Chapter 28
Faintly emerging from consciousness, I spotted someone bustling around.
As I blinked my blurry eyes, my vision gradually cleared up.
The busy person was Isoline.
“Isoline?”
“Ah, you’re awake?”
Isoline looked down at me, beaming with a bright smile.
Seeing that we were both okay, it seemed we had won against the Death Knight.
I frowned at the pain radiating from my entire body.
“Ugh…”
“Are you okay? Can you move?”
“I need to move.”
Even if I couldn’t, I had to.
Looking around, I noticed we were still inside the dungeon.
Struggling, I managed to sit up.
The bandages wrapped around my arms and legs must have been put on by Isoline.
As I fiddled with the bandages, Isoline chimed in.
“Hehe… I used some items from your bag… I didn’t bring anything like that.”
“Thank you!”
“No, you should be thanking me… um…”
As Isoline trailed off, glancing at me, it seemed she wanted to say something.
I looked at the Mana Stone lying at her feet and opened my mouth.
“I’m sorry. My wand broke.”
“Oh, no, that’s not a big deal…”
After hesitating for a while, Isoline seemed to make up her mind and nodded before speaking.
“You are a wizard, right…? No, you must be…?”
Her voice turned cautious.
Nodding while checking my condition, I replied.
“I guess… can you tell me which faction you belong to?”
“Faction…?”
“Ah… if you don’t want to reveal it, that’s fine too.”
It seemed that even among wizards, there were various factions.
I shook my head and answered.
“Feel free to speak. And you wouldn’t know my faction anyway.”
“Ah, okay…”
The atmosphere grew awkward. It seemed she misunderstood my response as a refusal.
Sighing, I stood up.
My legs wobbled, but I was still able to walk.
“Shall we walk for now?”
As I started walking with Isoline, she began to throw me questions.
Naturally, they were about me.
“When did you enter the Mage Tower?”
“Well…”
“Is keeping your identity hidden because of a secret mission?”
“Ugh…”
“Um… could your mission be related to this dungeon?”
I let out a small sigh at Isoline’s questions.
She seemed to have concluded that I was a wizard from the Mage Tower on a secret mission.
I didn’t deny it. Saying no wouldn’t convince her, and it seemed like I could let it slide without further explanation.
“It’s not related to the dungeon.”
“That’s a relief…”
“Is it troublesome if the missions overlap?”
“Uhh… if we target the same thing, we might have to duel…? Ah, I’m not saying I’m challenging you to a duel or anything…”
Through my conversation with Isoline, I gathered a lot of information.
She provided insights about the culture of wizards, particularly the magic duels and the various factions existing within the Mage Tower.
“Hey, if we safely escape this dungeon, can you come to the Fire Tower?”
“The Fire Tower?”
“Yeah. That’s where my faction is. I want to thank you for saving me…”
“Ugh…”
She seemed eager to gift me something, but that would likely be impossible.
After all, I probably wouldn’t go visit the Mage Tower myself.
“If we can survive, that is.”
With those words, I drew out the sword from my back.
From the darkness ahead, I heard the rattling of skeletons.
Isoline seemed to have heard it too, gripping the Mana Stone tightly and staring ahead.
“Can you fight in that state?”
“I have to.”
Even if I couldn’t fight, I had to. I couldn’t just die to a bunch of white bones.
I exhaled slowly and checked my remaining mana.
The flickering ring of fire barely glowed with weak embers, but the Starlight Mana formed a small sphere.
It seemed to have recovered while I lay unconscious.
Creeeak—
From the darkness emerged five skeletons.
Rusty swords were clutched in their hands.
“Five…”
Isoline murmured, her face paling.
It seemed she judged that with my current condition, there was no chance of winning this fight.
Just then, the skeletons charged forward.
Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself.
What I needed was a clear image.
I can do this, right? I’ve done it before.
I closed my eyes and gazed at the countless starlights.
The sparkling world became my teacher and revealed another possibility.
Rising alongside the starlight were hundreds of wizards.
Though their appearances varied, they all shared a commonality.
They formed a bluish Mana Circle in their hearts.
Think of the pure crystallization of Mana stretching in a straight line.
The starlight, revolving in my heart, exited my body, creating a small line in the air.
The basic magic of circle wizards manifested in this world.
The weakest attack spell that could still be used in my critically injured state.
Magic Missile.
“Starlight…?”
As Isoline’s words ended, the pure white starlight emerged around me and shot forth.
The Magic Missile of starlight I created for the first time consisted of five rounds.
The five starlights spread left and right, soaring toward the skeletons’ heads.
Bang-bang-bang-!
In an instant, the flying starlights struck the skeletons’ heads.
Some shattered the skeletons’ heads while others merely left small cracks.
The power of the Magic Missile wasn’t very strong.
It was probably about the strength of a stone thrown with all my might.
But for dealing with the skeletons, that level of power was sufficient.
