Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 68
>Chapter Title: Gotta Collect the Life Debt
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The battle had been short, but its afterglow lingered long.
Silence settled over the Hamern Great Forest.
In the very spot where even the monsters had held their breath at the roar of the predator known as the Swamp Dominator, Aster stood with half-lidded eyes.
A deep inhalation.
“……Hoo.”
An even deeper exhalation spread into the air.
The thrill of battle.
That intense heat coursing through his veins across his entire body, his heated breaths scorching hot.
That was why he had engaged the Swamp Dominator in needless close-quarters combat.
A long-awaited sense of release.
To vent this heat surging up from deep in his lower abdomen, scorching through his heart to the tips of his limbs.
But.
‘……Not enough.’
What finally came was a bizarre sense of exhaustion.
Monsters just weren’t cutting it, after all.
No, that wasn’t it.
Unless he was some battle maniac who reveled in combat like a lunatic, this much should have been enough to relieve the pent-up tension.
The reason it wasn’t satisfying likely stemmed from the final battle of his previous life.
A nameless field.
A myriad of spells painting the sky.
The fight against Decullan’s loyal mages had been one where he poured out his full power like never before.
‘First time, probably?’
After surpassing the limits of a Troubleshooter.
He had never once unleashed his full strength, all to fool Decullan’s eyes.
No, wait.
Aster shook his head as the thought reached that point.
‘Not that. It wasn’t the fight with them.’
There was an even more intense memory.
Pahren von Decullan.
The man who would rise to become the strongest in history in the future—in his past life, he had already reached that supreme realm.
The master of the colossal monster that was Decullan.
“Huh.”
Thinking of him brought an involuntary chuckle.
‘Come to think of it, I never got to feed him properly.’
Decullan’s elites had been formidable indeed.
Even unleashing his full power, he had crossed the brink of death multiple times.
By the time he faced Pahren, he was already utterly spent.
Of course, he wasn’t making excuses.
‘The outcome…… would’ve been the same. Just the time to reach the conclusion would differ.’
The gap between him and Pahren had been that vast.
But what he regretted was this.
Right before his eyes, floating atop the murky swamp waters: a single corpse.
The corpse was that of the Swamp Dominator, with a massive portion of its body missing.
If he had fed this spell to him properly just once, what expression would Pahren have made?
Flustered? Or would he keep that same impassive face as always?
One thing was certain: he wouldn’t have been laughing.
Explosive Annihilation.
That was the nature of this spell.
A vicious explosion capable of shredding even the sturdiest barriers in an instant.
It annihilated all in its path, hence the name: Explosive Annihilation.
Of course, the Pahren of that time would have found a way to block even this.
It was at that moment.
“Urgh…….”
Aster’s body swayed once.
“Se-Senior!”
“M-Mage!”
Obern and Railly, who had been watching from afar, rushed over in an instant to support him.
“It’s the aftereffects of Overclock. I didn’t set the duration too long, so the burden should be lighter…… but at least for today, you’ll be in this state.”
“Groan…….”
Aster nodded to his spinning vision.
‘This is gonna kill me.’
He’d heard the explanation. A crushing lethargy hits all at once.
He just hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
How many times had he been pushed to the edge of death in battle?
How many times had he wrung out every last drop of strength until he collapsed in exhaustion?
He’d thought he could handle this much easily.
But look at him now.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
The legs that had firmly pressed into the ground could no longer even support him and dangled limply.
If Obern and Railly hadn’t been there, he might’ve face-planted into the swamp and drowned.
‘What a ridiculously pathetic way to go.’
On the other hand, a thought crossed his mind.
‘If I’d known it’d be like this…… should’ve held back on the Overclock.’
Safe duration: five minutes.
And……
- Avoid Overclock for at least a month. It’s a burden on me too, but…… it damages the core and circuits.
The cooldown was a full month.
‘Took it to avoid the gamble…… tch. Didn’t need to.’
The Swamp Dominator.
He could fully understand why it struck terror into adventurers and mercenaries.
Its fur and hide blocked ether and were tough enough to repel most weapons.
And that roar.
‘For mages…… it must’ve been a nightmare.’
Of course, a mage who’d reached a certain level could find countermeasures even then, but who had the time for that?
Anyway.
His matchup had been favorable.
Even with mana surging chaotically in the air, spells like Collision Formula held firm, and since its hide only blocked ether, it was powerless against raw mana.
‘The eyes were a bit of a problem…….’
But it had been nicely resolved, so what more was there to say?
Meanwhile.
“…….”
Obern traced the sign of reverence over his head at Aster’s display from moments ago.
‘No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.’
After awakening his talent, he had researched Overclock alongside his master.
Overclock was a gift that drew out latent potential. However……
- There seem to be clear limits.
- Limits, you say…….
- In the old wars, they graded mages not by realm, but by output. Ridiculous, isn’t it? Ridiculous, yet convenient in ways—like this case.
His master had said at the time.
- Depending on your focus, the output amplification is…… around 150 percent, I’d say.
Of course, this was purely for output, excluding the heightened senses or triggered potentials that came with Overclock.
In other words, raw combat power.
Yet……
‘What I saw back then…….’
