Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 54

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 54 - Knight (6)

"Karrin, this child truly isn’t any Knight’s apprentice.”

"If he’s not, then where did he learn Body Strengthening techniques?”

"I learned them to survive.”

I created a gust of wind.

I didn’t plan on attacking him with it. I just wanted to make it brush past Karrin a bit.

"Hmm."

Before it could even touch him, his brow twitched and he grabbed the air.

Bam.

He caught the gust of wind. Literally, he caught it and then made it burst.

"...?"

What did I just see? As I slightly frowned in surprise, Karrin noticed the faint stars shining in my eyes.

"Are you…a wizard? What in the world is this? Live long enough and you really see all kinds of strange things, huh.”

Aletus gave me a glance. I nodded and properly introduced myself to the puzzled Knight.

"My name is Jern. I’m a mage who has fallen into the Abyss and am struggling desperately to survive."

"...Oho. Are you one of those Scarlet Abyss guys?”

"Not every Fallen is part of Scarlet Abyss.”

"I see. Well, whatever the case, it makes no difference to me. Why did you summon this old man here?”

"Because someone from Scarlet Abyss told me that if I wanted to live, I should find a Knight and beg for my life. Until now I didn’t know why.”

I lifted my hand, clenching and unclenching it.

I felt absolutely no problem with my body. At least, it didn’t feel like I was rotting from the inside.

"May I ask exactly what’s wrong with my body?”

"Hmm…”

Karrin looked at me curiously, as though I was a unicorn or something, then sat down.

"I heard you are the Lord’s benefactor. That means you’re also the benefactor of the one who swore to protect him, me. I’ll tell you what I can.”

"Ah, thank you."

"However—let me make one thing clear. I don’t want to give you false hope. I don’t know much about the Fallen. All I know comes from that unpublished decree. Moreover, I know of no way to overcome your condition. Frankly speaking, I can’t imagine any way for someone in your state to survive.”

"I see. I’ve heard that every day of my life.”

I met his gaze, completely unfazed.

It’s impossible. You’ll die. There’s no solution.

How many times have I heard those things? Even the greatest wizard in the Empire was saying these things.

Hearing them again from a Knight just irritated my ears now instead of shocking me. Perhaps sensing my resolve, the atmosphere around Karrin became slightly more serious.

Aletus, who sat beside me, and asked curiously,

"So, what exactly do you mean by all this?”

"Boy, you’ve learned the Body Strengthening arts, have you not? Where did you learn it?”

"..."

Karrin completely ignored Aletus’ question and spoke to me instead.

I tried not to look at the slightly dejected Aletus as I answered.

"I secretly watched a Knight training and copied their movements.”

"You sure got guts, brat. Then do you know the difference between Body Strengthening and Arcane Strengthening?”

"I don’t know the details. I just know that Arcane Strengthening is the next stage after Body Strengthening, and that you won’t get hurt much when hit by magic if you master it—that’s all.”

"So you only know the basics. Body Strengthening trains the body, while Arcane Strengthening trains the mana itself. It’s the process of turning your body into a living spell.”

"A living…spell?”

"Exactly. A Knight is a living, breathing spell. That’s why we can consume and disrupt lower level spells, and why we’re called the natural enemies of mages.”

Up to this point, it was all things I already knew, aside from the details.

"To master Arcane Strengthening, one must first learn Body Strengthening, and then undergo the process of transforming the body itself.”

"What kind of process?”

"One that allows mana to flow through the body."

"?"

"The human body truly is a miraculous thing. Merely training repeatedly in an area rich in mana is enough to make it adapt for survival. That adaptability is what determines the mastery of Arcane Strengthening.”

Hmm.

‘To survive’, huh?

I could already see where this was going.

"Having a high mastery of Arcane Strengthening is a Knight’s pride. That’s why some Knights, when their apprentices can’t adapt to mana-rich zones and begin breaking out in rashes, leave them there anyway. Such apprentices develop a condition called mana poisoning. They can’t handle the overwhelming mana flooding their body, and their muscles rot away. In the end, it’s greed that kills them.”

"So that’s what’s happening to me then?”

"No."

Karrin shook his head.

"You—you’ve gone even beyond that. I said excessive greed kills an apprentice—but that only means they can’t become Knights. Most of them can live perfectly normal lives. But you are like someone who’s been thrown into a mana zone, locked inside, and left there. Soon enough, not figuratively, but literally rot away and die.”

"That’s quite terrifying to hear.”

I sighed before taking another sip of tea.

"...Did you actually understand what I just said?”

Taking advantage of Karrin’s confusion, I cut in first.

