Chapter. 11. Wizard’s Wizard (8)
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‘Damn. I’m dying of shame!’
When I saw the grinning face of my godmother, I realized that I was not prepared enough.
You come here to persuade someone who is likely to be hostile without any information.
‘I was so used to playing with people in chat rooms.’
If speech is the gun in conversation and persuasion, then information is the bullet. Seeking out what the other person likes and dislikes, gathering various information such as human relationships, and thinking, ‘If you poke here, they will react like this!’ After making an inference, I have to guide the reaction to my advantage. Making such inferences with little information is my specialty.
But now I don’t have the support of the people in the ‘District 47 chat room’, the collective intelligence that allowed me to speak out on my own.
‘You can tell just by listening to Godmother. That elf is a living legend who has been active since almost the end of World 1. It’s definitely a hero unit, and he even said he “saved the princess family’s great hero”, right? Is that about the Rabbit Princess who cleared World 2? ‘Because the 3rd world I’m playing now started from the 2nd world seed that Levitt cleared.’
People in the chat room were watching live. At first glance, there was an uproar, ‘That’s El-Farna! An elf who likes humans! I even got married to a human!’ ‘It’s a 300-year-old snake!’ ‘This is the undead blender that ran around the field with Rabbit during World 2! If you cheat, you’ll die!’ He probably spewed out all kinds of information. If we had done that, we would have known from the beginning that the wound was not caused by humans, that we still have affection for humans rather than hatred towards them, and we would have responded more leisurely and resolved the conversation in a direction that was advantageous to our side.
however. I didn’t even realize that the situation had changed and tried to improvise as I always did. If you went into battle with an empty gun, what else would you do other than get beaten up?
‘Ugh, I can’t believe I made such a beginner’s mistake! You don’t even think about it, you just rush in because you’re drunk on your own abilities! How can you be this stupid!’
“Hehehe. “You have a very dissatisfied face?”
“…Even if the other elves here are half-blooded, aren’t they pure-blooded elves? “I heard that elves don’t lie?”
In response to my dissatisfied words, the godmother rested her chin on her wooden hand and said,
“hmm? “I’ve never told a single lie?”
“I heard you like people! Just now, ‘Do you really think we can forget that bloody past and laugh and chat with you again?’ And then a blood clot appeared in my neck!”
“Isn’t that correct? It is clear that the branches here in Kaneran were lucky enough to find human companions and developed a love for humans, but there are still those who have experienced terrible things. After weighing between the two feelings, those who cherished the happy memories more remained here, and those who had more painful memories returned to the elf forest. Even now, when you go to the elven forest, there are many branches to toast in front of the corpses of humans dying from arrows. “We are just a small Kaneran and cannot be considered to represent all elves, can we?”
“Then those limbs! “You’ve been talking about your uncomfortable body and your miserable life, but you’re so cool that you can spar with me right now!”
“Oh. Just because I replaced the lost limb with my outstanding ability, doesn’t that mean that I would be comfortable living with a prosthetic limb instead of my real body? “Isn’t that too harsh an opinion for people suffering from similar disabilities as me?”
“Then why did the house suddenly collapse and the house that was still on the ground pulled up to the top of the tree-”
“Isn’t the view from here really nice? In fact, places with a good atmosphere like this tend to eat better.”
“No, that-”
“Atmosphere. Psychological and physical pressure. Even if you have nothing to hide, you can sometimes deceive the other person by revealing something. “When dealing with people who have a lot of thoughts, one way is to instill thoughts in them.”
….Actually, from the moment the word “test” came out, I had the feeling that it was all acting and directing. I’m just doing this to scream because I’m so angry that I was so ridiculously deceived. What if I end up talking behind someone’s back and fall into the ears of a terrifying ancient elf? You should be angry now while you can.
“If you’re just raising your voice over facts you already know to make yourself feel better, then let’s stop here. “The children waiting below are worried by your voice.”
“oh my god. “Have you learned anything about caring in the human world?”
