Chapter 60

А mаn аnd wоman weаring bluе rоbеs.

Dеspite their sоmеwhat uncоmfortablе аttirе, thе twо wеre travеrsing the rugged mоuntаin rangеs оf Аsmаr.

“Вelbеk, yоu definitelу sаid this wаs thе last onе, right?”

“No, thеre’s one mоrе left.”

“What…?! Ugh, I’m so annоуed I could go crаzу. How did we end going thrоugh аll this trouble bеcаusе оf thаt ridiculous map…?”

Аs Serina shоutеd with а deeрlу furrоwed eхpressiоn, Belbek reрliеd coldlу withоut anу changе in his exprеssion.

“It wоn’t bе much longer, so follоw quietlу.”

“Sеriоusly! Yоu should be grаtеful I сame аlong with уоu! I оnlу сamе bесausе Мaster said to go together just in case.”

“In return, didn’t we agree to share whatever we find?”

“Well, that’s true but…”

Serina gave up on conversing with Belbek any further.

The more she talked with this cold-blooded man, the angrier she seemed to get.

The Blue Magic Tower located in Rexion was quite far from Asmar.

The reason Belbek and Serina had come here was because of a treasure map they had coincidentally found in the Blue Magic Tower.

The map was labeled Asmar, and the terrain of Asmar was drawn in considerable detail.

Ten X marks drawn between the mountain ranges of Asmar.

She suspected those were the hidden treasures.

But they had already struck out on eight of them.

Over the past two days, they had thoroughly searched seven locations, but not only did they find no treasure, they didn’t even find any decent items.

‘From the start, what could possibly be found on a map discovered by chance inside a Magic Tower…’

She was a person with a fairly humane personality even within the Blue Magic Tower.

That’s because her personality had been exceptionally good even before she seriously began learning magic.

‘I’m seriously tempted to just knock him out and forcibly drag him back.’

Serina stared at Belbek’s back, a few steps ahead of her, and genuinely contemplated it.

If she subtly used Stun Magic, she could easily subdue him in his defenseless state.

Whoosh.

At that moment, Belbek turned around and looked at Serina.

“If you have time to whine, come a little faster. We need to find it quickly if we want to go back, don’t we?”

“Seriously~ Fine.”

Serina’s plan to knock out Belbek and return to the Magic Tower was foiled just like that.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the location of the ninth treasure Belbek had found.

“Are we in the right place? I don’t see anything here either?”

“I’ll check.”

Hummm…!

As soon as Belbek finished speaking, a blue Mana momentarily surged from his body.

Transparent, blue-tinged Mana instantly enveloped Belbek’s entire body.

The rising Mana then scattered in all directions.

“……There’s truly nothing here. Another dead end.”

“Sigh…! Let’s just go back now! Huh?!”

“This is the last one. We should check just in case.”

“You’re really stupid. So stupid. Ugh, seriously…!”

Serina raised her fist and pretended to hit him, but Belbek ignored her and walked past.

“Ugh… I’m coming!”

For a moment, she stared at Belbek’s back, thinking about knocking him out this time, but she let it go.

Now there was only one X mark left on the map, so they should be able to return to the Magic Tower within the day.

Serina quickly chased after Belbek.

Roughly two hours later, the two arrived at the location where the final treasure was hidden.

“Huh, what the…!”

To be precise, the location marked with an X was visible in the distance, but a problem had arisen.

“It’s those guys from back then.”

Belbek and Serina spotted three people standing in the distance.

They were the ones they had encountered in front of the restaurant two days ago, and they were quite memorable.

A Knight who looked skilled at a glance, and a Mage with excellent Mana.

And the small-statured man with pale white skin gave off a strange feeling.

‘I can’t sense any Mana from him, but for some reason, I get the feeling he might be around my level.’

As unlikely as it was, Belbek wondered if perhaps that man was a Mage more skilled than himself.

If he were an Archmage of the Blue Magic Tower, someone on the level of his Master, it would be possible to conceal one’s Mana.

‘There’s no way someone like that would be in this rural town.’

Belbek, who had momentarily had an absurd thought, opened his mouth.

“The location marked on the map is over there.”

“What? Don’t tell me they’re also looking for treasure like us…?”

“We’ll find out if we go.”

Hummm…!!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Mana surged from Belbek’s body for a moment and then vanished in an instant.

It was Belbek’s magic, rapidly utilizing Mana to accelerate his physical abilities.

Whoosh.

In the blink of an eye, Belbek appeared before Khan’s group.

To Khan’s group, it seemed as if Belbek had Teleported or instantly moved from the far distance.

That overwhelming speed.

“Who are you?”

He looked at Khan and spoke with a cold expression.

* * *

‘Why the hell are those bastards here…?!’

The two guys wearing blue robes.

Under normal circumstances, they absolutely shouldn’t be here.

[LV.86 Mage Belbek]

[LV.84 Mage Serina]

The Level and name floating above their heads.

Khan’s current Level was in the early 20s, while their Levels were in the 80s.

They were truly nothing short of a disaster for the current Khan.

‘Why on earth are these guys wandering around here…?’

Khan subtly shifted his gaze and looked at the ground shimmering with a blue light.

To be precise, there was a large rock on the ground, and a blue light was seeping out from between the rocks.

He suspected that if they lifted the rock and dug into the ground, a Hidden Skill might be hidden inside.

‘The blue light is only visible to my eyes, so there’s no way they know the exact location of the Hidden Skill.’

