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Chapter 68




Chapter 68: Gotta Collect the Bounty
The battle was short, but its aftereffects lingered long.
Silence descended upon the Great Hameln Forest.
Even the monsters held their breath at the roar of the predator known as the Swamp Overlord. There, Aster stood with half-open eyes.
A deep inhalation.
“...Huff.”
An even deeper exhalation spread through the air.
The excitement of battle.
The intense heat coursed through his veins, and his heated breath was scorching.
The reason he engaged in an unnecessary close-quarters combat with the Swamp Overlord was for this very feeling.
A rare sense of liberation.
To release the heat that surged from deep within his abdomen, spreading through his heart to the tips of his limbs.
But.
‘...It’s not enough.’
A strange sense of fatigue eventually set in.
Perhaps monsters were not enough.
No, that wasn’t it.
If Aster wasn’t a battle maniac who enjoyed fighting to the extreme, he should have felt relieved after venting so much.
But the reason he couldn’t was likely due to the final battle of his previous life.
An unnamed field.
A countless array of magical spells adorning the sky.
The battle with the loyal mages bearing the emblem of Deculan was one where he poured all his strength, unprecedented in intensity.
‘Was it the first time, probably?’
After surpassing the limits of a Troubleshooter.
He had never fully unleashed his power to deceive Deculan’s eyes.
No, no.
Aster shook his head slightly.
‘That’s not it. It wasn’t because of the battle with them.’
There was a more intense memory.
Fahren von Deculan.
The one who would become the strongest in the future, already having reached that supreme level in his previous life.
The master of the monstrous giant, Deculan.
“Hm.”
Thinking of him, a laugh escaped his lips.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even give them a proper meal.’
Deculan’s elite forces were indeed formidable.
Even with his full power, he had narrowly escaped death several times.
By the time he faced Fahren, he was already exhausted to the extreme.
Of course, he wasn’t making excuses.
‘The result... would have been the same. Just the time to reach the conclusion would differ.’
The gap between Fahren and himself was vast.
But what was regrettable was this.
Before him, floating on the murky surface of the swamp, was a single corpse.
The corpse was that of the Swamp Overlord, a significant portion of its body missing.
If he had properly fed this magic to the Overlord, what expression would Fahren have had?
‘Would he be surprised? Or would he maintain his usual expressionless face?’
One thing was certain: he wouldn’t have laughed.
Explosion (爆滅)
This technique was just that.
A vicious explosion that could tear apart even the most solid barrier in a single blow.
Named for its ability to destroy everything.
Of course, if it were the Fahren of that time, he would have found a way to block it.
Thinking up to that point.
“Ugh...”
Aster’s body swayed.
“S-Senpai!”
“Mage-sama!”
Oberon and Ryley, who had been watching from a distance, rushed over to support Aster.
“It’s the aftereffect of Overclock. The burden should be less since the duration wasn’t too long, but... you’ll be in this state for at least the rest of the day.”
“Grr...”
Aster nodded, his vision blurring.
‘Really, I might die.’
He had heard the explanation. A sudden, overwhelming sense of powerlessness would hit him.
He didn’t expect it to be this bad.
He had been pushed to the brink of death in battle more than once.
He had exhausted every last bit of strength and collapsed in exhaustion many times.
So, he thought he could handle this.
Look at him now.
His fingertips trembled.
His two feet, which had firmly pressed into the ground, now wobbled, unable to support his weight.
If not for Oberon and Ryley, he might have drowned in the swamp.
‘What a ridiculous way to die.’
On the other hand, he thought.
‘If I had known, I should have saved a bit of Overclock.’
The safe duration was 5 minutes.
And...
- You should avoid Overclock for at least a month. The burden is one thing, but... your core and circuits will be damaged.
The cooldown was a month.
‘I made an unavoidable choice to avoid danger... tsk. It wasn’t necessary.’
The Swamp Overlord.
He could fully understand why the Overlord was a terror among adventurers and mercenaries.
Its fur and hide were so tough that they blocked aether and could withstand most weapons.
And its roar.
‘For mages... it must have been a disaster.’
Of course, a mage of a certain level could find a way, but why would they bother?
Anyway.
“...”
Oberon had drawn Aster’s sigil on his head.
‘No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand.’
After realizing his talent, Oberon had studied Overclock with his master.
Overclock was a gift that drew out latent abilities. But...
- There seems to be a clear limit.
- What do you mean by a limit?
- In the old war, mages were not ranked by level but by output. It’s a funny thing. Funny, but also convenient. Like in this case.
His master had said:
- Depending on your concentration, the amplification of output is... around 150%. That’s about it.
Of course, this was a conclusion based on pure output, excluding the enhancements to the senses and latent abilities that came with Overclock.
In other words, combat power.
But...
‘What I saw then...’
It couldn’t be explained by a simple 150% increase.
It felt like someone who had always possessed such abilities had unsealed their power.
For Oberon, it was a mystery he might never solve.
