Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: A Bright Bargain
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"When I was young, my master was one of the ten guardians who protected the great beings, the Ascetics. He served those great beings, and though he was a mage, he was renowned for his valor on the front lines of battle."
"When you were young, grandpa? For some reason, I don't even want to imagine it..."
"Khuhuhu, you too will grow old one day, Lady Sarieta. Anyway, I learned magic by his side, following him onto the battlefield. I even participated in the Hundred Years' War."
Tahul's hand trembled slightly, as if the memory of that time had resurfaced.
"Those beings, blessed by the Betrayer, were far too strong. To us, it was no different from a curse. Every day was hell. Have you ever closed your eyes for a moment, only to open them and see the comrade next to you fall dead?"
Shake, shake-.
Sari and Oson shook their heads vigorously.
"It seems the young human has seen such things, though. What a horrific sight it is. Isn't this old man quite remarkable for surviving a hundred years of it? Hahaha."
Tahul drained his mug of beer, wetting his throat.
Intrigued by the chance to hear a story from someone who had lived through that era, Do-jae waited quietly.
"*Burp*. For a hundred years, countless lights of life were extinguished. It reached a point where I thought there might be no living creatures left on the continent if the war continued. That was when the Ascetics decided to sacrifice themselves to seal the Betrayer. Isn't it amusing? That the Betrayer was so powerful that all the other Ascetics had to sacrifice themselves just to stop one."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but who is this Betrayer?"
Do-jae asked Tahul.
He had heard about the past from Arcturia, but not in great detail.
He wanted to take this opportunity to hear the full story from Tahul.
"The Betrayer... His name is Gellahan, and he was once an Ascetic. I went to see him once as a child, following my master. He was a very young human, but he exuded a terrifying, unapproachable aura. Even from a distance, I felt goosebumps all over my body."
"Gellahan..."
"Even to my eyes, a mere young gray elf, the Betrayer felt different from the other Ascetics. That was about three hundred years ago, just before the war broke out. The first and last time I saw him, the Betrayer seemed to have no emotions. *Hic*."
When Tahul pushed his mug forward, Do-jae filled it to the brim.
"Well, the story has taken a long detour, but the point is, I'm heading to the ruins to find traces of my master, who was a guardian."
"Grandpa, you seem different somehow!"
Sari's eyes sparkled.
She was undoubtedly more excited by the word 'traces' than by the preceding story.
"Alright. I won't ask why you're searching for these traces. In any case, you've told me your purpose. As it happens, I'm also interested in the great beings and curious about this Betrayer, Gellahan, so let's travel together for a while. We'll be counting on you and the carriage."
"Khuhuhu. This old man should be the one asking for your favor. Now then, I suppose I should repay Lady Sarieta for the delicious meal, shouldn't I?"
Tahul slowly stood up.
At the same time, Do-jae shot to his feet.
"Did you sense that too, old man?"
"I cast a detection spell when we stopped the carriage."
As Do-jae and Tahul suddenly stared off in the same direction, Sari and Oson tilted their heads in confusion.
But they soon understood why the two had stood up.
Swoooosh-!
"Kyaaaa!"
"Kiiiii!"
A swarm of dozens of monsters flew toward them, making a sound like a downpour.
Sari shouted as she saw them.
"Kirios!"
Kirio, small bat-like monsters.
Individually, they were weak enough to be classified as Grade 10 monsters, but they were quite dangerous.
They never appeared one by one, but in swarms of dozens, making them monsters that inflicted continuous, minor damage.
Especially on plains like this, they were incredibly annoying monsters that would sweep past, then circle around in a wide arc to attack again.
"Sari, Oson! Get back! You too, old man!"
Do-jae summoned his golems and formed a wall.
He then had Sari and Oson take cover behind it.
Do-jae drew the Black Scale and waited for the Kirios to approach.
However, instead of hiding behind the wall, Tahul stepped out in front of Do-jae.
"Old man?"
"Young human, this old man took third place in a competition, you know."
Tahul took a short rod from within his robes.
It was a magic staff with a small jewel at its tip.
"Chain Lightning."
*Crackle-.*
*Crackle-zzzzzt!*
A bolt of lightning shot out from the tip of Tahul's staff and struck the Kirio swarm directly.
"Kiiiieeeek!"
"Kiyaaaak!"
The Chain Lightning spell flashed, beginning to electrocute the swarm of Kirios.
From one monster to the next, the intense electric current instantly charred the Kirio swarm black.
Thud-thud-thud-.
"Woaaah!"
"Old man! You're pretty good!"
Sari and Oson exclaimed as they watched the Kirios fall to the ground beyond the golems.
"Hehe, this should be enough to earn my keep, don't you think?"
Tahul said as he tucked the staff back into his robes and returned.
Do-jae offered his thanks.
"As expected, nothing beats magic for dealing with multiple enemies."
"What do you think? Good thing you brought this old man along, right?"
"Yes, I'll admit it."
"Khuhuhu, I'm feeling generous. May I take a look at those golems for a moment?"
"The golems? Why..."
Tahul approached the golems.
He then took out a small, white, chalk-like stick and began to draw a picture on the chest of a golem.
"This is a pencil made from Hakun's bone powder. It has high viscosity, so it doesn't erase easily."
*Scritch, scritch-.*
"What are the cores of these golems made of?"
Tahul asked as he continued to draw.
"They're made of mana stones, of course."
"Mana stones? Don't be so vague. I'm asking what kind of ore you used."
"Ore?"
