Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 439

Episode 439 Black Volcano (2)

There was something interfering with the detection of magic power, but it didn't really bother me.

It's just a distance limitation.

Also, by completely revealing the level and pouring out an overwhelming amount of magical power, it was a problem that could be quickly solved by forcibly overcoming the influence of the surroundings.

The reason we don't do that right away is because the aftermath could cause large and small distortions, including collapse.

There is no other reason.

The current situation can be controlled by Verden at any time if he wishes.

In that case, it was impossible for him not to notice the approach at close range.

… … !

A stranger encountering a transparent wall runs away in a panic.

'Footsteps and breathing can be heard, but no figure can be seen and the presence itself is faint.'

Among the magic items that have the function of <Transparency>, which is in the 5th tier, not <Invisibility>, which is in the 2nd tier.

Verden saw through the nature of the stranger with his insight alone.

He is short.

The stride is also short.

The sound of their fading breathing was far from rough, and they were neither elves nor beastmen, let alone humans.

The answer came immediately.

'Dwarf.'

The underground dwellers are very young dwarves.

* * *

The once most prosperous fortress was sunk underground and cut off from the world. No dwarf who set foot here ever saw the light of day again.

But that spark of life, even in the terrible cold and darkness, burned faintly and never went out.

For hundreds of years.

The young dwarf, Marmal, was one of those precious sparks.

“It’s not here either…….”

As I rummaged through the junk, Marmal pouted his lips as if he was sorry.

There were all kinds of things scattered around the old fortress without owners, but most of them were in ruins like this.

It may be spacious, but it is not practical.

You have to live in a pile of rubble for days to get anything useful. If you want anything else, it's all up to luck.

'But if I don't find it now, I might have a hard time later.'

Recently, one of the village's prized robes was damaged, completely losing its ability to retain body heat.

It wasn't an accident, and it wasn't anyone's fault.

The ancestral objects had held on and held on until they reached their limit.

At times like that, I would go down to the lower levels of the village to find the things I needed, but in reality, I was just wandering around the area.

Because if you do something wrong you'll die.

It is also a problem that there are sometimes ferocious monsters wandering through the passageways… … but above all, there are ‘white ghosts and giant tree roots’ wandering around the basement.

Especially, none of those captured by the latter, whether dwarves or monsters, returned.

───You must not go there! Absolutely! Absolutely!!

The village chief even strongly urged the villagers not to come down no matter what happened. It was like a greeting every morning.

But Marmal was brave.

He was a curious dwarf who enjoyed being praised in the village.

I still remember the countless compliments and applause I received when I discovered the magical item embedded in the crevice of the rock.

'Okay, let's go down. I've never been caught before.'

Gulp.

'I'll be back before dinner.'

Marmal, who endured hunger, covered his entire body in a robe with various magical functions such as <Suggestion>, <Maintaining body temperature>, and <Invisibility>.

His treasure number one, found in the ruins.

I even tried going deep underground with this, and as expected, I was safe.

At first, I was going to give it to the village chief… … but in the end, I didn’t. Careful adults would definitely keep it and treasure it for a very long time.

In that case, he decided that it would be more helpful to the village if he wrote it secretly.

Marmal, having made up his mind, secretly left the village and went underground.

A gloomy atmosphere.

It was a scary sight no matter how many times I experienced it, but I swallowed my saliva and started exploring. There is a limit to how much I can carry at one time.

I planned to find as many as I could and then take one or two at a time.

But… … a very unfamiliar sound was coming from there.

I suddenly got scared.

Marmal quickly hid in the building and glanced outside the second floor window.

'… … !!!'

There was a dwarf there.

Big nose.

A wrinkled, fierce face.

He was a grandfatherly dwarf with a bushy orange beard…

'Village chief?'

For a moment, I almost called out his name in joy, but I managed to cover my mouth before doing so. When I looked closely, I saw that his appearance was very different.

The respected village chief was not that big, nor did he carry an enormous hammer on his back.

No matter how you looked at it, that dwarf was not a resident of the village.

'Ear, is it a ghost?'

Dwarf ghosts with white eyes are said to bewitch the living.

That old dwarf didn't have white eyes… … but I couldn't get close to him. I was scared.

As Marmal, who was at a loss, was shivering, suddenly two more shadows appeared behind the grandfather dwarf.

……big.

Dwarves with a long and slender physique that is incomparable to that of the villagers.

The dwarf who had no left arm had a patchy beard, but the dwarf who was even thinner had no beard───

'Huh? Aren't you a dwarf?'

He narrowed his eyebrows and put strength into his eyes.

Yes, that's right.

As expected, his appearance was clearly different from the dwarves he knew.

Suddenly, I remembered the old stories the village chief often told.

'You said that outside, there are other races living besides dwarves.'

Another world that he told me about whenever he had time───A story about the surface that Marmal, who was born and raised underground, had never seen in his entire life.

As I recalled him, I recalled the characteristics of each race one by one… … Perhaps those two were of the human race.

'That means, no way?'

Marmal leaned forward to get a closer look.

That moment.

The human turned his head.

My heart sank when I met those blue eyes.

Clearly, his body was transparent thanks to the robe… … so there was no way he could be seen, but his gaze was focused directly on Marmal.

Instinct speaks.

They said they got caught.

The reaction was immediate.

Dododododododo!

Marmal, who had climbed out through the opposite window, used the roof as a stepping stone. He then stepped on a large piece of debris and escaped down to the first floor.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh……!”

There is no time to hide the sound.

Marmal, gripped by fear, ran and ran towards the village.

I didn't cry.

I moved my legs with that kind of strength.

