CH 202

‘Is he really lending me his +15 weapon?’ 

Siegfried couldn’t believe Yong Tae-Pung’s words.

Why? What was weird about lending someone a +15 weapon?

Lending someone a +15 weapon was akin to entrusting one’s life to that person.

A +15 weapon would be worth hundreds of billions of won, depending on its quality.

What would happen if Siegfried decided to run away with the weapon?

The consequences were unimaginable…

“What are you doing?! Hurry up and use it! That weapon has no level restriction, so don’t worry about it!” Yong Tae-Pung shouted.

“But, Senior-nim…”

“I’m entrusting it to you, so hurry up! Kuheok!”

Taecilius slammed his fist into Yong Tae-Pung’s face.

“Shut up, old human,” Taecilius said indifferently.

“This bastard dares to…”

“Do you really think that greenhorn can beat me?”

“Kuheok!”

Taecilius started beating Yong Tae-Pung up, and the old pro gamer’s HP depleted rapidly from every punch.

“Kuheok…! H-Hurry up…! It’s going to take forever for me to regain the levels I’ll lose if I die…! Don’t worry! Use that weapon! Hurry up!”

“O-Okay…!” Siegfried was left with no choice but to grab the +15 weapon, Hwaryongdo.

[Alert: You have obtained the item +15 Hwaryongdo!]

Yong Tae-Pung had removed the soulbound option on his weapon and transferred the +15 Hwaryongdo’s ownership to Siegfried.

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‘I wonder how powerful this +15 weapon is going to be…’ Siegfried wondered while holding the +15 weapon.

He gripped the weapon tightly and walked toward Taecilius.

“Hey.”

“…?”

“Let’s have a go at it.”

“Go where?”

“I want to know how it feels to be overgeared,” Siegfried said before rushing at the demon.

***

“Hmm… Hmm… Hmm…”

The Head Magician of the Proatine Kingdom, Decimato, was currently facing a huge dilemma.

‘I’m already over seventy years old, but I don’t see any hope of advancing my magic… I had dedicated my entire life to magic, but it seems that the farthest I can reach is the sixth circle…’ he lamented inwardly.

Decimato started thinking this way was that he ended up facing a wall after trying to carry out the various national projects that the Proatine Kingdom was undertaking.

The Proatine Kingdom was trying to bolster its defenses against invaders by installing illusion, space distortion, and time rift traps on their borders. However, it was an incredibly difficult undertaking.

Most of the kingdom’s magicians only possessed three to five circles in their hearts, so it was extremely difficult for them magicians to install those kinds of traps.

In fact, the Minister of State, Michele, had decided to outsource the work to an external entity because the Proatine Kingdom’s magicians weren’t capable enough to do the work on their own.

‘To think that the work to protect my country ended up getting outsourced… haa… I’m truly a hopeless magician…’ Decimato lamented inwardly.

Of course, Decimato wasn’t a hopeless magician. He was a Sixth Circle magician, and he could also be considered the cream of the crop among his peers.

It was an outstanding achievement when taking into consideration that most magicians would get stuck at the fifth circle. Of course, there were Great Wizards—Masters—beyond the sixth circle and were already at the eighth circle.

Still, the fact that he couldn’t to his country’s defenses was eating him from the inside, and his pride as the Head Magician of the kingdom was severely damaged.

‘I think I have no hope of becoming a Great Wizard. I can only hope that I’ll reach the seventh circle before my life ends…’ thought Decimato.

“Hoho! You there, what are you so troubled about?”

Someone suddenly called out to Decimato.

“Hmm?” Decimato turned around and saw an old magician smiling brightly at him.

“Were you talking to me?” he asked.

“Yes,” the old magician replied.

“What is it?”

“I noticed that you were troubled about something, and it felt like you were dying inside.”

“Hooo… Was it that obvious? I apologize,” Decimato apologized and thought, ‘I guess I was putting on all sorts of faces just now. Hoho…’

He suddenly noticed something about the old magician and asked, “But who might you be? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”

“Me? I’m not an important figure. I’m just planning to establish a Magic Academy here.”

“Huh? Are you Percival by any chance?”

Decimato heard from Michele that an old magician by the name of Percival would settle in the Proatine Kingdom to open a Magic Academy.

“Yes, that is me. I’m Percival.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the head magician of this kingdom, Decimato.”

“The head magician… why would someone like you be so troubled? Are you having problems with your children, or is your mistress throwing a fit?”

“Hoho! You are quite the joker. I am quite old, and I’m already in my final years to worry about trivial things like that. It is just that my magic has been stuck in the same place for the past fifteen years, and the wall in front of me seems truly insurmountable.”

“I see…”

“If I may ask, which circle are you on right now?” Decimato asked.

“Me? I am on a single circle,” Percival nonchalantly replied.

“A single circle?!”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“N-No…”

Decimato was stunned after hearing that Percival was only a First Circle magician.

‘A mere First Circle magician wants to open a Magic Academy? What does he plan to teach his disciples…?’

Decimato was in disbelief because he failed to properly understand what Percival meant when he said that he was on the first circle.

Why?

A Tenth Circle Magician—realm of Grandmaster Magicians or Archmages—would consolidate their circles into one powerful circle.