"Yes. But are you sure that’s true? My master never mentioned anything about that.”

"Who is your master?”

"Dercia Aspandil, the Empire’s greatest wizard.”

"Hmpf."

Karrin scoffed when I mentioned Dercia.

"Still just another wizard. Do you even know what happens when a wizard enters a mana zone?”

"They absorb too much mana and die?”

"No, they thrive. They love accumulating all that mana so much they might even start dancing. They could live there for their whole life without issue.”

"Huh? Wait, but I’m a wizard, too.”

"That’s what’s so puzzling to me. How do wizards of the Abyss Realm even gather mana? Ordinary wizards use their inner world to draw it in, so what about you?”

"There’s seawater like mana all around me and when I breathe it in I’ll absorb the mana until I’m filled up.”

"...? Anyway, your master must have thought similar to other wizards. Most of them think the more mana the better, since there was no way they would suffer in any way in a mana zone, right? The only ones who die there are humans, not wizards.”

"I’ll say it again, I really am a wizard. You've seen it yourself. Maybe I can’t handle it because I’m only 1 star?”

"It seems like you still don’t understand, so I’ll make it simple. Mana zones are water. A wizard is a fish. Humans can’t breathe underwater. That’s why they create gills, and those gills are made through Arcane Strengthening. Whether you’re a minnow or a shark, if you’re a fish, you’ll thrive.”

After saying all that, Karrin paused, his expression turning contemplative.

"...But you definitely are a fish. I can’t understand why you’re still showing symptoms of mana poisoning. Unless, hmm.”

"What is it?"

"This is just my speculation, but maybe you’re not a fish swimming in ordinary water.”

"..."

"I mean, perhaps you are not living in water, but in oil—”

"Let’s change the topic.”

"What?"

I fixed the bewildered Karrin with a serious look.

"If I were to learn those gills, I mean, say, if I want to grow new gills that let me breathe in a different environment even though I am a fish—”

"You can drop the metaphor."

"Okay. Simply put, I want to learn Arcane Strengthening. What should I do to achieve that?”

"That would be something quite interesting to see. Never seen a wizard trying to learn Arcane Strengthening."

Watching Karrin burst into laughter, I fell into thoughts.

This was probably a penalty only a Great Realm’s Fallen – meaning those whose entire reality had transformed—suffer from.

No wonder Dercia hadn’t known. Even I wouldn’t have considered this possibility in my dreams.

As I mulled over how strangely accurate Scarlet Abyss’ advice had been, feeling quite uneasy about it, Karrin shook his head.

"But it seems it’s already too late. At least, it’s something beyond my capability.”

"Hmm, may I ask why?”

"I have no idea how to restore a seed that has rotted as much as you. Look, more than half of your body is tainted with mana. Could you hold out your hand.”

Karrin, taking the hand I held out, suddenly froze in shock.

"...Wait, what? It’s still spreading, even as we speak. This area shouldn’t have enough mana for this to happen, so why—”

"That’s… just assume that I haven’t spent a single day outside of a mana zone for nearly a year. Even this very moment.”

"Haah, what a wretched life the Fallen must lead. No wonder you’re rotting away like that.”

"Not all Fallen are like this I think.”

Karrin clicked his tongue, took out a piece of paper from his coat, and began to write something down.

"No matter how I think about it, there’s no Knight who could save a child like you. So, go find this person.”

"Who are they?”

"You’ll see when you meet them. And let me give you one more piece of advice.”

Karrin shrugged, handed me the letter, and rose to his feet.

"When you get there, do not tell them who your master is.”

After Karrin left, I looked down at the name he had written down in the letter.

"Brimdal Aphitry?"

Even by Imperial standards, that was a remarkably unusual name. As I muttered it aloud, Aletus stiffened, glaring toward the door where Karrin had left through.

"Wait, that damn Karrin… Jern, it’d probably be best if you gave up on that.”

"May I ask why?”

"Sir Brimdal is, well, a rather eccentric man. He’s certainly brilliant, but more or less lost in his own world.”

"I see. Still, if even Sir Karrin can’t help me, then I’m pretty much out of options. I need to survive until Lady Dercia returns at the very least.”

"...That’s true. It seems there’s nothing that I can do about that. I know what I’m going to say might sound like I’m insulting him behind his back, but let me at least tell you everything I know about Sir Brimdal.”

Aletus, who had sat down again, sighed before explaining about the Knight called Brimdal.

"Sir Brimdal is a dwarf.”

"Aha."

So that was why Karrin told me not to mention my master.