I summoned the white starlight once more.
The mana consumption was minimal.
The speed of the spell cast was maximum.
Bang-bang-bang-!
Again, the pure white starlight whipped into the body of the leading skeleton.
One rib and a vertebra snapped as its massive head shattered.
As the body lost balance and fell, another skeleton filled the void.
I fired off five more starlights.
The accuracy wasn’t very high. But if they missed, I could always make more.
As dozens of starlights quickly flew, two skeletons remained when they reached me.
This should be enough, I thought, raising my sword.
Just then, a Blue Mana sphere flew in and crushed both skeletons.
It was Isoline’s spell.
Boom-!
The explosion was noticeably weaker than before.
Just as I was tired, Isoline must have been as well.
I wondered, just in case, and began to stomp on the scattered skeleton bones on the ground.
Each time I moved my legs, a sharp pain shot through me.
“Hey…!”
“Yes?”
I turned my head at Isoline’s call.
She looked excited as if she had a lot to say, but didn’t open her mouth.
“Uh… never mind…”
I tilted my head, looking at Isoline.
Could it be that there wasn’t a magic called Magic Missile in this world?
It was an attack spell created through the most basic application of Mana.
“Are you curious about this?”
Just in case, I created a line of starlight on my palm.
The spinning starlight quickly flew away, colliding with the ground and disappearing.
“Indeed…! You are that faction!”
“That faction?”
“Of course… there are only those strange wizards who train their bodies while being wizards… then what was that you showed me at first…?”
Isoline muttered to herself, lost in thought.
I frowned at her words.
It seemed that a magic similar to the Magic Missile existed in this world after all.
I had been secretly pleased that I had manifested a magic that didn’t exist in this world…
“Seems like you’ve seen a magic similar to that somewhere?”
“Ah, yes. I watched from a distance at a gathering that happened a while ago. Though it was slightly different from what you showed in terms of Mana.”
Isoline nodded and replied to my question.
Seeing her usual confident expression return, she seemed thrilled to have figured out my faction.
Of course, it was merely her misunderstanding.
“You’re impressive at such a young age… wasn’t the training hard?”
“Ah…”
What should I say in response?
I didn’t even know the name of the faction she was talking about.
Instead of answering, I offered a vague smile and stayed silent.
Throughout our exploration of the dungeon, the skeletons consistently appeared.
They came in groups of at least two, up to a maximum of five.
Since they didn’t all appear at once, it seemed they roamed around the dungeon continuously.
Dealing with skeletons wasn’t too difficult. More bothersome than them were the traps that triggered every time I’d forgotten about them for a moment.
Arrows that flew when stepping on certain plates, and sharp spikes that shot up from the ground.
If I carefully observed the floor and walls for holes, I could avoid the spike traps, but the arrows would suddenly shoot out at unpredictable timings.
Every journey must come to an end.
After a long walk, Isoline and I reached the end of the corridor.
Without hesitation, I stepped forward.
As I exited the corridor, a wide hall unfolded in front of us.
“Is this…?”
“I think this is the end of the dungeon?”
I said to Isoline as I moved toward the center of the hall.
In the center of the hall, a bizarre magic circle was drawn on the floor, and a large purple sphere floated above it.
“This is the Dungeon Core!”
So this purple sphere is the dungeon core?
Isoline hurriedly ran over to inspect the dungeon core.
Then suddenly, she started glancing back at me anxiously.
“So, it seems your purpose is that?”
“Uh… They told me to retrieve a dungeon core from the Mage Tower.”
“Good for you.”
“Yeah!”
Isoline unfurled a blue cloth from her bag to wrap the dungeon core.
As she did, the purple glow oozing from the dungeon core faded, and the sparkling magic circle lost its brightness too.
I diligently scanned the large hall. Hoping to find something worthwhile, I spotted a large chest.
It seemed quite a bit of time had passed since it was placed here, as the wood was decaying and seemed fragile to the touch.
My mouth watered.
What’s the reason dungeons are created? To protect precious treasures, of course.
Without hesitation, I kicked the box.
Crunch-!
The decrepit box broke apart, spilling its contents.
From inside, a dusty skull and a brand-new book chained up were revealed.
A bluish stone was embedded in the skull’s forehead; it was definitely a Mana Stone.
“Can I take this?”
“Yeah. I only need this.”
Isoline showed little interest in the item I picked up.
I pulled out a fist-sized Mana Stone from the skull.
The skull seemed to retain its rigidness, made from some special material.
But it was useless to me.
I kicked the skull, now missing its Mana Stone, to the corner.
“Shall we head back then?”
That was Isoline’s suggestion.
Didn’t they say that meetings are impromptu, and farewells are light?
I gave the wide hall another once-over and nodded.
“Ah, but let’s wait outside for a bit.”
“Umm… should we?”
I gathered the book and Mana Stone, then exited the hall with Isoline.