Chapter 51
Just like puppets with broken strings, the Golems lost their power and began to collapse one after another. It was not surprising for an ordinary person to go crazy just by being in the World of Death, but since Terian was a decent wizard, he was surviving in this place with his strength of mind alone.
Terian could have easily kept the death aura at bay with his mana and kept his mind sane. However, since it was Terian’s first time encountering such a situation, he could not even manage such a basic task and started to feel weak.
"Well, it’s all because the master of the tower is so weak…" Lee Shin muttered.
Lee Shin could already see why the Yellow Magic Tower was considered the weakest after the Black Magic Tower. Despite having the relics of Estania, a genius hextech engineer, Terian could not do anything impressive using the Golems, which clearly showed that he was at his limit.
"Stop... Stop it, already!" Terian shouted.
Normally, Lee Shin did not reveal his emotions on his face; but this time, he gave a contemptuous look.
"You don't deserve it," Lee Shin muttered.
Lee Shin's black mana had built up on his palm. He stretched his hand out to Terian.
"No…” Terian shouted.
Terian’s hollow eyes were soon covered with black mana. Fear hit him like an angry bull.
"Keau…ugh…” Terian groaned.
[Deep Flare]
Black flames set Terian ablaze and the flames burned even more intensely when they sensed his feelings of fear and horror.
Drop—
The black flame that seemed to devour everything went out, and a yellow bead fell to the floor and rolled toward Lee Shin. It was a control device for the Golem. When Lee Shin took a closer look at it, he frowned because he was unable to use it unless he knew the specific activation pattern of the relic.
"Do you remember the pattern?” Lee Shin asked Terian who died and became a soul.
Terian shook his head because he had lost his memory of it.
"Tsk..." Lee Shin clicked his tongue and left the ruins.
* * *
In his room in the Black Magic Tower, Lee Shin was lost in his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, Reina was standing there smiling, shaking Lee Shin’s bottle of black liquid.
"Were you busy?" Reina asked.
"No, that’s alright. What brings you all the way here?” Lee Shin asked.
"Well, I should come visit if He Who Knows Death has passed the test." Reina laughed at him.
Reina seemed like she was expecting a retort from Lee Shin, but Lee Shin did not bother to respond to her.
"Is it that funny?” Lee Shin asked.
"Of course it is. I never thought you'd give an answer like that there," Reina said.
When Reina had asked Lee Shin if he was He Who Knows Death in her room previously, she had only been joking with him. However, Lee Shin had answered yes, and Reina still did not believe him.
- Why would you ask if you won't believe me anyway?
After saying that, Lee Shin left her room. Since Lee Shin seemed so bold, Reina thought about the possibility of him being He Who Knows Death, but no matter how hard she thought, it did not seem right. Those rumors could not be true, and it did not make any sense for such a person to be doing this here.
"You’re so boring, just take this for now," Reina muttered.
Reina handed him back the cursed liquid that he made during the test. After verifying the effectiveness of the cursed liquid, Reina had been quite shocked.
"Do you mind giving me the recipe for this cursed liquid later?” Reina asked.
Although she had seen Lee Shin make the cursed liquid, she needed Lee Shin’s recipe, because the quality and effect of the cursed liquid varied depending on the amount of mana power used and the method taken.
"Yeah sure..." Lee Shin muttered.
"Are you really going to tell me? Really?" Reina asked in excitement.
Reina asked again because she was surprised. She did not expect Lee Shin to tell her the recipe because people normally did not share their recipes–they were a secret. Although Reina asked, she was not expecting a positive answer from Lee Shin.
"Well if you don’t want it, that’s fine,” said Lee Shin.
"Oh, no! What are you talking about? I want to know! Of course I do!" Reina replied.
Lee Shin smirked when he saw how eager Reina seemed. He then handed her a piece of paper that was on the desk.
"What's this?" Reina asked.
"This is the recipe," Lee Shin replied.
"Huh?" Reina was surprised to hear that.
"I wrote it down in advance because I thought you would ask for it," Lee Shin explained.
"Uh… T-thank you,” said Reina.
Seeing Reina’s reaction, Lee Shin quickly nodded and sent her away. Now that he got the passing result, it was time for Lee Shin to register.
"Hello, Lee Shin. Congratulations on the pass," the employer said.
"Thank you," Lee Shin replied.
"Here is the uniform for the second-class wizards, and this is the key for your new room. The second-class wizards use the accommodation located on the fourth floor, so you can go there," the employer explained.
"Alright," Lee Shin replied.
After the introduction, when Lee Shin was about to go to the accommodation, he encountered a familiar person.
"Hey! You've become a second-class wizard, haven't you? Congratulations." Raymond smiled warmly and congratulated Lee Shin.
"Thank you," Lee Shin replied.
"By the way, did you hear about the rumor? The Blue Magic Tower had collapsed completely. I can’t believe Shane is dead,” Raymond said.
