Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1122

“What in the world is this…?”

[Aroong!]

Lenox, unable to hide his shock, staggered, and the guardian spirit gently nudged him with its tail to support him.

Swoosh!

A comfortable, cushion-like sensation enveloped Lenox’s body in an instant.

The generous layer of fat, extending to the tip of its tail, supported Lenox with unparalleled comfort.

“……”

Speechless, Lenox stared blankly at the guardian spirit, which was smacking its lips in front of him.

From passing through the inner route, breaking through the Western Front, crossing the veil, and returning from Kundara to Balkan.

The journey to the outer city, short if it was short, long if it was long.

But in that time, Lenox’s guardian spirit had literally become a pig dragon.

[Oink.]

The guardian spirit, sensing Lenox’s emotions, made a strangely similar sound.

As a spirit beast born in the domain, it could vaguely read its master’s emotions.

But even that was nothing compared to the shock Lenox felt at the sight of this guardian spirit.

“How could this be?”

“Ah.”

Dylan, who had belatedly followed Lenox, let out a sigh.

Even in this situation, he was still clutching the gifted short spear preciously.

“So, you finally saw it.”

“……What in the world is going on?”

Lenox turned his gaze.

What had it eaten in the past month to become so incredibly fat?

Even if he had poured tuna or concentrated meat extract down its throat, it wouldn’t have gained this much weight.

It wasn’t a matter of the mercenaries taking care of the guardian spirit being too generous with its food.

“Well, you see…”

Just as Dylan was about to explain the situation to Lenox with a troubled expression.

A blunt voice echoed from inside the guardian spirit’s belly fat.

“Why is it so noisy around here from the beginning?”

Bulge!

As the guardian spirit’s folded belly fat wriggled, something rolled out from inside.

A young man with a dignified physique, wearing a pure white robe, stood up abruptly with a scowl.

“I clearly told you not to wake me until Sajil returned. If you bother me, I won’t teach you the lightning magic-”

The young man, who met Lenox’s gaze, widened his eyes and shouted.

“Sajil! When did you return to the tower?!”

“……Sajil?”

Lenox frowned as he looked at the young man standing before him.

He remembered a familiar title, one that only one person used.

“Could it be, Akendrias himself?”

“Who else would share the same lightning karma as Bonno other than me!!!”

The young man with light blue hair, his shoulders broad, shouted in a booming voice.

“Now that I have regained my companion for the great journey, I have nothing more to fear!!!”

“……”

Seeing him suddenly babbling about lightning, it seemed like the Torben Magic Tower Lord Lenox knew was indeed correct.

But why had Akendrias, who was an old man just a month ago, suddenly become young?

“I think I can make a judgment after hearing what happened in the meantime.”

Lenox rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

“What in the world happened at the magic tower?”

* * *

“You must have many questions, but this guy hasn’t changed like this for long.”

Balkan City 49th District. The underground chamber of the Adamantine Magic Tower.

Lenox, standing in the underground chamber, was listening to Akendrias, who was sitting across from him.

“At most a week? In terms of non-lightning mages, it would be about that much.”

“……”

Instead of answering, Lenox stared intently at the Torben Magic Tower Lord.

A robust physique. Vitality overflowing from his entire body. A strong-featured face and his unique, angry-looking eyebrows.

Most of the impressions and atmosphere of the Tower Lord that Lenox remembered matched.

If Akendrias El Torben’s time was turned back by several decades to make him young, it would be like this.

But Torben didn’t seem to have any interest in his youthful appearance.

“This guy’s taste suddenly changed drastically, and he started refusing the tuna he liked and eating strange things.”

“Eating strange things?”

“He chewed on everything from the bricks and pillars of the tower’s inner walls, to the materials and ores being transported, and even cheap artifacts. He ate a variety of things.”

“……”

“I gave him Bonno’s lightning instead, so he wouldn’t get sick from eating strange things, and he ate it all up, just as I gave it to him.”

Torben scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“Seeing this young one like it, Bonno got excited and gave him as much as he wanted, and in the meantime…”

“……”

Lenox, at a loss for words, ran a hand over his face.

“Is that why you look like this?”

“Didn’t Bonno and this guy have a kind of symbiotic relationship?”

Torben said, pulling at his face, which had turned young.

“It seems like there was a slight problem because I let him eat more of Bonno’s lightning than usual.”

