Chapter 151 – Pangaea (17)

It was an unexpected turn of events.

To think that the Holy Sword Bastian was a dragon’s legacy.

My friend! I am also flustered!

To be precise, as it blocked the breath with its blade, the dragon’s mana had been imprinted on it, and as a result, it had unintentionally become a legacy.

“This is driving me mad!”

“What is, sir?”

“Because of you, the conventional wisdom about dragons has crumbled. That is, if everything you’ve said so far is true.”

Jenolf shook his head and paced back and forth with a troubled look.

“Then, would it be possible to turn this sword into a map of a dragon’s nest?”

At my question, his eyes widened once more.

“What! You know about this too?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I am serious about finding a dragon.”

“Just what! What is your identity?”

“Let’s just say I’m a dragon hunter.”

“You crazy bastard!”

“Anyway, I’ll ask again. Is it possible to create the map?”

As I pressed for an answer, Jenolf’s face became quite serious.

Then, he caressed the blade of the holy sword with his fingertips and shook his head.

“It’s something I’ve never succeeded at before.”

“I understand it’s theoretically possible, though.”

“It’s only a theory, nothing more.”

“Aren’t you the greatest mage in the Empire, sir?”

“Still, what’s difficult is difficult.”

Jenolf was putting on an act of making a great fuss.

In that case, I also needed to play hardball.

“To be so unconfident, does this mean you won’t even try, despite having a dragon’s legacy right before your eyes? Then I shall put this sword away.”

As I tried to put the holy sword into my Inventory, Jenolf’s pupils quivered for a moment.

For mages, such a challenge was something they couldn’t bear not to take on.

I could bet my wrist that a response would come within three seconds.

“I never said I wouldn’t do it!”

He hastily waved his hands.

I knew it.

“Then are you saying you’ll give it a try?”

“What choice do I have but to try! I am, after all, a helpless mage!”

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.

Things were working out well in an unexpected way.

I came to hear stories about dragons and ended up attempting to create a map.

Even if this attempt ended in failure, I felt I could humbly accept it.

Because I hadn’t expected to get this far in the first place.

My friend! You’re talking about making a map using my body as a material, so why aren’t you listening to what I have to say!

‘There’s no way a holy sword like you would be extinguished. Are you perhaps scared?’

Scared! What do you take me for!

‘Then just watch. You want to meet that red dragon again as much as I do.’

In fact, Bastian had as much pent-up frustration with that dragon bastard as I did.

After all, its way of speaking had turned strange after being hit by that breath.

“Since you said you’ll give it a try, I’ll hand over the sword for now.”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Jenolf received the holy sword with a grim expression.

The holy sword said no more, and now all we could do was hope that Jenolf’s work would proceed successfully.

“Will I have to wait long for the results?”

“Well. This looks like it’ll be a difficult task. Usually, in the case of a dragon’s legacy, the mana imprinted on the object contains a basic blueprint to allow for map creation. You could see it as an Easter egg intentionally left by the dragon. But the mana imprinted on this sword is very different from what I’ve seen before.”

“Is it because it’s not an intended legacy?”

“That’s about right. For now, extracting the dragon’s mana imprinted on this sword won’t be difficult. The problem is that there’s no blueprint itself…”

“Are you saying the success rate will be lower than in a typical case?”

“I won’t deny it. Anyway, the results should be out in about three days, so spend some time outside the magic tower and visit again. It’s distracting when someone’s around during important work.”

No matter how low the success rate, for now, I had no choice but to do as he said and wait.

“Is there anything you need?”

“If you must ask what I need, it would be great if you could get me some silver-colored Mana Stones. You can get them randomly while hunting the monsters that inhabit the nearby Rumpri Mountain.”

“Randomly?”

“Yes. Roughly one in a thousand? It’s an item that’s very useful in this kind of work.”

As he said that, Jenolf smiled slightly.

It seemed to be a joke meant to be funny, but it wasn’t.

I just seriously thought that I had to go get them.

One of the good things about the female members of the Chamryongdan was that they didn’t ask useless questions.

Yoon Joo-hee was like that right now.

What I wanted to obtain in Pangaea, what conversations took place in this magic tower—she asked nothing.

“Let’s go to the back mountain and do some hunting.”

“Understood, Unit Leader.”

It was just that when my order was given, she only focused on that part.

“Do you have a spare sword in your Inventory?”

“Yes, Unit Leader. Its performance is a bit poor, though.”

“That’s fine, give it to me.”

I took a sword from Yoon Joo-hee and set off to hunt.

Even while we were moving, she didn’t say much.

Even though she must have been curious about many things.

“You’re not asking me anything.”

“I was told that there are reasons for the things you don’t mention, Unit Leader.”

“Who told you? Shin Ah-yeon?”

“That is correct.”

As expected. Without me saying anything, Shin Ah-yeon had taken it upon herself to provide the training I wanted.

In this aspect, she was definitely superior to Ho-joong.

“We’ve been on a long journey together, yet I regret that I can’t tell you everything. But I hope you don’t feel too upset about it.”

“I’m not upset at all. Above all, don’t you always show us the right results, Unit Leader?”

