Chapter 96
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96
The Mimic Relic—Turan’s most powerful magical device.
Its primary functions were to observe the flow of nearby mana and to absorb the mana of the deceased, allowing the user to temporarily wield that power by consuming the stored energy.
Because of this, its hollow interior had originally been filled with various colors of liquid mana, separated into distinct layers. Now, however, its form had completely changed.
The space that should have been empty was mostly filled with what looked like intricately crafted gears, and at the center, five circles overlapped in a staggered pattern. Inside those five circles, liquids of gold, brown, purple, gray, and turquoise sloshed gently.
“This is…”
According to his memory, the gold represented the Sun bloodline, the brown was the Earthkeeper bloodline, and the purple was the Berserker bloodline. The gray was the Ruler-Tamer bloodline absorbed from the Nagin nobles, including Renod, and the final turquoise liquid was Carmine’s Shoal-Frost bloodline, taken from Visen.
The remnants of other bloodlines—the half-used Barrier Master, Pyromaniac, and Illusion bloodlines—had vanished without a trace.
Seeing this, Solif asked in confusion, “Wait, weren't there more than five originally? Are they all gone?”
“Likely.”
To think that after gorging itself on mana, its functionality had decreased instead of improving. Turan clicked his tongue at the absurd situation, but Meisa suddenly reached out toward the relic.
“Let me appraise it.”
“Can you?”
“Unlike crafting, appraisal is a basic skill. I might not be Asiz, but I should be able to see something.”
Taking the relic, Meisa sat down on the sandy beach to concentrate, her brow furrowing. Even for a powerful Enchanter like her, appraising a top-tier holy relic was no easy task. A few minutes later, Meisa wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“The functions are definitely completely different now. But I don’t think it’s a loss. In fact, it was more than worth sharing the Great Sea Serpent’s mana…”
“Can you be specific?”
“First, the types of mana it can store are now limited to five. To store any more, you have to release one of the existing ones.”
“That sounds like a downgrade,” Solif grumbled.
Meisa clicked her tongue lightly, as if telling him to have some patience. “In exchange, the mana inside is no longer consumable.”
Turan and Solif fell silent for a moment, staring at each other. If what she said was true—
“You mean I can use the powers of other bloodlines permanently?”
“Yes. To be precise, the bloodline ability placed in the topmost circle among these five will always be applied to the owner. You can change the position by turning the gears on the side.”
“This is… something even the gods would covet. It’s ridiculous.”
“It’s an object created by merging the mana of two beings: a god and the Great Sea Serpent.”
Meisa was right. An object forged from the blended mana of a god and a magical beast that rivaled one—what other relic in the world could have been crafted so extravagantly? Even considering its origin, it was an excessively powerful and useful tool. It felt as though even the treasures of myth would pale in comparison.
If this function ever became widely known, the Mimic Relic would undoubtedly become the most sought-after prize for treasure hunters in the world.
After a moment, Turan took the relic back from Meisa, learned how to operate it, set it to the Sun bloodline, and hung it around his neck. He felt the change immediately.
“It’s true.”
He could naturally feel the enhanced vision and the ability to observe various forms of light—abilities inherent to the Sun bloodline. When he drew upon his mana to create and mix light and fire, a Halo of Judgment Light naturally formed behind his back.
“Is there really no consumption at all?”
“If I had to be picky, it consumes my own mana to use the skills.”
“Well, that’s a given. You said there are five? Let’s test them all.”
A short while later, after switching to the Berserker bloodline, Turan engaged in a contest of strength with Solif. Earlier, the power gap had been so great that Turan felt like a child being toyed with by an adult, but now, Turan actually held a slight advantage. It was likely because the Berserker bloodline provided a higher degree of physical enhancement relative to mana compared to the Guardian bloodline.
“Ugh—you’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Using this much strength makes me feel… exhilarated. It might be dangerous to use recklessly during combat.”
“That’s why it’s called the Berserker bloodline.”
