Offer a Tribute and Become an Archmage - Chapter 217



Only Noblemtl

Episode 217.

“Hey, are you upset?”

“No. I don’t call someone who gets upset about that a knight.”

“This is totally crazy.”

Liam didn’t look too good.

There were a lot of signs of being beaten here and there, but I tried to challenge Nas to a fight right away and got beaten up like a dog on a lucky day.

“Please give me your arm too.”

“Does that make sense?”

Liam seemed to think that the reason he lost was because he had too few arms. Well, there was definitely a difference between a man with four arms and a man with two arms.

“Please do that for me too. Fix that.”

“Will it work?”

Nas said he was on the verge of death.

It was an impulsive thought, and I didn’t know if I would actually come back to life. I was almost dead, so I was seriously worried that I would turn into a bug even if I did come back to life. As time passed, I forgot a little bit, but it wasn’t a method that could be used on just anyone.

“Nas lost his memory. He can’t remember most of his past. I don’t think you want to be like that either.”

“…”

“Stop talking nonsense and just train. In return, I’ll give you the knight powder regularly.”

“Can I get stronger with this?”

“It’s up to you.”

Liam, who looks like a piece of shit in comparison to Nass, is also strong. It’s surprising that a country bumpkin with no knightly bloodline has risen to the level of the Blue. But he was still greedy.

‘That’s not a bad thing.’

But power comes with a price.

Whatever it is.

“Then please make me a sword too.”

“You have a sword.”

“The gauntlet.”

“That too. Why are you acting like a brat? Are you jealous?”

“…”

He opened his mouth as if he was complaining.

Ronobe couldn’t stand it.

“Ah! Eeeeek!!”

I grabbed the protruding snout and shook it for a while before letting it go.

“Ah!”

“Don’t act like a child. You’re my right arm, and Nas is my left arm. It’ll be fine if we do it right.”

“Am I your right-hand man?”

“But we’ve been together for so long, so of course you’re my right-hand man.”

Then Liam’s face lightened a little.

“Instead, give me the horse.”

“Why! My Alex!!”

“It looks better when Nas writes.”

“…”

Liam couldn’t deny it either.

“I’ll give you Adam instead.”

“Adam is small…”

Wild horses are small in stature.

It’s different from Alex, who was bred with purebred horses. He doesn’t have much stamina and is untrained, so he jumps up and makes a fuss even if he gets hit with a single arrow.

Well, it’s better than nothing, right?

“If you train them well, it will be fine. If there are any good offspring produced by Alex, I will give them to you.”

“… But how can you give something and then take it away?”

“That’s the situation. We don’t know when we’ll have to fight the orcs again. What can we do? You just have to endure it.”

He felt a sense of guilt, wondering why he had to do this when he was not even a brat. But it was Liam, right? Ronnobe exercised self-control.

“Ha, I understand.”

“Yeah. I thought about it well. Shouldn’t I take care of you? We have to survive first.”

“… yes.”

He doesn’t really like it, but he seems convinced.

After seeing Nasu slaughtering orcs on horseback, he probably thought it was pointless to be stubborn.

When considering efficiency, Alex is better off with Nass.

Of course, for now. The world is such that you never know what will happen after that. For Liam, the current situation may be another stepping stone for growth. It’s better to think of it as an interpretation of a dream rather than a dream.

“Growth…”

growth.

This isn’t just a word that applies to Liam. It applies to everyone who has taken up their own space at base camp.

Peter was fiddling with the totem that Ronobe had given him. He seemed to be thinking about the direction of the golem anew. Lirun was looking at the seeds that he had previously saved, contemplating something. So was Joke.

He’s playing around with the faded dirt, making it look like clay. He looks like he’s just playing, but judging by the totem nearby, he’s probably still studying golems.

It’s not just the disciples.

The soldiers polished their swords and reminisced about the previous battle, and even Beni sat there blankly, occasionally checking his bow.

It was after dinner and deep into the night, but with the exception of a few, no one tried to go to bed. The strength that the orcs showed was shocking.

