it. Because if he did, the next step was...
I'll have to kill you.
It was incomparable to cutting down the Tona brothers. For him to dare strike her... If not for Valeria Hister, Jin would never have gained a second life.
He would have died a miserable death, wandering like a stray dog, bitter about the twenty-five years he spent as a Runcandel. Because she had reached out her hand—and even though Jin had rejected it and pointed a sword at her throat, she had come back for him again and again.
That was why the current Jin could exist.
"You've become quite arrogant since I last saw you, Disciple."
Recognizing Jin’s hesitation, Valeria raised her staff. As she released her mana, a storm of brilliant blue energy swirled around her silver pine staff.
"7-star magic. You don't think you've already surpassed me just because you've achieved that much, do you? Drink, Jin Runcandel. I am also the voice of your inner self. You should be prepared to fight me."
Click...
He opened the canteen. If he hesitated again, she would fire her magic without mercy. The mage Valeria Hister he remembered was a person as decisive as a sword, more so than any warrior.
She was clear-cut in everything—in starting and ending, in fighting and retreating.
"What am I to you?"
"My only disciple. So, I hope you won't disappoint me."
"Would the real you have been like this too?"
"She probably would have loved you more than this. She might have hugged you at least once. Maybe even kissed your forehead."
"Since those words are no different than hearing them from myself, they offer no comfort."
"Then stop asking and overcome me. You still have one more to go, don't you? One last mirage you must face."
Gulp, gulp!
He drained the canteen in one go. It didn't seem to be ordinary water; he felt his vitality returning at an incredible rate.
"You may use both your sword and your spirit energy."
Was the master in his memories really that strong? Strong enough that his current self would have to pour everything into the fight?
He couldn't judge immediately. But one thing was certain: the mana gathering at Valeria’s staff was far more powerful than he remembered.
An insurmountable wall.
At one time, Valeria had felt that way to him. Even after contracting with Solderet, he had always doubted whether he could ever truly surpass her magic.
Now, she was a wall he didn't want to overcome. At least, not right now.
Thud...!
Jin plunged Bradamante into the sandy ground. Valeria simply shrugged and spoke.
"You'll regret that."
"I would regret it even more if I used a sword to defeat you. You were the entirety of my magic, and you always will be."
"Well, you never looked the part, but that recklessness was always your charm."
Crackle!
Valeria’s mana instantly took on the attribute of lightning. It was the magic she had used to roast Jin frequently back when he was training under her.
"And you were always getting scolded by me because of that recklessness."
Flash!
No sooner had she finished speaking than five bolts of lightning struck down. They moved at a speed Jin couldn't possibly dodge, and another spell was already forming at the tip of Valeria’s glowing staff.