Chapter 156: The Man Who Directs the Wave, Korin Lork (2)
tiQ5caThere was a fairy called Baobhan Sith.dhK2q
d6TIt was an astral spirit that sucked the blood of any men it seduced using its beauty and charming white dress.nbPO
XPE2JaBecause of its otherworldly beauty, every man tended to be bewitched by it the moment they saw it.Xfkhs
xudEJRight – as long as they could see it, that is.KL0dF2L
uMoa4a“Lululu~”oKbi3
SfI2Vx‘…What? Why is he ignoring me?!’4Jr
5ul1vxFacing the sudden intruder of the forest, the fairy fluttered its skirt and tried to seduce him, but the man remained firm. It was the first time that this experienced demonic spirit, which had been roaming around the world for centuries, saw a man who was unmoved by her charm.vtsoZ0
v9hr5KCIt was a massive disgrace that the White Queen was being disregarded like this!t8l
FbKr‘Huhh? Are you going? Really? Are you just going to leave?’jng
OlrCpThe fairy tried to stop him with a sorrowful voice, but the voice failed to reach him.3lzxrm
Yi0BF7kHow was it that he could ignore its beautiful voice? Even though there had been no man in existence who had ever resisted the temptations of its voice!h3Yf
v4J3The pride that the queen had built up for centuries crumbled down in an instant. The fairy was appalled by the fact that there was a man whose mental willpower could be as strong as this.oO9Gr
bRaJUW‘Hmph! You’re doing yourself a disservice by ignoring my temptation. I would have at least let you enjoy heavenly pleasure before your death!’pONX
SxXRBaobhan Sith was looking at the man with a seductive gaze when it noticed an astral body standing before the man’s path.n6t
xAk‘Hkk, hkk…!’Aumc
MEZDThe man was walking to a ‘banshee’, who was in the form of a gloomy-looking granny.OO1
b69ePxlThe woman wept in sorrow. After noticing the presence of the man walking to itself, the banshee held its voice in.aH3fo
G01‘What? He’s walking straight to the banshee?’lSDr
GVEtyJbHe was going to die an instant death at this rate. Although the Baobhan Sith had also been intending to kill him when seducing him, it still couldn’t help but tilt its head at the sight of the illogically irrational actions of the man.DrthA
MVKIqfIn the end, when the man foolishly walked all the way up to the face of the banshee… the banshee let out a loud scream.XEvaUu
ZvH2zxy‘KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!’OU5px7
4uAThose who hear the Banshee’s Scream would surely die.Wzd
LhzJIt was a horrendous scream that made Baobhan Sith furrow its eyes despite also being an astral body.hwip4ne
2TfThe scream was a powerful attack that would immediately put people to death if they didn’t have enough resistance or tolerance to magic. Even though the man seemed to have a strong body and willpower, there was no way that he could stay alive after being screamed at by a banshee a hair’s breadth away—Y4yFeM
8q5F“Is it this way~? Or maybe that way~.”EcCufV
1Xti‘Kiii?’sP3f
UJf582He was way too normal.MnV
JqRThere were indeed some people that could survive after hearing the scream of a banshee but… they would still bleed from their ears or their eyes… or at least give a frown.GADEqRW
BGjV7SgThe banshee was stupefied after seeing the man continue humming as if its scream was nothing.sYVed1
NN8ou‘What is this guy?’lSbn
04YSn‘No idea.’sgWVqy
5nrPBMThat banshee wasn’t the only one. Several other evil spirits of the Prohibited Forest gathered after hearing the banshee’s scream.y7T
m4ml‘Here comes a newbieee!’iD4
VwaU‘He’s mine! Mine!’wpTaPgk
E23‘Hue hue hue! A new visitor of the forest!’HZZDt
1G4woQ‘Don’t go easy on himmmmm!’CQAjaA4
AUeCEvil spirits of the Prohibited Forest.08MN2j
MSdUPOriginally, they were free spirits that roamed across the world but were forced by the mages to become wardens of the forest and were therefore about to die of boredom.gA90H
AjL1tihPlaying with intruders and ripping them to pieces was what gave them enjoyment, but there was no one they could play with apart from the lunatic robbers who dared to steal the treasures of the Tower.AUI
