WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 20 - Rising Above (3)

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how hard it was to grasp the condition Dercia set for me to persuade her. 

Rising above. And making sure that rumors about me reach her.

Wasn’t that just way too vague? 

If I had to come up with something, it probably just meant to rise above the flock. 

...But how? 

If I were a proper student here, it would be a simple matter. All I would have to do is prove my abilities.

But I was just a janitor at the Academy, and just an aspiring janitor at that, as well as an orphan, to top it off. 

If I revealed my abilities here, a lot of unfavorable things would happen first, long before news about me reached Dercia. 

For example, what if Hughins, who was fiercely bullying Elisia, a fellow noble, found out that some lowly orphan janitor could use magic?

Hmm, even if I tried to think positively, nothing that would come from it appeared positive to me. 

And yet I had to somehow make rumors about me reach all the way to the Empire’s greatest mage? 

'...I guess that’s part of the test, huh?' 

There was no way that Dercia overlooked something like that. 

She was probably trying to tell me that I needed something more than magic if I wanted to become her disciple. 

So I had no other choice than to do it.

"...There done." 

"Thank you." 

I looked over the contract that Elisia had drafted in a notebook with all her might.

There were three clauses.

First, I was obliged to make it look like she had cast spells during the field exercise. 

Second, she would arrange a private meeting between me and her father. 

And third, she would vouch for me during said meeting. 

"Is it really okay not to add that I have to make you able to use magic?” 

That should be what she desired most. 

When I asked her that, Elisia just let out a dismissive snort. 

"Just get me through the field exercise without problems. That’s enough. I don’t expect you to do anything else.” 

"... Then please allow me to tell you something first. Lady Elisia, you’ve already been using magic.” 

"What? Me?” 

"Yes. But it’s different from others’ magic…” 

In a sense, it was similar to mine. 

Of course, I didn’t tell her anything about that, since it would make her panic unnecessarily. 

And it was just similar, not that she had fallen into the Abyss Realm like me. That girl blinking at me with those big eyes seemed far too normal to me for that.

The fact that she had no attendants anywhere around her just solidified my assumption that she was a different case from me. I mean, even Dercia herself had said that she had never seen a case like mine before.

"Yours is a somewhat different type of magic, I suppose.” 

"...Even if those words are only meant to flatter me, thanks.” 

Elisia’s face relaxed slightly as she answered me. 

Judging by the lukewarm look on her face, she probably thought I was only saying that to comfort her. 

Well, whatever, think whatever you want. Once the field exercise was over and I met with her father, I’d just drag her over to Dercia to find out the mechanism behind her magic after all. 

I had to do it. For my sake. No matter what she was feeling right now, I pressed her for more details. 

"Could you tell me more about that field exercise?” 

"It’s nothing special, just a trip. But there’s this yearly event all the children’s classes participate in. All the students are to show their progress using something called the Regenstone.”

"Regenstone?" 

What the hell was that? 

"It’s a stone that regenerates endlessly. We use our magic on it to show all people there how much we can chip away from it. Since it hasn’t been that long since all of us had our Soul Fevers, the results should be pretty similar with the exception of some very talented kids.”

"What kind of barbaric method is that?” 

"I heard it stems from the founding myth. It’s said that the First Emperor managed to completely melt down the stone when he was just ten years old. It took more than ten years to regenerate. Did you really not know this story?” 

"This is the first time I’ve ever heard of it.”

So this place also had a founding myth, huh? 

I guess it’s something like the reenactment of the ‘Garlic and mugwort’ legend, put in Korean terms. 

Anyway, I could at least understand the significance of this event now and why Elisia was so gloomy. If she skipped this event, she would be branded as a loser forever. 

But now she had me. With that in mind I moved on. 

"Just trust me. Where’s the event being held?” 

"Rocksfell Gorge. Do you know it?” 

"...It’s far away." 

"Really? It takes less than two hours by carriage, though.” 

Is that carriage pulled by a dragon or something?

"One pulled by an Earth Dragon.” 

"Huh… I see. Got it. In that case, I’ll need to leave at least one day in advance, so please come find me and let me know about the specifics before then.” 

"Huh? It’s tomorrow though?” 

"...Huh?" 

I looked at Elisia, wondering whether I misheard her.

"Tomorrow?” 

"Erm, yeah. That’s why I was venting like this to you, you know?” 

She let her head droop slightly, her voice quiet. 

This was bad. If I took a normal carriage, it would take until dawn for me to reach the place. 

"...Could you maybe let me borrow that dragon-drawn carriage you have?” 

"That might be difficult since I’m already sharing it with a friend.” 

"You have friends?” 

"I-I have some.”

... 

Well, guess I shouldn’t waste any more time here then. 

I quickly jumped up from the bench and gave her a bow. 

"Understood. Then I’ll be seeing you tomorrow at the gorge. I’ll be in your care.” 

"Erm… Will you be able to make it in time?” 

"No need to worry.”

I smiled at her. 

"I have a secret weapon.” 

* * * 

Even though I had been all confident back then, I sure got ripped off good. 

"Thank you, Sir!” 

"..." 

The coachman, grinning from ear to ear, left after dropping me off. I could swear I heard him hum as well. 

Well… with how much he had earned from a single child, he probably felt like he struck gold. 

Wearing a dissatisfied expression, I stuffed my almost empty coin purse into my bag and let out a sigh. 

There was nothing money couldn’t buy. 

An example of that would be things like bullet carriages used to deliver urgent cargo in an instant. 

Naturally, their prices were as absurd as they were fast, but sometimes you just didn’t have any other choice but to accept that. 

"Anyway..." 

The sun was already pretty much gone when I reached the crowded entrance to the gorge. 

However, after I took a few steps, a man blocked my way. 

