The Fourth-Tier Trial (2)

The Fourth-Tier Trial: Combat Reenactment.

The moment Hanseong understood what the name meant, he looked at the Vampire Tree in silence. The bewilderment lasted only a breath. Calm returned to him almost at once.

Nothing's really changed.

The trial had simply moved from a white void to a landscape lifted out of memory. Aside from that, it was nearly identical to the trials he had faced before—the objective, and the substance of it too.

No. This is better.

He was in a stronger position than he had been for the third-tier trial. Back then he had never managed to open more than a hundred meters between himself and the Collector, and so, mage or not, he had been forced into a close fight. This was different. The battlefield had been rebuilt from a memory of the past, and perhaps because of that the distance to the Vampire Tree was the same as it had been then: about a kilometer. A perfect range for raising a base and preparing his magic.

"All right. Let's begin."

He called the memory of that death struggle back to mind, then quietly focused. Broken windows, wallpaper burned black, a floor soaked in blood—the scenery around him gathered like puzzle pieces into a single image. The instant the formula was complete, he spoke.

"Create Base."

Mana poured in, and the magic took form. A faint light washed over a radius of ten meters around him. His basic base, the Mage's Domain, had unfolded.

The moment the spell activated, the Vampire Tree grasped what was happening and moved. With a crack and a groan of wood, thousands of buds clustered along its gaunt branches finished blooming all at once, then left the limbs and shot high into the sky. Servants of the Vampire Tree—Man-Eating Flowers. They came drifting toward the base like dandelion seeds on the wind. Hanseong had no intention of standing there and watching.

"Maze Trap."

A thick fog hissed out around the base, magic that laid the status ailment Hallucination on every enemy that entered it. Blue light then wrapped his body: Mana Shield, a spell that spent mana to absorb the damage he took. With his defenses in place, Hanseong's eyes gleamed.

Next...

It was time to put into practice the experiment he had attempted over and over in the training hall before challenging the trial. He steadied his breath and pictured empty air splitting in two, then his own hand reaching into the gap. His closed lips moved.

"Inventory. Release."

The air split open. Inventory had activated properly. It worked. Grinning, Hanseong drew out the potions stored inside.

And one more.

He also pulled free the escort he had stored before entering the tower: a figure in a leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet. The replica, Living Armor-Phantom. Phantom set itself in front of him as if to stand guard, and Hanseong smiled, reassured.

Just as I thought.

Unlike the Collector or the Vampire Tree, Phantom was not classified as a living creature, which was why it could be stored and released through Inventory out here. He had used the same method when he moved the Phantom in Daejeon to Cheonan. With an escort at his side, he returned to the work feeling considerably more at ease.

"World Map."

Magic that converted the surrounding terrain into data, absorbed it, and rendered it as a map. Once it was finished, he could make proper use of the Remote Support Blessing. It had a fatal drawback—the mana cost was enormous—but there was nothing to worry about. He had taken the mana-recovery potions out in advance for exactly this.

I don't need to light the whole map anyway.

The Vampire Tree was roughly a kilometer away. He only had to map that much and stop. Drinking potions as he worked, he finished the map in about two minutes.

Good. With this...

Every preparation for the fight was done. With a satisfied smile, Hanseong unfolded the World Map at once. What came into view were thousands of red dots seething around the base: Man-Eating Flowers, wandering lost inside the Maze Trap. Packed into a single dense mass. He smiled, cold.

"Couldn't have asked for better."

He had a spell made for a situation just like this. He built the formula in a flash and reached toward the heart of the flowers, and flame roared up. A tiny ember appeared in empty air, became fire, and reduced one Man-Eating Flower to ash. Taking that as its signal, the furious blaze began to spread past all control. Under that overwhelming firepower the flowers turned to cinders within moments.

Amid the chaos, an enemy slipped in close.

Already this far?

A square red dot. The Vampire Tree. As if it had seen through the Maze Trap, it climbed the outer wall of the building opposite, rising as though it meant to come in through the air. A rush of wind, then the crash of glass—Hanseong's guess was dead on. Reaching the roof, it hurled itself into the empty air without hesitation, smashed through a window, and entered the base. Having closed the distance in an instant, the Vampire Tree split into nine, each one so identical that it was impossible to tell the copies from the true body.

Hanseong let out a short laugh.

I had a hell of a time with this back then.

Detection had been his only scouting skill, and it had been on cooldown. He had nearly died more than once before barely clawing out a victory. Now was different.

"Detection."

The moment the Vampire Tree divided, he reflexively began constructing Detection's formula and cast it just before the assault began. The root at the far right wrapped itself in a particularly bright light. The true body. Hanseong activated Mark and marked it.

Was it because its true body had been singled out? The Vampire Tree unleashed everything it had. Pointed roots stabbed out as if to run him through, the net closing in from every side so he would not even have room to dodge. Hanseong did not dodge. A grating screech, then a clang of impact—Phantom was at his side, and Mana Shield was still active. He could prepare the next spell without a flinch, and without taking so much as a scratch.

"Enchant Fire."

Magic that granted the fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attribute to every spell he cast. He fixed his gaze on the Vampire Tree as it kept trading blows with Phantom, pinpointed the space at its back, and cast again.

"Decoy Dummy."

The moment a steel doll resembling V appeared, all nine roots twisted toward it. In that opening Hanseong moved and naturally widened the gap, casting in succession.

"Magic Field."

