Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Аs sеvеrаl orcs diеd frоm thе mаgiс arrows, a lеvеl up messаge aрреаrеd bеfore Кhan’s eуеs.
Seеing thе mеssаgе, Khаn uncоnsciouslу smilеd.
“Не, he’s smiling while killing mоnsters.”
“Is hе feeling somе kind оf thrill watching the orсs diе…?”
“I’ve heard there аrе quite a few mages whо аre a bit оff in the hеаd…”
“Right. I’vе hеard that the morе skilled a mаgе is, thе craziеr thеу tend to bе…”
The knights аnd mercenariеs fеlt more сhills frоm Khаn laughing while killing оrcs than from his mаgic itsеlf.
In а life-or-death, urgent situаtion, thе sight оf him lеisurelу smiling while slaughtеring mоnstеrs was truly tеrrifying.
Оnlу thеn did thе knights whо had рiсkеd a fight with Кhаn earlier start to feel a bit scared.
‘He won’t kill us on the way back, will he?’
‘Should I apologize even after we exterminate all the monsters…?’
They realized they had messed with the wrong person.
The knights were already thinking of immediately prostrating themselves and begging Khan’s forgiveness once the situation was over.
Whoosh…!!
Whoosh…!!
Whoosh…!!
Meanwhile, Khan continued to silently recite incantations in his mind.
Magic arrows were ceaselessly generated inside the cave.
Watching this, Niyen felt as if Khan’s mana was infinite.
‘Just how much mana must he have to keep using magic like that?’
Moreover, what was strange was that this mage named Khan had no separate casting process when using magic.
Without any delay, magic simply manifested as soon as he moved his staff.
‘Arrow is a 1st Circle magic… Seeing him use 1st Circle magic so effortlessly, he must be at least a 3rd Circle mage.’
A 3rd Circle mage.
Niyen had never seen a mage above the 2nd Circle in her life.
She was from a rural village and settled in Grodek after becoming an adult.
Niyen, who nurtured dreams of becoming a mage with her immense talent in the village, thought her talent was exceptional even after coming to the city.
But after seeing Khan, she realized she had been a frog in a well.
‘The world is indeed vast. To think such a mage exists…’
Having never seen a true mage, Niyen thought Khan was an impossibly powerful mage.
All the mages she had seen until now were mages in name only, all at a lower level than herself.
Niyen also felt a bit of a chill seeing Khan smile, but more than that, her eyes sparkled at his magic.
‘I should ask to become his disciple when we get back. Having a Master like him would allow me to grow strong quickly.’
Niyen, who had vowed to pursue her dream of becoming an archmage upon coming to the city, soon hit a wall.
The path of a mage was more rugged and difficult than Niyen, despite her talent, had imagined.
Ssssssssssssh!!!
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Before they knew it, the orcs inside the cave were almost all dead.
Another message appeared before Khan’s eyes.
[Your level has increased.]
He had leveled up once again.
‘Truly unbelievable performance.’
Originally, one couldn’t gain this many levels from this western forest quest.
It was natural that he couldn’t monopolize the experience points since knights and even mercenaries were fighting together.
But the current Khan single-handedly slaughtered all the orcs with overwhelming power.
Above all, he possessed the 8th-grade Hidden Skill ‘Growth Acceleration’.
‘Ah, not all of them.’
Just as all the orcs inside the cave were dead, one orc suddenly appeared from the back.
“An orc!”
“Kill it now!!”
The knights and mercenaries drew their swords and charged at the orc with all their might.
Amidst this, Byutek, acting as if his life was worthless, also drew his sword and rushed at the orc.
Thwack!!!!
“Guhk!!”
Nearly twenty people charged at a single orc, and among them, Byutek, unluckily, was struck by the orc’s fist and fell unconscious on the spot.
Fortunately, it seemed he was only knocked out because the fist hit his sturdy armored stomach, not his face.
‘Whether that’s good luck or bad… Anyway, it’s fortunate no one died.’
The knights dispatched the orc surprisingly cleanly.
Thud…!
The orc lost its limbs, lost its balance, and collapsed to the ground.
Simultaneously, another message appeared before Khan’s eyes.
[You have cleared the quest.]
[You have acquired a minuscule amount of experience points as a reward.]
The quest clear message appearing meant all the monsters in the western forest were dead.
But Khan still had something left to do.
‘I sense a very faint mana inside this cave.’
Clearly, all the orcs were dead, yet mana was still detectable inside the cave.
Moreover, ordinary orcs were low-level monsters incapable of using mana in the first place.
‘There’s definitely something here.’
Khan told the mercenaries and knights to wait at the cave entrance.
He didn’t forget to tell them to check on Byutek’s condition.
“Are you planning to go inside yourself?”
“Is it really alright to go alone? I could at least escort you…”
“No, I’ll go with you!”
“I, I’ll go too!”
The knights asked Khan with worried looks in their eyes.
Among them, the knights who had picked a fight with Khan raised their hands and shouted that they would go with him.
“I’ll go alone and come back, so keep watch here. Other orcs might come this way.”
