Chapter 50

Кhаn сlоsed his eуеs fоr а mоment and reсаlled evеnts from the раst.

То bе рrecisе, he reсаlled Shаrin, whоm hе hаd mеt in the tоwer lаter while рlауing <Gеo Arс> to dеfeat the finаl bоss.

[LV.291 Archmage Shаrin]

Тhe NPC Sharin he hаd mеt inside the Magic Тоwer had bеcоmе а trulу formidable Arсhmage, diffеrеnt frоm when he hаd mеt hеr beforе.

And while рrogressing through her quеsts within thе Magiс Тowеr, he cоuld also leаrn a bit аbоut how she had becоme sо strоng sо quicklу.

‘Hmm, we dеfinitеlу met in Grodеk a fеw уеаrs аgo, right? Аh! Ноw did I beсоme this strong? It turns out I had tremendous magical talent!’

‘Mana? Hmm… I’ve never once been short on Mana, and I could just use new Magic by imagining it? This might sound like bragging, but it only took me a week to comprehend Magic of all attributes.’

Khan had particularly remembered Sharin’s words while progressing through the quests back then.

‘I thought if I could raise such an overpowered Character, I could easily defeat the boss….’

Opening his eyes, Khan could see a dazzling light unfolding deep within the desolate forest.

Oooom…!!!

Swoooooooooosh!!!

Platinum-colored Mana spread out in all directions from Sharin’s body, annihilating all the Skeletons within the forest.

“K-Khan, Sir…! I’ll show you my skills too!”

“Stay still. There’s nothing for you to do anyway.”

“Th-that’s…”

Byutek, who had impressively taken down Skeletons earlier, had wanted to use this opportunity to show Khan how much stronger he had become, but it seemed the chance wouldn’t come.

‘No, if I step in here unnecessarily, I’ll just be compared to Sharin…. I should stay still for now.’

Byutek watched blankly from behind, mouth agape in astonishment, as Sharin annihilated the Skeletons.

Oooom…!!!

As another brilliant light of Mana surged fiercely from Sharin’s body, Khan could check the message that appeared before his eyes.

[Your Level has increased.]

[Your Level has increased.]

Khan himself had merely given Sharin a few pieces of advice and had done nothing, yet his Level increased by 2 at once.

‘This is what Auto Hunt is.’

Defeating Skeletons wasn’t particularly difficult for the current Khan either.

However, honestly speaking, defeating all the Skeletons in the desolate forest was nearly impossible.

For one, Khan couldn’t use Light Attribute Magic like Sharin.

‘As expected, Sharin is a genius.’

Khan felt a bit dumbfounded looking at the Level above Sharin’s head.

[LV.29 Mage Sharin]

Sharin’s Level had originally been almost similar to Khan’s, but just by defeating the Skeletons in the desolate forest, her Level had nearly doubled in a leap.

‘As expected… NPCs Level up much more easily than regular Users.’

The reason Sharin’s Level rose so quickly was probably because she had gained a great enlightenment regarding Magic.

Looking at the Level displayed above Sharin’s head, Khan felt a bit envious, but he quickly erased such feelings completely.

‘The stronger Sharin becomes, the better it is for me.’

Given the nature of <Geo Arc>, Auto Hunt would likely be possible continuously in the future.

It meant Khan could become stronger easily and quickly without doing anything.

“Wow… As expected, learning from you, Master, makes me feel it quickly! I did well, right?”

Surprisingly, Sharin showed no signs of fatigue at all and approached Khan with a smile.

“……It’s your outstanding Talent.”

“No! It’s because you, Master, explained things so clearly and well!”

“Well, think as you please.”

Khan had gained a considerable amount of Experience Points by defeating the hundreds of Skeletons in the desolate forest.

The biggest reason he had come to the desolate forest located north of Selenad was because of his 8th Rank Hidden Skill, ‘Growth Acceleration’.

‘‘Growth Acceleration’ isn’t a Growth-Type Skill?’

Even if it wasn’t a Growth-Type Skill, he thought hidden Skill Effects might appear as he gained Experience Points by defeating Monsters, but that wasn’t the case either.

‘Or maybe this amount of Experience Points is still insufficient.’

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense for an 8th Rank Skill like ‘Growth Acceleration’ to have only a 100% Experience Points increase as its effect.

For example, other 8th Rank Hidden Skills could incinerate a small village in one go with a single use.

An 8th Rank Skill possesses the power to annihilate dozens of creatures like Cerberus, who reign as tyrants in Mana Crystal Mines, in one strike.

‘There must be other hidden effects of the Skill, or the possibility of it being a Growth-Type Skill remains.’

Convinced of this, Khan was about to tell Sharin and Byutek to return to the city.

But then.

Clatter. Clatter.

Oooom…!!

Suddenly, from far away, a creature twice the size of the ordinary Skeletons he had seen so far was charging at high speed.

The identity of the creature twice the size was the ‘Skeleton Warrior’.

A Monster that appears with a very low probability in the desolate forest, it is a fairly strong Monster with a Level of 20.

“Sir Khan! Leave this one to me!”

Swish!

Byutek finally realized it was his turn to shine and immediately drew his Greatsword swiftly, gripping it with both hands.

Then, Byutek quickly charged at the Skeleton Warrior.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

Contrary to his large build, his speed was quite fast, and Byutek intended to behead the Skeleton Warrior with a single strike.

