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#019. What’s in the Basement (2)
Dismissal! Bang!
The lightbulb was hit by a stray spark and shattered with a sharp sound.
The light suddenly went out.
But the view didn’t change.
The blazing fire brightly illuminated the basement.
Hahahahahahaha───
The man’s laughter echoed.
Shadows rippled on the wall as the body moved.
Ray held the mana in his palm and observed the situation.
“The boss will definitely regret it! He’ll regret abandoning me! Hahahaha!”
The flames burned the man from head to toe.
It looked like a human whose body was made of flames.
Also, Mana was spinning the ring furiously.
The red mana that circled the ring and devoured all other colors ran wild, coursing through all of the blood vessels.
“Assassin─! You came here to kill me and retrieve the Red Blood Stone─! Go ahead and kill me! How dare you──!”
The flames covering the man’s hand split into two streams.
The stems entwined themselves with each other’s bodies and climbed up, forming the shape of a long whip.
Shh …
It happened in an instant.
The whip, its red tongue flickering, rushed towards the boy’s head.
Ray reacted immediately.
He spread the mana he was holding out in front.
A huge, transparent membrane formed from multi-colored mana.
Bang──!
An eerie crash followed.
The whip bounced back, leaving sparks and small cracks in the shield.
“Defense! Right! If you’re going to kill someone, you should be able to use that level of magic! Hehehe!”
A man who keeps bringing up the word assassin.
I think there was a misunderstanding about my identity, but I had no intention of correcting it.
It’s not that important right now.
Because the man already seemed to be incapable of thinking clearly.
“Die─! Die and become a sacrifice to my broken honor──!”
Sacrifice.
For a moment, I thought I knew what the word meant.
Bang─! Bang──!
The man swung his arm wildly and whipped the shield madly.
With each strike of the whip, the shield shook violently, cracks began to form here and there, and it began to split.
Ray concentrated.
Additional mana from the atmosphere was drawn in and injected into the shield, repairing the cracks.
Bang──! Bang──!
“Are you just going to block it? Until when? Just until when!”
My ears were deafened by the loud shouting.
Ray stared at the man, feeling the heat rising to his skin.
It was an unexpected type of magic that covered the entire body in flames.
A knife is of no use.
Because of the blazing flames, approach is impossible.
If I hadn’t applied mana to my skin, my flesh would have already turned bright red.
Can I subdue this man?
Wouldn’t it be better to avoid this now and wait for the next opportunity?
There wasn’t much time to think about it.
Even at this very moment, sparks flying in all directions were turning the basement into a sea of fire.
‘First, turn off the lights.’
This will give you more space to spread your body out.
The warning that our instincts are sounding has not yet reached its limit.
The desire to spill information to the man has not yet bowed its head.
Bang──! Bang──!
The whip keeps on rushing.
Ray divided his mind into two as he concentrated.
One is to maintain the shield.
The other one is to activate new magic.
Woof─!
The mana present in the atmosphere was entangled in each point around the man under Ray’s control.
The color that appeared was a deep blue like the sea.
Accordingly, cold water droplets begin to form in the air.
Phong─! Hug─!
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The numbers grew in an instant.
It then began to rotate around the man along with the wind that blew in.
“What the…! Using two of your main magic spells at the same time…? And a water elemental one at that. You’re not a Slayer…!”
The screams did not continue.
The water whirlpool, which had spun at an accelerated rate, completely engulfed the man’s body.
Kwakwakwa──!
The tornado spun around with such force that it tore apart everything it touched.
Water droplets splashed everywhere.
The flames covering the man’s body darkened several levels, obscuring his vision.
Stop!
Blood flowed from Ray’s nose.
It fell down my lips and chin to the floor.
It was an aftereffect.
About using magic while pushing your mental power to the limit.
Kwakwakwa──!
The speed of the whirlwind gradually slowed down.
The water droplets that made up the magic lost their power and fell, turning the floor into a sea of water.
Soon the whirlwind disappeared.
And then the prey that had been swallowed revealed itself.
There was no sign of flames.
The man stood with his head bowed, his body covered in wounds.
Drops of water dripped from his soaking wet head and limbs.
“… … .”
Ray didn’t let his guard down.
At the same time, I felt like I had failed to control the power of magic.
It wasn’t a magic I had used before, I just moved the elements instinctively, thinking of the image of putting out fire.
“very.”
The man slowly raised his head.
“You use interesting magic. Kheukheuk! Kick!”
Completely out of focus eyes.
A body shaking like crazy.
Hwaruk.
And a breath of fire followed the man’s breathing and came out of his wet lips.
There was still mana left in the man’s ring.
‘He’s definitely stronger than me. He’s an opponent I can’t beat right now.’
Ray made a quick decision.
The warning lights of your instincts are almost at their limit.
It was a sign that if you don’t run away now, you’re likely to end up in a dangerous situation.
Wedge─!
Ray moved his arms like lightning.
He threw the knife at the man’s face and turned around to run towards the door.
To distract myself, I set fire to the notes on my desk that hadn’t burned yet.
Hurrah!
I passed through the flames that were still burning and arrived at the door.
“Khuhhhhhh. Hooooooo──.”
The man did not move from his seat.
He didn’t even glance at the note he had been writing so carefully, even though it was burning.
He took a deep breath and let out an ominous laugh.
Ray, protecting his hand with mana, pulled the doorknob.
Kikrik─ Kikrik─
The door didn’t seem to open easily as it had expanded in the heat.
