Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 54

Thud, thud, thud...

The four of us, reunited after a while, were awkwardly making our way up the stairs in a strained atmosphere.

To be precise, only three of us were struggling.

"Um... I'm sorry, Dwarf Mister. We really didn't mean to leave you behind."

"Stop it. I said I'm fine."

Despite his words, Barundel's expression remained stiff.

He was clearly very angry.

"But Yoohanes, why didn't you tell me? That I was supposed to hunt alone."

Yes, he was definitely very angry.

"Ah, haha... I apologize."

I bowed my head and apologized to Barundel, who had suddenly turned to me and questioned me.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how to resolve this.

It was fortunate that it was Barundel; if it had been anyone else, they would have been 100% dead.

'What should I do? Should I try praising him...?'

With that thought, I tried to compliment Barundel as much as possible.

"Still, you're truly amazing. To be perfectly fine after taking on hundreds of demons alone... Is that the body forged through dwarven training?"

"Do I look fine to you?"

"..."

It was a complete failure.

It didn't work at all.

Perhaps I had only fueled his anger further.

'...But it really is amazing.'

To be honest, Barundel's physical condition seemed perfectly fine on the surface.

That was thanks to the presence of only low-ranking demons nearby.

Low-ranking demons could pierce Barundel's Mythril armor but couldn't harm his body.

That's how much his physical prowess surpassed ordinary standards.

'Would my zombie swordsman have felt like this if he had seen him...? At that level, he wouldn't need armor, would he?'

Lost in such thoughts, something suddenly came to mind.

'Wait, armor?'

It was the way Barundel cherished his equipment throughout our journey here.

'Yes, with this...'

Thinking I could appease Barundel's anger, I cautiously gathered the rest of the group.

This plan was a bit much for me to handle alone.

Quietly sharing my thoughts, I asked the others,

"What do you think? Is everyone okay with this?"

"Oh, Mr. First Place! I'm in! I think that'll work!"

"But will his anger really subside that easily...?"

"If it doesn't work... we'll have to find another way."

"Okay, then I agree too."

Fortunately, the others didn't disagree, and having secured everyone's consent, I turned and approached Barundel.

"Um... Barundel."

"What is it?"

"We were just discussing how to express our apologies..."

"That's alright. I'm truly fine, so..."

"[Anatak's Great Axe]."

He stopped in his tracks.

At my words, Barundel, who had been tending to his damaged equipment, abruptly stopped moving.

Fortunately, it seemed that this offer had piqued his interest.

"What did you just say?"

"[Anatak's Great Axe]. As a token of our apology, we'd like to gift you that..."

"Do you even know how much that costs?"

Of course I did.

While gathering information at the tavern, I overheard a conversation between some patrons.

They were talking about [Anatak's Great Axe] being available on the black market.

'They said it was 5,000 gold coins, right?'

Considering that a beer cost half a gold coin, converting it to cash, it would be roughly... around 50 million won.

Damn expensive.

Even if we combined all the gold coins the four of us had split before embarking on this expedition, it wouldn't be enough.

'...To gather that amount, we'd probably have to save every penny we earn from hunting for a while.'

However,

'It's worth the investment.'

[Anatak's Great Axe] was worth splurging on.

It boasted the best performance among legendary blunt weapon artifacts.

Moreover, it was even more so because it would be wielded by Barundel.

If we could increase the combat strength of our strongest member and appease his resentment... 5,000 gold coins was a reasonable opportunity cost.

"Please accept that and forgive us..."

"...I'll think about it."

Barundel still spoke in a stiff tone, but did he realize?

That the corners of his mouth were already subtly twitching upwards.

"Yes. Please consider it positively."

With that, I headed towards the others, and Kayla and Thompson immediately approached me.

"How did it go...?"

"...S-success?"

Their eyes were filled with anticipation.

Looking at them, I gave them a thumbs up.

"A complete success."

Indeed, no matter the world...

Money talks.

***

Time flew by after an eventful day, and it was nearing dawn.

We quickly prepared for bed and promptly collapsed into our respective spots.

'...I can't possibly train today.'

My body wasn't in good shape due to the fight against the passerby using the [Essence of Light].

My head was dizzy, my muscles were screaming, and my vision was blurry.

It was a miracle I hadn't fainted already.

Thankfully, I finished off that passerby with one blow; if I had swung the sword a couple more times, I would have definitely passed out.

"Ow..."

Anyway, just as I was about to fall asleep,

Something large entered my peripheral vision.

Turning my head, I saw Thompson...

"...What are you doing, Mister?"

He was already ready for bed.

Right next to me.

"Ah, I was hoping to sleep with Mr. First Place tonight."

"...Why?"

"Well... I have something to ask you."

"Something to ask me?"

I wasn't sure what he wanted to ask, but I was somewhat relieved.

I almost became needlessly suspicious...

"Go ahead."

