Hermit Wizard

“The Mana I recharged at the end of the year was almost not consumed at all.”

Looking around for a moment, I could see the bodies of Ashpim Giants scattered outside the barrier. A large number of mummifications were in progress due to the high temperature and dry desert environment. It was a scene caused by when they were struck by the attack magic that protruded from the barrier while they were approaching this Channel connected to the Earth.

“It seems like there’s no attempt to approach these days?”

There seemed to be no new corpses. All of them looked old and shriveled.

[Yeah, the story must have spread to them as well. It’s an area they can’t access.]

That was what I was aiming for. I also looked around the seedlings grown by germination of the Enchanted Wood seeds planted around the Channel. It grew to my waist in less than a year. That was a hell of a speed. It was mysterious how they grew rapidly in such a dry land. In a little while, these seedlings would become components of the barrier, which would help me make the space where I recharged my Mana.

After checking that the overall condition was okay, I came out of the barrier. I moved in a straight line toward the Dell Giant’s forest without wandering as I did when I first came last year.

“If I had mastered the realization of dreams, I could have been able to fly comfortably. I have dreams that I have just collected.

[That’s right.]

Instead of flying, I moved at the same speed as I ran with some magic on my body. After that, I recovered my stamina by inhaling the intermediate elixir I had brought for moments when I tired out. Although it is a waste to consume several bottles of this potion, which was close to a panacea, for the same purpose as a nutrient tonic, it was unavoidable due to my schedule.

“Aah, it’s bitter!

I frowned while emptying another bottle. We didn’t know how long it will take to process our business, so we needed to shorten the travel time as much as possible, and this was one way to do it.

“When I go back, I’ll make a new intermediate elixir. If I drink them like this, I won’t have any left to send to my mother and younger sister next month.”

[But we don’t have any ingredients left to make the undiluted solution?]

“I should summon it again. It’s been a while since I’ve felt a penalty for breaking the contract. Oh, life is really tough. It’s hard.”

I didn’t have time to spend a few days here like before. This time, I planned to finish all of the schedules within one night and two days. I had to deal with Hun-neung affairs, I was anxious about taking my eyes off the Fake God on the lower floor, and I was afraid of what would happen to Seoul while I was away. I had placed several times more vigilance and protection for my family than usual. Still, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

I thought I would ask Yusu and the other White Deer residents to observe and protect them, but I quickly erased it from my head. No matter how friendly the relationship was, exposing the existence of my family was too risky. After a while, I passed the Ashpim Giant area boundary, which I had figured out before.

[Min-joon! There!]

“Well, it’s been a long time?”

In the distance, there was a group of Ashpim Giants: their number was a little over ten. When I saw the Enchanted Wood staff, there was also a wizard among them.

[Isn’t it better to just leave them and go the way you were going? We’re busy, after all.]

I thought for a moment and shook my head.

“How about digging from them as well? Maybe they know something different from the Dell Giants?”

[Hmm. Yes…different knowledge may be passed down by race.]

“Yes, because these guys are also residents of this dimension.”

[Furthermore, their area was surrounding that place. It is also the closest.]

I stopped all magic, including the magic of concealment and the magic of increasing body movement speed. I began to store Mana in my body. Then, I deliberately approached them.

“I wonder if it is watching again? If it drags us right now, that will be frustrating. I’m not ready.”

[Unless it’s God, it wouldn’t always have the whole world. When the Dark Kirin opened seeds near it, it must have watched with interest.]

After a while, when I entered their sight, they started talking to each other at high speed. There was still some distance that remained between us, but their original decibels were large so that I could hear them from that distance. I asked Parvache what it meant.

“What are they saying, Parvache? Is it the same line again?”

Ah, human, what a windfall! Was it like that…? Parvache interpreted it as if reading a book in a dry tone.

[‘It is human. But is he from another dimension? Maybe he is that guy?’]

Something was going strangely. They didn’t run toward me like before. Parvache interpreted the response of a giant who appeared to be a wizard among the crowd.

[‘The old Channel was completely blocked because of an unknown barrier. There’s no way that a human being would come over. It is clear that he is the human being of this world.’]

Following that, the wizard affirmed that I had no Mana, that I wasn’t a dangerous target. Its level was too low. It wasn’t able to read the hidden magical power I hid internally. After having had such a brief discussion, the Ashpim Giants group finally concluded that I could not be from a different dimension. And then…

“Mmmmmwaaaaaaaaaa!”

They screamed and started running at me.

“…How come they don’t make any progress at all? Anyway, I’m thankful that they moved exactly as I thought they would.”

The group of Ashpim approached me, creating a cloud of dust. It wasn’t until they moved a certain distance that I held out one hand in that direction with Mana in my hand. The wizard’s mouth opened wide after confirming it.

“Mgwaaaa!”

Perhaps that meant to stop, and the warriors who ran into me were confused and stopped. Some slipped on the ground without being able to overcome the inertia of jumping and running. Some bumped into each other and rolled on the ground. There was an uproar in the crowd. The wizard shouted loudly.

I asked Parvache while preparing the magic.

“What did it say?”

[‘Great Mana. Besides, the clothes are weird up close. Isn’t that guy…the Massacre Wizard?’]

What? What wizard?

