Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 18

Episode 18:

First Arrangement

He had a dignified look and his snow-white hair was neatly shaved and slicked back.

The clothes he was wearing were also close to formal attire, making him reminiscent of a calm and noble gentleman, like a high-ranking official or professor, rather than a wizard.

but.

Elric did not miss the prayer that was implicitly coming from him.

‘big.’

It seems as if all things in nature revolve around him.

Or, more accurately, should I say that it seems as if it has assimilated into nature and is toying with everything as it pleases.

The wind gently enveloped him and the blades of grass seemed to beckon him to welcome him. Sun, clouds, humidity, everything was touching him.

Despite the fact that this is clearly an image world composed of some magical device.

All the sensations and perceptions were as vivid as reality.

Perhaps all of this is a harmony created by the elderly gentleman in front of us.

“You…”

“Otto Han Mervinger. auto. “Why do you want to call me that?”

“…!”

Elric opened his eyes wide.

“Hehe. “Looking at you, it seems like you know me.”

Elric nodded quietly as if he were possessed by something.

Otto Hahn Mervinger.

I could never not know that name.

If you were to pick five of the past heads of the family who led the family over its long history, he would definitely be one of them.

In particular, his greatest feat was organizing the family’s magic and establishing a system.

The horizon of the unconscious that Elric constructed also owed much to Otto Hahn.

‘Then I understand why there were so many books in the safe house.’

Since such a large amount of information was organized, such a feat would be possible.

At that time, Mephisto’s words suddenly passed through Elric’s mind.

“Are you by any chance the ‘Winter Sage’?”

For the first time, a subtle reaction formed in the gaze of Otto Hahn, who was leisurely looking at Elric.

“hmm? Where did you hear that nickname? “I guess there are very few descendants who know about it?”

“Mephisto said so.”

“Mephisto…? Are you really talking about Mephistopheles, the demon lord of original sin?”

“yes. That’s right.”

“How do you know him? He must have been sealed by Shainark… No way? Puha! ha ha ha!”

Otto Han stopped speaking and suddenly burst into laughter.

“Is it true that the distant descendant you swallowed was Mephistopheles?”

“That’s right.”

Elric nodded with a bewildered expression, and Otto Han’s laughter grew louder.

“No matter how well-planned it was, I thought it would be a huge success if the first demon I swallowed was an officer-level demon. The devil of original sin. Phew. “Then I guess it came with the Dragon King’s as well?”

“yes.”

“It was truly a stroke of luck.”

“…?”

“If Mephistopheles had had even a little bit of strength, the arrangement would have gone completely wrong.”

Elric’s expression changed strangely.

“But in the end, it worked out well. On the contrary, we should be happy because we have eliminated a risk factor that could have caused the world to crash again someday. I guess I’ll have to adjust the difficulty of the arrangement a bit higher than what I had set in advance! ha ha ha!”

Elric suddenly came to his senses.

Arrangement.

A word you can’t tell how many times you’ve heard it already.

“I am a guide assigned to guide and test the distant descendants who will one day appear.”

Someone like Otto Hahn is just a guide?

Elric opened his mouth to ask something, but Otto Hahn reached out and covered his mouth.

“You probably have a lot of questions besides this. I understand. You might be shocked and excited, but also a little annoyed. “If you have prepared something, you might want to know why you made such a complicated design instead of just leaving it in the family.”

“…yes.”

“But I want to tell you first that we also had our own circumstances.”

Otto Hahn’s voice had such a deep resonance that Elric could not ask any questions about it.

“What we have prepared is like a huge cartwheel. Once it starts rolling, it can never stop. So I couldn’t give it away to just anyone. “No matter how much time it took, we had to thoroughly filter people again and again.”

Does the ‘we’ that Otto Hahn refers to simply refer to the family?

Or is there something else?

“Anyway, you passed our test and came this far. In fact, from here on, it is only your choice. “Whether to stop the wheel or keep it rolling.”

Otto Han stared at Elric with eyes as deep as the abyss.

Eyes that ask a question.

Elric knew nothing about the family’s arrangements.

Perhaps, if I pursued it like this, I could have mortgaged my entire life for it.

So, I’m trying to give you one last chance to escape.

but.

“I want to roll.”

Elric didn’t worry about anything.

To rebuild the family and carry on the will of my grandfather, who was a great hero, and my ancestors.

In this way, he left his name known throughout this land as a wizard greater than his progenitor.

That was the dream and ambition Elric had had for a very long time.

“good night. “You have to have that much guts to be called our descendants.”

Otto Hahn nodded deeply in satisfaction and stood up.

In that moment, the world that revolved around him changed once again.

Clearly, the hill where a cool breeze had been blowing just a moment ago had become a snowy field with a cold wind blowing.

The wind was so strong that it was difficult to even stand properly.

It’s so cold that it hurts my skin.

A snowstorm that makes it difficult to open your eyes.

A snow cover that sinks your feet deep like a swamp.

In addition, the surrounding area was full of icebergs, and the land below was covered with flowing glaciers, making it an environment in which it would be difficult for people to survive.

Elric quickly activated the warming spell and looked up at Otto Han.

Even though he was still wearing his thin robes, he didn’t seem particularly cold.

