Chapter 212

Chapter 212

“Looks like today’s going to be another scorching day.”

Eloy grumbled as she crawled out of the shelter.

It was still early morning, but the sunlight was already beating down fiercely.

Just being exposed to it made her feel as if her skin were burning.

Because she was an Awakened, it only felt hot to her. If she had been an ordinary person, she would not have lasted an hour before drying up and dying.

“You’re right! It’s even hotter today.”

“Wow!”

Briel and Levin, who came out after her, also frowned deeply at the unusually scorching sunlight.

Zeon was the last to come out of the shelter and looked up at the sky.

The blazing sun made him frown on its own.

He pulled up the hood attached to his robe and said,

“Everyone, be careful not to suffer from heatstroke.”

“Don’t worry. I have this. Hehe!”

Briel laughed as she patted the robe made from Sand Angler hide. Levin and Eloy looked at her with envious expressions.

When Zeon waved his hand, the shelter they had stayed in last night collapsed and turned into flat ground.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes, sir!”

Levin immediately transformed into a ghost and followed behind Zeon.

‘I have to get stronger.’

After following Zeon around, he understood one thing clearly.

In the desert, being kind and righteous did not matter at all.

What truly mattered was strength.

Only those who possessed enough strength to survive harsh environments and the attacks of giant monsters had the right to speak of justice.

Just like Zeon.

Levin still did not know what Zeon’s justice was. But whatever his justice might be, there were almost no beings in this desert who could refute it.

Then Zeon’s will was justice.

Levin wanted to become someone like Zeon.

Someone who could claim his own justice through strength.

That was why he transformed into a ghost voluntarily, even though no one had ordered him to.

Ghost Transformation was a Skill that consumed an enormous amount of mana.

While he maintained it, mana drained endlessly.

With Levin’s current ability, he could not maintain it for even an hour.

Once an hour passed, Ghost Transformation would release, and he would fall into a state of exhaustion.

He would be so drained that even moving a finger would be difficult.

THUD!

As Ghost Transformation released, Levin fell.

“Krrgh!”

“Phew! What a burden.”

Eloy clicked her tongue and loaded Levin onto a Bactrian Camel. Then this time, she walked over the sand.

Levin, lying across the Bactrian Camel’s back like baggage, looked at Briel, whose eyes were full of curiosity.

Seeing her eyes, Levin felt a sense of danger.

“Why?”

“Want to drink this?”

Briel took out a transparent bottle from her sleeve and shook it in front of Levin’s eyes.

“Wh-what is that?”

His voice trembled on its own.

Briel answered calmly.

“Something good for the body.”

“Are you sure it’s really good?”

“Just trust me. I made it as a test with the materials I got from Steel Fortress.”

“A test? Then I’m the first one drinking it?”

“Mm! Don’t worry. You trust me, right?”

“O-of course I trust you.”

“Then let’s drink.”

Briel smiled and poured the liquid in the bottle into Levin’s mouth.

Levin, drained of strength, could not resist and ended up drinking every last drop of the liquid.

The moment he drank it all, a burning pain surged up from his lower abdomen.

“Kuhk!”

Levin’s eyes flew wide open at the sudden pain.

Briel peered into Levin’s face and said,

“It’ll hurt a little at first.”

‘Insane! You call this a little?’

With only slight exaggeration, the pain felt as if his organs were being torn to shreds.

The pain was so extreme that he could not even scream.

Seeing Levin trembling on top of the Bactrian Camel, Eloy frowned and asked,

“What the hell did you feed him, little one? You’re not trying to assassinate Levin with poison just because you don’t like him, are you?”

“Who said I’m assassinating anyone?”

“Then what did you feed him?”

“A mana amplifier!”

“What?”

“Are your ears blocked? I said it’s a potion that amplifies mana.”

“Fuck! There’s no way something like that is possible. Since when does anything amplify mana?”

“This is why halves don’t work. You keep trying to think only with human values.”

“Then are pure, no, High Elves different?”

“Of course they’re different.”

Briel looked straight at Eloy.

Although she had been captured by humans and forced to make drugs endlessly, Briel’s mind was filled with High Elf secret arts.

The greatest mission of a High Elf was the inheritance of tradition.

To preserve countless secret arts and techniques accumulated since Kurayan and pass them on intact to future generations.

Old High Elves taught young High Elves everything they remembered and made them memorize it.

Briel had gone through that process too.

Although she had been captured by humans before completing the full transmission process.

Even so, she remembered a considerable portion of the High Elves’ secret arts.

Among them was a secret method to amplify mana.

The problem was that the materials only came from Kurayan.

The ecosystems of Earth and Kurayan were vastly different, and so the materials differed as well.

Because of that, Briel had searched for Earth materials with effects similar to Kurayan’s and tested them.

Then, inside Steel Fortress’s storeroom, she had found items similar to the ingredients for Kurayan’s Mana Amplification Potion.

She had tasted each of those materials one by one, tested them on her own body, and found their exact effects and dosages. The thing she had made with such difficulty was the Mana Amplification Potion Levin had just taken.

She had told Levin that she had made it as a test, but in truth, it was something Briel had made by pouring everything she had into it.

‘If it really amplifies mana, making a Mana Recovery Potion won’t be hard at all.’

Mana Amplification Potions could not be released carelessly into the market. They were too dangerous. But Mana Recovery Potions were different.

If handled well, they were items that could even dominate Neo Seoul’s potion market.

Countless people had researched them, but Neo Seoul had yet to produce a proper mana potion.

If Briel released Mana Recovery Potions into the market, the activity range of Awakened, dungeon clearing, and the frequency of monster hunts would increase dramatically.

