novelraw Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63 : Chapter 63
Chapter 63: The Path (1)
The saliva was particularly thin.
It was because it was mixed with water.
To be precise, it was because of the illusion that it was mixed with water.
It was not I, but my Origin that had eaten the man's Origin.
‘Waves.’
Tyrell's Origin was waves.
Looking at the color, quality, and form of the water, it wasn't a particularly remarkable Origin.
His accomplishments were on the excellent side.
Being a 4th Rank at the age of 30 was fast, even in the Otherworld.
His amount of magic was even more excellent.
“Remarkable.”
The magic of Tyrell seeping into my heart was beyond my expectations.
It wasn't that the man named Tyrell was remarkable, but that his family, the Aquins, must be.
They must have poured hearts into him, thinking him their heir.
‘To think they’d play mother bird to even this kind of worm.’
Just how many hearts did they have.
I wanted to raid the Otherworld's storehouse.
There was a reason Tyrell's progress was fast.
How could it be difficult when starting with this much magic?
If my start in my past life had been like this, I would have reached 5th Rank long ago.
“Remarkable.”
So I expressed my admiration again.
It was admiration for Tyrell's patheticness.
The Aquins had essentially cast pearls before swine.
A few of those pearls had fallen to me.
It was a bigger haul than expected.
I had once predicted that it would take at least a year to reach a complete 4th Rank.
‘It might be faster.’
If I catch a few more noble young masters like Tyrell, maybe in a short time.
“This one was a coward.”
I said, poking my left chest.
The magic of the waves I had just absorbed was there.
Tyrell Aquins was a cautious Mage.
No, a cowardly Mage.
“Tell me about the bastard. That was a statement only a coward could make.”
Tyrell had made his decision only after digging for all the information about the fire that burned the Watchtower, that is, me.
If I had been stronger than expected, Tyrell would have avoided the fight.
It was proof that Tyrell was a coward.
And yet, he was arrogant and full of greed.
‘A noble. And one with a bloodline, at that, must think it's okay.’
It was nothing to be blamed for.
Such nobles were overflowing on the continent as well.
“So?”
Ellen asked. Her face was expectant.
Harad, who started things this way, always had an alternative.
“I don't think a coward like that would have come to the Boundary alone.”
“You think he has comrades nearby?”
My fingers tapped my left chest.
I contemplated the man named Tyrell Aquins.
‘If the Aquins truly cherished him, he would have had an escort.’
But Tyrell had come alone, riding the waves in a lofty manner.
The escort did not follow.
Did he shake them off?
‘They wouldn’t assign an escort weaker than the one being protected. A prestigious family, in the Boundary.’
So he didn't shake them off.
Tyrell was not a cherished heir of the Aquins.
‘And yet they fed him so many hearts.’
Just how much did they have.
I was newly impressed by the power of the Aquins family.
It wasn't important right now.
In any case, Tyrell came to the Boundary alone.
‘He’s cowardly, but arrogant and self-righteous. He had high self-esteem too.’
The pride of being an Aquins, the amount of magic from his bloodline, the self-esteem from having achieved Projection…
‘He was only scared of me.’
Tyrell was only cautious about the fire that burned the Watchtower.
He was not intimidated at all by me, who introduced myself as a 4th Rank from the Ivory Tower, and Ellen, a 4th Rank from the Tower of Meteoric Iron. On the contrary, he only despised us.
‘Because killing Mages from other towers is a taboo?’
That was an unconvincing explanation.
This was the Boundary, where anything could happen.
There would be no witnesses even if he did something when things went wrong.
And yet, the lone Tyrell was arrogant, as if asking to be killed. A cowardly man.
‘He’s only afraid of what he doesn’t know.’
Tyrell wasn't afraid because he knew of the Ivory Tower and the Tower of Meteoric Iron.
That was why his habits from the Otherworld came out as they were.
‘And yet he came to the Boundary alone.’
The Otherworld had not conquered the Boundary.
There was far more that was unknown than known.
And to such a place, Tyrell had come alone.
“I think the Deep Sea's path is nearby.”
* * *
Just because it was a path didn't mean it was safe.
Because this was, after all, the Boundary.
Just like Serzila's Search Routes, the Otherworld's path was only a relatively safe path.
However, there was no harm in knowing it.
For me, who wanted to follow the smoke of the Watchtower, it was a choice with no regrets.
It would be good if I found it, and if not, so be it.
‘It would be best if the path I find overlaps with the Watchtower's smoke.’
The path dug by the Otherworld would resemble a tree.