“You had your internal mana absorbed by the spirit beast, but your physical age has become younger?”

“Bonno is also a noble from the center, if you trace his origins.”

Akendrias stroked his chin with a nonchalant expression.

“The nobles of Ars Nova do not care about the flow of time. Appearance is nothing to Bonno.”

He said, awkwardly stroking his chin, where a beard should have been.

“Moreover, Bonno’s Divine Lightning Body is the power that the immortals of the first world have honed. The lightning in Bonno’s body is his age.”

“……”

“This appearance is the result of the imbalance caused by absorbing the lightning energy from your spirit beast. If you recover your mana, you will return soon.”

So, this appearance itself was an unexpected event, and Torben himself preferred the appearance of an old man.

Torben, having said that, cleared his throat, glancing at Lenox.

“Ahem, so, it’s not entirely Bonno’s fault that this guy got so fat.”

“I don’t know.”

Lenox’s gaze turned cold.

“I doubt how much lightning you fed him to make him unable to move from his spot.”

“No, this pig dragon’s belly fat is so soft that Bonno used it as a pillow-”

“That’s enough. There’s no need to make excuses.”

Lenox replied.

“I think I know why this happened.”

“Oh, you are worthy of being the master of the spirit beast. You’ve already figured out the cause?”

“I can roughly guess after hearing when the guardian spirit became strange.”

Lenox closed his eyes.

“It was because of the change in my magic system.”

The time when the guardian spirit’s taste became strange was roughly similar to the time when Lenox drank the Elixir of Ascension.

While Lenox was changing his magic system, the guardian spirit, born from the Uroboros, was affected.

The reason why it ignored the tuna it usually liked and gained so much weight by eating mana and lightning must be because of that.

If the guardian spirit’s appetite changed temporarily as its nature changed from the original Uroboros, it could be understood.

Torben also nodded with a slightly relieved expression.

“That’s a relief. It wouldn’t do if there was a problem while Bonno was its food source.”

[Woof woof~]

The guardian spirit, belatedly noticing the atmosphere, waddled over.

It rubbed its fat body against Lenox, hugging him with its tail and rubbing against him.

“……No.”

But Lenox gently stroked the guardian spirit’s tail and answered calmly.

“Even if its appetite has changed, it’s also its fault for gaining this much weight because it couldn’t control itself.”

“What?”

“Since it’s the guardian spirit of my domain, shouldn’t I take responsibility and return it to normal?”

The pig dragon flinched at Lenox’s cold gaze.

Lenox, grabbing the fat-filled tail, declared.

“It’s a diet. I’ll start right now, so get ready.”

* * *

[Huff. Huff. Huff.]

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A dragon with a plump belly was waddling around the courtyard of the training ground on two legs.

The guardian spirit, with its tongue lolling out and its eyes spinning, was staggering, sweating profusely.

“Two more laps.”

Lenox, standing on the platform of the training ground, was staring intently at the guardian spirit’s movements.

“After a 5-minute break, hydrate and then do five more laps. I’ll check the amount of exercise before adjusting the diet.”

[Huff. Huff.]

Thump! Thump!

The spirit beast, unable to answer, was panting and waddling.

Each time it exhaled, the training ground shook violently, and a series of loud noises echoed.

“Wow, it’s definitely different when Ban tells it to move.”

“I’ve never seen that guy exercise like that before.”

Next to Lenox, the mercenaries who had returned to the tower after hearing the news were all gathered to watch.

The guardian spirit was one of the famous attractions of the magic tower, which had virtually no external activity since its birth.

It seemed very strange to others to see the guardian spirit, who ate and slept in the underground chamber, running.

“Look at its eyes spinning. It looks a little pitiful…”

“Pitiful? What are you talking about? That fatso was eating and sleeping all day while Ban was gone?”

“We might have to fight to protect the tower, so that level of exercise is basic.”

“Rather, it’s been too lax all this time.”

Mila, who was sitting next to him, chewing gum, asked, looking puzzled.

“Ban. I don’t know much about this, but do reptiles normally sweat like that?”

[There’s no way, you idiot.]

Manson, next to her, scoffed, raising his robot head.

[Reptiles are cold-blooded animals and do not sweat. You don’t know anything while working with Felix.]

“No, you X, what does Felix being a beastkin have to do with knowing about reptiles?”

