Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Ch. 65 .｡.:✧ Chapter 65 ✧:.｡.
—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
At first, it seemed like earth spirits would be created there, just as I had thought.
“I think we can judge that they’ve given up with this much.”
Kayla’s opinion was added.
“…Well, there are already monsters around who have noticed our existence, so we can’t hesitate any longer.”
Just as we scouted the surroundings and recreated the map, the monsters that had been using this area as a food storage noticed us who had taken control of it.
Therefore, I was thinking that we needed to set up proper defenses soon.
‘Because I hate troublesome things.’
According to the inspection, the monsters around were several goblin tribes, two medium-sized orc tribes, a troll tribe that had settled in the place where a village used to be, and bugbears that had settled a bit further inside.
The area that was once human territory had become the territory of monsters due to the monster wave.
The Giant Ants that tried to settle here this time were dealt with, and the Giant Mantises were at a level where they were out of our sphere of influence, so we didn’t pay attention to them.
‘Especially one of the medium-sized orc tribes may be a branch of a large orc tribe.’
It’s a rare case.
Even after becoming independent from the group, they maintain a connection with the original tribe.
If there is friction with the branch, there may be friction with the main tribe as well.
‘Although a grudge relationship is a bit weaker than directly fighting, orcs don’t let go of grudges unless something drastic happens.’
So we need to prepare in advance before it becomes troublesome.
The opinions of the three, who could be considered the top authorities of the underground dungeon, were combined, so we decided to create the land of the undead.
I spoke to Talos.
“The vigilance ends here. Access to the surface is prohibited for the time being.”
“I will convey that.”
I’m going to create a land of the undead.
During the process of creation, even if not after it’s completed, a tremendous amount of magic will be scattered, which could have a negative impact on humans.
Therefore, I prohibited access to the surface for everyone except me, Kayla, and Athena.
‘It won’t matter after it’s completed since I’ll suppress it.’
Anyway, Athena and Kayla will be doing the hunting.
It will be very troublesome for the two of them to do it alone without the help of others for a while, but it couldn’t be helped.
Fortunately, the two understood.
“Safety comes first.”
“I wanted to let you focus only on training, so I feel a bit sorry.”
“It’s alright. As Athena said, safety is more important. And occasionally, moving outside like this is also helpful.”
Since they had focused only on training until we started exploring, the two said it was okay.
Mutre was a bit disappointed.
“It would be a waste if we had materials from the surface to furnish the underground dungeon a bit more richly.”
I could solve that for him.
I called Baldur.
“Yes, Master. Did you call for me?”
“I told you to call me Inha too.”
Except for Baldur, most of the residents of the underground dungeon who were former slaves called me by my real name.
A very small number of them call me ‘Magician’, but most call me by my real name.
Of course, the only one who called me by my name alone was Athena, while the other residents added an honorific suffix.
Only Kayla and Baldur called me ‘Master’.
“This is more comfortable.”
It was a stubbornness that reminded me of the village chief of Evergreen Forest Village.
He’s probably a corpse now.
I shook my head and said,
“Mutre said he covets materials from the surface. You’re a mana user, so you’ll be less affected by magic. Periodically go to the surface and bring him the necessary items.”
After simply solving Mutre’s concern, I stopped most of my research and started living on the surface.
Fortunately, there was no inconvenience in living thanks to Kuman’s camping artifact.
Kayla said she would guard by my side, but I refused.
“Even for you, prolonged exposure to magic can have an effect.”
Kayla backed down at my words.
I created a boundary so that magic couldn’t escape over a wide area and continuously released magic inside it.
It would affect some parts of the underground as well, but it wouldn’t have any impact on my dungeon, which was quite deep.
The scattered souls became thicker again under the influence of magic.
Magic seeped into the corpses of humans and monsters, and at night, the screams of the souls were faintly heard.
I dispersed the souls trying to become earth spirits and steadily increased the density of magic so that it could permeate the entire ground.
