Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 38

It was fortunate that things went smoothly as he had hoped, but… Miquel couldn’t easily shake off the uneasy feeling.

The fact that Lenok chose to part ways with the group as if he had been waiting for it bothered him.

Just as Miquel’s group had confidently parted ways with Lenok because they had something to rely on, wasn’t it possible that Lenok had also chosen to break up without any hesitation because he had a similar conviction?

And if that thing he was relying on was his own magical ability itself.

Miquel might have just missed a very valuable connection right before his eyes.

“Miquel?”

Of course, the two oblivious mercenaries with him didn’t seem to have any thoughts about it.

“It’s nothing. Let’s get going soon.”

“Yeah. We need to hurry if we don’t want to be late for the appointment.”

Miquel brushed off his thoughts and started walking ahead.

He had just been having some unnecessary thoughts, and there was no need to tell them his speculations and create unnecessary regrets.

If Lenok wasn’t really a skilled mage as he had guessed, it might be difficult for him to survive in the battle against the mutated creatures… but what did that matter?

It was a place where you had to take care of yourself.

That was not Miquel’s concern.

He forcibly shook off his idle thoughts and moved forward, his equipment swaying.

Fzzzzzz!

[Kieeeeeee!!]

“So, this is what they look like. Seeing them in person, they seem even more disgusting….”

Lenok stroked his chin while watching the mutated creature writhing as blue electricity poured out from between his fingers.

He had heard various information from Dylan beforehand, so he roughly knew what the mutated creatures looked like and how they acted, but it was the first time he had seen them with his own eyes.

About three years ago, there was a large-scale bio-toxic weapon experiment project called ‘Black Consumer’ in the undeveloped district.

Officially, it was concluded that it was the work of some plague doctors who were conducting human experiments, but there were many rumors that high-ranking officials of the city government were behind it.

The experiment to control the direction of a virus factor with strong proliferative power through a spell, explosively increasing cell regeneration… the so-called experiment to confirm the possibility of ‘immortality’ ended in a terrible disaster and gave birth to the calamity called mutated creatures.

The experiment itself was stopped in the initial plan, so it was rare for higher life forms like humans to be infected, and even mammals like rodents had a relatively low chance of infection, but—

Once infected, the cells throughout the body would explosively proliferate, swelling grotesquely before exploding, and the tattered corpses would wander around looking for living things while emitting black mist, the remnants of the spell.

The mutated creature that had fallen in front of Lenok was also in a state where its appearance had collapsed so much that it was impossible to guess what kind of creature it originally was, and it was being swayed by the black mist flowing over its body.

Could this be called a living thing?

No, could humans really achieve the dream of immortality through such experiments?

Lenok was skeptical, but it didn’t seem like the higher-ups in the city government thought so.

He collected the mutated creature’s eyeball, the proof of subjugation, from the fallen mutated creature’s corpse and put it in the plastic bag he had received from the outpost.

The mutated creatures were infected in different ways and bodies, so they didn’t have many commonalities, but the black-stained eyeballs, the proof of infection, were enough to prove subjugation.

The annoying thing was that you had to bring a pair of eyeballs to be counted as having subjugated one creature, so you had to collect two eyeballs every time you killed one.

After finishing the collection, Lenok immediately straightened his back and spread his magic power in all directions again.

If he maintained a magic sense range covering a radius of 2km, even if the number of mutated creatures wasn’t large, he was bound to catch one or two.

He made sure not to overlap paths with other mercenaries who occasionally passed by, or he dealt with the mutated creatures he found first and collected their eyeballs.

Even if Lenok’s moving speed wasn’t fast, no one in this area covered as wide an area as he did.

If he identified the location first and moved, it wasn’t difficult to take the lead even with slow steps.

Kwang!

Lenok nodded as he plunged a strand of electricity he held in his hand directly into the mutated creature’s mouth.

After dealing with the fourth one, he was starting to get a sense of how to handle them.

The mutated creatures’ speed and strength were considerable, but their movements themselves were very linear.

They only relied on their desire for living things, so they didn’t look around.

Sometimes they changed direction and ran away, but that was also because they sensed other living things nearby and moved.

If he was careful about this point and timed the strengthening of his shield properly, it wasn’t difficult to deal with them.

And Lenok was confident that he wouldn’t allow even a single moment of error when it came to his sense of handling magic power.

Kwajik!!

Another mutated creature running from behind.

Sharp teeth tore through the shield, exposing the flesh inside, but that flesh was just another shield.

Thump!

After casting a couple of auxiliary spells and pulling the trigger of his revolver, the mutated creature collapsed with its lower jaw crushed.

He didn’t forget to use silence to reduce the noise.

Lenok easily picked up the mutated creature’s eyeballs while hitting the mutated creature that had fallen on its back with an impact spell.

That made five.

Since it was said to be one million cell [currency unit] per creature, he had already secured 5 million cell in pure profit.

He had made twice the amount he could earn by chasing a wanted criminal in less than half a day, so it wasn’t a bad deal.

But at the same time, Lenok also realized that this subjugation request wasn’t something he could do for long.

There was a reason why Dylan mentioned this job as if it was just a passing chore, and he himself stepped back.

‘Originally, finding mutated creatures would be a very cumbersome task.’

Lenok was just sweeping away the mutated creatures by accurately finding them while using his absurd magic control ability to detect a vast radius.

Other mercenaries had to put in the effort to find mutated creatures themselves, relying on their own weak magic abilities.

It might be a little better if there was a mage in the group, but unless they hired a mage specializing in detection, it would be difficult to show similar efficiency to Lenok.

‘And the mutated creatures are not as weak as I thought.’

There was a reason why the outpost deployed mercenaries heading to the undeveloped district in groups of four.

