Have Magic - Chapter 100



Only Noblemtl

Embrace the Magic (100)

They had barely managed to make their way through the rubble from the tunnel past midnight. If it hadn’t been for the 100 wizards, it would have taken even longer.

“Elder, the way has been opened. But……”

“It looks like there’s a lock on it.”

“Yes. There is a door in the floor, but it cannot be opened by normal means.”

“Hmm. Let me check first.”

The elder walked leisurely along the path his subordinates had dug from the tunnel.

The air was so thick that I frowned. There was also an unidentifiable stench.

“The air is bad.”

“I used a purification spell, but the stench persisted. I think gas is leaking from somewhere.”

“I guess I’ll have to hurry.”

I quickly moved my feet and arrived at my destination. A large door leading down was revealed in the center, guarded by subordinates on all sides.

“Here it is, Elder.”

“Hmm. I guess I’ll have to take a look first…, hm?”

“Why are you doing that?”

“What kind of guy dares!”

Rodin ate at this table, but left no trace.

The food was all eaten neatly, and the place was cleaned up neatly. The chef’s statue’s cooking utensils didn’t need washing, so there was nothing to spill.

The problem wasn’t with the person, but with the door. When Rodin entered, the door opened and closed again, leaving a mark on the floor where it had moved.

“Can’t you see this mark here?”

“Huh? What is this…?”

“The door was pushed open like this here. Then it closed again. The long marks extending from here to this side are traces of the door being opened and closed.”

Only then did his subordinates realize the situation.

Someone entered this door before they arrived.

How they unlocked the magical lock was a later question. The important thing was that someone got in first and got what they wanted first.

“Who the hell is it?”

“I have to find out.”

The elder closed his eyes and examined the magic circle carved into the door, but he could not see it at all.

“What is this?”

“Why are you doing that?”

“That’s strange. I can’t figure out the magic circle inside.”

“Does this mean that it’s a magic circle that even the great wizard can’t understand?”

The elder’s true identity was the 7th Circle Archmage, Penail. However, he was not a 7th Circle Archmage known to the continent. He was an archmage unknown to the world, known only to a select few.

“That’s not it. There is no magic circle itself.”

“Huh? Are you saying there is no magic circle?”

“It’s strange. There’s definitely something there, but I can’t figure it out.”

Despite being a great wizard, Penail could not see or feel mana. Naturally, he could not find the magic circle of the door engraved with mana.

“What happens to the one who goes in first?”

“I don’t know. Hmm, did you force it open?”

“I haven’t tried it yet. I thought I should let the elders know first.”

“Hmm. Everyone, get out of the tunnel. I’ll have to force it open.”

The order was given. Elder Penail’s men quickly left the tunnel without saying a word.

“Hmm, what kind of guys could they be?”

Elder Penail did not think that even one person could have entered through this door. He thought that some organization had come here first, as they had come in large numbers.

“Balis Nova. Could they be? But their main area of ​​activity would be the Western Continent.”

In the past, his organization and Valis Nova clashed quite frequently.

Both groups are pursuing traces of the ancient past and aiming to continue the ancient magic. Since their goals are the same, they often clash with each other.

But at some point, their fields of activity diverged.

Valis Nova was stuck in the Western Continent and had no interest in the Central Continent. Investigating the Masurim was so overwhelming that he had no energy to reach out to the Central Continent.

On the other hand, Slavon, to which he belonged, was focused on the central continent.

It is clear that the capital of the Magic Empire was near the Masurim Forest on the Western Continent, but towards the end of the Magic Empire, it moved its activities to what is now the Central Continent.

“Whew, I need a safety device too. Great Ice Barrier.”

I used the 7th circle defensive magic first and placed it in front. Then I immediately cast the 7th circle attack magic.

“Inferno Buster!”

The 7-circle flame magic created by Elder Penail struck the center of the door on the floor. A huge flame arose, continuously heating the metal door.

Kkaaa! Boom!

“Ugh!”

A strange sound was heard, and suddenly something black popped out of the door.

Something that looked like black liquid tore through the barrier in an instant, tearing through Elder Penail’s left chest.

“Bill, fucking hell.”

Elder Penail, who had been swearing, sighed in relief.

He was lucky. The Great Ice Barrier managed to deflect the black liquid a little, so he survived. If the barrier hadn’t done its job, his heart would have been pierced.

“Whew, recovery. Oh, yeah.”

He used healing magic on his punctured side, but the wound barely healed. The black liquid must have had some effect that prevented healing.

“This is getting tricky.”

Someone had gone inside. It wasn’t even clear whether they were still inside or had already come out.

But there was no way to get in. The artifact that could withstand even 7th circle magic and even counterattack was not something he could handle.

“Hmm. Recovery.”

I used my healing magic again. My back was healing very slowly, at a rate slightly better than natural healing.

“I guess I’ll go back.”

Elder Penail grabbed his side and stood up, then staggered toward the entrance to the tunnel.

There was nothing he could do against this door.

I just hoped that whatever was inside hadn’t gone anywhere else yet, so I could catch it from the outside.

“Ugh!”

“Elder.”

I stumbled out of the tunnel. My subordinates came over and helped me up.

“Guard this place. If he’s still inside that door, he’ll definitely come out. You can’t let him go. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Ah! Contact the tower. It seems like only the tower lord can open that place.”

“ah!”

The organization that Elder Penail belongs to is Slavon.

