Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 15

Weapon-Eating Unworthy Son- Episode 15

“Make sure to accumulate a lot of mana while you’re wearing the mask! Being there for a month should increase it a lot!”

My aunt told me that as I was leaving for Jeokcheong Island.

My aunt was always disappointed with my mana capacity. It was ridiculously low compared to my mana control ability.

On Jeokcheong Island, just operating mana techniques would yield results, but I was doing one more thing there.

‘It looks like it’s almost done. …The visuals are really the worst.’

Bubbly, bubbly-

I glanced at the crude pot made of clay, in which the medicine was boiling.

A black, blue, and even sticky liquid was bubbling away.

It was fortunate that I made it myself; otherwise, it would only look like poison.

“Still, there were a lot of top-grade mana herbs as expected. To think I’d be able to get enough to boil a whole pot in just one day.”

The twisted-looking liquid boiling over the firewood was none other than a potion I brewed myself using ‘mana herbs’ to increase my mana.

The geology of Jeokcheong Island has been transformed by the carcasses of monsters accumulated over a long period.

Therefore, it absorbs and emits a large amount of mana on its own. The soil here is, in itself, the perfect fertilizer for certain ‘special plants.’

Those special plants were none other than the mana herbs that grow while containing mana.

‘Following herbalists and apothecaries in my past life has been this helpful.’

In the past, I had tried everything to gain mana. I didn’t even have the money to buy cheap elixirs, so I followed herbalists and apothecaries to find mana herbs.

Of course, it didn’t help, but the knowledge from that time remained.

“Let’s just take one sip for now.”

I stared at the pot that had cooled down and swallowed hard.

Even though I made it, it didn’t look like something I could eat.

I closed my eyes tightly and took just one mouthful with a cup also made of baked clay.

“……!”

Shock.

Grim.

My mouth wouldn’t close.

I swallowed the rising nausea with superhuman mental strength.

The taste was like mixing bitter herbal medicine with milk and rotten mackerel.

The texture was stickier than honey, so I could feel it going down my esophagus.

“Hoo, hoo……”

Cold sweat dripped down.

The taste was so intense that I momentarily lost consciousness.

“Damn it!”

I cursed and lifted the pot as it was, swallowing it all at once.

In an instant, everything went dark.

* * *

The taste was shocking, but the effect was unparalleled.

Even with insufficient equipment, I could feel vitality flowing through the mana circuits throughout my body with less than 3 liters [approximately 3.17 quarts] consumed.

“……If I drink it steadily while I’m on Jeokcheong Island, I’ll definitely see the effects.”

If I ate that kind of taste every day and this much effect didn’t come out, I would have quit everything.

I walked out of the cave and examined the mana herbs that were drying near the entrance. They were all drying in good condition.

Since there were few ordinary beasts or insects on Jeokcheong Island, there was no problem drying them as long as I left them as they were.

‘I hope I don’t have to use those.’

I put my thoughts aside and got up from my hiding place.

‘Then shall we start today too.’

After wearing the communication bracelet and brooch, I went back into the forest.

I had to collect mana herbs and hunt monsters. Even if I wasn’t paying much attention to the evaluation, I couldn’t just abandon the test altogether.

It was at that moment.

-Boo Woo Woo Woo!

A heavy cry echoed from afar.

The monster’s cry I heard when I first came to the island.

The atmosphere trembled.

Numerous monster groups went berserk and ran towards the outskirts of the island.

They might have smelled me hiding nearby, but they ran madly as if they weren’t interested.

And that influence also happened to my body.

“Kuh-!”

A headache that felt like my head was breaking made my body stagger.

It felt like a huge iron needle had flown in and pierced the top of my head.

The mana in my body all boiled over, and my body began to tremble.

Woo-!

And at that moment, the black energy that had been staying in my heart suddenly began to spread throughout my body.

‘Why is the black energy suddenly appearing? I didn’t even touch a weapon?’

The black energy, beyond my control, began to devour the impure energy trying to penetrate my body.

The headache slowly began to subside. The boiling mana also began to calm down accordingly.

Swish-.

