Chapter 73

It аll hаррened in thе blink оf аn еуe.

Whooооoosh…!!!!!

Сracklе, сrасklе, сracklе, craсklе, crасklе!!!!!

Аn intеnse hеat, аs if it would burn evеrуthing tо аshes, was fеlt evеn by Evan.

Strаngеly, while it felt hot еnоugh to make his body sееm like it would melt in the flamеs, hе didn’t feel аny раin оr suffеr burns.

‘Who on earth is this рerson…!’

Еvаn rеcallеd thе first timе he saw Кhan.

While hеading toward the ехit to leаvе the Gаte, he hаd encountеred Кhаn and his companiоns.

His first imрrеssiоn was thаt he loоkеd inсredibly frаil, as if а light рush wоuld knосk him ovеr.

“Wh-whаt…!!”

Вut now, it wаs diffеrent.

Amidst the flames that seemed ready to swallow the entire cave, he could see Khan’s back standing alone.

He still had a slender build, but now he looked stronger than any knight or adventurer.

Evan wasn’t the only one unable to hide his astonishment.

Beside him, Lumina and Rio, who had been watching Khan, were also staring at him with their mouths agape.

Then, Lumina was the first to speak.

“H-he’s not a noble. That person is a mage…!”

“A mage?”

“Yeah, haven’t you heard rumors like that before? They say all the mages known to the public are fakes, and real mages are so strong they can destroy an entire city…!”

“No, wait a minute…. Is he really a mage? The mages we know… are all just a bunch of amateurs!”

Responding to Lumina’s words, Rio also voiced his doubts.

Indeed, among adventurers, there were those who had learned magic and called themselves mages.

However, the reputation of mages among adventurers wasn’t very good.

It used to be that mages were well-treated, but it turned out that unless they were mages from the Magic Tower, they were all just amateurs.

Perhaps because of this, mages had recently become a group to avoid among adventurers.

Most mages who entered Gates with them weren’t much help anyway.

“So, does that mean he’s a real mage, different from those amateurs…?!”

“Probably…?”

“But Evan… what about you? Earlier, you….”

Rio spoke to Evan with a worried expression, but Evan, not even listening to his words, walked toward Khan.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Khan had defeated all the King Goblins and Minotaurs and was checking the message that appeared before his eyes.

[Your Level has increased.]

Since it had been quite a while since he leveled up by hunting monsters, Khan smiled inwardly.

Leveling up meant his Mana increased, even if just a little, and to increase the number of Circles, leveling up was essential.

‘I should check my Status Window.’

Flames were still raging fiercely before Khan’s eyes.

It seemed no one could withstand his Fireball.

◈ LV.26

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 230/510

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Skills: (10★)Sage’s Heart, (8★)Growth Acceleration, (1★)Arrow, (1★)Barrier, (2★)Fire Boom, (2★)Fireball, (2★)Mirror Defense, (2★)Mana Enhancement

Khan’s Level had risen from 25 to 26, and both his Level and Mana had increased by 10.

Considering that the King Goblins and Minotaurs were around late Level 20s to early Level 30s, leveling up from this hunt was almost miraculous.

‘It must be thanks to Growth Acceleration.’

Thanks to the effect of ‘Growth Acceleration,’ which gave him triple Experience Points, Khan had leveled up.

‘By the way, I’m over Level 20, but I still can’t use Fireball twice in a row….’

While using an Intermediate Mana Increase Scroll would make it possible, using it twice consecutively with his own abilities was impossible.

Thanks to ‘Sage’s Heart,’ his Skill Cooldown was almost non-existent, but it seemed he still had a long way to go to utilize this properly.

‘I need to get the Mana Pills from Belbek and Serina as soon as possible.’

If he took the Mana Pills, he would gain a considerable amount of Mana at once.

Just as Khan was lost in thought while watching the raging flames, it happened.

“Um, you’re Sir Khan, right…? Thank you so much for saving us!”

Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him, and then he heard the voice of one of the adventurers.

Glancing back, he saw the guy had beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

‘The heat from the Fireball must be too intense.’

It seemed he had used a spell with too wide a range in this cramped cave.

Snap!

When Khan snapped his fingers, the flames raging at the front of the cave instantly died down.

Simultaneously, the intense heat that had enveloped his entire body vanished as if by magic.

Witnessing this right before his eyes, Evan’s face twisted in shock for a moment, but he barely managed to maintain his composure.

‘If I make a mistake here, I’m dead…!’

Evan had also heard rumors about mages a long time ago.

He heard that real mages lose their emotions during the process of learning magic and have no hesitation about killing people.

Evan regretted his earlier brazen behavior toward Khan, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

“That was an incredible spell…! I never thought I’d witness such a rare sight right before my eyes…! It’s truly an honor to meet you!”

“……Are you injured anywhere?”

“No! Thanks to you and the others, I’m completely unharmed! Hey… you guys, you’re not hurt either, right?!”

“Umm…!”

“Th-thank you…!!”

Suddenly, Evan turned around and shouted at Lumina and Rio, startling them into hurried replies.

“Then that’s fine. It seems the situation behind us is also resolved, so if you’re leaving, go quickly.”

“R-really?”