[‘…Oh my God, the evil wizard who called a flesh-splitting storm and a monster that’s crazy about slaughtering! Everybody, run away. We are all going to die. Ah, God. Everyone, run away right now.’]

“…”

[…]

Apparently, what I did here in May last year had spread all over the place. They turned their backs and started running away again at the same speed as they ran up to me.

“Huh…”

However, if they run away like that, there was no point in luring them. Also, I couldn’t let the information that I’m here spread. What if the grudge accumulated on me was big enough to warrant a further attack? They gathered several hundred and tried and were wiped out, so this time they might try to gather thousands or tens of thousands of them.

“The Chains of Thermios!”

Dozens of opaque fog chains stretched out from my right hand and tied the limbs of the Ashpim giants that were running away. Their big, elongated heads were effortless targets. They were dragged into my direction with two or three body parts tied together.

“Mmwaaaaaaaaa!”

Each of them was screaming and struggling, but they couldn’t break the magic. Not long ago, I made a sacrifice to Thermios, so the spell’s power was sufficient and overflowing. There was no magic as useful as this as a means of capturing. However, I couldn’t use other magic in this state. It would be comfortable to simply stun them with mental magic, but the spell on that side was still a big wall for me. However, it might be necessary to lose at a particular voltage so that they wouldn’t die and only pass out.

“Maaaaaa! Khaaaa!”

“It’s a hell of a mess.”

No matter how hard they struggled, the shock couldn’t reach my body. I put my free left hand into my backpack. Every time I removed my hand, a few pieces of bamboo flakes filled with unreadable letters were picked up and came out—artifacts based on antiques received from White Deer.

-Whirling!

The magic of restraint that was initially unfolded was fixed to this artifact. Then I threw it and tied their bodies down.

“Mmwaaaaaaaaa!”

The items received from White Deer had excellent qualities to make them into artifacts. The energy that resided inside, the planetary energy that hadn’t yet been enchanted, was very high. The effect was incomparable to a plastic soju glass bought at a convenience store or made with Go stones sold cheaply on the Internet.

That item was also chosen because it was quite efficient. Come to think of it, I didn’t know what the letters were written there were. It looked like something similar to Chinese characters, but it was very crooked and rounded. Anyway, my hands were free now, and the restraint magic continued without direct control with my will—a state in which other magic could be used.

[How are you going to interrogate them? The suggestion won’t work. If they don’t open their mind as he does and do the trick first…]

The suggestion to Fake God was close to a counter-attack. Parvache’s mental body entered me (I lay sick for several days due to the after-effect) and used his magic in reverse. It was only possible due to the overlapping of several special conditions.

“Not that; I just remembered how to kill two birds with one stone.”

[Well?]

“Is there a way to stop spreading information about us and get the information we want?”

It sounded like a joke, but Parvache understood the meaning.

[Ah…right.]

“Even the same information will be asked in a friendly and polite way to Dell Giants, but for these guys…”

I could use means other than conversation. I took out a gold censer from my backpack. This was also one of the antiques I received from White Deer. I don’t know how old it was, but it was something I had been paying attention to. Being made of gold, it was quite efficient. I put a piece of Maek’s Iron and a part of Enchanted Wood inside this to complete the artifact. Of all the magic items I have made so far, I put quite a bit of effort into it.

-Wooong!

When the Mana was applied, a powerful cognitive impairment barrier was created around me. Although the effect was a little different, it was barrier-class magic created in the past to avoid the Power of the Echo. Because I still remembered the rumors of A-Verdag that I summoned a Dark Kirin in this world.

Only after preparing like that, I opened the Channel on my chest. The giant wizard’s eyes, who witnessed the portal’s opening on my chest, first widened, and the rest of the giants also trembled when they saw something coming out of the crack. They did not know what this being was, but they instinctively realized that it was something dangerous.

The higher being, who brought his whole body to this dimension, looked at me and spat out its will.

=…Again? Already?=

I looked at Yodmo and responded.

“It’s been tens of days? But well, it is…”

I looked around Yodmo’s body. The silky, glossy black hair hadn’t changed from before. However, the body shape of the Yodmo it covered and the curves the body drew had changed slightly.

“Huh…?”

So, in a word…this guy, somehow, had gained some weight?

***

The moon’s light was getting lighter and closer to pink. It was a sign that the sun would soon rise. I had to finish up and go into the woods.

“You’re not full, are you?”

=…=

Yodmo didn’t answer. No way. Then it said it with its own mouth. A few more days would be enough to digest. The sleek wolf didn’t suddenly gain weight to the point of becoming a pig. The line on the back had just become smooth, the legs were a little thicker, and the ribs outline wasn’t visible anymore. And his eyes were even more drenched in boredom and lethargy.

I pointed to the Ashpim Giants.

“Look, they’re all alive. There must be more memories than when targeting the dead. And the average life expectancy… I’m not sure.”

Yodmo shrugged and looked around the giants lying on the floor bound by magic.

=The average memory capacity for each individual is over 100 years.=

“Oh really? Isn’t this enough?”

Yodmo didn’t answer again. What was wrong with it? It looked at me and said.

=What the hell are you?=

“What?”

=Are there any demigods whom you have contracted?=

Instead of answering right away, I scratched my chin.