Chapter 70. The Compass (4)
—Doderek Ibrahim's Compass.
In simple terms, it was an artifact that detected danger.
And even the fastidious Ulfrik had acknowledged its worth.
'The ability to sense the most threatening enemy.'
It was more than enough to serve as a game-changer on a chaotic battlefield, one that could turn the tide of life and death.
Hierniorn strutted about boastfully, restoring order among the land spirits.
Thanks to its awakening through the Fire Spirit Essence, it had regained some of its former dignity. As a result, it had become quite the object of envy among the spirits.
While the spirits bickered among themselves,
I toured the ruins with Parasha.
"What the hell is supposed to be here anyway? It's just an old battlefield. From 500 years ago, at that."
"There are graves and tombstones, aren't there?"
"Well, yeah, obviously. I heard it was a brutal fight. Not like only a couple people died, right?"
142 people.
I remembered the exact number.
Here, Ulfrik and his disciples had clashed in fierce melee with a demon army called the "Blood-Soaked Brotherhood."
The battle had begun with an unexpected ambush from those bastards.
Even renowned powerhouses fell helplessly one by one.
And I—
'Could only watch from the rear of the formation.'
I'd been ousted from the position of prized disciple and wasn't even assigned to the combat unit.
This was a place where countless people I knew well had died.
Of course, there were plenty of other such places, but this one was a bit special because 'that guy' had died here.
"That tombstone's the biggest one? What does it say?"
Parasha stood before the largest gravestone.
"What the—it's too weathered to read. Dudoris? Dadolite? Arvison?"
"……Doderek Ibrahim."
"Oh, right! Doderek Ibrahim! Let me see. 'The sharpest spear of the Allmaster……sleeps here.'"
Old memories naturally resurfaced.
Those arrogantly gleaming green eyes came to mind.
—Doderek Ibrahim.
The genius mage who created the compass that detected danger.
Once, he had reigned as Ulfrik's prized disciple in magic.
In the early days, the entire basement of the mansion might as well have been his domain.
'But like me, he got chased out to the backyard.'
The disciples who learned from Ulfrik at the Eternal Mansion were broadly divided into three categories.
First, those learning swordsmanship on the first floor.
Second, those studying magic in the basement.
And finally, the third group who pitched field tents in the backyard and lived there—the 'other disciples.'
'The failures classified as non-combatants.'
Before being pushed to the backyard, I had been among the most promising of the first-floor sword disciples.
Enough so that Ulfrik taught me his boasted ultimate cultivation method, the Black Cloud Tomb.
But in the end, I couldn't surpass the Noble Wall, and had to relocate.
And Doderek Ibrahim was the case of someone moved from the basement to the backyard.
Because his magical progress had regressed.
There were rumors among the disciples that Doderek had dabbled in forbidden arts and suffered a heart demon.
Who knows, but it probably wasn't true.
'That guy was stubborn. He even tried learning swordsmanship just to fight somehow.'
He insisted he wouldn't stick to support roles even if it killed him, and volunteered as a vanguard instead.
A tough bastard.
'A mage running around scouting? Makes no sense.'
To the knights, it was absurdly dangerous.
But Doderek seemed to enjoy it.
As if dancing on the edge of death was the very purpose of his life.
The compass was made back then.
His final work, created after begging Ulfrik for one last lesson.
Hierniorn's message zipped over.
Turning around, I saw a small land spirit poking its head out from midway up the slope, beckoning me.
I flicked a speck of mana at it.
The spirit danced joyfully this way and that, then took off running ahead.
"Follow me."
"Huh?"
I hurried after it, and Parasha trailed behind, clueless.
The spot the spirit pointed to was overgrown with thick bushes.
It would require digging pretty deep.
But that was no concern.
"Hey, Par."
"Yeah?"
"Dig here. Deep."
"What?! Out of nowhere? Is this why you borrowed my power? Just to make me do manual labor without context? Even if I'm a slave, treat me with some dignity!"
"Hm, looks like tonight's dinner will be soup loaded with garlic……."
"Ugh, fine! I'll do it!"
Parasha grumbled but extended her nails and started clawing at the earth.
And the result—
"Huh? What's this?"
"Dig carefully then."
"Eek! It's a skull!"
Parasha leaped back.
Sure enough, a skeleton lay there.
I used Telekinesis to pull it up from deep below.
Hierniorn landed on top of its skull.
'Yeah.'
Apart from the horns sprouting from its forehead, demons didn't look all that different from humans outwardly.
The horns just stood out so much they seemed alien.
Perhaps due to that magic, the skeleton was preserved in a pale glow.
This guy had inflicted a fatal wound on Doderek, stolen the compass, and while fleeing, got caught in the Uplift spell and sucked into the ground.
Apparently right here.
"Hey, that skull……?"
"It's a demon."
"First time seeing one. Cool."
A nice bonus.