“……?”

For a moment, Khan didn’t understand Evan’s words.

He wondered if Evan had misunderstood his instruction to leave the Gate.

“Ah… haha! J-just kidding! Thank you again for saving us! I will definitely repay this favor someday! No, um… if you ever come to Arcana, please come to the Adventurer’s Association and look for me!”

“Arcana? Adventurer’s Association?”

“Ah, from your reaction, it seems you don’t know! The Adventurer’s Association is an organization that was newly established about three years ago.”

“What’s Arcana?”

“You don’t know about Arcana either…! The current situation in the Kingdom of Sinsiniel isn’t very good. After failing to climb the Ancient Tower, the kingdom is collapsing, and during this time, the cities in the kingdom’s capital region have been unified.”

“The cities… were unified?”

“Yes. Occasionally, I meet people from places far from the kingdom’s center, and they also seem unaware. Just like you, Sir Khan.”

Hearing another new story he didn’t know, Khan thought he really couldn’t deny it anymore.

‘This is a slightly different world from the <Geo Arc> I know.’

It seemed the world had changed after Khan failed to defeat the boss at the top of the Ancient Tower during his last playthrough of <Geo Arc>.

Thud. Thud.

Just then, Byutek and Sharin, who had finished off the monsters and approached Khan, seemed to have heard Evan’s words, as they both asked with expressions of confusion.

“I am Byutek, a knight of Kilpheon! I haven’t heard such stories even in Kilpheon… What on earth does that mean?”

“I also… my father runs a trading company, so I’m quite up-to-date on rumors, but this is the first time I’m hearing such a story?”

It seemed Byutek and Sharin were also hearing this for the first time.

“Ah, so you’re a knight from Kilpheon…. I had a feeling from the start that you weren’t an ordinary person. Kilpheon is probably… a bit far from Arcana, so news might not have reached there.”

“Does that make sense?”

“Hmm, I wonder…. Probably, since there are so many Gates in Arcana currently, adventurers, knights, and mages are likely trying to prevent rumors from leaking outside as much as possible.”

“Then why are you telling us this?”

“Because you are… no, because you are the benefactors who saved our lives! If you come to Arcana, I will truly find a way to repay this favor.”

Having roughly heard the whole story, Khan let Evan go.

Even though the heat had completely disappeared after the Fireball vanished, the sweat on his forehead had only increased.

“Go now. Thanks for the good information.”

“Not at all! Thank you again for saving us! Lumina, Rio! You two hurry up too!”

“Thank you for saving us!!”

After exchanging farewells, Evan’s party, as if being chased by something, instantly dashed out of the Gate.

“Byutek, Sharin. Are you two also hearing this for the first time?”

“I… actually, when I was in Kilpheon, I did hear a bit about the royal authority collapsing, but I’ve never heard about a city called Arcana, let alone multiple cities being unified.”

“I’m also hearing this for the first time…!”

Byutek and Sharin also wore expressions of disbelief.

‘When moving between cities from now on, I shouldn’t just wander around recklessly like before.’

Khan had been confident that he knew everything about this <Geo Arc> world, but it seemed that from now on, that wouldn’t be possible.

If the royal authority within the Kingdom of Sinsiniel was collapsing, the atmosphere would vary greatly from city to city, and it was a situation where you couldn’t predict what the existing nobles might do.

‘It won’t hurt to be careful.’

Future matters could be dealt with later; for now, the Quest was the priority.

Khan glanced toward the front of the cave to check if any monster corpses remained.

But everything had turned to ashes, with nothing intact.

“Among the ones you two defeated, are there any King Goblin hides or Minotaurus horns that are intact?”

“I’ll take a look!”

“I glanced earlier… most are probably damaged. There were so many, and we were fighting frantically….”

Upon checking roughly, as Sharin said, the hides or horns had holes or slash marks from swords.

“Then we have no choice but to go deeper into the cave.”

“I’m sorry, Sir Khan. I should have been more careful….”

“It’s fine. We’ll find them soon anyway.”

This cave must be filled with Minotaurs and King Goblins.

Khan, along with Byutek and Sharin, began to head deeper into the cave.

Thirty minutes passed like that.

“Hmm, surprisingly… we’re not seeing many monsters?”

“Sharin, saying things like that might make them appear even less.”

“Ah, sorry!”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

With their mouths firmly shut, Khan’s party ventured a bit deeper into the cave.

Before they knew it, two hours had passed.

‘Is this… even possible?’

By this point, it was about time for monsters to start reappearing.

How could not a single one show up?

‘And this dungeon… no, this Gate, why is it so wide?’

Where on earth does this cave end?

It should be about time to see the end of the Gate.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

When Khan’s party had been walking deeper into the cave for four hours.

“Sir Khan, um… I think it might be better to turn back now….”

Byutek cautiously broached the subject, but Khan acted as if he hadn’t heard and stared straight ahead.

“The cave’s… end.”

“Huh…?”

Khan blankly stared at the wall at the end of the Gate.

Byutek and Sharin also belatedly turned their gaze there.

“Wh-what is that…?”

“Light…?”

The wall at the end of the Gate.

From its cracks, a pure white light was faintly seeping out.