With that, Thompson looked around.

He seemed to be checking if the others were asleep.

After confirming that everyone was asleep, Thompson spoke.

"Mr. First Place, what was that sword from earlier?"

"Ah."

So that's what it was, he was talking about the sword I created with the [Essence of Light].

"...Come to think of it, you saw it, right?"

"Of course I did. Right in front of my eyes, too."

Woosh.

Thompson suddenly conjured a small light attribute sphere on his fingertip.

"It felt completely different from the light I learned in Aldeon. What was that?"

It didn't seem like something I could just brush off.

Well, there was no harm in telling him, so I decided to explain.

"I told you that I received the [Essence of Light] before, right?"

"Ah, yes, you did. Is that it?"

"Yes, what you saw earlier was light manifested using the [Essence of Light]."

"That spear from before too?"

"Yes."

"Whoa..."

Thompson exclaimed in wonder, then gestured as if he had more questions.

"But why do you keep shaping it like that, both the spear and the sword? You're a mage, Mr. First Place."

"Ah."

Indeed, it was natural for Thompson to be curious.

It wasn't common to handle magic in this way.

"I was going to tell you about this later... but I suppose it doesn't matter now, does it?"

Woosh!

I cast light magic in my right hand.

In the shape of a small dagger.

And in my lying position, I threw the dagger towards the ceiling.

Then,

- 300% proficiency boost for all bladed weapons.

Thwack!

The dagger flew straight and embedded itself in the ceiling, which was well over 2 meters high, dangling and swaying.

Thompson exclaimed once again.

"Wow... Mr. First Place, did you learn dagger skills or something?"

"I didn't learn it, but I've always been comfortable handling bladed weapons like this."

"Bladed weapons? Are you saying you can handle all bladed weapons? At this level?"

"...Yes."

"You really are crazy, Mr. First Place."

Somehow, saying it like this made me feel embarrassed.

It was almost as if it was more broken than the mythic tier trait, [Prodigy of Magic].

It was natural for Thompson to be surprised, considering even I was like this.

"Well, I guess you have to be that good to be called a hero, right?"

"Huh? Hero... what?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Never mind."

Thompson, who was looking at the dagger embedded in the ceiling, gestured as if it were nothing and immediately changed the subject.

"But then why did you become a mage? With this kind of skill, you could do anything else, couldn't you? For example... yeah, like a knight or a royal guard."

Thompson asked with a genuinely puzzled look on his face.

Well, it would make sense to be curious.

In this world, if people had talent, they usually dreamed of things like that.

They think that occupations such as knights or royal guards, as Thompson said, are much better than mages, who have a slightly eccentric image.

Well, being able to gain both honor and a stable life is a bonus.

However.

"Do you think they are greater than mages?"

The world of geniuses.

In other words, if you look at the peak, the story is completely different.

"Hmm... Well, I guess it depends on how you think about it?"

"No. Mages have a much greater influence. Because mages can do what they cannot."

I'm not just talking about using magic.

Creation, distortion, mystery, nature, and so on.

Mages had access to a much wider range of powers than those who used physical strength, and thus could do much more.

"To put it simply... well, if they are the ones who remain in history, mages are the ones who can change history."

This was something I said, including my own experience.

Even my Zombie Swordsman, who beat all those countless users and reached rank 1, couldn't dare stop Baal.

He couldn't change the set history, the set fate.

On the other hand, mages?

Their greatness has already been sufficiently proven through records.

"It was mages who established the concept of 'time' in this world, created new resources including various languages, and showed miracles by preventing the crisis of destruction that came several times."

Even the power of 'Aura' used by knights is a supernatural ability created after research by mages.

'And it's not like they're lacking in pure power either.'

Just by looking at this, you could see that mages were greater in all areas.

At least, that was the case within the worldview of this world.

And.

"Ah, my magic talent is also superior to others."

First of all, I'm a magic genius, right?

There would be nothing more foolish than wasting this talent.

"...That's a bit unlucky, isn't it?"

"It can't be helped. It's the truth."

"..."

Thompson, letting out a short sigh, closed his eyes.

Did he sense something?

After a moment of contemplation, he opened his mouth again.

"Changing history... that's a really cool phrase. You want to become that kind of mage, right, number one?"

"If possible."

"I see."

Thompson, nodding his head calmly, suddenly gathered his things and got up from his seat.

"Get some rest now. You need to get a good rest."

"You said we'd sleep together?"

"I changed my mind. Today is a day I want to sleep alone."

"...Um, well, you get some rest too, mister. We'll start hunting in earnest from tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Thump, thump...

He slowly moved back to his original spot.

Thompson's back, faintly visible because the lights were already off.

Is it just my imagination that his back looks very happy?

With that thought, my consciousness gradually fades away.

I didn't try to hold onto it.

For tomorrow's hunt, my body needed to take a deep rest.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]