Chapter 93

Chapter 93 – Forest of Eternity (1)

In truth, Artpe didn’t really like riding horses.  In his past life, he had led a life that was embarrassingly devoid of much physical activities.  Moreover, he hadn’t developed any amicable relationships with other creatures in his past life.

“Heeeeeeeng!”

“Stop lick me!  Stop licking me!”

This was why his current predicament was all the more unfamiliar.  Since they had to travel at top speed with the knights, he had no choice but to accept the war horses prepared for his party by Daitan.  For some reason, the horses were very complaisant in Artpe’s presence.

“They really are all over you, Artpe……  ….are they females?”

“I checked.  The horses are male.  Moreover, you of all people shouldn’t be saying that.”

These were horses trained by the throne.  They were trained to accept and follow orders from all riders, yet they shouldn’t be this obedient.  The horses were almost gleeful in following Maetel and Artpe.  It was only happening to them.   At some point, Artpe realized he had been instinctively using one of the hero’s abilities.

‘······still, I hope they don’t discover that I am a hero because of this.’

In truth, he had become strong enough, so he didn’t need to hide the fact that he was a hero.  However, he was leery of openly carrying out the work of a hero when one considered that the Demon King’s army was on the move.

‘Oh well.  If I carry out the work of a hero, there will come a time when I’ll clash directly against the Demon King’s army.  It might not matter even if I reveal myself.  Everything is turning out differently from my past life.  If I take that into account, the Four Heavenly Kings should be mobilizing by now.  Ah.  Still, I would like to delay going to the Demon world until I resolve everything on this side.  I doubt things will go as smoothly as I want……’

“Magician.  If you don’t know how to ride a horse, would you like to ride behind me?”

Artpe had been going through his thoughts while he was being licked by his horse.  The king of Daitan tried to get ahold of Artpe.  Artpe had been waiting for the offer, so his face brightened as he was about to take up on the offer.  However, Maetel let out an unabashed laughter as she grabbed Artpe’s arm.

“You can ride behind me, Artpe.”

“You’ve also never ridden a horse.”

“I think I can ride it.”

It was true!  She had never learned how to ride a horse.  However, she handled the horse as well as the knights after forcing Artpe to sit behind her.  Sienna also was doing well on a horse, and this caused Artpe to feel aggrieved.

“I’m sure I can ride a horse by myself.”

“Not a chance.”

However, his pride as a man crumbled under the hero’s personal desire.  There was no way Maetel was going to let Artpe go.

“I’m fine if we stay this way forever!”

“I’m sorry, but centaurs are not my cup of tea.”

Artpe gave a cold reply as he let out a sigh.  Sienna was riding along right next to them on her horse.  On the other side, the king rode his horse.  The knights surrounded them like an honor guard.

“This is a great formation if we want to be killed by a bombardment from the magicians.”

“In truth, we’ve used this method throughout the war.  We thought we could overrun our enemies by attacking in a bunched formation…….”

“Did you really think you could just mow down magicians through strength?  It is such a knuckleheaded approach.  I can see why you’ve been tricked by the Duke of Tiata for so long.”

“······you are my ally, but you really are impudent.”

Daitan was surprisingly inadequate in their ability to deal with magicians.  It seemed they had relied on Tiata to take care of the magicians.  They had chosen the worst possible option.

“We are traveling at such a slow speed.  Are you sure we’ll be able to be within Aedia in a week?”

“These are all war horses that are above level 80.  You don’t have to worry too much about it.”

“So there are no problems with the horses.”

That left the gears.  Artpe thought over it for a brief moment.  He nodded his head as he spread both his hands.  The magical energy sleeping within his body boiled out of him, and it spread into the surrounding.

“Hoo-ooh······ Go.”

“Artpe?”

Maetel tilted her head when she sensed him activate his Mana.  In the next moment, Artpe’s magical energy surrounded the war horses, who were fiercely galloping down the road.  To be precise, his magical energy surrounded the saddles and horseshoes.  When the king and the knights realized that Artpe had activated his Mana, they flinched as they turned their heads to look at Artpe.

