Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Sand Hell
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Before entering the 32nd floor.
I took a moment to catch my breath and review the information I’d committed to memory one more time.
“32nd floor theme is fortress defense, right.”
Upon entry, hunters are deployed as soldiers atop the walls.
Hold out against waves of orcs swarming from all sides for 30 minutes to clear.
The key is blocking the gate as best as you can—no matter what, don’t let it break. If it does, buy time by running if you have to.
“I can just spam spells from the walls.”
Simple plan.
Find a spot with a good view and sweep away the incoming trash mobs for 30 minutes.
With a light heart, I stepped into the tower’s entrance.
[Entering Tower Floor 32 (EXTREME).]
Along with the familiar system message, my vision shifted.
I figured it’d be the walls, of course.
But the scene unfolding before me was entirely different.
No stench of blood, no orc war cries.
“Huh?”
I hadn’t been summoned to the walls.
An indoor chamber thick with solemn tension.
In the center of the room stood a round table covered in a massive map.
Surrounding it were knights in ornate armor and mages draped in robes.
At the head sat an elderly king wearing a crown.
Everyone’s faces looked gravely serious.
“The war council room?”
I was caught off guard.
Before I could even get my bearings, every gaze in the room snapped to me—the sudden newcomer.
The low murmurs of conversation cut off abruptly.
“Who are you!”
With a shout laced with suspicion, the knights all reached for the sword hilts at their waists in unison.
A powder keg ready to blow.
But one person.
One face I recognized.
Seymour, the knight I’d saved on the 31st floor.
He spotted me and shot to his feet.
He wasn’t in the ragged armor from before—he wore the flashiest set among them.
‘Promoted in the time since I last saw him?’
On closer inspection, his face had a new scar that hadn’t been there then.
“Everyone, stand down!”
Seymour shouted urgently at the others.
Then he turned to the king.
“Your Majesty! This is the great sage I told you about!”
“The great sage you mentioned... the mage who single-handedly crushed an orc battalion with a flick of his wrist?”
“Yes, exactly! If he lends his aid, our chances of victory will skyrocket.”
That’s when it all clicked for me.
The event from the 31st floor had rippled into the start of the 32nd.
Looks like I wasn’t just some grunt soldier—I’d been invited as an honored guest.
“Hmm...”
I nodded in satisfaction and straightened my posture to look more dignified.
Man, if only I had a beard.
Draped in this oversized robe, I just didn’t cut an imposing figure.
The others seemed to share the sentiment.
Despite Seymour’s excited endorsement, the room’s atmosphere stayed frosty.
They eyed my youthful appearance with clear skepticism.
Murmurs rippled through the chamber.
“That kid’s supposed to be a sage?”
“...He’s kinda cute.”
“Want to give him a piggyback ride.”
“Did the Knight Commander suffer some shock-induced hallucination? How could a child that young...”
“No matter how you slice it, he looks less like a sage and more like some granddaughter who snuck into her grandpa’s robes...”
Especially the old mage seated next to the king, who openly showed his disdain toward me.
Probably the court mage of this kingdom.
He snorted and addressed Seymour.
“Knight Commander Seymour, magic isn’t that simple.”
“Lord Gerald. But I saw it with my own eyes...”
“Quiet. What would you know about magic?”
“...”
His tone dripped with condescension, like a clueless, magic-illiterate knight had been duped by a con artist.
Seymour fell silent, at a loss for words.
The court mage Gerald raked me up and down with open scorn.
“Looks like he’s got a decent amount of mana, but that level’s nothing more than a talented student. If this boy’s a sage, then I must be a legendary archmage.”
The court mage’s blatant mockery.
It irked me a bit.
Such open disdain?
First time meeting a human-level mage like this.
I’d met Kim Suho before, but I hadn’t bothered observing him politely back then.
‘Let’s take a peek.’
I drew upon my Insight for the first time in ages.
I scanned the mage’s body thoroughly with my penetrating gaze.
‘This is interesting.’
A mage’s body for the first time—it was fascinating.
Like peering at an anatomical diagram, I could examine every inch of him.
The flow of mana through Gerald’s body. The quantity. Even the unusual organ nestled in his heart.
‘What? His total mana pool seems pathetic.’
From what I could tell, his mana reserves didn’t even reach a tenth of mine.
So why was this old man so cocky?
Was his detection ability that poor?
‘Let’s look closer...’
I pushed my Insight to its limits.
Then I started seeing things I hadn’t noticed before.
The way mana flowed through Gerald’s body was a type I’d never seen.
Curious, I compared him to the others nearby.
A few low-tier mages came into view.
They all followed the same flow pattern as Gerald.
Clearly artificial, distinct from ordinary people.
‘So that’s their method...’
The quantity was far less than mine, but the flow was far more stable and refined.
The discovery piqued my strong interest.
As I tried mimicking it by shifting my own mana slightly—
Bwooooooooom—!
A massive horn blast shook the entire castle.
At the same time, the heavy doors to the council room burst open as a soldier dashed in.
“Report! The enemy’s full assault has begun!”
The room’s air froze in an instant.
A grizzled general leaped to his feet and bellowed.
“To your battle stations! Move to your positions!”
With the command, every commander in the room sprang into synchronized action.
Gripping their swords, they bolted toward their respective units.