After everything was over, the black energy soon returned to the heart area and disappeared without a trace.

‘Could that have been a Fear just now?’

Fear. The cry spread by high-ranking monsters. Higher-level monsters exert enormous influence on their surroundings just by bursting out crying.

But there couldn’t be that kind of monster on Jeokcheong Island…….

‘……The Lord of the Land.’

There was only one that existed.

The owner of Jeokcheong Island, the Lord of the Land, who was close to being a divine creature, so even the Sungmu Yi family didn’t bother to subjugate it.

My brow furrowed involuntarily.

For the Lord of the Land of Jeokcheong Island, who was famous for being lazy, to move. That had never happened in the past.

I had to hope it was just some loud sleep talking.

‘That being said, did the black energy swallow the Fear that had penetrated my body?’

I thought I knew this unknown power to some extent, but it seemed that there were still many secrets piled up in this power.

-Poook!

Before I had time to contemplate, an unfamiliar shadow stopped in front of me.

Rank 8 monster, Wonho.

A deer-shaped monster with fish eyes and scales.

The guy who was running away found me and stopped when the aftermath of the Fear subsided.

-Kieeeeeek!

The Wonho made a strange noise and the monster opened its mouth wide.

Much larger fangs than its mouth were revealed.

‘If I think about it, it’s the first battle I’ve experienced since regressing.’

Among the monsters classified as rank 10, rank 8.

It was an extremely dangerous monster for an 11-year-old child to face.

But I wasn’t nervous.

Because I’m not an ordinary 11-year-old child.

“That’s good timing. I needed something like thick leather.”

I grabbed the supplied iron sword and aimed it at the Wonho.

The Wonho’s leather was famous for being moisture-free and soft.

It is ideal for use as a bed.

-Kieeeeeeek!

The Wonho kicked off the ground and rushed at me.

Bang!

I dodged and knocked away the flying horns. The soft branches shattered with a thud under the hooves of the Wonho kicking off the ground.

Woong! Woong! Woong!

At that time, my mana source was already spewing out amplified mana.

Amplification technique.

Along with the unique vibration sound, the increased amount of mana is amplified and formed at the tip of the sword.

-Kieeeek!

The Wonho bared its teeth again and rushed in.

I lowered my body and kicked off the ground at the same time.

Squeak-!

A streak of red thread cut through the air.

One strike.

The Wonho’s large neck flew through the air and fell to the ground.

“The first battle was successful.”

With a comfortable smile, I pushed the sword into its scabbard.

* * *

Lee Myung-jeong was concentrating on his work.

In fact, it was more like a successor class than acting as a proxy.

My father may not think so, but the elders or the chief manager seem to think a little differently. The tasks they gave me were exactly like that.

Thanks to that, he had to reduce even his usual training and focus on his work.

Just as he was grasping the progress report on the rare earth development project in the northern danger zone, a knock was heard at the head of the family’s office.

“Great Master. This is Yoo Jang-heon, the deputy commander of the Blue Sword Squad. May I come in?”

The Blue Sword Squad was a warrior squad that Lee Myung-jeong had personally gathered and created. And the deputy commander, Yoo Jang-heon, was a subordinate whom Lee Myung-jeong regarded as a friend.

“Ah, come in.”

Lee Myung-jeong greeted Yoo Jang-heon with a soft smile.

However, soon after seeing Yoo Jang-heon’s stiff expression, he let out a long sigh.

“I guess it’s not good news.”

“Thanks to keeping a close eye on it in advance as you instructed, I found out faster than the family’s intelligence department.”

Yoo Jang-heon handed Lee Myung-jeong a thick file.

“It seems like it has really started. Several members asked for information. A little later, the family’s intelligence department also began to move.”

Lee Myung-jeong quickly flipped through the documents. Lee Myung-jeong, whose expression grew increasingly stiff, said without taking his eyes off the documents.

“Please explain.”

“It seems that a large group of wanderers secretly entered northern South Korea. I thought they would be stirring up the reclaimed land in the dangerous zone, but they are heading south as they are. There is a family mana stone mine two days away.”

