18. Struggling through hardships (3)
“You are a coward.”
“Because you ran away?”
“I know.”
“No, I just didn’t want to get caught up in something stupid. “It’s strange from the very beginning.”
“Main premise?”
“Why are you trying to take over the human world?”
“The land where the sun sets.”
“I do not need. They have adapted underground for over 60,000 years. Food, clothing and shelter can be provided by crops and animals that grow in shady soil.”
“Oh! “A pacifist!”
“I just don’t want to do useless things. lets think. The human world is not an indispensable land for demons. But that doesn’t mean there’s some great treasure hidden there. “I don’t know if there is a lot of gold rolling around and digging up gold nuggets while plowing the fields, but from what I have seen since I came, it is difficult to say that it is richer than the Demon World.”
Before he knew it, Yulgeum had kept his mouth shut and was listening to Deus’ story.
“The demons raise the demon lord as if it were some kind of sacred ritual and attack the earth once every 100 years. And then you lose to show off. Conversely, how about changing the pattern and launching a large-scale invasion now, say in the 80th year? There is a hero in the human world who can stop me? “If we gather all these idiots in one place and pour out magic energy, one or two of them will probably survive due to random luck.”
“It can’t be that easy… When the Demon King
grows up, a hero with the protection of an angel will be born.”
“Because he’s not the devil. I mean. I’m not the devil yet. “Because I did not inherit the spirit of the previous generation.”
“ah!”
“Officially, there is no demon lord in the demon world yet.”
Deus continued speaking while looking straight into Yulgeum’s eyes.
“Anything is fine, even if it’s not necessarily that way. If humans are the real enemies of the demons, they
should shake the back, destroy the front, make a fuss on the right, and attack the left. “Why did you announce to everyone that the Demon King was born, then plunder the country with the Jeonggongbeop, wasting time and waiting for the birth of a hero?”
“It feels strange when you put it all together like that, but if you become the Demon Lord and attack the human world, you’ll make the same decision, right?”
“why?”
“It’s not that I specifically want to use true attack techniques, but since there is only one passage between the demon world and the human world, I’m just using that.”
“What I’m talking about is formality. Are you hitting the human world because you
need a sunlit land? “Then why not try to purify the land contaminated with mugwort?”
“Even if you ask me that… that’s right. “Why don’t you do that?”
“Alex, that bastard just said no without even trying?”
“I guess it’s impossible.”
“How can you know without even trying?”
“In short, you don’t want to follow the customs of the past. “That’s impossible on the throne, so I quit.”
“I just don’t want to be an idiot
.”
Yulgeum sighed briefly.
“Either way… you are definitely not suited to be a demon lord.”
“Well, that’s why I stopped on my own.”
“Then why don’t you hand over the position of Demon King to someone else?”
“no.”
“why?”
“Give up what was given to me to someone else for no reason? “Would you do it?”
“That’s it again.”
“If there was a god and he had some plan and turned me into a demon lord, he would be really annoyed by now, right?”
“That’s true.”
Yulgeum lowered his eyes and quietly repeated what he said.
“You must be really annoyed.”
Zeke could not hide his surprise as he looked at the silver orb he was holding in his hand. Although it is said to be silver
, it cannot be
simply defined that way .
Scents of many more colors became waves and illuminated the surroundings.
Just as water is colored blue, but its essence is close to transparent.
“That’s magic.”
“Magic power
“There are many names. But it means one thing. “It is about drawing out the grace given by God through the power of prayer.”
It was Skatul who was teaching Zeke magic.
He was a fairy who came to Deus after seeing an advertisement for a butler recruitment,
and his real purpose was to solve the dragon intrusion incident that occurred in the fairy world.
Even after the problem was resolved, Skathul was still acting as a butler by Deus’s side. It seemed like he was quite happy with his current job.
“Depending on whether it is offensive or defensive, it is divided into black magic and white magic, and there are also various branches such as divine magic and fairy green magic, but they are all fundamentally the same. “It’s God’s grace.”
Skatul looked at the silver orb between Zeke’s hands.
The boundaries of the beads became increasingly clearer.
What seemed like a blob of light has now taken on a shape as perfect as mercury.
“You’ve already created the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“The Philosopher’s Stone?”
