Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 138

King Kailius was deep in thought.

"What should I give him?"

It was because he had not yet decided on the reward to give to the mage who had perfectly proven his talent just a few days ago.

"Tsk, it would be a good thing for him and the country if he just became a royal mage... ..."

Royal mages and royal commanders are officially affiliated civil servants of Asternon.

As such, the country has been providing steady support.

In fact, if you just gather that, it would far exceed the value of the reward you are trying to give this time.

'Why on earth did he say he wouldn't do it?'

A royal mage can be considered as such.

From the beginning, he did not come to become a royal mage.

His goal is to become a royal commander.

The funny thing is that he even refused that.

It's a story that he came all the way here to become a royal commander and then kicked it away himself.

Frankly, from Kailius's point of view, he couldn't help but feel bad.

It seemed as if he had come just for a lighthearted visit, or that he had come for another purpose.

But.

'......I can't just kick him out.'

There was nothing else Kailius could do.

Whether he had another purpose or came for a lighthearted visit, he had to catch him somehow.

To make him work for Asternon.

Even if that's not possible, he had to at least create a good relationship.

The reason why he is trying to give a reward now and why he is keeping him in the VIP room is all because of that.

After a long time like that.

"Yes, that would be good."

Suddenly, something brilliant flashed through Kailius's mind.

If he gave that as a reward, he would probably never be able to refuse this offer.

***

"You're a new face... ... Can I see your identification pass?"

After the training with Elbert was over.

I led my colleagues around Sector 1 for several days.

Even though I was allowed to stay here for a long period of time, I couldn't know when they would send me out.

It was better to hurry as much as possible.

Fortunately.

"Here you go."

"This is, the King's pass... ...! I'm sorry!"

Thanks to Kailius cutting out a pass for me, telling me to act comfortably, I was able to move around freely wherever I went.

"Haha, as expected, a person must have power. Right? Mr. First Place."

"That's right. I honestly didn't expect it to be this comfortable."

"If it were me, I think I would just let them go if someone came to work with that pass."

"That's true too."

Currently, we have arrived at the outermost edge of Sector 1.

And there was the last hidden piece that could be obtained in Sector 1 here.

A hidden piece that needs four people to unlock it.

'It's still the same.'

Although it has faded a bit over time, there are 4 red circles drawn in four directions on the floor.

If we just go up here, we can get the last hidden piece.

We immediately took our positions as the method was explained beforehand.

In the order of east, west, south, and north, each person moved their body to one of the four circles.

The reaction came immediately without any special incantation.

Whoosh!

Dddddd...!

At the same time as the circles under our feet turned red, the ground vibrated faintly.

I waited for the vibration to stop and then threw the bag of gold coins that I had prepared in advance.

Then.

Dddddd!

Suddenly, the floor opened as if it were a mouth and swallowed the bag of gold coins.

And.

Thump!

In return, it spat out a small brown bag.

When I opened the bag.

"Aaaagh!"

"What's that smell...!"

A tremendous stench assaulted our sense of smell.

It was definitely the hidden piece I knew.

I explained to calm the surprised group.

"It's called the Essence of Earth, and if you eat it, your body will become generally stronger. It's a kind of elixir."

"......You're going to eat that? It smells this bad?"

"You can't just eat it like that. If you did, it wouldn't be strange no matter what happens to you."

"T-then how do you eat it?"

"You can go to an apothecary in any village. There probably aren't many apothecaries who can purify this, but anyway, once it's purified, there won't be any problems eating it."

"Oh, really? It won't taste like poop or anything, will it?"

"I don't know? I've never eaten it myself, either."

"Ah, I guess not."

After finishing the explanation.

We moved our steps back to the fortress.

That was the last hidden piece.

There's no reason to stay here any longer.

All we have to do is convey our intention to leave to Kailius.

And.

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes, he is waiting for you, Yuhan-nim."

It happened that Kailius had called for me.

He's probably going to talk about the reward that we couldn't finish before.

As expected.

"So, you want something material?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I have decided what to give you. It's a very perfect item."

As soon as I met Kailius, he immediately brought up the topic of rewards.

"May I ask what it is?"

"Of course. And keep in mind that I don't intend to receive your refusal this time."

"......Yes."

He was telling me that I had to accept it no matter what.

Of course, I already gained a lot, but I still keep getting greedy.

Hoping that he made a good decision.

Just as I was having such thoughts, Kailius spoke.

"The reward I will give you... is this."

Thump, thump, thump.

At Kailius's signal, people who had been waiting beforehand walked towards me.

And, they presented a dark wooden box of some sort.

Slide.

It was a long wooden box about the size of my arm.

"Open it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Clunk!

I opened the box and checked inside.

"......This is?"

The contents were a very familiar shape.

After all, I had seen it countless times in shopping districts and black markets.

