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Chapter 168 & 169




Chapter 168 & 169: The Summoner of the Central Continent (2)
TL: Haku
Editor: Hungry Panda
Ian was delighted as he asked.
“Oh, is it someone you also know, Bbakbbak?”
At Ian’s question, Bbakbbak nodded his head as he replied.
“Then?”
Bbakbbak’s words continued.
Ian, who thought about it for a moment, asked again.
“Are they like The desert warriors?”
This time, Kaizar replied.
“That’s right, Lord guy. If the name of the tribe of desert warriors that are helping the Kaimon Empire right now is ‘Magellan’, then you can think of it as another desert tribe called ‘Selamus’ existed before as well.”
Ian’s two eyes rounded.
Since if he could earn an artifact that was similar to the ‘Mark of Magellan’ from the Altar of Selamus, it would be an incredible help.
Ian opened his mouth again.
“Then, is there nothing like the Mark of Selamus or something like that?”
Kaizar, who figured out what Ian was thinking of, smirked as he replied.
“Huhu, unfortunately, there’s probably nothing like that. Since it’s known that the people of Selamus were exterminated a long time ago.”
Ian licked his lips.
“Tsk, it was good until that. But, why are you saying that it’s a place that I will be interested in?”
“Since even though there may not be an artifact that brings the strength of a neutral tribe like the Mark of Magellan, you may be able to find other artifacts with different abilities.”
At Kaizar’s words, Ian nodded his head as he thought to himself.
‘But then again, if it’s a place that I’m the first discoverer of, at least there will probably be some kind of first discoverer’s reward.’
And Bbakbbak made an additional remark.
The content of it was enough to tempt Ian.
Ian’s head turned towards Bbakbbak.
“What, really?”
And he slightly glared at Kaizar.
“Retainer, why didn’t you tell me such important information?”
However, Kaizar just shrugged his shoulders.
“Alright, from now on, you’re on your own now! People who want to remain at the front and fight head-on with the Kaimon Empire Army can go to the barracks over there and sign up to become a mercenary, and if that’s not the case, it would be best to entrust your body in a domain affiliated with the empire.”
At the words of the chief knight of the imperial family, the party that stood in a line began to disperse here and there.
They were the reinforcements of the Luspel Empire that departed from the eastern continent and arrived at the central continent.
And the users of the Luspel Empire that came over to the central continent by joining the line of reinforcements also began to move busily.
“Hoo-hoot, finally, entry into the central continent!”
Canoel[1], who left the party, wore a pleased expression as he looked around at his surroundings.
“Keu, such a romantic desert. I heard that the monsters of the central continent give that much EXP, so then does that mean I just have ma.s.s-leveling left?”
Canoel grinned as he turned his head towards the red drake that followed his side.
“Yongyong, you also like it here, right?”
The drake was Yongyong, who could be considered a duplicate of Canoel’s spirit.
Keu-reu-reu-reu-!
The drake nodded its head with a happy expression, and while petting the drake’s head, Canoel mumbled.
“Hmm, but I have no information related to the hunting grounds here Do I have to log out and look around the community first?”
However, just then, from Canoel’s field of vision, two men walked out as they shared a conversation.
Canoel listened carefully to the two people’s conversation.
This was because he felt like he could obtain the information he needed from them.
“What are you going to do now? Are you going to sign up as a mercenary and fight on the front lines?”
“Why are you saying such stupid things? We’re losing every battle against Kaimon right now, so partic.i.p.ating in the battle at the front lines is an act of suicide.”
“Still, I heard that the reward was really good, so it’s not bad to partic.i.p.ate.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. In the beginning it may have been like that, but as we’ve been pushed back too much, apparently you don’t get a lot of rewards either.”
While listening to the two people’s conversation, Canoel nodded his head internally.
‘Hmm I did hear that we were losing in the war, but it looks like the situation is much more serious than expected.’
The conversation between the two men continued.
“Hmm Really?”
“I’m telling you, that’s the case.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking of going to a giant guild’s domain that’s in the back and save there before hunting nearby.”
“Oh-ho, that sounds pretty good as well. But I want to go visit the Pyro Domain once. Let’s stop there before we go.”
“Pyro Domain? Ah, you must be talking about the Lotus Guild’s domain. I also want to go there, but that might be a little dangerous.”
