novelraw Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Ch.48 Yesss! No Money Worries For A While
After verifying the stone tablet in Auros’s chamber, I stayed several more days at Icira’s lair.
The reason?
“Icira… can you teach me magic?”
She looked exhausted, as if my request surprised her.
“It won’t help much. Dragon magic and human magic stem from entirely different roots.”
Realizing she’d misunderstood, I clarified:
“It’s not that. I can’t sense magic at all. I was wondering if there’s a way to fix that.”
Everyone here could sense at least a trace of magic—but I couldn’t.
This made learning magic or swordsmanship impossible:
Magic required weaving formulas from sensed magic, and swordsmanship required accumulating magic within the body.
But I sensed absolutely nothing.
Icira blinked slowly, studying me.
“Didn’t that mage you met recently call you ‘master’? Raising a mage of that caliber requires deep magical knowledge, no?”
Leah often told others I was her master—but I’d never actually taught her magic.
I wasn’t a genius who could instantly grasp alien symbols and formulas.
“Well… I can use magic, but it’s not my own power.”
Embarrassed, I handed her the pendant around my neck.
“This is the Sage’s Pendant—an artifact. Just silently speak the activation phrase, and it casts spells for you.”
Icira examined the pendant closely, then her eyes lit up.
“The craftsmanship is dwarven, the runes dark elven. Intriguing—but crude.”
Handing it back, curiosity flickered in her eyes.
“All living beings can sense magic to some degree…”
She frowned.
“Give me your hand.”
I extended my hand—and she clasped it.
Her palm glowed blue, and that light flowed into mine.
Shock flashed in her eyes.
“Magic isn’t entering your body at all. I’ve never seen this before.”
She released my hand.
“I’ve neither heard nor seen such a phenomenon.”
After a moment of thought, I asked carefully:
“So… can I learn magic?”
“We’ll need to run some tests first.”
She fell silent, deep in thought.
“But no matter how I think about it, it’s strange. All living things absorb magic naturally—yet you’re like an inanimate object.”
“Inanimate? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
I grumbled—and Icira shrugged.
“I merely state what I observe. If it offended you, my apologies.”
“No, it’s fine. So… we’ll run some tests? Can we start now?”
She nodded.
For days, I drank strange potions, applied ointments, and participated in experiments.
In my free time, I played with Aria.
Then, after today’s session, Icira clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk. I hesitate to say this—but it’s astonishing, even miraculous, that magic refuses to permeate you at all.”
Despite her words, her face remained expressionless.
Was she really surprised?
“So… I can’t learn magic?”
Icira scowled.
“With this level of non-reactivity, you should give up. You need at least a slight response to sense magic—and then learn magic or swordsmanship.”
Ah… trapped in a fantasy world, yet forced to abandon magic and swordsmanship?
What cruel fate!
Just as despair washed over me, Icira continued:
“If even this method fails, then truly—giving up is your only option.”
“What method?”
The way she phrased it suggested something extraordinary.
Feigning nervousness, I watched as Icira—smiling for the first time—replied:
“Nothing special. Just increase magic density until your body absorbs it…”
Her right hand blazed with brilliant blue light—
“…and force a reaction.”
Now, blue sparks crackled around her palm.
—Gulp.
The magic radiated a menacing, almost fiery aura.
“Give me your hand.”
Her faint smile was beautiful—but the energy gathering in her palm was anything but ordinary.
It burned so fiercely, it might as well have been blue flame.
Instinctively, I slipped into formal speech:
“Is this… really safe?”
She smiled sweetly.
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out soon enough.”
—Crack!
Before I could react, she seized my hand—
“Ah?!”
An indescribable sensation flooded me—simultaneously cool and scalding, paradoxical and spine-chilling.
“Is this… magic?”
Goosebumps rose at this entirely new sensation.
“You felt it?”
“Yeah… but how do I cast spells with this?”
The fierce blue magic in her palm vanished.
Icira looked hopeful.
“Now we find out. Since you sensed magic—can you feel ambient magic in the air?”
“No?”
Unfortunately, I felt nothing.
“Hmm… that’s odd. If you truly sensed magic, you should retain that sensitivity…”
Back to square one.
After days of Icira’s experiments…
“Wait! I just felt it!”
I’d finally sensed ambient magic.
“Really? Then focus on sensing it more.”
And so, I worked hard to hone this newfound sensitivity.
***
After improving my magic affinity at the lair,
I finally faced the choice between swordsmanship and magic.
“You said you wanted to learn magic, right?”
I nodded at Icira’s question.
“Yeah—magic.”
In a fantasy world, magic was the ultimate dream.
Imagining myself casting Fly spells and Hellfire made me feel like an omnipotent god.
“For us, magic is as natural as breathing—so we know nothing of human magic.”
“Huh?”
