Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Read it only at Utoon.net!
Discord         

“I guess this one’s not it either.”

Watching lightning strike the snowy ground, Turan spoke with a somewhat disappointed voice.

Given that he felt no changes in magic consumption or precision, it seemed he hadn’t gained the power to control lightning.

This wasn’t really surprising.

Even great families typically only possessed two bloodlines because combining three or more was extremely rare, and when passed to the next generation, one bloodline usually dropped out.

In other words, two was the stable upper limit for bloodline inheritance.

Having four bloodlines was considered so unrealistic it wasn’t even discussed, so without the information from the underground labyrinth, Turan wouldn’t have thought it possible either.

Of course, another possibility remained open.

Rather than inheriting degraded bloodlines, some bloodlines might still be locked, meaning he could potentially control lightning after accumulating more magic power…

‘If it’s four bloodlines, that means there’s still plenty of potential left.’

It wasn’t particularly secret that those born with more bloodlines generally had higher growth limits.

Just look at how no head of an ordinary single-bloodline family could match the heads of great families.

Additionally, children of great families were born with stronger magic power on average and had higher chances of being born nobles rather than knights.

This was the secret to securing hundreds of nobles when ordinary bloodlines only formed families with dozens of nobles.

Turan suddenly felt like visiting the library and looked southwest.

The library’s spirit could sense the Arabion bloodline even when his bloodline was completely locked, so it could probably confirm if there were more remaining now too.

‘But… it’s difficult right now.’

Even riding Bije and finding the right route would take three or four days, and considering variables during travel and time to return, he’d need to leave the city empty for nearly ten days.

This was too long to leave a city with no other magicians.

Just one decent magical beast could completely destroy everything.

There was no need to rush since the governance rights for Kalamaf would soon be transferred anyway.

Among the heads of seven cities, someone must have found traces of his mother’s whereabouts.

Now that he’d discovered the identity of his hidden bloodline, he wanted to know the truth even more.

What could have possibly happened for him to be born between people of two families trying to kill each other…

“Well, shall we head back? Bije-no, wait.”

About to fly off riding Bije, Turan stopped mid-sentence at a sudden thought.

Then, he slowly lifted his body a few meters with floating magic.

‘Let’s see…’

While magicians can control their bodies to float and move like controlling humans, the speed and precision was embarrassingly low to call it “flight.”

But Arabion nobles could wrap wind around their floating bodies to fly quickly through the sky.

This was impossible for ordinary magicians who could only handle wind in large chunks, so even past Turan had quickly given up after trying lightly.

But now it should be possible.

“Want to fly together?”… Seeing Bije chirp as if asking what he meant, Turan wrapped wind around his body and gave it direction.

With a sensation like his whole body was being pushed from behind-

“Whoa-”

In that moment, sky and ground, left and right all mixed together.

As all colors lost their outlines and mixed chaotically making everything unrecognizable, with a bang, Turan realized he was stuck somewhere.

“Ouch…”

When the dizziness subsided somewhat, Bije landed on his head and clicked her beak as if looking down on him.

Fortunately, she seemed to have escaped in time.

Though at this speed, she wouldn’t have been badly hurt even if she crashed together.

Turan smiled bitterly while dusting off his dirty clothes.

“Yes, I know I’m pathetic without you telling me. Flying is harder than I thought.”

He thought it would be simple since Arabion nobles did it so easily, but trying it himself proved much harder than expected.

After crashing headfirst about fifteen or sixteen more times, Turan finally started getting the hang of it.

What happened earlier was his upper body, which caught more wind compared to his thin legs, going too far forward.

The trick seemed to be adjusting wind strength by body part to maintain balance.

Shortly after, Turan was flying through the sky at a speed similar to running directly.

“So this is what flying feels like…”

The tiny world spread out far below.

Though he often saw this view while flying with Bije’s help, this felt different.

Perhaps because he was flying by himself without anyone’s help.

Just then, Bije flying beside him pecked his head once.

Thanks to their soul bond, he could feel her anxiety.

Did she think she’d become useless now that he could fly directly?

“Don’t worry, you’re still much faster anyway. And even if you slow down, I won’t abandon you.”

Turan reassured her like this while grabbing Bije’s leg and letting his body float without flying.

Indeed, her speed and magic efficiency were far superior.

Watching Bije flap her wings energetically with improved mood, Turan impulsively controlled wind to form currents under her wings.

He felt his body suddenly accelerate forward.

“Whoa.”

Though Bije also chirped in surprise, being a bird she instantly read and rode the wind Turan created.

Without using much magic power, their flight speed felt much faster.

He suddenly recalled increasing speed by blowing wind into sails while riding ships before.

If he ever rode a ship again, it might be fun to make a sailboat fly like it was soaring through the sky.

* * *

Having spent time practicing flight, it was already dark when they arrived, so no one noticed Turan flying above Kalamaf City.

As he opened the window to enter city hall from above, he heard someone urgently calling him.

“Protector!”

He had sensed someone’s presence before entering – it was Daruk, head of the city officials.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting all these hours since I left?”

“Yes.”

Though I clearly said it would take days when leaving, what foolishness is this… Before he could scold him, Daruk saw Turan’s appearance and exclaimed in shock.

The clothes Asiz made were torn in various places not yet recovered, and covered in both Turan’s blood and dwarf blood, making them a complete mess.

