Chapter 27 : Millennium Height (1)

“Oh my. Thank you for your help.”

“It was nothing.”

The middle-aged wizard, who had received my help, kept bowing his head repeatedly.

It was quite an intense reaction, but anyone who had barely survived a life-or-death situation would likely react that way.

While he was bowing, Leon approached the middle-aged wizard, putting a sword, clean and unbloodied, back into its sheath.

“I’m sorry. I’m still weak in the area of sacred magic.”

“No, it’s fine. I had recovery potions. Thanks to them, I survived.”

The middle-aged wizard shook an empty vial.

It was no exaggeration to call a recovery potion a second life.

In situations like this, there was hardly anything more reliable than a potion.

I looked at the mercenaries lying face down on the ground behind the middle-aged wizard.

I hadn’t really fought them.

As soon as I appeared with my wooden soldiers, the mercenaries immediately dropped to the ground and buried their heads.

“No wonder. After traveling for over a week without meeting any mercenaries, I was wondering what was going on. Turns out, they all ran away when they saw my wooden soldiers?”

“If I were them, I wouldn’t even look at a cart driven by tree people.”

“This is troublesome.”

“Mercenaries didn’t have any real magic anyway.”

“Still, it was fun to see them try.”

I jingled a lantern and recited the three principles of magic to the mercenaries.

“Who here possesses magic, or is willing to share magic, or is willing to transfer magic?”

“No one.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment when the middle-aged wizard, smiling, approached me.

“Those traitors couldn’t have learned magic. Take my magic instead.”

I asked the middle-aged wizard, who had been betrayed by a comrade and barely survived, one question after another.

“What’s your elemental affinity?”

“Water.”

“That’s a great elemental affinity. What’s your specialty spell?”

“Forget it. Take everything. I’m planning to quit being a mercenary anyway.”

“I wish I could take it all, but I can only take one.”

The magic I could take through this trade was just one.

Of course, if I really wanted to, I could take more, but that would cause irreparable damage to the other party.

I had to take only one.

“Well, then…”

The middle-aged wizard hesitated for a moment and listed off his spells.

I took the spell that could bind an opponent with water.

“The deal is done.”

“What about these people?”

“I’m not sure. Do whatever you want, Fulann. I’m no longer interested in them.”

I answered nonchalantly. I truly wasn’t interested anymore.

“What?”

“Are you serious?”

Chris and Leon were suddenly shocked.

What’s with these guys?

I narrowed my eyes.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“Until now, Luina, you’ve never let anyone go alive. I thought you’d do the same this time.”

“Well, they targeted my life. Anyone who draws a sword should be prepared to be stabbed by it as well.”

I couldn’t die.

Not until I had mastered all magic.

That’s why I was reborn in this world.

Therefore, those who tried to kill me couldn’t just get away with it, but this time, the situation was different.

They weren’t trying to kill me, they were trying to kill Fulann, and the moment they saw me, they buried their heads.

From my perspective, there was no reason to kill them.

“Luina, can we really let these guys go?”

“These are the kinds of people who rob even in the Empire’s path. I also have my doubts about their character, but what can we do? They’re no longer connected to me. So, what do you want, Fulann?”

“Even so, we shared some time together, so I’d like to spare them and hand them over to the authorities.”

“Fine, let’s do that. I also—”

“What’s going on here?”

At the sudden voice, I turned my head.

The voice came from two men riding horses, who dismounted and approached us.

The two men glanced at the mercenaries with their heads buried in the ground and asked in a low voice.

“Have they been ambushed?”

“Not exactly. Fulann was betrayed and almost killed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes? Ah. I mean…”

I entrusted Fulann to the two men and stepped back.

I knew who they were.

They were the Empire’s knights, guarding the Empire, spear and shield, while also monitoring the Imperial Path connected to the capital.

“They’re knights of the Empire. It’ll be easier to hand them over to them.”

I whispered to Chris and observed the situation.

After listening to Fulann and Leon’s side of the story, the two men issued orders to their soldiers, who quickly restrained the mercenaries.

With that clean resolution, I nodded in approval.

Indeed, even if they had been robbed, it was easier to let the Empire’s knights handle the cleanup.

I had gained more knowledge.

“Thank you so much.”

“Next time, prepare better magic.”

“I’ll train harder.”

After parting with Fulann, I examined the magic I had obtained.

