Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Fivе minutеs аftеr Khan bеgаn digging, а рurе white light began tо sеep thrоugh the soil.
Нiddеn Skills wеrе аlwаys cоnceаlеd in plасеs whеrе such а purе white light seереd оut, so Khаn was сertain he hаd сorrectly fоund thе Hidden Skill.
‘Good.’
Khаn рlanned to find the Hiddеn Skills hiddеn all ovеr the wоrld аs quiсklу as possible.
‘It’s еntirely роssiblе that othеrs bеsidеs me havе enterеd the game.’
If therе wеre othеr рeоple frоm reality whо had еntеred this game world besidеs Khаn, thеу might alsо be seаrсhing fоr Hidden Skills sоmewhеrе right nоw.
Just likе Кhan wаs dоing.
‘If thеre аrе others besides me who have entered the game, I’m not sure how I’d even find out.’
Even if he met someone from Earth in this world, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell they were from Earth.
Khan had only been in this world for just over a month now, but he had already perfectly adapted.
‘Well, I adapted quickly thanks to the ‘Sage’s Heart’… but the others would have adapted on their own if they didn’t want to die.’
As Khan had these various thoughts and continued digging, before he knew it, a dazzlingly bright white light began to flow from the ground.
“Sir Khan, it’s dangerous!!”
“Master! Please step back for now!”
It seemed the others could now see the sudden, surging white light erupting from the ground.
Byutek and Sharin urgently shouted and began running towards him.
“Stay where you are.”
“Huh…? B-but…!”
“If you stay still, the light will fade, so just stay there.”
“Ah… Yes!”
Khan himself almost panicked for a moment, but he stopped the two before Byutek and Sharin could approach the white light.
The first person to reach out to the white light would obtain the Hidden Skill, so to prevent any unfortunate accidents, it was better to stop them from approaching.
Tap.
Khan reached his hand toward the source of the white light.
Sluuurp.
As Khan’s hand touched the light, all the white light was sucked in, and soon a message appeared before his eyes.
[You have acquired the Hidden Skill ‘Mirror Defense’.]
Seeing the message before his eyes, a smile naturally formed on Khan’s face inside.
The Rank 2 Hidden Skill ‘Mirror Defense’ was called Rank 2, but in a way, it was a skill comparable to a Rank 9 skill.
Khan immediately checked the Skill Effect of ‘Mirror Defense’.
[Skill: Mirror Defense]
-
Skill Rank: Rank 2
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Skill Description: Creates a defensive barrier using an unknown power that blocks any attack. Can absorb the blocked attack and use it identically.
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Cooldown: 240 hours
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Mana Consumption: X
The reason Khan stopped by Hugo Village, putting aside the Hidden Quest.
It was precisely because of this overwhelmingly game-breaking ‘Mirror Defense’ skill.
‘As expected, it’s still an absurd skill even when seen again.’
‘Mirror Defense’ was the skill that could block attacks from monsters over Level 100 or those with instant-death moves.
The reason ‘Mirror Defense’ was even more game-breaking was that it could absorb any blocked attack and use it identically.
‘Tsk, I wish the ‘Sage’s Heart’ would completely eliminate the cooldown, but as expected…’
Among the additional effects of the Rank 10 Hidden Skill ‘Sage’s Heart’ that Khan possessed, there was an effect that reduced the cooldown of all skills.
Unfortunately, however, this wasn’t a cure-all.
[Due to the effect of ‘Sage’s Heart’, the cooldown of the ‘Mirror Defense’ skill is reduced by 90%.]
Among the skills existing in the game, there were those with cooldowns exceeding 24 hours.
Usually, the performance of such skills was absurdly excellent, probably made that way for balance.
‘Of course, if you think about being able to use ‘Mirror Defense’ even once a day… for me, it’s definitely a game-breaking skill.’
The reason the ‘Mirror Defense’ skill was only Rank 2 was probably due to its long 240-hour cooldown.
However, for Khan, the cooldown was only 24 hours, so at least for him, it was an ability on par with a Rank 9 Hidden Skill.
“Sir Khan, are you alright…?!”
“I’m fine, let’s go down now. Ah, you have the ‘Griffin’s Horn’, right?”
“Of course!”
He had previously instructed Byutek to take care of the ‘Griffin’s Horn’ in advance, and it seemed he had done well.
“We’ll definitely need it later, so keep it safe.”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go down now.”
They had defeated the Griffin and even obtained a Hidden Skill, so there was no more business in Hugo Village.
After Sharin cast Levitation Magic on Khan again, the three began quickly descending the rocky mountain range.
Following closely behind, the adventurers of the Bellop Guild recalled the moment the Griffin was defeated earlier as they watched Khan’s retreating figure.
‘He’s truly an incredible Mage…!’
‘Who would have thought a Mage with this level of skill actually existed…’
Roan and Teo still couldn’t forget the Flame Explosion Khan had unleashed toward the Griffin.
They say you see what you know.
Bellop, the Guild Master of the Bellop Guild, being Level 15, could roughly gauge how much Magic and Mana Khan had shown earlier.
He whispered softly to Roan and Teo beside him.
“You two, when we reach the village, go kneel before Sir Khan and apologize.”
“Ah… understood.”
