Chapter 213

King of the Dungeons (1)

“I don’t like it.”

It is not common for a firm refusal to come out of Lucy’s mouth.

“You could die.”

I could tell just by looking at him that his clear refusal was a result of worry.

Lucy’s hair bounced once as she jumped to the floor while leaning on a tree and reading a book. He looks up at me with blank eyes and brings up the bloody story as if it was no big deal.

“I don’t want to kill you. High-level magic is not good at controlling power.”

“Of course I don’t want to die either.”

It was so obvious that there was no need to emphasize it.

“Among the magical engineering supplies I made in advance, there is something called the ‘Delheim Hourglass.’ Once you hold this, you will never be killed in one hit.”

“Your body is hurt.”

“If you can achieve results in a short period of time by taking care of everything you need and being careful about everything, everyone will do it.”

Lucy probably understands how I feel about wanting to increase my growth as quickly as possible.

The resurrection of Seongchangryong Velbrok will not occur as predicted. As was the case with most incidents.

“I don’t have time for that. Please keep sparring with me from now on. I will have to keep clashing with you at least until I learn high-level magic. If it was like before, the sparring itself wouldn’t have been possible... but at least now, I will never be killed in one hit.”

Although it is a magical world where experience equals skill, no one would risk their life to learn it by walking a tightrope. In the first place, there is no wizard who can manifest high-level magic dozens of times.

However, if you are as good as Lucy Mayril, you can do that if you set your mind to it.

Lucy, who gave her all when fighting the evil god Mebula, wielded an insane amount of magical power, enough to cast even the highest level magic while manifesting over 50 high-ranking magic formations at once.

When he wakes up from a deep sleep, he can recover the magic power of dozens of people in one night, so there is no better sparring partner than this.

The opportunity to spar without restrictions with a wizard born with the greatest talent in history does not come to just anyone.

When I had just entered this body, there was a greater possibility that I wouldn’t be able to withstand even a single blow, so I didn’t even dare to try... but now it’s a completely different story. My growth is already on track to some extent.

If you want to learn high-level magic with a body like this that takes a year to even increase magic sensitivity, there will be no other way than to head like crazy.

“On the contrary, if you hold your hand half-heartedly, you will only hurt yourself and the hourglass will not activate. So, increase your firepower with the intention of launching a harpoon.”

“It’s not difficult, but I still don’t like it. I’m the opposite.”

It is truly rare for Lucy to express her opinion so firmly.

“I hope you don’t get hurt.”

“Lucy, please understand my desperation. You know.”

“...”

We stood there making eye contact for a long time. The endless snowball fight continued, but there was no sign of either side backing down.

After remaining still for a long time, Lucy sighed and pressed down on her large witch hat.

“okay.”

The location is a cliff at the northern end of Aken Island. Tall, strangely shaped cliffs stretch out along the coast. If you stand at the end and look down, it is a sight that gives you goosebumps. Around the time of the student council president election, Heseo was stabbed to death. Even thinking about it now, it wasn’t something I would have done in my right mind.

If you go a little further from the cliff area, an open meadow spreads out. It is the furthest from the Sylvania site and is not very popular. It was safe to say that there were very few students who made it through the northern forest to this far north.

The wind blowing along the meadow makes my collar flutter.

The hem of Lucy’s skirt, who is facing me from a distance, is also blowing in the wind of the grassland. Lucy, who is looking at me while holding down her hat to keep it from flying off, slowly manifests her magic power.

I am in perfect condition. Not only my physical condition but also my magical powers have been completely restored, and all the spirits I can mobilize have also manifested.

A new spirit formula is engraved on the dagger held backwards. This time, Merilda’s elemental form, ‘Headwind’, is added to the ceremonial dagger that has already been given Mug’s elemental form, ‘Explosiveness’.

This is a dagger that I have been carrying with me ever since I began my life as a survivalist. Not only my weapon proficiency but also my sensitivity to magical power has reached its limit. I was able to accept the spirit ritual of a high-ranking spirit without difficulty.

Merilda’s spirit form ‘Counterwind’ is a technique that instantly activates a release magic that destroys and weakens the enemy’s magical power from the imprinted spirit form.

All magic attacks are fast. It is difficult to manifest spirit consciousness at that timing. Nevertheless, it can be said that the defense performance alone is amazing.

However, it is unknown whether it can block Lucy’s high-level magic. Rather, it is much more likely that Lucy’s magic will easily pierce the spirit ritual. Still, it’s better than getting hit directly.

“...”

Lucy raised one hand in the blowing wind.

By casually clenching his fists, he gathers magical power that ordinary wizards can only gather by concentrating their minds until they become exhausted.

As a magician, this is such sensitivity and efficiency that it seems too unreasonable.

As it was, Lucy didn’t even change her expression──

― Kwagwang!!!!!

Just like that, a lightning strike was struck.

The flow of magic that was manifested was not even visible to the eye. It was largely thanks to Merilda’s reflexes and appropriate response by Merilda, who was manifesting her magic in human form, that it was prevented.

– Cooung!!!

– Hwiik!!

–

With a patter, I quickly lifted the dagger I was holding and held it by pressing the hand holding the dagger with my other arm.

Although it is said to be in human form to improve magic efficiency, it is still a high-ranking spirit. Merilda, with her white hair flying, was slowly shedding cold sweat as she quickly injected magical power into the spirit ceremony.

It was blocked accurately. It was a surprisingly perfect response.

However, just because it was blocked doesn’t mean it wasn’t shocking.

Although I couldn’t defend myself more perfectly than this, I felt every bone in my body shaking from the recoil.