“Why?”
“The Kaimon Empire Army has probably seized most of the bases that are around it by now. It will be okay if we’re lucky and don’t run into the Empire Army But if we run into them, we’ll end up instantly suffering a terrible death.”
“Hmm Is that so?”
Canoel, who was listening to the two people’s conversation, began to move his feet.
It was because he had decided on his destination.
‘That’s right, how could I have forgotten that! I came all the way to the central continent, so I can’t just not go to meet my idol!’
The idol that Canoel was talking about was none other than Ian.
After Canoel watched a couple of Ian’s combat videos on YouCast, he had become a complete fan of Ian.
Ian’s combat abilities, where he was able to rule over the battleground while managing his Familiars quite freely, was his idea of a perfect utopia.
‘Alright, then it looks like I just need to find out where the Pyro Domain is now!’
After discovering a Knight user that was walking towards him from the front, Canoel approached him with quick footsteps.
Different from the other users, whose appearances were clean as they just arrived at the central continent, his armour was completely covered in sand.
Even just by looking at him, he could sense that he was a user that had been in the central continent for a long time already.
“Excuse me, sorry, but could I ask you something?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“It’s nothing much, but I was wondering if you knew which direction you had to go in order to go to the Pyro Domain by any chance.”
At Canoel’s words, the man, who had looked over his appearance, wore a puzzled expression as he asked back.
“The Pyro Domain? You’re talking about the Domain of the Lotus Guild, right?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Hmm Your level is too low”
The man’s gaze was on Canoel’s ID and level.
As Canoel, who was taken aback, hesitated, the man’s words continued.
“Well, still, you’ve equipped yourself completely with top-cla.s.s gear. As long as you’ve got some control, I think you’ll be able to manage getting there.”
To Canoel, who was the heir of SH Electronics in real life, his lv 100 top-cla.s.s gear was basically the price of gum to him, and it may be obvious, but he had plastered every part on him with just the top-cla.s.s items.
Canoel smiled brightly as he opened his mouth.
“Ah, what a relief. My control is actually not that bad, so, huhu.”
The man, who smirked, pointed in the direction with his finger as he began explaining.
“Go straight out that way”
Seu-reu-reuk-.
“What, what the-?”
Ian, who was walking, became fl.u.s.tered after seeing the sand underneath his feet move.
“Kaizar, are you sure we’re able to go this way?”
Kaizar nodded his head as he replied with an expression like it was no big deal.
“Yes. Why would I lie to you?”
Kaizar, who finished speaking, walked forward with big strides.
And shortly after, Ian’s two eyes couldn’t help but widen.
Swaaah-!
That was because the sand blew up into a vortex-like shape as it sucked in Kaizar.
And Kaizar vanished completely from his spot.
The expression that he sunk into the ground was a little more accurate.
“Huk!”
While Ian was taken aback, Bbakbbak, who was next to him, opened his mouth.
“You, you think so?”
Because the scene where he was swallowed by the sand was quite shocking, his feet didn’t move easily, but Ian slowly began to move.
“It’s not like there’s a weird desert monster underneath and I’ll end up getting eaten or something, right?”
And before Ian could even take five steps
“Aaack-!”
Along with a single cry, Ian’s body was sucked into the desert sand.
And Paulean and Celia, who followed behind him, also moved their feet.
Seu-seu-seuk-.
Shortly after, the pile of sand that had swallowed the whole party, returned to its calm state as if nothing had happened.
Along with the sound of the system messages that rang out one after another, Ian fell into the dark, secret cave.
Thud-.
Ian, who plummeted onto the ground after being completely covered in sand, grumbled to himself.
“Ah, this, does it have to be this mentally disorganizing and inhospitable?”
However, aside from his complaining mouth, he was all smiles.
Since the reward that he received as the first discoverer was better than what he expected.
‘It’s a gift from the G.o.ds! I don’t know about anything else, but increased Leaders.h.i.+p and Affinity alone are already like honey.’
Once the whole party gathered after a moment, Ian began to move his feet again.
“Kaizar, is this place that altar that you were talking about?”
At Ian’s question, Kaizar nodded his head without hesitation.
“That’s right. This is also a place that I found by chance while wandering the battleground back then.”