Demon horns were like magic crystals themselves, brimming with mana.
I immediately drew up my mana.
Time to perform the 'harvesting ritual' I'd seen countless mages do during the war.
Attack spell 'Bone Shatter' is being cast.
Crack!
Mana preservation or not, 500 years was an eternity that rendered it useless.
I compressed the demon skeleton in one go and shattered it to dust……
Dark mana is condensing.
It can be refined and absorbed.
And harvested its crystalline horn.
Doderek's compass was found right after that work was done.
Thud.
"Found it."
"What's that? Some compass?"
"You don't need to know."
The artifact of a magic genius once seen as the heir to Ulfrik's magic.
A small glass orb containing a needle-thin iron pin floating aimlessly inside.
Back then, I'd just thought it was neat, but now I could dissect its magical structure.
I felt a twinge of curiosity.
'Hold on.'
'No, not that. Now I see it's using the 'Factor of Eternity'. In a very basic form.'
I nodded.
Looking back, the principles overlapped.
Doderek's compass detected impending danger, and the Factor of Eternity manipulated time.
The same principle applied to both.
Now it seemed Ulfrik had passed down an early form of the factor to Doderek.
But—
'Doderek didn't achieve much after that. In fact, he was said to have regressed after creating that masterpiece.'
Was the factor incompatible with Doderek?
Or had some other force interfered?
I had no way of knowing now.
"……."
In any case, Doderek Ibrahim, who had served as vanguard in Ulfrik's subjugation army, was struck by an arrow here.
And before his last breath, he even lost his symbolic compass to the thief.
'Still, he got his revenge nicely.'
True to his reputation as a genius mage, Doderek succeeded in vengeance even as he died.
Using the Uplift spell to instantly drag the ground up and swallow his foe.
But something felt off.
With so many powerful attack spells available, why use Uplift for offense?
It would naturally bury the compass too.
'Doderek wouldn't have miscast it unknowingly.'
Did he not want to leave the compass behind?
Another mystery.
Then Hierniorn nudged me.
'Right.'
I slowly channeled mana into it.
The glass orb flickered white, illuminating the surroundings, and the needle inside creaked as it began to spin.
It scanned the vicinity for dangers like this.
When the needle snapped to point one way, it meant it was working properly—
Creak, creak…… Snap!
It was working fine?
Why?
Doderek's compass pointed straight at Parasha, who stood beside me with a dumb look on her face.
Hierniorn spat fury and flew to perch on Parasha's head.
Ready to manifest in flames and burn her right then.
But contrary to Hierniorn's words, something was off.
For one, the needle's direction was oddly ambiguous.
The compass's prediction is incomplete.
Additional interpretation required.
The mana flow I caught with my Transcendent Eye was also incomplete.
Not from Parasha herself, but leaking from inside her clothes.
I beckoned her.
"Take that off."
"Huh? What?"
"Your top. Take it off."
"Wh-what the hell! You psycho!"
Parasha spewed curses but couldn't resist the Dominator Trait command and began undressing.
I raised a hand when she undid the first button on her shirt.
"Stop."
"……?"
"What's that tattoo?"
"Huh? This?"
A small pentagram tattoo was etched near her collarbone.
And the compass needle pointed precisely at it.
"Uh…… This is the Red Ghost mark. All contracted Red Ghosts get this. It itches sometimes."
The Red Ghost symbol?
I gathered mana at my fingertip and touched the tattoo.
Parasha's face flushed red as she tried to pull back, but……
"Stay still. Don't move a step."
"Eek."
I bound her with a command.
Brushing the tattoo with mana revealed why the compass had reacted.
Special spell 'Tactile Sense' detected.
A faint embedded spell.
If the caster wished, it could read Parasha's surroundings like a bugging device.
And this was implanted in all Red Ghosts contracted with the leader?
'The contract magic was a front. This was the real deal.'
Couldn't leave it like that.
I sharpened my mana's nature and began scraping away the tattoo.
"Ow! It hurts! I'm telling you it hurts!"
"Endure it."
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
I succeeded in erasing the pentagram.
The compass needle immediately lost direction and drooped.
Parasha blinked at me.
"What? Feels super refreshing now?"
"Put your clothes back on. And fill the hole. Make it look natural."
I carefully pocketed Doderek's compass and turned away.
Detecting invisible threats too?
'Didn't know it was this high-spec.'
Far superior to what I'd known in my past life.
From the creaking needle, it needed delicate handling, but it was a very satisfying gain regardless.
And we confirmed the compass's true potential right after returning to the Eternal Mansion.
"A gift arrived for you yesterday, young master. But the sender's name is in some foreign language, so I couldn't read it?"
"……."
The large package Jenice brought.
I tested it by infusing mana, and the compass needle immediately locked onto it tautly.
The sender was written in ancient script used only in the north……
—Demiph.
The name of my biological father, announced dead, was stamped clearly.