Chapter 68

24  Dark Veil (2)

‘What is this place…..?’

After diagonally tunneling through, the outside was reached.

To his surprise, it appeared completely different than what he had imagined.

It was nothing, but a wide open ‘flat’ prairie land.

Nothing, but a wide prairie filled with only grass.

There were cliffs all around.

Has the earth been risen up?

‘No, wait.’

It wasn’t risen up.

It was floating in the air in the first place.

That is, a piece of earth was ‘levitating’ in the air.

A bundle of clouds nearby has assured him.

It was a ‘levitating’ earth that has never been heard or seen before.

What is this place?

‘A human?’

Ian has recovered from confusion.

He located someone in the distance.

A man was sitting at the edge of a cliff.

At a quick glance, it appeared to be a human being.

He was sitting in a very precarious way.

‘What is that?’

Ian felt somewhat confused.  He came to this place chasing after his curiosity and feeling that something would be here.  But, he has discovered stranger things that were beyond expectations.  A wide, levitating prairie that was as high as to reach the clouds and even an unidentifiable human being.

‘This definitely looked suspicious.’

He thought it to be suspicious.

As that would be the normal expected reaction.

However, his mind wasn’t having such a feeling at all.

Although it was hard to explain, he felt at peace.

With the entire landscape that came into his view,

And even that person, too.

‘Is it witchcraft?’

There was a high probability that that’s what it would be.  No, he was certain.

The problem was that even though he believed it to be witchcraft for certain, he wasn’t able to overcome it.  Ian doesn’t easily get tricked by witchcraft.   At least, once he detects witchcraft, he was always able to overcome it.  However,

‘He can’t feel it.’

The power of witchcraft could not be detected.

It can only be overcome if there were physical evidences.

There would be only two reasons in such a case.

It wasn’t the effect of witchcraft to begin with

Or

‘The sorcerer is much stronger than me.’

Ian is a 6th class mage.

He even possesses the knowledge of the 8th class.

No one would have stronger sorcery abilities than Ian.  At least there will be no one among the human beings.

‘If this was an effect of witchcraft,’ then there was only one answer.  The man that was still sitting on the edge of the cliff with his back showing, the ‘one who appears to be a human being’, that man must be the sorcerer of this witchcraft.

‘At a minimal, he would be comparable to my former self.’

It had to be someone like the former Ian, that is, someone equivalent to an 8th class mage or with unlimited possibility of being greater than that.  That would be the only way to totally deceive Ian like this.

‘What if he was hostile towards me…..’

There was nowhere to run to.

It would mean a gamble for life in order to escape from that person.

Gulp!

Unconsciously, Ian swallowed his dry mouth.   It was an unusual physical reaction for him in his entire life, including his previous one.  Excluding the naïve years of his life, it might have been the first time.

Unconsciously, Ian swallowed his dry mouth.   It was an unusual physical reaction for him in his entire life, including his previous one.  Excluding the naïve years of his life, it might have been the first time.

“Please allow me to ask some questions.”

Ian spoke as he approached closer to the person, sitting on the edge.  Of course, he maintained some distance.  As his voice was amplified by melted mana, he could be easily heard at that distance.

“Where am I?  And who are you.”

Friend or foe.

Or neither.

What this person wanted at this moment.

He needed to find out the true identity.

Only then he could take appropriate action.

No, even before that,

‘Curious.’

Ian was confident.

Ian, in his former life, was unmatched.

Even now, he has enormous power.

But, someone that was stronger than him.

Not by a little, but by a mile.

What was his identity anyway?

It could not possibly be a human being.

‘Dragon?’

That would be the most likely candidate.

From the book of the dragons to the power of descendants,

Weren’t there a lot of nexuses?

‘The first sorcerer?’

That was the unique ‘concept’ that Ian had adapted in this life.

That possibility was also overwhelming.

As this entity’s existence was for real.

‘A god?’

Ian does not believe in gods.

Despite that, he thought of it as a possibility.

If not a dragon, nor the first sorcerer,

Wouldn’t the answer lie above that then?

“……”

The man did not respond.  He just sat there with his back against Ian.  Was it because it looked so serene?  Several features of the man’s appearance caught Ian’s eyes.

‘The color of his hair is same as mine.’

The long, flowing, light brown hair,

It’s not regal, but certainly not very common either.

He even had on a worn robe.

Rather, it looked to be just a piece of straw mat.

“I will ask again….”

[Rumbatts.]

Ian subconsciously hesitated at that moment as a voice came, flowing out of that entity.

‘Dragon speech…..?’

The sound wasn’t originating from the vocal cords.

It was not a sound to be heard by ears either.

It was the contentious echoing sound of mana and the mind.

He was certain that it was the unique characteristic of the speech of the dragon.

[Spellggia.]