With Kaizar at the head, the party slowly began to walk towards the inside, and the dark, secret cave began to brighten little by little.
‘Hmm, it definitely does look like there will be something in there’
However, just then, an unwelcoming system message popped up.
Ian frowned.
“What the h.e.l.l, you could even die through lack of oxygen?”
If 0.1% of his Vitality was reduced per second, then it meant that his Vitality would be completely depleted in about 17 minutes.
Of course, he could endure it through Vitality recovery items or skills, but because everybody’s Vitality was reduced, there was no mistake that it was an incredibly fussy circ.u.mstance.
Kaizar laughed at Ian.
“You lack training. I don’t receive any damage with just this much oxygen.”
And amongst the party members, only Kaizar was fine.
Ian shook his head.
‘As expected, a monster.’
As they slowly entered while managing their Vitalities, the secret cave widened little by little.
And shortly after, an open s.p.a.ce appeared in front of the party’s eyes, and in the middle of it, a giant, golden bronze statue stood.
The statue looked like a monster serpent that was flying up into the air as if it was ascending, and in front of that an elder with a giant greatsword on his back.
Ian asked Kaizar with a puzzled expression.
“Retainer, do you know that elder?” Kaizar nodded his head.
“Of course, I know him.”
Kaizar, who paused for a moment to take a breath, grinned as he slowly opened his mouth.
“You could say he’s the only elderly still alive after facing me with a sword.”
[1] Canoel is the son of a wealthy family and heir of SH Electronics, who spends a ton of money in-game without really researching how to properly play the game.
Chapter 169: The Summoner of the Central Continent (3)
At Kaizar’s words, Ian looked at the elder with a renewed gaze.
‘If they had survived after fighting Kaizar, does that mean that they are at least the same level?’
Either way, it was clear that they were a fearsome person, and Ian checked the cooldown times of his skills so they could start fighting immediately.
However, different from Ian who was careful, Kaizar approached the elder with long strides and spoke to him.
“Long time, no see, old man.”
And the elder, who slightly glanced at Kaizar, frowned as he opened his mouth.
• You scoundrel, speak properly. Am I alive right now? I’m dead. I wouldn’t be a ghost if I didn’t die by your hands ten years ago.
While looking at him grumble, Kaizar smirked.
“Ah, is that how it works?”
While the two spoke, Ian approached the two until he was right in front of them, and the gaze of the elder turned towards Ian.
• Who is this child? Did you take in a disciple? Ah, that probably isn’t it. That is, since you wouldn’t have taken in a Summoner as a disciple.
Kaizar, who burst out laughing, replied shortly.
“He’s the Lord guy that I serve.”
Ian protested with a quiet voice.
“Could you just call me Lord instead?”
“Don’t want to. You’re too weak to do that.”
“…”
Kaizar pointed to the elder as he opened his mouth again.
“Once you become as strong as that senile old man, I’ll consider it.”
“Ahem…”
Ian’s gaze turned towards the elder, and he met the two eyes of the elder, who was also naturally looking at him.
Ian opened his mouth towards the elder.
“What’s your name, mister?”
• Who you calling mister? I am the Guardian of the Selamus Tribe, Eclipse. Speaking of which, for you to be the Lord with Kaizar as a retainer. To think such thing was possible. Even if I don’t know how you talked that ignorant guy into it, you’re quite skilled.
“…”
Eclipse shot out words without rest like rapid-fire.
The words ‘you just need to pay tribute one Legendary-rank item’ were on the tip of his tongue, but he barely swallowed them back before opening his mouth.
“It just happened… But, then are you also a Summoner, mister?”
Eclipse suddenly burst out as he replied.
• I’m telling you, it’s not mister! Call me Eclipse! It is my honorable name.
Ian sighed as he spoke.
“Ah, understood, Eclipse. Just answer me.”
• That’s right, I’m a Summoner. However, I’m also a valiant Warrior as well.
At Eclipse’s words, Ian wore a puzzled expression.
‘What the hell? Is he saying that dual-classing is possible?’
The moment that Ian, who wore an interested expression, was about to ask something, Kaizar opened his mouth first.
“Eclipse, what do you think?”
• About what?
“I’m asking if it is our Lord guy, do you think that he has the right to face the Test of Selamus.”
