The Trial of Nistrond and the Naked Half-Elf
The Trial of Nistrond and the Naked Half-Elf
After we made our bet, Delia spent the entire meal taunting me. Cackling the whole time, she stoked my competitive fire with her signature trash talk.
"Ahahahaha! Why so serious? You're killing me here! There's no way in hell you're clearing this trial in a fortnight, not even if you died and came back to life! If you back out now, I might let you off with just a groveling apology!"
"I'm not backing out."
No matter how she tried to provoke me, my resolve was absolute. I would win this bet by any means necessary and wring a naked dogeza out of that half-elf. Just imagining Delia's humiliated expression as she performed a strip show a fortnight from now set me ablaze with motivation.
"Really? You mean it? No regrets? When I win, you're in for a world of hurt! I'll make you do a handstand in front of everyone! Naked!"
A handstand... naked?
Holy shit!
Just imagining it was humiliating, but far from trembling in fear, I was filled with nothing but the certainty that I couldn't lose.
There's an old saying.
What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!
I'll bring that Kanpeu bitch to heel no matter what!
"Yes, no regrets, so get out. In a fortnight, I'll prove you're just as much an exhibitionist deviant as the rest of your elf kin. Once I peel off that robe you're always bundled up in, your true elven nature will come bursting out."
"Y-you done running your mouth?! Just you wait! I'm the one who'll prove you're a total pervert incubus! Who knows, maybe you'll actually get turned on and enjoy it when you're stripped and doing a handstand!"
Gnashing her teeth, Delia stormed out of the vault where I was undergoing the trial. Despite being of elven blood—a race known for exhibitionism and voyeurism—Delia kept herself completely wrapped up in her robe. An outfit that barely exposed a speck of bare skin.
On the surface, you might think she's perfectly normal compared to other elves, sure. But peel back the layers, and who knows? She might just be suppressing some perverted exhibitionist instincts deep down.
'You smug Kanpeu bitch! I'll prove what a massive deviant you really are!'
Strip her down, and Delia might just reveal her true nature as an erotic elf. I would absolutely, thoroughly wreck Delia's pride after winning the bet. With that firm resolution, I resumed the trial.
Fwoooosh!
Within the raging blizzard, I silently launched spell after spell, shattering the ice that held Nistrond captive. There were two more meal deliveries besides that one—lunch and dinner—and the self-appointed delivery person was, once again, Delia.
"Fwahahahahaha!! You're just cluelessly blasting away with nothing but spells!! Just as you'd expect from some backwater mage, you have no idea what a trial even is!!"
"......."
"Hahaha!! The dessert goes to yours truly, Delia, once again! The cream puff is ever so sweet!!"
Whether she was deliberately trying to get under my skin, Delia swiped my dessert every time she brought a meal. But since it wasn't exactly wrong to say the temple's meals were her property, I had to just put up with the shakedown.
"Haaaaah...."
Just like my relatives' kids who show up on holidays and clean the place out, Delia took everything. However, listening closely to her taunts, I managed to glean a hint about passing the trial.
'Just cluelessly blasting away with spells won't clear the trial?'
Until now, I'd been trying to pry Nistrond from the floor using all sorts of magical combinations. I'd summoned waves, scattered mana spheres, lashed it with a Water Whip, but Nistrond didn't so much as twitch. I even tried to force it out by raising stone walls from the frozen ground with Stone Wall magic.
"Stone Wall!"
CRACKLE!
The plan was to make a wall erupt right under its butt to catapult it out.
But the ground was so frozen solid that the stone wall couldn't even rise; the ice's pressure made it impossible for the wall to burst upward. I was feeling somewhat dispirited since none of my magic was working. That's when it happened.
After hearing Delia's taunt, I decided to challenge the trial from a completely different angle.
'Doesn't that mean there's another way besides using spells?'
A method to make Nistrond submit to me other than spells.
Come to think of it, there is another way.
A magic staff is, when you break it down, a kind of magic tool. The structure's complex, but by calling out the core rune letters that form its design, remote control is possible.
Just like I lit the magic lamp by pronouncing Wunjo, the rune meaning light, each magic staff must have its own corresponding rune letters. I racked my brain, trying to deduce the rune letters engraved inside Nistrond.
'A staff that summons winter. A magical function that scatters snow around it and freezes anything it touches.'
The most promising rune letter candidate to correspond to it is Hagalaz.
A Primitive Rune signifying ice, snow, destruction, and creation—perfectly suited for Nistrond.
The moment I gathered mana in my mouth and pronounced it, I realized my deduction was correct.
"Hagalaz!"
Wooooong!
Nistrond, trapped in its thin layer of ice, began to vibrate. I had precisely pronounced the core rune letter of the magic tool, causing it to react instantly. But the real battle was just beginning. Magic staves were on an entirely different level from the everyday magic tools whose control could be hijacked with a single pronunciation.
"Ngh...!"
At the same time a fierce blizzard raged, an anomaly occurred.
A thick protective barrier, conjured from mana, coated Nistrond's body. Thanks to having diligently attended Rumi's lessons, I knew exactly what this barrier was.
'An Artifact Protector!'
Some magic tools are equipped with a safety device that nullifies interference from any mage other than their owner. It generates a barrier of complex patterns using magic power to block external interference.
If you could conquer every magic tool with a single word, this world would have descended into chaos long ago.
This barrier Nistrond was now cloaking itself in—the 'Artifact Protector'—can be activated by most high-grade magic tools. To seize control, the protector had to be dispelled first.
