Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Underground Ruins
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It felt like the morning after getting blackout drunk. My head throbbed, and my whole body ached. On top of that, the cold chill seeping in made it pure agony.
What the hell had happened?
My memories after suddenly plummeting underground were a blur.
"Ugh..."
The moment I tried to sit up, something tickled my face. My hand instinctively went up to touch it, and something slimy smeared onto my fingers. I squinted to clear my blurry vision and looked down at my hand.
The sticky stuff was blood.
'Blood... Not too much... Did I hit something on the way down...?'
Once I registered it was blood, a dull pain throbbed from the top of my head. Fortunately, the wound wasn't serious—just a slight swelling. The bleeding seemed like it would stop on its own if I left it alone.
I'd fallen from quite a height, yet my body was holding up decently. Had I used magic right before impact to cushion the blow?
"Durel! Shmok!"
I called out their names as I scanned my surroundings. No response. Only my voice echoed back from the gaping ice cavern beyond.
I shifted my gaze, checking above, to the sides, and below. Ice everywhere. No sign of the hole I'd fallen through. Had I slid here after landing?
As I staggered forward slowly, I spotted strange marks on the ice cavern wall. Like something sharp had grazed past.
Not a natural formation. Definitely man-made.
'Not a trail marker. More like... scraps left from carving the wall...'
Did that mean someone had artificially created this ice cavern?
Still too many unknowns. Frowning, I followed the marks along the wall, walking slowly.
The ice cavern wasn't as long as I'd thought. After trudging along at a snail's pace, I reached the end.
"What..."
My muttered words echoed through the vast chamber. Before me stretched an enormous space. Narrow corridors ringed the area in layers. From the end of one, looking down revealed a massive dais below—and atop it, a huge ice statue.
Though dusted with frost from ages past, I instantly recognized what the statue depicted.
An elongated body, massive wings spread wide, a coiled tail, and transparent ice scales covering it all.
It resembled a dragon. Assuming the people of this world called it that.
I scanned left and right. No stairs leading down. Just entrances to tunnels like the one I'd emerged from, dotting the broad corridors.
No other options, then. I placed my toes on the icy railing of the corridor.
Could I do it?
The little question that always arose before crafting magic. The answer was set.
I could.
No hesitation. I kicked off the railing and leaped. Cold wind whipped past as my body began to fall.
A familiar sensation. Blurry memories sharpened at last. Right before impact, I'd crafted a spell—for flight, but somehow incomplete. Born in desperation, it hadn't fully captured its purpose.
'That'll do now.'
My heart's mana circle spun, mana surging through my body. The magic unfolded not externally, but within.
Wind burst from my back, left arm, right thigh, and toes. My off-balance center of gravity snapped back, fall speed halving. A spell for soaring skies. But its flaw proved a boon here.
No matter the posture, my center realigned.
I rode the wind.
That phrase fit perfectly.
Whoosh—!
I descended with the wind to land beneath the massive dais. Even as my toes touched the frigid ice, no impact jolted through.
Did it need a new name?
It was just an extension of an established spell. Linking two was enough.
'Gentle Wind.'
A new ability added to the little breeze that would aid my journey greatly.
'An altar?'
Only after landing did I grasp its purpose. Things hidden by the massive ice statue came into view.
Beneath the dais stood tables large and small, flanked symmetrically by frost-covered braziers and ritual ornaments.
Traces of dragon worship?
A massive block of ice topped the altar, pierced at its center by a dagger. Untouched for ages, frost dusted the blade too.
The moment I absentmindedly gripped the dagger.
"...?"
Mana drained from my body in an instant. Unintended outflow. I yanked my hand away and stepped back, but it was too late.
The escaped mana raced through the dagger to the dragon statue's interior. Absorbing it, the statue began circulating mana like blood through veins.
And with that, the rigid form stirred.
Crack—
"Damn it..."
My curse slipped out as I leaped back. The now-moving colossus met my eyes.
Flash—red light burst from its eyes, and its massive tail whipped like a lash.
Rumble!
The broadly swung ice tail smashed surrounding structures without mercy. As shattering ice fragments filled my vision.
I kicked off the ground, soaring high.
I peered into the statue's internals via Arcana. It flooded my mind unbidden. Before absorbing my mana, it had been empty. Now, it teemed.
'Mana-powered... So primitive functionally...'
Not a living being. A mana-driven puppet. Golem fit the bill. I'd have built it differently.
'That heart area's the power core...'
My absorbed mana concentrated there, below the right chest—driving it. It wouldn't last. Not much mana taken.
Short airtime ended; I landed. Balance held firm even then. Gentle Wind carried me, wind cloaking my form.
What to do? As I pondered, familiar presences appeared from the uppermost circling corridor.
"This seems like the place? I heard a noise. Must be Master."
"It's dangerous. Better not wander..."
Durel and Shmok. As I spotted them, the dragon statue did too. It turned upward, then beat its wings and leaped.
Good—no flight ability. Just a high jump. But one massive arm sweeping toward them was plenty.
"Durel! Shmok!"
I shouted urgently. The statue's arm smashed the broad corridor.
Boom—!
"Hah, urk...!"
"Karxeus...! Karxeus...! Reka ban Ter Karxeus!"
⟨ Erkamon ⟩
Amid falling ice chunks, no sign of Durel or Shmok. Voices still from above meant they'd dodged, luckily.
Thud—!
The grounded beast crouched again. Frustrated, prepping another leap.
Couldn't let that happen. Mana reacted instantly. Chain Lightning and Reaping Wind wouldn't cut it. Needed something to crack thick, mana-fortified ice.
'No rocks... All ice.'
No matter. Adapt. As my toe lightly scraped the ground, outflowing mana lifted scattered ice shards.
That nameless mage from Durel's clan. His spell—splitting earth-vein stone into projectiles. Just swap the medium.
I frowned, and orbiting shards fired in unison.
Kraka-bam—!
Fast ice bullets pelted the colossus, but minimal effect. It just staggered briefly.
'Tougher than expected...'
As I grimaced at the superior defense, an idea struck.
Its internals flowed with my mana—tailored by my heart's circle through absorption and circulation. Still true now. It merely used it as fuel.
Meaning.
I retained control over the mana. Realizing that, a massive explosion roared from within the colossus.
Boom—!
The ice dragon's gigantic form began to crumble.