Chapter 2

Surviving in the Murim as a Mage - Chapter 2

Tvalier opened his eyes as he felt his consciousness settle into a physical form. He blinked instinctively.

‘Huh? I am tied up?’

He was in a dark, spacious room. Judging by the way the sound echoed slightly, the ceiling seemed quite high. At the same time, Tvalier realized that his limbs were tightly bound with thick ropes. The binding was so tight he could not move at all.

Keeping his eyes closed, Tvalier focused on his senses of hearing and smell, desperately trying to assess the situation.

‘Ugh!’

A pain like his skull was splitting open throbbed in his head. Simultaneously, fragmented memories began to seep into his mind. Memories of being dragged away and beaten while begging on the street in the middle of winter. The memory of being beaten nearly to death for stealing a single dumpling. Memories of being kicked by groups of beggar boys in dark alleys.

The scattered memories that surfaced were all about being beaten or running away.

‘Whew, it seems I have possessed the body of someone from the lower class.’

The body he occupied was roughly ten years old. He was an orphan, and his last memory was of begging on the streets. Fortunately, through the boy's memories, he was able to acquire the basic language of this world.

The only thing Tvalier had truly wanted when he decided to cross dimensions was a young body. He had not dared to input complex conditions such as social status or physical conditions.

‘The more conditions there are, the higher the probability of failure.’

An orphan from a beggar background? That was fine. The fact that his limbs were intact was enough to consider it a success.

‘Of course, that is only for the moment.’

Looking at his current state of being bound, it seemed he was about to suffer something unpleasant, but even this was acceptable. As long as his mind remained intact, he could overcome any situation.

Tvalier began to wiggle his fingers—the only part of his body he could move—and focused on expanding his senses to survey the situation outside. Then, he heard a faint conversation from a distance.

"So, what is the status of the sacrifices?"

"I have suppressed their pressure points to keep them unconscious, Senior. There are no major health issues."

"Good. The Great Ritual is nearing completion, so you must take extra care of the sacrifices."

"Of course."

Tvalier’s eyebrows furrowed instinctively at the conversation between the two men outside the door.

‘Sacrifices? Great Ritual?’

The words did not sound pleasant at all. This was not the level of losing an arm or a leg. Usually, when people spoke of sacrifices, it meant offering up the entire body, and if one was unlucky, even the soul could be forfeit.

‘I have to get out of here right now.’

Indeed, in the room where Tvalier was trapped, there were dozens of other children around his age. They were all breathing but lay with their eyes closed as if they were dead. If all of them were intended to be sacrifices, the scale of this operation was truly significant.

‘Are they planning to make a contract with some Demon King?’

He listened again to gather more information, but the men seemed to have moved on. Their voices became too quiet for him to discern any more details. For now, the best he could do was guess that the mysterious organization that kidnapped him was larger than expected.

Tvalier focused on what he could do immediately. He wiggled his fingers more intensely, trying to find a gap in the ropes.

SNAP—

Fortunately, the body he possessed was only ten years old. His bones and joints were very flexible, making it easy to slip out of the bindings if there was even a tiny bit of space. While this required a certain level of skill, Tvalier was quite experienced in such matters.

‘Phew, for now, I need to escape this place.’

Screee—

As he unraveled the ropes and loosened his reddened wrists and ankles, Tvalier’s eyes darkened.

‘The problem is that I do not know the layout of this building.’

Before he possessed this body, the boy had been kidnapped while unconscious, so he had no idea what the structure of this place was. Even if he managed to escape this room, he could end up wandering around and being captured again in the worst-case scenario.

‘No. I cannot let that happen!’

He had to think of a way. Tvalier considered waking the sleeping children but shook his head.

‘If things get noisy, it might lead to a worse situation.’

The other children might be sacrificed, but protecting his own life was the priority. Tvalier carefully stood up and felt along the walls in the dark, relying on the faint light leaking in from the hallway to understand the room's structure.

From what he could see in the dim light, he made a final assessment.

‘The room is roughly twenty jang (60 meters) in length and width.’

The room was a cube with equal length and width. The walls and floor were smooth, as if they had been polished with care, and the room was completely sealed without a single window.

‘In the end, the only way out is through the front door.’

He could not check the height of the ceiling since he could not reach it. Regardless, the only exit was the door in front of him.

‘Should I hide behind the door for now?’

If he stayed in the blind spot where the door opened, he might go unnoticed. Tvalier racked his brain for a way to escape this situation, but no brilliant, revolutionary idea came to mind.

‘It is so difficult being unable to use magic.’

If he had his original power, he could have broken through a crisis of this level with a laugh. But now, he was just a powerless child. He could not feel even a handful of refined mana within his body. Given more time, things might change, but for now, he had to use his wits to survive.

While he was deep in thought, a change occurred in his situation.

‘Hmm?’

He heard the sound of several people running quickly down the hallway outside. At the same time, the ground vibrated, and the sound of people screaming reached his ears.

