“Drak… Drak.”
Black tapped on the table with the expensive food. After a moment of thought, he opened his mouth again.
“Sure, we did meet briefly a year ago, but I don’t think it would help much in finding Drak. It was really sudden.”
Black meeting Drak to create the ‘Black Destroyer’ was already fully revealed on his personal broadcast. There are videos on NewTube boasting millions of views, and it was quite the topic back then. Even now, as Drak’s existence is mentioned again, the view count is soaring.
I had seen the video, but I wanted to meet him in person and hear the details.
“It’s fine. Just tell me everything.”
“Um… Alright. Yes, the last time I met him was a year ago when we were preparing for the ‘Black Eye’ raid.”
A black eye, nesting in part of the continent, spread darkness across the world. The nest was unimaginably huge, and within that territory were Talikal’s domains. If it wasn’t caught within 150 days, that area would expand more than double.
Black and his guild, the Black Moon, arrived at Talikal at the request of the kingdoms to prepare for the extermination of the Black Eye.
‘You’re the chosen one.’
Then one day, someone came to the mansion where the Black Moon was staying.
Long disheveled hair and eyes faintly glowing deep blue. The clothes were far from battle gear and appeared very simple, with no mana sensed whatsoever.
It was questionable how this person managed to infiltrate and reach him through his guild members.
Black immediately confronted him with his weapon, the Black Drake greatsword.
Thud.
‘This is underwhelming.’
And he lost.
The old man who effortlessly subdued Black, who was already famous as the guild master of a top-tier guild, merely laughed while flicking his small hammer.
‘You’re weak. Still too weak. You won’t be able to prevent destruction.’
I shall give you a trial.
“It was a quest. A ridiculously tough quest.”
“I saw the video too. It was something like hunting a thousand monsters.”
“Yes. Aside from that, there was also retrieving flame flowers through the magma of a fire mountain, gaining mana at the highest point, and much more.”
The quest difficulty was absurd, but Black persevered through the trials. It would be too easy to just give up; the old man was no ordinary individual, and above all, it wasn’t bad for broadcasting purposes. After all, Black was a streamer.
[That was seriously fucking hard]
[Black had a tough time indeed]
[Didn’t it take almost three months?]
[For real lol]
[Lily has to do that too?]
[I really don’t want to grind]
[Hahahahahaha]
[Can’t we just kill them and take it?]
[Let’s just threaten them]
[The hardship path is clear lol]
Finally, after finishing all the trials, the old man came to find Black once again.
“You did well.”
With his short greeting, a greatsword resembling a crescent moon. The Black Destroyer was placed in Black’s hand.
A mythical item.
Mythical equipment was so rare that there were maybe only four or five in total, and it boasted overwhelming performance compared to subordinate gear.
At that time, Black’s broadcast was in chaos, and countless discussions about the ‘old man’ spread across various communities.
“That’s when the existence of Drak was first revealed, and the quest called ‘The Legend of the Talikal Kingdom’ emerged.”
“Did Talikal not mention this from the beginning?”
“Yes. It seems there were many nobles dissatisfied with outsiders possessing a masterpiece.”
“That’s true.”
He personally felt the dissatisfaction.
‘But nothing really changed because of it.’
Black paused for a moment and refreshed himself with a drink from the table.
“After that, users began to gather at Talikal, taking away masterpieces one by one, but that’s not important, so let’s skip that. Anyway, before Drak left, he said something important.”
“Remember this.”
‘How one utilizes a masterpiece is freedom, but it must be primarily used to prevent destruction.’
‘Is there a special reason?’
‘Of course there is.’
“A masterpiece is a weapon that possesses an ego. If it doesn’t fulfill its born purpose, the weapon is just a piece of mineral…? That’s what he said.”
“So, if you don’t prevent destruction, it means it has no reason to exist.”
“That’s right. It seems the system might impose seals or something to prevent users from just eating and running.”
Since all previous owners of the masterpieces managed to prevent destruction, there’s no way to confirm it, but that guess is probably correct.
After all, masterpieces are weapons created to prevent destruction.
They can’t stray from their purpose.
[To prevent running away lol]
[Running away is a major issue]
[???: Running away banned]
[We can’t have them just run away after we made it for them]
[What if we half-kill Drak and make him a mythical factory chief?]
[So where’s Drak then?]
[Hahahahahaha]
[Ego weapon whoa whoa]
I nodded my head.
