Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Discord
The light and fire magic that Solif had shown, which created beams when combined, was originally a secret technique passed down only to the Baraha family head and heir.
Similar to how Meisa had secretly taught Turan the Arabion’s thought acceleration magic.
The difference between the two was that while the former required the Sun bloodline to use, the latter could be used even without Storm bloodline.
This was why Solif was puzzled when Turan asked to learn this technique in prison.
“Even if you know the principle, you can’t use it without Sun bloodline?”
“I have a way, so just teach me first.”
“…Well, if you say so. First, you know fire comes in different colors, right?”
The color of flames varies depending on what fuels them, and mages can somewhat control this by manipulating their magical power’s properties when using ignition magic.
These colors change based on which wavelengths of light are emitted, so by precisely adjusting the colors of both fire and light to match, they can be combined into one.
The ideal color for this is golden, like what Solif created.
Though Turan didn’t fully understand what wavelengths were or why matching them allowed fire and light to mix, since even Solif didn’t know that much when using the magic, understanding this much theory was sufficient.
“Let’s see.”
Turan pulled out a strand of light whip from the glowing ring spread behind his back and swung it lightly.
Perhaps due to lack of practice, the movements felt crude and clumsy compared to Solif’s.
Of course, being able to use it this well after just a few practice attempts in prison was already an unreasonable display of talent that would astound ordinary mages.
“W-what? How can you possibly use the Light of Judgment?”
Countless thoughts raced through the Baraha noble Rey’s mind upon seeing this.
Could the heir have had a child this age during his few years away from the family?
But that was obviously nonsense.
If not that, was this enemy not actually from Zahar but rather an illegitimate Baraha bloodline user using a stealth magical device?
That would be difficult to trace parentage for, and then what about the Earthkeeper bloodline abilities shown earlier?
With his thoughts in chaos from all these questions, Rey only snapped back to attention when Turan’s extracted whip came rushing toward him.
“Kuk!”
The light sword extending from his hand seemed to deflect the whip but immediately broke, unable to withstand the heat.
While this might not have happened if both were at full power, it occurred because Turan now had more total magical power than Rey.
Though the green shield saved his life by blocking again, this consumed a large chunk of his remaining magical power.
The one fortunate point was that his opponent wasn’t particularly skilled at wielding Baraha’s secret technique, the Light of Judgment.
At that previous speed, he could probably dodge if he stayed alert.
That would have been even easier if his feet and legs weren’t injured.
Just as he thought this, Turan’s light whips suddenly increased to four.
“I’m not used to it yet, so I can only handle four for now.”
Along with these dumbfounding words, the instantly multiplied whips flew at Rey.
They moved exactly twice as fast as the previous attack.
When Turan returned to the garden after dealing with Rey, Solif was on the verge of being subdued as his strength was nearly exhausted.
Of course, the Baraha mages pressuring him were also not in a very comfortable state regarding their magical power.
The reason for this was that they had wasted magical power keeping the surroundings brightly lit, not knowing when the Zahar noble might reappear.
“You, you…”
“How on earth did you do that!”
Just like Rey earlier, the Baraha nobles were shocked to see Turan appear with a glowing ring behind him.
And they were even more dumbfounded when they saw him skillfully wield over a dozen whips extracted in an instant.
Though they fought quite well despite the suddenly reversed situation, the tide of battle had already turned.
While Turan still maintained nearly half his magical power even after subduing Rey, the Baraha nobles had used up almost all their strength trying to subdue Solif.
Moreover, in the midst of this, the exhausted Solif managed to take down one high-ranking noble in a mutual destruction, allowing Turan to leisurely fly above the garden using flight magic and subdue the enemies one by one.
First, he scattered and detonated Fire Soul to disable the eyes and ears of the three relatively weaker nobles.
In that state, he killed two by slashing them and then killed the remaining one trying to flee in panic with a stone throw.