i6wREThe reason this forest was the worst region to fight in, was because the bored evil spirits had the tendency to immediately gather to any source of entertainment including a fight. But…DoaMb
fK8i‘What the hell? What the heck?’fEsoEk
grF‘What is… wrong with this guy?’Vwj4O2
H83p1KOne man… Korin Lork had visited their forest by himself, and there had already been 4,000 evil spirits trying to kill him one way or another. They each showed off their spiritual powers and slashed at Korin.iZMA2L
yaGECA banshee’s scream and the charm of a Baobhan Sith were all at the level of powerful attacks that could sink dragons.ZVH
gJ3G‘???’vIV
2AV‘???’UiT
opHHBut despite their attacks and even though the ground quivered and the forest cried in pain… not even one of them was able to hurt him.pekpv
J6GCXLq2nd Precept: Restriction
〚I do not perceive spirits.〛BCB53C
Z4DxNBKorin Lork’s 2nd Precept.ioDx
WnUThis precept that was put in place to strive for a grand aspiration while restricting oneself allowed him to be uninterrupted by half the evil creatures of the world thanks to a play of words.WVY
E6p‘Huhh? Wait a second!’W28a
IxuFDtHis destination was the place where the mages of the Tower were cultivating powerful herbs to help with their experimentations.YDyd8l
amn6L8MThe Tower of Mages was the place where most of the magic experimentations and progress occurred. However, that in turn called for unending experiments and a supply of expensive ingredients that were required for those experiments.kJx7
Zq8SBecause of that, the mages of the Tower began to grow herbs in the den of evil spirits that were safe from the hands of robbers.YyPSL
V6LFSThose ranged from mandrakes to the water of rejuvenation, magic acorn, and the 10,000-year-old ginseng from the distant east.k9PVBx
K5WB58Essentially, this place was the abode of all sorts of global elixirs and powerful herbs.J9yVXG
SxhHowever, magic plants grew slowly and required a lot of time. There were several different herbs here that were a few years to centuries old, and for the super rare ingredients like the ginseng that required the mages to dig up the entire piece of land surrounding it, there was a Unique-Grade demonic spirit guarding the treasure.dCM
s8pHAqThose were the valuable treasures of the Tower that they had been growing with care and surveillance. The priceless elixirs that far exceeded what money could buy…X9Y5s6w
Gmg“They are all mine now.”aOdV
Fc2LWere about to be stolen by one thief.inzmhLT
47GO***E6OAImi
QlzSaeBJackpot! A massive jackpot…!H91ybq
Px2M4The ❰Prohibited Forest❱ of the Steel Archipelago could only be described as a big fat jackpot.9zod
A5EmThe invaluable treasures that must have been nurtured under the extreme care of the mages – the herbs that were supposed to be taken hastily one at a time while evading the endless rampage of evil spirits – were currently being swept away by my hands.iFLIR1
w6iN“Mandrakes… who cares about these! Wait, that’s? Liquid Azurite? Drink it away~”YVVg
kdUlV-Slurp slurp! Nom nom! Gulp!ASBlv
r0US『You have consumed Liquid Azurite.』
– Your Aura Rank has increased.EGXe
fWO8Icd– Your Mana Rank has increased.Z9t
qAkk– Your Aura Capacity has increased by 2000dw3K
mN0O– Your Mana Capacity has increased by 1500I5zj
efqPhL『You have consumed the Honey of Jade』
– Your resistance to poison has increased.PzgNQee
3yh2sz『You have consumed the Nest of a Blood Sparrow』
– It is an artificial nest. The effect has been halved.bNt
R3y0HM– You have acquired [Intuition of a Sparrow].EIcZ
SDNHQsC『Intuition of a Sparrow』
– Feel the wind with your skin and be quick at noticing danger.vZYF9Ks
t2tPK1I consumed a few of the elixirs right there and then, while throwing everything I found into a large bag. There were a bunch of powerful herbs here, but I couldn’t consume them all at once. If I were to consume a bunch of them without any measures in place, my body wouldn’t even be able to absorb all their energy.mf2zgd0
xBRAByPFor now, I decided to be content with that much. Besides, Liquid Azurite was already an elixir that was at the level of a hidden piece, so I was happy enough with that.CGGMia