Or perhaps they were just passing by coincidentally.

Although, intuitively, it didn’t seem that way.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, Belbek appeared before Khan’s eyes.

“Who are you?”

Instant movement? Or Teleport?

Though flustered, perhaps thanks to the ‘Sage’s Heart’, words casually sprang from Khan’s mouth.

“That’s my line.”

Using such an arrogant tone towards guys over Level 80 was almost suicidal.

Especially if they were Mages, they might attack simply because they didn’t like his tone.

‘It might be better than appearing weak…’

As Khan was thinking that, Belbek’s mouth opened.

“We’re looking for something here. If you were just passing by, move along quickly.”

“……”

His suspicion seemed to be right on the mark.

‘Do they know a Hidden Skill is hidden here?’

As Khan was thinking that, Serina suddenly appeared beside Belbek.

Whether she used instant movement like Belbek a moment ago, she appeared in the blink of an eye, surprising Khan’s group once again.

“Oh, it’s the handsome oppa we met at the restaurant! Are you guys also looking for some hidden treasure here?”

“Serina, don’t say unnecessary things.”

“It’s not like the treasure even exists, so what does it matter.”

Khan looked at the two of them and then opened his mouth.

He absolutely had no intention of backing down with a Hidden Skill right before his eyes.

“We’re also looking for something.”

“What?”

“You move along. We have something to look for here.”

“……What an arrogant bastard.”

Hummm…!!!!

Belbek, hearing Khan’s words, instantly drew up his Mana.

Koo koo koo koo koo….

His Mana was so immense that the entire mountain range seemed to shake.

“This is the final warning. If you leave now, I’ll let you go peacefully. So leave.”

“Belbek, even so, that’s too much. What are you doing suddenly drawing up your Mana like that? Huh? We should resolve this through conversation, conversation.”

“Be quiet.”

“Seriously…”

Serina seemed to try to stop Belbek, but soon she also began watching with an amused smile.

“M-Master. That person… seems incredibly strong?”

“…Sir Khan, I think we should retreat for now here.”

Sharin, with high Mana Affinity, had naturally seemed to sense how powerful a Mage Belbek was.

Even Byutek, who usually charged ahead recklessly, was instinctively suggesting they back down.

‘I can’t just turn back and leave a Hidden Skill.’

After all, finders keepers.

‘He’s not scared?’

Meanwhile, Belbek, who had drawn up his Mana, was feeling a bit flustered looking at Khan before him.

Clearly, he was a Mage.

And a pathetic Mage from whom almost no Mana could be sensed.

But he also felt an indescribable, strange aura from him, so he couldn’t simply be seen as lacking skill.

‘And this terrain, something’s odd…. Is it that rock?’

Belbek, having drawn up his Mana, could immediately sense that the terrain here was a bit strange.

When you draw up Mana, your senses themselves become much sharper and your Sensory Perception broadens.

What he felt was an underground space beneath this ground.

To be precise, it seemed like there was something like an underground passage beneath that rock over there.

“Serina, can you feel it too? There’s an underground passage beneath that rock.”

“Huh, what? Really?”

“Go lift that rock and see if there’s anything underground. I’ll handle these guys.”

“Hmm… Really? What if there really is a treasure underground and I secretly take it?”

“That’s fine by me.”

“What, you trust me that much? Anyway, got it! I’ll be back!”

Serina immediately walked towards the rock, and simultaneously, Khan also shouted.

“Byutek, Sharin. You go too.”

“Yes…! Understood!”

“Got it! Be careful, Master!”

As Byutek and Sharin were about to move.

“It seems words won’t work.”

Belbek immediately used Stun Magic.

Since it was a single-target spell, the primary target was this small-statured man before him.

Hummm…!

A fourth-grade mental-type magic.

It was a fairly powerful spell, so the man before him should absolutely be unable to block or withstand it.

But then something unbelievable happened.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

The man before him showed no sign of being affected.

‘He clearly didn’t even draw up his Mana, how on earth…?’

As he opened his eyes wide in bewilderment, Khan shouted to Byutek and Sharin again.

“Byutek, Sharin. Go quickly!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

As Byutek and Sharin quickly ran towards the rock, Serina, who had arrived at the rock first, spoke.

“Well, let’s play fair. If there really is a treasure down there, we can fight then. Oppa, you look pretty strong, could you move this rock for me?”

“Ah, yes…!”

Fortunately, the woman named Serina didn’t seem intent on attacking.

As soon as Byutek lifted the rock, something like a door was visible beneath it.

Opening the door revealed a staircase.

“Sir Khan, we’ll be back!”

“Alright.”

Now left alone with Belbek, Khan was racking his brains.

‘This guy… seems pretty flustered.’

It seemed his bluff had worked against a Mage in the 80s Level range.

[Due to the ‘Sage’s Heart’, you gain Immunity to mental-type attacks.]

Thanks to the ‘Sage’s Heart’, he had easily shrugged off the magic the guy used.

Judging by his reaction, he seemed quite flustered.

‘From his perspective, he probably thinks I evaded or blocked his magic without even using Mana.’

Since defeating him outright was impossible, Khan finally made a decision and opened his mouth again.

“Seeing the blue robes, are you Mages from the Blue Magic Tower?”

Belbek nodded.

Seeing that, Khan spoke.

With the coldest expression possible, looking down on him.

“The Blue Magic Tower’s standards have really fallen. To think a rookie like you is a Magic Tower Affiliate.”

Belbek’s expression contorted greatly.