Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 22

Adonis Khan (3)

The interior was a wide plaza, easily spacious enough to accommodate dozens of people.

“It was over there.”

My steps were firm. A display case in one corner caught my eye.

“Everything’s still here.”

Various armaments greeted me from the display case. Equipment that would be praised anywhere in the world.

“How diligently they managed this…”

As if a thousand years had passed them by, they hadn’t lost their original luster.

“The condition is really good. Even I, who don’t know much about equipment, can tell.”

Of course, I was just a fifteen-year-old kid, so all I could do was compliment them like this.

“We have managed them with utmost care. I am glad you like them.”

Admun bowed his head. His particularly shabby appearance caught my eye.

“If you had sold just one of these, you could have lived for years. Why didn’t you?”

Admun simply smiled faintly.

“All possessions belong to the Khan family. We have only managed them.”

His integrity made me shake my head.

Some were taken from enemies, and some were obtained during travels.

‘I’m not going to use these anyway…’

I felt bad. They were just spoils of war. Dolph and his descendants were more precious to me than these things.

[What a genuinely kind bunch.]

‘I really have an eye for people.’

My interest soon turned elsewhere. I had kept the things I really cherished separately.

“Let’s go inside the plaza.”

“Ah, understood!”

Admun seemed a little excited. His eyes were filled with anticipation.

[Didn’t you know that no one but you can enter there?]

‘Yeah. I didn’t even tell Dolph.’

My residence, which the Dolph family had managed for a thousand years. There was a place that even they couldn’t enter.

The very corner of the plaza.

Woo-oong!

The orange barrier greeted us once again.

“Does the Young Master know how to enter this place as well?”

“Of course. It has been passed down through the family.”

For Admun, who had managed this place his entire life, just being able to see inside would be an honor.

I didn’t bother telling Admun to step back.

‘He probably can’t memorize it anyway.’

Woo-oong!

When I raised my hand, a string of ancient characters popped up.

Ⅰ Ⅳ Ⅵ

Ⅲ Ⅴ Ⅸ

Ⅷ Ⅱ Ⅶ

It was a randomly appearing number pad.

The numbers appeared in a different order each time, and because they were in an ancient language, you couldn’t memorize them after seeing them just once or twice.

I quickly pressed the numbers.

‘114, 215, 316, 418, 521, 623, 725, 829, 935.’

The first digit was the achievement I had made as a knight.

The following two digits were the age at which I achieved it.

[Geez, you’re such a self-loving guy.]

‘It was a great achievement, though.’

Although I had struggled for my life in the marketplace when I was young, I had grown faster than anyone else after taking up the sword and meeting Oberon.

As I pressed the numbers, the barrier turned golden.

Koo-ooo…

Soon, with a small vibration, the space behind the barrier opened.

“Wow… I’ve only heard about this place in legends.”

Admun stood there with his mouth wide open.

“Let’s go in together. I’ll show you what it looks like.”

The place we entered was a small room, rather shabby compared to the plaza.

“What are all these?”

Admun tilted his head. At first glance, they seemed less valuable than the armaments outside.

“These are martial arts manuals.”

“Martial arts manuals, you say…”

“Yes. I, no, Adonis himself, organized what he learned from seeing the techniques of other families. He even established his own techniques.”

“…Ah! So that’s why you kept them separately.”

Only then did Admun nod his head. Just as magic books were important to a mage, martial arts manuals were of special significance to a martial artist.

Of course, these were still vivid in my mind, so I didn’t come here to look at the martial arts manuals.

‘There it is.’

A small display case was set up in one corner. The armaments I used in my previous life were displayed there.

‘I didn’t have much use for them after reaching 9-star [the highest level of martial arts mastery].’

But for me now, they were equipment that would give me more strength than anything else.

‘Let’s just take this for now.’

[Oh, this is a blast from the past!]

I couldn’t take all the eye-catching armor. Sreung [sound of drawing a sword]. I just grabbed a sword that was standing in the corner.

* * *

When we came back out to the plaza, the landscaping that I hadn’t noticed when I was excited came into view. There was a well in the center, and a small garden in one corner.

‘It reminds me of when I was training in seclusion here.’

To ensure perfect seclusion, I had set up a self-sufficient system.

[You grew a lot back then. You reached 9-star back then, too.]

This place, which was still well-maintained, provided the same environment as it did back then. If I had to pick a difference, it was the size of the garden, which was a bit bigger than it was back then.

‘It’s a bit big for someone living alone.’

A question suddenly occurred to me.

“But where did the other family members go?”

If they had continued for a thousand years, Dolph’s family would have been quite large.

“That’s…”

Admun’s face darkened rapidly.

“Originally, our family was quite large, located above ground here. We were commoners, but we were large enough to be called a decent family. Everyone recognized us as the old-timers of Ias.”

“But?”

“Three years ago, people from the Magic Tower barged in. They said we were definitely hiding something here and told us to leave.”

It was hard to keep listening to Admun’s words.

“We couldn’t give up this land, so we resisted. The result was… only death.”

He clenched his fists tightly as he continued.

“In the end, my father hid my younger sibling and me inside the barrier at the last moment. He said that there must be someone to carry on the family to welcome the descendant of Adonis.”

Even at the last moment, they prioritized me over themselves.

‘What did I ever do for them…’

I couldn’t listen anymore. My heart was tightening, and I couldn’t bear it.

