WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 55 - Tempering (1)
The door made out of rotten wood creaked open—and standing there was a man completely unlike anything I had imagined.
First off, he was tall. Nearly two meters.
That alone completely shattered all preconceived notions I had about dwarves, but even more shocking, he had a cleanly-shaven face. No beard to be seen.
And on top of all that, he was young.
At first glance, he didn’t look older than thirty. If not for that sullen expression and scowl on his face, he could’ve even passed for someone in his twenties.
A tall, youthful-looking, beardless dwarf.
Was he really a dwarf? If he just picked up a bow I wouldn't be able to tell him apart from an elf.
When I met his gaze with slightly uncertain eyes, Brimdal frowned.
"Why are you looking at me like that?”
"Ah, my apologies. You just look a bit different from what I expected.”
"You humans are always the same. The Dwarves, too. Just because I shaved my beard, all of you act as if I’ve hacked off a limb…”
Grumbling, he turned his attention away from me and fixed his gaze on Linmel.
His gaze looked completely different from when he looked at me. They were filled with fervent heat.
"You there, living steel. Draw your sword.”
Linmel didn’t answer him and just looked at me.
Only when I nodded did she draw her sword and swing it once in a horizontal arc before gently sheathing it again.
It was neither fast nor slow. To me, it just looked like she drew her sword, swung it, and then sheathed it. That was all.
‘Ooh, how graceful.’ That was the extent of my impression—
But Brimdal’s reaction was the total opposite.
"Ooh…”
He nodded in satisfaction, a broad smile spreading across his face, then stepped toward Linmel.
"I knew there still had to be someone like you in this world… Do you have a teacher? No, that doesn't matter. I will prepare everything for you—”
What perfect timing. I cut him off before he finished, turning to Linmel.
"Thanks for helping me. You can go now.”
"Okay! I’ll wait in the carriage.”
"?"
Brimdal reached out, seeming startled, but Linmel had already left without even glancing back.
Now there was only him and me left in the cabin.
A brief, awkward silence fell upon us. Brimdal was the first to break it.
"...I don’t know who you are, but you came well-prepared.”
"She’s a nice kid who listens really well to me.”
The trial period had ended.
Judging by Brimdal’s fiery eyes fixed on me, he had realized that fact as well.
"Just who are you, and what do you want from me?"
"Please read this first.”
I handed him the letter I had received from Sir Karrin. Brimdal roughly tore it open and started to frown as he read.
"Karrin? That guy’s still alive?”
"Did you know each other for long?”
"Yes, he was a pretty decent raw ore. I didn’t manage to forge him into a masterpiece, but I at least made him sharp enough to bring down an ox.”
So he really saw people as blades.
If he had been a mage, I was sure he would have fallen long ago. As that thought crossed my mind, Brimdal approached me.
Up close, he seemed even more imposing. He extended a hand larger than my entire face and ordered,
"Judging by what’s written here, I can roughly guess what you want. Give me your hand.”
"Yes."
Brimdal grasped my wrist, pressing and feeling it for a few minutes, before blinking and letting out a deep sigh.
"What the…what in the world happened to you? You’ve been at death’s door more than a few times, haven’t you?”
"How did you know? Wait, wasn’t there anything in the letter about my condition?”
"It only said, ’Please take good care of this kid.’”
"..."
Well, if he had put everything about me in that letter, it would have been quite long.
Trusting that this eccentric dwarf had very few he conversed with, I revealed my identity. Otherwise, we couldn’t even start.
"I’m a Fallen.”
"I see. Then your world must be a Great Realm, a Great System.”
"Yes. Wait…?”
A sudden realization hit me just then.
Great Realm.
That was a term used only by Scarlet Abyss.
"...Where did you hear that?”
"Why? Am I not allowed to know it?”
It was hard for me to believe that this seemingly young dwarf knew something that Dercia didn’t.
Should I assume him to be an enemy? I began inching back cautiously, to which Brimdal’s expression twisted.
"What nonsense are you thinking, you fool? Of all races, ours are the ones who have died to them the most. Since we were children, we’re taught ‘If you ever see someone use magic without mana, kill them, or run.’”
