CHAPTER 68. You’ve Got to Collect the Price on Your Life
The battle was short, but its aftertaste lingered for a long time.
The Hamelin Great Forest, with silence settling down.
In the spot where even the monsters held their breath at the roar of the apex predator called the Swamp Ruler, Aster stood with his eyes half-lidded.
A deep inhale.
“……Hoo.”
An even deeper exhale spread through the air.
The excitement of battle.
That intense heat coursed through his entire body along his veins, and his heated breath was unbearably hot.
That was why he’d engaged in unnecessary hand-to-hand combat with the Swamp Ruler.
A sense of liberation after so long.
To vent this heat that surged up from deep in his lower abdomen, passed through his heart, and scorched the ends of his limbs.
But.
‘……Not enough.’
What finally came was a strange sense of weakness.
As expected, was a mere monster not enough?
No, that wasn’t it.
Unless Aster was a battle-crazed maniac who enjoyed fights to a pathological degree, after letting off this much steam, he should have felt refreshed.
But the reason he couldn’t was probably because of the last battle in his previous life.
An unknown field.
A countless festival of magic that embroidered the sky.
The battle against the loyal mages branded with Deculan’s crest was a battle where he’d poured out his full strength like never before.
‘That was the first time, probably?’
After surpassing the limits of a Troubleshooter.
In order to deceive Deculan’s eyes, he hadn’t opened up his full strength even once.
No—wait.
Reaching that thought, Aster lightly shook his head.
‘That’s not it. It wasn’t because of the battle with those guys.’
Isn’t there a memory even more intense than that?
Paharen von Deculan.
In the future, he would rise to become the strongest of all time—a man who, in Aster’s previous life, had already stepped into that lofty realm.
The master of the massive monster called Deculan.
“Hah.”
Thinking of him, a laugh slipped out.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even get to feed him properly.’
Deculan’s elites were truly formidable.
So even after opening his full strength, he’d crossed the brink of death again and again.
And by the time he faced Paharen, he was exhausted to the bone.
Of course, he wasn’t trying to make excuses.
‘The result…… would’ve been the same. Only the time it took to reach the ending would’ve been different.’
That was how vast the gap was between Paharen and himself.
But what he regretted was this.
Right in front of him. One corpse, floating listlessly atop the murky surface of the wetland.
The corpse was the Swamp Ruler, with a significant portion of its body missing.
If he’d been able to land this magic properly on that bastard even once, what expression would Paharen have made?
‘Would he panic? Would he keep that expressionless face like always?’
But one thing was certain: he wouldn’t be able to laugh.
Explosive Annihilation (폭멸, 爆滅).
That was the kind of technique it was.
A vicious explosion that could tear apart even the most solid force field in an instant.
Because it annihilated everything, it was named Explosive Annihilation.
Of course, if it had been the Paharen of that time, he would have found a way even against this and blocked it.
Just as he reached that thought.
“Ugh…….”
Aster’s body swayed once.
“S-senior!”
“Mage!”
Oberon and Raileigh, who had been watching from a distance, came running at once and supported Aster.
“It’s the aftereffects of Overclock. Since we didn’t set the duration that long, the burden should be lighter, but…… at least for today, you’ll be in this state.”
“Ghn…….”
Aster nodded in the spinning field of view.
‘Seriously, I’m going to die.’
He had heard the explanation. That an overwhelming lethargy would crash down in an instant.
But he never imagined it would be to this extent.
How many times had he been pushed to the brink of death in battle?
There were plenty of times he’d literally wrung out every last ounce of strength and collapsed from exhaustion.
So he thought he’d get past this easily.
But look at him now.
His fingertips trembling.
The two feet that had pressed firmly into the ground didn’t even have the strength to keep him standing and wobbled limply.
If Oberon and Raileigh hadn’t been here, wouldn’t he have face-planted into the wetland and drowned?
‘That would’ve been a filthy, ridiculous death.’
And one thought also occurred to him.
‘If I’d known it’d be like this…… I should’ve saved Overclock a bit.’
The safe duration is five minutes.
And……
- At least for a month, you have to avoid Overclock. It’s a burden on me too, but…… your core and circuits will get damaged.
Its cooldown is a month.
‘It was an unavoidable choice to avoid taking risks…… tsk. There wasn’t even any need for it.’
The Swamp Ruler.
He could fully understand why it had reigned as fear among adventurers and mercenaries.
Its fur and hide blocked Aether, and they were so tough and tenacious that ordinary weapons couldn’t even pierce them.
And what about that roar?
‘For mages…… it must’ve been a disaster.’
Of course, a mage who had reached a certain realm would find a method even in that, but why would people like that bother?
Anyway.
In his case, the matchup was good.
Even if the mana in the air went wild, techniques like Collision Style remained firm, and what its hide blocked was only Aether—so it was powerless in front of magic power.
‘The eyes were a bit of a problem, but…….’
He’d made them “nice” too, so what more was there to say.
Meanwhile.
“…….”
Oberon pictured Aster’s might from earlier in his mind.
‘……No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand it.’
After Oberon realized his talent, he had studied Overclock with his master.
Overclock is a Gift that draws out latent ability. But……
- There seems to be a clear limit.
- A limit, you say……?
- In the old war, they divided mages not by realm, but by output. It’s ridiculous. Ridiculous, but it has convenient parts too. It’s exactly like this kind of case.
Back then, his master had said—
- Depending on your level of concentration, the amplification of output…… around 150 percent. I’d say that’s about it.
Of course, that conclusion was made purely about output, excluding things like the heightened five senses Overclock brings and the triggering of latent ability.
In other words—combat power.
But……
‘What I saw back then…….’
It wasn’t something that could be explained by a mere 150 percent output.
It was as if someone who had originally possessed that ability had regained sealed power.