“Hoooooooo── huff.”
That was the moment.
A huge flame burst out of the man’s mouth.
Kwaaaa …
The flames shot out towards Ray, growing in size like a sandstorm.
Crunch!
The door opened.
I gathered all my remaining mental strength.
Ray ran up the stairs, magically enhancing the strength and agility of his feet.
Knock knock knock knock──!
I felt a huge heat behind my back.
It was obvious without me having to say anything that the moment I stopped I would be consumed by flames.
It will melt down to the bones and disappear from the world without leaving even a trace.
‘It’s still okay. It’s safe.’
In these circumstances, not feeling fear becomes an extreme advantage.
Ray ran towards the light on the ground that was visible above the stairs.
And finally, the moment of reaching the light.
I rolled to the side with all my might.
Kwaaaa …
A burst of flames shot out of the stairwell.
The place where Ray was just a moment ago.
If I had been just a few seconds late, I would have been engulfed in flames.
The flames spread outside the building, leaving a hot mark on the street air before dying down in the air.
Timing when there are no people.
No one was injured in the fire.
“… … .”
Ray silenced his presence and focused his attention on the basement below the stairs.
All I could hear was a creepy laugh, and no sound of the man’s footsteps.
‘I don’t think he has any intention of pursuing me.’
I got up and moved my seat a little.
I sat on the stairs leading upstairs and regained my strength while focusing some of my attention on the basement.
I was thinking of leaving this place after observing the man’s movements a little more.
‘The power of the magic itself was different. The mana of the ring moved very smoothly. The speed at which the colors mixed was also fast.’
The heat in the boy’s eyes.
It was a desire to create a ring myself.
That way, I could quickly become much stronger than I am now and get one step closer to revenge.
‘plural….’
A man with a monocle came to mind.
It was impossible to gauge how strong the opponent was.
Because that guy had a lot more rings than this.
Revenge is impossible.
There is an overwhelming difference in power.
I didn’t think so.
Ray was confident that one day he would become stronger than the one-eyed wizard.
The journey for strength and vengeance had no intention of stopping, so it was simply a matter of time.
Okay.
He took out a red jewel from his bosom.
It was assumed with high probability that it was the red blood stone mentioned in the letter.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have taken everything.’
There were four in total.
One of them was the one used to start a fire in the basement.
The amount of stored mana was less than that of other gems.
Upon closer inspection, we could see that the mana in the air was flowing into the gem.
Ray tilted his head.
‘Mana is recharged on its own. It doesn’t seem to be much different from a ring. Except that there are restrictions on the colors it can hold.’
Although not exact, the jewel appeared to function similarly to an artificial ring.
If you can’t make rings, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to use these gems instead.
Of course, I’ll have to meet the wizard at the bookstore tomorrow and decide.
There were many questions that needed to be answered.
Magic and mana.
The city of rainbows and wizards.
A jewel and ring containing mana.
Ray, who was lost in thought for a moment, got up from his seat and left the building.
I turned my head and looked back.
A creepy laughter continued to be heard from the basement.
I’ll have Johnny from the restaurant check out the basement for a few days.
‘We’ll meet again sometime soon anyway.’
According to Cedric, he visits the abandoned factory periodically.
Ray turned his head again.
And then he left the street with steady steps.
*
Swaaa …
It rained all morning that day.
After beating the world for hours, he finally retreated with regret as the sun rose.
The sky cleared up once in a while.
The sun, having found a space to breathe, breathed heavily and scattered a bright yellow light across the world.
That time didn’t last long.
Because black clouds that had gathered from somewhere began to fill the sky again.
The sun, which was gradually becoming hidden, emitted light with the last of its strength.
Fragments of light scattered toward the world.
One of them landed in a dumpster on the southern outskirts of Sector 49.
From heaven to earth.
Through the car window and into the boy’s eyelids.
“… … .”
Ray opened his eyes wide.
I turned my head and checked the watch I had left inside the car.
It was an old pocket watch that I picked up at a garbage dump.
[AM 6:28]
Wake up about 30 minutes later than usual.
I thought it was because I used magic too much yesterday.
Thanks to that, my head feels very refreshed.
I got out of the car and stretched out, taking in some fresh air.
‘It looks like it rained clearly in the morning. It wasn’t black rain.’
A rare, clear rain.
You could tell by the puddle of water on the floor.
Ray immediately started moving towards somewhere at a quick pace.
The destination was a tributary of the Elton River.
I squatted down in front of the river and washed the blood and dust off my face, arms, and legs.
Crackle. Crackle.
Now that the river was temporarily clear, it was a chance to wash myself.
As time passes, the river will become polluted again with trash and wastewater floating down from upstream.
There is a way to wash it with the tap water in the car, but that felt like a waste of money.
In the lower sectors, water was more expensive than food or alcohol due to the lack of proper water sources.
I confirmed yesterday that I can create water with magic, but that was a waste of mental energy.
After washing up, I returned to the car.
I did some bodyweight exercises and finished eating.
[AM 7:12]
I checked the time and headed inside the sector.
The place we arrived at was 8th Street.
I dragged the box and sat down in front of a store.
I looked at the clock again.
The promised time was drawing near.
Tick, tick.
The clock hands continue to move forward with the boy’s anticipation.
Soon the lights in the store came on.
There was a small sound of footsteps from inside, and soon the door opened.
The girl who appeared there said.
“Come in. Grandpa is waiting.”