novelraw Chapter 67 : Astral Silver Sword
Chapter 67 : Astral Silver Sword
“When you see this letter, I will already be dead.
Since you have obtained this Astral Silver Ring and read this letter, it means you should have already resolved the greatest mistake of my life. For this, I must express both my gratitude and my deepest shame.
Although this mess was of my own making, I had no ability to resolve it myself. I could only entrust it to the wisdom of those who came after me.”
“I have three sins.”
“First, I stubbornly ignored my teacher’s admonitions and the warnings of the Church, insisting on researching subspace magic.”
“Second, in my ignorance, I recklessly drew from subspace, disregarding the cost and dangers within.”
“Third, in my arrogance, I believed I could control everything, and summoned a lifeform from subspace that did not belong to this world.”
“By the time I realized my mistakes, it was already too late.”
“I indulged in the false pleasures brought by subspace creatures, ignored the warnings of my teacher and companions, and through day after day of unforgivable acts, I gradually lost all vigilance toward the unknown. It wasn’t until, in my dazed stupor, I birthed a wicked bloodline not of this world, that I realized I had become its vessel.”
“In the brief clarity after giving birth, I made a decision — I would use my own flesh to seal it away forever.”
“The Astral Silver Sword was the creation I was most proud of before I began my research into subspace magic, and yet it was also called a complete failure.”
“It was forged entirely from Astral Silver and possessed the trait of ‘the more magic the wielder has, the heavier it becomes.’ Originally, I had hoped it would allow magicians to gain the ability for close combat, but after forging it, I discovered such a trait was meaningless.”
“Yet, this trait was fatal to it.”
“Due to the contract, it could not directly harm my body.”
“So I used the Astral Silver Sword to pierce its core along with my own heart.”
“In this way, bound by its vast magical power and the contract preventing it from harming me, it was sealed here forever.”
“I write this letter at my deathbed.”
“I believe the wisdom of future generations may find a solution, so I left behind this message.”
“Thank you for resolving the greatest mistake of my life. As gratitude, I am willing to grant you all of my legacy.”
“All of my legacy is stored within my treasury, including the results of my research into space and subspace magic accumulated over the years. The Astral Silver Sword, Astral Silver Ring, and Astral Silver Crown are the three keys to open the treasury’s gates.”
“The treasury’s location is at...”
A string of gibberish.
Russell frowned.
“Rozelite, do you know what this gibberish means?”
“Mm... it looks like some kind of ancient non-human cipher, right? At the very least, no one’s used it for the past few hundred years, so I don’t understand it either.”
Rozelite scratched her head.
“But maybe we can find reference material in the library of the Rhine Royal Magic Academy? People say you can find everything recorded in human history there.”
“Is that so... well, doesn’t matter. We’ll talk about it if the opportunity comes.”
Russell didn’t care much about it.
Subspace magic might be worth researching if it came easily into his hands, but if it was troublesome, then forget it.
After all, his goal wasn’t spatial magic, but becoming human.
And besides, the letter mentioned that three keys were needed to open the treasury, but they clearly only had two here. As for the so-called Astral Silver Crown, its whereabouts were unknown, and the letter gave no clues.
“Ah, Mr. Slime, there’s more writing on the back,” Rozelite reminded.
Russell flipped the letter over.
On the back was a line of rough, dark-red writing, as if it had been written by dipping a fingertip in fresh blood.
“The bloodline I birthed with it fused the dual laws of this world and subspace, and may result in unexpected changes. I don’t know how long it has been, but that child may still exist somewhere in this world.”
“Please confirm its death.”
“Otherwise...”
The dark-red words ended there.
Russell flipped the letter over and over, making sure there wasn’t any other writing.
There wasn’t even a signature.
The so-called Astral Silver Ring also contained nothing else.
“So amazing...”
Rozelite blinked her eyes, a flush of excitement on her face.
“That person... was attacked by a tentacle monster, then forced to give birth to its child? What does the tentacle monster’s child look like? Is it still a tentacle monster?”
“...”
“Why are you getting excited about that...?”
Russell sighed helplessly.
“Anyway, it doesn’t concern us. Don’t think too much about it.”
Even Rozelite said the cipher hadn’t been used for hundreds of years. Perhaps even thousands had passed.
If it really was some dangerous existence, it would be impossible for it to remain silent for so long. It had likely already died of old age or been exterminated.
“But now I understand why I couldn’t pick up that sword.”
Russell glanced at the Astral Silver Sword in Rozelite’s hands.
“The more magic the wielder has, the heavier it becomes.”
Heh...
“What kind of poet came up with this?”
Wouldn’t the normal approach be identity recognition? For example, if you matched the requirements, it would be light, and if you didn’t, it would weigh a ton?
But this sword just had to be “the more magic, the heavier.”
So let me ask: could a magician, who typically has high magic power, even wield this sword?
Of course not. With that much magic, the sword would weigh them down to death. Magicians were weak in strength to begin with, how could they lift it?
So instead, those with low magic—warriors, could pick it up?
Sure, but why would they bother using this useless thing? This sword had no other abilities. Any normal weapon would serve them better.
And worse, this was a permanent passive effect.
You couldn’t even turn it off.
Rather than a sword, it was more like a giant nail pinning that subspace tentacle monster in place.
No wonder he couldn’t lift it.
With his seven-digit magic power, if he could lift it, that would truly be strange.
On the other hand, Rozelite found the sword even lighter than a normal one-handed sword.
Why?
Because she didn’t have any magic at all!
“Physics had left the chat.”
Still, based on the situation, this thing might turn out to be useful. He’d try it later when the chance arose.
“In any case, let’s get out of here. There’s nothing left for us,” Russell said.
“Mm-hmm.”
The two carefully packed the collected materials and weapons into the Astral Silver Ring, then retraced their steps to leave.
This labyrinth exploration, counting rest time, had taken them about two days.
When they returned to Flemont, Rozelite immediately went to the Adventurer’s Guild to have their materials appraised.
The staff skillfully listed out every item, confirmed delivery, and exchanged them for coin.
“Altogether, 18 gold, 5 silver, and 16 copper. Please keep it safe.”
The clerk pushed the pile of coins across the counter with a smile. Looking at the little mountain of money in front of her, Rozelite clenched her fists and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Mr. Slime, we finally have money!”