Fearing counterattacks like before, he only used Fire Soul that one time, and for the last remaining Baraha noble leader, he subdued him gradually using light whips like when fighting Rey earlier.
The leader fought quite well, wielding a magical device in the form of a light-absorbing cloth, but having already depleted most of his magical power, he soon had his limbs severed and fell to the ground.
It’s hard to say whether it was fortunate or not that the intense heat cauterized the wounds, preventing the risk of excessive bleeding.
“Just what… what kind of person are you? To freely use stealth, the Light of Judgment, flight, and explosion magic…”
The Baraha leader’s eyes were filled with the unique terror of someone who has seen an incomprehensible creature.
Isn’t this something impossible unless a god of magic had descended?
Even if the head of some great family had attacked, it wouldn’t have been this bewildering.
Though not unable to understand that emotion, what Turan needed now was not answers but questions, so he took out the chain magical device from his large-capacity pocket.
He planned to first restrain him to prevent resistance even after recovering magical power, then extract information step by step.
However, upon seeing the chains, the leader’s expression changed, and his head suddenly burst into flames.
It was an incredibly powerful fire, as if he had concentrated all his remaining magical power.
“Ah.”
Originally, casting magic on a mage’s body without proper cause would result in strong repulsion, but the only exception to this constraint was casting magic directly on one’s own body.
Just like the noble in front of him who had just cast ignition magic on his head.
The leader, whose head had turned pitch black and died before Turan could react.
Turan looked down at his corpse, then clicked his tongue and put the chains back in his pocket.
Someone of that rank would surely have known something about the mastermind behind manipulating Solif’s life.
Indeed, it wasn’t easy to subdue a noble prepared to die… even in a situation like this where he had the relevant magical device.
‘Nothing to be done, I suppose.’
There was no use dwelling on what had already happened.
Turan left the leader’s corpse and carefully lifted Solif, who was rolling on the ground, into a sitting position.
He was in a truly pitiful state, with one arm severed from the elbow and a large chunk of flesh gouged out from his side, his entire body literally in tatters.
“You’re in quite a state.”
“Heh, but I held out pretty well, didn’t I…?”
The unfocused look in Solif’s eyes as he answered suggested he would soon lose consciousness if left like this.
Of course, losing consciousness in this state would mean death.
Even with a top-tier noble’s vitality, he might last a few more hours, but natural healing was unlikely.
Turan extended his senses toward the corpses of the dead nobles and, finding the silhouette of a glass bottle-shaped object, retrieved it.
Thanks to roughly hearing about the functions of their magical devices during the strategy meeting with Solif earlier, he knew this was a recovery magical device.
‘Injecting magical power should produce a recovery potion, they said.’
He guessed it was probably an imitation of the holy relic that could produce the Elixir of Life capable of reviving even the dead.
When he injected magical power, liquid could be seen sloshing in the previously empty bottle, so Turan fed this to Solif.
Soon after, color began to return to his pale face.
However, as the effect of the potion was too weak for a single dose to fully recover someone as powerful as Solif, Turan repeatedly converted his magical power into recovery potions and fed them to him.
As he expended large amounts of his remaining magical power that had been depleted from fighting, he felt an almost dizzying sense of exhaustion.
‘Tsk, it seems less efficient than the Healer bloodline after all…’
Well, if a magical device could reproduce bloodline abilities with the same efficiency, it would be worthy of being called a holy relic itself.
Even Turan’s Guardian magical device was less efficient in terms of magical power consumption compared to the Guardian bloodline’s power.
After resting and recovering magical power several times to create and feed recovery potions, Solif finally shook his entire body and stood up.
Though his severed arm didn’t return, he seemed to have recovered quite a bit of strength.
“Resurrection!”
“Yes, you’ve resurrected, now could you make some of this…?”
Solif, who had jumped up energetically, made a sheepish expression when Turan held out the glass bottle with a half-dead look, and created some recovery potion for him.
Drinking this made the burning sensation on Turan’s back, which had been persistently painful, subside a little.