“Ah… I see. Understood! If any dangerous situation arises, please give a signal. We will come to help immediately.”
“Will do.”
After replying to the knight, Khan quickly walked deeper into the cave.
The knights and mercenaries, watching Khan’s retreating back, began to feel respect for him.
“To go check for monsters inside the cave alone for our safety…”
“I’m ashamed for picking a fight for no reason… He truly is an amazing Sir Mage.”
Meanwhile, Ming, who had previously tried to scam Khan, was having similar thoughts.
‘I tried to scam someone like that…? I’m crazy, absolutely crazy! I thought I had a good eye for people, but I failed to recognize such a skilled person. I need to be more careful from now on.’
Ming continued to diligently scam citizens even after that.
Of course, she planned to keep scamming even after finishing this commission.
It was simply the most profitable way to make money right now.
* * *
The cave where the orcs had been staying, which Khan entered, was quite deep.
‘This is my first time coming in here too…’
After creating his Circle, he could sense mana signatures much better than before.
Previously, he could barely feel them, but now he could sense a significant amount of mana.
‘The mana aura grows stronger the further I go in…’
He hadn’t realized it before entering, but the deeper he went into the cave, the more immense the mana felt.
However, perhaps thanks to the ‘Sage’s Heart’, he felt no fear or similar emotions at all.
Right now, he was only thinking about what exactly was inside here and how it might help him.
‘But there’s definitely something here. Something that will help me.’
The closer he got to where the mana was emanating from, the more he felt it couldn’t be something ordinary.
‘It might be a Hidden Skill.’
Hidden Skills are hidden in places people would never think of.
So, holding onto that expectation, Khan quickened his pace a little.
Before he knew it, the end of the cave began to come into view.
And Khan ran towards the blue light glowing at the end.
“This is…?”
A bright blue orb of light.
It seemed as if an enormous amount of mana had coalesced to form a single sphere.
It didn’t look particularly dangerous.
‘Were the orcs drawn here by the power of this mana?’
Thinking that, Khan reached out and touched the blue orb of mana.
Then.
Whoosh…!!!!
The bright blue mana began to be sucked into Khan’s body.
The mana spread throughout Khan’s entire body without a moment’s pause.
“Ugh…”
Khan grimaced as the vast amount of mana suddenly entered his body.
His entire body felt like it was burning.
‘The amount of mana is too much.’
It seemed his current body couldn’t absorb all this mana.
A moment later, the body that had been in pain from the mana felt much more comfortable.
Then a message appeared before Khan’s eyes.
[You have absorbed mana.]
[Mana Stat +10]
[Due to the user’s insufficient level, only 10% of the total mana was absorbed.]
Seeing the message, Khan’s expression showed not joy but profound regret.
‘I should be grateful for choosing the mage class and absorbing this much mana in the first place.’
Any other user wouldn’t have even properly created a Circle in this super-early stage of the game like now.
It was only because Khan had at least created a 1st Circle that he absorbed 10% of the mana.
Suppressing his regretful feelings, he walked back out.
Whoosh…!
Whoosh…!
Until this moment, Khan was unaware.
Unaware of the fact that an enormous amount of unabsorbed mana was swirling deep within his heart.
* * *
Khan’s party returned to Grodek village.
Byutek still hadn’t regained consciousness and was being carried on a knight’s back.
“Have you exterminated all the monsters and returned?”
Baron Jurente was standing at the city wall entrance and asked one of the Grodek knights.
“Yes! We have defeated all the orcs. And that mage named Khan is truly incredible. He single-handedly defeated dozens of orcs.”
“Hoh… Is that really true?”
“Yes. If you ask the others, they will all tell you the same story, Baron.”
“Hmm… I understand for now. If it weren’t for that mage, there might have been casualties.”
Baron Jurente, finishing his conversation with the knight, finally smiled broadly and shouted.
“Haha! Today is a good day, so everyone come to my mansion! I will reward you handsomely!”
“Wooooah!!!”
At the Baron’s words, the knights and mercenaries cheered.
The mercenaries were excited at the thought of receiving the payment the Baron had promised, and the knights were also in a good mood as their honor had increased.
At the sound of the cheers, Byutek, who was being carried on the knight’s back, opened his eyes.
“Ugh, ugh…! You orc bastards!! I, Byutek, knight of Kilpheon, will kill you all……!!”
Byutek, waking from his unconscious state, shouted, still thinking he was fighting orcs.
Baron Jurente, the knights, and the mercenaries all looked at Byutek.
“Hahaha…. Haha…”
Byutek gave an awkward laugh and hung his head low.
Right now, if there were a mouse hole anywhere, he would want to crawl in and hide.
‘That idiot.’
Looking at Byutek, Khan once again thought he was an idiot.
And he wasn’t the only one.
‘He’s a knight of Kilpheon, yet he’s that weak?’
‘It was a bit strange that he got taken down by an orc in one hit…’
‘Seems like only his equipment is good…’
Others also began to gradually doubt Byutek’s skill.
Crack…!
Byutek, also sensing the others’ gazes, clenched his fist tightly and barely swallowed his anger.
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What a weak asshole