5s2L‘Let’s see. Add that to what I saw last time I did my stat check…’Vq1W7
RlBje〚Korin Lork (Hero)〛
Aura Rank: {High (13,130)}0NJp
ZNJCMana Rank: {High (11,920)}T1Q
nWBCySpecialty: {Regeneration of the Tenacious Warrior, Pain Tolerance, Domain Comprehension, Triple Core, Demonic Aura Release, Herculean Strength, Rune Amplification, Intuition of a Sparrow}sew6Rp
39XXQ17Strength: 223EFI
1Z5iNAgility: 165CiFY
JFNVitality: 160ylE5KpF
TgbBAura: 174vme
3kuMana: 174vqFR
DDEu“Huu… This much, huh? With this, my stats should be even higher than Lunia’s.”yRlj0
6sf6FQGMy total mana capacity had taken a huge leap when I acquired Airgetlam and was now above the mana capacity Marie had before becoming a vampire. Considering how she used to be called the blessed prodigy of magic even before her vampirification, it was quite incredible.vY8T
DTisCyJOf course, it was still far from being high enough if you were to compare that to the balance breaker of the knights, Hua Ran, who had more than 100,000 Aura when unsealed, and Marie who had reached 70,000 Mana capacity after becoming a vampire, but…mjOzY
kK9EThose two were supposed to be raid bosses in the first place! A mere player having these stats at this point in time was incredible okay!lOf
9GxcMS9Plus, this wasn’t all there was to it. The repeatable farming field, ❰Prohibited Forest❱, still had in store an excellent treasure that had a 1.5% drop rate after defeating the King of Ghosts. That very treasure was currently right before my eyes.xQ5E
Y4b2Although the Unique-Grade demonic spirit, King of Ghosts, should be also right in front of me, it didn’t matter to me in the slightest whether he was a Unique-Grade monster or not.eXJ5H
ZSVAsIt was because none of the astral bodies were able to do anything to me, so long as I didn’t perceive them.oNPwT4
zLILgE“Huu… Am I shivering right now?”3WN
DOanM1My heart was beating rapidly like there was no tomorrow. The plan was to come here and retrieve the treasure one day, but I was expecting that day to be in another year’s time at the very least.C1ZT
PixI slowly dug out the soil surrounding the elixir. Slowly but surely… without being enticed by the red fruits that slowly swung back and forth, I continued digging it out with care.hJ5xvo
yBtThis wicked thing! Trying to enchant people with its luster!1grI
2ICK4“Hehehe…”C5u2
ksmFizoSlowly and carefully, like a mother caressing a baby, I moved my hands. Little grains of dirt got under my nails but that wasn’t important in the slightest!GyHow
Ab78“Ohh! Ohhhhh…!”sZcN
9dBW5JAt last, I finally laid my eyes on the beautiful and attractive roots of the herb. Its lustrous beauty couldn’t be concealed by the dirt around it.Obu9C
WxhucSo this was it!1E8FDLE
OXIThis was the spiritual herb…!zzY1rvF
BxmThat legendary elixir that Elder Dreryan brought from the east after using 10 years’ worth of the cult’s budget!Ucj
zSCa『Korean Ginseng』ATcrYUP
R6gEIt was one of the three great elixirs of ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱, on par with the Yellow Gold Mandrake and the World Tree Fruit – a hidden piece that could only be acquired from the Prohibited Forest.yURJAh
Chk9ZU‘Let’s put this aside for now.’cLEUnAQ
piIXBFJI placed the ginseng into a pre-prepared container and carefully rested it inside my bag. Let’s ask Marie to boil it for me later!JZTmo3c
TmpThe ground now had a hole after the herb was taken out, so I kindly replaced the contents with the potato seeds that I got from Marie. The Prohibited Forest had the best environment and magical fertilizers for the plants to grow because this was where the mages of the Tower grew their herbs.43QCYX
oWDThis place was certainly going to provide an amazing habitat for the seeds.5DtIdx
PRDmlFor the next two days, I continued digging out herbs and planting seeds in return until my bag became as big as Santa Claus’s bag of gifts.FJA
pQsvorI couldn’t carry this to the Tower of Mages, so I firmly attached it to Uaithne and hid it in a secure place.IF2mgjy
BGI“Now. Time to get working.”nDF1J
