Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: The Mysterious Ability
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'How did it end up like this?'
Blood streamed from his torn mouth.
It was an unbelievable situation, but the throbbing pain still echoing in his head made it clear this was reality.
'Why... my ability?'
The short man, Walter, stared with trembling eyes at the one gripping his collar.
The man was taller than Walter but looked much younger.
Yet, unlike his youthful appearance, the grip on his collar carried tremendous strength.
"Answer me."
Those words demanding a response slipped from his mouth once more.
Walter's body shook violently in this unprecedented situation, but he barely managed to open his mouth.
"I-I'm... W-Walter."
"That's your name?"
"Y-Yes..."
Walter trembled as he answered.
Jeon, watching him, lightly furrowed his brow.
'What the hell is this guy doing?'
Where had that confident attitude from before gone?
Shaking like a leaf after just one slap, cowering like this.
The difference before and after was so vast it could pass for two different people.
"So, what did you do to the prince?"
Even so, Jeon had no intention of going easy or stopping the interrogation.
"Th-That is..."
Walter trailed off in response to Jeon's question, his eyes darting around.
It looked like he didn't know how to respond, so Jeon decided to offer a little help.
"Still slow on the answer, huh?"
Grrrrrind!
He channeled mana through the hand gripping the collar, twisting the man's muscles.
"Gaaahhh!?"
Walter, who had been hesitating, screamed in agony as his mouth flew open.
"I'll ask again. What did you do to the prince?"
"Br-Brainwashing! I brainwashed him!"
"Brainwashing? How?"
"With m-my ability!"
Spilling it out so easily after this much pain?
As Jeon's furrowed brow deepened at how readily he confessed...
"...Silver."
-Kyaaang!
Silver, nestled in Jeon's arms, leaped toward his back.
Fwaaah!
Silver spat out a burst of silver light from behind.
After the light flashed and faded, there stood Lucius, sword drawn, poised to strike Jeon.
But his perfect ambush had been blocked by Silver.
"Y-You bastard! How did you know!?"
"Well."
His senses had been enhanced by the Reinforcement rune, so Jeon sensed Lucius's movement without even looking back.
"But you're a good actor, aren't you?"
It was only thanks to his enhanced senses that he noticed.
Walter's acting skills were no joke.
Anyone unaware would have fallen for his feigned ignorance and fear completely.
"You scum!"
But the man didn't give up there.
He swiftly drew a dagger from his pocket and slashed at Jeon's hand gripping his collar.
-Kyaaang!
Yet even this sneak attack was futile, blocked by Silver.
"You sly fox...!"
Upon closer inspection, a dark red liquid dripped from the dagger's blade—it seemed coated with poison.
"More cunning than I thought."
With that, Jeon channeled mana again, twisting the man's muscles with all his might.
"Guhk!"
He truly had no training in mana or aura, so the onslaught of pain made him grit his teeth.
"Good, hold on tight."
Jeon slapped Walter across the face once more.
Slaaap!
Thanks to his clenched teeth, no teeth shattered this time, but the blood flowing from his mouth doubled.
"Cough... You think... hff... I'll talk?"
Yet the man glared at Jeon with undiminished malice.
Once again, Lucius charged at Jeon.
-Kyaaang!
But all of Lucius's attacks were blocked by Silver.
"Still not giving up?"
"I'll die before I give you what you want."
His venomous glare was no act; even in this desperate situation, his spirit didn't break easily.
Meanwhile, a purple glow began seeping from Walter's eyes again.
He knew it wasn't working but seemed intent on thrashing with everything he had.
"Tough one, huh."
He definitely wasn't ordinary.
That's why Jeon wanted to hear more from him.
'Hmm.'
Jeon scanned the man emitting purple light from his eyes.
Short stature, frail build.
But his face brimmed with malice—like one of those short guys packed with grit.
"Perfect timing. Let's see how long you last."
Matching the purple glow, Jeon drew up his mana.
Recently, Jeon had advanced to 4th Circle.
His mana capacity had exploded, and his understanding and control improved, vastly boosting his ability to manipulate and apply it.
'That's why I wanted to try this.'
Practicing on someone with mana or a living being raised ethical issues.
But this trash who tried to kill him and brainwashed the prince? No such concerns.
