Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Pulsating Heart
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thud-thud-!
A massive heart writhing before his eyes, its myriad colors swirling chaotically.
Jeon stared at it, momentarily at a loss for words.
The overwhelming presence emanating from the heart, combined with the waves pulsing out with every beat, sent chills rippling across his skin.
'This is... the enemy's... no, anger?'
Each wave carried an emotion. It felt like murderous intent toward its foes, or hatred and rage toward everything. One thing was clear: it was far from benevolent.
"What... what is this thing?"
Jeon turned to Mirna, who had brought him here.
"This is the training ground."
"Training ground...?"
For a training spot, the emotions radiating from it were far too vicious.
Sensing Jeon's doubt, Mirna continued.
"It wasn't originally meant to be one. It just turned out that way by chance."
"How do you train in a place like..."
"Hehe, this place was originally a ruin."
"A ruin?"
"That's right, a ruin. We discovered this ruin, and at its end, we found this heart. That's when we settled here and built the village."
If the ruin stretched from the mountaintop down to this depth, it was the largest Jeon had ever seen.
"We successfully explored and conquered the ruin, but this heart it was guarding... we couldn't do a thing with it."
As she spoke, Mirna picked up a nearby stone.
Then hurled it straight at the heart.
'Suddenly?'
Before Jeon could voice his surprise, the stone flew.
He followed its path with his eyes.
Until it neared the heart.
Crack!
It turned to powder mid-air, scattering everywhere.
"As you see, normal approaches are impossible."
No warning—just contact alone pulverized the stone.
In other words, a human body would be child's play to disintegrate.
"So... what kind of training do you do here?"
This question arose after Mirna's explanation and witnessing the stone's fate.
If access was impossible, what training could possibly happen here? Did they just spam spells at it from afar?
"The force that turns things to powder on contact is some kind of barrier around the heart. In short, that's its domain."
With that, Mirna closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.
Mana flowed from her body, encroaching on the surrounding space.
'Mana field?'
Her silvery-white mana spread like silver paint dropped into a white canvas.
It extended toward the heart but halted abruptly at its edge.
"And it works even against mana fields. Normally, you can't push further, but..."
She adjusted the intensity of her mana output.
'Ugh.'
Even Jeon flinched at the dense, potent mana surging forth, pressing the heart from all sides.
Thud-thud-thud!
The heart's beats grew violent, its surrounding energies intensifying.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
Mirna's mana clashed with the heart's ramped-up aura and pulses in a fierce standoff.
As one side strengthened, so did the other, maintaining perfect equilibrium.
Then, suddenly, Mirna withdrew her mana.
The heart, which had accelerated to counter, gradually calmed.
"Hoo, it's the perfect opponent for honing mana field dominance."
Even a 7th Circle archmage at full power couldn't breach it.
This underscored the barrier's immense strength.
"So you train your mana field here?"
"Hehe, more precisely, that's how it turned out."
"What do you mean?"
"I said earlier—no one's tamed that power."
That meant countless skilled mages had tried piercing the heart's barrier, but all failed.
In the process of challenging it, their mana field proficiency naturally rose.
Eventually, training the field became the main goal over breaching it.
"But... why bring me here? I can't even use a mana field yet."
This only deepened Jeon's curiosity.
To counter that power required a mana field.
Especially for training.
But Jeon couldn't deploy one. He'd just reached 4th Circle—not enough for that.
"Truthfully, you don't need a mana field to oppose it. We mages do because that's our way."
"Spells alone won't work?"
"We've tried countless spells, but none succeeded. Without sustained pressure like a mana field, it dismantles all magic."
Even 7th Circle spells had failed.
This raised even more questions.
"Then the real reason you brought me here..."
Jeon voiced his doubt again, and Mirna smiled warmly.
"There's a reason. You have rune magic, don't you?"
"You think rune magic is the breakthrough?"
"What does the power surrounding that heart feel like to you?"
"Hmm..."
Jeon gazed at the still-throbbing heart spewing negative emotions.
Its potent presence, the waves of malice.
And the power composing it...
"Similar to mana, but... somehow different?"
"Yes, exactly. It's not mana. It might have started as mana, but over eons, it mutated—or twisted for some other reason."
Mirna nodded in agreement.
"That's why I believe this heart was created by ancient rune magic."
"Rune magic?"
"Perhaps an artifact or seal made with ancient runes, mingled with non-mana energies over time, becoming what it is."
Mirna's words reminded Jeon of a past experience.
'The Archmage's Seal.'
The first ruin he'd explored.
The seal holding the archmage had weakened and corrupted over ages.
Infused with the soul harboring negativity for millennia.
If similar, the ceaseless malice made sense.
"But to confirm if it's rune magic, we'd need to pierce that strange power..."
"Don't you have the perfect spell to counter it?"
The perfect spell against such power.
Jeon recalled his arsenal.
One stood out as most viable.
"You mean... the Guardian rune magic?"
"Yes. Guardian isn't mere defense."
Her long study of runes showed; she knew its power despite not wielding it.
'Makes sense—Merimoo used the Guardian Silver Fox in legends.'
Indeed, Guardian didn't just block—it nullified contact forces outright.
No clash like mana fields; it evaporated power instantly.
Far more effective against that unique barrier, perhaps.
"So you believe I can breach it, thanks to Merimoo's magic."
"Hehe, exactly. You wield her magic."
At her words, Jeon carefully summoned Silver from his bosom.
-Kyaaang!
The finger-joint-sized Silver gazed at Jeon, letting out a pleased cry.
"So that's the silver fox born from the Guardian rune."
"Ah, yes. You've never seen the real thing, right?"
Come to think of it, Mirna had only sensed its aura before.
This was her first sight.
Her elderly eyes sparkled with girlish curiosity.
"We should test it first."
Ignoring her gaze, Jeon infused Silver with mana.
Silver instantly grew to adult fox size, landing on four paws before him.
"Let's give it a light try, Silver."
-Kyaaang!
Tat!
At Jeon's command, Silver charged the heart.
The moment it collided with the intangible barrier...
-Kyaaang?
Silver cried in confusion, shrinking back to finger size.
But Silver wasn't the only change.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-thud-!
The heart, merely bumped, sensed danger and beat frantically.
"It definitely works."
"Yeah... I didn't expect this much effect..."
Silver's clash consumed much of its mana, shrinking it.
But the barrier lost far more—vaporized instantly.
A brief gap even formed.
Sensing crisis, the heart raced to replenish it.
'But... what's inside that heart to make it guard so fiercely?'
Silver's efficacy was proven.
Like a living creature, it accelerated, and its waves now mixed urgency and peril with malice.
Jeon couldn't help but feel curious.
"This time, full power."
He poured all his mana into Silver, drawing even from the mana stone.
Boosted by 4th Circle gains.
Silver, from finger-sized, rapidly expanded—beyond adult fox proportions.
"...Impressive."
Even Mirna watching from behind marveled at the mana influx.
And the result...
-It's been ages since you made me this big?
"Yeah."
Not overexerting to nosebleed levels, but maxed out—Silver rivaled three or four grown men lumped together.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Sensing its arrival, the heart beat faster than ever, desperately fortifying its aura.
"Go for it."
-Got it.
The enormous Silver launched toward the heart.