"It is an attack by the Thousand Blood Sect! Brothers, retreat immediately!"

"Juniors, this way!"

"It is an emergency! Take as many resources as you can!"

"What are you doing! Dispose of everything that gets in the way of our movement right now!"

A cacophony of voices and chaotic sounds erupted outside the door. The intensity of the situation outside was transmitted through the noise and vibrations alone. Tvalier instinctively clenched his fists.

‘This is an opportunity.’

He was certain. This chaos was his last chance. He held his breath and waited near the door, watching for an opening.

"W-what should we do about the sacrifices, Senior Jang! We put so much effort into preparing them!"

"You idiot. Do you have time to worry about such things right now? Throw that oil jar and set the place on fire! We cannot let those Thousand Blood Sect bastards take the sacrifices!"

"U-understood."

Among the men whose voices he had heard earlier, he recognized the voice of the clumsy one. Tvalier instinctively swallowed hard and waited.

‘Here he comes.’

Along with the sound of someone struggling to carry something heavy, the thick wood of the sliding door creaked and began to move sideways.

Then, a middle-aged man wearing grey clothes made of a strange material stepped inside.

"Whew, do not resent me too much... I hope you all find peace in the afterlife."

The middle-aged man, carrying a large jar of oil, brought it to the center of the room and prepared to scatter it.

At that moment, the small boy who had been crouching in the darkness—Tvalier—watched the man’s movements from beside the door and moved like a ghost.

Step—

"Huh?"

The man felt something climb onto his back. It felt like a toddler getting a piggyback ride. As he tried to turn around in confusion, an indescribable pain suddenly surged from his eyes.

SQUELCH!

"Argh! Aaaargh!"

Tvalier had used both hands to gouge out the man's eyes. As the man's screams erupted, Tvalier remained on his back, quickly grabbing the collar of the man’s flowing robe and pulling it tight. He exerted all his strength to crush the man's throat.

"Guh! Ack!"

The middle-aged man flailed his limbs desperately while bleeding from his eyes. Tvalier leaned back to apply more pressure but soon frowned.

‘Damn it, I lack strength.’

Tvalier quickly scanned the surroundings. He spotted a scabbard at the man’s waist. He jumped off the man like a flying squirrel and, without hesitation, drew the sword from its scabbard as the man collapsed to the floor gasping for air. He swung the blade.

SLASH!

Gurgle—

It took only a few dozen seconds for a man to die. Tvalier, remaining remarkably calm after killing the man, quickly checked the grey robe he was wearing. Except for the leather on the hood, the material seemed to be mostly wool.

‘It has some blood on it, but it cannot be helped.’

Thinking about what would happen after he escaped this place, he knew he could not expect good treatment if he were wearing his current rags. Even though it was stained with blood, he stripped the robe from the middle-aged man and began to tear it with a dagger.

Clothing was more important than one might think, regardless of where or in what world one was. Since Tvalier knew this instinctively, he quickly used the sword to cut parts of the fabric or tied it with string to fit his small body. Having a small frame was an advantage in this case.

During the process, something fell.

Clatter—

‘Hmm? What is this?’

A long, rectangular piece of wood of unknown origin fell from the sleeve of the man’s robe. Surprisingly, he felt a faint scent of mana from the wooden block. Curious, he reached out to touch it.

At that moment, he felt a very weak amount of mana leave his body. Tvalier’s eyes widened.

"Could it be an artifact?"

Tvalier spoke in surprise as he touched the wooden block. He realized that strange patterns of unknown origin were drawn on its surface. Judging by its shape and the power contained within, it seemed to be the runic language of this world.

‘This is insane!’

Tvalier’s face flushed slightly at this unexpected and incredible gain. Although he had not yet confirmed what kind of artifact it was, he hurriedly tucked it away, smiling for the first time since arriving here.

"The start is quite good."

He wiped the blood from his face, straightened his clothes, and focused his senses on the situation outside the door.

THUD! BOOM!

Come to think of it, the noise coming from a distance had grown quite loud. He could now feel clear vibrations through the air and walls. To be precise, all sorts of noises were coming from the right hallway.

"Aaargh! Thousand Blood Sect! Do you think you will be safe after this? The elders of our sect will avenge this!"

"Pfft, you trash from the Mansi Sect only have your mouths left. Just die and become materials for spirit pills."

"You think I will die quietly!"

"Brothers! We must hold this alleyway no matter what!"

WHOOSH!

CRACKLE!

Everywhere he looked, balls of fire and bolts of lightning decorated the ceiling. Tvalier, who was peeking out from the door, widened his eyes.

‘Is that magic?’

It was strange. Based on his observations from the lower dimension, he had expected there would be no magic in this world. But was that not clearly elemental magic?

At a glance, the mana arrangement seemed a bit disorganized, and the manifested magic looked rough. However, regardless of the quality, it was still magic.

‘No. That is not what is important right now.’

Although he had confirmed that mysteries similar to magic existed in this world, his top priority was escaping this place. Tvalier’s eyes sparkled once again.