Mila, who reflexively cursed, tilted her head.

“Then why is it sweating so much while running?”

[I don’t know.]

“……Do you really want to die?”

Just as Mila was about to reach for her shotgun, Manson said with a snort.

[The guardian spirit is not a real life form in the first place. If you trace its origins, it’s closer to a mythical beast.]

“So, what’s the conclusion?”

[Even if there are no reptiles that sweat, there can be spirit beasts that sweat.]

“……”

Mila, who was thinking hard, got up from her seat with her shotgun.

Click!!

“In the end, it’s just wordplay, you bastard. You just want to call me an idiot, right?”

[You seem to have already forgotten who won the last sparring match. With that goldfish-like memory, there’s no helping you.]

The moment Mila, who had raised her shotgun, and Manson, who had grabbed his sword, turned towards each other at the same time.

A dazzling short spear, burning with silver light, blocked the two of them.

“Wait a minute.”

Dylan said, holding his head high.

A voice, as low as possible, flowed out from behind his wrestler mask.

“It’s in front of Ban. Everyone, restrain yourselves.”

Mila and Manson simultaneously gave him unpleasant looks.

“……Why is this bastard suddenly acting cool?”

[He got lucky and gained enlightenment, and his nose is getting higher every day… wait.]

Manson’s mechanical eyes flashed intensely as he looked at Dylan’s short spear.

[What is this? You didn’t have a high-level weapon like this among the polearms you possess.]

Manson, who used various weapons as a freelancer, was always interested in equipment.

He even remembered all the equipment that his other colleagues usually used, so he immediately recognized the level of Dylan’s short spear.

“Hmm, you noticed?”

At Manson’s unusual reaction, Dylan’s shoulders instantly rose to his chin.

Dylan, who didn’t hide his smugness and only lowered his voice disgustingly, said.

“Well, it’s nothing special… I got a gift from Ban. It’s not a strange thing at all.”

“You got a gift from Ban?!!”

Mila shouted, and even the others who were watching the waddling spirit beast turned their attention.

In the center of that attention, Dylan held his chin up to the sky.

“Well, you give reliable equipment to someone you can trust. It’s not a special thing, is it?”

“This guy suddenly started talking like a real X.”

“Are you unable to speak without adding that smug interjection?”

“Ban, is what that guy is saying true?”

Mila, who quickly sat down next to Lenox, asked.

“Don’t get me wrong. Even if you give that guy good equipment, he’ll just lose it somewhere and come back alive. All regenerators are like that!!”

“……”

“Well, if that’s what makes you feel better, there’s nothing I can do.”

While Lenox was smiling silently, Dylan spoke leisurely with a relaxed voice.

“A level 6’s small tantrum should now be generously accepted by a superior.”

“Ughhhhh……!! X!!”

“What, have you already heard about Dylan’s achievement?”

Jenny, who was curiously watching the spirit beast’s exercise among the sorcerers, approached the platform railing and asked.

“You were making a fuss about wanting to talk directly, and then you ran over and got a gift?”

“It’s not wrong, but…”

Lenox said, staring intently at Jenny’s face.

Whether she had sorted out her feelings or was just focusing on what she had to do right now.

Either way, now that Lenox had started dealing with the work he had been putting off at the magic tower, Jenny couldn’t avoid it either.

“Completing a tier is a big deal. I just gave him a gift that suits it.”

“Oh, that’s a bit envious.”

Tatianna, who was listening to the story while leisurely smoking a cigar, smiled and turned her head.

“I was a Saint-tier mage from the time I joined the tower, but is it possible to get a gift now?”

“Chiclet. Ban isn’t a gift bag for mages.”

“If you want, there’s nothing I can’t do.”

Just as Jenny sighed and shook her head, Lenox rested his chin on his hand.

“If there’s a type of artifact you need, tell me. I’ll think about it.”

“……Really?”

Tatianna’s eyes widened slightly, as if she hadn’t expected it even while saying it.

Lenox, seeing that, turned his gaze to his companions gathered around him.

“It’s the same for everyone else. Anyone who achieves something meaningful will be given a piece of equipment that suits them.”

The equipment acquired from the life domain of the grafting technique. Some relics picked up from the old ruins.

There were still pieces of equipment and weapons that Lenox didn’t need to use right now.

