Chapter 146

“……Оh mу. I mеаnt to just lie dоwn fоr а bit, but I fеll сompletеlу asleеp.”

Hе hаd slерt sо dеeplу that he hаd nо ideа hоw lоng hе’d bеen оut.

Evеr since соming tо this wоrld, he hadn’t fеlt phуsically tirеd еven without sleeрing, but it sеemed that wasn’t a соmplete immunity eithеr.

‘Lоoks like quitе a bit оf fаtiguе hаd built up.’

The reаson Khаn didn’t fееl tired evеn with аlmоst no sleеp.

It was just а guess, but it was probаblу due to his uniquе Rаnk 10 Hiddеn Skill, the ‘Sagе’s Heart.’

Вeсаuse of that, Khan hаd onlу bееn taking light nаps evеrу night whеn he clоsed his еуеs.

It wаs likе his eуеs wеre сlоsed, but he wasn’t really sleeping.

‘So, every night while sleeping, I kept trying to manipulate Mana… but with this body, no matter what I did, my Proficiency never increased.’

Even though he practiced Mana Manipulation almost every single night without fail, when he checked his Status Window the next day, his Mana had never increased even once.

That meant, in other words, that Khan’s Mana talent was close to zero.

‘Still, if I keep at it consistently, I’m sure there will be results.’

No matter how untalented one is, effort never betrays you.

Even though he knew he had no talent, Khan planned to continue practicing Mana Manipulation while sleeping at night.

“Still, after sleeping deeply for the first time in a while… I feel like my condition is much better than usual.”

It seemed he had completely shaken off all the fatigue that had built up in his body.

Shaking off the fatigue the day before the Underground Arena Tournament turned out to be a good thing.

“First… I need to find that Byutek guy quickly today. By the way, what about Sharin?”

Muttering to himself, Khan quickly washed up and stepped out of his room.

Then, as if she had been waiting for him for who knows how long, Sharin was standing in front of the door with a bright smile.

“Master! You slept deeply yesterday, right? This is the first time I’ve seen you sleep so soundly!”

“……You knew?”

“Of course! Even when you sleep, you always pull up Mana very subtly to train, Master!”

“…….”

Sharin’s bright smile seemed to be because Khan had slept soundly for the first time in a while.

It appeared she also knew that Khan practiced Mana Manipulation every night.

‘Well, if it’s Sharin, she’d know even if she didn’t want to. How embarrassing… I hope my true level hasn’t been completely exposed.’

Khan wanted to maintain his dignity as a Master in front of Sharin, so he didn’t want her to find out that he had less Mana than her.

What must Sharin have thought, knowing about Khan’s nightly Mana Manipulation practice?

Just then, she opened her mouth again and exclaimed.

“That very subtle Mana Control of yours, Master… I’ve been trying to emulate it by practicing a little before bed too!”

“……Well done.”

“Hehe. Anyway, Master, your face looks much better than usual today?”

“Enough with the unnecessary talk. The reason I came out early today is to find Byutek. Sharin, today you’ll accompany me and search for Byutek yourself.”

“Oh, is it training again today?!”

“Yes.”

Where on earth did that Byutek guy disappear to?

He had searched all over Erindel but couldn’t find him, and even expanded his Sensory Perception to the outskirts of Erindel, but couldn’t sense Byutek’s presence at all.

‘I hope he didn’t accidentally enter a Gate somewhere and die.’

Since Sharin was here, if they just wandered a bit outside Erindel, they should be able to find Byutek quickly.

Now, it went without saying, but Khan was quite surprised when he opened the door and stepped out, seeing Sharin.

‘I never thought her Level would have increased this much….’

Khan now had no confidence that he could truly beat Sharin in a one-on-one fight.

[LV.142 Genius Mage Sharin]

Just yesterday, she was around Level 120, but after drinking the Mid-Low-Rank Talent Blooming Potion, it seemed her Level had increased by over 20 at once.

Moreover, the Mana emanating from her body was at an immense level, impossible to gauge.

“Sharin, you’ve become much stronger. Today’s training is about how to use the overflowing Mana inside your body. Expand your Sensory Perception and try to find Byutek as quickly as possible.”

“Hehe… Yes! I feel like I can find him right away today!”

Yesterday, both Khan and Sharin had failed to find Byutek.

But since Sharin’s Mana had increased tremendously, they might be able to find him today.

‘I hope he isn’t really dead.’

He kept having the thought that maybe Byutek had died in a Gate, but no matter what, Byutek wasn’t the type to die easily.

‘Still, he’s a guy with a sturdy body, so he’s not one to die easily somewhere.’

So today, he planned to move as quickly as possible.

“Sharin, we’re leaving right now. Let’s start by searching the eastern outskirts first.”

“Yes!”

Khan and Sharin quickly left the Inn and headed straight outside Erindel’s eastern City Wall.

Outside the City Wall, as Sharin pulled up her Mana and expanded her Sensory Perception, the surrounding area shook greatly.

A moment later, Sharin shook her head and spoke.