“Thank you for saying so.”

“To be honest, I have many questions about this journey as well, but in the end, I feel like I’ve gained a lot of experience by following you, Unit Leader.”

“Stop, that’s enough. Any more of this and I think I’ll get embarrassed.”

“As you command, I will stop here.”

I could only hope this wasn’t part of Shin Ah-yeon’s training.

Because if I kept listening to this, my embarrassment might reach a lethal dose.

Silence fell once again, and after walking for about thirty more minutes, we arrived at our destination.

Rumpri Mountain, which Jenolf had mentioned, was a rocky mountain made up of numerous strange rock formations.

It was very unusual for monsters to inhabit a place like this.

“It’s truly amazing that there are monsters in a place like this where not a single blade of grass grows.”

“Monsters aren’t only organic beings.”

“Then, are you saying there are other forms of monsters?”

“Monsters made of soil, rock, or even metal do exist. Though they are very rare.”

Of course, it seemed none had been reported on Earth yet, but all sorts of monsters existed in the world.

“Be careful. The monsters appearing today will be hard to distinguish from the terrain.”

Jenolf hadn’t told me, but I immediately knew what would appear.

A Golem-type monster.

“When you say terrain, are you perhaps referring to the rocks…”

“Yes. For instance, things like these here.”

Kwaaaak!

I thrust my sword toward the pile of stones stacked in front of me.

The pile of stones shattered, and a haze of sand and dust rose up.

There was no scream or groan.

After the stones collapsed, they simply vanished like the wind.

Meaning they weren’t just stones.

Yoon Joo-hee stared at me with her mouth agape.

“It was a monster!”

“This is a perfect place to get ambushed if you’re not paying attention. Unlike normal monsters, you can’t sense them well even if you expand your perception.”

I picked up a stone that had fallen on the ground.

This was the silver-colored Mana Stone Jenolf had mentioned.

“When monsters drop something like this, make sure to collect them.”

“Understood, Unit Leader.”

“From now on, keep your perception wide open.”

This was the time to properly verify the effects of training with Stupeo.

Compared to other monsters, it released extremely little mana, but a Golem was definitely emitting mana.

And this was something Yoon Joo-hee had to feel.

She had to prove that her training so far had not been in vain.

A moment later.

Kwaaaaaak!!

Yoon Joo-hee’s sword slashed the top of a stone pile.

‘Excellent.’

If she had passed by it, that would have become the Golem’s head.

She had exquisitely targeted the monster’s weak point and finished it in a single strike.

The Golem collapsed and crumbled.

“Unit Leader! There was something like this on the ground.”

“That’s it. Keep it safe.”

This time, too, it was a silver-colored Mana Stone.

“Does this monster called a Golem always drop something like this when it dies?”

“Well, not necessarily.”

He said it was one in a thousand.

Either Jenolf had grossly exaggerated, or Nike’s Ring had brought good fortune.

For some reason, I had a feeling it was both.

The three days Jenolf had spoken of passed.

To be exact, it was three days and eight more hours.

But the fact that it was taking longer than expected wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

If it were truly going to fail, the result would have come out long ago.

The fact that it was proceeding slowly like this seemed to mean that Jenolf’s work was being carried out fiercely.

Of course, that could just be wishful thinking.

Over the past three days, I had obtained a whopping seven of the Mana Stones Jenolf mentioned.

So as not to interfere with Jenolf’s work, I would gently place them in a spot he had designated, and seeing that all the Mana Stones were gone, it seemed he was using them well.

And Yoon Joo-hee and I were quietly waiting in front of the magic tower’s entrance.

Of course, I was engrossed in circulating the Mana Breathing Technique and healing my body.

To reach the power of the past, no, a level beyond that, even a day sooner, I couldn’t afford to be idle for even a minute or a second.

I didn’t know how much time had passed since I started circulating the Mana Breathing Technique.

It was Yoon Joo-hee’s shout that broke the silence.

“Unit Leader! A message has appeared on the entrance!”

I immediately opened my eyes.

The letters on the entrance were becoming clearer and clearer.

『The results are out, so come in now.』

A short message from Jenolf.

Not telling me the results right away only made me more curious.

Even though it was a task that even the greatest mage had never once succeeded at, and on top of that, there was no blueprint, a sense of anticipation I couldn’t explain rose within me.

“I’ll be back, so wait here for a moment.”

“Yes, Unit Leader. I hope you get the results you want.”

I ran up to the top of the magic tower in one breath.

Jenolf’s workshop.

There, he stood with the Holy Sword Bastian in one hand, wearing an unreadable expression.

“Please tell me the results.”

I could have actually asked the holy sword beforehand, but I wanted to hear it directly from Jenolf.

“It’s a failure.”

He answered in a calm voice.

The atmosphere was so serene that I could immediately accept it.

“It must have been a difficult task after all.”

“Yes. It wasn’t an easy job.”

“In any case, you’ve worked hard.”

I had tried, so I had no regrets.

There might be plenty of opportunities elsewhere, in other ways.

But Jenolf’s words didn’t end there.

“It’s a failure, but it was a half-failure.”

I wondered what kind of wordplay this was.

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