I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 87

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Chapter 87: 087

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It was impossible to communicate with the monsters inside the Tower.

That was common knowledge.

The Tower contained all kinds of monsters, starting with the Goblins found on the Lower Floors, then Orcs, Golems, Ghouls, Black Mages, and even giant-type monsters from the Highest Floors.

Humanity had gathered countless scholars and tried to communicate with the Tower's monsters.

If they could tame monsters instead of fighting them, they would be able to climb to higher floors more easily.

But every attempt had failed.

Goblins and Orcs saw Hunters as nothing but prey from the start.

Golems were weapons of war filled with nothing but the will to fight, while Ghouls were merely walking corpses.

And as for Black Mages...

"Jiho, why aren't you killing them? Didn't you say you'd kill all but one Black Mage?"

"Isn't it fascinating? I can hear the Black Mage's voice. Aren't you curious, Hyeji?"

"Huh? You can hear their voice? I can't hear a word they're saying."

"...Don't tell me I'm the only one who can hear them?"

No one could hear their words.

Their lips moved, and their screams and shouts could be heard normally, but whenever they spoke something that counted as language, their voices were cut off as if someone had muted them.

When Black Mages were first discovered, humanity had been thrilled at the thought of finally encountering intelligent beings they could study and communicate with.

Yet no matter what method they used, they could not hear a single word.

In the end, the scholars researching the Tower had no choice but to give up on communicating with its inhabitants.

But...

"At least fifth tier! (Damn it! Is he a martial artist from the orthodox faction?!)"

"Fifth tier?! Why is a monster like that here... (Has our grand plan been exposed?! It doesn't matter!)"

"W-we can't win. We should run... (Attack him! The martial world of the Central Plains will belong to our Blood Cult!)"

For some reason, I could understand every word they said.

It wasn't just that I could hear their voices.

I naturally understood their meaning and nuance too!

Their language was completely different from Korean, and the words and sentence structures were unlike anything I had ever encountered.

Yet I could understand them as comfortably as if I were listening to my native language.

...Why?

'I have no idea.'

Anyway, I knew what I had to do.

Kill every last one except one!

"You evil Blood Cult bastards! How dare you use jiangshi to destroy a city! This righteous hero of the orthodox faction will punish you!"

"What?! What the hell is the Blood Cult... (Blood tax! Blood tax! Blood, blood tax!)"

"Hand over your magic!"

I raised my staff and activated the spell I had prepared in advance.

It was Air Bullet.

-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Crash. Thump.

The Black Mages fell with holes blasted through their foreheads.

Their corpses rolled weakly across the ground, blood and brains pouring from the holes in their heads.

These guys were weak too.

Well, Black Mages had always been considered annoying because of their Curse magic and dangerous long-range attacks. I had never heard anyone say they were physically tough.

After taking down four of them in an instant, I looked at the only survivor.

"Impossible...! To cast so quickly without chanting. Is he truly a fifth-tier powerhouse...? Why would a high-ranking mage who should be in the imperial palace be here..."

The guy stared at my Air Bullet in shock.

Apparently, he was impressed by this body's magical skill.

Heh heh.

A mere ordinary Black Mage, no, a Blood Cultist, had witnessed the skill of this body's Goblin Sect successor and ultimate master.

Of course he had no choice but to be amazed!

Anyway.

-Step.

I slowly descended to the ground and looked at the Black Mage in front of me.

An old man stared back with eyes full of fear and disbelief.

The staff in his hand trembled violently.

His hand was probably shaking from the fear of death.

Then...

"...Do you think I'll die like this!"

The guy suddenly shouted.

Was he trying to make one last desperate struggle before dying?

The Black Mage pointed his staff at me.

He was about to use magic on me!

I watched the Black Mage with expectant eyes.

'Right. Use your magic. I'll watch and copy it!'

If I watched and copied the magic that Black Mage used, I should be able to use it myself!

So I watched what he did.

"Om..."

The guy began muttering something in a deep, solemn voice.

"Om... Derka... Dakan..."

The old man breathed from his diaphragm as he mumbled under his breath.

I stared at him in confusion.

What was this guy doing?

"Deiga... Koron..."

As he muttered and gripped his staff tightly...

-Hummmmmm...

The Blue Motes began to move.

Mana flowing from his body rose into the air and gathered in front of his staff, forming a certain arrangement!

This was a chance to learn new magic!

I studied the arrangement he was making, then had no choice but to feel disappointed.