Everyone feels it.

The urgency of strength.

It was no different for Ronobe.

‘I lost.’

Ronobe let out a deep breath as he washed his face dry. When he was young and had no magic, he always tasted the bitterness of defeat at the hands of his father, but that was no longer the case. Ronobe was the one who always won. He always did so in life-threatening matches. But this time, he lost without a second thought.

There is an excuse.

Warriors and wizards.

In a one-on-one fight, the moment the distance is allowed, the wizard is bound to lose. This is called compatibility. However, Ronobe is not an ordinary wizard. He is the white wizard of the kingdom, and at the same time, he is a child of tribute, and a child chosen as the sage of the forest.

The problem was that he lost.

‘There were environmental factors, but… what’s lost is lost.’

If it weren’t for the North, I wouldn’t have known. The combination of oil and ice from Ronobe, which binds the enemy’s legs with ice and blows them up with powerful firepower, was great. However, it wasn’t like that in the North. I knew it, but it was something I could clearly realize anew.

I need to get stronger.

Even in the North, we must become stronger than anyone else.

After a neck is cut off, no matter how many excuses you make, the neck will not come back. Environmental factors? The compatibility of the job? Excuses.

They’re all excuses.

I had to win somehow.

Regardless of whether there was a match or not, whether it was disadvantageous or not, he had to win anyway. If he didn’t win, he would die. If he died, it was the end. He had to win somehow, protect himself and his comrades. That was the path he wanted to walk, and that was the condition for being worthy of being the leader of the group. He couldn’t get killed by an orc, not even an imperial wizard.

I had to get stronger.

‘How can I become stronger?’

Accepting a new god?

Good. But there is no tribute right now. A few orc souls will be difficult. There is a god with ambiguous magic, but it is mana. So how can I become stronger?

Ronobe has already found the answer.

“Bonka.”

Swish.

A giant mole with a milky appearance appeared.

[It smells like iron.]

Bonka recognized it right away.

Ronobe showed Bonka the swords he held in his hands. They were all swords made from Vivian’s magical entrails. Of course, the types of swords were different, but they were all new products filled with soul. He didn’t know if this would work or not, but Ronobe had a feeling that it would.

‘There is no god who hates the soul.’

There’s even iron there that Bonka likes.

It’s not real iron, but it looks like real iron, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

“How about it? It’s a limited edition I made for Bonca. You can’t see it anywhere else. It’s like a soul dwelling in iron!”

Ronobe rubbed his palms.

I waited for Bonka’s reaction.

[Oh… Really.]

Bonka couldn’t take her eyes off the iron sword that Ronobe had made. It felt like her drool was running down her face.

‘This works?!’

Still, God is God.

I was worried that I would be too picky, but it worked out well. It was fine. There was no need to pay for expensive iron as a tribute. It was a method that could be thought of because Nasu was there. Ronobe offered one of the iron swords to Bonka.

“Please accept my offering…”

[Can I eat this?]

“Instead, please give me strength.”

Ronobe’s grip on the sword tightened.

I needed strength.

‘You might change your mind after eating it once. You have to sell it all at once.’

[I’ll take a bite and decide.]

“No.”

[why…?]

“I almost died just now. From an orc. I need strength.”

[No, I asked why I couldn’t eat it, what are you talking about all of a sudden?]

“Anyway, it won’t work.”

There was no particular reason that came to mind.

Anyway, I needed strength.

Each person has a different way of gaining power. Some people gain it through a brilliant idea, while others gain it through utmost training. But Ronobe is different.

“What can I give you? A tribute of this magnitude must be appropriately paid.”

Ronobe becomes stronger in return for the god’s favor.

[Um… How about making the iron soft?]

“… Will learning that make me stronger?”

[Then what makes the stone soft?]

“…”

I had an ominous feeling.

I don’t think it’s Bonka.

“Bonka… has he never killed anyone or fought anyone?”

The magic of God is bound to show his life. How he lived can be seen by following the transformation of magic. But Bonka doesn’t have that. There was no sense of struggle in the essence of magic.