“Of course we should…”
Remembering what Roan and Teo had done to Khan while waiting for inspection at the entrance of Hugo Village, it was a wonder Khan hadn’t killed them.
They say truly skilled Mages are emotionless enough to kill people without mercy.
The adventurers of the Bellop Guild knew this fact, so they wanted to go kneel before Khan and apologize right now, even at this moment.
Because he might kill them without anyone knowing when leaving Hugo Village.
‘It seems he used us to find a guide for the rocky mountain range… Surely he wouldn’t do that, right?’
Bellop chased quickly after Khan’s back with such uneasy thoughts.
* * *
Upon descending the rocky mountain range and arriving at Hugo Village, all the villagers, including the Village Chief, had come out to greet them.
“Ohh, that’s the ‘Griffin’s Horn’! We sincerely thank you for saving our Hugo Village!!”
“Haha, I didn’t really do anything! It was all done by Sir Khan, whom I serve, so thank Sir Khan.”
When Byutek said that, Bellop, standing behind him, also spoke up.
“That’s right. We only held Sir Khan back… We actually didn’t do anything.”
“Th… that’s right! Thanks to Archmage Sir Khan, we barely survived what could have been death by the Griffin!”
“Thank you, Sir Khan!!”
But suddenly, Teo and Roan also shouted, bowing deeply to Khan.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!!”
“Thank you, Sir Khan!!”
“Sincerely… thank you…!!”
Starting with Roan and Teo, the gathered villagers began bowing their heads one by one, expressing their gratitude to Khan.
Among them, an old man approached, grasped Khan’s hand, and even shed tears.
“Thank you…. Truly, thank you, Sir Khan…!”
“……”
Nothing particular came to Khan’s mind to say, so he stood still, looking at the old man.
Since entering the game, perhaps due to the ‘Sage’s Heart’ skill, Khan’s emotions did not waver greatly even in such a situation.
‘An emotionless… Mage-like state.’
When playing the game, looking at the Mage class introduction or other Mage NPCs, most were described as lacking emotion, and Khan was exactly like that now.
‘It’s better to always maintain this composure than to act foolishly in a near-death situation.’
Having that thought, Khan slowly opened his mouth to depart.
“Byutek, let’s go now. What’s the coachman doing?”
“Ah! He’s probably at the inn, I’ll go get him right away!”
Byutek ran to the inn to find the coachman.
Hearing this, Adrian, the Village Chief of Hugo Village, approached Khan and handed him a large pouch.
“This is our repayment from me and the villagers. It’s a pitifully insufficient amount compared to saving the village… but please use it well.”
“Thank you.”
Khan received the money pouch; it was quite heavy, containing a considerable amount.
‘All Gold Coins.’
Combining the money obtained from Grodek and the money received now, it seemed he could buy a fairly useful Artifact when going to Eldrida.
A short while later, Byutek, who had gone to find the coachman, arrived where Khan was in a carriage.
“Sharin, let’s go.”
“Yes!!”
Thus, Khan’s party immediately left Hugo Village as soon as they boarded the carriage.
The adventurers of the Bellop Guild plopped down as they watched Khan’s carriage gradually moving away.
“Tha, thank goodness…”
“Phew… We won’t die, it seems…”
“He’s not waiting outside the village, is he?”
“Surely not…”
They resolved to stay in Hugo Village for at least a week before leaving.
* * *
Two days had already passed since Khan’s party left Hugo Village and headed for Eldrida.
“How much longer now?”
“If we continue at this speed, we should arrive around lunchtime tomorrow.”
Hearing the coachman’s answer, Khan looked at Sharin, who was still reading a Magic Tome sitting across from him.
“Ah, Master! I think I can use ‘Fire Ball’ now too!”
“……Impressive.”
“Hehe… Compared to Master, I still have a long way to go. Would you like to see?”
It was surprising that Sharin could already use Magic after reading the ‘Fire Ball’ Magic Tome for only two days.
‘Is it that talented Mages can learn just by reading Magic Tomes like this?’
Khan couldn’t properly know that fact because he used separately obtained Hidden Skills.
“Here! I’ll show you!”
Vroooom…!!
Sharin immediately began drawing up Mana and reciting the incantation.
Then.
Whoosh…!
A small, crimson red flame sphere rose above Sharin’s hand.
It was still a bit small and lacking to be called a ‘Fire Ball’.
“It’s definitely this, but why is it so small? The Magic Tome clearly says you can create a flame sphere larger than an adult man’s fist…”
“You’ll improve quickly with practice.”
In reality, Magic skills improved the more you used them.
Because a Mage NPC had said that when he was playing the game.
“Can’t you show me, Master? I think I’d get a proper feel if I saw you use it.”
“……”
Khan couldn’t use ‘Fire Ball’.
He didn’t even possess the ‘Fire Ball’ skill in the first place, so how could he use it?
‘There’s a similar ‘Fireball’… but if I use it here, the entire carriage will burn up.’
So, Khan was about to tell Sharin he couldn’t, but.
“Stop!!!”
“Get down, all of you, you bastards! Haha!!”
“Get down quickly if you don’t want to die!”
A rough voice was heard from outside, and the coachman shouted in a frightened voice.
“Si, Sir Khan! They’re bandits…!”
“Ah, get down for now.”
“Yes…!”
Perfect opponents to test ‘Fireball’ on had appeared.
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Bandits… get toasted