Chapter 63

Кhаn wаs inwаrdly marvеling аs hе wаtсhed the lightning that hаd just struсk abovе Belbеk аnd Sеrinа’s hеаds.

‘To usе such a skill аt mу currеnt lеvеl…’

Оf сoursе, this ‘Lightning of Dеstruction’ wаs саst bу Belbеk, but it still felt а bit wondrous.

Evеn if оnly for a momеnt, hе had briefly harborеd Мana that far surpаssеd his current rеalm.

‘I thоught mу hеаrt might burst if something went wrong…’

Аfter bloсking thе аttack аnd аbsоrbing the Mаna, Khаn truly thought his heart wоuld еxplоdе.

‘It’s fortunаte the оutcome wаs goоd.’

Нe looked at Вelbеk, соllaрsed on thе grоund in thе distancе, and Sеrinа, bаrеlу supроrting hеrself bеsidе him.

“P-please spare us…!”

A voice trembling with fear.

Thus, Khan could precisely understand what she was feeling right now.

‘She must think she’s truly on the brink of death.’

That’s why Khan intended to use her.

Since they were the ones who tried to kill him first, he planned to strip them bare to the bone.

“What can you offer in exchange for your lives?”

Upon hearing Khan’s words, Serina couldn’t help but be momentarily startled.

To be precise, it felt like a lifeline of hope descending in a hopeless situation.

‘He’ll really… spare us…?’

She knew for certain.

That the man before her had driven her to the very brink of death.

And he had done so using Belbek’s ultimate magic, ‘Lightning of Destruction’.

‘He pushed me to my absolute limit… If even a little more Mana had been infused into the magic, I would have died on the spot.’

What could she offer Khan right now in exchange for her life?

No matter how much she thought, nothing came to mind.

‘I have nothing on me right now… and Belbek is the same.’

Belbek and Serina had departed in such a hurry that they hadn’t brought any particular items.

The only somewhat useful items they had were their Spatial Pockets.

“Right now, all I have… is this Spatial Pocket and the staff I use.”

“……”

Khan fell into brief thought upon hearing Serina’s words.

‘Is this really all?’

He felt a moment of suspicion, but she wouldn’t lie in a life-or-death situation.

Still, receiving the staff they used felt a bit disappointing.

For one, the staff had a Level Restriction, and upon sneakily checking its options, it wasn’t that great of a staff either.

‘These guys… they’re Mages from the Blue Magic Tower, so they must have something like Mana Pills.’

Mana Pills.

A mysterious elixir that, when consumed, grants Mana even to ordinary people who lack it.

As far as Khan knew, the Blue Magic Tower had as many as five Mana Pills.

Talented Mages within the Blue Magic Tower often received Mana Pills.

‘When playing the game, you could obtain Mana Pills by clearing Quests related to the Blue Magic Tower.’

Of course, those were Quests that could be cleared far in the future, and Khan needed Mana Pills immediately.

If he had Mana Pills, he could supplement his lacking Mana.

Serina, who had been watching Khan with an anxious expression, could be certain as she saw Khan’s expression gradually harden.

The more she saw that cold, impassive face, the more ominous emotions and thoughts tangled and surged in her mind.

‘I’m going to die…!’

Suddenly feeling an aura of killing intent, she urgently shouted.

“I-I have a Mana Pill I was supposed to take later at the Magic Tower! I’ll give it to you, so please spare me…!”

“……”

Khan was about to mention the Mana Pills himself when Serina unexpectedly blurted out that she would give them.

‘Can this girl read my mind or something?’

Of course, that couldn’t be possible.

At least as far as Khan knew, such Skills or Magic didn’t exist in this world.

“You mean you’ll give it to me after returning to the Blue Magic Tower?”

“Yes…!”

“How can I trust that? What if you return to the Blue Magic Tower and bring other Archmages? Or are you perhaps suggesting the absurd idea of going to the Blue Magic Tower together?”

“Of course not! I swear to the heavens, on the honor of the Blue Magic Tower, I would never do such a despicable thing!”

“……”

Khan fell into thought for a moment.

What on earth should he do with this girl?

If he simply let her go like this and she really brought high-ranking Mages from the Blue Magic Tower later, Khan would be as good as dead.

Especially at his current level, if he encountered the high-ranking Mages of the Magic Tower, even a bluff like the current one wouldn’t work.

‘If only there were a Mana Contract, it might be believable.’

Mana Contract.

An item that also existed in <Geo Arc>, frequently used when Users traded with each other.

As soon as Khan thought of the Mana Contract, he spoke to her.

“Do you happen to have a Mana Contract?”

“A Mana Contract…? I don’t have one… Just a moment.”

Serina immediately began rummaging through the unconscious Belbek’s Spatial Pocket.

Magic Stones of various sizes and miscellaneous items tumbled out of the Spatial Pocket, and then a single fluttering piece of paper appeared in her hand.

“Here! A Mana Contract!”

“If you write up a Mana Contract, I’ll believe you.”

“Understood…!”

“Write it using your Mana. As I dictate.”

“Yes…!”

Khan specifically dictated the contents of the Mana Contract.

In summary, the deadline was one month.

If Serina and Belbek did not give Khan the Mana Pill within that time, the two would forfeit their lives.

Additionally, it stated that if they spoke of this incident to others, they would die.

Since Mana Contracts were impossible for even most Archmages to arbitrarily break, it would serve as a proper safety measure.