“What magic did you just use?”

“It wasn’t magic.  It’s a skill.  You’ll find out soon.”

Artpe had activated a skill called Reinforcement.  It wasn’t the permanent Reinforcement he had used up until now.  It was a Reinforcement that temporarily boosted the performance of objects.  Artpe’s Reinforcement skill could do everything.  It was a multifaceted skill!

The temporary Reinforcement used far less Mana compared to the permanent Reinforcement, and unlike the permanent Reinforcement, the temporary Reinforcement was great for casting simultaneously.  It also left no traces behind after expiring.  It allowed one to use it indiscriminately and without much thought.  That was its advantage.  It was perfect for this situation.

‘Let’s see….·.’

He reinforced the horseshoes.  It caused the horse to be less tired, and it affected the leg muscles. It allowed the horse to run faster and longer.  Then he Reinforced the saddle. It replenished the vitality of the person sitting on the saddle.

The saddle and the horseshoe had a symbolic meaning and Record.  He used his power as a mage to make these items into what they were in the present reality  Artpe Reinforced the gears equipped  by several dozen horses, and he was successful in creating temporary Artifacts.

“The horses have become noticeably faster!  How is this possible?”

“My god.  I’m sitting on a horse running at full tilt, yet it is so comfortable!  It is as if I’m sitting on top of a bed!”

Soon, everyone spoke out in admiration.  Artpe’s triumphant expression made him look slightly douchey, but it was true that he had increased the party’s speed by 20% with a wave of his hand.  Moreover, he had alleviated the discomforts caused by the travel.  The king looked at Artpe with new eyes.

“Do all magicians possess such a variety of abilities?”

“No, I’m the only one.”

“Oh oh.  You really are a douche.”

“You’ll regret those words soon.”

Artpe snorted as he spread both hands.  When the king saw this sight, he yelled out in surprise.

“Are you going to use it one more time!?”

“Nope.”

About half of Artpe’s Mana had exited his body, and it was tossing around his body.  It was an overwhelming amount of Mana considering it was an amount possessed by a single individual.  The Mana was refined for the use of the Reinforcement skill, and it surrounded the party once again.  Once.  Twice.

“M…my god······!”

The king’s face crumbled from the shock he felt.  A deep smile formed on Artpe’s lips.

“I didn’t use it once.  I used it twice.”

“You really are a douchey······!”

Even if Artpe possessed massive amount of Mana, he had simultaneously Reinforced the saddles and horseshoes of couple dozen horses.  He had done it three times, so he had used 80% of his Mana.  He panted as he leaned against Maetel’s back.  He asked her a question.

“What do you think.”

“I like the feel of you leaning against me from exhaustion, but I’d rather want you to hug me in a loving way.”

“No, I’m not talking about me.  I’m talking about the speed, you dork.”

“Mmm.  I think we are moving about three times faster.”

Even if it was only a temporary Reinforcement, he had casted it three times in a row.  A flow of Mana that had caused rapid changes had swept through, and there was no way such a change would be temporary.

The saddles and horseshoes on the war horses shone with a red metallic sheen.  Their gears had turned into a low rank Artifact.   Even when the duration time of the Reinforcement came to an end, the effect on a single Reinforcement would be left behind permanently.

“A magician is capable of calmly doing things that are unimaginable to us.”

“It really is a bloodcurdling amount of power.  It makes me want to idolize him.”

“There was a time when I wanted to become a magician in my youth……”

The king and his knights sang Artpe’s praises as they cut through the winds.  The men of the north went nuts over being able to travel at such high speeds!  On the other hand, Maetel looked miffed as she rode her horse in rhythm.

“······one week is too short.”

“Be quiet, dummy.”

Thanks to Artpe’s unexepected support, the party was able to charge towards the capital of Aedia at a ridiculous pace.  It was befitting to call them a strike force.

The performance and endurance of the horses and men were improved to the extreme.  It wasn’t a joke to say that they were moving three times as fast as their initial speed.

On the other hand, how could they avoid notice when a party of men on their horses were speeding through a region embroiled in war?