"I heard that Scarlet Abyss had been active a long time ago. You still have records from that time?”
"We never forget what was done to us. We don’t forgive, and only wait. No matter whether it’s Scarlet Abyss, humans, elves, monkeys, or dragons, they are all the same to us. When the right time comes, we’ll repay every single one of them.”
"What exactly did the monkeys do to you?”
"You don’t want to know.”
He began circling me, firmly pressing my shoulders, abdomen, head, and other areas.
The results, well…they didn’t seem to be very positive.
"Totally hopeless. Did Scarlet Abyss make you fall?”
"Probably?”
I still wasn’t sure about that.
I could have been tortured before I turned five, but I had no way of knowing. My vague answer only made Brimdal’s frown deepen.
"What are you talking about? Well…whatever. Let’s make a deal.”
Thud. Brimdal sat down on the floor, not bothering with a chair.
I wondered whether this was some kind of dwarf thing, so I followed suit. Then he drew a dagger from his pouch and stabbed it into the ground.
"Let’s set the terms. Convince that girl to become my disciple. I will then grant you a clean death.”
"It must be because I don’t know the dwarven language. So let me ask you, does the human word for ‘deal’ translate to ‘death threat’ or ‘armed robbery’ by any chance?”
"Fine, maybe I was a bit too direct there. I’ll explain.”
"No need.”
I pulled out the dagger from the ground, which still shook from the impact, and placed it neatly on the floor.
"’You’re going to die soon. And painfully at that. So painful, in fact, that you’d wish for death. I’ll make sure to give you a clean death before that’ll happen.’ That’s what you meant, right?”
"..."
I calmly said the words I felt I had said over a hundred times to the slowly blinking Brimdal.
"I’ve heard it so many times I didn’t even bother to count anymore. ‘You’d be better off dead.’ ‘I’ll put you down painlessly.’ ‘How are you even alive?’ ‘How pitiful.’ ‘How tragic.’... I know that people can’t help but feel pity for me, but please don’t expect my will to break along with it.”
"...Then."
Brimdal’s voice dropped slightly when he asked,
"If you understand all that, what exactly are you living for?”
"To live. That’s all.”
I forced myself not to say that this wasn’t even a question worth answering. But it probably showed on my face.
Brimdal looked down at me, still seeming displeased. Though he didn’t seem as irritated as he was before.
"A corpse comes knocking and asks me to fix its wounds. What a hassle…”
Whatever.
He grumbled, then raised three of his fingers.
"You must promise me three things. First, I have no intention of helping you with your burdens in any way, shape or form. I don’t even know how to begin with. Knowing a bit about Scarlet Abyss doesn’t mean I understand what they’re up to.”
"I’m receiving help from someone else regarding that, so that’s fine.
"Whether you receive help or not, your death is guaranteed. If you die from your burdens during training, that’s just my time wasted.”
Understanding his concerns, I nodded.
“I’ll tell Linmel that if I die, she must become your disciple.”
"Good. Second, I will teach you, but if you cannot keep up, that’s none of my concern.”
That condition seemed so irresponsible that I couldn’t help but frown.
"That condition allows for some pretty malicious interpretation, doesn’t it?”
"Malicious? Hah. I’ve hammered steel all my life. Sometimes other things, but always metals. I’ve never hammered stone, nor do I know how.”
"...Are you calling me a stone?”
"You’re even below that. What level do you think your talent is? Of all the seeds I have ever seen, you’re the most worthless.”
"Talent isn’t really necessary for this, now is it? I just want you to keep me from rotting away.”
"You’ll learn what’s necessary once we begin. Either way, I’ll hammer you as I hammer steel. I don’t care if you break or crack.”
"That’s acceptable then.”
As long as he wasn’t saying he’d half-ass my training, I could live with that. Brimdal scoffed and folded his last finger after hearing my answer.
"...You’ve got guts, I give you that. Third, write a will to your master.”
"A will?”
"Yes. You chose this training yourself. Tell them not to bother coming here to complain.”
"That’s actually really easy.”