“So. So where is your sibling? Are they doing well here?”

Please. Say yes. I wanted to shout that. But Admun slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know if they are dead or alive.”

At the words he uttered calmly, I shouted without realizing it.

“You don’t know if they are dead or alive! What does that mean!”

“It’s as I said. It was a few months after we took refuge in the barrier. I went outside to check the situation, but I ran into the mages. My sibling was captured by them, and I had no choice but to run away.”

I felt empty. They were Dolph’s descendants, whom I had finally met. But the world didn’t easily allow our reunion.

“It was the mages from the Magic Tower?”

“Yes. Seeing as the barrier hasn’t been breached yet, it seems they haven’t given up easily, but…”

Admun couldn’t continue. He must have swallowed the words that they were more likely to be dead.

‘Those bastards, I wish I could chew them up and spit them out!’

I couldn’t know what they had suffered after being captured by those guys. But I couldn’t crush Admun’s last hope.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll find out.”

First, I had no choice but to comfort Admun.

[How are you going to find out?]

‘Still, I can freely enter and exit the Magic Tower. I’ll have to use every means possible.’

My gloomy mood was only temporary. Admun looked up urgently.

“Ah, but you have to leave now.”

“Why?”

“The morning patrol will be here soon. If you don’t leave now, you’ll have to wait until lunchtime.”

I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t skip the Magic Tower’s classes.

“Okay. I have to go to the Magic Tower for now.”

“I’ll guide you to the outside of the fence.”

“Please do.”

I followed Admun outside. Dawn was already breaking.

‘Has it already gotten this late?’

Only then did I see the reality of what these guys had been covering with tents.

‘It was all the traces of where Dolph’s family used to live.’

Most of it had been demolished, but traces of what were presumed to be houses were visible here and there. All the places with barbed wire were where Dolph’s descendants had once played.

‘I will definitely avenge you.’

I vowed as I followed Admun. He was familiar with this area, so we quickly reached the nearby barbed wire.

“This is one of the places I go in and out of.”

A small gap was dug under the barbed wire. I squeezed my body through the small gap like a dog hole. It was as if he had demonstrated it.

‘I don’t have to do that…’

Using the Arens family’s technique.

Toong! Toong!

I jumped over the barbed wire.

“…Ah. You’re amazing as expected. I apologize for the unnecessary suggestion.”

“No. You don’t have to apologize.”

He didn’t know what to do. I should have just squeezed through the hole.

“You can go straight along this road to the Magic Tower.”

Admun had deliberately guided me to the side closest to the Magic Tower.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon, so stay safe without getting caught.”

Just as I was about to leave Admun, who had bowed his head.

“Ah, wait.”

He rummaged through his pocket and handed me all the gold coins he had.

“This is all I have right now.”

“It’s, it’s okay.”

He frantically waved his hands.

“At least use this to get something to eat and live in an inn for a while instead of underground.”

He couldn’t refuse my repeated offers.

“…Thank you.”

* * *

There was no time to sleep.

I had only returned to my room and done some aura training and muscle strengthening.

‘It’s already time to go to class.’

The morning sun was already shining outside the window.

Toc! Toc!

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Ian! Let’s go to class!”

It was Drew’s unusually cheerful voice.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Together with him, I headed to the classroom where yesterday’s class had taken place. Now I was quite skilled at riding the moving orb.

Woo-oong!

I entered the classroom on the 12th floor.

“You are now just 2-star mages. In other words, you’re rookies.”

The first class was taught by the old professor from yesterday. The 100 or so students who entered this year were divided into four classes.

“Your class will learn the principles of each attribute from me this morning.”

There was a teacher for each subject. Unfortunately, that old professor named Andrei was a lecturer on attribute principles.

‘A boring person is in charge of a boring subject.’

Moreover, I had already studied the attribute principles countless times in ancient language books.

‘I should just control my aura during that guy’s class.’

Woo-oong!

I felt the aura accumulating in my body. The aura was accumulating in my muscles, not in my dantian [energy center]. Suddenly, I gathered the auras at the end of my right arm.

‘Now I can fill my forearm to some extent.’

It was the result of gathering the auras scattered throughout my body.

I was concentrating on aura control when.

“…Ian?”

A sense of déjà vu washed over me.

“Ian! What did I just say?”

Andrei adjusted his glasses and glared at me.

‘What’s wrong with him again?’

[Ugh. Am I your nanny?]

‘Ah, please.’

[Tsk!]

Oberon shook his head.

[The fire attribute is an intense attribute, so you must always be careful when handling it. Otherwise, the caster can be seriously injured.]

“The fire attribute is an intense attribute, so you must always be careful when handling it. Otherwise, the caster can be seriously injured.”

I said that and smiled brightly.

“Tsk!”

Andrei ended the class, seemingly displeased with something.

“Ian. I thought you were thinking about something else, but you were listening to everything.”

Drew, who was assigned to the same class, shone his eyes.

“Of course, of course.”

Oberon was grumbling from behind, saying, ‘Are you treating the constellation like dog poop?’

“The next class is mana manipulation? Ian, that’s what you’re best at!”

“Oh! Really?”

It was the time I was most confident in.

Creak!

The classroom door opened, and a new professor appeared.

“Hello, friends!”

My eyes widened at the sight.

“Cough!”

Drew even choked on the snack he was secretly eating.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Allois!”

A Delema Academy instructor. He had appeared here.