Thanks to that, my staff also had a field day.
It was clearly visible that it was absorbing the surrounding magic, so the creation of the land of the undead was slightly delayed, but I didn’t stop it.
‘Everyone seems to be avoiding it due to the ominousness of magic and souls.’
I thought they might go crazy and rush in, but it was a groundless fear.
Ten days, half a month, a month.
As expected, a long time was needed, and when the land contained magic above a certain level, I started arranging the magic over time.
Just pouring magic doesn’t complete the land of the undead.
This was also clearly a part of black magic, so preparation was necessary.
‘I thought about engraving a magic circle, but…’
Using a magic circle as a kind of aid, I could have completed the land of the undead more easily, but as the staff had become quite strong, it seemed there was no need to do that.
I arranged the magic with meticulous detail that would be hard to imagine normally.
‘With the feeling of constructing a position.’
It was the first defense zone of the dungeon, which normally looked like ordinary land but revealed its true colors the moment an unauthorized person invaded and harmed the dungeon.
As I chanted the word that was both the official name and the activation word of the magic, the magic in the area began to fluctuate.
The staff strongly amplified the magic, and the magic in the area reacted to my spell, executing a magic of unprecedented scale.
It wasn’t the level of magic that would be moved by a mere 3rd-class spell.
However, with variables such as the long preparation period, the level of completion that was unbelievable for a 3rd-class, and negative emotions such as resentment and fear permeating the land, a tremendous amount of magic reacted, and as a result…
Rumble rumble rumble.
Clatter, clatter.
Groan…
-Hehehe.
The ground shook slightly as if an earthquake had occurred.
Of course, it wasn’t an earthquake.
It just felt that way reflexively as countless corpses started moving at the same time.
“Wh-what is this!”
Athena and Kayla, who happened to be returning from hunting, were startled by the sight of the undead slowly and endlessly rising.
And seeing the undead paying homage to me, they shut their mouths.
“How many are there? It seems to be over a hundred…”
Athena spoke, unable to hide her perplexed expression.
“Some will collapse soon. The ones that will move permanently while tied to the land are a little over a hundred.”
Unfortunately, that was due to my lack of skill.
Honestly, according to my initial estimate, I thought it wouldn’t even reach a hundred, but as the staff partially recovered its power in the middle, I was able to tie more undead to the land than expected.
‘Most of them are skeletons or zombies, which is a bit disappointing.’
Still, I think I achieved the best result at my current level, as some skeleton warriors and archers were included.
“Hmm? That’s…”
I looked at one side with a slightly surprised expression.
‘A specter?’
At my current level, I couldn’t create a specter.
But a specter was clearly completed, and it was even attributed to the land of death.
‘…The grudge… was no joke.’
I had a hunch that if an earth spirit had been created, it would have been incredibly powerful.
“…It succeeded.”
I think I really achieved the best result with this much.
If my level had been higher, I would have engraved a magic circle and used the spell.
But if I had done that, my body wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
Honestly, even now, I was almost exhausted.
‘I’m tired.’
It was a spell I prepared for a whole month.
Even for me, I needed rest.
Kayla, who noticed my condition, opened her mouth.
“…You look tired.”
“Yeah, I’m tired. It’s a spell I prepared for a month. My body was barely holding up too.”
Still, the result was truly the best of the best, so my feeling of fatigue was lessened.
“…It’s really amazing. So this is what warlocks are capable of.”
In the meantime, Athena was busy examining the undead around.
“With this much, even I wouldn’t be able to infiltrate the dungeon?”
“I think it would be difficult for me to do it secretly as well.”
“But Kayla could eventually break through, right? And as I said, most of them here will disappear soon.”
The land of death could be used not only for constructing defense positions like this but also on battlefields.
If I spit out all the magic I have, it raises all the corpses in the area within the limits of my magic, which could be considered a higher version of Animate Dead.
‘It’s a 4th-class spell, but to use it properly, you need to be at least 5th-class.’