“No, are you injured? We must call a doctor right away-”

“I’m not badly hurt so don’t worry about it.”

Though some injuries weren’t healed since healers used most of their power on the seriously wounded, these would heal after just one night’s sleep.

It’s not like he would die from infections like commoners anyway.

But unlike his usual obedient self, Daruk firmly shook his head and shouted:

“You are this city’s guardian deity and father, we cannot take even small injuries lightly! If you won’t receive treatment, then take this foolish old man’s head instead!”

He hadn’t even acted like this when told about transferring the city’s governance rights.

In the end, Turan had to have his wounds examined before he could even wash.

“Ah, ah-it’s an honor to meet you, Protector…”

The doctor called in the middle of the night was so nervous his hands were shaking.

Was it pressure from examining a noble, or imagination of what could wound even a noble?

He examined Turan’s body with his shirt off, saying only two wounds on his back and side needed stitches.

Both were from being stabbed by dwarf spears.

But when he took out needle and thread to stitch the wounds, a surprising fact was revealed.

The needle wouldn’t pierce a noble’s body.

Come to think of it, it was silly for a needle to work on a body that wasn’t even scratched when strong pirates stabbed it with swords and spears.

“Nngh, uh… why won’t it go in…”

“Forget it. These wounds will heal by tomorrow anyway. They’re not even bleeding anymore.”

Finally the doctor finished treatment by applying some medicinal herb juices said to be good for wounds and started packing to leave, when Daruk quietly approached and threatened:

“Naturally, the fact that the city’s protector was injured and received treatment must not be revealed. If rumors spread, not just you but your family won’t be safe either.”

“Y-yes… I’ll keep that in mind…”

Though he hadn’t noticed since Daruk always groveled before Turan, seeing him intimidate the doctor showed he too now had the scent of authority.

Well, among commoners there was no one of higher rank than him.

After the doctor left, Turan put on his shirt that would probably return to normal by dawn and spoke to Daruk.

“Come to think of it, I should tell you in advance. The western threat is gone.”

Said casually like announcing tomorrow’s sunrise, Daruk seemed unable to understand the meaning at first.

He rudely asked “What?” before his eyes widened enormously compared to moments ago.

“W-what do you mean…”

“Arabion’s army will withdraw soon, and the west will become completely ownerless land, so some will want to expand there.”

Like how the Baltas family once ruled both Orem and Murei, when there was lots of land and many cities but few nobles, families naturally expanded here and there… Though expanding to distant regions like now basically meant becoming a separate family.

“Did you eliminate the western threat with Arabion’s army?”

It was a natural conclusion given how he suddenly disappeared and returned covered in wounds saying such things.

“Yes.”

“Ah, this city is once again indebted to you…”

“Don’t spread this story around. It won’t be good if rumors spread about being too deeply involved with Arabion.”

The previous rumors were just about receiving contact, but fighting together was somewhat different.

Though Zahar was probably busy investigating Ferga’s death now, it wouldn’t be good for either side if misunderstandings arose about Arabion extending influence to the Gray Zone.

“Anyway, start letting others know too. That this city is completely safe now and will soon be managed by another family.”

“Understood.”

Unlike before, Daruk nodded heavily.

* * *

As expected, by the next day Turan’s wounds had already healed leaving only small scars.

Though he could remove even those without a trace using the holy relic’s healing bloodline power, he didn’t.

It seemed wasteful to use it on small wounds on his side and back rather than his face.

When word spread that the western threat was completely gone and Kalamaf’s governance rights would soon be transferred, city residents showed different reactions.

Those who came after stabilization welcomed being managed by a proper family rather than one noble, but citizens saved during the fallen period even cried and begged in front of city hall for Turan to keep governing them.

Uncomfortable watching them, Turan flew daily to a rocky mountain overlooking the city to develop his newly gained wind bloodline power.

First he tested application techniques like more skilled flying or increasing running speed by wrapping wind around his body.

He also tried things like Meisa’s sound-blocking barrier – while some didn’t work as expected, many proved quite useful.

Next he researched ways to use wind power offensively.

The simplest method was crushing entire bodies with pushing impact like when he killed the bandits.

He also tested giving cutting power by mixing rough sand into whirlwinds or creating impact by shooting and exploding compressed air.

But after practicing such techniques several times, the conclusion was that Arabion nobles didn’t focus solely on lightning magic for no reason.

‘The offensive side is more disappointing than expected.’

Perhaps because both were forcibly using non-offensive powers for attacks, they were inefficient in magic use and lacking in destructive power.

At best they might be useful for subduing much weaker opponents?

Rather, the familiar method of throwing one stone with a sling would be much better.

Wondering if there was any way to increase attack power, Turan threw stones with a sling for practice.

He needed to consistently train this to use magic more efficiently too.

The stone thrown with full force cut through the wind with a bang as usual-

“Ah.”

He suddenly recalled natural laws learned from the librarian… First was that wind is flow created by movement of air filling this world.

Second was that the boom when objects move quickly comes from tearing through air…

Spinning another stone, Turan recalled sailing with Armani in the North Sea.

Wasn’t the trick to easily moving ships clearing the water blocking the front rather than trying to move the ship directly?

‘Make a path in front, with the feeling of air parting left and right as the stone passes…’

The moment he threw with full force, Turan realized his prediction was correct.

Instead of making a sound cutting through air, the stone flew much faster and quieter than usual, piercing through a huge cliff.