"Reinforcement, Will, Compression."
Seeing a perfect chance to test it properly, Jeon cast three Rune Magic spells without hesitation.
First, Reinforcement—not on himself, but enhancing the Will rune magic.
Then, using the enhanced Will rune to cast Compression.
This allowed ultra-precise Compression on Walter.
"Hm?"
Walter felt nothing at first.
Just a faint pressure, like his body shrinking slightly.
But soon, a horrific pain enveloped him, as if his muscles were being crushed by giant hands.
"Gaaaaahhh!?"
He'd endured muscle-twisting mana pain by gritting his teeth, but this cramping, squeezing agony was unbearable.
"Gaaah! Wh-What... guuuhhh! Are you... aaaarghhh!"
A pain unlike any he'd felt before.
Like his entire body gripped and crushed in a giant's fist.
'I've never... felt anything like...!'
Walter prided himself on his extraordinary life.
Beaten, stabbed, tortured endlessly.
From that, he'd honed acting to lure carelessness and unbreakable malice.
But none of it helped now.
'What the hell is this guy?'
Amid the pain, his only thought was where this monster came from.
He'd only summoned a useful talent.
'He drank the tea and resisted my brainwashing!'
His ability plus tea to weaken the mind could brainwash even a graduate like Lucius perfectly.
Resisting it meant archmage level at least.
"Guuuuhhh... grrrgh!"
His mind held on somehow.
But his body was reaching its limit, foaming at the mouth now.
"Oops."
Jeon stopped the spell.
Walter felt the pressure lift and barely clung to the sofa backrest to avoid collapsing.
"Lucky you didn't pass out."
"Hahk! Hahk! Hahk!"
Exhausted from writhing, Walter could only glare fiercely, too breathless to reply.
'Impressive.'
That alone was remarkable.
Walter had some weird ability, but physically, he was just a normal guy.
Enduring that proved his mental fortitude was exceptional.
Jeon inwardly rated Walter's grit highly.
Walter, too, inwardly elevated Jeon sky-high.
'Is he... really an archmage?'
If not for the boyish face, he'd have assumed archmage long ago.
Resisted his power effortlessly, blocked Lucius casually, inflicted unknown agony.
Jeon suddenly felt much bigger.
"...Huh?"
No, it wasn't just a feeling.
His viewpoint had literally shifted; moments ago, a glance up sufficed, now he had to crane his neck.
"Wh-Wha-What?"
Finally sensing the change, Walter looked down at himself.
The ground was noticeably closer.
"It worked."
Walter's height had shrunk by about 10cm.
At 4th Circle with Reinforcement, Compression could now compress a person's entire frame.
Even Jeon had been unsure, but he looked smug eyeing Walter.
"H-How... H-How...?"
His height had shrunk.
Unbelievable reality left him repeating himself like a madman.
His unbreakable will, surviving all prior pain, finally shattered at this impossibility.
"With magic, obviously."
"M-M-Magic like... this exists?"
"Why else would I do it?"
"Heh... heh heh... heh heh heh..."
Walter, hearing Jeon's explanation, stared blankly into space, laughing insanely as despair replaced malice.
But Jeon wouldn't let him break completely.
"Tell me your ability, and I might restore you."
"...What?"
The bait worked; half-mad Walter bit instantly.
Confirming it, Jeon dangled more.
"Who knows? Give a satisfying answer, and I might revert you."
"F-For real?"
"Depends on your answer, right?"
Gulp.
Walter swallowed hard, hooked.
'I shrank him, so reverting should be possible too.'
Height was Walter's deepest complex and stress.
Malnourished and beaten through growth, cursed as a kid.
He believed proper nutrition would have made him normal, less twisted.
'Not my height... anything but that.'
To him, height was more precious than life.
At this point, nothing left to lose.
His once-iron will crumbled like glass.
"My ability... is Mystery."
"Mystery?"
Walter decided to come clean.
"A blessing and curse I've had since birth. It activates unconsciously, embedding itself in my mind without me knowing."
"Uh... that sounds exactly like...?"
Walter's story was just beginning.
But Jeon's expression twisted oddly from the start.
Because Walter's description matched his Korean Patch ability perfectly.