After getting through the crisis by creating and sharing recovery potions with each other, Solif used telekinesis magic to unfasten the Guardian magical device he was wearing on his arm and handed it over.
“This really was an amazing item, I would have been done for long ago without it.”
“It’s my treasure.”
Though the Imitator holy relic was overwhelmingly superior in terms of simple functionality, this was the item Turan personally felt more attached to.
Probably because it was a gift from a friend.
Of course, what Asiz had actually made was the clothes that were now tattered from fighting, but still.
“So… are we going to clean up right away?”
“First, I need to call Bije.”
“I guess I should start organizing things.”
“I’ll do it, you just rest.”
Though they apparently had vile intentions, they were still his former family and comrades.
It must have been unsettling enough to engage in a slaughter with them, so he didn’t want to make Solif search and gather their corpses on top of that.
“It feels a bit unfair for me to rest alone after we fought together.”
“If your body’s fine, I’ll put you to work whether you like it or not, so don’t hold back.”
“Well, if you insist.”
After seeing Solif lean against a tree with a somewhat embarrassed expression, Turan immediately headed to where he had hidden Bije.
He didn’t encounter any pirates or island residents while passing through the fortress and village.
The pirates must have fled by ship in terror after seeing the fortress burn, and the residents seemed to be holed up in their homes waiting for the fighting to end.
When he dug up the entrance of the small cave, he saw Bije crouched inside.
“Bije, I’m back.”
[Turan, are you hurt?]
Bije immediately wrote upon seeing Turan’s face.
Though it would be pitch black inside the dark cave for normal people, Turan could see clearly.
“I’m not hurt, just a bit tired. It’s all over now, so you can come out. I have a nice gift too.”
[Gift?]
“Something delicious.”
The reason Turan didn’t bring Bije to this fight was that it was too weak compared to him.
Though quite strong for a magical beast, it could be in danger if it took a wrong hit from a house head-level mage who could exert some power.
Someone like Rey, who had faced Turan in direct combat, could probably kill Bije instantly.
But from now on, after absorbing magical power from the corpses lined up in that fortress, things would be different.
‘This is incredible.’
Turan, who had returned to the fortress with Bije, organized the corpses of the dead Baraha nobles and then looted their magical devices.
Fortunately, thanks to the Imitator holy relic, there was no need to strip the corpses down to their underwear and search thoroughly.
The magical devices recovered this way numbered as many as twenty-three.
About ten were relatively ordinary items, seven could be called quite excellent.
And the last five were treasures that wouldn’t be far behind Turan’s Guardian magical device, worthy of high praise even in a great family.
If it became widely known that an individual possessed this many magical devices, dozens of noble families might rise up to hunt him down.
Turan first advised Solif to reclaim the magical devices he originally owned.
“Is that really okay?”
“The magical devices you originally had would be optimized for you anyway. It would be useless for me to hoard them all myself.”
A mage possessing two magical devices that spew fire doesn’t double his firepower.
After all, one still has to expend their own magical power to exert force.
If there are multiple magical devices, it’s more efficient to distribute some to comrades who can use them effectively.
Solif gathered about a dozen magical devices including a backpack, a wooden stick with paper attached, and underwear, with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
Afterwards, Turan carefully organized the remaining magical devices, recalling their functions one by one or having Solif confirm them.
Still, since most had been seen in the recent battle, their uses could be roughly understood.
‘This is what that Rey guy used. Automatic defense function… though the performance is good, it seems to consume too much magical power. I should keep it for now. This one seems to overlap with the Guardian magical device, so I’ll tell Solif to use it. Oh, this is that cloth from earlier, isn’t it?’
Since they were born with the aggressive powers of light and fire, the Baraha nobles didn’t bring many offensive magical devices.
The closest thing to an offensive item was the one Turan just picked up, the light-absorbing cloth.
This item, which the leader of the Baraha nobles had used earlier, had the function of absorbing bright light in the surroundings when unfolded and infused with magical power.