"What? You were chanting, so I thought it would be some advanced magic, but... it's an incredibly simple spell."

The arrangement he created consisted of a series of circles.

Overall, it was not much different from my Air Bullet.

The only differences were the hexagram in the center and the fact that the mana forming the arrangement was a stale, black color instead of blue.

It was an extremely simple, ordinary arrangement.

I clicked my tongue.

"You need to chant and take this long just to draw such a simple arrangement? Why is the arrangement so messy too? You're an absolute trash mage. You're a disgrace to the magical world, you pathetic bastard."

"Om..."

"Anyway... is this how you do it?"

I copied the magic the Black Mage was casting.

I roughly overlapped several circles like Air Bullet, then clicked a hexagram into the middle.

Since it was just connecting dots, it was ridiculously easy.

-Hummm.

A blue Magic Bullet formed over my staff.

It seemed to be an attack spell made by condensing pure mana.

It was disappointing.

"This magic is complete garbage. It eats up way too much mana for its power, and its only advantage is range. It's not even strong..."

Its power was only an enhanced version of Air Bullet, yet it consumed mana on the level of Railgun...

I had learned Magic Bullet, but I did not think I would have any reason to use it.

So I wished he would hurry up and show me Curse magic too.

As I stared intently at him...

Flash!

The Black Mage opened his closed eyes wide and shouted.

"Die!"

He had finally completed his magic and was about to fire it at me!

Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.

"Dispel."

It was something I could easily neutralize with a simple Dispel.

-Fsssssh...

His magic was canceled.

When I disrupted his arrangement with my spiritual senses, the poorly positioned black motes scattered and the spell was canceled.

The Black Mage muttered with vacant eyes.

"To break a spell so easily... You truly are a fifth-tier mage...!"

"What the hell is fifth tier, you fucking nerd? Are you going to keep using words only you understand?"

"Is there truly... no chance for me to escape alive..."

The Black Mage muttered with a despairing expression.

His eyes shook wildly.

It seemed he had realized there was no chance of winning, no matter what trick he tried.

But at that moment...

-Grrrk. Grrrk!

-Graaaah!

-Kieeeeeeeek!

Thudthudthudthud.

Chilling cries and countless footsteps began rushing in from every direction.

The Black Mage, whose face had been full of despair moments ago, suddenly broke into a broad smile.

"Ha. Haha! Hahahaha! Ghouls! The Ghouls are here!"

"Huh?"

"Heh heh. There are thousands of Ghouls in this city alone! Even a high-ranking fifth-tier mage cannot possibly kill them all!"

"Hyeji, do you know why that guy suddenly got so excited?"

"Oh. He was excited? I couldn't hear his voice, so I had no idea what he was saying. I was only watching his expressions and movements."

"Too bad."

"But can you really hear that Black Mage, Jiho? Really? I guess you really are a special Hunter."

"That's me."

"Fuhahahahahaha! Let me go! Mage of the Empire! Then I will withdraw the Ghouls from the city! You do not wish to be crushed to death beneath a horde of Ghouls either, do you?!"

The Black Mage laughed wildly, and I snorted.

"What the fuck is this idiot saying? Stay right there and wait quietly. I'll deal with the Ghouls first."

"What...?!"

As he panicked at my words, I immediately activated a spell.

Earth Manipulation Magic.

-Krrrraaaaack!

Dirt and rocks surged from the ground.

They wrapped around the laughing Black Mage's limbs and restrained him.

"Aaaagh!"

Clang!

His staff dropped weakly to the ground.

It was a grotesque thing made from human bones.

This bastard really had disgusting taste.

What kind of revolting staff was that?

Anyway, the magic vending machine was safely stored away now.

I walked toward the charging Ghouls and pointed my staff at them.

"Let's deal with the Ghouls first."

The walking corpses rushed at me in a flood.

I fired magic at them.

I began with Air Bullet.

-Bubububububububuk!

Dozens of compressed-air bullets pierced the air and swept away the approaching Ghouls.

It felt like firing a machine gun.

-Gack!

-Graaaah!

-Kieeeeeee!

Thud. Crack. Splatter...

The Ghouls collapsed as their foreheads and chests were riddled with holes.

In an instant, over a hundred Ghouls fell silent.

Then I threw Fireballs.

-Kwaaaaaang...!

-Kwaang...!

-Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwaang...!

Countless explosions erupted everywhere.