Whoosh.

The water rope bound Leon.

Leon, tied with the water rope, silently stared at me.

I smiled and asked.

“How is it?”

“Please don’t practice magic on people.”

“How is it?”

“The performance is good. Unless you focus divine power, it’s hard to break.”

Even Leon, a trained swordsman, couldn’t break the water rope with his strength.

This would be useful in battle too.

I continued practicing various magic.

What’s great about Fulann’s magic is that once it’s activated, it hardly consumes any concentration.

As I used various fire magic within the lantern, Chris shouted.

“Luina, let’s set up camp here!”

Since the sun was beginning to set, it was the perfect time.

I got off the wagon, dismissed my wooden soldiers, and approached Leon.

“Leon-nim.”

“What is it?”

“Please teach me swordsmanship.”

“Swordsmanship, you say?”

“Yes.”

After going through several battles recently, I didn’t exactly gain enlightenment, but while practicing elemental magic, I had a sudden thought.

Wouldn’t I be stuck with elemental magic as it is until I die?

That thought crossed my mind.

And as someone who loves magic, that was an unacceptable idea.

I had to find a way out, and the way I thought of was learning swordsmanship.

After all, why would apprentice knights learn swordsmanship before magic?

There’s a reason for it.

Probably.

“It’s not hard to teach you.”

“Good to hear.”

“I’ve learned many types of swordsmanship, but which one would you prefer?”

“Anything ordinary will do.”

“Usually, knights use longswords. I’ll lend you my sword.”

I took the sword Leon handed me and drew it.

Leon, holding a nearby stick, slowly began speaking.

“The essence of swordsmanship is, in the end, one thing.”

Leon pushed my sword with the wooden stick.

I didn’t resist and quietly pulled my sword back.

“Now, Luina-nim, try pushing with your sword.”

Following his instructions, I pushed the stick with my sword, and Leon’s wooden stick moved back.

Leon explained.

“If you push, it will move, and if you pull, it will pull. This is the start of swordsmanship, and everything else is an application of this principle.”

“That’s action and reaction.”

“If you understand that, the next step is the force of application. The closer you are to the handle of the sword, the more power you can exert, but it becomes blunt. The further you are, the less power you exert, but it becomes sharper.”

“That’s the principle of leverage.”

“Thinking about what I just said with your mind will be too late. It needs to be engraved in your body and come out as naturally as breathing to be used in real combat. Once it’s imprinted on your body, the next thing to learn is distance awareness, but I’ll explain that later.”

“I understand.”

I swung Leon’s sword downwards while activating magic.

“Shine. Blue Night.”

The magic was poorly applied to the sword.

With the unstable elemental magic on the sword, I swung it.

The sword flowed.

The black blade, carving through the air, felt like a meteor shower.

On top of that, blue elemental magic scattered.

The magic was based on the element of water.

Now that I think about it, the magic I just acquired was also water-based.

Am I deeply connected to water?

Water.

Water, water, water.

Water, sword, meteor shower, blue, cold.

It flows.

Suddenly, I stopped the sword.

I opened my right hand.

Splash.

Water shot out from my hand.

I screamed in shock.

“Water is coming out of my hand!”

“Water is coming out of Luina-nim’s hand!”

“Did you acquire a new element?”

Leon looked shocked.

Multi-element affinity is an incredibly rare talent.

I was slightly surprised myself.

Because I didn’t have any multi-element affinity.

So this…

Did I realize the element naturally because I obtained magic through a transaction?

I hadn’t expected that the magic Kelton gave me would have such a function.

I never saw this coming.

I experimented with the water element, which I currently considered to be at the zero-level rank, and then clenched my fist, murmuring.

“The elemental magic for growth remains the same, but my elemental affinity has increased.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? I heard that multi-element affinity is an extraordinary talent.”

“Well…”

From what I faintly sensed, my current state wasn’t extraordinary enough to be called multi-element affinity, but it wasn’t bad either.

I felt good and picked up my sword.

Today, I’ll swing it only a thousand times and then sleep.

***

“Luina-nim! We’re here!”

Lying in the carriage with my eyes closed, I got up at Chris’ words.

The most splendid sight I had ever seen, far more magnificent than any city I had ever seen in my life, came into view from a distance.

Ethernia.

We had finally arrived at the capital of the Eterno Empire.