"A wand?"

It was a wand exclusively for mages.

The length was about 20-30cm.

It was almost similar to what I had seen elsewhere.

With just one difference.

'......What kind of energy is this?'

An energy that shouldn't be felt from a wand was being felt.

And it was a rather poor quality energy.

'What is it? It's not demonic energy.'

It's a little different from the energy emanating from demons.

It's more calm and cool, I guess.

If demonic energy is an energy that goes berserk openly, this is an energy that gives a subtle eerieness.

If it has this kind of energy, it's obvious at a glance that it's not an ordinary wand.

When I raised my head, Kailius opened his mouth as if to explain.

"It's a lich's wand."

That explanation was completely unexpected.

"......Excuse me?"

A li, what?

"Don't you know about the existence of liches? Liches are beings who have made themselves undead to obtain an immortal body......"

Of course, I know. What kind of being a lich is.

I've even defeated them several times in games.

'......This is that guy's wand?'

Come to think of it, it was familiar.

Among the lich's more than ten weapons, there was definitely a wand with this kind of feel.

If so, Kailius's words are true......

How should I accept this?

Without knowing my doubts, Kailius continued his explanation about liches.

"......As such, you must be very careful. If you're not careful, you can be consumed by the undead energy."

Consumption by undead energy.

The topic of the most curious part came up, so I asked a question.

"Why are you giving me this kind of thing?"

It was about Kailius's intention to give me this.

As he said, the lich's weapon has an effect of consuming its user.

Then why on earth is he giving me this kind of thing?

Kailius shook his head with a face that showed no ill will at all.

"If you handle it, you will realize the reason."

It was a somewhat meaningful statement.

'If I handle it?'

Just when I reached out my hand with the thought of trying it out right now.

"Wait!"

Kailius shouted loudly and stopped my gesture.

When I looked at him, a hurried explanation followed.

"Didn't I just say! You can be consumed by the undead energy!"

"Your Majesty, then when are you telling me to use it?"

"Of course, after you have developed sufficient immunity to the undead energy. Until then, you must never use that. Keep that wand with you at all times for at least a year."

I could feel that he was very worried.

It didn't seem like he really had any ill intentions and gifted me with something like this.

However, one thing that was regrettable was that he didn't know the proper information about the wand.

'It's not difficult to gain immunity to undead energy.'

There's only a slight difference between undead and demons, but the attributes they have are the same.

The 'dark' attribute.

That's why both are vulnerable to light magic, which is a holy attribute.

Anyway.

And the way to build immunity to such dark attributes was simple.

Just by being continuously exposed to it.

For example, by fighting demons every day, or by learning undead magic like a black magician.

And in my case, both of these applied.

'I fought with demons every day... and learned dark attribute magic.'

Probably, there wouldn't be anyone stronger than me in terms of immunity to dark attributes, except for those who walk the path of darkness altogether.

As such.

"It's okay, Your Majesty."

"......What do you mean it's okay?"

"I'm saying that I already have sufficient immunity to undead energy."

With those words, I reached out my hand that I had stopped and picked up the wand.

Then.

Whoosh!

My head was blown away with a cool breeze.

At the same time, a blue-green energy overflowed around the wand.

'Is this the undead energy?'

Whoom! Whoom!

Feeling the novelty, I swung the wand in the air a few times and then cast a spell.

Whoooong!

The first thing that came to mind was a sphere of light.

However, as expected, the power was weak.

A sphere that was much smaller than usual.

Due to the undead energy of the wand itself, proper power was not being exerted.

It seemed that using light magic with this wand would be a bit difficult.

Disappointed, I immediately moved on to the next attribute.

In order, fire, water, electricity, earth.

I conjured up all four attributes in the form of spheres.

Then.

Whoooong!

A much larger sphere than usual appeared.

Even though there was no intention to increase the size any further.

There is one reason.

I finally realized the effect this wand possessed.

'Magic power amplification.'

It is clear that it has the effect of amplifying the power of magic.

The numerical value is about +200% from what I feel.

'This is no joke?'

Damage amplification of 200% was an effect that was hard to find even in ordinary legendary artifacts.

After all, doesn't it mean that the power of magic is doubled?

Above all, there is still one left.

'How about darkness?'

I immediately withdrew the other attribute spheres and floated a dark attribute sphere.

Then.

Whoa!

The sphere of darkness, which was created in an instant, rotated wildly in place.

It felt as if the energy contained within was too strong to be controlled.

It was definitely amplified more than other attributes.

It feels like about 300%.

Gulp.

I couldn't help but swallow my saliva.

This is because I couldn't even guess what would happen if I used space magic with this wand.

'Let's try that later in a safe place.'

With that resolution, I raised my head.

And there, there was Kailius with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

He asked casually.

"Do you... also use dark magic?"

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]