Lee Shin had expected the Blue Magic Tower to collapse, because Cigarate was also there with the people of the Red Magic Tower.
"What happened to the Red Magic Tower?" Lee Shin asked.
"Well, I heard that their master, Helen, was severely injured and that she would not be active for the next several years. But, I guess they still have quite a lot of combat power left because they said they will still participate in the Deleague when the Blue Magic Tower had already given up."
Lee Shin had hoped that the Red Magic Tower would also give up on participating in the Deleague, but it was too big a wish. Still, it was not a bad result because Helen could no longer add to the combat power of the Red Magic Tower.
"Oh, I see," Lee Shin muttered.
A few days had passed since the death of Terian, the master of the Yellow Magic Tower. It seemed like there was a lot going on inside the Yellow Magic Tower, but they never disclosed any of their internal affairs. Sometimes, people would hear news of the disappearance of the master of the Yellow Magic Tower, but most people thought it was nonsense. Since it had been a while since such news was heard, Lee Shin was looking for the right timing.
"Hello, Lee Shin! What you did at the last lecture was so cool!”
"Will you please study the cursing course with me?”
"Hello, my name is Toona, and I recently became a third-class wizard! I applied to this tower after hearing rumors about you, Lee Shin!" said Toona excitedly.
Since Lee Shin had been wandering outside the Black Magic Tower most of the time, he had not realized how welcoming the atmosphere inside was. The atmosphere outside and inside were completely different. Listening to lectures at the Black Magic Tower and working in this tower made him feel comfortable.
Since he was from the same Magic Tower as most of the wizards present, he did not receive any hostile looks. In fact, they could be acting too kindly toward Lee Shin.
"I was thrilled to hear the news that you made fun of the wizards at the Blue Magic Tower last time."
"I can't believe there's such a figure in the Black Magic Tower... Respect!"
Since they had so often been looked down upon, the wizards at the Black Magic Tower loved Lee Shin for simply making fun of those wizards in the other Magic Towers.
Moreover, some people even respected him because Lee Shin had shown some outstanding performances at the lectures. And there was a person who called Lee Shin ‘The Future of the Black Magic Tower’, just because he had the same name as He Who Knows Death.
‘How much have they been scammed?’
The name Lee Shin and an ability that matched his name’s sake were enough to attract the attention of everyone who was in the Magic Tower.
"I heard there’s a supernova that has appeared in our tower these days... Do you know him?" Raymond asked.
Lee Shin had been bumping into Raymond so often now that Lee Shin was almost sad if he didn’t get to see him.
"Don't make fun of me, and call me like you used to.” Lee Shin smiled.
"Haha... I’m just practicing in advance, so don’t mind it,” Raymond replied.
When a Clarte saw Lee Shin's skills during his second-class lecture last time, he said that ‘He will soon become a Clarte.’ Raymond’s reaction changed so much as the story spread and got to him because a first-class wizard could not talk to Clarte so rudely.
"Anyway, are you planning to take the first-class test soon?" Raymond asked.
"I think I should," Lee Shin replied.
"You are aware that there are branches starting from the first-class, right? There's a curse branch and summon branch.” Raymond explained.
People in the Black Magic Tower were biased toward the curse line, but there still were quite a few people who had not given up on the summon line as well. For cursing skill, the wizard had to be able to use a certain level of curses in the test.
And for the summoning skill, the wizard had to be able to summon the undead that was specified during the test. Until now, since most wizards had not seen Lee Shin's summoning skill, they thought Lee Shin would definitely take the test in the curse field.
"Will you definitely be getting tested for the curse line?” Raymond asked.
"I think I’ll try both," Lee Shin replied.
“...what?" Raymond was surprised to hear Lee Shin’s response.
.
* * *
"Lee Shin!" Verren shouted.
Lee Shin, who was heading to the northern section of the Gold Magic Tower, turned his head to look when someone called out his name. It was Verren, who seemed to have also passed the exam, as he was now wearing the uniforms worn by second-class wizards.
"Hey, Lee Shin, what are you doing here?" Verren asked.
"There are some materials that I need to get from this place," Lee Shin replied.
When Lee Shin replied, Verren looked around. Thankfully, there were not many people wandering outside. And, as expected, the brutal atmosphere these days had discouraged people from loitering outside; so Lee Shin and Verren hardly saw others around.
"Don't you know that all the Magic Towers are pretty sensitive these days? Why is a wizard from the Black Magic Tower hanging around here?” Verren stared at Lee Shin and said.
"Then why don’t you mind your own business too?” Lee Shin tried to go about his own business when he heard a familiar voice.
"Verren, what are you doing here?" Gordon asked.
Lee Shin stopped in his tracks.
"Oh, I met a guy I know," Verren replied.
There was a handsome man who was wearing glasses with a sleek appearance. His name was Gordon, Head Clarte of the Gold Magic Tower.
"You know a guy from another tower?" Gordon seemed surprised.
It was natural for Gordon to be amazed as Verren usually despised other wizards and never greeted others.