"And as you can imagine, the fact that he serves as a Knight of the Empire means that he’s not quite right in the head. Unlike other dwarves who hammer steel, he chose to instead hammer humans.”

"By hammer you mean—”

"Both physically and mentally. He’s produced countless outstanding Knights of the Empire. He’s not just a master smith, but a master instructor.”

I titled my head. From the sound of it, he seemed like an incredible Knight.

"-Though, in the process, he turned about 80% of them into complete wrecks.”

"Hmm."

So he had a rather high failure rate then.

"Worse yet, unlike other dwarves, he blames the raw material. He always says things like ‘My work is flawless, It’s this useless lump of flesh that’s lacking!’”

"I perfectly understand.”

So, he was a crazy dwarf Knight who treated humans like consumable ore.

Honestly, that wasn’t all that bad. Someone who had broken that many people would probably know ways to fix them as well.

"If there was even a one in a thousand chance, I should take it. That’s better than just staying like this.”

"Well…”

Aletus’ expression darkened slightly, as if there was something he hadn’t told me yet.

"He broke so many that one day he started ranting about how he’d only ever use the finest raw materials from then on. He’s been extremely selective ever since that day, meticulously examining every potential apprentice—and that was about 20 years ago, I believe? He still hasn’t chosen even one.”

"Aha."

"You probably don’t have much talent as a Knight, so he’ll probably just insult you to your face if you go find him and kick you out.”

He was right about that.

As I started to ponder, Aletus had his servant bring a list of several Knights.

"Let me summon a few others as well. You can still decide after you've listened to what they have to say.”

"I really appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll be fine.”

"...What?”

I bowed my head towards the puzzled Aletus.

"Sir Karrin may be a bit impatient, but I trust his words. He doesn’t strike me as someone who likes to speak nonsense, right?”

"---Of course not. His temper might be a bit foul, but he’s the best Knight I know. He even taught me once.”

"That’s why I trust him. As someone who knows little about Knights myself, it seems only natural to believe in the man whom you, who knows so much about Knights, considers the greatest.”

"Ahem, well, I appreciate the trust you have in me, but…Do you perhaps have any other plans?”

I smiled slightly at Aletus, who cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"Yes. There’s one sure way.”

An offer he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

* * *

Thankfully, Aletus gave in, faced with my unrelenting stubbornness, and lent me the best horse-drawn carriage he owned.

Thanks to that, I reached Brimdal’s dwelling, which was in a more remote place than I expected, relatively easily.

It was quiet. Now and then I heard the chirping of birds, and saw thick layers of dew clinging to surrounding trees.

And nestled between all that nature and mountains far away from the capital, lay a single small cabin.

The yard was overgrown with moss, and the area around the steps were completely swallowed but by weeds, making it seem as if no one had tended to this place in ages—

But the sandy training ground before the cabin looked neat as if it had just been built.

No doubt, this was the right place.

"Whoa, whoa.”

I calmed the horses. I had tried learning how to handle a carriage on the way here and I must say it was quite entertaining.

Parking the carriage nearby, I got down, crossed the stone bridge and path leading to the cabin’s front door and knocked on it—

I then heard a deep, heavy voice that could rattle one’s bones coming from within.

-Leave.

"..."

I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a moment there.

It was as if I heard the roar of a massive beast right beside my ear.

Suppressing the goosebumps that were about to appear on my arms, I answered.

"Sir Brimdal, I have something I would like to discuss with you. May I have a moment of your time?”

-I do not take worthless disciples.

"You wouldn’t know that without taking a look at me first, right?”

-I can tell without looking. Just turn around.

Puzzled, I turned around, only to see an ordinary path and a decorative stone bridge.

"Hm, there’s nothing there.”

-Each stone in that bridge is made from a different material. The sand and soil along the road were gathered from all over the world. The sounds you made as you crossed them were truly appalling. A truly gifted Knight’s steps wouldn’t sound any different no matter on what surface they step on.

"And…what does that have to do with talent?”

-Instinct. The ability to adjust your strength according to the wind, soil, and stone your feet touch. Those who can do these things naturally, those who are born with that gift…are the only ones I teach. If you understand, then get out of here. I won’t say anything more.

"Wow."

I didn’t expect I’d get rejected before even meeting him.

I sighed and snapped my fingers.

"At least take a look before you decide.”

-You are really testing my patience here.

Brimdal’s threatening tone instantly faded.

Step, step…Not the slightest fluctuation in sound.

-Tha–...

Listening intently, even I was amazed.

No matter whether she walked on stone, wood or soil, there was no rise or fall in the sound of her steps.

Facing the door, I asked quietly,

"How about now?”