Chapter 58

Вуutеk rummаging through his pаnts tо рull sоmеthing out.

Khan wаtсhed Bуutek’s hands with subtlе аntiсiраtiоn.

Swish.

What Bуutek pullеd frоm his pаnts wаs а sрhеricаl item burning with rеd flames.

“It’s аn itеm I’vе nеver seеn befоre. It’s cleаrlу on fire, but it’s not hot, аnd it wоn’t go out. I put it in my pосket, and the fire didn’t sprеаd either.”

“…Вyutеk.”

Кhаn’s еxpression, uрon cоnfirming thе itеm Byutеk hаd tаken out, lоoked сolder than evеr.

‘Did I bring sоmething strangе…?! Нe sеems reаlly angry…’

Sеeing Кhаn’s cold exprеssion, Вуutеk felt unnеcessаrilу tеnse, as if hе had mаdе а mistаkе.

Tар.

Тhen, Кhаn placed a hand on Byutek’s shoulder.

“Good work. This is an item called a Hellfire Soul, which can be obtained very rarely from Cerberus. It’s extremely precious. If it weren’t for you, I would have almost left it behind.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Since you found it, you should keep it.”

Having confirmed it was truly Cerberus’s Hellfire Soul, Khan felt a slight pang of regret.

‘It’s a bit of a shame, but since Byutek found it himself, it’s better to just give it to him.’

The Hellfire Soul is used as an incredibly good material when crafting Artifacts.

If that non-extinguishing flame is properly melted and absorbed into an Artifact, it can grant options like autonomously manifesting Mana or increasing the Mana Capacity Stat.

‘In the game, it was often traded at high prices. Who would have thought I’d get it like this…’

Since Byutek keeping the Hellfire Soul didn’t mean giving it to someone else, Khan decided to cleanly relinquish ownership.

Later, he could have a blacksmith infuse the Hellfire Soul into Byutek’s sword to enhance his combat power.

Anyway, an increase in combat power was a benefit for Khan.

“What are you saying! No matter how precious this item is or that I found it, this rightfully belongs to you, Sir Khan!”

“…?”

As Byutek shouted with a serious expression, Khan looked at him with a face that asked why he was acting like this.

“I… realized through this incident that I am still far from adequate. I couldn’t even leave a scratch on a creature like Cerberus…! I was ashamed of myself for becoming arrogant after getting a little stronger…! Originally, it was you, Sir Khan, who defeated Cerberus, so this item rightfully belongs to you. Please accept it.”

“No, even so…”

“If you won’t accept it… I’ll just destroy it.”

Byutek’s sudden outburst was sincere.

He suddenly clenched the hand holding the Hellfire Soul tightly and began to exert force.

‘This crazy bastard.’

Seeing this, Khan urgently shouted.

“Alright. Give it here.”

“Here you go.”

“…Now go inside and rest.”

“What have I done to deserve rest? I’ll just go train in the courtyard.”

“Well… do as you please.”

Khan placed the Cerberus’s Hellfire Soul received from Byutek into his Spatial Pocket.

‘From now on, it’s going to get really tough…’

He thought to himself as he watched Byutek swinging his sword alone in the courtyard.

While defeating Cerberus, both Byutek and Sharin reached Level 30.

In <Geo Arc>, many people usually quit the game starting from Level 30, precisely because the difficulty of leveling up increases exponentially from 30 onwards.

‘Well, Sharin should be fine… but I wonder about Byutek.’

Byutek was originally an NPC who should have been dead by now, so even Khan couldn’t know how much Talent he had or how far he could grow.

Still, there was no reason to stop him since he was working hard, so Khan left him and entered the mansion.

They had to depart in an hour, so he intended to get some rest.

* * *

One hour later.

Khan’s party arrived at the city wall exit of Selenad in a carriage led by the coachman.

“Thank you!”

“We are truly grateful for saving Selenad!”

“We will consider you, Sir Khan, our lifelong benefactor!”

“You are the savior of our city!! We sincerely thank you!!!”

The citizens who came to see them off expressed their gratitude towards the carriage Khan was riding in.

And right in front of the city wall exit stood Kail, the mayor of Selenad, and her daughter, bowing their heads as if they were criminals.

“We sincerely thank you once again for saving our Selenad! Maya, quickly!”

“I, I’m sorry…. I… will truly come to my senses, stop bullying the commoners, and live righteously. Thank you so much for forgiving me!”

“Alright. If you had continued living like that, you would have been killed by someone else, not me.”

“…I will live my life remembering the words you, Sir Mage, have spoken…!”

Khan, without getting off the carriage, looked at the two and then signaled the coachman to depart again.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

The carriage carrying Khan’s party passed through the city wall exit and gradually grew distant.

Kail, Maya, and the citizens of Selenad stood there until their figures completely disappeared.

* * *

Already over six hours had passed since they departed from Selenad towards Asmar.

“We’ll camp here today.”