If there were others who reached level 7 like Dylan in the future, it would be okay to give them as a gift to celebrate.

Mila and Wayan, who heard those words, sparkled their eyes and puffed out their noses.

“R-really?! You can’t take it back!”

“M-me too… the tonfa I’m using these days is too old…”

They must know that if it was a piece of equipment precious enough for Lenox to give as a gift, it was likely a stolen item that was hard to find even in Balkan.

“Wow. If it’s equipment that Ban gives directly, the price…”

“……Belber. Wake up from your dream. Even if a miracle happens, I’ll never let you sell it.”

Belber, who was already lost in happy fantasies, and Belita and Stella, who were looking at him with contempt.

Suryeon and Manson also listened to those words and were lost in thought with serious expressions.

[Huff. Huff. Huff]

In the meantime, the guardian spirit, who had finished running, was sitting on the training ground, with its tongue hanging out and collapsed.

Its round shape, with its head stretched out and its plump belly fat sticking out to the side.

The hired attendants were moving busily around, diligently pouring water on its body, which was dripping with sweat.

“I thought it was born with an easy life, but looking at it, it’s quite a sight.”

The Torben Magic Tower Lord, who was watching the scene with his hands behind his back, clicked his tongue.

“Even though it’s so fat, it’s struggling even to run. If it gets any fatter, it’ll just roll around in place.”

“You’re the one who contributed to fattening the spirit beast, so you shouldn’t be saying that.”

Lenox looked at the Tower Lord with a cold gaze.

“In the first place, Tower Lord, weren’t you just lying on the guardian spirit’s belly fat as a pillow until just now?”

“Ahem, I told you it wasn’t something I wanted to do. I’m wronged.”

Torben cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced away.

“Sajil, when are you going to tell me why you came to find Bonno?”

“……”

“If you came to find Bonno as soon as you returned to the tower, it wouldn’t be because of a problem like the spirit beast’s belly fat.”

That was not wrong.

The reason Lenox looked for Torben as soon as he finished talking with Jutiya was to discuss a problem beyond simple small talk.

The owner of the Torben War Magic Tower, and a great mage who had mastered the same lightning-based unique magic.

If there was something that Lenox needed to seek advice from a great sorcerer who had mastered magic for much longer than him.

“It’s about lightning magic. There’s something I want to discuss about the changes that have happened to me.”

“Hmm. It’s about the changes in your lightning.”

Akendrias’s eyes flashed with intense interest.

“It must be the part you mentioned while talking about the changes in the guardian spirit. Can you tell me the details?”

Lenox’s words about giving a weapon to those who reached level 7 had been quite stimulating, and the mercenaries who had been making a fuss around them were heading to the training ground one by one.

On the deserted platform, Lenox briefly explained to Torben what had happened to him.

He had tampered with the formula while dealing with the matter in Kundara, and the aftereffects were continuing.

Because of that, he was having difficulty controlling the output of his lightning magic.

“I see. The shock that distorted the magic system even affected that pig dragon…”

Akendrias, having heard the explanation, tilted his head with a serious expression.

“Hearing it, it seems like something comes to mind. I’m sure I’ve seen a similar case before.”

“Is there something you can guess?”

“Hmm, well, you see…”

He rested his chin on one hand, furrowed his brow, and seemed to be deep in thought.

It was only after a long time that a conclusion came out.

“Bonno doesn’t know either.”

“……”

A strange silence flowed between the two.

Lenox, with a dumbfounded expression, looked at the Tower Lord and asked.

“Then, there was no need to talk as if you knew something from the beginning, was there?”

“No, wait. Not knowing doesn’t mean that.”

The Tower Lord said that and took a step forward in front of Lenox.

Crack!!

With a sharp flash of lightning, Torben’s figure instantly landed in the middle of the training ground.

Still, even with Lenox’s senses, it was close to an instant, a lightning movement close to speed.

Torben, who shook off his clothes and turned his shoulders, nodded to Lenox.

“Come down. And get this spirit beast out of the way.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“To know how far the lightning in you has reached, I need to check how dangerous the ferocity your lightning has.”

Crackle…!!

At the same time as he lightly turned his head, blue lightning erupted from Torben’s entire body.

Akendrias El Torben, who looked up at Lenox with blue currents rising, grinned.

“Let’s have a go at it for the first time in a while.”