* * *
After the situation was completely resolved.
Aster and his party took a short rest.
Aster, naturally, needed to rest due to the aftereffects of Overclock, but Oberon had also expended a significant amount of mental energy.
Thanks to this, Ryley was the busiest.
“Mage-sama, what would you like to do with the Swamp Overlord’s corpse?”
Ryley, who was already polite, now approached Aster with extreme deference.
Aster let out a weary laugh at the sight.
‘Indeed, this is the backbone of emptiness.’
A typical approach from a former slum dweller of the black and white zone.
Bow to the strong, and devote your soul to the overwhelmingly powerful!
But, what to do with the corpse...
“Handle it as you see fit.”
“Huh! Really, Mage-sama?”
“Yes, you should earn your bounty. If you need it, I can lend you a subspace.”
“T-Thank you, Mage-sama!”
Aster, whose strength had somewhat recovered, handed over a subspace he had taken from a black market dealer.
The contents had already been moved to Hengi and Karahen’s subspaces.
“Thank you, Mage-sama!”
Ryley bowed so deeply that his head almost touched the ground before dashing into the swamp.
He held a butchering knife in one hand, clearly very excited.
“Senpai, are you sure you’re okay?”
Oberon asked with concern.
“What do you mean?”
“The Swamp Overlord’s corpse... it’s worth a fortune. Is it really okay to give it away so easily?”
“Why, are you envious? I mean, you do have a stake in this, so it’s understandable.”
“No, no! Greed hinders practice and distorts the right mindset. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay...”
“...Whatever.”
Enough of this nonsense.
Greed hinders practice?
Bullshit.
He knew someone who was the greediest in the eastern continent and also the most accomplished... or rather, would be the most accomplished in the future.
Right, Fahren von Deculan.
Anyway.
“What... enough of the bullshit. What would I do with it? I need to collect my bounty too.”
“...!”
Oberon’s eyes widened at Aster’s sincere response.
‘Senpai is truly...!’
A true mage.
Not long ago, he had been uncomfortable with the title of ‘senpai’ due to their similar ages.
But the battle just now, and his current behavior...
The mage before him was worthy of the title ‘senpai’.
‘Transcending material desires, and considering the circumstances of others...’
A level of consideration far beyond his own!
Of course, this was a case of knowing one thing but not the other.
‘...Fine, then.’
Aster leaned against a tree, his half-closed eyes watching Ryley.
With a sharp butchering knife, Ryley skinned the hide and gauged the valuable parts of the massive body, storing them in the subspace. The smile on his face was...
As if he owned the world.
‘Yeah, he must feel good.’
The Swamp Overlord’s fur and hide were known to block aether.
So, what if they made armor from it? Or, more likely, a robe.
For mages, knights were more demanding.
But.
‘It’s all bullshit.’
Occasionally.
The effectiveness of byproducts can drastically decrease after death.
So, the hide that could block weapons while alive might become no different from that of a common wild animal after death.
Of course, it still boasted durability far superior to ordinary leather, but it was just high-quality leather, nothing more, nothing less.
Look at it now.
Swoosh—Slice.
The supposedly impenetrable hide was effortlessly cut by a sharp blade, devoid of aether.
The original source of its strength was the magic power in the monster’s heart, which, once cut off, rendered it useless.
But, was it completely worthless?
‘Not exactly.’
The hide would regain its hardness if supplied with the same amount of magic power as the monster.
The heart, which once contained magic power, was a valuable magical material that mages would go crazy for.
But.
‘It’s all gone now.’
The final explosion.
Its aftermath had blown away the heart and the left upper body.
So, all Ryley could collect were the somewhat durable but valueless hide and a few byproducts!
Anyway.
“Hehe, Mage-sama. Thank you for your consideration. When would you like to depart...?”
“Senpai, what do you think? We’re behind schedule, but we can rest for another day.”
A short while later, Ryley approached with a subspace full of loot, smiling.
Oberon, with a mix of concern and subtle suggestion.
Pong!
Aster pulled out a potion from the subspace, drank it in one gulp, and stood up.
“Let’s go. We’ve suffered enough; we need to hurry.”
Despite the lingering powerlessness, it was time to move.
As they crossed the swamp with Ryley’s support, a sudden sense of dĂ©jĂ  vu hit him.
Flick.
Aster turned his head sharply to look behind.
All he saw were bushes and trees. Even his barely awakened senses detected nothing.
Just a few insects.
“Mage-sama? Is something wrong?”
“...It doesn’t fit.”
“Huh! I’m sorry!”
Ryley, startled, bowed deeply.
Aster looked away and resumed walking.
But the question on his face remained.
‘...I’m sure there was a rat here.’
For a brief moment, he had felt it.
Someone watching him.
Of course, it could have been an illusion due to the powerlessness, but...
‘Well, I’ll find out soon enough.’
If there really was a rat, it would reveal itself soon.
Aster etched the fleeting sense of déjà vu in his mind and shook off the thought.