Decimato couldn’t even become a Master, so he hadn’t thought of the possibility that Percival was an Archmage. No, it was more like there were no records of an Archmage consolidating their circles into one.

“Hoho! A single circle, you say… I guess that you would be far more troubled than I am,” Decimato said while looking at Percival as if he was pitying the latter before further asking, “Just how long have you been on the first circle?”

“Hmm… I think it has been twenty-five years now…”

“Hooo… I see… you have been stuck on the first circle for twenty-five years… I’m ashamed to be troubled after being stuck on the sixth circle for only fifteen years.”

“Those things aren’t important at all. That is just how the world works…”

“I will carve your teachings on my heart and try to be less greedy from now on. I guess I should realize that everyone has their limits, and accepting one’s limits is also wisdom in itself.”

“Hoho!”

“Then, I shall take my leave now. I will see you later.”

Decimato bid goodbye to Percival.

‘Yes, this isn’t the time for me to be disheartened. I still have other tasks assigned to me, right? I need to give it my all for the sake of my kingdom…’

“There is this saying in the book that Daode Tianzun wrote…” Percival trailed off before saying, “A wall that stops a magician from growing is not created by magic spells or incantations, but it is created by the magician themselves.”

“Hm?”

“A magician loses himself and becomes nothing but a machine that casts spells with their wand once they start getting too obsessed with circles and formulas. What does it matter if a magician is on the first or sixth circle? A circle is nothing but a method for magicians to use their mana efficiently…”

‘H-Hold on!’ Decimato suddenly exclaimed inwardly upon being struck by an epiphany.

Of course, he didn’t suddenly understand the complex theories of circles after hearing Percival’s words, but he could deeply relate to the words—a magician loses himself and becomes nothing but a machine that casts spells with their wand once they start getting too obsessed with circles and formulas.

‘Yes! I was nothing but a wand casting spells! What is magic? What is magic in nature? What is a human being?’ Decimato started pondering again and again until the realization struck him.

Wooong!

The six circles inside him let out resonant hums as they started to separate.

‘Ah! This is it!’ he rejoiced.

Decimato was in a state of what the East would call a trance.

‘Good job! I just threw him a hint, and he figured it out himself. Hoho!’ Daode Tianzun exclaimed inwardly in joy after seeing Decimato’s changes.

Actually, Daode Tianzun had no intention of helping Decimato reach greater heights. He just wanted to give the latter a hint and let the latter think about it himself, but it seemed that Decimato had analyzed the hint and managed to find the path to the seventh circle.

This was proof of how troubled Decimato had been and how much he had been studying magic just to be able to reach the seventh circle.

‘It will be problematic if he’s in that state out in the open, so maybe I should give my junior a gift,’ Daode Tianzun thought. He warped Decimato to his house so that he could continue his trance without being disturbed.

Of course, the warp was done so discreetly that Decimato didn’t realize that it even happened.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried was holding the +15 Hwaryongdo and was standing in front of the natural fighter, Taecilius.

They two fought so fiercely that the battle between Taecilius and Yong Tae-Pung looked like a children’s quarrel.

‘H-he’s a human who has just reached Level 200…?’ Taecilius tilted his head in confusion.

‘Crazy… This bastard is really talented…’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

‘Ah… I don’t feel like playing this game anymore…’  the Mandate of Heaven Guild members started to feel inferior small after seeing Siegfried in action.

How was it possible for him to make those movements? His level was low, his gears were crap, and he didn’t have even a single decent weapon that he had to borrow someone else’s weapon.

Nevertheless, Siegfried was currently overpowering Taecilius, who managed to defeat Yong Tae-Pung. Siegfried seemed like was declaring to the world that—I can beat the shit out of all of you if I gain some more levels and get proper gears!

The guild members would have scoffed and called him delusional if he were someone else, but Siegfried was an exception. They personally witnessed that the young man held immense potential. It might just be possible for him to achieve that greatness.

The scary part was that Siegfried’s potential wasn’t the type where they had to see him grow to be able to tell whether he would blossom or not. His talent was the type where his growth was already guaranteed, and all he needed was time.

‘Ah, damn it! I would have beat the shit out of this bastard if my stats were a bit higher! Keeping up with this demon is so difficult because of my low stats…’ 

Siegfried was absolutely inferior to the demon boss monster when it came to stats, so he had no choice but to see a few steps ahead just to avoid the demon’s attacks.

Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to consistently read the enemy’s movements a few steps ahead, and the effort was putting a lot of strain on him.

‘I need to end it in one shot.’ Siegfried decided to settle the battle once and for all.

“You damned greenhorn…!” Taecilius roared before dashing toward Siegfried.

Puuuuk!

Siegfried took out the Rod of God and stabbed it into Taecilius’ abdomen.

Then, he swung the +15 Hwaryongdo with all of his might.

Slice! Thud!

There was a grotesque sound followed by a dull thud.

Taecilius’ head flew into the air and rolled on the ground.

The +15 Hwaryongdo was truly a fearsome weapon. It was strong enough to kill a boss monster with just its basic attack. Siegfried couldn’t even imagine just how powerful it would truly be once it was imbued with mana.

Was that the reason?

Was that the reason why Siegfried suddenly thought of something extremely dangerous.

‘Should I… Try upgrading my weapon to +15 as well…?’

Yes, it was extremely dangerous because the endeavor could bankrupt him once more.