"Aish, you don't even know that? Never mind."
Tahul finished the drawing on the first golem's chest.
It was a magic circle, densely packed with unintelligible shapes and letters.
"It's a magic circle that uses the core's mana to channel electricity. It won't have the power of a Chain Lightning spell, but it should be capable of light electrical attacks. One should be able to sleep comfortably at night, shouldn't they?"
A faint light enveloped the magic circle on the golem.
Small sparks even flew whenever it moved.
Tahul drew the same magic circle on the remaining three golems, and Do-jae positioned them around the camp.
"Shall we get some sleep, then? Old folks need a lot of sleep at night."
***
*Clip-clop, clip-clop-.*
Though it wasn't as good as sleeping in an inn bed, Do-jae's party had spent a relatively comfortable and safe night, and they began to move again.
"Hey, Oson, you must treat the horses gently."
"Jeez, old man. I know what I'm doing, so stop worrying."
The role of driving the carriage had been entrusted to Oson.
Having spent all of yesterday learning how to handle the horses from Tahul, Oson drove them quite steadily.
And next to Oson sat Sari, who wanted to feel the cool breeze as they traveled.
"So this is a carriage bestowed by the king. It's sturdy and comfortable."
Instead, Tahul was riding inside the carriage, partly because Do-jae had wanted him to.
"Old man, about magic. Can anyone learn it?"
The reason Do-jae was glad to have Tahul in the carriage was because of magic.
After seeing the magic circle inscribed on the golem last night, Do-jae's mind was filled with thoughts.
He realized that if his golems could wield the power of magic, going beyond simply hunting monsters with physical force, they could deliver far more lethal attacks.
Not only that, but what if he could imbue his Golem Armor with that kind of electricity?
Recalling how the golems had performed in the battle with the monsters at dawn, it was an ability he desperately wanted to acquire.
"Magic? Isn't summoning your golems a form of magic?"
"Is... is it?"
For a moment, Do-jae was at a loss for words.
When he thought about it, his own ability was a type of magic.
Summoning golems and manipulating mana through the Nerves of the Golem was clearly magic to anyone's eyes, but Do-jae hadn't realized it.
Perhaps it was because there were no other Awakened who summoned and commanded golems, or perhaps it was because Do-jae had started as a rock-bottom F-rank Hunter with no skills.
"Huh? If that isn't magic, then what is it?"
"Ah... this is something a little different... Anyway, can I learn it or not?"
"What a strange young man... Since you asked, I'll answer. Anyone can learn it, but it cannot be learned easily."
Do-jae clenched his fists.
For Do-jae, whether it was easy or difficult didn't matter.
What mattered was whether it could be learned.
"Then please teach me magic. Especially the magic circles. I want to learn about magic and magic circles."
"What? Hmph... It's a bother... It's not something you can understand quickly just by being taught..."
"That's fine. You can just show me a demonstration, or even just draw the pictures for me to copy. Please."
"That much wouldn't be difficult, but... are you asking for free? After you grilled this old man so thoroughly about his own request."
Tahul smiled faintly, looking at Do-jae.
Do-jae could see the black pupils within Tahul's narrow eyes glinting.
"You're more childish than I thought."
"Consider it a bit of wisdom that comes with age."
Do-jae wondered how he was going to win over this gray elf.
In the Nightinggale Forest, he had won over numerous gray elves with cup ramen, but that didn't seem like it would work on Tahul.
After all, his reaction to Sari's cooking yesterday had been rather lukewarm.
After thinking for a long while, an idea flashed through Do-jae's mind, and he took something out of his Subspace.
"Just a moment."
"Hooo... That dimensional space of yours is full of wondrous things."
Tahul showed interest as Do-jae opened his Subspace.
He was already quite intrigued, as Do-jae's Subspace had produced items that didn't exist in this world, like a lighter and a sleeping bag.
"This is called a 'flashlight'..."
Do-jae took an LED flashlight out of Young-jin's bag.
He remembered taking out the LED flashlight while organizing his things back when the Chinese hotel returned his bag.
Back then, he had asked why Young-jin had packed such a thing when he had a smartphone, but Young-jin's words that it would come in handy later were proving helpful now.
*Click-.*
*Flash-!*
"Ooh! It's blindingly bright! What a magnificent magic staff."
Young-jin's high-intensity LED flashlight lit up the somewhat dim interior of the carriage as if the sun itself were shining inside.
"This isn't magic. Would you like to hold it?"
Do-jae handed the flashlight to Tahul.
Tahul took the flashlight and examined it from all angles, looking at it with wonder.
"It's true. To think there's a staff that can produce such a bright light without using any magic."
"Are you interested? I could give it to you if you teach me magic."
"Hmm... This is quite the dilemma. Do I really need this?"
"Of course! Aren't you going to explore ruins? You'll need to conserve your mana for unforeseen dangers, and a light this bright will be able to illuminate even the farthest, deepest places."
"Hmm... You have a point..."
"Then how about this."
Do-jae adjusted the flashlight's lens, focusing the light into a single point.
Then he turned the brightness to its maximum and began to shine it on the carriage wall.
*Sizzle-.*
After just a few seconds, the wooden wall of the carriage blackened, scorched, and caught fire.
Do-jae immediately put out the fire and said to Tahul,
"Did you see that? What do you think would happen if this were aimed at someone's eyes? Don't you think it would make a pretty decent weapon?"
Tahul's hand, which had been stroking his chin, finally dropped.
"Very well. I will teach you. Magic."