Wow. I’m in deep trouble.
The moment everything turned dark.
That’s the first thought that crosses my mind.
“Light!”
Tap!
As I snap my fingers, a small flame pops in the air.
But in the empty space, the flame lights up only for a moment before going out.
“Light!”
“…!”
Tap.
I illuminate the darkness once more.
Only then does Mia realize my position and rushes over.
The light fades again, and her figure vanishes.
“Light!”
Eek!
As the flame flares again, I see tree roots strangely twisting up from behind Mia.
“Duck!”
Huff!
Mia comes close to me and ducks down.
Immediately, I draw my sword with my right hand and keep illuminating the darkness with my left.
Every time, the tree roots move in a stop-motion style.
Instead of charging straight at us, they suddenly bend, encircling us gradually.
“Why is the World Tree doing this…?”
“Get a grip! That’s not the World Tree!”
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Flames keep erupting, and my mana is being endlessly drained.
There’s not enough mana in the air for fast charging here.
Still, I can’t stop this nonsense.
The moment I stop, the light disappears, and without the light, I can’t see anything.
It seems the enemy is aware of this and just drags out time deliberately.
They’re hardly launching any attacks.
“Can you use the Flash Magic?”
“No…”
The situation is the worst.
The entrance has collapsed and blocked.
With no light source, it’s pitch black, and the only way to emit light is by pouring mana recklessly like this.
‘Am I really supposed to face Kali here?’
I’ve got to fight Heavenly King Kali while protecting Mia.
She’s a precious prophecy vending machine that’s supposed to recite my future. I can’t just let her die.
Rumble…!
The tree roots circling us have formed a cozy sphere.
I don’t know when or where new tender roots might sprout.
In other words, the moment I waste all my mana, I won’t be able to cast my lights anymore.
Mia and I would end up getting stabbed by the spears flying from every direction.
But I can’t step out first either.
The moment I move away from Mia, the roots sprouting from behind will pierce through her head.
There’s hardly any answer in sight.
“How do I get out of this…?”
Just when I thought I might die like this.
A warm sensation spreads from my pocket, and red light radiates around.
The light is bursting through my pants.
I’m dumbfounded as I pull out the source of light from my pocket.
My black mana stone.
The mana stone sealed with Ifrit is emitting light enough to illuminate this entire cave.
“Hold onto this tightly.”
“Yes…!”
Now that we have a light source, things change.
I pass the mana stone to Mia and readjust my grip on the sword.
Just then, root spears come flying toward us in a straight line.
‘Merida-style Swordsmanship. Technique 3.’
An offensive stance designed for fighting multiple enemies at once.
I rotate the blade rapidly like a saw, intercepting all the tree roots rushing at us.
Seizing the instant the onslaught diminishes, I slash toward the origin point of the roots.
Chop!
Thus, the spherical tree root prison surrounding us quickly loses power and collapses.
I maintain my guard with the sword for quite a while, but nothing happens.
Looks like the attack is over.
‘Is Kali not coming?’
There are no more tree roots on the walls.
It seems they have been used up to attack me.
In the process, it seems they used up a lot of moisture, as the damp walls are now cracked and dry.
Phew.
“Um, excuse me.”
Just as I exhale a sigh of relief.
Mia pulls my sleeve urgently.
Looking over, her face has gone pale.
“We have to get out of here quickly!”
I soon realize why she’s so frantic.
The roots supporting the ground have disappeared.
If the earth has completely dried out and lost its stickiness…
“Shit…”
This cave is going to collapse.
As expected, the ceiling’s soil starts to rain down with a thud.
“Run!”
“Yes, yes!”
Time is of the essence.
I grab Mia’s hand and hurry toward the entrance.
Where we just stood, a giant rock has already settled.
“Damn…!”
I kick the blocked entrance and try to dig it out with my hands.
But the thickly piled earth won’t budge at all.
In the meantime, dirt keeps falling from above.
In an instant, I’m being buried by soil.
Ugh! Come under me. That way, you’ll have some breathing space.
“But what about you?”
“One of us has to survive.”
…!
It’s come to this.
All I can do is cover Mia with my body and endure.
I have to wait for a rescue team to arrive from outside.
Ugh…
But the ceiling continues to come down, and the amount of dirt piling on my back is unending.
Not even a minute has passed yet.
It’s already bending and warning me of its limit.
I’ll break. I’m gonna die.
I can’t hold out any longer.
‘If only I could use one spell!’
I reach forward and recall the strong wind image Alicia taught me.
In my mind, a gust is already bursting forth from my palm, blowing the earth walls away.
But in reality, nothing happens.
No way, man.
This is just too much.
I’m not asking for much here.
Who’s asking to become a Great Mage?
Basic magic is something everyone can do.
I should at least know a spell to blow this earth wall away.
Just as I’m pouring out such resentment inside…
“Huh?”
…
Something touches my chest.
Looking down, I see Mia placing a glowing red mana stone near my heart.
Before I could even read her intentions.
A soft voice echoes in my head.
|I’ll help you this once.|
Boom!
As if firing off a shockwave.
The earth wall shatters and is blown away.
We tumble forward and successfully emerge from the tunnel.
Hah! Hah…
Huuu…
We’re covered in dirt, lying there gasping at each other.
We survived.