After testing the other three bloodlines, Turan’s party agreed that the Mimic Relic’s consumption of the Great Sea Serpent’s mana was not a waste at all. A magical device that guaranteed the abilities of one bloodline—or even two, if they originated from the Great Families—without any conditions? Considering that a Guardian Magic Tool was considered top-tier simply for granting the defensive abilities of the Guardian bloodline at the cost of massive amounts of mana, this was simply absurd.
Having confirmed all its functions, Turan bowed his head politely to the two of them.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“We took it down together, but I’m the only one who gained an unfair advantage. I’ll make sure to compensate you for the loss later.”
Since the Mimic Relic was bound to Turan, the other two couldn't use it at all. Considering that a portion of that mythical creature’s power had been consumed for his sake, the two of them had made a significant sacrifice. Furthermore, since Bije was also soul-bound to Turan, he had essentially monopolized the shares of three out of the five of them.
It wasn't fair at all. Meisa had literally been torn in half, and Solif could have been just as badly injured, if not worse.
Hearing this, Solif let out a boisterous laugh and suddenly slapped Turan on the back. Because Turan was still set to the Carmine bloodline from his last test, he fell forward helplessly and face-planted into the sand.
“Ack.”
“Oops, that was too hard. I’m still not used to being this strong… Anyway, knock off that nonsense. You’re making my skin crawl.”
“Good hit. If it weren't for my waist, I would’ve given him a smack too.”
Meisa, who usually would have glared at Solif for hitting Turan, actually defended him.
“We decided to share the mana. A friend we can trust with our lives is getting stronger. If the roles were reversed and your mana was the priority, would you stop my relic from getting stronger?”
“That… I wouldn't.”
Turan chuckled and brushed the sand off his face, and Meisa added as she carefully sat up, “Besides, you’re the one who dealt the finishing blow in this fight. Based on contribution alone, you deserve an extra share.”
“That’s not it. We all risked our lives. Just because I caught the right opportunity doesn't mean I should get more—”
“Oh, stop being so stubborn!”
*
After talking for a long while on the beach, the three of them first used the recovery potion artifact to treat Bije’s wing. They fed her medicine for half a day, to the point where her stomach might have burst if it were actual liquid.
Finally recovered, Bije let out a loud, triumphant chirp and took to the sky. Solif looked up at her and asked, “By the way, you said the magic Bije uses borrows your power, right? Does that mean she can use lightning now too?”
“Probably.”
As if she had heard him from a distance, Bije struck a bolt of lightning right in front of Solif and struck a proud pose. Seeing this, Solif let out a deep sigh and muttered, “That devilish bird has finally gained offensive capabilities. Oh, heavens!”
Turan stopped Bije from dropping another bolt on Solif’s head and took a metal swing out of his high-capacity pouch, attaching it to her legs. A moment later, Bije soared into the sky with the three of them in tow.
Though Bije was stronger than before, her flight speed while pulling the swing didn't increase significantly. It wasn't due to a lack of strength or speed, but rather because the swing itself wouldn't hold up if she flew too fast. Of course, the passengers could reinforce it with mana, but there was no need to go that far since they weren't in a hurry.
“The boat was fast enough, but flying is definitely the best. It’s more familiar, too,” Meisa said in a slightly excited tone as she looked down at the vast ocean.
Turan intentionally looked away, feeling deeply bothered by the sight of her two legs dangling powerlessly.
“So, where to?”
“It shouldn't be much further. We’ve been flying for about ten minutes since passing Miguel Island… Ah, I think it’s over there. Bije, a little to the left of our current path.”
Their destination was none other than the small island where the original owner of the Mimic Relic resided. Solif had wanted to see him anyway, but there was also the hope that returning with the enhanced relic or its twin mask might trigger some kind of reaction.
Before long, they landed on the island and immediately sought out the pond in the interior to enter the water. Of course, they didn't need to dive in like before.
“Man, traveling with a Carmine noble is certainly convenient.”