“I think I checked up to about 100 kilometers around, but I can barely sense any human presence in this direction?”

“I see. Then let’s head south immediately.”

“Yes!”

The next destination was south.

While moving, Sharin continued to expand her Sensory Perception and searched for Byutek’s presence, but again, she couldn’t sense it at all.

“He’s not here either.”

“Next.”

This time, they went west to check, but again, Sharin shook her head.

“Master, you don’t think… Byutek oppa went into a Gate alone somewhere and died, do you?”

“That’s unlikely. He’s not the type to die easily somewhere.”

“R-right…?”

“Yes.”

They had already been searching for Byutek for an hour, and with not a single trace of his presence felt, even Sharin seemed worried about Byutek now.

‘That Byutek guy… I hope he didn’t really enter a Gate.’

But somehow, given Byutek’s personality, he didn’t think he would have entered a Gate.

‘If that guy entered a Gate… he definitely would have reported to me beforehand that he was going to enter a Gate.’

Still, given that they had searched this much and couldn’t sense Byutek’s presence, there was a chance Byutek was in a Gate.

Therefore, Khan and Sharin passed through the last remaining northern City Wall of Erindel and ventured as far inward as possible.

“Sharin, you don’t sense anything here either?”

“Yes… Nothing at all.”

“Hmm, I see.”

There happened to be a decent Gate in the north of Erindel.

The Monsters there were powerful creatures called ‘Venomous Scorpions,’ which were Level 100.

‘Venomous Scorpions are among the most troublesome Level 100 Monsters, so if Byutek went in, he’d be slaughtered. I have a bad feeling about this….’

If Byutek really entered that Gate, he would be dead.

‘I need to go check quickly.’

Khan and Sharin had already been flying north for quite a while, so that Gate happened to be nearby.

“Sharin, follow me.”

“Yes!”

Thanks to the Flight Magic Sharin was using, the two could quickly reach the location of the Gate.

“Check inside here too, Sharin.”

“……You don’t think… right?”

“Probably not. But it’s good to check for sure, so let’s go in.”

“Yes!”

With a worried expression, Sharin stepped into the Gate alongside Khan.

As the two entered the Gate, an intense heat enveloped them.

The middle of a scorching desert with nothing around.

That seemed to be the Dungeon’s interior setting.

A moment later.

Venomous Scorpions hiding in the desert sand began to emerge from the ground.

[LV.100 Venomous Scorpion]

About two meters in size, somewhat creepy-looking creatures.

From the large venomous stinger on their tails, purple venom dripped drop by drop.

“Sharin, handle them.”

“Yes!”

Whoooosh…!!

Kukukukoom…!!!!!

A massive Sphere of Mana instantly formed above Sharin’s head, and from it, Mana Bullets shot out.

The Venomous Scorpions that had revealed themselves died in an instant.

It took less than five minutes to Exterminate all the Monsters.

‘Her skills have increased tremendously. Her utilization of Mana is no joke.’

Sharin, who had taken down Level 100 Venomous Scorpions in the blink of an eye using only Mana without even casting Magic, let out a sigh of relief and exclaimed.

“Whew, thankfully, I don’t sense Byutek oppa’s presence here!”

“Good, then let’s go out.”

“Yes!”

The two immediately exited.

Just in case, Khan quickly checked his Status Window.

◈ LV.89

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 19140/19140

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Experience Points: 1.1%

◈ Skills: (10★)Sage’s Heart, (8★)Growth Acceleration, (1★)Arrow, (1★)Barrier, (2★)Fire Boom, (2★)Fireball, (2★)Mirror Defense, (2★)Mana Enhancement, (1★)Wind Cutter, (3★)Dragon’s Breath, (4★)Mana Circulation, (4★)Power Amplification, (4★)Space-Time Leap, (5★)Dark Flame, (1★)Wind Drill, (4★)Flame Curtain

His Experience Points had increased by a mere 0.1%.

‘As expected, reaching Level 90 before the tournament is impossible.’

At this point, it seemed best to cleanly give up on Level 90.

“Sharin, we’ll keep heading north. If we go further inland, we might sense Byutek’s presence.”

“Understood!”

Khan and Sharin quickly headed north, and after a while.

“Huh…? Master, I sense Byutek oppa’s presence! No, I sense someone else’s presence too?”

“Where is it?”

“J-just a moment!”

At the mention of sensing someone else’s presence, Khan asked urgently.

Sharin immediately expanded her Sensory Perception to confirm the location.

“It’s a place with lots of rocks…? Like a rocky mountain!”

“Hold onto me, Sharin.”

“Yes!”

Not only Byutek’s but also someone else’s presence was sensed.

There was a chance Byutek was being threatened by someone.

‘If it’s the rocky mountain north of Erindel… I’ve been there before.’

When he first came to Erindel, he had explored the nearby areas once, so he should be able to use ‘Space-Time Leap’ even to the rocky mountain.

Without delay, Khan used the ‘Space-Time Leap’ Skill.