The Existence Called Transcendence.
A notification popped up, someone had left a comment on my post.
It was someone I knew, someone I’d known for a while.
My benefactor, the one who taught me magic.
My master.
It seemed she left a comment on a post I’d written a while back.
It was a common way for us to talk privately on the forum.
LExplosiveGod: Hey, are you in Lukphelton right now?
ㄴExplosiveGod: I’m near Lukphelton
ㄴExplosiveGod: I can sense mana
ㄴExplosiveGod: If you’re around, leave a comment
Silvia’s way of speaking would change from time to time on the forum.
Perhaps she was separating her real-life persona from her online one.
These days, you might call it having a concept.
With that thought in mind, I left a comment.
ㄴReallyDirtPoor: Yeah
ㄴReallyDirtPoor: I’m near Lukphelton
ㄴReallyDirtPoor: By the way, what brings you here?
We spoke casually on the forum, but in real life, she tended to see me as a bit of a kid.
That’s why it was more comfortable to talk online.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was disrespectful.
I used to speak informally when I didn’t know any better, but now I never did.
Not that I’d told anyone… but Master had a bit of a condescending streak.
‘Well, not too bad.’
If it were that bad, I would have cut off contact long ago.
I was still in touch, so it couldn’t be that serious.
As I was thinking about it, I checked Silvia's reply.
ㄴExplosiveGod: Tell me where you are
ㄴExplosiveGod: I’ll come to you
ㄴExplosiveGod: Just let me know where you are
ㄴReallyDirtPoor: Okay, sure
I checked my surroundings and told her my current location.
A moment later.
Wooong-!
I felt mana rippling through the air, and then Silvia appeared out of thin air.
It seemed no one could beat Silvia when it came to Spatial magic.
She seemed to like fire magic, but her talent for Spatial magic was unmatched.
That’s how great her talent was.
‘…To think she’d come all this way without being seen.’
I had a good memory and was good at utilizing it, but I wasn’t necessarily a genius.
Silvia, on the other hand, was incredibly intelligent.
She instinctively knew how to manipulate mana, how slight changes would affect its power, and how to maximize efficiency with minimal input.
Of course, I understood it too, but not to the extent that Silvia did.
She was an amazing person in many ways.
“Disciple, it's been a while.”
“Hello, Master.”
I bowed my head in greeting.
As I said before, she had a bit of a condescending side, so I bowed 60 degrees.
Bowing 90 degrees felt too subservient.
As I greeted her, Silvia's lips twitched.
It seemed she was glad to see me.
Of course, I was glad to see her too.
But then.
“Oh, hey. If it isn’t the Archmage.”
“…Don’t associate with this barbarian.”
Silvia glared at Cthulhu as if she’d seen something repulsive.
‘…What?’
What was going on between the two of them?
As I was pondering this.
“Come on, Archmage. Still hung up on that? You’re really petty, you know that?”
“Shut up.”
“Oh, come on. It wasn't intentional.”
“How do you accidentally attack a military base?”
“I just threw a rock, what was I supposed to do if it went that way? Anyway, it looks like you came to see him, so why are you picking a fight?”
“…Sigh.”
Silvia let out a deep sigh and shook her head, then pulled me aside and whispered.
“..He’s bad news, stay away from him.”
“Hey, we’re good. Stop badmouthing me. Are you having a spinster meltdown or something? Hmph.”
Whoosh!
The instant she said that, an ice shard flew towards Cthulhu’s head.
But Cthulhu dodged it effortlessly.
“Oops, missed.”
As Cthulhu giggled and dodged Silvia’s attack, Silvia sighed and started to move away from Cthulhu, pulling me along.
Cthulhu whistled from behind and started to follow us.
It seemed his treatment was finished.
He was moving so actively now.
“Don’t follow us.”
“Nope, don’t feel like it.”
“Haaa…”
Looking at the mana emanating from Cthulhu, it was clear he’d completely enveloped himself in it.
He wasn't letting his guard down for a second.
That meant it would be nearly impossible for Silvia to get through to him.
So Silvia sighed and stopped, turning to me to speak.
“So, anyone been bothering you lately?”
“No, not really.”
“That’s good to hear.”
In Silvia's eyes, I was still just a kid.
Despite the strong front I put up on the forum, this was how she treated me.
It seemed my youthful appearance had a big impact on people's impressions.
As I thought about that, Silvia and I continued chatting.
We talked about what we’d been up to.
As the conversation flowed, we eventually found ourselves talking about Barbatos.
“…So, you managed to inflict serious damage on Barbatos?”
“Yes, it wasn’t that difficult. I had a new spell.”
Thanks to the new spell, I could inflict damage with ease.
It would've been a much tougher fight otherwise.
Developing that new spell had been a huge help.
As I told Silvia about it, she listened with a serious expression.
“Hmm, you’ve reached that level already… In that case, you might be ready to meet ‘that person’.”
“That person?”
I wasn’t sure who she was referring to.
There were countless people on the forum, and countless people in real life.
So I had no idea who she meant.
As I looked at Silvia with a puzzled expression-
“There’s someone, someone ordinary people don’t know about.”
As she said that, Cthulhu, who was standing nearby, chimed in.
“Old man Transcendence? You’re going to introduce him?”
Transcendence.
I think I saw that name on the forum once, a long time ago.
I had no idea what kind of person they were.
As I looked curiously at Cthulhu and Silvia, Silvia sighed and went over to whisper something to Cthulhu.
I was too far away to hear what she said.
But one thing was clear.
Cthulhu was surprised.
“Why’d you say it like that? You gave me goosebumps.”
“Just… try to watch your mouth from now on.”
Silvia looked satisfied as she walked back to me and began to tell me about this ‘Transcendence’ person.
As it turned out-
Transcendence was a very mysterious figure.
No one had ever seen their real face.
Even Silvia didn’t know why.
Maybe Transcendence had a tumor on their face- I was lost in thought when-
“Let me just say this. I’ve met the guy, Transcendence. He’s freaking terrifying. I’m pretty sure he could snap dozens of me like twigs.”
Cthulhu said nonchalantly.
Knowing Cthulhu’s usual playful nature, what he was saying was likely true.
His words gave me a lot to think about.
He could defeat dozens of Cthulhus?
I couldn’t help but imagine dozens of Cthulhus attacking at once.
‘…That would be a disaster.’
A pure, unadulterated disaster.
How could there be dozens of people like Cthulhu?
Anyway.
‘Someone like that exists?’
To think that someone like that actually existed.
It was astonishing.
As I was lost in thought-
“Well then, I’ll let you know when I have more details. Let’s all meet up then.”
“Okay.”
A chance to meet someone stronger than me.
It was an opportunity I couldn't miss.
I might learn something from meeting them.
My main goal was to analyze the mana of someone stronger than me.
It would be helpful in case I ever ran into them in the future.
With that, Silvia vanished in an instant.
Cthulhu gave me a casual wave and disappeared as well.
I was all alone again.
“What should I do…”
I wondered what to do next.
Should I stay in Lukphelton and hunt more monsters, or head back to Baruk?
As I was pondering-
“Work is work.”
Since I was already in Lukphelton, it would be better to hunt as many monsters as I could before leaving.
And gather as many byproducts as possible.
Not that I was short on money.
But it never hurt to have more, right?
As I was walking along, lost in thought-
Wooong-
The crystal hanging around my neck suddenly pulsed, as if trying to pull me in a certain direction.
It was rare for the crystal to react this way.Then it hit me.
‘The crystal… it’s made of a demon, isn’t it?’
Maybe it was trying to tell me something about what lay in the direction it was pulling me.
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Tyftc
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