There were many rumors going around in the back alleys, but it was a group that few people knew of. Even among those who knew of its existence, no one really knew who the members of Slavon were.

Slavon was acting as a small magic tower called Ekrot, operating in the central continent.

The base of the Ecrot Tower is the Maven Kingdom, but it is not a place with much external activity. Its main business is also just selling cheap artifacts that help keep children from getting sick.

A small, seemingly unremarkable tower called Ekrot.

However, the reality was Slavon, a terrifying place with a whopping 19 7th Circle magicians. It was a force that far surpassed the 4 Great Magic Towers.

“I need to get some rest.”

“Is it okay if I just ask the Lord?”

“Tell them that I, Penail, was counterattacked when I tried to open the door. Then they will take care of it.”

“All right.”

Elder Penail’s expression became heavy as he returned to the tent.

He thought back to the black liquid that had attacked him earlier.

It was a terrible attack. It happened so fast that I didn’t realize I had been hit until after I was already hurt.

‘I aimed for the heart.’

To be exact, it was an attack aimed at the circle, the starting point of magic. It was clear that there was a command like that on the metal door.

‘There was nothing visible inside. But there was definitely magic engraved on it. Hmm. Whoa, I found something like this again.’

There were several of these items in the Slavon headquarters. No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find any magic circles, but they were artifacts with magic clearly engraved on them. They were all relics of the Magic Empire.

‘But wasn’t it liquid that attacked me?’

At first I thought it was a liquid, but maybe it was something like smoke. Judging from the fact that the black thing that had pierced the side disappeared right away, I didn’t think it was a liquid.

* * *

Rodin was trying to figure out how to get the books in quickly, so he decided to get help from Jenna and Charis.

There was only one condition for storing it in the subspace bracelet. It had to be something that could be touched by either the left or right hand.

So he had Jenna and Charis turn his body upside down. As if he was sweeping the floor with a broom, Charis and Jenna held Rodin upside down and swept the area where the books were.

Rodin spread his hands wide and collected everything he could reach. Dust sometimes got in, but he ignored it. He could clean up later when it was quiet.

Then I heard a loud noise from outside. I instinctively knew that someone was coming towards the entrance.

“You won’t be able to come in.”

The metal door was engraved with a magic circle made of mana. If you couldn’t see or feel the mana, it would be impossible to destroy the magic circle.

“There is a way to completely destroy the surrounding area, though.”

Rodin glanced at the runes that filled the walls. With so many defensive magic circles, any attack from the outside would last quite a while.

“Let’s do what we have to do.”

I moved Charis and Jenna and started to pack the books again. I ate a few more times in between and took a quick rest before continuing to pack the books again.

“It’s finally over.”

It took a whole day to store all the books in the subspace. If it weren’t for Charis and Jenna, it would have taken twice as long.

“All that’s left is the wall.”

Rodin chose a spot and began reading the magic circle from there. As expected, there were so many unfamiliar runes that it was difficult to understand them all at once.

“This looks like state preservation magic.”

This was my second time experiencing state preservation magic. The first time was when I was analyzing the chest containing Proval’s treasure.

“It’s different. They use similar runes, but the way they construct their magic circles is different.”

Rodin compared the artifacts here with the magic circles he had seen on the walls and the magic circles engraved on Proval’s treasure.

The level of magic was higher here. You could tell just by looking at the bracelets and battle dolls that had subspace magic.

It was a level of magic that the current Rodin could not even dare to imagine. No, it was a level of magic that was so high that all the magic towers of the present era would drool.

However, if you look at the way the magic circle was constructed, Proval was superior. The level of the magic circle engraved on Proval’s treasure was one, no, three levels higher.

It was much more efficient and refined, yet still robust.

The difference in skill between the two was as great as that of a blacksmith who had been hammering for decades and a novice blacksmith who had only been learning for a few years, although he was talented.

“You’ll know for sure when you read the book later.”

The artifact he saw could not be considered the pinnacle of artifacts made by either side. There was still insufficient information from both sides to discuss the level.

Rodin put his questions aside and focused on the runes again.

Unknown runes would appear from time to time. Whenever that happened, I would tie together dozens of runes and store them in my head. This was to recall and study them later.

“ah!”

After looking at one side of the cliff, just before crossing to the next wall, Rodin discovered a gap between the walls. It was a long vertical crack, and part of the magic circle had been broken.

“I see. This is why the mana leaked out.”

All the runes carved into the walls here absorb mana and use that power as energy to operate. Because of this, the walls were compressed with an enormous amount of mana.

However, for some reason, a long crack appeared in the wall. At this time, the magic circle temporarily stopped functioning, and a significant portion of the mana it had was released outward.

“I must have poured out a lot of mana.”

It seems that Matthew happened to be the closest to this place at that time. So, he was covered with an enormous amount of mana and became mana addicted.

However, the magic circle had its own restoration function.

The magic circle, which had been temporarily unable to function properly due to a crack, restored itself over several days or months.

The surrounding mana that had been spat out for a moment had also been recovered.

“It’s a volcano.”

When I put my hand on the crack, I felt warmth.

I gathered my mana, not my magical power, and used a simple vision spell. I could see a bubbling red liquid beyond the wall.

“This… I can’t hold out for much longer.”

The defensive magic circle was great, but the heat of the still boiling lava could not be ignored.

It had been over three years since Matthew had been addicted to mana. If the heat could last this long, the volcano must have been of a considerable size.