“What is now in Mr. Zeke’s hand is the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“ah! This is…
“The Philosopher’s Stone, a secret secret passed down from alchemists, is
a type of magic crystal. “People who don’t know much about it think it’s a real stone, and skits often break out over the fake Philosopher’s Stone.”
The mercury bead-like crystal in Zeke’s hand gradually refined its surface into a more perfect sphere.
“Swallow the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“With your mouth?”
“yes. “Once it is absorbed into the body, it will flow into places where it is lacking.”
Without hesitation, Zeke
swallowed the silver bead in his hand.
As soon as the walnut-sized Philosopher’s Stone entered the mouth, it disappeared without a trace.
Immediately after that, something like a warm liquid flowed down my throat and spread throughout my body.
Some streams flowed into the lower abdomen and some into the muscles of the thighs or forearms and were absorbed.
“Make a philosopher’s stone and swallow it every day. “Once the magic power has accumulated to a certain extent in your body, you will be able to implement the magic you knew in theory.”
“Yes Mr. Scatul!”
Scatul looked at Zeke for a moment, scratched his head and said.
“You shouldn’t keep praising me… I can’t help it. The Philosopher’s Stone is something that apprentice mages can only make after training for at least a year… but it was materialized in just two days. This seems to be the power of a double-digit pureblood warrior.”
“Is that so?”
Zeke looked at Scatul with a puzzled expression and then looked down at his hands.
“The simplest magic
is probably still possible.”
“yes?”
“For example, a fairy lamp. All you have to do is create light particles and float them around. “It is also a useful magic that allows you to adventure in the dark without a lamp.”
When Skatul raised his index finger and twirled it, a small bead of light like a firefly appeared there.
“In magic, materialization is life. It’s about making the vague image in your head come true before your eyes. “The trick is the same as when making the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Fairy lamp…
Zeke raised his index finger like a scattool. I repeated the word ‘embodiment’ in my head and thought of a small particle of light.
At that moment, the Philosopher’s Stone, which had been hidden inside the body, began to move. The split stem of magic swirled around in its place, forming a mysterious circle.
At that time, Skarul spoke as if he was clearly looking inside Zeke’s body.
“That ring is the Mana Ring, a ring-
shaped mass of magical power that is commonly used as a measure of magical power.”
Zeke nodded slowly and concentrated on his fingertips.
When the rotation speed of the mana ring exceeded a certain level, it began to shake and soon changed into a spherical shape.
Immediately after that, a lump of light suddenly appeared at Zeke’s fingertips.
It was not the size of what could be called a grain.
A fist-sized ball of light began to brightly illuminate the surroundings. Although it wasn’t the sun, it was about as bright as the full moon, and
a faint shadow was cast quite far away
.
“As expected, he is a hero. “It appears that his basic horsepower is higher than that of me as a fairy.”
“No, that’s not it…
“For the result to be stronger magic, the magic power must be high or the operating ability must be good. “I don’t think he has better operating skills than me, so in the end, the difference in horsepower is what led to the difference in results.”
Zeke felt strange looking at the lump of light he had created.
When I learned magic in elementary school, no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible, but
I was able to create a bead of light in just a few days of class.
There may be differences in the skills of the teachers, but it is difficult to explain it alone.
“Why didn’t it work out well when I was younger?”
“You mean at school?”
” yes.”
“At that time, I probably couldn’t even make a mana ring.”
“that’s right.”
“You could say it’s a question of education method. “Magic education at school
teaches the elements separately and then solves them according to the magic formula.”
“I did. “I think it took several months just to learn the difference between the four major and five major elemental methods.”
“The two are just different interpretations, but the essence is the same. Rather, what would be more accurate would be the elements of matter. “The list of major elements is nothing more than a formal classification of the true elements of the natural world.”
Zeke nodded and listened to Skathul’s story.
“To embody magic using the method taught in schools, understand the elements
and apply them to the complex magic formula between elements, then take into account the temperature and humidity of the natural world, the altitude of the sun, the slope of the moon, the position of the planets and the hot spot of the sun. You have to substitute all the variables, including the location, to find the answer. Even real wizards can’t do that. “You’ll have to put down the paper and calculate for a few days before you get the answer.”
