episode_0026

After promising the tribal chief a performance,

I first received the Tear of the World Tree and returned to my room.

-Sway.

“I finally got this.”

I suffered so much to get this.

My heart swelled and a silly smile spread across my face.

“Hehe.”

I rubbed my cheek against the bottle because I was so happy.

-Rub rub

“As expected of a great elixir, even the color is different.”

I felt so good watching the mysterious green liquid sway inside the bottle.

I would be happy just looking at it like this,

but in the end, an elixir is an elixir.

“I should eat it soon.”

To play the song the tribal chief wanted, I needed to use wind instruments as well as percussion instruments,

so I needed a much higher level of mastery than I have now.

To do that, consuming the Tear of the World Tree now is essential.

“Shall I take a deep breath for a moment.”

-Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

After quickly preparing myself, I opened the bottle’s cap.

-Pop.

With a pleasant sound, the bottle opened and a unique scent began to flow out.

The fragrant and comforting scent quickly filled the room.

“The smell is really good….”

I swallowed and immediately drank the bottle down.

“These things are best in one shot.”

-Gulp Gulp.

The Tear of the World Tree also had a unique taste.

What should I say.

It tasted like a healthy juice with all the vegetables and fruits that are good for the body.

‘But it still tastes good.’

In fact, there wasn’t much, so I couldn’t even share it.

Even so, I licked the bottom of the bottle clean, just in case there was anything left.

-Lick. Lick.

After eating every last drop, I smacked my lips in disappointment.

“Yum. I want to eat one more bottle.”

No. Two bottles.

Hmm… I think I would be really satisfied with three bottles.

“Should I ask for more of this as a reward for the performance?”

It was a moment when I honestly wanted to receive more Tears of the World Tree.

But then,

something changed in my body.

‘Oh?’

The amount of magic power gradually increased, and a mysterious energy began to fill my body.

‘Oh oh.’

The effect is immediate.

But there was a problem.

“Uh, just a moment.”

As a new energy entered my body,

I felt my blood vessels dilating and my body stretching.

“Ju, just a second. Time.”

I quickly shouted ‘time’, but the energy showed no sign of stopping.

The new magic forcibly dilated the blood vessels in my body, causing tremendous pain.

-Crackling.

“Ju, just a moment?! There was no mention of this…?!”

-Eek?!

I even felt like my bones were being reconstructed, going beyond the blood vessels.

‘You didn’t say it would be this effective, old man…!’

It was too late to resent the tribal chief.

I was now unable to move even a finger, and had become a body that simply accepted the energy and screamed in agony.

-Crackling.

-Spark Spark.

‘Heuk. Ugh. Just a moment?!’

Later, sparks of magic even flew around my body as the magic powers collided.

How much time had passed?

-Spark Spark…

Eventually, after a long storm,

the excruciating pain that had tormented me madly gradually subsided.

But I, already battered, fell to the floor and became unable to move.

“I, I thought I was going to die….”

It was the moment I realized why people in martial arts novels receive assistance when eating elixirs or the like.

‘If you eat it wrong by yourself, you might die suddenly without knowing it.’

“Ah, anyway, I’m alive….”

As I lay face down on the floor, unable to move a finger,

the door opened and someone came in.

-Bang.

“Serena~.”

The guest was Flora.

Apparently, she heard the loud noise from my room.

“Didn’t you hear a noise…? Oh my.”

-Flinch.

She paused for a moment when she saw me lying on the floor.

I barely raised my head, smiled weakly, and greeted her.

“…Hello, sister. Hehe.”

After quickly looking around the room and grasping the situation, Flora let out a deep sigh.

“Haa… Serena….”

She shook her head in disbelief, then put her fist to my head and started spinning it around.

-Spin Spin

“Are you stupid? How could you think of eating that alone? Huh?”

“Ouch ouch ouch!! Sister, just a moment!! I really hurt!!”

“You hurt? So you don’t like being hurt? Then why did you do that alone earlier!!”

“Sorry sorry sorry!! I’m really sorry!! Ouch ouch ouch!!!”

I was only released after suffering Flora’s Sincere Head Spinning Attack for a long time.

“Ugh… I think I have a bump on my head….”

“Tsk. Stop exaggerating since you’re fine and get up.”

“Okay… but sister.”

“Yeah?”

I smiled foolishly and said awkwardly.

“I don’t have any strength, so please help me up.”

-Hehe.

At my words, Flora chuckled.

“Seriously, you’re subtly stupid, you know.”

Even as she said that, she willingly helped me up.

-Heave-ho.

“So, how’s your body?”

At Flora’s words, I finally took a moment to properly observe my current state.

I closed my eyes and meditated for a while, and I could finally feel the proper changes.

Not only had the amount of magic power itself increased even more than before,

but I felt like my constitution itself had improved.

Before, even when my magic power overflowed, I didn’t feel like I was fully utilizing it.

I felt that the magic power I could control was significantly less than the overflowing magic power.

But now, I felt like the usable magic power I could control itself had increased tremendously.

Of course, even with this, I didn’t feel like I could utilize 100 percent of my magic power.

But actually, I felt like this wasn’t my problem, but rather that I just had too much magic power.

To put it roughly, it’s like a high-end computer with a power capacity of 10000W.

‘I feel like some computer science people would get angry if they heard this.’

There are no computer science people in this world, so it’s okay to use this analogy, right?

I moved the magic power inside my body a little more here and there and felt it.

‘Yeah. This is enough.’