It would have started as a single trunk, but as it progressed, it would have branched out like countless tree branches.
A Mage would have no choice but to stray.
Was there any environment that stimulated a Mage's appetite as much as the Boundary?
The Otherworld must have a total of seven trees' worth of paths. Since there were seven Magic Towers.
‘If I find just one branch, it’s like finding all the paths of that Magic Tower.’
If you find one branch, it's easy to get to the trunk.
With enough time, you can connect to any of the other branches.
One of those branches would be an infiltration route leading to Serzila.
Unfortunately, finding that infiltration route or the trunk of the path was a distant task. Forget time, I lacked the power.
‘I’m being greedy.’
If I had intended to do that, I would have secretly brought Cassion with the resolve to die at the hands of Grand Duke Aratus.
I had not forgotten my initial objective.
I had to follow the smoke of the Watchtower. However, I had no intention of following it to the end.
Just a few steps.
That was all I intended to find out.
“How is it?”
“I feel like I'm walking through iron.”
Kubel's expression was novel. And exquisite.
I was feeling the same sensation. The air was as heavy as iron.
“Can you bear it?”
I could have melted the weight with fire.
But I didn't. Because this was the Boundary. Moreover, it was the Second Stage Boundary. I had to conserve magic when I could.
“Yes. It's bearable.”
Kubel truly lived up to his size.
His bulk was made of muscle, not fat.
I once heard that he had a constitution where he would gain muscle just by eating.
It was the talent that Northerners envied the most.
Ellen looked more comfortable than such a Kubel.
Without exaggeration, her steps were as if walking on clouds. Her hand moved as lightly as a feather to brush back her hair, and her gaze leisurely scanned the surroundings.
It was because such a transformed environment, which made the air feel like iron, could be solved with strength.
Ellen was a heavier existence than Kubel or the air of this land.
“But if it’s like iron, the Tower of Meteoric Iron might be interested, right?”
A Mage instinctively leans towards things related to their Origin.
Ellen pointed that out.
“That’s a valid point.”
“Then couldn't there be a path of Meteoric Iron around here?”
We didn't necessarily have to find the Deep Sea's path.
What I wanted was a path that overlapped with the Watchtower's smoke.
Since I didn't know which tower's path overlapped, I had to find them all if I could.
“It could be, or it could not be.”
“Huh?”
“It means I don't know either.”
Ellen made a strange face.
“It makes sense. But I don't know if the Tower of Meteoric Iron would be interested or not. It might be a land they finished exploring long ago.”
Considering the time the Boundary had existed, a considerable number of paths must have been pruned.
They would be abandoned if there was no interest, and cut off if they were dangerous.
“There’s no need to investigate further. If we obsess over which Magic Tower an environment is related to, we'd have to dig through the entire Boundary.”
Time in the Boundary is limited.
Choice and focus were essential. What we had to find now was the Deep Sea's path, where there was a clue.
‘The path is one of the Magic Tower's assets.’
For a Mage who can't overcome their thirst for knowledge, it might be an extremely valuable asset.
The Magic Towers do not know the paths of other towers.
It was a fact Cassion had told me, and it had been cross-verified by Tyrell.
‘Only those from the Deep Sea know the Deep Sea's path.’
Is that also a taboo?
No way. Those who would break it, would break it. I knew well how cunning the race of Mages was.
‘It must mean it’s not easy to find.’
It must mean the path isn't obvious from the outside.
‘A path is a path. You'll know it when you see it.’
To the question of how to recognize it, Cassion had answered so.
He had also added that he didn't know the paths of other towers.
The only path Cassion knew was the Moon's path, and among them, only the infiltration route connected to Serzila.
With the next step, my foot landed on grass.
At first glance, it looked like a small hill. White clouds flowed slowly. Above the hill and below the clouds, a cold wind raged fiercely.
But the hill was fresh.
Flower buds swelled between the blades of grass, and the trees here and there had even sprouted fruit.
“Huh……”
At the strange scenery, Kubel was at a loss for words.
The previous environments had been the same, but this place was even more eerie.
Indeed, the Boundary was a land that humans could not comprehend.
“I’m hungry.”
In such a land, Ellen nonchalantly rubbed her stomach.
Kubel was newly impressed by Ellen's guts.
“Then let’s rest here for a bit.”
However, Kubel thought I was even more amazing.
Unlike Ellen, a collateral member of the Serzila family, I was the sole survivor of a ruined family.
Moreover, I was a hostage in Serzila.
And yet, I was stronger than Ellen.
My abilities were one thing, but what Kubel admired was my strong core. For true strength originates from within.
