Ch.77Chapter 77: Should We Move Too?

[Quest completion rewards acquired.

Basic reward: 20 Stat Points gained.

1. Survival of Vladimir Bloodwell

Reward: Goodwill with the Vampire race. (Already granted)

Vampires will now consider Gerung-tu a lifelong friend. They will not hesitate to shed blood for Gerung-tu and will do anything to protect their friend.

2. Survival of Lilith Bloodwell. (Already granted)

Reward: Soul Contract with Lilith Bloodwell.

You have contracted with a descendant of the true bloodline of the strongest vampires, gaining the right to use blood magic. Lilith Bloodwell is prepared to be subordinate to you for life.

3. Helping Vampires settle in the South.

Reward: Increased safety in the Southern region.

Though it may seem insignificant, a race’s settlement greatly impacts the continental ecosystem. With vampires establishing themselves in Majes Canyon, the danger level of the region has significantly improved.

Additional 50 Stat Points gained for completing bonus quests.

Trait acquired: Savior of Vampires.

Description: As a benefactor to vampires, you can now convert life energy into magical power or other forms of energy.]

Truly incredible rewards.

70 Stat Points, goodwill from an entire race, new magic and traits. Plus, apparently the South would become safer, though I wasn’t sure what that meant.

Valt thought this was the system’s way of hinting that some great threat was approaching.

He didn’t know what it was yet, but he had his suspicions.

A mysterious organization, the sudden appearance of divine objects.

Valt had ears to hear.

These days, the world was abuzz with talk of artifacts.

He thought there must be a reason why these artifacts, also called divine legacies left by various gods, were suddenly appearing everywhere.

Valt also gained 20 points from leveling up. That made a total of 90 Stat Points.

Though he had planned to invest everything in strength, Valt hesitated.

He had reached the 2nd Circle, but his intelligence was too low.

Until now, he had deliberately avoided raising his intelligence to find magic that Gerung-tu could learn, but thinking about it, even among Gerung-tu, some were smarter than others.

Besides, there weren’t that many mages among Central Continent people.

Not all Gerung-tu could use magic.

Moreover, now that he had blood magic as an alternative, he felt there was no need to restrict his intelligence anymore.

‘Hmm… if I raise my intelligence to my previous level…’

The average intelligence of a typical mage exceeds 50.

That’s five times higher than an ordinary person.

Valt only had 5.

His slow progression through the Circles was undoubtedly related to this intelligence.

‘I can gain stats by completing sub-quests. No reason to hold back.’

While leveling up had become slower, he could complete as many quests as the system allowed.

‘Alright, let’s invest. Increasing magical achievement will open up many possibilities.’

After maintaining an intelligence of 5 all this time, Valt finally invested 45 points to reach 50 intelligence.

In that moment, understanding of physical magic, blood magic, and life energy conversion magic began flooding into his mind.

‘This is…!’

The magic he had been using haphazardly until now flowed into his magical understanding, and Valt’s Circles began forming rapidly.

Valt closed his eyes and observed his inner self.

King Vladimir was the first to notice.

“Hmm…? What’s this?”

His eyes fixed on Valt, gleaming.

His friends also noticed Vladimir’s reaction and looked at the meditating Valt.

“What? Enlightenment? While eating?”

Despite Lati’s incredulous words, everyone just accepted it as typical Valt behavior.

Woooong-

Valt’s Circles swiftly broke through the 3rd Circle, 4th Circle, and reached the 5th Circle.

“This… can’t be?”

While the vampires who used blood magic might not understand, Lati and Arias, who used orthodox white magic, couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

To break through three levels from the 2nd Circle in one go.

Such a being had never existed in the continent’s long history.

The magical vortex around Valt subsided, and he opened his eyes.

“Phew… refreshing… Huh? Why is everyone staring at me?”

Lati asked Valt with a disgusted expression.

“Is this even possible? You just reached the 5th Circle.”

After briefly checking within himself, Valt grinned.

“So I have.”

Unable to contain herself, Lati shouted at Valt.

“No! What do you mean ‘So I have’?! Is this even possible, you cheater?!”

“Well… isn’t that just how the world works?”

