WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 45 - Rescue (2)

There’s a fable about how to boil a frog.

If one threw a frog into boiling water it would immediately leap out, but if one were to first put it in cold water and slowly heat it, it wouldn’t try to get out and just die. Everyone had heard this story at least once in their life.

Of course, a fable was just a fable. Some scientists with nothing better to do actually ran the experiment under the same conditions, and the frogs jumped out as soon as they felt heat at their feet.

However, its message was clear.

The dangers of getting accustomed to things.

Water dripping day by day on the same spot will hollow out a stone.

It seems like I had been hollowed out by various water drops without even realizing.

"I hope you like it.”

The smiling man slowly walked toward me.

His strides showed no hint that he was expecting an attack, and, in fact, I couldn’t attack him. I had no means to do it.

"..."

Raising my hand, I realized just how accustomed I had become to the Abyssal Sea.

I’d thought the pressure I was usually under at this point hadn’t been that great.

How mistaken I was. Beyond feeling light, I felt like I might fly off into the sky if I jumped right now.

That wasn’t all. With no more deep-sea fish around me, my constant unease completely disappeared. My sight was clear, and maybe because the space I was in was burning, I could feel quite a bit of warmth.

Heat, warmth… Right, I had almost forgotten this sensation.

Of course, I would still feel heat if I were to put my hand into fire, but until now, before I committed that madness of putting my exposed hand into open flames, I had been unable to actually feel heat.

I had clearly become far too accustomed to the Abyssal Sea.

"...Tsk, how nice.”

I had to admit it.

The man grinned at me and raised his hand.

"Then let’s start with that mysterious magic of yours—”

"Thank you.”

I should feel grateful.

I had no idea what power it was, but I still met his gaze and firmly expressed my gratitude.

The man’s hand froze.

Then the corner of his mouth, which had almost been touching his ears, slowly fell. He seemed a bit flustered.

"...What? Wait, you—can see me?”

"Yes."

Even if he was an enemy, I was content to have given even a single glimpse at this world I might never be able to see again.

"---Burn."

Taking advantage of the man’s confusion, I lit a flame in my open palm.

I didn't attack him. I simply watched the flame flicker as it hungrily consumed the air around it.

There was no problem. Nothing in this world would stop this flame from burning.

However—

"Ugh."

Then the world sank.

No. The world remained the same. It was I who simply woke up.

A slowly tightening pressure made my body ache. Warmth vanished in an instant, my field of vision narrowed, and the deep-sea fish began to move about around me again as if they had always been there.

Fssssh... The flame in my hand died out, only leaving a thin plume of smoke behind.

"ㅡ!"

The man moved with great swiftness. Like a werewolf, he sharply raised his claws and slashed down as if to tear my head apart.

"Purge."

"...Ugh, what?!”

I clenched his hand as if to crush it.

The claw that could have sliced flesh like tofu came to a halt after cutting off a few strands of my hair. I shoved away the staggering and struggling man hard again.

-Bang!

He slammed into the wall, raising a cloud of dust and making a hole. As I spread out my Tide Sense again after I shut it off earlier, I saw the man scratch his head and stand up, seemingly unscathed.

"What the… Who the hell are you? I’m sure it worked on you though?”

"I don’t know much about your Abyssal magic, but perhaps it lets you show others what they desire most.”

"Close. Have you ever heard of daydreams? But if you know that much, then… you’re an actual freak, huh?”

He spat out some blood, then glared at me as if I were some kind of lunatic.

"So you just got your greatest dream fulfilled only to give up on it immediately after? Are you out of your mind or something?”

"I didn’t want to give up on it either."

I wanted to live. I really wanted to live.

But at the same time I knew how absurd and hollow that dream was.

Even while dreaming about the thing I most desired, I couldn’t forget how impossible it was.

That was my fate.

"But it isn't something so easily obtainable.”

"...Hehe."

We exchanged some glances for a moment. The man grinned and hunched over.

"You crazy bastard, now I seriously have to take you.”

"...Spare me those creepy lines.”

Bam—!

I struck the charging man again and again with the currents while studying him.

He was strong and fast. But that was all there was to him.

With just raw strength, he would never be able to compare to even a fraction of the Abyssal Sea.

I smashed the man into the wall for the fourth time, lowering my stance.

Whoosh—! Shards of sharp metal flew by my head. An attack that used the dust to hide its trajectory, but it was impossible to fool my Tide Sense.

It seemed like he was trying to avoid a frontal assault. I heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs echoing through the spire.

"What kind of magic is that? Doesn’t seem like something a little brat like you, who only recently went through the Soul Fever, should be able to do.”

...He hadn’t even realized yet that I was a Fallen.