“I don’t know what the law of attention is, but isn’t it true that the person who got hit remembers it better than the person who hit him? “I came out of the forest 64 years after I was born and spent nearly 200 years wandering around the human world, suffering as I could, so it’s even more strange that I’m not used to that type of thing.”
Kurrrrrrrr….
The walls disappeared and the house with only the floor remaining began to flow down between the tree trunks.
“I hope you don’t think too highly of me. We also had to confirm whether you were truly a warrior of light who came to make peace, or whether you were an evil person trying to deceive us by plundering a holy relic and snatching up a bunch of elf slaves at once. Honestly, looking at your appearance, wouldn’t it be hard to say that you are a member of the vicious Light Church?”
“…Well, being a warlock and a troll werewolf is definitely a bit unique for a group of warriors.”
“Not them. I’m talking about you. you.”
The godmother’s wooden finger was pointing at my feet.
When I looked down, there were feet and calves covered in dark uppers.
weird. Is it blood armor? Did I cast it without realizing it out of a sense of crisis? It’s not? You didn’t use magic?
“What is this!”
“hmm? Didn’t you do it knowingly? “When I used my strength to pressure you, didn’t you hold on to the floor with that to avoid being pushed away?”
There were definitely marks left on the wooden floor in front of my feet, as if I had dug my sharp nails into them and dragged them.
“When I saw that someone with a body like that was entrusted with such an important task, I thought that the Children of Light had really changed. Could it be that it was created that way without your knowledge? In that case, let me right away-”
“Oh no! “I know what this is and how it happened, but I’m a bit… embarrassed.”
It’s definitely a form I remember. A similar feeling to the one that changed my body into a red mutant a long time ago when Hyde completely took control of my body at the Magic Tower of Tobrun. And although the size is different, it is exactly the same as the one lying outside called my body.
“Hey Professor. By any chance… do you still have the abilities hidden from us? I didn’t think I’d be more shocked than that after seeing your ‘rapidly growing body’ the last time I saw it… but if there’s anything left, I’d like you to tell me in advance. “Don’t put any more strain on your old heart.”
“I… I don’t know either, Aldrich.”
“I’m more worried that you don’t know. “There is nothing more fearful than a force you cannot control.”
Slurp- boom!
As soon as I came down, I raised my hands and thought to the arrows aimed at us from all directions.
What on earth was I doing two months ago that made me feel so familiar with the feeling of my body being muted?
‘Did you get special transformation training with Hyde?’
In any case, it was clear that there was something I needed to take some time to find out.
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“leg.”
….fight.
“calf.”
Fighting. Wow.
“Umm. Strange. toes.”
….Tuk.
“There is no choice. “Do you have any sense?”
“Eh… It feels like I’m in a hard shell, but it feels clear to the touch?”
“That’s so strange, so strange… Then the left wing-”
Sooooooo!
Wood-dud-dud-duk! Quad deuk! Quack! Doo-doo-duk-duk!
“-egg.”
Before Aldrich could finish speaking, the arm opened at an incredible speed, as if reacting at the speed of thought, and bundles of muscles, nerves, and bones protruded from within, creating a large, solid black arm.
“There’s no need to check. It is developed incomparably with other parts. Can you make it bigger? Like that day you mentioned long ago when I was transformed without my knowledge?”
“Well, I’m not sure. It seems like it could work, but… actually, I still feel a bit numb in my fingertips, right? “If it gets bigger, I don’t think I can control it at all.”
“I feel blind. “Specifically?”
“Let’s see… If you’re confined for a long time, your fingertips stop bleeding and become blue and cold, right? “It feels exactly like that.”
Crunchy crunchy –
“At the fingertips…. the feeling that blood is not flowing…. The change in my left arm stands out more than other parts… It’s truly strange. “It’s strange and interesting.”
After completing the agreement with the godmother, I entered the lodgings following the elves’ guidance and had to be bombarded with questions from Aldrich before I could even take a breath.
‘I said your body changed that way because of Mute’s infectious agent. Has it become impossible to suppress it?’
‘Because they are barefoot. Before I knew it, I was back to my original body. Is it possible for you to change your body again like before? With those curved toes and legs wrapped in hard, black uppers? Or is it possible for other parts as well?’