<Transition>

Suddenly, a purple light flashed in front of me.

“Ah, I can’t see ahead……!”

As his vision became blocked, Marmal hesitated and stopped, unable to go any further.

As soon as the light subsided, he lowered both arms covering his face.

A blue-eyed human was right in front of me.

“Where are you from?”

An unfamiliar voice.

“Hic!”

A beat later, Marmal sat down.

I couldn't even say a word to save myself. My mouth wouldn't open. My whole body was trembling, and tears were welling up in my eyes.

Even though Marmal is a very intelligent dwarf, he is only 10 years old.

He was an immature child.

Gulp.

Instead of the frightened Marmal, his hungry stomach answered.

A moment of silence.

“…….”

The human, who had been staring at the sobbing dwarf for a moment, lightly snapped his fingers.

* * *

Kwajajak! Kwajajajajajab!

Marmal kept muttering incessantly.

At the same time, she was rummaging through the luxurious box and holding a handful of sweets.

Whenever I was thirsty, I drank a lot of cool, refreshing water.

[Scan completed. Race. Dwarf.]

Alpha has confirmed the species of young dwarf named Marmal.

Either way, Marmal was busy eating the snack with the aforementioned face.

Verden crossed his arms.

“No matter how young he is, I’ve never seen such a skinny dwarf before. I think he just doesn’t eat well… Is it okay if I don’t give him other foods that are easy to digest?”

You shouldn't stop giving food to someone just because they're hungry.

In humans, repeated vomiting can cause damage to the internal organs and death.

Linus said.

“I don’t know about other races, but dwarves are absolutely fine. I’ve never heard of a dwarf getting sick from eating proper food. Maybe if it was food that had been rotten for a few years.”

“Well, well. Even for a child, a dwarf’s stomach is sturdy. They can digest rocks without any problems. For your reference, this is from personal experience.”

I wasn't particularly interested in the story of Gharun, who swallowed a stone when he was very young.

“By the way, what do you think about this dwarf?”

“Well, of course he’s not a survivor. Maybe he’s a descendant of a survivor. Or a distant child of a search party that entered the Black Volcano and couldn’t get out. Maybe both. Judging from the fact that he can communicate, he definitely received some teachings.”

Gharun laughed in vain.

“No matter how strong the dwarves are in terms of survival… I never thought they would survive for over 200 years in such an underground cave. It’s almost a miracle.”

Unexpected good news.

The presence of survivors is certainly a strong clue in itself.

Beyond simply finding the facilities of the Black Volcano Fortress───the possibility of finding out why the Black Volcano became like this and what happened to the search party has opened up.

About 300 years ago in the past.

To be honest, it doesn't have much to do with Verden's staff production, but it's a gateway that must be passed through eventually, separate from curiosity.

'I didn't think I would be able to achieve my goal easily anyway.'

Looking back, I have to say that I went as far as to subdue the Bone Dragon to escape the Eastern Continent, even to the point of facing the glory of the corpse.

Well, thanks to that I was able to get my hands on the dragon's materials.

That was Verden's life.

“Phew.”

Marmal let out a heavy breath.

Her stomach was slightly distended, as if she had filled her stomach with snacks.

The boy's expression brightened.

Marmal, who was born underground, had only ever eaten meat from alien species and insects, aside from cultivated vegetables.

Although they were all disgusting and had a strong gamey smell, if you grill them for a long time and chew them for a long time, they developed a slightly savory taste, so I enjoyed them as a delicacy.

In a word, it was a poor life.

What if you tasted luxurious snacks made by artisans who dedicated their lives to creating flavors?

It's driving me crazy.

“Hehehe…….”

Marmal, who had been blinking and feeling the aftertaste, suddenly raised his head.

“This is my first time eating something this delicious! Thank you! By the way, I want to let the villagers eat it too, so could you give me a little more?”

Belated praise.

And rather, it was a desired request.

“Okay. If you lead us to the village, I’ll give you as much as you want.”

"yes!"

Marmal didn't worry.

The dwarf, who was immersed in the most satisfying and fulfilling feeling since birth, was already overflowing with kindness towards humans.

It never occurred to him that Verden, who had given him the sweets, might have evil intentions.

I even forgot to ask how and why they came here.

It was a childish, innocent thought.

Then Linus asked,

“But Marmal, why were you here alone? What about the other dwarves?”

“Oh, that’s it. One of the robes in the village was broken, so I came here to pick it up secretly.”

"stealthily?"

“Yes, it’s dangerous here…… Ah.”

Only then did Marmal realize that he had solved the <Transparency> problem and hurriedly stood up.

“Everyone, we have to get to the village right now! Quickly! Here, here! We’ve been here too long!”

"what?"

“So───”

… … !

An ominous wind blows.

Linus turned away, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin.

Hundreds of dwarves appeared out of nowhere, standing in the middle of the street. All of them had pale skin and their eyes were discolored white.

Kookookookookook.

The ground begins to shake more and more violently.

Part of the black rock that formed part of the fortress' residential area split apart, slowly revealing huge tree roots.

A view that appears as <hint>.

A mass of plant tissue, too large to fit entirely into the eye without lifting one's head, hung in the air above one's head.

What is that thing?

In fact, there was no need to think deeply about it. At least for Verden.

Strange beings with white eyes, reminiscent of the dead.

A giant tree whose roots alone give one an idea of its enormous size.

“……Soul Tree?”

A heteromorph who was first tested by the Ark in the past and subdued together with Leila in the Demon Forest located in the Duchy of Riviant.

A tree that dyes the country in despair.

The entity, the Soul Tree, revealed its presence in the darkness.