“W-wait a moment…!”

“What’s wrong?”

Serina, who had written the entire contract as Khan dictated, read it over once more and then shouted.

“I think it would be better to inform other Mages about Sir Khan’s identity…! Since you are such an exceptionally skilled person, there might be others who make mistakes like we did.”

“Hmm…”

Listening to her, it made sense.

And if he followed her suggestion, it would also be a tremendous benefit for Khan.

While clearing future Quests or traveling to various other cities, he would encounter many Mages.

‘It could prevent potential conflicts.’

Especially since, like Khan, if one wasn’t affiliated with any Magic Tower, they were often looked down upon by other Mages.

“Then, let’s amend it like this.”

Khan stated that while they must keep silent about this incident, they could speak positively of his existence to other Mages.

Serina then transcribed that content onto the contract.

“You and that guy, both stamp it.”

“Yes…!”

Hummm…!

Serina stamped the contract first, and then she used her Mana to have Belbek’s finger touch it to stamp as well.

And finally, when Khan also stamped it…

Hummm…!!!

Swoosh…

The Mana Contract floated up into the air and then vanished like dust.

“From now on, it’s one month. Since we can sense each other’s locations, either you come find me, or I’ll come find you.”

“Understood…! Thank you for sparing us!”

“Alright.”

“And, I’m truly sorry!”

“Now that you know, go on.”

“Yes…!”

Serina dragged the unconscious Belbek and descended the mountain range as quickly as possible.

Despite looking quite exhausted, she and Belbek were soon out of sight.

While Khan was writing the Mana Contract, he looked at Byutek and Sharin, who had been standing there with awkward expressions.

“Why those expressions?”

“Haha, well… It’s just that I’m realizing anew… Sir Khan’s skills are so exceptional that I’m a bit surprised.”

“Me too…! I knew Master was strong, but I didn’t know it was to this extent! Usually, I don’t sense that much Mana from you, where were you hiding it?!”

Sharin asked Khan like an excited child.

“You’ll know when you become stronger later.”

“Tsk… Still, I’m really glad you’re safe, Master!”

“Thanks for worrying. But did you really not see anything underground?”

“No, there was nothing? And that woman named Serina seemed to be searching while scattering Mana, but she said there was nothing.”

“I’ll go check once more myself.”

“The stairs going underground are very dark, so I’ll go with you!”

“Me too!”

Khan approached the area with the rock along with Byutek and Sharin.

In the spot where the rock originally was, stairs leading underground stretched out long.

Khan immediately began descending the stairs.

It was quite a long staircase, but descending at a moderate pace took only about ten minutes.

When he completely descended, it was too dark to see anything.

He drew up a bit of Mana and spread a blue light, revealing a large door ahead.

“This is the place we found. Inside was very narrow though…”

“I’ll go in alone, wait here.”

“Ah, yes!”

“There really wasn’t much inside… But still, be careful, Master, just in case!”

Khan nodded and opened the door, entering the room.

A narrow interior of about 26 square meters with a very high ceiling.

From the walls made entirely of bricks on all sides, a very faint Mana was detectable.

It felt as if a subtle wall of Mana was protecting this interior.

‘This is definitely the place.’

Khan had a reason for coming here alone.

The bluish light visible beyond the door as soon as he arrived underground.

This light surely indicated the location of a Hidden Skill.

As soon as he entered the room beyond the door, Khan knew.

Step. Step. Step.

Khan walked toward the wall, his gaze fixed on one particular brick.

Hummm…!

A blue light was pulsating intensely from that spot.

* * *

Serina, having recovered some Mana, ran swiftly while levitating the unconscious Belbek in the air.

“Phew… This is exhausting, really.”

She realized this time that her emotions hadn’t died when she entered the Magic Tower; they had just diminished significantly.

Shiver, shiver, shiver…

Even now, her hands and feet trembled when she thought of that Mage named Khan.

Especially the overwhelming presence and aura he exuded, beyond mere fear and terror, even a sense of awe toward him.

‘For a Mage, he showed incredible mercy too. And his face is unbelievably handsome… Just who is he?’

Judging by appearance, he looked quite young. At most, he seemed around the same age as Serina and Belbek.

If he were a Magic Tower-affiliated Mage, Serina would surely know of him.

Especially if a young Mage like Khan possessed such exceptional skills, there shouldn’t be a single Mage who didn’t know of him.

It was while Serina was pondering Khan’s identity.

“Serina…?”

“What, you’re awake? If you’re awake, run using your own power!”

“It seems… we didn’t die…”

“Sigh, do you know how much I struggled alone to save you?”

“I’m sorry…”

Serina continued to scold Belbek like that.

Belbek kept repeating apologies.

“And I wrote a Mana Contract. Read it.”

“……”

“I don’t have a Mana Pill, so you have to give me yours.”

“……You’re insane. Do you know how valuable that is…!”

“Shut up. No matter how precious that item is, is it more important than your life and mine? It’s not.”

“……”

Belbek nodded, and upon hearing his answer, Serina began running swiftly again.

“Let’s hurry back to the Magic Tower first. I need to find out a bit about that Mage named Khan.”

“Right.”

The two hurriedly returned to the Blue Magic Tower.

* * *

Tap.

He placed his hand on the brick swirling with blue light, but there was no reaction.

Swoosh.

As Khan applied a bit more pressure to the brick.

Rumble…

Suddenly, the bricks began moving one by one, and soon a hidden space was revealed.