I immediately took out a sheet of paper from my backpack and wrote,
[To Master Dercia,
If you’re reading this, that means I’m probably dead. It’s mostly because you never knew about my condition and decided to hide yourself away, but don’t blame yourself too much. It was all my fault. Knowing your personality, I trust you won’t bother seeking revenge for me. You may dissect my corpse as much as you like.]
"All done."
Brimdal let out a deep sigh, seeing how quickly I scribbled it down.
"...You’re stubborn. You really have no intention of dying cleanly, do you?”
“Not at all, so please keep your promise.”
"Tsk..."
He probably thought I’d chicken out and run away if he scared me enough.
It wasn’t that easy though. After some time Brimdal rose to his feet wearily, seeing how calmly I sat there.
"We don’t have much time, so let’s get started now.”
"Yes."
"As for the lecture—I’ll keep it short. When I checked your pulse, I guessed you had crossed death’s threshold several times already. Do you know why?”
"I don’t."
"Because you’re still alive and not melting."
"?"
What kind of nonsense was that? While I was trying to understand what he meant, Brimdal looked through a shelf, lifting swords and hammers as if judging them.
"Not this one… Tell me, why do you think someone as talentless as you hasn’t melted to a puddle yet after being steeped in mana for over a year?”
"I mean, I did think it’s odd. I never thought I was melting to begin with. I always felt completely fine.”
My burdens aside, my body felt perfectly fine.
If Sir Karrin hadn’t told me, I really wouldn’t have noticed. I was told that one’s body would start to melt after a few months, and yet I had stayed a whole year without any changes. That was seriously hard to understand considering how talentless I was.
"It’s because you already dipped your toe into Arcane Strengthening.”
"...Huh? But I’ve barely ever held a sword.”
"Hah, training Arcane Strengthening has nothing to do with swinging a sword. If it did, sword skills would determine one’s mastery in Arcane Strengthening.”
Brimdal finally picked up a small hammer and glanced at it with some satisfaction.
"A human’s adaptability surpassed any other species. However, it’s not something that manifests easily. It only shows itself when one is close to death, like a soldier who has lost a leg, circled a fortress a few dozen times. That’s when one begins to adapt.”
"...Ah, so that’s what it was.”
"You already live in your own personal mana zone. And you probably had countless close encounters with death. In the midst of all that, your body instinctively struggled to adapt.”
I see.
Nearly dying from my burdens, nearly dying at the hands of Scarlet Abyss, nearly dying to Dercia (that one was the most painful actually).
Without realizing it, I had already dipped my toes into training Arcane Strengthening.
That was why I could endure.
"Fascinating. So I’ve already mastered Arcane Strengthening?”
"You just reached the starting line.”
Brimdal lifted the hammer in his hand and got closer to me.
What?
I had a bad feeling but wanted to believe that it wouldn't be like that. Judging from everything he said, though, it seemed likely.
Forcing down my anxiety and dread, I asked,
"Is that really the only solution? Using such an ignorant and crude method?”
"I fully warned you of the risks. You are the one who accepted them.”
"What about treatment?”
"Of course, I can treat you. Do you know how many people I’ve hammered? I can perfectly distinguish between those who are about to die and those who aren’t. I’ll stop as soon as you’re on the verge, so don’t worry.”
"So, you’re really saying—”
"Yes. Starting today, you will cross the line between life and death twice every hour. Until your body acclimates to your world. Until you develop gills.”
Apparently fish metaphors were started when talking about Arcane Strengthening.
Brimdal slung the hammer over his shoulder as if giving me one final piece of advice. His gaze was clearly filled with pity this time, as if he was looking down at an unfortunate victim.
"It’s not too late.”
"..."
"Do you truly want to fill the last bit of your life with something this horrific? You could just enjoy whatever you want, live comfortably, and then when you fall asleep without even noticing—"
"Sir Brimdal.”
"What?”
I steeled myself, letting out a long sigh, then glared at him.
"Just swing it down.”
"...Fine."
My tone was almost commanding, but—
Brimdal didn’t seem offended by it, unlike what I had expected. In fact, a smile appeared on his face for the first time since we started talking as he lifted his hammer.
"If you want to be steel, you should have that much resolve at least.”
I gritted my teeth.
It seemed that if I wanted to prevent my body from melting, I had to first prevent it from breaking.
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