"Wait a sec, kid. You still need to pay the entry fee.” 

"..." 

I was robbed yet again. 

I’d have to come back here tomorrow, so I would have to pay that fee again then. Still, there was no way around it. I had to find out where I could hide best to use my magic.

But—the moment I set foot into this place, I was overwhelmed by how packed the palace was. I did think there were strangely many people at the entrance, but that was nothing compared to the inside. 

This felt like Children’s Day in an amusement park. I struggled to squeeze myself through this ocean of people to get to the map. I found out that the so-called Regenstone was all the way up there. 

"Haah…” 

Seeing the number of people stuck on the bridge leading up to the Regenstone made my stomach churn already.

"Just why are there so many people here?"

"Because they’ll close this place for two days starting tomorrow. Those noble brats are coming here on their field trip.”

Listening to the grumblings of people who had similar thoughts to me made me realize why this place was packed like a can of tuna.

This already popular landmark was about to get shut down for a bit, so everyone swarmed here to take one last look at it before then. What could I do? 

I took a deep breath and forced myself into that wave of people.

"Excuse me… Erm… getting through…” 

By the time I barely managed to get through the crowd, the path leading up to the Regenstone was eerily quiet.

No wonder, they were putting on fire-eating performances and the like down below. Any commoner in their right mind would just watch these kinds of things rather than some legendary pebble since they couldn’t really use magic.

In fact, when I reached the Regenstone sitting at the very top, there were only a few couples and myself to be found there.

And when I looked up, I couldn’t help but let out some exclamations. 

"Phew. This thing’s really huge.”

The Regenstone was a towering boulder, about three meters in height. Looking at its bluish glow, one didn’t need to be a mage to realize that it contained some sort of magic. 

While it was quite fascinating, I wouldn’t call it impressive. Well, I wouldn’t be able to smash it to pieces right now.

Checking out the terrain took priority anyway. 

There were more hiding spots than I had expected. All of them were within range of my magic as well. 

'This’ll do…’ 

Just then, I spotted a small hole not too far away. It probably was something like a fox’s burrow. 

I managed to easily slide in one of my legs, followed by my torso.

As an experiment I cast a wind spell and gently touched the Regenstone while still inside the burrow.

-Crack. 

A small piece of it broke off. 

It seemed like it worked perfectly. 

One might be able to see me if one knew what to look for, but it wouldn’t be too easy. If one wasn’t paying very close attention, they wouldn’t notice a thing. 

That was why scouting was important. I got out of the burrow, wearing a very satisfied expression.

That was when a voice completely unfamiliar to me called out to me. 

"Ah~ you there, could you please tell me the way?” 

"...?"

I didn’t turn around to look, but my senses sharpened with Tide Sense showed me what I wanted. 

... The feeling I got from him was very faint. So faint that I hadn’t noticed the guy until he was right behind me.

Who the hell was that guy? 

"Hello? Excuse me, you over there. Kid.” 

"...Ah, were you talking to me?” 

Still, I shouldn’t freak out. It didn’t seem like he held any hostility towards me, though I obviously couldn’t be sure.

I finally turned my head and saw a tall, red-haired man. 

He had a handsome face covered in clean, flawless skin. His rough voice and flippant manner of speech were completely unlike his appearance, which reminded one of a first-rate Knight.

He scratched his head, seeming troubled. 

"Erm. It’s nothing major, but do you know where the Regenstone is? It’s supposed to be around here.”

"It’s over there, I think.”

I pointed at the large jade-colored stone a little distance away from this place.

The man looked slightly shocked, as if he hadn't realized that it had been this close to him. 

"...That thing? It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Thank you.”

"You’re welcome.” 

As we talked, I kept scanning him using Tide Sense.

He really had such a faint presence. So faint that if I wasn’t actually looking at him, I wouldn’t even be able to tell that he was standing there.

I instinctively felt that it would be pointless trying to grab him using the currents.

'It’s unlikely that I need to, but still…' 

Something about the guy felt off. I was about to move away when the man suddenly called me back, as if he had just remembered something.

"Ah. Mind if I ask one more question?” 

"What is it?” 

He asked as casually as if he were about to ask what time it was.

"Are you perhaps a wizard?” 

"..." 

Hearing that, I didn’t even flinch. 

Instead, I showed the guy a broad smile and even thanked him.

"Do I really look that rich? Still, thanks for the compliment, I guess. No, I’m just a normal commoner.”

"Ah, really…? Huh… Strange.” 

The man licked his lips slightly as his gaze swept over me again. 

"Guess I sensed wrong.” 

As soon as the guy turned, I pulled out the pills I had kept in my upper pocket and swallowed a whole bunch. 

I was preparing myself for what I was about to do and what price I would have to pay for my actions. 

"...Ugh." 

The taste of the pills tasted like I what thought hell would taste like, so I had to do my damnedest to keep my mouth closed so as to not vomit. While I forced them down, I raised my Tide Sense to its limits to observe the man.

I instantly felt pressure pressing down on me. My vision dimmed, and my body tightened.

But in exchange my perception completely shifted. What felt like groping around with closed eyes before now shifted into focus, into a higher dimension of sense.

Every drop of seawater around me became my eyes. 

I could feel every hair on that man’s body in my current state.

Of course, I didn’t dare to let my guard down. The moment he showed even the slightest hint of hostility, I would crush him with water pressure and then flee for my life.

"..." 

It took the man about 30 seconds to walk to the Regenstone.

Although those 30 seconds felt closer to 30 years to me, in the end, nothing really happened.

He didn’t even look back once.

Did I overreact? 

Still, it was better this way. My body was completely drenched in sweat, my strength draining out of me as I let myself relax slightly. 

[Tsk, all these preparations for nothing.] 

I could tell by the movements of his lips what he was saying; no need for sound.

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