Those who commit crimes and travel around the world’s crime zones. The world called them wanderers.

“There’s no way those hyena-like wanderers would enter the family’s territory without thinking. They look like wanderers, but that can’t be true.”

“Some kind of force must be involved.”

Lee Myung-jeong ran his hand over his unshaven beard, which he hadn’t had time to shave recently, and flipped through the documents.

He let out a sigh along with a deep groan.

“And the Nine Dragons Gang moved their troops to the northern border.”

The giant force of the Central Plains, the Nine Dragons Gang.

They, who are in contact with the same undeveloped area, sometimes provoked by touching the Sungmu Yi family’s territory.

They haven’t crossed over yet, but if we don’t respond early, they will start armed provocations.

“It really has begun.”

Lee Myung-jeong’s eyes turned sharp.

It was a good defense that the reaction came so late.

Even though the departure ceremony was held in a small way so that it would not leak out that his father had left the main family, he never thought that he could completely prevent the leakage of information. Moreover, he was currently acting as the head of the family, with a low rank and young age.

There was no better timing than this for the hostile forces of the Sungmu Yi family.

‘Maybe even to the forces within the family.’

Lee Myung-jeong frowned and looked at the documents.

The Nine Dragons Gang’s provocation, the movement of large-scale wanderers by certain forces.

Both are important issues that cannot be ignored. As the eldest son of the Sungmu Yi family acting as the head of the family, his abilities will be tested.

‘But why the hell…….’

Looking at those documents, Lee Myung-jeong felt a sense of frustration. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong.

“……First, cooperate with the intelligence department and find out something else. I think there’s something more.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lee Myung-jeong stared at the documents for a long time.

The ominous feeling does not easily go away.

* * *

The location of Jeokcheong Island was somewhat confidential. If it was a level 2 secret, it was information that only the high-ranking officials of the Sungmu Yi family could know, but in fact, the location of Jeokcheong Island was not a big secret to most organizations.

That distinctive island next to the continent.

There was no way they couldn’t find such an island in the highly developed 21st century.

Furthermore, Jeokcheong Island was an island where the Sungmu Yi family had traditionally held naming ceremonies. Anyone who knew enough knew the location.

However, no organization coveted Jeokcheong Island.

Jeokcheong Island is the territory of the Sungmu Yi family.

An island prepared for the future of the family called the naming ceremony. An island with a legend that the first head of the family cut down the Lord of the Land of the island before he became an adult in the past.

Around the island, thorough magical and spiritual barriers were set up, and on the day of the naming ceremony, the Sungmu Yi family’s battleships guarded the sea near Jeokcheong Island, and the other three warrior squads were on standby on the island and mainland closest to Jeokcheong Island as reserve forces.

It was a defense line like an iron wall that no organization could penetrate without sending a large-scale force.

However, there was only one hole in that thorough defense line.

Right inside Jeokcheong Island.

An always solid fortress was bound to collapse from within.

Creak-!

Suddenly, a light with geometric patterns began to burst out from the ground hidden by the bushes on the outskirts of Jeokcheong Island.

And a man appeared, parting through the light.

“……So you really came.”

The flowing and loose-fitting Japanese traditional clothes fluttered in the strong sea breeze of Jeokcheong Island.

It was a ceremonial uniform for those engaged in Shinto priesthood (神職) [Shinto priests], fixed with Jobok and Hakama [traditional Japanese garments], and Sekitai [a leather belt] on top, a typical Onmyoji’s [traditional Japanese occultist] Sokutai attire [formal court dress] that would appear in textbooks.

The man, dressed in the traditional Sokutai attire of Onmyoji that would appear in textbooks, tapped his staff (法杖) [priestly staff] on the ground.

“Two nights……. That should be enough. I heard he’s just a young child who hasn’t even passed Chungnyeon (沖年) [a period of bad luck in Japanese occultism] yet.”

The Japanese man muttered quietly as he melted into the darkness of Jeokcheong Island.

“Well then, let’s go.”

The man glanced at the many lights visible on the horizon and said.

“To kill the Sungmu Yi family’s unworthy son.”