Despite his tremendous magical power, Valt had actually possessed very one-sided magical abilities.

Most were attack spells using physical magic.

But now at the 5th Circle, it was hard to imagine how powerful Valt would be if he used various types of magic evenly.

The advantage of magic is its adaptability.

The ability to respond to any situation.

Valt, who had primarily used wind and earth magic, now had access to other abilities.

“Hmm, this feels good. I’d like to test it right away.”

But it was getting late today.

Instead of hunting monsters, Valt decided to try one complex spell.

“King Vladimir. May I be excused for a moment?”

“Haha, go ahead.”

Valt stood up and moved a short distance away from his companions.

‘First, white magic.’

“Mega Flame.”

TUHWAK!

A pillar of fire erupted from Valt’s massive hand.

‘Now add blood magic.’

“Burning Blood.”

The blood magic flame spell, Burning Blood.

A magic he learned from Lilith.

‘And now physical magic!’

Valt’s arm drew a large circle, and the red light of blood and flame pushed back the darkness, creating a whirlwind.

KWAGWAGWAGWA!

‘Now, throw it!’

“Blood Flame Storm.”

KWOOOOOO!!

The storm of flames Valt threw instantly devoured the ravine.

With the characteristics of blood magic, the spell lasted longer, and with white magic’s traits, its destructive power was enormous. Combined with physical magic, the three magics exploded together.

It was more efficient than double or triple casting, and the power was greater.

KUGUGUGUGUGU-

Valt’s magic incinerated everything within a 50m radius before disappearing, causing Lati to scream.

“How is that a 5th Circle spell?!”

Even King Vladimir was quite surprised.

“In terms of raw power… it could be said to reach the 8th Circle?”

His friends were also shocked by Valt’s magical power.

“My, my goodness…”

Valt felt good.

The magic he had been using until now had some forced aspects, but this magic felt like it was uniquely his own.

Valt clenched his right hand that had thrown the spell.

‘Good, though adaptation isn’t easy yet, but at this level…’

True orthodox triple casting was not something easily done.

However, using fusion magic allowed him to use higher-grade magic much more easily.

Plus, the utility that Lati possessed.

Now Valt could use such magic too.

He wanted to return to the academy as soon as possible to learn proper magic.

After helping with Lilith’s transfer, he would focus on learning magic properly for a while.

He also needed to investigate what that mysterious organization was planning, though he wasn’t sure yet.

They must have suffered a major blow and would likely lay low for a while.

During that time, Valt planned to become even stronger.

“Congratulations, Valt. You truly have a talent for surprising people.”

“Thank you.”

The mission was complete.

Valt postponed his answer to his older brother and prepared to leave for the academy.

After briefly greeting Kwan, Valt accidentally revealed his advancement.

“Hoho, impressive. 5th Circle? You’re the Gerung-tu Archmage. Hahaha.”

Kwan meant it as a joke, but it wasn’t wrong.

Historically, there had never even been a 1st Circle mage among the Gerung-tu.

And so, Valt and his companions finished their visit to the South and returned to the academy.

***

Lilith’s transfer went very smoothly.

Even the Emperor seemed surprised by the vampire, and Lilith even had a private audience with him before being allowed to transfer to Grovint Academy.

Naturally, she was placed in the same class as Valt.

It was the academy’s most unpredictable class, where various non-human races gathered.

It was only natural that Lilith’s arrival caused a stir among the classmates.

Interest in Lilith wasn’t limited to students.

Since blood magic was a unique branch of magic, many magic professors sought out Lilith.

Lilith, who was also interested in white magic, didn’t mind the attention.

***

Solpin, who had somehow joined Valt’s group, was chatting with them.

“What? You had such an interesting adventure? Damn… I should have gone too!”

Solpin spoke with frustration.

He couldn’t accompany Valt because he had to meet with various professors about his race’s reproduction issues.

“So vampires and barbarians are neighbors now?”

Lati nodded at Solpin’s question.

“That’s right. The South should be quite secure now.”

Solpin’s eyes lit up at Lati’s words.

“Hmm~ Is that so? Maybe we should move there too.”

Lati was surprised by Solpin’s suggestion.

“What?”