w8sRlWThe time we had decided on was drawing near, so I started heading for the Tower.moZt
uiZBfG2***DqfI0H
nf2ZpJjThe Steel Archipelago had four different-themed fields. First, of them was the Prohibited Forest located on the west of the main island – the repeatable farming map where the mages grew magical herbs and placed thousands of evil spirits to guard the land.Q6tO
lqRiaCUSouth of the island was where the port was located. There were also numerous iron mines and magic stone mines, so there were always a bunch of chimeras and mages.sZ8L7kG
tLDIjOn the eastern and northern front of the island was the ‘Land of Frost’. It was the place where giants had fallen in the distant past after losing the war against the Danann.NHIEc6W
2A00TTherefore, that was the place where the resurrection of giants was going to occur.7PW
K4VcBLastly, there was the sewage under the Tower of Mages. It was the passage where all sorts of disgusting filth left through to get to the ocean.isw
dkKky“Huu…”bl5J
2zWl33xThe sticky ground beneath clung to the soles of my shoes. The humid and stinky air pervaded my nose and a gust of odor ate away at my nerves with every breath.vQE8
SQlJpRo“This place is even worse than the other sewage.”LKo9
XAEZ0The reason why there were no fish living near the Steel Archipelago was because of the pollution caused by the Tower. These mages threw away the leftover filth of their innumerable experiments down the drain without any care.Wao
1AkoycActually, wasn’t there a side quest available during the Tower of Mages Subjugation Act where you had to kill the ‘Sewage Monster’, which was created by the damage done to the environment…Bre8
b8moz-Flap!Adyz
ZM2“Mhmm…!”RSZBRJ
psCTXkQuickly, I raised the red spear, Gae Derg, and pointed it at the source of the sound. That sound just then sounded like the fluttering wings of a bird, but… was there a bird this deep into the sewage? A bat maybe?VJa
6X8[ᛞ] — Dagazmbyb
G1eixm4I engraved the rune that brightened your line of sight in the darkness, and it immediately lit up the entire tunnel of the sewage. This was one of the regions of the Tower that had monsters. My plan was to avoid as many fights as possible but…9Ph7jt
WtSU2-Plop!5zPiX
TdzgThat was when I caught sight of something causing the water running down the sewage to ripple. I hoped it would be a normal water demon but considering that size…!3EUje
Irpp5t“GHIIIIII…!”4dG2S
nNfRVThe monster burst out of the water in one leap.nLu
lpBe6nZ“Tch…!”RXWx
2ZiI kicked off the sticky ground of the sewage to jump back.bYrkCM
02NKwang!KTd
LDcThe head of the monster crashed through the walls of the tunnel, but the monster had not a single wound on its head.gLFHk
wpBPI looked at the monster who glared back at me with a growl. There were shells covering its deteriorated eyes and there were several dozens of cracks on the mouth of the monster, making it resemble something that would come out of that one zombie game.nq3
lHPV“Damn it… How unlucky can I get?”Ql2U
7IoField Boss, Monster of the Underground Sewage. A pitiful monster created by the environmental pollution of the Tower of Mages. It was a Grade 1 demonic beast that was supposed to be defeated by a full party.kMD
WNbpAyu‘It will draw the eyes of the mages if I take too long. I have to end it in a flash.’eYimh
hSjRXQrAs soon as I concentrated a flow of mana into my left arm, a silver arm… Airgetlam started to appear. Although I had yet to fully master it, the compressed power of the sun was surely going to be…HwKwI
BmK58“Kyuu?”E2TBuT2
sDPSZIt was then. The monster who was opening its gruesome mouth wide open, threatening to devour me in one swoop, suddenly let out a dumbfoundingly cute groan.o5esvkN
9Gn8-Kuek? Kuek?!OfL
HMqAs if someone was grabbing it on the back, the monster was dragged behind. The under-developed legs of the monster desperately tried to scrape the ground in an attempt to save itself, but there was an overwhelming difference in strength.vC1jx5S
jwI“KYUUUUU?!”5K0
Id0wpBefore long, the monster was lifted into the air by its tail and—4qK6SDx