‘Perhaps the reason there are so many spare clothes in the luggage is because they calculated that the clothes will tear every time there is a change?’
Ah, thank goodness. Fortunately, one of the two wizards suffered from spirit syndrome and was sealed away.
Although he had been quiet so far, Aldrich was also very interested in the human body as he was a warlock, and as a soul mage, he studied and knew better than anyone else about the connection between the spirit and the body.
This means that although I don’t know the impact in reality, there is no talent better suited to explain my change in a systemic aspect.
So, I cut out everything about what happened in Tobrunn, where and how it happened, and told only the parts of my body that had changed, and asked for his help.
‘No one has seen the battle with that bastard Isaac, so they can’t associate me with this red mute, right?’
Let’s keep this in mind. I am now known to the church and people as ‘the professor who was Isaac’s experiment.’ It is known that ‘Red Mute’, whose notoriety exceeds 4,000, is a different person, so you always need to be careful.
Aldrich, who was comparing my testimony and observation records written on a wooden board with his knowledge of mute infection agents, opened his mouth with a sigh.
“Combining the information revealed so far and your story… This ‘infectious agent’ is an entity that is infected through the blood of a mute, eats the host’s body, proliferates, dominates the body, and changes the soul. “I can see it.”
“Take over the body… and change the soul?”
“okay. Spirit and body may seem different, but in the end, they are one thing that goes hand in hand. A person whose spirit is shaken will have a weak body, and a person whose body will be weak will have a weak mind and body. In that sense, your condition is… strange. Somehow it seems like it went in the opposite direction. “How can it be that the infectious agent changes the physical form according to your spirit form?”
“…..”
Those words reminded Aldrich of an unspeakable fact.
‘Infectious agents and mutant cells. When I looked closely, I saw that the two were completely inverted.’
Mute’s infection agent first infects the body and then takes over the entire body, twisting the target’s mind and using it as Mute’s personality.
On the other hand, the mutant cells out there dig into the memories of the dead host and change the body based on that mind for use.
Two factors with similar yet opposite properties.
The change that occurred to me now seemed to have originated from that. The reason why the pain of erosion that always seemed to be squeezing my body from the inside disappeared without a trace is because I remember the changes and the sensations that occurred to me outside, and the reason why some changes in the mass, volume, and character units of the body that were possible only with Hyde became possible. This led to internal change.
‘Because that guy Hyde always talked about having a body control problem. According to what he said, I will be connected from the outside, accustomed to the controls.’
The proof is the left arm. Unlike other parts where the upper stands out slightly or only the skeleton changes slightly, the left arm not only completely changed into a shape similar to my actual body, but was also able to increase its size considerably.
After fighting the Raptor in Area 47, I became quite accustomed to the mutated arm, which was reproduced in the game as a sense of controlling the body.
Soooouk-
udukuduk. Chuhwaak!
“It’s surprising there’s no bleeding. “That’s how the body splits and reorganizes.”
“Oh, that’s because I collected my own blood separately. “At first, I wanted to carve a line through my calf.”
“okay? Come to think of it, you were dealing with something unusual even among water magicians. There were many factors at play. Very awesome. This is a phenomenon close to art. “It fits together so precisely!”
The result was the dismantling show unfolding before our eyes. Just by thinking about it, the left arm disintegrates in an instant, and a black monster’s arm grows out of it, and then returns to the original arm.
The other parts are not as avant-garde, but small cracks slowly open and scale-like carapace grows inside them.
Although it is not at the level where the arm can endlessly regenerate and become a huge spear that crosses the room like Hyde did in the Tower of Tobrun, with eyeballs and teeth attached, he is able to control the mute’s body to about half of that level.
“First of all, from my perspective as a soul mage, it doesn’t seem like there is a major flaw in your soul itself. “It’s still as solid and shiny as when I first saw it.”
“If it doesn’t look the same… does that mean there is a change?”