If that happened, Zeon’s influence in Neo Seoul would grow greatly. Zeon lived in the slums because he did not want to be entangled in troublesome matters, but now that he had revealed his ability, countless people would want him.

To become free from such people, he needed power.

Not power as a Sandmancer, but authority within Neo Seoul.

Briel believed mana potions would become that power.

For now, the Mana Amplification Potion came first.

Her excellent test subject was trembling in pain.

“Kuhk!”

At that instant, Levin screamed and lifted his head. His eyes were full of blood vessels.

Eloy looked at Levin with worried eyes.

“Isn’t this going to go wrong?”

“Never......”

Briel answered firmly.

This was a potion she was giving to Levin, who could be called one of the closest people to her.

If it had even the slightest side effect, she never would have made him drink it.

The pain he felt now was merely part of the process leading to success.

Then Levin’s expression suddenly changed.

Color returned to his face, and a smile appeared on his lips.

A moment ago, it had felt as though his body would explode. But once the time of fierce pain passed, his body grew comfortable as if nothing had happened, and vitality flowed through him.

That was not the only change.

‘My total mana increased. By about thirty percent.’

Thirty percent might not sound like much, but it meant his total amount had increased by nearly one-third.

It was common knowledge that the total amount of mana did not increase unless one’s grade rose.

In the world of Awakened, having one’s total mana increase without a rise in grade was something impossible.

Yet that impossible thing had now become reality.

The first beneficiary was Levin.

To increase his total mana, he had to endure hellish pain, but he could handle that much as often as needed.

Levin opened his eyes and smiled brightly.

“This is really good. My mana increased by about thirty percent.”

“Right? I knew it would.”

“Can I drink one more?”

“Sorry, but it only works once. Even if you take it again, it’ll be hard to see such dramatic effects.”

“Really? That’s a shame.”

Levin smacked his lips.

He had guessed as much, so he was not especially disappointed.

If a potion this groundbreaking increased total mana every time one drank it, Awakened would grow stronger without end.

Briel added an explanation.

“Consider yourself lucky. Getting the same materials will take quite a lot of time and effort.”

“That means?”

“It means I don’t know when I’ll be able to make another proper Mana Amplification Potion. It’ll probably take a long time to make the same thing.”

“I see.”

“So enjoy this moment, you idiot!”

“Mm!”

Even after being called an idiot, Levin did not look offended at all. Instead, his body itched because he wanted to use his ability as quickly as possible.

Levin jumped lightly off the Bactrian Camel and transformed into a ghost.

Even after transforming into a ghost, it did not feel very burdensome.

It was thanks to his greatly increased mana.

“Nice!”

Levin threw an uppercut into the air in delight.

Seeing that, Briel smiled as well.

‘Good. Since the Mana Amplification Potion succeeded, I can definitely make an ordinary mana potion.’

The confidence success gave her made her happy.

At that moment, Eloy carefully asked Briel,

“You don’t happen to have one more bottle left, do you?”

“Do you think I would?”

“Damn it! I should’ve drunk it.”

“Who said I would’ve given it to you, idiot?”

“You really are an impossible little brat. Tch!”

Since Eloy was the one in need, she could not say anything harsher.

She looked enviously at Levin, who had transformed into a ghost.

“Tsk!”

---

“Damn sand-laden wind. Can’t it stop already?”

“Whew! Stop grumbling already. We’re already exhausted enough.”

There were people traveling across the desert in buggies.

Rattle! Rattle!

Four buggies pushed through the sand unsteadily, as if they might stop at any moment.

In the lead buggy sat a middle-aged man with a claymore at his waist, a woman with striking blue hair, a cold-looking man, and a man with a body as huge as a mountain.

The owner of the claymore was Jang Yong-beom.

This was the party led by Jang Yong-beom.

Its members, named Giselle, Aiden, and Mountain, were powerful Awakened well-known even in Neo Seoul.

In the buggies following behind Jang Yong-beom’s party were other parties composed of Awakened.

They were all parties who had received the same commission from Neo Seoul.

Recently, several Pathfinder teams dispatched west of Neo Seoul had failed to return.

Pathfinder teams entrusted with frontier development missions were made up of Awakened capable of overcoming most crises without batting an eye.

The fact that several such Pathfinder teams had failed to return was a serious problem.

Because of that, Neo Seoul commissioned several parties to determine the truth.

At first, Jang Yong-beom had intended to refuse the commission.

That was because he smelled danger.

But this time, he could not refuse.

Neo Seoul had half-forcibly assigned it to him.

“Everyone, be careful. Something’s unusual about this commission.”

“Would it really be as bad as the commission to hunt Deioden? Well, that ended in failure anyway.”

Aiden answered with a faint smile.

Giselle looked out the window and said,

“Could something as dangerous as that man really exist in this desert? Captain, you worry too much.”

“Who knows? The desert is vast. There may be another being just as dangerous and terrifying as him.”

“Come on! There’s no way another human like that exists......”

Just as Giselle denied Jang Yong-beom’s words, it happened.

CRASH—!

Suddenly, an explosion burst from the buggy following at the rear.

“Fuck! What is it?”

“Check it!”

Jang Yong-beom’s party stopped their buggy and turned around.

Then they saw a large spear embedded in the buggy at the rear.

Someone had thrown a spear and attacked the buggy.

“Damn it! John’s dead.”

The Awakened jumped out of the attacked buggy and shouted.

It was then.

Pig-like creatures suddenly appeared one after another from the sand dune.

It was an Orc scouting party.

Jang Yong-beom glared at the Orcs and muttered,

“Are those bastards the ones who wiped out the Pathfinder teams?”