Feeling ready, I turned my head and asked Flora.

“Flora, sister. Where is the tribal chief?”

“Well. He just told me to call him when you’re ready?”

“Then can you tell him that I’m ready?”

“Of course. Where should I tell him to come?”

“Hmm….”

After pondering for a moment, I answered carefully.

“Tell him to come outside. I need a wide space.”

“Okay. I’ll tell him that.”

“Thank you.”

Flora left the room to convey my words to the tribal chief.

‘Okay, then shall I go soon too?’

I also left the room to find a place to set up.

* * *

After roughly looking around outside, I found a suitable place.

“Around here should be fine.”

I chose a wide, relatively open space among the lush forests of the elves’ territory.

As I waited for a while,

Flora brought the elven group and the academy students.

“Serena. Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Thank you, sister.”

When I made eye contact with the tribal chief, he nodded as if expecting a good performance.

‘Marina’s here too.’

When Marina’s eyes met mine, she jumped up and down excitedly.

‘At that level, she’s a sasaeng fan.’

A cute, pretty girl sasaeng fan.

Maybe it’s not so bad?

That’s enough with the useless thoughts.

‘I need to focus now.’

Be serious when performing.

It was an obvious virtue for a performer.

I began to summon the instruments by drawing up magic power.

-Weeeng

Various types of stringed instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments were densely summoned around me.

But I didn’t summon the piano that I always summon.

‘Because I won’t use it today.’

A situation where I have to perform only with instruments that I didn’t use in my previous life.

I was a little nervous because there were so many instruments.

But I wasn’t too worried.

‘I’ve been researching magic for years.’

I closed my eyes for a moment and recalled the content of the song to be performed.

The song I will perform today is a song composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky,

inspired by Nikolai Gogol, a Russian writer from Ukraine.

From the stories in 《Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka》, specifically .

This symphonic poem, composed in just 12 days but later known to have undergone several revisions, is titled…

《Night on Bald Mountain》.

* * *

I slowly started the performance.

Darkness descends on Bald Mountain,

and witches and evil spirits are gradually summoned.

With low-pitched stringed and woodwind instruments,

I proceeded with the performance, imagining the summoning of evil spirits.

‘I need to perform more meticulously.’

A performance that makes the listener feel uneasy.

Creates an unstable atmosphere with dissonances and repetitions of short melodies.

An opening that surprises and startles with intermittent points.

The tension jumps up and down as dynamics repeat, confusing the audience.

When a sufficiently eerie atmosphere had been created,

I change the mood of the song once.

Chernobog (Чернобог), a demon from Russian legend, appears and begins a black mass with various witches and evil spirits.

I start making the sound of the performance itself louder and louder.

I energetically play the trumpet and timpani to create the image of evil spirits moving and summoning something.

As I continued the performance, I felt like something was darkening around me.

But I tried not to pay attention and continued to concentrate.

‘If I lose the flow, it’s over.’

I repeat similar melodies and play with a strong rhythm, and the atmosphere begins to heighten.

After injecting fear and thrills with powerful and threatening energy,

I move on to the next scene.

Witches who praise the devil enjoy a masquerade and become consumed by madness.

Now, having raised the tempo, I proceed with the performance very quickly.

I wildly strike the cymbals, timpani, and trombone to create a scene of frenzy.

The instruments that have all been mobilized bring the atmosphere to a climax, maximizing the tension.

My head felt like it was breaking from controlling so many instruments, but I gritted my teeth and played the climax.

-Gritting.

‘These are things I have to do someday anyway.’

If I can’t do it now,

I won’t be able to do it later.

I continued the performance filled with madness with the utmost concentration.

Deep night.

Devil.

Witch.

Madness.

All these elements are mixed together, and the chaotic atmosphere reaches its peak.

The moment I was so immersed that I even heard auditory hallucinations like the laughter of a witch in my ears.

– Ding.

– Ding.

The performance suddenly subsided,

and the sound of a bell is heard.

-Ding.

-Ding.

As dawn approaches, the devil, witches, and evil spirits scatter,

and peace returns to the mountain.

As if nothing had happened,

a simple and slow performance proceeds.

The soft harp playing feels like it’s saying that the performance until just now was all a lie.

‘Phew.’

I, who had successfully passed the climax, also took a breath and continued the performance.

‘But I feel like it’s getting brighter around me.’

Is it just my imagination?

I may have been feeling it according to the image of the music because I was so focused.

Peace fills the space that was enveloped in darkness until just now, and dawn breaks.

Light. Dawn. Holiness fills the space that was filled with darkness, evil spirits, witches, chaos, and madness, and it is purified.

The gentle sounds of woodwind instruments and harp stabilize the listener’s mind and body,

and the performance slowly came to an end.

* * *

After the performance, I was, as always, breathing heavily.

‘Phew. Do I need to build up my stamina more?’

I almost slipped up at the climax because I played too many different kinds of instruments.

‘But I’m glad it ended well.’

I turned my head and looked at the tribal chief.

He was staring at me with a stiff expression.

‘Looking closely, he seems to be sweating a bit.’

He told me to make it scary, so I guess I succeeded?

I asked innocently.

“How was it, did you like it?”

But even at my question,

the tribal chief still just stared at me silently.

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I scratched my cheek.

‘Should I have done a different song?’

Looking at it now, not only the tribal chief but everyone else was looking at me with somewhat strange eyes.

‘Why are they reacting like this?’

I have no idea.