"Oh, is it the wizard named Lee Shin?" Gordon asked when he noticed Lee Shin’s black uniform.
"Yes," Verren replied.
"Oh, he's the one who has the same name as He Who Knows Death,” said Gordon.
"What's that?" Verren asked.
"Well, you don’t need to know that yet. I’ve heard rumors about him. With that kind of talent, I don't think he had to go to the Black Magic Tower though," Gordon said.
"Well, there was no need for me to go to the Gold Magic Tower as well,” Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin laughed inwardly at Gordon's obvious remark. Gordon was a person who persistently tormented Lee Shin, together with Verren, in his past life. Knowing his real personality, encountering him made Lee Shin feel disgusted.
“You’re arrogant,” Gordon muttered.
"Ha, you're still proud of what you did last time? Then why don't we have a match right now? I'll show you whether you should be saying things like that about the Gold Magic Tower,” said Verren.
The intention behind his request was obvious–he just wanted to crush Lee Shin, who had outperformed him.
‘Verren would hurt someone if he got a chance,’?Lee Shin thought.
Lee Shin would not be surprised to see Verren and Gordon do that; it wasn’t his first time seeing the duo crush wizards with potential in this way.
"Alright, then I'll be the referee," said Gordon.
Lee Shin was about to reject Verren’s offer, but hesitated at Gordon’s offer.
‘Wait…’
To be honest, the Gold and White Magic Towers were definitely the strongest Magic Towers here in Seia. Among them, the ones who contributed the most to raise the Gold Magic Tower to this position were the master and Head Clarte, Gordon. His position was just a Head Clarte, but his actual skills were close to that of a master.
If Lee Shin could secretly take Verren and Gorden out under the pretext of this match now, it would make it much easier for Lee Shin to deal with the master of the Gold Magic Tower in the future. However, the problem was that if Gordon died, there was a possibility that the next operation would not work if the master became a lot more vigilant as a result. Things could become more complicated.
‘Hmmm… I guess I’ll just follow my original…’
At that time, a wizard who was wearing the uniform of the Gold Magic Tower passed by, noticed the three, and approached them.
"Is that you, Verren? Oh! You are here too, Gordon?” the wizard asked.
"What's the matter?” Gordon asked.
"Well, the master wanted me to inform the wizards of our Magic Tower that they should take care of themselves better for the time being and don't go out anywhere but just stay at the Magic Tower,” the wizard explained.
"Why is he saying that all of the sudden? He never said things like that before,” Verren said to the wizard with a puzzled look.
"Recently, the Yellow Magic Tower officially announced that the master of their tower died. I think there was an assassination. They also declared that they will not be participating in the Deleague this time,” the wizard continued.
When they heard about this sudden news, their faces instantly stiffened. The assassination of the master was major news. Even if the master was from the Yellow Magic Tower, his skills were unquestionably good. Besides, his death meant that the masters of other Magic Towers could be in similar danger. Furthermore, it would be more dangerous for those wizards who were at a lower rank.
"Also they said they would announce the culprit soon,” said the wizard.
"Really? Did they find the culprit?" Verren asked.
"Well, I’m not too sure about that…” the wizard replied.
After hearing the words of the wizard from the Gold Magic Tower, Lee Shin's expression subtly stiffened.
‘So, they are going to announce the culprit?”
There was no way for the Yellow Magic Tower to have a clue about what happened. Lee Shin thought that only the master of the Magic Tower knew the location of the relics and the deputy master probably only knew about their existence, but nothing more than that.
‘No way, did the master of the Yellow Magic Tower really tell the deputy master where the relics were located?’
Lee Shin thought that was not reasonable considering the personality of the master of the Yellow Magic Tower. Even if he had talked about the ruins due to the heavy atmosphere these days, he would have never told anyone about how to get in.
'He never imagined that I would’ve killed him that day.’
That was why Lee Shin did not expect such a situation. However, what if they had noticed… As the thought processed, Lee Shin's eyes were fixed on the two.
"You said you wanted a match, didn't you? Let's do that right now,” said Lee Shin.
"Huh? I thought you would say no and chicken out,” said Verren.
Verren liked the idea and so he accepted Lee Shin's words. However, the wizard who came to tell them about the rumor looked worried.
"But, the master told you to return right away..." said the wizard.
"Don't worry, there's a place we know. We’ll just do a quick match and return immediately," said Gordon.
"Alright sir,” the wizard replied.
When the wizard who informed them was just about to go, Lee Shin called him.
"Would you like to go with us and watch our match?” Lee Shin asked.
"Huh? Why is he joining us?" Verren asked.
"I thought it would be nice if we had some audience for the two of us fighting,” Lee Shin replied.
After hearing Lee Shin’s words, Verren got excited and agreed.
"Right! You should watch us fight, and share the result widely with the other wizards," said Verren.
"Huh? Well, okay..." said the wizard.
When the wizard expressed his willingness to join, there was a bitter smile on Lee Shin's stiff face.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l