They probably brought this magical device, which was practically the natural enemy of the Sun bloodline, to hunt Solif.
And a function that eliminates light could also be very useful for Zahar mages like Turan.
‘This could really come in handy.’
Until now, when light was shone, he had no choice but to flee helplessly or cancel his stealth, but if he could swallow the light using this cloth, he could fight while remaining hidden.
Perhaps Zahar nobles were already creating and using similar magical devices.
The only time he had seen a Zahar mage fight was in the underground labyrinth battle, and that place made stealth abilities meaningless anyway.
After folding and putting away the cloth, what caught Turan’s eye as he continued organizing the magical devices was a translucent mask.
“Is this perhaps that thing? The mask that changes appearance?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. Probably. It changed appearance when worn on the face.”
“You don’t know any details about its function or side effects?”
“That’s right.”
Turan examined the mask from various angles before sending it to his large-capacity pocket as well.
He planned to ask Asiz to appraise this later too.
After finishing the organization to some extent, it was time for the much-anticipated magical power absorption.
Of the ten nobles who died this time, Turan had already absorbed one in the underground prison, so the total number was nine.
Looking at the lined-up corpses, Solif spoke in a somewhat trembling voice.
“This feels really strange. It’s not the first time I’ve ‘buried’ someone, but…”
He surely never thought there would come a day when he would bury his own family members after killing them.
As Turan placed Bije beside him, Solif asked in a low voice.
“Are you going to have that creature eat the corpses?”
“No, Bije can absorb magical power the same way as mages. I taught it separately.”
“Oh, I heard there aren’t many magical beasts that can learn that…”
It seemed that Bije wasn’t uniquely clever enough to have such a talent on its own.
Perhaps feeling a bit relieved that the corpses wouldn’t be desecrated, Solif reached out with a somewhat more relaxed expression than before.
And so the magical power absorption began.
The first targets were six nobles with relatively weak, ordinary house head-level magical power among them.
Naturally, neither Solif nor Turan could expect significant growth from absorbing their power.
At most, Turan had the benefit of storing the Sun bloodline’s magical power in the Imitator holy relic.
Seeing this, Solif clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“It’s still unbelievable even seeing it again. To think a holy relic capable of absorbing magical power to recreate bloodline abilities could exist…”
Though he had already seen the explanation and results in the underground prison, it still seemed difficult for him to accept.
Well, that was natural since no such device existed among current magical devices, or even among those recorded in history.
Unlike the two top-tier nobles beside him, Bije was showing noticeable growth while absorbing the six nobles’ magical power.
This was a natural result of absorbing six house head-level mages when it had been just slightly stronger than an ordinary noble.
After calming down Bije, who was flying around excitedly from its suddenly increased power, they carefully absorbed the magical power of the final three high nobles.
While Solif didn’t gain much benefit, Turan experienced the joy of growth after a long time as he absorbed the power of nobles stronger than himself in succession.
The sensation of transcending to a higher existence, from flesh like bones and muscles to magical power, spirit, soul, or even something more fundamental.
After exhaling that almost dizzying pleasure through several breaths and opening his eyes, the surrounding objects felt clearer.
His senses had sharpened along with improved physical abilities from increased magical power.
‘At this level… I’m probably similar to Ferga now.’
Though he couldn’t remember exactly how strong Ferga was, it felt roughly around that level.
Compared to Solif beside him, about 80 percent.
Considering Ferga was once considered one of Zahar’s heir candidates, Turan had now become skilled enough to be compared with heirs of great houses, albeit on the lower end.
He would be even stronger considering his magical devices and magical skill.
While trying to calm his pounding heart, Bije suddenly let out a sharp chirp and flew into the sky beside him.
It seemed overly excited from growing even more rapidly than before.
“Bije, I know you’re happy but calm-”
Turan stopped mid-sentence, unable to continue at the sight before him.
In the pitch-black night sky above, whirlwinds were swirling with each wingbeat of the black eagle.