[Uh… nothing in particular.]

“What did you do when the enemy appeared?”

[I ran away because I didn’t want to fight.]

“But what if we had to fight?”

[He ran away?]

Ronobe’s knees buckled.

It meant that Bonka ran away and ran away, but was eventually caught and killed.

“Then… what did you do?”

[I ate iron.]

“And?”

[And then I got chased… I had no choice but to eat gold. Sometimes I even ate silver.]

What kind of vermin is this? To humans, there is no creature more vicious than this. It is closer to a devil than a god.

[When it gets soft… you can eat anything. Anything. Anything.]

At the sight of Bonka, who seemed to be showing a strange madness, Ronobe took a step back without realizing it. However, he soon asked persistently.

And I figured it out.

[At first, I ate squid. But as I grew bigger and bigger… squid wasn’t enough… I was so hungry that I started picking up and eating everything, and I wanted to eat everything.]

“A worm? Are you talking about an earthworm?”

So, it was said that they made them soft like earthworms and ate them. Among them, it is said that they liked iron. The more I hear about it, the more ridiculous it becomes.

‘How can God be like this? What on earth has happened to God?’

It was questionable in many ways.

Ronobé, who was wondering if it was really okay for becoming a god to be this sloppy, soon began to worry about fragility.

‘What is flaccidity?’

Ronobe immediately thought of slime. The slime controlled by the gnome. It was soft, but not weak. Bonka used it just to eat, but if Ronobe used it, it might be a little different.

Originally, miracles were something that could be good or evil depending on who used them, could shake the heavens and the earth, or could simply lead a peaceful life. In the end, any power depends on the choices and abilities of the one who holds it.

“What is the Akan of Bonka?”

[Soggy.]

Ronobe slapped his forehead at Bonka’s naming sense. He must have had a naming sense worse than Ageidon’s.

But there is no other way.

“Then please tell me that…”

I had my own expectations.

Things like soft earth, soft iron, etc. were all derived from this. The Akan of Bonka is to soften matter.

The strength varies. It is the power to make something soft like an earthworm, or to bend something hard a little. If used well, it could even weaken the enemy’s weapons or strength. Come to think of it, Bonka only used it on food, but if it could be activated in the form of waves all the time, wouldn’t it be able to neutralize any physical force that came at it?

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

If you only use the squishy, ​​it might be fine. If you use it in conjunction with other magic, it might bring about a different change. I can’t think of anything specific. But it’s not like Ronobe has to think about it. You can just ask Yonterion or the other gods.

‘I don’t have to do everything. I do what I can.’

People cannot live alone.

We have to live together.

There are villages, cities, and countries because they can live more comfortably and stronger by joining forces. Ronobe will actively borrow the strength of others. There is no reason not to.

[Can I eat it now?]

“Eat as much as you like.”

As Bonka opened her mouth, the iron swords stuck in the floor began to squirm like worms and were sucked into her mouth.

[Hmm? Hmm… It tastes a bit strange. But it’s strangely delicious!]

‘phew.’

That was a good thing.

Soon, Bonka touched Ronobe.

Then, Ronobe’s body collapsed. His bones and flesh became soft and swayed like seaweed before collapsing. At that moment, memories of Bonka came to him.

Swish.

Ronobe opened his eyes, looked around, and then moved his body.

‘It’s similar to Anna’s magic.’

I’m not talking about structural problems.

Anna’s magic can be expressed internally through the respiratory organs of ordinary people, but not by wizards or knights. This is because they have a certain degree of resistance.

The same goes for Bonka’s Akan. It may work on normal humans, but it won’t work on knights or magicians. However, it was determined that it would be able to counteract externally manifested magic or physical power.

‘Soggy… I want to die.’

But Akan’s name was so miserable that I wanted to die. At a critical moment, I had to shout, “Slosh!” What kind of a fucking spell was that! Ronobe swore.

‘Absolutely no harm done.’

That I would never recite a spell.

Dawan [4]