It was obvious, but Ian, who didn’t understand what he was talking about, stared back and forth at the two people with a dumbfounded expression, and shortly after, Eclipse’s mouth slowly opened.
• Hmm, certainly…
The words of Eclipse, who had thoroughly looked up and down at Ian, continued.
• He’ll certainly be better than an ignorant guy like you. He’s not satisfying, but it’s worth giving him a chance if his standards are like this.
Kaizar was grinning, and with an expression showing that he didn’t know the reason, Ian asked Paulean, who stood next to him.
“Paulean, do you understand what they’re talking about?”
However, there was no way that Paulean would know.
“No, I have no idea.”
However, just then, a quest notification window suddenly popped up in front of Ian’s eyes.
Ring-.
• Test of the Selamus Tribe (Hidden, connected quest)
Many neutral tribes existed in the ancient central continent.
Even amongst them, the Selamus, a tribe that showed incredible power that was in the top, were exterminated after fighting against the giant, god-like people, who were infected with the Curse of the Immortal, and just their leader remained through the underground altar.
Eclipse, the Guardian of the Selamus Tribe, has discovered the potential to regain the glory of Selamus and the glory of Summoners within you.
He is planning on testing you.
If you pass all of his tests, you can obtain the power of the Selamus Tribe, which had been buried in the sand of the central continent.
Quest Difficulty Level: SS
Quest Condition
A Summoner User that has obtained over a fixed amount of Specialty Points in the central continent.
Time Limit: None.
Reward: A Skill Book Containing the Vision of Selamus (Random)
The Spirit King’s Judgment Item (Random Weapon)
Ian thoroughly read through the quest window.
However, truthfully, even just from the part on the very first line that read that it was a hidden, connected quest, Ian had already made up his mind.
‘Just from reading that, I have no idea what the reward even is, But surely it must be something incredibly good, right?’
Eclipse slowly opened his mouth towards Ian.
• Summoner from the eastern continent, will you accept the Test of Selamus?
His voice and way of speaking were heavier than any other time before, to the point it was hard to adjust to.
Ian immediately nodded his head as he replied.
“Hmm, I’ll give it a try, I guess.”
* * *
“Goddammit, what exactly am I supposed to do in order to beat that monster dude?”
Hoonie, who talked big to Kaizar and stormed out of the Pyro Domain, was running through nearby dungeons as he diligently hunted.
‘However, it’s going to be difficult to go up even 1 level like this… The EXP that I got while participating in the siege warfare with Ian was truly like honey.’
Just yesterday.
Hoonie had succeeded in collecting all of dark energy that was within the crown of Holdream that Kaizar had into a wooden tag.
And in order to obtain freedom, he challenged Kaizar.
However, the result was an overwhelming loss to the point it was embarrassing to mention.
Hoonie tried to forcibly destroy the contract by using the 100 thousand Fame that he had been saving as his trump card, but there was no way that would have worked.
That was because, from the beginning, the destruction of the master and servant contract was only possible along with the 100 thousand Fame if Kaizar wanted it.
Ballam, who was next to Hoonie, spoke to him.
• The only way is to obtain the Power of the Immortal entirely, Hoonie. You cannot beat Kaizar with a normal method.
At Ballam’s words, Hoonie nodded his head.
However, it wasn’t like he could proceed with the Immortal quest right away anyways.
Since the three days that Kaizar gave him were too short to even start the Immortal quest.
It was because of that he resorted to randomly hunting like this.
“Once the Pyro Domain is safe, I should get Ian involved and get him to do the Immortal quest with me.”
Ballam nodded his head in agreement.
• Yeah, that’s a good idea. If Lord Ian helps, it will probably become much easier to even successfully complete the quest.
“But will mean Ian actually help…”
However, just then, one boy caught the gaze of Hoonie, who was grumbling while he spoke with Ballam.
It was a Summoner and a red drake, and they were struggling with a Sand Scorpion that looked to be about lv 130.
Hoonie, who became interested, slowly approached him.
“What is he doing? Why exactly is a lv 100-ish Summoner in the middle of the central continent like that?”
Even by roughly looking from far away, he had poor control and combat abilities.
Of course, as the only Summoner he had been constantly seeing recently was Ian, Hoonie’s standards were high.
However, the fact that the Summoner in front of him was weird was also not wrong.