The entity continued to speak.

It was the same language as the dragon’s speech.

Only that it didn’t appear to be the dragon speech magic.

Perhaps, it was the dragons’ ‘everyday words’?

[Rah-drakoshy.]

It was a phrase made up of only three words.

Yet, Ian wasn’t able to interpret them.

Except the last phrase ‘Rah-drakoshy’.

‘Drakoshy, dragon.  Rah-drakoshy, the dragon.’

The problem was with the two preceding words.

Rumbatts, and Spellggia.

What the heck do they mean?

Do what to the ‘dragon’?

‘Rumbatts Spellggia Rah-drakonishy.’

As expected, it wasn’t the dragon speech magic.

Rather, it was a daily language of the dragons.

It seemed that he wanted to communicate something.

“I understand a little bit of dragon words, but not necessarily that well.  If possible, could you speak in another language……”

[Rumbatts, Spellggia, Ra-drakonishy.]

The entity that speaks the language of the dragons recited as if to emphasize something.  Rumbatts, Spellggia, Ra-drakoshy.  Unconsciously, Ian repeated those words in his mind.

The entity that speaks the language of the dragons recited as if to emphasize something.  Rumbatts, Spellggia, Ra-drakoshy.  Unconsciously, Ian repeated those words in his mind.

“…..Uh?”

It was right at that moment.

The world began to crumble, the sky, the clouds, and the levitating earth, even the man with the light-brown hair.

Ian’s hands, feet, and his body as well.

As if the space in a world of illusion was disappearing.

‘What the hell…..’

At the same time, Ian’s eyes were gently closing.

It was hard to resist, rather just trying to keep it open was difficult.

He couldn’t understand it even as he was closing his eye.

Such helplessness has never been felt before.

After all, it was none other than Ian himself.

How powerful is he?

That entity?

‘Who…..’

He was curious as to the entity’s identity ’til the end.

The entity that speaks the language of the dragons.

Could it be one of the dragons as expected?

‘…..?’

Just before losing his consciousness, the entity turned around and looked at Ian.

It was a middle aged looking man’s face with full of wrinkles.

A thought came to his mind as a result although it did not fit the situation at hand.

‘What an ugly…..’

This was the thought that came to Ian’s unconscious mind.

Finally, Ian lost his consciousness.

It was the world of unconsciousness filled with sheer darkness.

How long has he been wandering about?

(What is it??)

It was a very familiar voice.

It was the voice of the Fairy Queen.

(Why are you like this?)

That sound of voice thundered explosively inside Ian’s head.

(Human!  Could it be that you are dead?)

Ian opened his eyes slowly.

Then he surveyed the surroundings as his eyes were opened.

He was no longer in the prairie of the levitating earth.

Dungeon, he saw the dungeon beyond the portal.

“Aaak!”

Ian wrapped his head in his hands.

Tremendous headache suddenly came upon him.

‘Was it a….dream?’

No, no matter how much he struggled, it didn’t appear to be a dream.  Could a dream be that vivid?  It was certainly a magic and reality.  If it wasn’t real, there wouldn’t be such a throbbing headache.

(What were you doing anyway?  Your mother kept bothering me, panicking to find out what’s happened to you, and you wouldn’t show up.  I was so irritated that I had to come by!)

Ian opened the portal from the bedroom.

The door was locked of course, and there was not a key.

There was only the Fairy Queen in the room.

Perhaps, it was all in preparation for an unknown event.

“…..How long have I been?  Here?”

(It must have been over half a day in human time.)

Ian couldn’t do anything, but be in bewilderment.

A half a day, not one hour or two?

He didn’t think it had been that long.

(Alright, hurry and go outside lest your mother may break down the door at any moment.)

Ian did not hear the Fairy Queen.  Instead, he surveyed the surroundings after initiating a light spell.  If it wasn’t a dream, he was sure to find the tunnel that he had dug through.

‘Not here?’

But, there was no sign of it at all.

But, there was no sign of it at all.

That is, the tunnel that had been dug through the wall.

There wasn’t a tunnel, not even any sign of it.

What the heck has happened?

‘No way.’

Ian has begun to calmly organize the situation.

He had taken a half potion of elixir to break through the wall.

That small potion bottle was still inside the pocket of his robe.

It was full as if it had not been touched at all.

‘Really…..’

Likewise, the artifacts that he had worn remained on the top of the tower lord’s display panel.  As if nothing had happened, as if no one had touched them, they remained there in order.

‘Was it really a dream?’

He felt it to be just so ‘vivid’.

He had an expression on his face, which showed that it was hard to admit that it was a dream.

He just needed to verify it.

(Can you not hear me?)

“Move back.”

(What?)

Kwang!

Once again, Ian began to dig through the wall.

The direction of digging, the magic, they were all the same as before.