“also! “It wasn’t something I couldn’t do, right?”
“God has already given us the grace to allow our body, mind, and spirit to calculate everything on their own. “If you had to calculate the angle of your legs, the height you should lift, the contraction and relaxation of your muscles, the tilt of your body, and the position of your head when walking
, there would be only a few people in the world who would be able to walk.”
The moment Zeke heard his words, he felt like his mind became clearer.
From very simple magic to practicing countless times until you get used to it.
The royal road to learning magic was none other than repetition of materialization.
It was actually difficult at school. Since one or two teachers had to teach dozens of students, processes such as implementation and repetition
were bound to be replaced by one or two exercises.
Zeke practiced the fairy lamp a few more times.
As the number of times increased, Manaring responded faster and stronger.
Scatul looked at Zeke with a happy face.
It was already 3 am.
Zeke had no choice but to send Scatul away, promising the next day.
I was exhausted both physically and mentally from learning both swordsmanship and magic, but I
had no desire to quit as my skills were improving day by day.
I asked Scatul on the way back.
“With my current skills… it would be enough for B level, right? Even if I don’t borrow weapons from Deus-sama.”
“It’s not class B.”
“ah! “Are we there yet?”
“It’s the opposite. Even in Class A, you should be considered top rank. “If you add the spice of family prestige, you would have already won a G-class title.”
Zeke recalled what he heard from Cadenza after fighting Aweek not long ago.
He also said that he was in the G class.
Considering that even Scatul said this, it seems that it wasn’t just empty words.
But Zeke still couldn’t believe the evaluation of his skills.
“No way!”
“Once you become more familiar with magic, it is safe to classify it as sub-G level in name and reality.”
“That’s too generous.”
“Next time the master comes back, why don’t you take on an A-level request and give it a try?”
Zeke smiled and bowed to Skathul.
It was still an unbelievable story. I entered the house with light steps, thinking it was a blessing.
But less than a day later, Zeke had the chance to believe Scatul’s story.
Early in the morning, Zeke woke up to a knock on the door.
“Come out and see.”
It was the voice of a young woman. It was someone
I knew from the way they spoke or the tone of their voice
.
“Senior Lexia? “Now wait a minute!”
Zeke took off his mat-like pajamas and changed into clean linen.
I rolled my eyes and opened the door. In front of him was Lexia dressed in armor.
” Woke up?”
“yes yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Stop nagging and wear this.”
What Lexia gave me
was a set of slightly used leather armor and a sword and shield.
“I borrowed the one used by the family’s gourmet. “Zeek, you don’t have any personal armor, right?”
“Well… other than the war boots… the war boots I got from the dwarves were currently sitting in one corner of Zeke’s room.
Because the war boots were magical weapons, they gave off a faint glow of their own. After discovering that it was a good light for when going to the bathroom at night, Zeke placed it near the front door.
“Get dressed quickly and come out.”
“Yes, senior.”
It was hard to understand, but I obeyed and put on the armor as she told me.
It was a bit big because it was for an adult, but it wasn’t too loose after I tightened the straps.
When I came out, I saw Lexia standing next to two horses.
“Anyway, you really live in a place that looks like a pigsty.”
Lexia frowned.
” sorry.”
“No, I’m not blaming you… I just
wanted to know how you could live in a house like this, even though you’re a hero.”
“It just so happened to be like that.”
Lexia sighed briefly and spoke to Zeke.
“It’s not your fault, so what can you do? Anyway, get on the horse.”
“What the hell is going on? Rather, I have to go to work.”
“I already told you about it. “I told the person I was buying the house from that I would be taking a few days off from work, so it should be okay.”
“I don’t know what it is.”
“It’s not a bad thing for you either.”
Lexia said this and
climbed onto the horse.
The Holyoke family’s war horses were of a different level from other traveling horses. The height of his shoulders was close to that of an adult.
Zeke mounted the shield and sword on the horse’s side and immediately climbed onto the horse’s back.
“Then let’s go.”
“So where are you going?”
“Western border. It seems like strange things happen at night. “It seems like it was the work of the undead.”
“Ah! Did you come by any chance to receive a request?”
“that’s right.”