It couldn’t be explained by a mere 150 percent output boost.
It was as if someone who’d always possessed that level of ability had simply reclaimed their sealed power.
For Obern, it was a mystery he’d never solve in his lifetime.
* * *
Once the situation was fully sorted.
Aster and his companions took a short rest.
Aster needed it due to the Overclock aftereffects, but so did Obern after expending no small amount of mental energy.
Which left Railly as the busy one.
“Um…… Mage, what should we do with the Swamp Dominator’s corpse?”
He’d always been polite, but now Railly treated Aster with utter deference.
Aster let out a deflated chuckle at the sight.
‘Now this is the true grit of the void.’
A true Black-White Slums orphan’s survival instinct.
Bow your head to the moderately tough guys, and pledge your soul to the insanely strong ones!
As for the corpse……
“You handle it.”
“Huh! R-Really?”
“Yeah. Gotta earn your life debt, right? Need one? I can lend you a subspace.”
“Th-Then, I’m grateful!”
With his stamina somewhat recovered, Aster handed over one of the subspaces he’d gotten from the black merchant.
The contents had already been transferred to Henji and Karahen’s subspaces.
“Th-Thank you!”
Railly bowed past ninety degrees—straight to 120—before dashing into the swamp.
In one hand, a butchery dagger, and he looked thrilled beyond measure.
“Um…… Senior, you sure that’s okay?”
Obern voiced his concern.
“What?”
“The Swamp Dominator’s corpse…… it’s worth a fortune. You sure it’s fine to hand it over just like that?”
“Why? You jealous? Well, you’ve got a share in it too, so yeah, I get it.”
“N-No! Greed hinders training and corrupts the righteous mind. I was just worried about you…….”
“……Sheesh.”
What nonsense.
Greed hinders training?
Bullshit.
He knew someone whose greed had made him the top of the Eastern Continent, with achievements to match…… no, who would be the top in the future.
Right. Pahren von Decullan was that guy.
Anyway.
“Cut the crap. What good’s it to me? He’s gotta collect his life debt too.”
“……!”
Obern’s eyes wavered at Aster’s earnest reply.
‘Senior truly……!’
A true mage.
It hadn’t been long since he’d found the ‘senior’ title awkward at their similar ages.
But that battle just now, and this behavior now.
The mage before him deserved the title of senior.
‘Detached from material things, and considerate of others’ circumstances too.’
A mindset incomparable to his own!
Of course, this was a case of knowing one thing and not the other.
‘……Good for him.’
Aster leaned his languid body against a tree and watched Railly with half-closed eyes.
Skilled with the keen butchery knife, peeling the hide and eyeing the valuable parts to stuff into the subspace—his beaming smile utterly……
Like he owned the world.
‘Yeah, must feel good.’
The Swamp Dominator. Its fur and hide were known to block even ether.
So, make armor from that fur and hide? No, robes would fetch a higher price.
Mages were pickier opponents than knights, after all.
But.
‘It’s all worthless.’
It happened sometimes.
Cases where the efficacy of byproducts plummeted sharply after death.
So, the hide that blocked blades while alive became no different from ordinary beast hide once dead.
Sure, it still boasted durability beyond normal leather, but it was just high-quality leather—nothing more, nothing less.
Look at it now.
Shlick— swish.
That supposedly unbreakable hide splitting helplessly under a sharp blade with no ether infused.
The driving force behind its toughness had been the mana in the monster’s heart to begin with. With the source cut off, it was useless.
Of course, completely worthless?
‘Not entirely.’
The hide could regain its hardness if supplied with mana equivalent to what the monster possessed.
But that heart, which had held the mana? It was an exorbitantly priced magic material that drove mages mad.
But.
‘That’s gone too.’
The final Explosive Annihilation.
The blast had taken the heart along with the left upper body.
So all Railly could salvage was some worthless tough hide and a few byproducts!
In any case.
“Hehe, Mage. Thank you for your consideration. So, when would be good to depart……?”
“Senior, what’ll you do? Schedule’s delayed, but we could rest another day.”
Soon after, Railly approached with a grin, his subspace brimming full.
As Obern offered a subtle nudge laced with concern.
Plop!
Aster pulled a potion from his subspace, downed it in one go, and shot to his feet.
“Let’s go. After all this crap, we gotta hurry.”
Lethargy was lethargy, but now was the time to pick up the pace.
It was while crossing the swamp, supported by Railly.
“…….”
Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu.
Whip.
Aster whipped his head around to look behind.
But all he saw were bushes and trees. Even his barely roused senses picked up nothing.
Just a few insects.
“Um…… Mage? Is something wrong?”
“……Height’s off.”
“Huh! Sorry!”
Railly awkwardly bent his knees.
Aster withdrew his gaze and hastened his steps once more.
But the doubt lingering on his face didn’t fade.
‘……Felt like there was a rat around.’
Just a brief moment, but he’d definitely felt it.
The sensation of someone watching this place.
Of course, it could’ve been an illusion from his dulled senses due to the lethargy……
‘Whatever. We’ll find out.’
If there really was a rat, it’d show itself soon enough.
Aster etched that fleeting sense of déjà vu into his mind and shook off the thought.