That was unexpected. I thought for sure I had been found out.

Maybe he did and was just testing me. I didn’t answer as I kept the man down and climbed the stairs.

"An opening—!”

At that moment—

The man suddenly sprang out of the dust cloud with a nasty grin on his face and his claws raised high.

I didn’t dodge. I just looked straight ahead and struck his ‘back.’

"Ugh—!"

Bambambambam…. The man who had been aiming for an ambush tumbled down the stairs, and the illusions in the dust dispersed like smoke.

This time he didn’t come out unscathed. The floor was littered with shards of glass. The bloodied man ground his teeth and rose to his feet again.

"...What the hell? How did this…?”

From the moment the fight began, I hadn’t lost sight of his position for even a second.

Once I realized that he could manipulate my senses, I stopped relying on my sight or hearing, so those tricks didn’t work on me anymore.

Of course, I had no obligation to explain all that to him.

"I can see everything."

"Tsk, you’re bluffing.”

It wasn’t a bluff, but he could just think whatever he wanted.

However—

"I’m starting to get curious. Try whatever you can.”

I frowned when I saw that the blood had suddenly stopped flowing out of him as he flexed his muscles.

In my current state, I couldn’t render that man incapacitated.

He was far too tough. Even if I bashed him repeatedly with my currents or tossed him down the stairs, he’d barely get injured.

I might be able to crush him if I used the water pressure, but the amount of pressure that would require would shatter my whole body first before his, even if I used ‘Purge’ and my robe.

And I didn’t have the luxury to waste any more time here.

I glanced up and tried to negotiate in a polite tone.

"I don’t think we need to fight any more than this.”

"...What?"

"I understand that you want me. But is it worth giving up your life for?”

"Life? Have you finally gone completely mad? Since I let you off—”

"I’m Jern Aspandil, the adopted son of Dercia Aspandil.”

"..."

The man’s eyes widened. I took advantage of that gap and continued.

"You’ve probably heard of my adoptive mother. Or investigated her at least. She would be one of the biggest obstacles to whatever you’re planning.”

"Yeah, true.”

"Right now, Lady Dercia is acting as if she doesn’t care what Scarlet Abyss is doing. But if I get hurt or kidnapped, she won’t just stand by and watch any longer. So you either abduct one seemingly talented 10-year-old and make an enemy of a 9-star mage who will absolutely interfere with your grand plan to the bitter end, or you just let me go and concentrate on your plan… I’ll leave the choice up to you.”

For something I just made up on the spot, that sounded pretty plausible, didn’t it?

The man scratched his chin, seemingly pondering over my words.

"Hmm, Dercia’s adopted son, huh.”

"Need proof?”

"Proof? Your magic is proof enough, you brat. There’s no other way to explain why a 10-year-old plays with someone like me as if I’m a toy.”

"In that case.”

"Alright."

He wore a smile that certainly didn’t show any agreement.

"We could just use you to bring Dercia over to our side.”

My brows furrowed at the sheer stupidity of that conclusion.

"...Is that really the only thing you could think of? If you’d investigated Dercia even a little, you’d know that if I were to be kidnapped, she’s far more likely to say something like, ‘Kill him or don’t; do whatever you want. But if you don’t let him go, you will die,' rather than meekly cooperate."

"Ah, right. That might be true. But you—you made a mistake. You showed me too much.”

The man pointed his finger at me and grinned, teeth dripping with blood.

"We only fought for five minutes, and I get it. If I were Dercia, I’d never let you go. Even if I had to give my life. Any wizard in the world would give 90% of their remaining life just to get you.”

"I don’t think my real mother would rate me that highly either.”

"Kuheh, it seems you're lacking in the brain department. Fine.”

The man dropped to one knee and took position. As if all he had been doing up to this point was just a joke, his muscles bulged up in grotesque ways.

"I’m Illusory Flower of Scarlet Abyss. I’ll treat you as our enemy from now on, Jern!”

"Let me pass on that. And just some advice, try to cultivate some sort of intelligence so that you can avoid answering when the enemy suddenly starts talking to you on the battlefield.”

"?"

Crack—the floor cracked, and Illusory Flower, a dazed expression on his face, just sank straight down.

While we were talking, I had been grinding away at the floor under Illusory Flower’s feet with my currents.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

"Hup—"

I made the current carry over every piece of debris in the area and shoved it into the hole through which Illusory Flower had fallen.

Crash—Ruuuuuuumble Boom!

"Phew."

He shouldn’t be able to get out of there so quickly.

As I wiped away the sweat from my forehead, a dizzying sensation overcame me.

...I had seriously overused my Abyssal magic. My vision was dimming, and the currents around me felt heavier.