“Don't mention it.”
Turan’s fluid manipulation ability, now set to the Carmine bloodline, was incomparably more powerful and precise than before. He could part the water inside the pond to create a path and freeze the ground beneath their feet to create a descending staircase. Thanks to this, they descended easily without getting a single drop of water on them.
Except for Bije, who got soaked after curiously sticking her wing out to touch the water wall.
“Hmm…”
“This is the place, right?”
“Yeah.”
The spot where the Great Sea Serpent had been was easy to recognize thanks to the gouged sand and rocks, but the god’s corpse that should have remained there was gone without a trace. Even when he activated tracking magic to search for a human corpse, he felt nothing within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
“Armani definitely said the god’s corpse was still here.”
“Was he lying?”
“No, he probably wasn't.”
Passing the two puzzled companions, Turan walked toward a small soul fragment he sensed through the relic. The relic hanging at his chest hummed, as if recognizing its meeting with its master.
“Elder.”
Turan took out the jewelry box, opened the lid, and summoned the Librarian. The Librarian opened his bleary eyes, looked at the soul fragment, and said, “Oh, have you found another one?”
“Yes. It seems so.”
“Found one? Wait…”
“I can see him?”
Turan turned his head at the voices behind him. Solif and Meisa were staring at the Librarian with shocked expressions.
“You two, can you see me?”
“Yes…”
“So this is what you look like. It’s an honor to meet you, Elder.”
“It’s not the first time for me, so skip the greetings. I take it you hunted that Great Sea Serpent?”
“Yes, we did. Is that why?”
“Likely.”
It seemed that because Turan had awakened a third bloodline, Solif and Meisa were now able to interact with the Librarian as well. Surprised by this unexpected fact, Turan decided to handle the business he had originally summoned him for.
“Could you perhaps store and analyze this person’s soul fragment?”
“This person? Who is it?”
“The god who perished along with the Great Sea Serpent I mentioned before.”
“Hmm… well, put it in. I’ll take a look.”
After injecting mana into the jewelry box to absorb the fragment, Turan informed the other two that only the soul fragment of the Drowned God remained.
“It seems the god’s spirit was the source maintaining the corpse. Since we absorbed that, only the remnants are left.”
When he explained what he had seen, the two of them nodded in understanding.
“It feels a bit unsettling to just carry around the soul fragment of someone who did such a thing.”
“But we can’t just leave it here. If we’re not careful, there could be another victim like Visen. I doubt he would want that to happen either.”
When Meisa brought up the exact same point Turan had been thinking, Solif didn't say anything more.
“Perhaps we’ll find a way to give him peace later.”
Following Turan’s words, the three of them paid their respects in their own way toward the spot where the soul fragment had been. It was a memorial for a hero who had fought and died in secret.
*
After finishing their final task in the North Sea, Turan’s party decided to move toward their primary goal: Meisa’s treatment. The problem was that a common healer would be nowhere near enough to treat her, as she now possessed power closer to that of the heads of the Great Families.
They needed help from at least the head of a common healer family—in other words, a healer of high noble rank or above.
“It’s a shame I didn't keep a healer bloodline in the relic. It would have been convenient.”
“I’ll have to find one if I get the chance. But if I do, what should I remove?”
“If I had to choose, the Nagin bloodline seems the least useful.”
Ruler and Tamer—both were bloodline abilities that were rarely used. Conversing like this, the three of them continued to fly southwest on Bije. At sunset, the vast coastline of the continent greeted them.
“And so we find ourselves back in the Enril Desert.”
“My mother used to say the people here all had horns on their heads and red faces.”
Solif, who had already wandered the desert for months, looked weary, while Meisa looked at the vast desert expanse with a mix of caution and curiosity. It might have been fun to travel the desert leisurely to satisfy her curiosity, but treatment came first.