But then.

Suddenly, something made of pure white Mana flew past Byutek’s side at an incredible speed.

Fwoosh!!!!

Sharin had fired a Mana Arrow made of light Mana from behind.

The Skeleton Warrior hit by the Light Attribute Mana Arrow quickly disintegrated.

At that moment, Khan could check a new message that appeared before his eyes.

A message even Khan, a veteran of <Geo Arc>, was seeing for the first time in his life.

[The Level of the 8th Rank Hidden Skill ‘Growth Acceleration’ has increased, unlocking a new Skill Effect.]

The Skeleton Warrior is a Level 20 Monster that provides a considerable amount of Experience Points when defeated.

Thanks to that, it was confirmed that the ‘Growth Acceleration’ Skill was a Growth-Type Skill.

“Ugh…! Sharin! You should have left this one for me!”

“Ah! I’m sorry. I acted instinctively without thinking….”

“Sigh….”

While Byutek and Sharin were having a trivial conversation, Khan checked the effect of the ‘Growth Acceleration’ Skill, which had grown by one stage.

[Skill: Growth Acceleration]

• Skill Rank: 8th Rank

• Skill Description: Experience Points gained are increased by 200%.

The Skill Effect of ‘Growth Acceleration’ didn’t have anything particularly new added, but the effect had changed significantly.

‘A 200% increase in Experience Points… That’s quite a big jump.’

Honestly, even for an 8th Rank Hidden Skill, this still felt a bit lacking.

However, given the nature of <Geo Arc> where Leveling up is difficult, this was still a fairly good Skill.

‘And as I gain more Experience Points, it will continue to evolve further.’

Since Growth-Type Skills can evolve a total of 5 times, it meant there were still 4 more Skill upgrades remaining.

“Stop talking and let’s return to the city.”

“Ahh…! Yes, Sir Khan! Next time, I’ll definitely show you how much I’ve changed!”

“Yes!”

Khan’s party quickly returned to Selenad.

* * *

A rather luxurious-looking Carriage stopped before the City Gate of Selenad.

“Sir Zenos, we have arrived at Selenad. There will be an inspection, so I think you’ll need to disembark for a moment.”

The Coachman pulling the Carriage cautiously spoke to the man named Zenos riding in the Carriage.

“Inspection? You mean the ones who requested help don’t even know I’m coming?”

“It seems it’s because it’s a city located on the Frontier…”

“Tch, annoying.”

The man named Zenos riding in the Carriage slowly got off.

Flutter.

Zenos was a rather tall man, wearing a large green cloak.

On the cloak was depicted a large, man-eating monster-like creature—the very symbol of the Green Magic Tower.

As Zenos got off the Carriage, the inspectors hurriedly ran up to him.

“Oh my, it’s a Sir Mage from the Green Magic Tower! I’m so sorry for not recognizing you! The Mayor is waiting, so you may enter right away!”

“Tch, do your jobs properly.”

“Ah… Y-yes! Sorry!”

Zenos got back into the Carriage and immediately passed through the City Gate, entering the city.

He soon arrived at the residence of Selenad’s Mayor, Kail.

From the entrance of the residence, Kail himself came out to greet Zenos.

“Haha! You must have had a long and tiring journey. I am Kail, the Mayor of Selenad. You must be tired, so why don’t you bathe and rest first.”

“I am Zenos. You probably know the details from Bist without me having to say them. Where will I be staying?”

“There is a separate building not too far from here. You can stay there during your time in Selenad.”

“Where is Bist? I want to meet Bist first. Guide me to where he is.”

“Ah, yes!”

This man, who was half-disdaining the Mayor of Selenad, possessed strength commensurate with such behavior.

Zenos, after receiving contact from Bist, stopped everything he was doing and immediately rushed to Selenad to defeat the Cerberus that had appeared in the Mana Crystal Mine.

‘If I defeat Cerberus… I can obtain the ‘Hellfire Soul’ I’ve been searching for so long.’

The ‘Hellfire Soul’, a very important Material for the Artifact he was creating at the Green Magic Tower.

The Hellfire Soul is an item that drops with a very low probability when Cerberus is defeated.

However, since the number of Cerberus individuals is so low, the Hellfire Soul has become an equally precious item.

Zenos, guided by a servant, arrived at the separate building where Bist was staying.

As he entered, he happened to run into Bist, who was just coming out.

“Sir Zenos! You’ve come!! Thank you so much!”

Bist, upon seeing Zenos, shouted with a very pleased expression.

However, Zenos spoke with an annoyed expression.

“When is the Cerberus Subjugation? I want to go immediately, like tomorrow.”

“Ah, about that…”

Actually, Bist wasn’t that close with his Seonbae from the Magic Tower, Zenos.

Why would Zenos, a 2nd Circle Mage, bother being friendly with Bist, a 1st Circle Mage?

Bist had called him here because he knew Zenos was looking for Cerberus.

‘Khan, I didn’t expect that guy to come…! But by using Sir Zenos, I can get my revenge on him.’

Bist wore a sinister smile inwardly and opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Well… there’s actually a problem. There are others targeting the Cerberus.”

“What?”

Zenos’s expression instantly twisted upon hearing Bist’s words.

He had come a long way to obtain the Cerberus’s Hellfire Soul he had been searching for so eagerly.

So, it was only natural to be angry at the mention of unexpected intruders.