“Yes! Sir Khan, but are you planning to stop by Viscount Buttner in Seldridas?”

“He’ll hear the news in a few days at the latest anyway. There’s no need to waste time.”

“Understood!”

And so, Khan’s party had a quick meal provided by the coachman and camped.

Perhaps because they traveled quite fast without rest.

Khan’s party was able to arrive in Asmar in just a week.

“Wow…! Is this Asmar? It’s completely surrounded by mountains even more than Selenad?”

“I’ve never seen a city like this before. If a landslide were to occur, it seems like it would cause significant damage…”

Sharin and Byutek murmured in amazement as they looked at Asmar, surrounded by mountains.

For Khan, seeing the city he had only seen on a monitor in person like this felt novel.

‘It is fascinating.’

Khan had two reasons for coming to Asmar this time.

“Hehe… Aren’t you excited too, Sir Byutek?”

“Ahem…! I’m not a child, why are you so happy about something like that!”

“Hey, looking at your expression, you’re excited too, Sir Byutek! Well. Since Master said he would have good Artifacts made for us too, how could we not be happy!”

“I, I… am just grateful to Sir Khan…!”

Judging by Byutek’s expression, he seemed quite excited too.

During the journey to Asmar, Khan had told them his purpose was to have Artifacts suitable for each of them made.

Actually, having Artifacts made and crafted was an additional element.

He had originally planned to visit Asmar, but his main objective changed due to a suddenly appearing Hidden Quest.

‘Phew, now the question is how to find the Hidden Skill in Asmar…’

Grrr…

Just then, a very small sound came from Khan’s stomach.

After camping continuously for a week and having quick meals, he was quite hungry.

“Let’s go eat first.”

“Yes!”

“Good idea!”

Thanks to Viscount Buttner’s seal, the three were able to quickly pass through the checkpoint and enter the city.

The three headed straight for the restaurant they saw in front of them.

* * *

The city of Asmar, surrounded on all sides by large mountain ranges.

Despite being a city on the frontier, Asmar was a place frequently visited by adventurers from the Kingdom’s capital region.

They came to commission weapon and armor crafting from Asmar’s skilled blacksmiths and alchemists or to purchase decent Artifacts.

“Is this the Asmar I’ve only heard rumors about?”

“Looking at the map, it seems right? The description says it’s a small city surrounded by mountains. It’s probably correct.”

“It’s too small, though…”

The man standing in front of Asmar’s checkpoint was Belbek, a renowned Mage from Rexion, one of the cities in the capital region of the Kingdom of Sinsiniel.

And the one looking at the map was a Mage named Serina.

There were many powerful Mages in Rexion, precisely because one of the five Magic Towers, the Blue Magic Tower, was located there.

<Geo Arc> has a total of five Magic Towers.

Red Magic Tower, Gray Magic Tower, Blue Magic Tower, Yellow Magic Tower, Green Magic Tower.

The towers where elites with tremendous Talent entered were three: the Red, Gray, and Blue Magic Towers.

Among them, the Blue Magic Tower was the least skilled, but it was still one of the three major towers.

Serina, still observing Asmar’s checkpoint and city from afar, spoke again.

“Hmm, but… it seems there aren’t as many outsiders as I thought? I only see trashy people?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Is a treasure really hidden in a city like this?”

“Well, we might still be able to buy a decent Artifact since we’re here~ Let’s go check it out first!”

“Alright.”

Serina, with a nonchalant expression, eased Belbek’s mood and headed towards the checkpoint.

When they actually went forward, the line at the checkpoint was quite long.

The two quietly stood at the back of the line and waited for their turn.

“Hey, you guys! This spot was reserved by us earlier!”

“……”

But suddenly, three men with menacing faces approached them and shouted.

“Hey, those bastards look scared! We’ll let it slide this time, so just stand there!”

“Hahaha! Idiot bastards.”

They were men who openly looked down on Belbek and Serina because of their small stature.

They were mercenaries belonging to a fairly well-known mercenary group within the city.

With muscular builds and menacing faces, others watching couldn’t say anything to them.

But then.

Snap.

When Belbek flicked his middle finger and thumb, suddenly lightning struck above their heads.

Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle!!!

Boom-boom-boom-BOOM!!!!!

The bodies of the three men, who had been snickering just moments ago, fell charred black.

All three died instantly.

“Eek…!”

“A, a Mage…!”

“What, suddenly…!”

Due to the sudden commotion, a checkpoint guard quickly ran towards the two.

“What happened?! Huh, huff…! What…!”

“These guys started trouble first. They cut in line. Since it’s come to this, can we go in first?”

Belbek showed his identification card proving his affiliation with the Blue Magic Tower.

“Y, you are Mages from the Blue Magic Tower…! Of course! We sincerely welcome you to Asmar! Inside the city, it would be a bit troublesome if you cause a commotion like this… Please resolve things through conversation.”

“Will do.”

Belbek and Serina stepped over the three charred, fallen men and entered the city.