Did that mean I’d have to learn magical formulas?
“Here—take this.”
Hesitantly, I took what she offered.
A book with a distinctive brown leather cover—
elegantly inscribed with:
[The Fundamentals of Magic]
Study this?
This was the famous elementary magic textbook—renowned for teaching magical formulas.
But the formulaic system here was completely alien to Earth’s mathematics—making it incredibly hard to grasp.
Sighing at the book’s heavy weight in my hands…
“Haaah…”
Study again?
At my age, the thought of hitting the books again was exhausting.
Maybe I should learn swordsmanship instead?
I imagined stepping on air, cleaving the sky with sword vital energy.
Besides, once ‘King of the Dead’ began, holy power or swordsmanship would be more useful than magic.
And after what happened in Auros’s chamber…
The ‘King of the Dead’ incident wouldn’t be easily resolved.
It was reasonable to assume my summoning here was tied to that event.
“Ugh, I don’t know anymore.”
I’d thought seeing the tablet would clarify things—
but now I had even more unanswered questions.
***
Now that I could sense magic, it was time to leave Icira’s lair.
“Hiiing… Big brother, can’t you stay?”
Tears welled in Aria’s eyes as she clutched my sleeve.
I gently patted her head.
“We’ll meet again. Once I settle down, you can visit me, okay?”
(Of course, that was a lie. According to game events, after I left, Icira would confine Aria until her ascension to Elder Dragon—meaning I’d never see her again.
Ascension required over 900 years—so truly, never again.
Moreover, after ‘Dragon War’ ended, dragons disappeared entirely from ‘Destiny’.
And Aria, though adorable, was a Hatchling treasured by all dragons.
If she ventured into the human world again and something happened, it’d just trigger ‘Dragon War Season 2’.)
“Eeeng… you promise? You promised!”
Aria looked pitiful. Hiding my true feelings, I smiled brightly and nodded.
“Of course I promise! So no crying, okay?”
“Okay! No crying—Santa won’t give presents to kids who cry!”
I’d once told Aria the story of Santa Claus, who doesn’t give gifts to crying children.
Didn’t expect her to bring it up now—how cute.
“Who’s Santa Claus?”
Icira looked curious.
Embarrassed, I brushed it off:
“Just… a thing.”
She nodded, accepting my vague answer.
“So—where should I send you?”
“Teleport me to the port city of Nook nearby.”
Nook—a northern port city on the New Continent.
There, I needed to recover a conceptual artifact and start selling my option contracts.
The prices must’ve risen significantly by now—
I expected to earn quite a bit.
“Nook… it’s been a while. Farewell, then.”
—Snap!
Icira flicked her finger—and the scenery changed.
A dense forest.
In the distance, a city came into view.
“Teleportation really is too convenient.”
Even Archmages couldn’t use teleportation—it was a dragon-exclusive spell.
I’d probably never see it again in my lifetime.
Leaving behind Icira and Aria—perhaps forever—I headed toward Nook.
“Brr… it’s chilly.”
Not as cold as the snowfields, but perhaps because it was the north?
Definitely brisk.
“This weather really reminds me of Leah.”
—Heh.
I’d pushed her away—but now she popped into my head. Kind of funny.
Briskly, I quickened my pace.
Perhaps because it was the north’s largest port city,
its massive city walls felt impressively grand—rare for the New Continent.
While I was here, I’d sell my options and buy a swordsmanship manual too.
With that plan, I headed toward the marketplace—a bustling exchange where bulk trading happened.
Here, I could check today’s Magic Grass price.
“Today’s Magic Grass price… 49 silver per kg.”
My contract’s strike price was 10 silver per kg.
Currently, Magic Grass sold for 49 silver per kg—nearly five times higher.
This meant I held the incredible right to buy Magic Grass at one-fifth market price.
At current rates, 100kg costs 4,900 silver—but with my call option, I could buy it for just 1,000 silver.
That’s 4,900 silver profit per contract—and I had 100 contracts.
Rounding for simplicity: roughly 4,900 gold in profit.
And that was the minimum.
Magic Grass prices were steadily rising, and I still had about three months left on my contract—meaning prices could climb even higher.
So my earnings would likely exceed my estimates.
But why had prices surged so much?
Anyway…
“Yesss! No money worries for a while!”
***
After Hans left the lair, Aria’s face fell.
‘He made a promise… now I can’t force her to sleep for centuries.’
Icira had originally planned to put Aria into a long slumber—but Hans and Aria had made a promise.
Hans, seeing Aria sad, had made the promise without thinking.
But to dragons, a promise was more precious than life itself—breaking it could even strip them of their ability to speak Draconic.
“Mom, I promised Big brother! Can I visit him later?”
Icira nodded indifferently.
“Of course. I’ve been curious about the human world myself—it’s been so long since I’ve visited.”
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