Only that he was just faster.

That is, the speed at which he was plowing through.

Kwang!  K-Kwang!  Kwang!

Pzzzzzzz……

The depth also felt similar.  When he thought that he was about at the same point, he felt the cold air from outside.  He even saw the sky.  If anything was different, it was darker than before as half a day has already passed.

Kwang!

Ian hurriedly went out through the tunnel after finally creating a wider opening.  To concur with his expectations, prairie must come in to his view.  The cloud filled, ‘levitating earth’, with cliffs all around its edges, that is.

“Certainly…..!”

However, the landscape that Ian had expected to see, the cliffs, clouds and the unidentifiable entity, did not exist anywhere.

The place that he saw was only a dark forest.

He only saw a large wall of a castle down in the distance.

The capitol of the empire, it was the wall of the Green Riverdium castle.

It seemed to be located in the middle of a hill outside the imperial capitol.

(What is this sudden blabbering?  Have you gone mad?)

The fairy that had followed had yelled at him.  He was unconscious just a moment ago.  That same bastard has begun to destroy the wall as soon as he was awakened.  It was only fitting that he came across as being insane.

“……”

Ian did not say a word.

Instead, he began to indulge in reminiscence of the earlier events.

That is, a recollection that actually could have been a dream.

The dragon words that the entity had spoken of.

‘Rumbatts, Spellggia, Rah-drakoshy.’

Then an incredible event occurred.  Rather, he felt an awesome enlightenment.  The words of the dragon that he couldn’t understand earlier, he seemed to be able to interpret them now.  What that entity was trying to tell him, he now understood what exactly they meant.

‘Rumbatts.’

Never.

‘Spellggia.’

Believe not.

‘Rah-drakonishy.’

The dragon.

‘Rumbatts Spellggia Rah-drakonishy.’

Never believe, not the dragon.

***

Floop!

Ian has returned to his residency.  After having assured his family, he stayed in for three whole days, flipping through the pages of the book of the dragons.  He had temporarily halted all the planned activities and work.

That’s what he had to do.

That’s what he had to do.

Floop! Floop!

The more he had turned the pages of the book, the more certain he had become.  That is, the levitating earth, unfamiliar entity, all of which were not part of a dream.  That was only natural.  He has become notably knowledgeable.  He progressed from being able to only read the words of the unknown language of the dragons, to having the knowledge of being able to see and interpret the meanings.

‘He still couldn’t understand even 3% of it.’

How much of the dragon’s language can be understood.

It was not something that he needed to wrestle with.

‘I have not done a thing.’

He did not pay for it.

That’s how he certainly felt at this very moment.

There was not even a research done beyond that.

The last research that he had conducted had been several months ago.

However, this transformation has occurred.

Learning the reason was more important than anything.

‘Why the heck?’

There was no answer to it no matter how hard he tried.

It was an issue that was beyond Ian’s common sense.

Those are, the entity, the levitating earth, and the language of the dragons.

Only that, there existed one common linkage.  

‘Dragon.’

From the book of the dragon language to the power of the descendants, and the events that had occurred three days ago were all closely related to the dragon.

‘But then, believe not?  The dragon?’

The language of the dragon, ‘Dragon language’ has been attained.  The dragon’s power of the ‘Descendant’ has also been gained.  Was that all?  The entity, appearing to be the dragon came face to face with him.  But, do not believe that dragon?

“Hmmm….”

Ian fell in deep thoughts for a moment.

Then he shut closed the book of the language of the dragon.

Wasn’t it a heavy book?

Closing it lightly would have also accompanied loud noises.

‘Let me think later.  Later.’

Despite the fact that he had halted all the planned activities and work, there was still something that he had to do today.  He had to observe the public execution of Herbert Leon, the Ivory Tower’s tower lord.  It wasn’t something that he looked forward to do, but as the emperor was planned to be there, he couldn’t not go.  

‘Perhaps, this will be the starting line.’

Ian has brought about so many changes in the past 5 years.  His mother was still alive, Douglas has become a friend, expeditious rise to the high ranking sorcerer, the change in the crowned prince’s position, and the growth of Oliver, etc.  If possible, he had believed that it would have been best to just go with the anticipated flow, but his life has turned to a different tune.

‘The execution of the tower lord.’

However, nothing will compare to the significance of today’s event.  That’s how Ian had concluded.  The tower lord of the Ivory Tower, who is the 5th prince, Ragnard’s largest supporter and leader of a nation, is going to be executed.

The implication is that Herbert Leon, who has survived for a very long time in his past life and was being remembered as the great tower lord of the Ivory Tower, is to be faded away at a different time in a very different fashion.

‘The true beginning.’

Standing at the end of it, Ian adjusted his robe.

Collecting the staff that was hanging, he rose from his seat.