He nodded.
Up to this point, what I’ve learned from NewTube and various information isn’t much different from this.
Drak is so famous that there are many pieces of information shared by those who speculate or have acquired masterpieces.
The reason I called Black is due to two curiosities.
“Is it weak enough to prevent destruction? So, if it’s inherently strong, would there be no trials from the beginning?”
“Uh?”
“Is it that they are too weak to handle a masterpiece, or do they overcome the trials to be acknowledged by the masterpiece? Either way, it seems trials and masterpieces aren’t closely related.”
Weak.
Thus, they undergo trials to grow stronger and can wield masterpieces.
It’s a natural progression, but here raises a question.
‘What if they are strong from the get-go?’
If they are strong from the beginning without any trials, can’t they just wield the masterpiece right away?
As evidence, I’m currently using the Green Hermit without a care.
Black, who heard my words, paused as if buffering.
“Um… I’m not sure about that. Isn’t it just due to the quest’s difficulty? If they’re strong from the start and don’t receive trials, it could be a balance issue.”
“So, aside from the balance issue, it doesn’t really matter?”
“Since it’s a weapon imbued with ego, it might be somewhat affected by trials… but it probably won’t matter much. After all, you can’t even see the weapon until all the trials are finished.”
Perhaps during the time Drak is forging the weapon, they are undergoing trials.
And along the way, they might also train.
“And I have one more question.”
“Feel free to ask.”
“It only appears during the crisis of destruction. Does that mean it won’t appear unless there’s a crisis of destruction?”
“Probably, yes? It seems to appear whenever there’s a crisis for Talikal.”
No matter how strong the enemy or if a disaster capable of destruction arrives, if it seems they won’t be destroyed, it doesn’t appear?
Is that something Drak decides?
“Why is that?”
“Huh?”
“If the kingdom could protect itself without intervention, it wouldn’t appear?”
“…That seems right?”
“……”
A hero who has protected Talikal for centuries.
It’s a bit strange to think that just having excellent abilities would let them distinguish destruction.
A World Boss is strong but is just a single entity with no special variables.
But it’s not the ‘Empire’.
The Empire has many knights who possess strength comparable to a World Boss, and being a ‘nation’, it can introduce various variables depending on the situation.
Unlike a World Boss that becomes known the moment it appears, the Empire has no time to know whether there’s an attack unless there’s a spy planted.
Despite what the entire world knows, the Empire has no time to know whether there’s an attack unless a spy is planted.
Even if there is a spy, it’s questionable whether they can truly stop it.
Above all, the most puzzling thing is the ‘suitable candidate’.
What could be the reason to grant a masterpiece to ordinary people or outsiders rather than the outstanding knights or mages of the kingdom?
It would make more sense to just give it to someone strong instead of raising such individuals in a situation where time is of the essence.
This is not just for a heroic narrative of a dragon rising from a crevice.
No matter how plausible a heroic tale sounds, if it happens seven times, it stops being a ‘heroic’ tale.
“There must be a reason for this. A reason that ‘must’ be.”
In the end, the reason of “it seems we’re not going to perish” isn’t a solid reason for keeping Talikal safe from an unbeatable foe for centuries.
However, Talikal has survived numerous dangers during those centuries, in addition to seven opportunities.
They were given masterpieces ‘just before’ crises broke out.
There is something.
Not a simple reason, but a certainty that Drak could have ‘known ahead’…
“…Ah. I see.”
“What?”
“So, that was it.”
“Yeah? What are you talking about?”
“So that’s what it was…”
“Eh?”
[What is it]
[What is that?]
[Hahahahahahaha]
[Seems like that’s the case]
[Ah! Is that it? Lily is a genius?]
[Detective Lily ON]
[Did you figure it out?]
[That’s it]
[Are you talking about that?]
[That’s the one, haha, as expected, Lily is smart]
Though something was being said in front and beside me, I focused on my thoughts.
If that is truly the case…
‘Drak must have the ability to see the ‘future.’
And ‘foreknowledge’ has been a power of the Celestial Race and the Demon Race for generations.
■
As long as Drak has the ability to see the future, he will never appear in Talikal.
Whether there’s a masterpiece or not, I will definitely prevent the destruction of Talikal.
And now with a reason to meet Drak beyond the masterpiece, I sank into thought.
‘What should I do to summon Drak?’
Should I summon a meteor in the capital?
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