Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: A Dragon's Deal
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Swoooosh-!
"Well, this is somewhere in the northern snow mountains you mentioned."
Herteias said proudly.
It was certainly a mountain blanketed in white snow.
"Heltein. But this place is a bit..."
The problem was that a blizzard was raging so fiercely you could barely see ahead, and their feet sank deep into the snow.
Do-jae, who had some resistance to the cold, and Herteias, who was fundamentally a dragon, were fine, but Harkes was shivering uncontrollably.
Even for a Titan, the cold was too much to bear in just thin leather clothes.
"What?"
"Harkes is struggling."
"I'm... I'm alright..."
Harkes wrapped the large robe he was holding tightly around himself.
Still, he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering.
"I bring you here and you complain..."
Herteias trudged over to Harkes with an annoyed look and muttered something.
Harkes's face instantly brightened.
"Oh... thank you... so much!"
Harkes, who had been hugging himself tightly, slowly relaxed.
Herteias had cast a warming spell on him.
"What kind of magic was that?"
Do-jae asked, sticking close to Herteias.
"What are you doing?"
Herteias recoiled in disgust.
But Do-jae grabbed the hem of his clothes, preventing him from getting away.
"That magic just now... I've never seen it before. What was it?"
"It's just a slightly difficult high-level spell."
"Can't you teach me?"
Among the spells Do-jae knew, there was nothing that simply provided warmth like that.
What he had learned was mostly attack magic; having focused on those kinds of books, he was weak in practical, everyday spells.
"Even if I taught you, could you even use it?"
"I'll know once I hear it, won't I?"
"For free?"
"What do you want?"
"Anything. It's too much of a bother to just teach you for nothing."
Do-jae glared at Herteias.
Isn't this breaking character?
Let's accept the backstory that he's lived deep in the mountains for 200 years, passing down through generations.
But a person like that is trying to haggle?
He couldn't help but feel this was a bit out of character.
"Hmm... something to offer as payment..."
But what could he do?
The man was a dragon, a stubborn and willful species.
Do-jae searched his subspace, trying to think of something Herteias might like.
He acts naive, but he's a picky one. A mediocre offer wouldn't work.
"How about you take a look at this first? The data doesn't work, though."
Unable to think of anything else, Do-jae took out his smartphone.
Herteias, who had already shown interest in the camera, looked at it with fascination.
"What is this?"
"It's one of Briareus's favorite things."
"Oh?"
Herteias reacted strongly to Do-jae's words.
Do-jae had a feeling Herteias felt a sense of rivalry with Briareus, so he'd dropped the name casually. It worked just as he'd thought.
"Teach me the magic as we go. It looks like Harkes is getting antsy to move."
Coming to the northern snow mountains, Harkes seemed desperate to find Eurabia and was growing restless.
Do-jae also needed to move quickly, so they decided to start walking.
"And this thing is called a smartphone..."
"I get it! This thing is fascinating!"
Herteias snatched the smartphone from Do-jae's hand.
Do-jae thought to himself that his actions were exactly like Briareus's.
"Then how about we head up first? The clouds seem low, so the view should be clearer up top."
Harkes took the lead.
With his large feet paving the way, it was much easier for Do-jae and Herteias to follow.
***
Near the summit.
Once they climbed above the snow clouds, the surrounding mountain peaks came into view.
"Didn't I tell you? You wouldn't get it even if I taught you."
"...I think I got the gist of it."
While climbing the mountain, he had listened to Herteias's explanation of the magic.
At first, Herteias had been annoyed, but he gradually grew more enthusiastic until it turned into a full-blown lecture.
"Really? Then try casting the Heating spell."
"Ahem. Just a moment..."
The spell that had warmed Harkes's body, Heating.
Do-jae recalled the formulas and flows Herteias had explained and gathered his mana.
It didn't require much mana, so he gathered it quickly, but...
Bang-!
"Pfft!"
A small explosion erupted, and Herteias scoffed.
Do-jae waved his hand vigorously to disperse the billowing smoke.
"A mistake. I used too much mana for the fire magic part."
"If it were a spell you could master just by hearing it once, what would be the point of dragons or archmages?"
"I said it was a mistake. Wait. I'll try again, slowly this time."
Do-jae focused his mind again.
Since the amount of mana was small, he had to be even more meticulous in distributing it.
Fssss-.
Fine water droplets formed like a mist.
He added fire mana to prevent the water droplets from freezing.
However, if the fire mana was too strong, the water mana would evaporate, so it was crucial to continuously draw in water mana while maintaining just enough heat to keep it from dissipating.
Whoosh-.
To that, he added wind mana.
The wind mana swirled in a confined space, circulating the heated water mana throughout the area.
The wind mana transformed into warm air, creating a cozy heat.
"How's this?"
"Hoh? Not bad. But what's next?"
The next step.
How to contain the warmth.
That was the most problematic part.