Of course, I also succeeded due to a lot of preparation and a high level, but originally, a 3rd-class warlock could never use it.
No, they shouldn’t use it.
They would have to risk their lives, and even if they succeeded, the result would be poor.
‘In fact, normally, it should create mostly warriors, mages, and draugr, not just skeletons or zombies.’
The reason I was surprised that a specter came out was because of my lack of skill, but in fact, it wasn’t that surprising that it came out.
With this much preparation, at the 5th-class level, and with such perfect success, that’s how it should be.
However, the result was that a little over a hundred undead were attributed to the land, and honestly, even this much was already good, so there was no disappointment.
‘And my vessel has also grown a bit.’
I was smoothly progressing towards the 4th circle.
“Teacher, you said you could break through this?”
“That’s right. It would be possible even including the ones that haven’t disappeared now.”
By the way, this isn’t because my magic is weak, but because Kayla is strong.
Even while I was preparing the magic for a month, she didn’t neglect her training and occasionally reported her progress to me.
Based on my estimation, she seemed to have reached a level where she could be confidently called advanced, and considering her leg and mana heart, she was stronger than even those of the same rank.
‘She herself says her swordsmanship is still lacking.’
She said she felt technically lacking.
However, that was only because she was focusing on getting used to her current body and drawing out more potential.
Kayla, who was once a knight, wouldn’t be told that her swordsmanship is lacking anywhere.
“…Phew, there’s still no end in sight for you, Teacher.”
“You’re doing well. Don’t be impatient. You’re sufficiently excellent. To be honest, you can even be called a genius. Seeing you makes me not want to rest.”
“…A genius? Me? Are you kidding? I couldn’t even touch the hem of your clothes yesterday?”
“That’s too arrogant. You’ve only learned from me for about a year, and you want to touch the hem of my clothes?”
Athena was at a loss for words at Kayla’s confident words.
‘Nice.’
Because they saw each other’s growth every day, they kept putting in effort without any carelessness.
As a result, their growth never stopped, so I couldn’t help but like it.
“…Ugh, Baldur is easy though…”
“…Don’t say that. Baldur is talented enough.”
“Yesterday, he couldn’t even endure 100 rounds? The gap is widening as time goes on. Shouldn’t he also focus on his own training instead of teaching others?”
“…You’re just too fast.”
At this rate, I think the day when Athena will confidently receive the spirit medicine from me is not far off.
According to Kayla, Athena is even more talented than herself.
It’s just that she herself had been training since childhood, and thanks to me, she obtained body restructuring, a mana heart, and a leg beyond human level, so she was growing faster than Athena, but if Athena took the spirit medicine, she would gradually catch up.
‘Especially if she gains a mana heart like herself, she said she would grow explosively?’
That’s why she’s been opposed to giving Athena the spirit medicine until now.
It was never out of jealousy.
She was already growing fast enough, she might not be able to handle it if done incorrectly, and if possible, she wanted to make sure Athena gained a mana heart.
As a teacher, she was purely hoping for Athena’s growth.
‘Honestly, in my opinion, Kayla is a genius too.’
Kayla was casually instructing Athena, whom she called a genius, and unlike Athena, who was receiving guidance from her, Kayla herself was pioneering her own path.
Even if there was external help, it was true that she was digesting everything herself, and even if Athena gained a mana heart and grew explosively, she said she would ‘gradually’ catch up.
Athena’s current growth rate was already insane, but even while growing explosively, if she was only catching up gradually…
‘It makes me realize once again how much I lacked talent as a warrior.’
Of course, I wasn’t jealous or anything.
If I had been a warrior or an ordinary person with no talent, I might have been, but I had an overflowing level of talent in black magic, and honestly, as time passed, I thought I would surpass the two without difficulty.
Moreover, the two were my people, so there was no reason to be jealous at all.
‘Rather, I feel proud.’
“…But you said this would disappear soon, but it’s not disappearing?”
Athena shattered my emotions in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