Aedia boasted a magical communication system that reached the entirety of its nation.  They boasted an information network that was considered to be the best amongst all nations.  This was why an elite force of magicians escorted by soldiers were mobilized to stop Artpe’s party.

“Stop!”

“It seems you’ve finally lost your mind from the stress caused by the war.  You’ve crawled into the heart of Aedia.  Haven’t you realized the might of Aedia after being abused for the past five months!”

Of course, they were on the road, so the royal magicians wouldn’t be here.  However, they did send a first wave of magicians.  They were capable of space magic and deterrent magic.  While the first group stalled their enemies, another group of magicians would use their attack magic on them.  That was supposed to be the plan…….

“Magician, they are….”

“I know.”

The magicians that appeared in the distance made the ground smooth, and they raised earthen walls to stop the charge of Artpe’s party.  When Artpe confirmed with his Read All Creation that the magicians were nearby, Artpe lightly swung his hand, and all the spells were made useless.

“Koo-hahk!?”

“T…the Mana…..!  W…we have to report this to the throne….   Kah-hahk!”

In a flash, the magician were overpowered, and they realized a much powerful magician was present on Daitan’s side.  They tried their best to relay this information to the throne, but the attempt was thwarted.  In an instant, Artpe was victorious.

His skill level was high, so he was able to cause physical and magical effects at great distance.  He could extend his Mana Strings for couple kilometers.  Of course, he wouldn’t wait for his enemies to use their Artifacts or magic!

“K…koohk.  He is using perception magic!  I have no idea what magic spell he is using!”

“Idiots!  Attack the magician!”

“We aren’t in range!  Moreover, something is breaking up the Mana itself…..  Kahk!”

Only a very few high level people had the capacity to see the several hundred strands of Mana Strings in the air.  At Artpe’s will, the Mana Strings cut, smash and erased anything that opposed Artpe.  Maetel had a knowing smile on her face as she mumbled to herself.

“In the end, you are using Mana Strings?”

“Are you complaining?”

After acquiring the Mana String, the spell had pretty much become Artpe’s middle name.  In the past year, Artpe purposefully chose to use the Mana String spell when other spells would have been sufficient.

The reason being the Mana String was versatile.  However, it also had to do with the event that had occurred in his fight against the Ancient Kraken.  A Unique skill had strengthened the spell, yet no tangible effect had been seen.  Basically, it had fired a blank, yet Artpe didn’t think this was the case.

‘Still, I haven’t seen much change from it.’

The Unique spell was made in such a way that he couldn’t thoroughly observe it through his Read All Creation ability.  It had an element of chaos that couldn’t be specified.

In the past year, his spell had gone from level 60 to being at the cusp of level 70, yet he couldn’t say that he was able to perfectly handle this spell.

“A…amazing.  He killed so many magicians in an instant……!”

“Oh oh oh.  Our magician is invincible!  Invincible!”

“Magician!  Magician!”

Aedia’s magician had always fucked over Daitan, yet these magicians had died so easily by Artpe’s hands.  The knights of Daitain were hot blooded.  They sang Artpe’s praise in joy. It seemed they had completely forgotten about what they had suffered under Artpe’s hands not too long ago.

“You are amazing, magician!  At this pace, it’ll be possible to take over the palace within four days!”

“We are moving noisily through this region.  Aren’t you worried that the enemy will harden their defense when they hear about us?”

“In my opinion, you are purposefully revealing our presence..”

“······yes, you aren’t wrong.”

As expected of someone that was occupying the kingship of a country, he had a good sense.  Artpe grinned when he heard the king’s words.  Artpe acknowledged it.

“I’m trying to taunt them as much as possible.  I want to make them so angry that they’ll bring in all kinds weapons into the capital.  On the other hand, we can’t give them too much time, or they’ll come up with a different plan.”

“What…..  What do you plan on doing in the capital?”

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He had wanted someone to ask that very quest.  The king’s timing was impeccable.

Artpe grinned as he replied.

“It’ll be this world’s dirtiest and fanciest festival.”

Exactly a day and a half passed.

Artpe’s party able to see the capital of Aedia with their eyes.