Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 100

“…..Follow me.”

With a determined look, Raul rose from his seat.

Lennox silently followed behind him.

They passed through a corridor filled with various equipment and arrived at a large warehouse labeled ‘Supplies’.

Originally, it was a place for the staff managing the guest rooms, but when the warehouse door opened, an unusual space filled with colorful ropes was revealed.

A subtly different flow from the dark mana that filled the corridor.

Before Raul could even speak, Lennox noticed the secret within this space.

‘They’ve reversed the barrier formation and deployed it. Is it to protect the outside from the contents inside? This is rather…..’

It seemed more like a sealing formation.

As if confirming Lennox’s guess, Raul, who was walking ahead, spoke.

“I’ve separately organized and stored dangerous items here. If the club hadn’t helped, it would have been really difficult.”

The deeper they went into the warehouse, the more bizarre objects came into view.

A wooden box stained with blood, a necklace made of wriggling fingers, a crystal made of blackened eyeballs…

Perhaps because it was magic powered by negative emotions using dark mana, the artifacts created were far from aesthetically pleasing.

Although they claimed to be a non-combat, moderate faction, they were still black mages.

‘….They’re not the kind of people I want to be close to, in many ways.’

It wasn’t just a feeling; these kinds of objects easily eroded and disrupted the owner’s mental state.

For those with a high resistance to spell effects like Lennox, it wasn’t a significant issue, but it was natural to feel uneasy.

“We’re here.”

In the innermost corner of the warehouse.

A human forearm, reduced to bone, was neatly preserved in a large glass case.

A single ring was on the emaciated, dark right ring finger.

It was a crude shape with a transparent red crystal that was immediately noticeable, but the mana emanating from it was so distinct that even Lennox couldn’t easily ignore it.

Completely different from what he had seen and remembered until now, it was a mana with a force like a solid and precisely cut jewel.

It was as if it directly represented the image contained in that ring.

He knew it the moment he saw it.

The legacy of a very old mage family.

The treasure that Raul had mentioned was the ring now in front of his eyes.

“It’s different from our agreement, but I’ll give this to you now.”

“You want something.”

“That’s right. After hearing what you just said, I’ve made a firm decision.”

Raul’s dark eyes shone with resolve.

“I will cooperate with the city government’s hounds. Can you help me contact them?”

#

It wasn’t difficult for Ivelyn Marcia to learn about the black mages’ cooperation.

The alliance between the black mage combat faction and the terrorist organization Falchion was a tricky issue for her, and in this situation, the cooperation of the Bu-ye faction could be an unexpected breakthrough.

However, it was unknown how they, who had been under the protection of Kroken, would get permission from that difficult crocodile…..

‘That’s not my problem.’

Lennox thought, fiddling with the ring inside his coat collar.

Lennox was cooperating with Raul only to obtain clues about the obsidian brooch and other legacies.

The safety of the Bu-ye faction black mages was their own concern.

It was their responsibility to walk the tightrope between the agent and the den of demons.

‘The legacy of a very old mage family….’

The fact that he readily gave up this carefully preserved item showed how determined Raul was to resolve the situation.

If the deal was done, at least Lennox could do his best to help him with what he wanted.

Lennox immediately returned home and began to examine the ring in his laboratory.

He extracted mana of all attributes, hitting, stabbing, scratching, and tightening it.

As expected, the ring still only emitted its unique, solid mana. There was no change.

“……..”

But Lennox didn’t give up and continued to control his mana and project it towards the ring.

‘I can’t stop here.’

He knew that the mana flowing in this ring was special.

If the mana was this different, it was either a rare item created by a very high-level mage through property transformation, or the trace of someone born with a different innate talent.

He also understood why other mages hadn’t found anything special in this ring.

But Lennox didn’t think his own talent was the same as other mages.

He didn’t have the kind of personality to be deterred by such an obstacle.

If he couldn’t create it, he would just imitate it.

The hand of mana that stretched out from Lennox’s hand completely analyzed and absorbed the flow of mana surrounding the ring.

Transformation of mana properties.

He had already succeeded once in the process of studying Eden’s research journal.

He hadn’t used it in actual combat because he hadn’t fully incorporated its power into magic, but it was enough as a stepping stone to try a new property transformation like now.

Crack…!!!

Solid and precise. Yet, without any gaps in the flow of mana.

In Lennox’s mind, a blueprint was drawn in an instant where particles of mana grabbed and connected to each other.

In response, his fingers naturally twitched, adjusting the mana.

Lennox’s flexible mana, which could change into any property, gradually solidified and began to glow red.

In response, the ring on the desk began to vibrate slightly.

He carefully adjusted the particles, trying to transform the properties, as if tuning a radio frequency.

Just as a hand groping for an invisible keyhole finally found the right fit, Lennox’s mana suddenly began to harden rapidly.

The ring, directly exposed to that mana, emitted a bright red light and projected an unknown illusion into the air.

Fwoooosh!!

“…..Got it.”

What kind of expression would Raul make if he saw this scene?

Could a being who could imitate the pattern and characteristics of mana just by briefly observing its properties be called a mage?

Even if the level of magic itself was like that, the ability to control mana at the particle level was increasingly exceeding Lennox’s expectations and limits.

Considering that this was only possible for archmages of at least level 8 or higher, it meant that Lennox was approaching a similar level in terms of mana manipulation ability.