In Lenok’s opinion, the mutated creatures’ combat ability seemed a bit too much for mercenaries like Miquel or Eriksen to handle alone.

Did Miquel’s group know this fact when they left Lenok alone?

If so, it meant that they thought Lenok was a weak mage but still left him to die.

“……..”

It was a chilling idea, but it wasn’t an impossible story.

Even if they didn’t have the obligation to go that far for a stranger, not even giving a warning was negligence beyond indifference.

There was no need to dwell on it for long, but there was no reason to forget it completely either.

Lenok scattered flames in his hand and completely turned the mutated creature’s corpse into ashes.

Since the cause of these mutated creatures was in virus-based plague spells, it was better to clean up thoroughly.

Lenok pondered as he walked through the ruined construction site.

‘The target amount for this job is at least 20 million.’

The amount to stably bid for Stemonia, the elixir of the Stania Pharmaceutical Group.

Considering that Lenok currently had a little less than 100 million in his possession, supplementing 20 million cell would be more than enough to match the market price.

To pull in a satisfactory amount, he had to catch at least twenty creatures and collect forty eyeballs….

It was a lot if you thought about it, but a small number if you didn’t.

At this pace, it seemed like he could achieve his goal within two days, but from Lenok’s point of view, who didn’t want to waste even that time, he wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to take a request with an advance payment.

‘It took two days when I took Amnak’s request… It’s no use regretting it now.’

If it wasn’t for Jenny’s words that it would be good for him in the long run, he wouldn’t have thought of suffering in this place while inhaling dust.

It was unavoidable now.

Three new mutated creatures began to enter Lenok’s sense range as he passed through the collapsed excavator.

Occasionally, there were cases where they moved in groups of a few, but so far, other mercenaries who arrived first had taken the lead.

He couldn’t miss this one either.

Lenok, with his eyes shining, pulled up his magic power and drew out a large current from both hands.

Fzzzzzz!

The current that sprang from Lenok’s hands rapidly gathered and soon transformed into three fox shapes.

Following the will that was immediately conveyed, the foxes ran through the ruins, and the electric shocks emanating from the three forms resonated with each other, forming a net of electricity.

It was the result of roughly following the principles of summoning magic he had seen in the library.

He couldn’t give free will to each of the foxes, but it was an achievement he had gained while delving into the sustainability of summoned creatures.

It was far inferior in range and power to [Chain Lightning], but its duration was outstanding.

Kuaaaaaa!!

Lenok’s gaze, which had been watching the blue electric net running and stirring through the ruins, suddenly turned fierce.

Whizz!

From a point 300 meters diagonally ahead, where nothing had been felt until just a moment ago, something suddenly appeared, breaking through Lenok’s detection.

It seemed that they had released their disguise and moved their body to avoid the fox magic Lenok had used.

He felt a sense of déjà vu in his head in an instant and chased the afterimage to find the answer.

He had had a similar experience before.

The day he first received a request from Jenny.

The sniping he had suffered the moment he caught Taylor Evans.

The strange sense of incongruity that escaped Lenok’s detection at that time was exactly the same.

At the time, he had no choice but to attribute it to his own lack of ability, but it was different now.

He immediately pulled up his magic power, captured the movement, and solidified his will.

He was using the sound magic [Sound Wave] that he had used when he caught Taylor Evans that day.

If that opponent was the sniper Lenok remembered, it would be a very appropriate reunion greeting.

Whooong!!

The sound wave that had taken shape in Lenok’s grasp in an instant rushed forward.

The shock wave, fired at the speed of sound, rushed towards the fleeing opponent.

The trajectory and path were perfect. Considering the speed, evasion was impossible.

Kwang!

Direct hit.

However, instead of covering his ears and collapsing like Taylor Evans at that time, the opponent staggered for a moment and then started running again.

Lenok lightly clicked his tongue and prepared the next spell.

The disadvantage of sound-based magic was like this, so Lenok didn’t really favor spells like [Sound Wave].

It was difficult to evade because it was fired at the speed of sound, but the power itself wasn’t strong, so it often didn’t work when used against high-level magic users.

If he moved on to unique magic, it was possible to apply it in advanced ways, such as controlling the opponent’s mental state, as well as simple power, but it was a distant story for Lenok, who had not studied sound magic.

“Hoo….”

He took a deep sigh and gathered his magic power again.

The greatness of common magic.

The overwhelming versatility that allowed for above-average responses in any situation.

He had been afraid of unnecessary misunderstandings and prejudices, so he had been wearing the title of an electric mage without showing it, but there was no reason to go out of his way to hide that specialness.

A clear image blended smoothly with the movement of magic power, and a coldness that made his forearm tingle was created.

He solidified the mass of magic power, which emitted a deep chill that changed the surrounding air, into the shape of a spear, and fired it straight into the sky.

[Icicle Burn]

Paang!!

The spear of cold air, fired at a high speed while drawing a gentle trajectory, rushed towards the shadow that was now about to disappear beyond Lenok’s vision.

The opponent, who had noticed Lenok’s second attempt, twisted his body with all his might.

Close call.

Swaaek!!

The speed of the javelin itself was very fast, but it couldn’t exceed the speed of sound.

And the opponent also seemed very familiar with projectiles of that speed, and his evasion movements were also natural.

A brief moment of relief flashed through the shadow’s eyes, who had successfully escaped.

But as the spear of cold air was embedded in the ground and began to turn the surrounding land into an ice field, his expression changed completely.

Jjeojeojeok…!!

Like a water balloon bursting, it spread the cold air it had been holding, instantly turning a radius of several tens of meters into a frost hell.

The moisture that had been caught by the cold air in the air shook and froze, creating a white field that followed like a burning flame.

‘I won’t be able to hold him for long.’

He was convinced after seeing that series of evasion movements just now.