Turan’s party landed on a desert dune, shared a meal of a scrawny desert fox and dried rations, and then continued south, avoiding towns and cities. They spent two days observing traveling merchants and bandits from above. As they crossed from the northwest to the southwest of the Enril Desert, a familiar wetland came into view.
It was the territory of Lavitas, the Siraf Wetlands.
“I feel like we end up running here every time something happens.”
“It’s the safest place, being a Great Family not involved with the gods. It’s also home to the best healers in the world.”
Instead of seeking out the hot springs where Icool stayed as they had before, Turan’s party inquired about the direction of the Lavitas capital. Last time, they had only met Lida by chance because they were idling at the hot springs for months. Given the urgency, they needed to go directly to where she lived.
“I hope we can meet her soon…” Meisa said with an anxious face, stroking the scar on her waist.
When she was first injured, she had confidently claimed she was fine since she could walk with flight magic, but as time passed, she was finding it increasingly inconvenient. From basic hygiene to the various difficulties of not being able to use her lower body, she was realizing the reality of her situation day by day.
Fortunately, thanks to Bije’s fast flight—prompted by her empathy for Meisa’s plight—Turan’s party soon arrived in Merem, the capital of Lavitas.
“Wow, it’s huge.”
“Don’t you dare take off that mask, Sol.”
“Don’t you worry about that.”
Merem, the capital of Lavitas, was a much smaller and more modest city compared to Morgen, the capital of Arabion. This was because the Siraf Wetlands lacked the capacity to support a large population, making it difficult to build a massive city. Still, it was a metropolis with a population of over 150,000, easily overwhelming any ordinary city.
Before entering the city, Turan had taken off the mask and given it to Solif, knowing that wanted posters for Solif were circulating within the Lavitas family. Fortunately, at the time of their previous encounter, neither of the two Lavitas nobles had seen his portrait and thus hadn't recognized him. However, if they went directly to the main house, someone was bound to notice.
While the mask couldn't change appearance at will unless paired with the Mimic Relic, its function of mimicking the face of a corpse remained. Currently, it was set to the face of a young hunter’s corpse they had found along the way.
Wearing it, Solif stood behind Turan’s party like a porter, carrying various fake bundles. Bije, perched on top of the luggage, mockingly stepped on Solif’s head.
“Hey, knock it off!”
Listening to the bickering between Bije and Solif, Turan’s party entered Merem. Meisa was being carried by Turan instead of using flight magic, as her technique wasn't yet natural enough to look like she was walking. It didn't matter in secluded areas, but doing so in the middle of the city would be the same as advertising that she was an Arabion noble.
A moment later, Turan called over a passing policeman and asked him to fetch a knight. After projecting mana equivalent to a high-ranking noble and identifying himself as an acquaintance of Lida, the meeting was arranged with incredible speed.
“You may enter.”
Fortunately, the residences of the Lavitas members weren't as strictly isolated as those in Arabion, so they were easy to find. The manor wasn't grand or imposing due to the soft ground preventing tall buildings, but it possessed a unique architectural style and an air of ancient elegance.
Upon entering the drawing room, Lida, the old lady of Lavitas, greeted Turan while sitting with her legs crossed and smoking a water pipe.
“Welcome, young Turan. And Miss Meisa… My, you said you were just friends back then, but has your relationship progressed since? Youth is a fine thing. Seeing how you can’t bear to be apart for even a moment.”
Lida made a joke, looking amused at the sight of Turan carrying Meisa. Turan gave a bitter smile, sat Meisa in a nearby chair, sat down himself, and asked quietly, “It’s not what you think… More importantly, could you introduce the gentleman next to you?”
The man sitting across from Lida appeared to be in his mid-forties, with a notably weary expression and long silver hair. Judging by his appearance, he didn't seem to be one of the handsome husbands she had boasted about.
Lida glanced at him with a somewhat annoyed expression and spoke.
“Ah, didn't I mention it last time? The successor of Baraha has fled. This is his father, Mr. Godis Baraha. He came looking for me after hearing that I had seen someone who resembled his son.”