I didn’t think that I had managed to defeat Illusory Flower with just that much. It only bought me a little bit of time.

And that little time would be enough to achieve my goal.

"...Move..."

Dercia’s torture inflicted on me in the library proved to be quite useful.

With my teeth clenched, I stepped forward and hurried up the stairs. However, since I wasn’t feeling all too hot, I decided to reduce the range of my Tide Sense, but it was more than enough.

I was close. After climbing several floors, I finally stood before a slightly broken door. I was about to knock, but then slapped my cheek once in disbelief and opened it.

"Elisia.”

No matter what weight might greet me there, I was prepared for it.

I would console her, tell her that all of this was just a terrible nightmare, and then knock her out by hitting the back of her neck. As long as she was alive, everything would be alright, so…

"Ah, Jern!”

So…?

I tried to hide my surprise at the sight of the ever-lively Elisia sitting on a bed, kicking her feet.

She gave me her usual bright smile before running over to me.

"You came too! I was so bored I thought I’d die!”

I immediately spread Tide Sense to check the room thoroughly.

But I couldn’t find any assassins threatening our lives. Elisia’s heartbeat was remarkably steady as well.

Above all, there wasn’t even a bit of anxiety on her face. I asked cautiously.

"Why are you here? What about Lord Aletus?”

"I don’t really know. Father told me to stay here… I want to go out! We finally came to Azellin after all!”

"...Phew..."

I let out a deep sigh of relief.

Aletus must have sensed something and hid her in this spire.

No, there wasn’t any time for jokes. I met her gaze, making sure that she didn’t take my next words lightly.

"Lady Elisia. Listen carefully to me. Outside right now…”

"Ah, wait! I forgot to introduce someone!”

"...Huh?”

She cut me off, hopped over to the bedside, and looked to her side, as if expecting someone to be standing there.

Of course, it was only Elisia and me in this room.

...A chill ran down my spine.

It can’t be.

"Mother, this is Jern! He’s the one who helped me while you were away on your trip!”

"..."

I clenched my teeth quietly, watching Elisia happily chatting with empty air.

"Yeah, that’s right! He was the one to help us when we were trapped in the underground prison!”

"The first time we met was when I was getting bullied by the other kids, remember?”

"Ah, but I'm okay now! And it’s not your fault, Mother. I should have been more careful—”

"...Why are you doing this?”

Elisia had already left me behind, lost inside her own world.

Naturally, the question wasn’t directed at her.

The answer came from the doorway.

"No matter how easy it is to make kids fall, just causing physical pain doesn’t lead to the creation of a good world, you know?”

At some point, Illusory Flower had managed to climb back up. He casually leaned against the doorframe, brushing wooden chips off his hair like it was nothing.

"This is the best method. Lift them all the way up to heaven and then drop them to hell. Her father is slowly dying in the room next door, so this fall height should be great enough to make her fall into something useful, don’t you think?”

"How many times have you done this?”

“Well, it’s not too many to count, but… I didn’t really bother counting. I didn’t have any reason to.”

Blocking the door, Illusory Flower smiled satisfied as he looked towards the happily chattering Elisia, then turned to me.

"Don’t worry. I can't really use this method on you. You’re not the type that would crack from this.”

I turned my head to look at him.

He extended his left hand, as if he didn’t feel a shred of guilt about what he had done.

"You, join Scarlet Abyss.”

"..."

"I’ll be honest since you know anyway. You're going to fall soon. You know that, right? At your age, to see your dream so clearly, realize it’s impossible, and refuse it yourself? Do you even know how twisted that is? It’ll be soon. Very soon. Even if I don’t do anything, you’ll just fall on your own.”

"Don’t you think it’s a shame for you to fall and just die with that talent? But we can save you. No… we must save you. If your master gives us permission, we’ll use all our knowledge to extend your life.”

"Right, you’re probably wondering what we want from you in exchange. It’s nothing really. It might be hard to believe, but I’m serious. We won’t give you any orders nor demand anything from you. All you have to do is to use us, struggle, and survive. Just dying like this is just so damn unfair, don’t you think?”

He took a step closer, his hand still outstretched.

"So, how about it?”

"Those are quite the good terms.”

I grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.

"But, I need you to add one more thing.”"

"Heh, you’re still not satisfied? You’re a bold little brat, but you’re worth it.”

"It’s nothing big. It doesn’t have much value. Less valuable than a pebble on the road.”

"...Is that so? And what’s that supposed to be?”

Ugh—!

I grabbed Illusory Flower’s throat, twisting it with all my might, and watched his eyes contort. I then murmured quietly.

"Your life.”

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