In this city where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, only that became the lamp that illuminated Lennox’s path.

He could become stronger.

He could climb higher than now.

Lennox’s face flushed with rare excitement, but the excitement quickly faded the moment he turned his head to check the illusion the ring was showing.

“…….”

The illusion that floated above the ring was in the shape of a giant tree root.

Lennox knew this pattern, which was unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, as if he had seen it before.

Lennox remembered that the tattoo under the eyes of Craig, the leader of the practical faction black mages, whom he had first encountered on TV, had the same pattern.

Since the word ‘legacy’ itself was a word he had learned through the black mages, he knew he had to dig into that side, but he never thought that the connection would extend to the leader of another faction.

In the end, it seemed that he had no choice but to seek answers from Craig to find clear clues about the legacy.

“Haa….”

He had a long way to go, but it seemed that he hadn’t wandered too long to find a direction.

After organizing what he had to do in his head to some extent, Lennox sighed and buried himself in the chair.

His skinny body, visible through his t-shirt, was particularly noticeable today.

He felt like he needed to do something more to take care of his health…. But every day when he came home, he was too busy fighting off the exhaustion that poured in.

In the end, Lennox got up with a stagger, swallowed two sleeping pills, and lay down.

There was still time until the next operation that Ivelyn had mentioned, but he had no intention of just staying cooped up at home.

#

On the way to Jenny’s bar, cutting through the cold morning air.

Lennox’s face faintly frowned as he adjusted his coat.

‘….It’s been 10 minutes already.’

Someone was following him.

To be precise, there was one person who had been secretly moving behind him since he entered District 49.

The surprising fact was that even with Lennox’s mana detection ability, it was not easy to figure out who the other person was.

Lennox, who had taken out a cigarette from his pocket while walking, quickly fell into thought.

The fact that he couldn’t gauge the identity of the other person was not so surprising when you thought about it.

Mana detection was only meant to greatly expand the area of information that Lennox’s five senses received.

There were plenty of ways to block or prevent the detection itself.

Until now, Lennox had been using his powerful mana control ability to block all such interference, so he hadn’t felt any particular need to worry about it.

If the other person had an artifact as powerful as Lennox’s level or the ability to block detection, it was not unreasonable to interfere with his detection in this way.

Lennox, who was chewing on his cigarette with an annoyed expression, made a decision.

‘It’s better to shake them off here.’

He had to pick up the shotgun he had left with Palmer today, and he also had to stop by Jenny’s bar.

He didn’t know who the other person was, but it seemed necessary to confirm their intentions clearly at this spot.

Lennox’s presence disappeared like smoke from the street in an instant after making his decision.

Someone who had been chasing him from behind rushed out into the street with a greatly flustered look.

Perhaps he was relying on mana detection rather than his five senses to track Lennox, as he was busy turning his head this way and that, looking for him.

A rather clumsy response than expected. Actions that didn’t seem to have any particular hostility.

And above all, a face that Lennox already knew.

Lennox, sighing, walked out from behind and placed his hand on the shoulder of the person who had been following him.

“Huck….!!”

“Weian, it’s been a while.”

Lennox said, taking out the cigarette he had been holding.

The young man, Weian, who was grabbed by the shoulder, looked up at him with a slightly pale face, flustered.

Lennox, confirming his trembling eyes, pointed to Jenny’s bar and spoke.

“Shall we go inside and talk?”

A familiar face.

Weian.

As a member of the Creamgal Mercenary Office led by Drey Creamgal, he had a connection with Lennox from a previous building recapture operation against the Scavenger branch manager.

Because of the regret he had shown about his talent at that time, and his unusually impressive mana sensitivity, his face remained relatively clear in Lennox’s memory.

However, he never thought they would meet again in this way.

“Drey was injured?”

That was the only thing Jenny said after listening to Weian’s explanation, as she flicked a long cigarette in her mouth.

Jorden, who was wiping the glasses with a dry towel, also turned his head as if curious about the words.

“While carrying out a request, he just….”

“I wondered why I hadn’t heard from him. Where and who is he getting beaten up by?”

At Jenny’s indifferent words, Weian bit his lip and muttered.

“….He’s been in a coma for a week. I need help.”

“……..”

Her mouth closed on its own at the unexpected severity of the situation.

At Jorden’s subtly teasing gaze, Jenny muttered with a sullen expression.

“No, I thought he had a bullet hole or something.”

“For a mercenary like Drey to get such a serious injury, what happened?”

Although quite a bit of time had passed since they had worked together, Lennox still clearly remembered the members of the Creamgal Mercenary Office.

In particular, Drey Creamgal, who led the Creamgal Mercenary Office, was quite young, but his operational capabilities were considerable, so he remained impressive in Lennox’s memory.

He had excellent mercenaries under his command, and the clean work he showed when working with Lennox was enough to leave a good impression.

As a former soldier, he approached operations in a very careful and systematic way, so Lennox thought he would quickly rise to the top, but he never thought he would have gone through such a thing.

While Lennox and Jenny were staring blankly at each other, Weian continued.

“The injury that the captain suffered is quite critical, so we need to resolve it quickly in any way. His condition is getting worse.”

“Well, it’s natural if he’s been unconscious for a week.”

Jenny shrugged.

“So, why have you been following me all this time? You didn’t think that if you just followed the mage around, he would help you, did you?”