A trace of smoke rising cracklingly. Her collar and hair, which had been fluttering due to the impact of the magic, returned to their original places... but her legs were shaking from the impact.

“Ugh...”

When Ziggs asked about the day, Clevius just shook his head and lamented about what the use of a family was. Clevious, like Clevious, has a lot to worry about. Actually, it was natural.

Even while Ziggs was busy preparing for the festival, he was also listening to the movements of his acquaintances.

“Then, Chairman Tanya. I will listen to the plans of the academic headquarters regarding Her Majesty Cloel’s visit schedule and establish a detailed route so that we can move accordingly. We will need to get approval right away when everything is done, so don’t go somewhere in a corner. It’s hard to find. You know.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve gotten out of the habit of hiding in dark and shady places, Mr. Ziggs. What are you looking at me for?”

“Right now, weren’t you caught yesterday while hiding under the cupboard in the bathroom? The student members keep looking at you with vague eyes, so if you’re going to hide, please hide in a place where people can hide.”

“...Did senior Anis say that?”

“Senir, who is in charge of managing the pottery supplies, opened the cabinet door and got startled and fell asleep. I was the one who bandaged the scratch on his ankle.”

“...I really need to apologize to Senir Action Committee member...”

Tanya hesitated and looked away from the corner of her eye. Still, it’s a good thing that he behaves like an old-fashioned nobleman on the podium.

“Then, please prepare well for tomorrow’s opening ceremony. I will... go finish preparing for the sparring event.”

Ziggs lifted himself up by pushing the wall he was leaning against with his shoulder, shook off his clothes, and spoke.

“We also need to reconsider the sparring participants.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work, and please upload the documents through Senior Anis.”

Ziggs smiled, nodded, and left the main conference room.

*

“It will be there if you go to the northern cliff. It stays there every day after returning home and returns late at night.”

When Ziggs went to the camp to look for Ed, he was gone.

Yenika, who was sitting next to the bonfire, just greeted Ziggs instead.

After thanking Yenika for telling me Ed’s location with a somewhat worried look on her face, I continued straight across the northern forest to the cliff area.

It’s a forest that occupies most of the northern part of Aken Island, but the geography was noticeable to Ziggs, who jogged with him every day, to some extent. Even so, it was less than halfway, and the further north we went, the more unfamiliar geography it became.

Anyway, from here on, it is the territory of Ed Rothtaylor, who lives and dies in this forest. The deeper and deeper you go, the fewer people there are who fully understand geography.

Still, one thing is certain: If you go straight north, you will come across a cliff area. In fact, even if you know just that one thing, you won’t get too lost.

The sight of the forest stretching quietly makes it easier to organize your thoughts.

There are many people who attend sparring events, but what ultimately attracts people’s attention is the integrated sparring event where the seniors of each grade attend.

After going on for a while, we were about to reach the northern end of Aken Island.

As soon as he saw the end of the forest and the open grassland, Ziggs took his breath away.

The aftereffects of the strong magical power can be felt even here. The amount of magic power firmly established in this wide grassland... is not at a level that an ordinary wizard can produce.

Ziggs, who went out to the grassland with a frown, couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Huh... Wow....”

A rock towering straight up on one side of the grassland.

Ed Rosstaylor sat there, leaning back, bleeding.

The surrounding area was a mess due to the effects of all kinds of magic. The meadow, where the grass stretched out, was dug up and blown away in some places, and there were even traces of an entire tree being uprooted.

“Sir Ed...”

“What... is it Ziggs...”

As soon as he heard the voice, Ed quickly raised his eyes.

He was neither unconscious nor asleep. He was sitting still and taking a rest.

“What... is this all about...”

“I... did some training...”

Ed was slowly trying to get up, but his clothes were torn here and there.

Ed, who had barely managed to get up, looked miserable, but the reason why Ziggs was holding his breath was different.

The sensitivity and amount of magical power in Ed’s body were completely different from before.

Does it feel like the venom in my eyes has become a level deeper than before?

Ziggs knows what this feels like.

Beware of the wolf with many scars.

It was a story considered a proverb in the northern grasslands.

The yellow dog, which has survived several fatal injuries, is several times more ferocious and smart than humans.

The more times a person endures extreme moments, the sharper his or her survival skills become.

Ed Rosstaylor slowly raises his body by pushing his legs up while leaning his back on a huge rock. His magical power was already easily exceeding that of a student.

A sparring match with Lucy Mayril, who the average person cannot withstand even a single hit.

Somehow, I trained and trained again, and succeeded in acquiring the specs to be able to grit my teeth and withstand even that attack. Of course, it was very difficult to withstand the two sums.

In that state, the process of repeating the battle with Lucy several times every day to increase the magic sensitivity is enough to make even old wolves, who have been between life and death countless times, bow their heads. This level was close to self-abuse.

As a result, although Ed Rosstaylor was close to death... he succeeded in acquiring enough magical power to use even high-level magic.

Even Ziggs, who never neglects his daily training, had no choice but to swallow dry saliva at the level of Hyangsamsim that bordered on madness.

“Ed... Senior...”

“Yes... It was the festival season, I guess...”

Ed Rosstaylor, wiping away the blood from his temple and groping his face, barely managed to compose himself.

“I’m going to... take a shower... and go... to attend the opening ceremony...”

Anyone who continues to grow is bound to hit a wall and become frustrated.

If you don’t have natural senses and natural abilities, you have no choice but to bang your head against the wall until it breaks.

It was the fate of those born as dunjaes.