For the moment, that feeling of relief washes over me, and I can’t think of anything else.
Phew…
Bang!
With a final blow, a dead tree in the training ground crashes down.
How many times did I hit it?
I lost count somewhere along the way.
It’s been half a day since escaping from the base of the World Tree.
Grabbing my almost broken waist, I found a crowd of elves everywhere.
Leaving all explanations about what happened to Mia.
I quickly washed myself at the lodging.
And then I isolated myself in the training ground, punching away until now.
“Yoo Jin.”
“Oh, Alicia.”
“Can you please stop calling me that?”
“What’s up?”
“I figured out the identity of the magic you used to blow away the earth wall earlier.”
Creek! The door creaks open as Alicia walks in.
Her expression is quite serious.
I decide to listen to her while Mia keeps licking her fists beside her.
“After analyzing the mana residue, it turns out it was telekinesis magic.”
“Telekinesis? Hey, Ifrit. You can use that too?”
Holding up the now completely red mana stone.
The moment that magic was cast, it definitely said something.
It said it would help just this once.
Thanks to that, I saved my life.
So, I’ve been thanking the mana stone over and over, but…
That jerk hasn’t responded a single time.
So rude.
“It’s not that. The Great Spirit of Fire can only use flame attribute magic. Telekinesis, which isn’t classified under attributes, cannot be used by spirits.”
“Oh? Then it was the Priestess who used it?”
“Not even that. The mana used at that time was definitely your mana.”
“So it means…?”
“Yes. You’ve awakened to 5th-tier non-attribute magic—telekinesis.”
Alicia’s serious tone leaves no room for jokes.
I’m dumbfounded.
I, who can’t even use 1st-tier magic, suddenly awakens to 5th-tier magic?
“You could use telekinesis and kept it from me?”
“No, I also just used it for the first time!”
“Do it again.”
“That’s… I couldn’t do it again.”
“Whaaat?”
Since coming back, I’ve tried all sorts of things.
Just trying to cast that spell one more time.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do it.
So naturally, I thought it was Ifrit or Mia’s magic.
But now I’m being told it was my own?
‘It seems Ifrit did help me in some way back then.’
I did think about wanting to blow that earth wall away.
Just then, Mia placed a mana stone on my chest, and the magic activated.
It feels like Ifrit was playing some tricks on me…
“Hey! Dude! What’s up, bro? Grandpa.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“This guy keeps ignoring me.”
No matter what I say to the mana stone, it just stays silent.
Since coming out from the tunnel, it’s been ignoring me.
You said you’d help just once, and that was it?
What a cheap guy.
“And… The elders are calling for you.”
“You mean for a commission?”
“It seems so.”
“Get your equipment. We’ll accept it right away and head into the dungeon.”
“Huh? I should enter the dungeon after mastering telekinesis. I just learned 5th-tier magic!”
“It’s probably just a one-time fluke. What 5th-tier magic can you have? I can’t waste endless time on magic I’m not even sure I can cast again.”
I learned one thing from almost dying with Mia in that hidden room.
Kali has already taken over the base of the World Tree.
If she makes her way up to the branches, it will be too late.
The seeds of plague will spread throughout the world, causing millions of victims.
We must enter the dungeon as soon as possible.
“Mi Jeong. What about you?”
“…Ready. Perfect.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“No! You can’t enter the dungeon with all that blood flowing from your fists!”
“What? Scared? If you’re scared, you can quit. I’ll just take all the rewards…”
“Who said I wouldn’t go? I’m going! I will!”
Even the constantly nagging Alicia follows me with firm, heavy steps.
I can’t blame Alicia for feeling this way.
She must want to go in fully prepared.
But through clearing hundreds and thousands of dungeons, I’ve learned there’s no such thing as ‘perfection’ in dungeon preparation.
As long as we challenge an unknown dungeon, there will always be something lacking in our preparations.
In fact, it seems Kali was hiding out this time as well.
If we hesitate here, we’re just giving her more time to prepare.
Striking while the ambush effect is still active is the right move.
Besides, thinking of the promise made with the elven boy, the more time that passes, the more guilt tightens around my neck.
“Dear Heavenly Michael Jackson…”
The moment I step outside the training ground, my legs go stiff.
The elders and Mia have lined up here.
Mia still looks dirty, unable to wash since the incident.
“Thank you sincerely for saving the Priestess. I understand it’s etiquette to repay favors but… The situation is urgent, so I shamelessly ask for another favor. It seems our World Tree is being controlled by some unknown enemy. Please, rid the dungeon that has taken root in the World Tree’s roots.”
The elders kneel in unison, begging me.
So it has come to this.
Approaching the dusty Mia, she grabs my hand anxiously.
“Please come back alive.”
“Is that also a request? I feel like the commission fee will rise if that’s the case.”
“Stop joking around…”
“I got it. Of course, I’ll come back alive. I wouldn’t want to waste the chance to hear the Priestess’s prophecy forever.”
Oops!
I gently pull her hand, drawing her closer.
Then I whisper softly in her ear.
“You only know this. My real name is Yoo Jin.”
…!
I can’t help but chuckle every time I’m called by that pseudonym.
Feeling relieved, I let go of Mia and turn away.
Let’s go. I’m off to deal with the bastard who tried to bury me alive.