Ballam tilted his head.
• I’m not sure… Anyhow, that drake looks similar to the drake Lord Ian has. It’s just a little smaller, that is.
Meanwhile, the boy of question, who the two people were watching, was none other than Canoel.
“Yongyong, I think we’ll have to attack the tail first!”
Grr-!
“I’ll try and properly block the attack from the front!”
Canoel was fighting desperately against the giant scorpion with every ounce in him to the point he had no idea that Hoonie had gotten so close that he was right behind him.
However, shortly after discovering something, Hoonie’s eyes rounded.
“That, that’s!”
Ballam asked with a puzzled expression.
• What’s wrong, Hoonie?
“Ballam, do you see that belt by any chance?”
At that, Ballam’s gaze turned towards the belt that Canoel had equipped.
• …!
“That’s it, right? That’s the Pledge of the Monarch of Darkness, for sure!”
The Pledge of the Monarch of Darkness was one of the necessary items required for Hoonie to proceed in the Immortal Quest.
‘I have no idea why someone like him has that equipped on when he’s not even a Black Magician, but…’
Hoonie pulled out the staff hanging on his back without hesitation as he charged towards the scorpion.
At that, Ballam, who was taken aback, asked out of surprise.
• What are you doing, Hoonie!
Hoonie cast his black magic as he shouted.
“We need to save that guy first before we can ask, no?”
* * *
Whoong-
Thu-thud- Keu-keu-keung-!
Along with a low resonance and a loud fricative sound, the boulder in the back of the wide-open space moved to the side as a new space appeared.
Eclipse walked slowly as he entered the space.
• Come in here, Ian.
“Sure.”
Ian, who followed behind Eclipse without much thought, couldn’t help but become flustered shortly after.
Ring-.
This was because, along with a notification sound, a truly unexpected system message had popped up.
• You have entered the first territory of the Selamus Test’s Gateway.
• This is a space Familiars cannot be handled.
• All Familiars that are summoned have been withdrawn.
• The abilities of all equipment have been incapacitated.
• All possessed skills have been sealed.
• Only the equipment and skills given within the gateway of the Selamus Test’s Gateway may be used.
It was truly an outrageous penalty where all of his hands and feet were tied together.
Even if the other parts were set aside, the penalty of not being able to summon his Familiars was incredibly critical to Ian.
‘No, what are they expecting a Summoner to do without their Familiars?’
Ian stared at Eclipse with a flustered expression.
“What… Is this?”
At Ian’s question, which was full of a lot of different meanings, Eclipse smirked as he replied.
• What do you mean ‘what is this’? It’s exactly as you saw just now. Our Selamus Tribe only acknowledges one as a true warrior when they know how to make their way through a difficult hurdle even without the help of any equipment or Familiars.
“What the hell…”
Ian, who opened his skill window and item window with a dumbfounded expression, couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
All of his skills were sealed, and all of the stats of his items were replaced with 0.
Eclipse opened his mouth.
“No, setting aside the other parts, what are you expecting a Summoner to do without a Familiar?”
Eclipse grinned as he continued his words.
• That is something that depends on your abilities. For your information, I’m also a Summoner, but I passed the whole test with all of these penalties.
Eclipse, who finished speaking, walked out through the back side of the space.
Ian barely held back the slur of swear words that were about to pop out of his mouth as he suppressed his anger.
‘No, that was only possible for you, since you’re an NPC that the developers made!’
And as soon as he left, a blue curtain that was about 20 metres in diameter formed with the place that Ian was standing as its centre.
‘Is it similar method to when we had to go through the Dimensional Magic Tower to meet Gripper?’
Ian, whose state was no different from a completely naked body, slowly relaxed and began to prepare to fight the opponents that would appear soon.
However, just then, another system message popped up.
• You may select one weapon to use for this gateway.
Amongst the messages that he had seen after entering this flustering space, it was the first positive message that had appeared.
However, in the next moment, Ian’s expression, which had brightened, couldn’t help but turn into a frown again.
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• Different kinds of weapons are inside each box, and until you select one, you will not know the content of them.
Along with the message, five black boxes appeared in front of Ian.
‘How could there be such a cruel system like this?’
Internally, his stomach hurt, but as there was no other method. Ian slowly placed his hand on one of the boxes.