Even the court mage shot me one last glare before clutching his staff and exiting.
The council room emptied in seconds.
“Uh? Where do I go?”
***
I left the council room late and headed for the walls.
Soldiers rushed to their posts in a frenzy.
Amid the bustle, I spotted one man’s back.
The court mage, Gerald.
I quietly followed him.
“Gotta see what kind of magic he uses up close.”
Gerald headed to the highest point on the walls.
A vantage overlooking the entire battlefield.
As I drew near, a faint glow emanated from his personal banner mounted on a nearby turret.
“The kingdom’s hero, chief mage, and court mage, Gerald Arkan, has arrived—!”
“Damn. Should’ve brought my own banner.”
I grumbled.
Too embarrassing to carry around.
Guess that’s the norm in this world?
If I’d paraded around with a banner blaring ‘That Long Thing’ fanfare, maybe I wouldn’t get dismissed.
Gerald heard the banner’s announcement and asked without turning.
“...Why are you here?”
“Felt the strongest mana from this spot?”
“Hmph. At least you’ve got an eye for it.”
I sidled up naturally beside Gerald.
He snorted at my brazen reply.
“Fine, little one. Since you seem to have some talent, I’ll let you watch my magic up close—as a special treat.”
“Thank you?”
“Watch and learn. See what a true mage is capable of...”
Gerald began chanting again.
I stood beside him, intently observing his mana flow.
“Fireball.”
With the incantation, a fireball launched from his staff’s tip.
It crashed into the midst of the orc horde and detonated.
The directly hit orcs screamed as they turned to ash.
A pretty powerful spell.
Gerald turned to me smugly.
“How’s that?”
“Impressive.”
“Heh, getting it now? How ridiculous it is for a greenhorn like you to be called a sage?”
Honestly, I was impressed.
Never seen other mages, but this firepower would breeze past A-rank, no problem.
His mana pool was way smaller than mine, but the efficiency was beyond my expectations.
His magic truly differed from anything I knew.
“There are times when people get called geniuses. Especially kids—the younger, the worse. But it’s all delusion. If you want to become a true mage, don’t get drunk on arrogance...”
I tuned out his lecture.
That intricate mana flow.
No way he invented it solo.
It was a discipline refined over ages by countless mages.
“Are you even listening to me?”
I recalled the mana flow I’d seen in the council room—and just now as he cast.
Like precisely organized channels.
I decided to imitate it.
I opened the floodgates of my body’s massive mana reservoir.
Forcing the torrent to twist, carving a new path.
Wuuuuuum—!
Even before casting, the air around me grew heavy and trembled.
Gerald, standing beside me, whipped around in horror.
The arrogance from moments ago was gone from his face.
Like he’d seen a demon.
“W-what is this... Impossible...!”
I heard Gerald yelling something at me.
Ignored him. I focused solely on the mana surging within me.
It was overwhelming enough.
“Harder than it looks...”
Some of the leaking mana seeped into the wall beneath my feet.
Ruuuuumble—
A section of the sturdy wall crumbled into fine sand and poured away.
“Gah!”
“The wall’s collapsing!”
Nearby soldiers scattered in panic.
Gerald screamed and toppled backward.
In seconds, a chunk of the wall caved in.
I barely kept my balance atop the half-collapsed section.
“But I’ve got the hang of it.”
Once I found the path, the rest was easy.
It happened in a flash.
Atop the crumbling wall, I finally perfected the new mana flow.
“My body feels lighter.”
An indescribable sense of liberation washed over me.
Breathing, moving—everything felt effortless.
I stood at the wall’s edge and extended my hand toward the advancing orcs.
“Desertification.”
Sand began flowing from beneath my feet.
A world of difference from before.
Control was far easier.
The sand poured from the walls like a cascade, engulfing the battlefield.
A massive sand pit formed below in moments.
“Kiik?”
The orcs were startled by the sudden terrain shift, but only briefly.
Realizing it was just slippery footing, they resumed charging the walls.
I watched them and smiled coldly.
Then I commanded the sandworm that had slipped from my finger unnoticed.
“Begin.”
Right then.
The entire desert stirred to life.
The sand beneath their feet swirled like a vortex.
Like a sink drain, it sucked everything toward the center.
“Grraaaaaah!”
The orcs thrashed desperately to escape.
A few at the edges managed to pull free.
But the pit deepened toward the center.
Orcs sunk to their waists couldn’t fight the current.
They screamed helplessly as the whirlpool dragged them in.
At the heart waited the sandworm, jaws agape.
It devoured everything sucked toward it—orks, goblins, even their weapons and siege engines.
Hundreds of greenskins were shredded in the giant blender, vanishing without a trace.
I gazed at the overwhelming spectacle with satisfaction.
Time to name this new technique.
“Sand Hell.”
Perfect fit.
Less than a few minutes later, the first wave of greenskins charging the walls was annihilated.
Silence blanketed the battlefield.
The soldiers on the walls—and Gerald beside me, who’d witnessed it all—stood dumbfounded, mouths agape.
Casually, I gestured at the wall section I’d just crumbled.
The scattered sand obeyed, reforming into solid rock and perfectly restoring the wall.
Sturdier than before.
I dusted off my hands and walked back inside the castle, leaving the frozen court mage and soldiers behind.
As long as I was here, this fortress wouldn’t fall.