“Where am I?”

“It is a testing ground for obtaining the first arrangement.”

“…!”

Elric opened his eyes wide.

Are you going to take the test in this ridiculous place?

Moment.

Exciting!

Elric felt his heart pounding loudly.

The fact that he might become much stronger than now made his heart pound.

“You’re smiling. This is a very good attitude for a test taker. Then look over there.”

Otto Han was very pleased with Elric’s attitude and pointed to one side with his finger.

Elric turned his gaze towards him.

It was a place with the fiercest snowstorms in the surrounding snow fields.

But I couldn’t figure out what he wanted to see.

“Would you like to look further and deeper?”

Elric opened his mind’s eye wide and filled his eyes with magical power.

Then, as the focus went into the distance, I caught something that was hidden in the pure white world.

The edge of the snowy field.

Surrounded by shadows, something unrecognizable was standing there, glaring in this direction.

But the moment your gaze meets its eyes through the shadows.

“…sigh!”

Elric took a breather without realizing it and took a step back.

My spine stood on end.

Unlike before, this time my heart was pounding violently in a different way.

I felt like I saw something I should never have seen.

It was fear.

“What… is that?”

Elric asked, forcing his voice to tremble naturally.

Otto Hahn answered very simply, as if it was no big deal.

“Snow Mountain King.”

“…?”

“He is the first and last king to unite the Yeti tribes, take control of the plateau in one hand, and move forward to rule over the Giant Dragon Mountains.”

“…!”

“And he is also an ambitious person who strives to return the Yeti, who originated from demons but were expelled for being low-class, back to being members of the demon race.”

Elric remembered what Mephisto said.

It is said that fate did not favor him and he fell out of the devil’s grace.

“But now, he is just a devil who has been completely devoured by such ambition, and has fallen from corruption to corruption and finally perishes.”

I also said that there would be a tomb somewhere in Yeti Plateau.

I guess.

“and.”

It appears that this was the tomb.

“You are the first demon you must swallow after the demon king of original sin.”

* * *

eat.

Swallow.

Drink.

Elric looked at the words forced from the booklet as they came out of Otto Han’s mouth, asking what they were.

“Are you telling me to break that thing?”

“no. “You have to swallow it.”

“What is that…?”

“Didn’t I explain it to you? “We prepared this arrangement to devour the demon.”

Elric rolled up his right sleeve as something occurred to him.

A wolf emblem drawn on the back of the hand.

“It is the seal of original sin. It is the symbol of Mephistopheles. “It is also one of the most outstanding among the demons.”

“Do you know this?”

“How much do you know about demons?”

Elric shook his head.

“Not that much.”

“Isn’t it the same in that era, where people just think about exterminating every species they see and don’t think about analyzing it?”

Elric nodded this time.

Eat.

Otto Hahn laughed as if he knew that would happen.

For some reason, it seemed closer to ridicule.

“Well, it’s worth it. Research on demons is completely prohibited. “It’s obvious what those guys at Yukmangseong are doing.”

Six-pointed star.

The six great schools that lead the Magic Tower.

“Do you know why the main family has been praised for a long time as a magic clan and all, but it has kept its distance from the Six Towers of the Magic Tower?”

“…Is it perhaps because of the demons?”

“right. “The attitude toward eradicating demons is the same, but the methods of pursuing it are different.”

Otto Hahn continued speaking in a solemn tone.

“Demons originally originate from the primal and dark emotions emitted by various intelligent beings and creatures, including humans. Fear, depression, resentment… those things come together and form ‘bad thoughts’ and form an ego.”

Thought. A lump of strange and strange thoughts.

Elric heard both facts he already knew and knowledge he did not know.

“So each demon has its own unique thoughts. From the low-level to the big conceptual parts like original sin. Thoughts are their nature, rank, and symbol. The ‘seal’ can be said to be the heart where such thoughts are stored. The root of demons. In other words, it is the root.”

“ah.”

Elric gently stroked the wolf emblem that Otto Hahn called the ‘Seal of Original Sin’ with his hand.

In that case, this could also be said to be Mephisto himself.

“From now on, you will hunt down the demons and steal their seal, which is their root. The abilities in the seal that were accumulated one by one… “All the talents of the demons will be yours!”

“…!”

“Now you know what it means to swallow the Snow Mountain King, right?”

“…yes. “A little bit.”

Only then did Elric realize how great the arrangement made by his family’s ancestors was.

Extorting the power of demons!

Is there any other way to grow more reliably than this?

Depending on the demon race, there are also beings that create abnormal phenomena that can only be described as miracles.

Of course, I couldn’t help but look forward to it.

On the other hand, I could understand why the demons feared and hated the family so much.

‘Furthermore, if you can become stronger by absorbing seals, the dissolution rate and capacity of magic stones will also increase accordingly…?’

Now it was finally clear how to digest the magic stone.

However, there was a problem.

How on earth can one swallow a snow mountain king so strong that it makes one’s body tremble just by looking at it?

No matter how much their status has fallen compared to their prime, it seems like they have to be at the level of a mage to even be able to compare.

Elric looked at Otto Han with a look on his face, asking for a hint.

Otto Hahn just smiled quietly, saying he could do this on his own.

Wizard who swallowed talent