3xD7hu-Kwang! Kwagang!e7f
fXvFn-Kwang! Kwarurung! Kwaang!is2z3vE
ziKOeSEIt started being rammed into every edge and corner of the tunnel, and the death throes of the monster were covered up by the crumbling pebbles of the sewage.JhRNL6
CHCOne-sided violence.skYoO
8QXpW“…”U6T6pl
apZ9OfpTo my knowledge, there was only one person in the world who could show such a devastating difference in strength.X5WY6b
cR0Walking out from behind the enormous body of the monster down the sewage tunnel was a girl wearing nun clothes.Jxp7HPQ
s1wWvHua Ran was carrying the tail of the late field boss.iZ7n
V4TpvD“Can you cook this?”pIAXO
R54HA5y“It’s dirty. Throw it away.”3uAdT
IEgQXQJ………AxpJ
NNGVxV……UaWN
yg5m…H9XU
rf6Going up the underground sewage of the Tower of Mages, one would end up at an old control room. Despite being the control room of a sewage system this big, it was barren and unattended, but the room left behind by the ancestors proved to be a good safe zone for the player.FpXk
G3FThose guys from the Tower. Maybe they were complacent or something, but none of them looked after the sewage and didn’t even bother approaching it in the first place.9RpqlxG
nQqAll they did was throw in some chimeras and evil spirits.SWE
KwRwThis was why the world wouldn’t go around with only those so-called ‘intelligent’ mages. They just didn’t know how there were some things in the world that had to be done despite being exhausting and unclean.DdGWnf
rPPh“Let’s stay here for a bit while we wait for the rest of them to arrive.”SRG7A
33heckI carefully put my bag down in the dusty control room. There was no knowing when Marie, Master Erin, and Lady Josephine would arrive, so I had to clean it up to some extent.QfNHxoT
XpFuNBd“By the way, how did you come here so quickly? Even though I was quite early.”h4YJ79
O0OxThe time we had decided on was in 2 days’ time. We were generous with the time because unlike me, the others had to defeat demonic spirits on top of demonic beasts.634kOn
LXwBOf course, most of the weaklings would immediately turn their tails and run away upon seeing Marie and Hua Ran, but this was still way too early.9Dw
e0NH09P“I turned into a cro… I mean… I ran.”hBlJgr
7OZEKU0“Uhh… They didn’t see you, right?”KDu5
Ij83yq“No.”ZcIcq
NZsY5sJIt was true that it would have taken her less than a few hours if she sprinted across the island at her full speed but… for some reason, it felt a bit different.4f94M
cYRejIn any case, I was getting prepared to clean up the dust in this room when Hua Ran walked up to me in large strides.CrUl8Y
7E0i“You… Are you hurt?”Ol2U
J4lHXz“Huh? No, not really.”dPcnx
kboYFFw“No.”Hg6L
xbyxjcShe then suddenly turned around with a flick and walked away while mumbling something to herself.BscSU
sVIE“Turn into… a cat… he’ll find out…? Then, a wolf?”cAE9Y
1fFonIt appeared that she was talking to Ran. Now that I thought about it, I could probably get Ran’s help with the cleaning.3qMqGu8
VhoAv“Hua. Can you come here for a bit?”TudaG
0Fw“Huh? Me?”XoaZa
RkHyIe“Yeah yeah. I have a favor to ask.”56JK
hKuilhHer eyes turned evidently bright as she hopped her way across with a bright look on her face. Since when was she so happy to listen to my request? Was this the outcome of an open heart-to-heart conversation?mFg1hO
tjO“Why? What is it?”3K2
BBAV“Can you switch with Ran?”bNk
3NwmG“…Why?”ae0MK3
wewsSuddenly her vigor took a massive fall. Although she always had an indifferent look on her face by default, it was very clear that she looked even more down than usual.GJEc
JSpe5“I wanted to ask Ran to clean up with me.”2Erw
Ni8NUYou don’t like cleaning, right?dnL8
PxL8twO“…I can do better.”bzSZ8xQ
WN5GF“R, really? Then can you lend me a hand?”lLfJQ
52EX“Un.”Tfjh
KCAD3vAfter turning her head around with a flick, Hua started cleaning up the room. There appeared to be some verbal fight going on, but Hua ended her internal conversation with, “Be quiet.”rENyGUO
wn8pB“…”NN9ccl
Ngr3XCJIt was impossible to tell what was going on in the mind of a girl in puberty.hlLuAA
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