Of course, that wasn't to say that mixing the mana of different elements was easy.
Being able to handle three elements simultaneously was something only a mage with decades of practice or a born genius could achieve.
On top of that, to contain the warm mana without continuously infusing it, several additional spells had to be mixed in.
In short, Do-jae's skills were not yet sufficient to complete 'Heating,' a multi-layered spell that incorporated several magics under one name.
Pang-!
The spell shattered with a sound like bursting air.
In the end, Do-jae failed to complete the spell properly.
"This isn't working."
"Phuhut. It's amazing for a young fellow to get that far. Don't be too disappointed."
Herteias patted Do-jae's back.
But that wasn't what Do-jae meant.
"Magol."
At Do-jae's call, Magol popped out from the subspace.
Herteias watched this with a puzzled expression.
"A golem? What for?"
"Just watch. Magol, listen carefully to what I say and try it."
Do-jae explained everything Herteias had told him to Magol, leaving nothing out.
His explanation included his own feelings and realizations, adding tips on how to understand it more easily.
Magol stood motionless for a moment as if in thought, then suddenly raised its hand.
"Heating."
The Heating spell was cast toward Do-jae.
The surrounding air warmed up, making his body feel cozy.
"Well done, Magol!"
"This is simple, Master!"
Nod, nod-.
Do-jae looked satisfied with Magol's response.
Compared to the other golems, Magol knew how to speak respectfully and never refused an order, making it his most loyal and favored golem.
"Ooh... this golem is pretty good, isn't it?"
"It specializes in magic. Which brings me to my next point..."
Do-jae put on a sly expression.
Then, while Herteias was off guard, he took back the smartphone.
"What are you doing! I haven't even had a proper look at it because I was busy explaining things to you!"
"I never said I'd give it to you."
"What...?"
"I was going to say you could play with it for a bit and then give it back, but you snatched it before I could finish."
He hadn't planned on making a big deal out of the smartphone, but since Herteias had created the perfect opportunity, Do-jae had been waiting for this moment.
"Briareus had a lot of fun playing with these... four of them, in fact."
Do-jae fiddled with the smartphone while watching Herteias's reaction.
Just as expected, his eyes lit up the moment he heard the 'B' in Briareus.
"Four of them? What in the world is that thing that he'd play with four, not just one?"
"Want to know? Curious?"
"Ugh! How dare a human try to toy with a dragon?"
Herteias stared at him, his expression turning serious.
At this rate, he might end his game and revert to his dragon form.
But for Do-jae, the timing was perfect.
"I'll give you one more than Briareus."
"One more? You mean one more than *him*?"
Herteias's fluttering hair settled down calmly.
Do-jae smiled lightly and nodded.
"But I can't get them right now. I have to deal with Havik to return to my world and get them for you... You'll help me, right?"
"Promise me. That you'll give me one more than him, no matter what. If you do, I will help you not as a game, but as the dragon, Herteias."
"I promise."
"Then give me your blood."
Herteias asked for his blood.
Do-jae knew what that meant.
The contract he had made with Harkes's son, Theus.
Recalling that contract, Do-jae pricked his fingertip and let a drop of blood fall onto Herteias's palm.
"Just my blood? Don't you need your blood too for the contract magic to work?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't think of a dragon's blood as the same lowly liquid as yours. The older we get, the more our blood becomes mana itself."
It felt like he was getting the short end of the stick, but the contract itself was a huge gain for Do-jae, so he decided not to worry about it.
Then, Do-jae handed over the smartphone with no data connection and said.
"Heltein, teach your magic to Magol."
***
The southernmost tip of the continent.
An area bordering the coastline.
Balan sat atop a mountain of corpses, a mix of monsters and other races.
"Sir Balan? I don't think I sent those monsters for this."
Ridirian, who had appeared from nowhere, asked the blood-soaked Balan.
Balan, who had been staring blankly into the distance, leaped down and landed lightly in front of Ridirian.
"And I believe I told you I didn't need them."
"Sir Balan. I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from such impertinent remarks."
Balan flinched as Ridirian spoke with a bright smile.
But Balan refused to back down.
"Lord Gellahan made me this way. Ridirian, your actions are tantamount to disrespecting him."
"Don't be ridiculous. Sir Balan, in Lord Gellahan's absence, I am his proxy. Everything will be done according to my will."
Anger surged within Balan at Ridirian, who completely disregarded his opinion.
However, the difference in their status was so vast he couldn't even properly argue back.
"So, what brings Lord Ridirian all the way to the edge of the continent?"
Balan retorted with a hint of sarcasm.
Ridirian didn't even bother to reply, an expression of contempt on his face.
"Havik's status has almost fully recovered."
"That means..."
"Yes, the war is not far off. You should hurry and regain your original status as well."
Balan clenched his massive fist.
Gellahan's status, which he had almost fully recovered.
He realized the time for his long-awaited revenge was just around the corner.
"Understood. I'm looking forward to it..."