'Can I dispel the protector right now? I heard you just need to channel your magic power to match the barrier's patterns.'
Protector dispelling was something Rumi had also taught me when I learned about rune interference phenomena. Broadly speaking, the spell formulas that compose a protector are also based on runology. But while I was well-versed in the theory, this was my first time attempting a dispel in practice.
"H-hey, Rumi? Can you help me wreck this protector? I made a bet with that Kanpeu bitch and I need the help. If I can't clear this trial, your master has to strip naked and do a handstand!"
I spoke to Rumi, the magic book tucked under my arm.
But Rumi dismissed my desperate plea in a single sentence.
[Assisting you is impossible. The Quarterstaff's Trial must be resolved through the Mage's own power.]
"Please help me, Rumi, come on!"
[Should you end up doing a naked handstand, I can cover your groin for you.]
As expected, Rumi didn't help me.
In the first place, other than giving lessons, Rumi's policy was that I had to resolve everything with my own strength. She was a magic book who strictly separated business and personal matters, so even threats wouldn't work.
"How about I stuff you into a stuffy backpack? The outside air isn't so fresh, is it?"
[Please stuff me in deep. I happen to have missed the snugness of a backpack.]
"Ngh."
I was desperate enough to cling and plead with Rumi. But ultimately, it was something I had to solve myself, so I steeled my resolve.
Tap.
I approached Nistrond's body and placed my hand on the protector. I poured my magic power into the barrier, which was composed of complex patterns. I had to manipulate the mana that had penetrated inside to meticulously dismantle the formulas that composed the protector.
'A total of 15 protectors. Thin barriers layered like strata, which is why it looked so thick.'
Even though the blizzard made it nearly impossible to see straight, I barely managed to grasp the protector's structure. A staggering 15 protectors were stacked in layers, shielding Nistrond.
Even for a high-grade magic tool, being able to activate more than three protectors is practically unheard of!
That just goes to show how special a Rune Mage's quarterstaff really is as a magic tool.
Still, I figured it was worth at least making an attempt.
I focused my mind entirely on the dispelling work.
*
Time passed, and before I knew it, it was late at night.
Bella and my lovers, who had been staying at the temple, came to visit me in the vault. They had to leave the temple tonight and return to the port city. It was time for us to say our goodbyes.
"Luke. Is the trial going well?"
"Y-yes, it is. It's... progressing smoothly, and I will... definitely clear it within the fortnight."
My teeth chattered from being in the freezing cold for so long. Bella quietly gazed at me as I let out puffs of white breath.
"You absolutely must return once the fortnight is up. It's an escort quest, after all, and we can't just return to Yoen-su without you, Luke."
"I promise I'll keep my word."
Seeing me shivering in the cold, Bella's brow furrowed. After a moment, I caught the emotion of 'pity' lingering on her expression. Bella felt sorry watching me endure the trial all alone.
"...Is being a mage always about going through such dangerous things? It's nothing like sitting at a desk doing paperwork. At the very least, no one's ever frozen to death in my office."
Bella looked at me, my entire body dusted with snow. The murderous cold was slowly but surely freezing me solid. Even though I occasionally stepped out of the vault to thaw myself before returning, I still ended up like this.
"Dangerous things happen plenty of times. But I can't just give up learning magic because I'm scared. Magic is all I have. My background's lowly and my looks are rough, so I have to at least learn magic."
"You're evaluating yourself quite negatively, Luke."
"It's an objective evaluation. I have nothing else but magic."
I have nothing but magic.
Only by learning magic can I expect to be treated like a proper person on this shitty continent.
"......."
Bella seemed about to say something in reply but then held back. Fortuitously, my words hadn't reached my lovers, who were standing by the vault's entrance. Before long, Bella left me with her farewell and exited the vault.
"Let's meet at the port city in a fortnight. I hope you pass the trial safely."
After that, Rebecca and Kate, who had been standing by the entrance, also approached to say their goodbyes.
"Luke! You can't freeze to death in a place like this."
"Be careful not to catch cold, Mongma-nim."
Before leaving, they each embraced the snowman I'd become in a deep, heartfelt hug. Thanks to the warmth radiating from my lovers, my frozen body felt like it was thawing, just for a moment.
Thud!
Everyone filed out, and the vault door closed.
Left alone in the stark white room, I continued the work of dispelling the protector.
'I'm alone now.'
Now I was the only one left in the temple.
No lovers to cheer me on, no Miss Bella looking out for me like a big sister. I was feeling a sense of solitude for the first time in a while when someone soon appeared, filling the room with noise.
It was Delia.
"What the—! It's 2 in the morning and you're still at this trial?"
The vault door swung open and the silver-haired half-elf strode in. Delia stared at me with an incredulous expression, seeing me still absorbed in solving the trial at this early hour.
"I told you, you can't solve it by just cluelessly blasting spells! Everything you're doing now is a complete waste of effort! Dry your feet and go back to your quarters to get some sleep."
"Does it look to you like I'm just blasting spells right now?"
"Then what are you doing? If you're just resting, I'll have a laugh. I'm already ready to sneer at you like a cat. Nyahahahahahaha!!"
At that moment, bursting with laughter, Delia looked at me properly.
She saw me, trapped within the blizzard, in the middle of dispelling the protector.
A protector composed of a total of 15 layers.
Among them, I had just now finished peeling away the very first protector.
CRAAACK!
A single layer of the protector spectacularly shattered before her eyes.
"Haha... haaah...?"