Flames and shockwaves ravaged the densely packed horde of Ghouls.

Every burst of fire crushed and tore apart dozens of Ghouls, scattering their limbs and chunks of flesh in every direction.

Thousands of Ghouls were wiped out in an instant.

Then came...

-Slaaash...!

-Splatter.

A barrage of Wind Cutters.

Dozens of blades made of compressed air spread in every direction, carving straight lines through the horde.

The bisected Ghouls collapsed in heaps.

Their intestines and rotten chunks of flesh spilled out in torrents.

Like that, I slaughtered the Ghouls one-sidedly.

I fed Air Bullets to the scattered ones.

I threw Fireballs at the packed groups.

When they charged in straight lines, I used Wind Cutter.

The occasional ones that broke through my barrage and approached me were ground apart by Protective Aura.

-Graaaah!

-Kyaaaaaah!

-Kieee...!

The Ghouls' numbers rapidly dwindled.

Hundreds disappeared every time I blinked.

"Iing Iing, let's go up somewhere safe while Jiho works."

-Iing Iing!

Flutter.

Once I started fighting, Hyeji and Iing Iing rose into the air and watched the battle.

This was how we normally cleared the High Floors.

I wiped out every enemy on the ground with all kinds of magic. Once they were all dead, Hyeji and Iing Iing searched for loot.

After about ten minutes of fighting...

-Grrraaaah...!

-Thud!

I pierced the last Ghoul's head and brought it down.

Then Hyeji and Iing Iing's voices came from above.

-Iing Iing!

"Jiho! Iing Iing says that Ghoul just now was the last enemy! We'll go collect the loot!"

Flutter.

Hyeji and Iing Iing flew away.

The battle was over and it was safe now, so they had gone to collect the loot hidden around the area.

Anyway, every Ghoul was dead now...

Glance.

I turned my gaze behind me.

The Black Mage was still restrained by Earth Manipulation Magic.

His expression had gone beyond shock and completely stiffened.

"Impossible..."

"Huh?"

"This... is not the power of a fifth tier. Sixth tier... no. Even our Sect Leader is a sixth tier, yet they have never displayed such overwhelming power..."

"I'm telling you, what the hell is a tier?"

"Could it be that you have surpassed sixth tier, the limit of humanity, and reached the seventh tier...?! Ah! How astonishing! A human who has truly reached the seventh tier exists in this world...! You may be from that hypocritical Empire, but as a mage of the same humanity, I cannot help but revere someone of the seventh tier..."

"God, this crazy bastard is talking about things only he understands again."

They said it was a cliché for mages to be missing a screw or two, but this guy seemed to have gone too far.

Why did he keep ignoring what I said and talking only about things he understood?

That would not do.

"I was going to take your magic and let you die comfortably, but I don't have a choice now. If you say one more thing that only you understand, I'll beat the hell out of your head. And by head, I mean your actual head."

"What a shame... That someone of the seventh tier came from the White Magic School. If the Black Magic School had produced a seventh tier, we would have conquered the Empire and the Federation long ago, placing this entire continent in our hands..."

"I warned you."

I swung my staff at the crown of his head as he continued saying only what he wanted.

-Whack!

I held back so I would not kill him.

I used about as much force as when I cracked Rachel over the head.

"Aaaagh!"

Still, was he a monster from the High Floors after all?

He did not pass out.

His skull had endured my head-pounding treatment with decent enough durability!

I could probably beat him senseless with about this much force.

"You! Crazy! Bastard! Didn't I tell you to stop saying only what you want?!"

Whack! Whack! Bam! Bam! Bam!

I repeatedly smacked his head.

The Black Mage screamed as pain made his whole body writhe.

"Aaaagh! It hurts! It hurts! Stop! Kill me right now instead! Why would a noble person of the seventh tier behave so barbarically?! Maintain your dignity like a high-ranking mage! As expected! You truly are a despicable mage of the Empire!"

"Seventh tier, Empire, whatever the fuck! Stop talking only about what you want!"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

As I repeatedly pounded the top of his head, I slowly made plans for what to do next.

'I'll beat some manners into him first. Then I'll get Curse magic and extract some information too.'

Originally, I had only planned to take his magic...

But proper nouns kept slipping out of his mouth.

Tiers, the Empire, the Federation, and so on...

Could I perhaps obtain information that would help me climb the Tower?

Information about hidden pieces, for example.

It seemed worth trying to interrogate him.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

"Aaaagh! Stop-!"