Harad, who had lost his family, was meek.
Far from being intimidated by being a hostage, he was said to have been confident even in front of that Grand Duke Aratus, something Kubel could never imagine.
Kubel was scared just imagining the Grand Duke, let alone meeting him.
Considering his age, he was admirable; recalling what he had done, he was a benefactor; seeing what he had accomplished, he was respectable.
“Kubel, you sit too. Soft ground like this is rare in the Boundary.”
Kubel smiled and sat on the grass. As he took out food from his backpack, I lit a small bonfire in their center.
It was to warm the cold meat.
Ellen liked meat, especially meat so hot it would burn her tongue. On the other hand, I ate anything.
It meant that bonfire was for Ellen.
Kubel's smile deepened. It was because he was reminded of Tyrell Aquins.
To be precise, of Harad who had been enraged by the man's attitude towards Ellen.
“Eat.”
“You first.”
“I have a small stomach.”
“What. Are you saying I have a big one?”
“Am I wrong?”
Ellen glared at me, but accepted the skewer I handed her. Kubel's smile became even more pleased.
‘Smooth sailing. Smooth.’
They say that as you get older, you become more meddlesome, and these days, after Shura, watching those two was Kubel's greatest pleasure.
“By the way, I don't see any Magical Beasts.”
Ellen said, chewing on the meat.
Her face was both relieved and disappointed.
“You'll see them now.”
“How do you know that?”
“You just recited the spell to make Magical Beasts appear.”
“What are you talking about.”
It was when Ellen scoffed.
Wooo! An animal cried out not far away.
It resembled a wolf's howling, but was somehow viscous. It belonged to a Magical Beast, not an animal.
I pointed with my eyes to where the cry had originated.
“……Is it my fault?”
“High probability?”
Ellen and I nonchalantly ate the meat.
It must have meant that the magic contained in the cry was not that great.
Kubel, while noticing that fact, was still surprised. It was because it was the first time he had experienced the presence of a Magical Beast.
The startled Kubel fell backward with a thud.
His back hit the ground, and his hands supported him from behind.
“Are you alright, Kubel?”
“Yes, yes…… huh?”
Kubel, who was about to get up, tilted his head. His hands slowly swept over the grass.
Then he finally got up.
His heavy feet stepped on the grass. On the grass where his hands had been. Kubel walked in place, walked forward, and walked backward.
“What's wrong?”
“This side is somehow different.”
Kubel walked straight forward, then straight backward again.
I, though puzzled, stood up.
I stepped on the same spot Kubel had.
“What’s different?”
I couldn't find any difference.
The grass I stepped on held the same magic as the other grass, the wind blew the same, and the temperature was also the same.
“What’s going on.”
At the sight of two grown men walking back and forth and racking their brains, Ellen also stood up.
She, holding a skewer and tearing at the meat, pushed me aside and stepped on the same grass he had.
Her footprints were consistent without the slightest error.
“Ah. The grass is slightly pressed down.”
At Ellen's words, Kubel nodded.
That was exactly what he was trying to say.
“So what?”
“It means someone has passed through here often. Ah, maybe not often. It's only very slightly pressed down.”
Ellen expressed the length by bringing her index finger and thumb together. They were almost touching.
“Kubel is quite sensitive. Is it because you were a hunter?”
“In my eyes, Lady Ellen seems more amazing.”
“Well, I'm the physical type. It's harder not to know.”
Ellen tore off the remaining meat on the skewer and returned to the bonfire to grab a new one.
“You mean it's a path?”
“Probably? But I don't know if it's the Deep Sea's path.”
It was a difference in perspective.
‘A path is a path. You'll know it when you see it.’
Those words of Cassion were not from a Mage's perspective.
‘He thinks he's a real knight.’
I had thought too hard.
It was a prejudice, if anything. I had been captivated by the prejudice that, being an Otherworld path, it would be related to magic.
When people walk, a path naturally forms.
However, the Otherworld's path was extremely subtle.
It must be because they had walked cautiously.
‘It also explains why they can't easily find the paths of other Magic Towers.’
They are Mages who only focus on Origins, magic, and magical power.
They know that their own tower's path is an ordinary path, but how would those guys distinguish such a subtle difference?
“Thank you, Kubel. It's thanks to you.”
One prejudice was broken.
Just because it was the Otherworld didn't mean everything was related to magic.
The praised Kubel scratched the back of his neck and blushed.
“What about me?”
“You can have my skewer too. You can have it all.”
“Do you also see me as a pig?”
“You don't want it?”
“No.”
What a hearty eater.