“yes. Before, I could only see your soul, but now there’s a lot of fog around that soul. This is my first time seeing it too. There’s something wrapped around your soul. Also, did you say that Hyde was hiding inside…? The traces of that little soul have become very faint. Umm…. It’s also strange. This is a phenomenon that is not written about in any books on soul magic. Try to calm your mind for a moment. “I think I should record this form of mine.”
“Anyway, I’m glad to hear it’s not a big problem.”
“That doesn’t mean you should feel at ease. Seeing that there is a strange tremor, it is clear that the soul is unstable. “Always remain calm and discipline your mind.”
Looking at Aldrich’s wry smile while saying that, it seems like he said it even though he knew I wasn’t in that situation. Right now, an all-out war with Mute is in full swing down there, and I have to quickly sign an alliance and rush to join in, so how can I be mentally and physically stable?
“So, where has everyone gone?”
“Otman… um… he seemed to have come to his senses, but he said to himself that he shouldn’t take off the restraints yet and lay down in his room. The red-haired merchant kid went to buy specialty products. I heard that Borca and Notum come for a walk because the forest is nice. “This is an opportunity that the elves here have waited a long time for, so they will have a lot to say about who to send.”
“…I wish the old elf, the godmother, would come.”
“It’s probably impossible. It seemed like she was the one maintaining the barrier here. “If she, who is a great spiritist who even appears in history books, joins us, our party’s future will be solid, but the elves remaining here in Kaneran will soon be killed by demonic beasts and undead.”
hmm? wait for a sec.
“Do you know who your godmother is?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I didn’t know it until I was simply told that she was my godmother, but I knew it the first time I saw her. El-Farna. An elf who is a great warrior and spiritist. 120 years ago, he came out into the world hiding his name and became known to the world in earnest 80 years ago, when a civil war began between the 22 princes and princesses who were competing for the throne of the empire. Even back then, when the empire was reeling in the aftermath and the undead formed a mountain and attacked the castle walls, he was a man of great fame. “There was a time when her name was preceded by pseudonyms such as ‘Judgment of Providence,’ ‘Bone Crusher,’ and ‘Tree that grows on the blood of warlocks.’”
“No, if you had known that, you should have told me a long time ago….”
“I also heard that you were a godmother, so I went and saw it and found out, but where was the time to tell me? “As soon as we met, he exchanged a few words with you and was very cheerful, suffocating everyone with his energy.”
Percussion!
The professor slapped his forehead in frustration. The problem wasn’t that the chat room was disconnected. It was a hero unit so famous that even my colleagues knew about it. If I had proceeded a little more calmly and slowly, I could have gathered enough information on my own!
‘What can I do? I, too, was out of my mind because I had just come in after hearing that shit happen outside. Suddenly, I was playing the game and tried to turn off the connection and leave, but [in fact, you connected backup data to an unconscious brain. Medically, it is no different from death. Heh heh.] But isn’t it funny that you respond calmly by thinking, “Oh, that’s right?” Let’s say you come to your senses after getting hit by a friendly elf grandmother.’
The professor shook his head to shake off his thoughts, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and began to write down each letter.
“There’s no need to record yourself, right? “I am recording from head to toe how many times you blink and how many times you breathe per minute.”
Please. Even stalkers don’t go that far, you wizard.
“This is something different. “Because it’s what I need.”
As long as I can see it, even a recorded version will be broadcast.
After carefully taking the time to read what I had written down two or three times, I put the note in my pocket and got up.
Sigh! Crack, crack, crack!
“Are you going out?”
“yes. Anyway, the elves had something to discuss, so they asked us to wait until tomorrow. “I didn’t get to see the village properly when I came, but I’d like to take a look before I leave. If I learn about the elven culture and customs here, I can use them later when I go to the elven forest.”
I returned my body, which had dark spots all over it, back to its original state and put on the outer clothes I had taken off.
“…I guess I should go out and buy some clothes.”
The professor squeezed himself out of the tree hole, looking at the clothes that were no better than rags.
Whether I’ve been completely deceived, my body is in disarray, or I’m in a state similar to a brain in a vat on the outside.
Anyway, the elf village he saw for the first time was beautiful, and the smell of fresh grass and quiet liveliness delighted his eyes.
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