A domain of light spread with the Vampire Tree at its center, amplifying the magic damage taken by every enemy inside it. Realizing too late that it had walked into a trap, the thing savaged the Decoy Dummy like something mad. It was already too late.

"Call Lightning."

Thunder rolled, and the sky broke open. Lightning crashed down the instant the spell activated. One bolt, two, five, more than ten hammered the Vampire Tree without pause, and Enchant Fire followed them with chain explosions.

Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so...

It was tougher than he had expected. More than twenty bolts, and it still showed no sign of falling. It had not been this sturdy back then.

Doesn't matter.

He had mana potions to spare. He would simply keep casting until the thing died, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and let whatever came after take care of itself. Around the time the barrage he had committed to passed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the fortieth bolt, the Vampire Tree's form collapsed in a dry crackle and a hiss of ash. He cut the lightning at once. Where it had stood, only black scorch remained.

He was still staring at the sight when the notification appeared.

He had cleared the trial, and overwhelmingly so.

Right after the clear, the battlefield of memory faded like a mirage in a desert. What came into view was V, lying on the floor and scratching his belly. Noticing Hanseong a beat late, the little creature's buttonhole eyes went round.

"Huh? Why are you out already, it is?"

V cocked his head. He glanced at the great hourglass beside him, then spoke as if none of it made sense.

"This trial is pretty hard, but not the sort of thing you walk out of in ten minutes or so, it is? Uh...?"

Still muttering his doubts, he flinched, as if he had found something wrong. Hanseong had noticed it too. The sand heaped in the upper half of the hourglass—the sand that ought to have been falling—was not moving. Most likely, with the trial already cleared, there was no longer any reason to keep the time.

"D-don't tell me..."

Had V realized it as well? He spoke in a stammer.

"...You cleared the trial, it is?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm out."

Hanseong answered with a grin. V could not smile at all.

"Impossible, it is!"

He shouted it with his face gone stiff, as if he simply could not believe what he was seeing. Clutching his head, he hopped in place.

"This trial is to defeat the foe you struggled against the most, out of every strong enemy you've faced, it is! The level should have been set the same, so how...!"

That cleared up the question from earlier. No wonder it had not gone down after more than thirty bolts of lightning. If it was level 50, the same as him, that kind of endurance made perfect sense.

"How? By what means did you clear the trial this fast, it is! Did you cheat, it is! It makes no sense, it is!"

It made sense. He had been through a great deal since then. He had learned far more magic, and fighting monsters had grown familiar enough.

And besides...

The battle against the Ether Plunderer in the Dream World had helped most of all. Because of it, manifesting magic had become second nature. Practicing ahead of time in the training hall had helped a great deal as well. When he told V as much, the little thing stared at him as if he were looking at a monster.

"...You insane talent-bug bastard."

"What?"

"Hmph! It was nothing, it is. Anyway, you did clear the trial, so I'll properly acknowledge the result, it is!"

The notification appeared the moment V finished speaking. Then came the message he had been waiting for.

There was no reason to hesitate. Hanseong proceeded with the promotion.

Eighty slots of room. He would not have to worry about skill slots for a while. The skills he had learned so far had only just crept past twenty. He was thinking as much when a status window unfolded before his eyes on its own.

Carried-over experience, the same as last time. Far better than starting from nothing at all. Hanseong was quietly relieved. Then another familiar notification appeared.

High-Speed Meditation, the special effect of Meditation; Dimensional Isolation, the special effect of Magic Castle; and Warp Gate, the special effect of Temporary Base—each was strengthened by a set measure, the same as always. And the special effect of the unique skill he had gained upon reaching the fourth tier rose anew.

Counting the basic base and the temporary base as well, that meant he could keep four bases active. That was not the only change. The observable range—no exaggeration to call it the most important ability among all his special effects—had expanded sharply along with the promotion.

The observation range...

It was absurd. A radius of roughly three hundred kilometers. If he set a base in Chungju, all of South Korea, the islands aside, would fall inside what he could observe.

Then I won't need to move the base.

Unless something arose that required him to push into another country. As things stood, activating the basic base and a single additional base would put not only South Korea, but the whole of the Korean Peninsula, within his observable range. A satisfying result. Hanseong smiled without a word.

And with that, the conditions required to earn Rank Experience were updated.

At the fourth tier, using skills had earned Rank Experience, but from the fifth it seemed experience would accumulate only when he used true magic. A new element had been added as well: experience gained for subjugating monsters above a certain grade. The moment he read it, he frowned despite himself.

A champion is one percent...

And a boss-grade was thirty? Just how strong did that make them? The thought rose unbidden, and as it did, V toddled over and held out a thick book.

"Then take your reward, it is."

The reward for clearing the fourth-tier trial. A skill book. Hanseong took it and looked back at him.

"This a unique skill?"

"You know perfectly well, so why ask, it is."

V answered as if scolding him. Come to think of it, he had acquired a unique skill for clearing the first trial as well. The second had been a higher rune, the third the artifact known as the Magic Eye. Receiving a unique skill again on the fourth—did that mean those rewards would rotate in that order from now on?

"Just learn it already, it is."

V pressed him. Shaking free of the thought, Hanseong used the skill book at once. The unique skill, until then hidden behind a veil, revealed itself.

"...!?"

Hanseong's eyes went wide along with it. Moving Fortress? Did that mean he could get his hands on a base that moved? Expectation and curiosity mingled in his gaze as he opened the detailed effects of the Moving Fortress skill.