For Oberon, it was a mystery he wouldn’t be able to solve even if he lived his entire life.
After everything was completely settled.
Aster and the group took a short rest.
For Aster, it was only natural to rest due to the aftereffects of Overclock, but Oberon too had expended no small amount of mental and physical energy.
Thanks to that, the one who was busy was Raileigh.
“Um…… Mage, what do you plan to do with the Swamp Ruler’s corpse?”
Raileigh had always been polite, but now he treated Aster in an extremely deferential posture.
At that 모습, Aster let out a weak, drained laugh.
‘As expected, this is the backbone of the void.’
It was the way of dealing with people you’d expect from someone from the Black and White Zone—born a vagrant.
Bow your head to someone moderately strong, and to someone absurdly strong, devote your soul to loyalty—that disposition!
But what to do with the corpse…….
“Handle it yourself.”
“Huh! R-really?”
“Yeah. You’ve got to earn the price on your life, don’t you? Well, if you need it, I can even lend you a Subspace.”
“Th-then I’d be grateful!”
Aster, with his stamina somewhat recovered, handed over a Subspace he’d wrung out of a black-market dealer.
The contents inside had already been moved into Henji and Kalahen’s Subspace.
“Th-thank you!”
Raileigh bowed past 90 degrees to nearly 120, then hurriedly ran into the wetland.
In one hand he held a butcher’s dagger, and just from a glance, he was clearly not merely excited—he was beside himself.
“Um…… Senior, are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Oberon asked a worried question.
“What about?”
“If it’s the Swamp Ruler’s corpse…… wouldn’t it be worth whatever price they name? Is it really okay to hand it over so easily?”
“Why—are you greedy for it? Well, you do have a share to some extent, so I guess it’d be tempting.”
“N-no! Greed interferes with training and distorts proper resolve. It’s just that I was wondering if you would be alright, Senior…….”
“……Good grief.”
The things people say.
Greed interferes with training? It’s nonsense.
Right now, Aster knew someone whose greed was the greatest in the Eastern Continent and whose achievements were also the greatest…… no, who would become the greatest in the future.
That’s right. That bastard was Paharen von Deculan.
Anyway.
“Whatever…… cut the nonsense. What am I going to do by taking that? He should collect the price on his life too.”
“……!”
At Aster’s sincere answer, Oberon’s eyes trembled.
‘Senior truly is……!’
A true mage.
It had only been a short while ago that calling someone around his age “Senior” felt awkward.
But the battle earlier, and his conduct now—
The mage before him was a mage worthy of the title “Senior.”
‘Detached from material things, and on top of that, a mindset that can consider another person’s circumstances.’
A breadth of heart incomparable to his own!
Of course, this was the kind of statement that knew one thing and not two.
‘……Yeah, sure.’
Aster leaned his tired body against a tree and looked at Raileigh with half-closed eyes.
Peeling off the hide with a sharp butcher’s knife, judging which parts of that heavy body would sell, and stuffing them into Subspace—the smile blooming across his whole face was truly……
Like he owned the whole world.
‘Yeah, of course you’d be happy.’
The Swamp Ruler. It was known that its fur and hide even blocked Aether.
So if you made armor from that fur and hide? No—rather than armor, a robe would be more expensive.
For mages, after all, knights were more troublesome than fellow mages.
But.
‘That’s all dog hair.’
Sometimes it happens.
Cases where, once something dies, the efficacy of its byproducts drops sharply.
In other words, hide that blocked spears and blades while alive becomes, after death, not much different from that of an ordinary wild beast.
Of course, it still boasts durability that can’t be compared to ordinary leather, but it’s nothing more and nothing less than very good leather.
Even now, look.
Slice— slash.
That hide said to be so hard is helplessly split by a blade that doesn’t even carry Aether—only sharpness.
In the first place, the driving force that maintained its toughness was the magic power contained in the monster’s heart, and once that supply line was cut, it became useless.
Of course, does that mean it’s completely worthless?
‘Not exactly.’
As for the hide, its hardness only “lives” if you supply it with the same magic power the monster had.
But the heart that held that magic power was an expensive magical material mages would foam at the mouth and rush for.
But.
‘That’s gone too.’
The final Explosive Annihilation.
Its aftermath blew away the heart along with the left upper body.
So what Raileigh could collect was nothing more than hide that was only a bit tough and a few byproducts—things that weren’t worth much!
Anyway.
“Hehe, Mage. Thank you for your consideration. Then, when would it be good for us to depart……?”
“Senior, what will you do? The schedule did get delayed, but you can rest for about one more day.”
After some time, Raileigh approached, smiling, his Subspace packed full.
As Oberon made a subtle suggestion laced with concern.
Pop!
Aster pulled out a potion from Subspace, drank it in one go, and pushed himself up to his feet.
“Let’s go. We went through all this miserable trouble, so we should hurry.”
Lethargy is lethargy, but right now was the time to press forward.
And so, it was while he was crossing the wetland with Raileigh supporting him.
“…….”
Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu.
Whip.
Aster whipped his head around and looked behind.
But all he could see were bushes and trees. Even with the faint sense he’d barely roused, he couldn’t catch a single thing.
Only a few insects.
“Um…… Mage? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
“……Your height doesn’t match.”
“Huh! I’m sorry!”
At that, Raileigh awkwardly bent his knees down.
Aster withdrew his gaze and pressed on.
But the question on his face didn’t fade.
‘……I swear it felt like there was a rat.’
It was brief, but he felt it clearly.
The feeling that someone was watching this place.
Of course, it could have been a mistake caused by lethargy making his senses imperfect, but……
‘Well, I’ll find out.’
If there really was a rat, it would reveal itself before long.
Etching that fleeting déjà vu into his mind, Aster brushed the thought away.