Chapter 31 – Certification (3)

Now, everyone go grab your Class Transfer Tomes and move to the altar.”

In total, there were 83 Summoned who had completed the trials. The number of graduates was higher than average, but considering the fact that Blanche Plaza alone had 2418 people summoned during the mass summoning ritual, it couldn’t be regarded as a large number.

Sungchul looked at the Class Transfer Tome he was holding. It was the Tome of Echo Mage. The moment had arrived for him to absorb the power of one of the Seven Heroes’ hidden tome. He followed the other Summoned up to the altar while holding the Tome of Echo Mage in his hand.

The Summoning Palace’s affiliate Mages, wearing thick hoods that covered their faces, surrounded the altar in an orderly line and started chanting an incantation using an incomprehensible language. Runes that were engraved throughout the altar gave off a blue luminescence which shot up into the sky between the Summoned who were standing above them, creating pillars of light. The Summoned watched the spectacle with their jaws wide open, awestruck.

Their surroundings quickly grew dim during this time. It was as though the sun had been swallowed by something unseen; the Summoning Palace was covered in sudden darkness. The Summoned were, once again, surprised at the change. Sungchul, however, gazed expressionlessly up towards the sky. The eclipse was in progress.

Class distribution had to occur during a full eclipse. This eclipse, which occurred at a regular interval, was the optimal moment for a Mass Class Distribution. The moment the sun was completely obscured by the moon, the chanting of the Mages grew louder, and a message appeared before Sungchul.

[Open the Class Transfer Tome.]

Sungchul opened the Echo Mage’s Tome. A pillar of light that was positioned on the altar drew closer towards Sungchul and surrounded him in its light. Several tens of thousands of letters written inside the tome separated from its pages and floated within the light before gathering on his body.

[You have been bestowed with the Blessing of the Echo Mage.]
[Congratulations! Legendary Class: Echo Mage has been acquired!]

Reward: Class – Echo Mage acquired

Sungchul immediately opened his class and stats screen.

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[Stats]

Strength   999+ Dexterity   853

Stamina  801   Magic Power   32

Intuition  25   Magic Resist  621

Resilience   502   Charisma    18

Luck     18

[Class]

Main Class – Primordial Warrior (Mythic)

Sub Class – Echo Mage (Legendary)

Sub Class – High Class Chef (Rare)

Sub Class – Alchemist (Rare)

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He finally managed to get a hold of the Echo Mage class. Even on his status screen, everything that pertained to Magic had increased, even Resilience had increased by a minuscule amount of one. He had managed to fulfill all of his goals in coming here.

Sungchul recalled the Devil of the Demon Realm.

‘I don’t think it will take much longer.’

The Summoned looked at their changed status as the ritual came to an end and light returned to the world. The Homunculi, who numbered within several hundreds, all took off their hats to show proper respect and etiquette towards these humans.

“Now now, humans! You have done well! We, Homunculi, show proper respect to the humans who managed to survive until this day!”

Within this exciting atmosphere, the Summoned finally experienced the end of this impossibly long and hellish journey. It was during this moment that the massive Palace gates on the south side began to open.

[Congratulations on graduating from the Summoning Palace.]

[You have surpassed all of the trials of the Summoning Palace and have proven your ability to survive this world.]

All the survivors saw the same message appear before their eyes. There were some with tears and others with wide smiles. Each had their own reactions, but one thing was clear: They had gotten through this hell without dying.

The Summoned headed towards the open gates of the Summoning Palace with their expectations and burdens weighing on their hearts.

Beyond the Palace gates lay a wide expanse of grassland, and a shining city shimmering in a golden light was set before them like a beautiful painting.

“Where are you planning to go now?”

Sujin approached Sungchul as she asked.

“…”

He didn’t answer her. Sujin’s eyes flashed with disappointment, but she briefly said her goodbyes towards his back as he moved away.

“We’ll meet again as fate allows it.”

After leaving those words, Sujin turned and headed east.

A sigh escaped Sungchul’s mouth. He was filled with regret and doubts about whether he should inquire about his future. Whether he should ask her for the reason he had fallen or what kind of events were awaiting him. However, he eventually overcame the sweet temptation.

‘The future you have seen won’t come to pass.’

Corruption begins with but a tiny seed of doubt. It was right to cut out the roots, which would slowly consume him and hinder his ability to complete everything that needed to be done because that was just an uncertain future. He trusted himself. There were no doubts in his mind regarding that.

There was also another reason why he needed to separate himself from Sujin. It was because a certain red-headed female Mage was waiting for him behind a fallen stone pillar.

“Hello, Mr. Cute Recruit.”

Dolorence spoke with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

“Do you mind talking with me for a bit?”

Sungchul nodded, and Dolorence led him towards the outer edge of a forest.

“Thank you for being so cooperative.”

She revealed her true nature once they arrived at a location far enough from prying eyes.

“I’ll at least send you off painlessly.”

Dolorence conjured an icy storm which roared fiercely from her palms as soon as the words left her mouth. Once she extended her hands, the icy storm grew explosively and consumed Sungchul. After the storm passed, only a pillar of ice in the vague shape of a human remained.

“I do feel bad, but what can I do? This is my job, after all.”

Dolorence adjusted her staff and stepped towards the frozen figure of Sungchul. That was so that she could smash it to pieces. When she approached his statue, she felt an unexpected, murderous aura pouring out from behind her.

‘An enemy?!’

As she began to turn, a blunt force struck her. It was powerful enough to cause her mind to go blank.

“Khuk!”

Dolorence briefly caught her breath before coughing up blood on the floor.

“Aaargh!”

She had lowered her guard. She had allowed herself to lose herself in front of such an easy prey and had unexpectedly been ambushed. But…who could it be?

Dolorence fought through the backbreaking pain and slowly turned her head. An unexpected figure stood there towering over her like an Angel of Death.

“Y-you…why?”

The one who had ambushed her was Grand Knight Sanggil Ma. Wielding a hefty Warhammer, he glared at her with murderous intent.

It was at this moment, a passage from a Magic-related reference book from a distant past popped into her mind.

Nothing in this world is fixed.
Everything is in constant flux.
Regardless of how slowly or quickly things change.

“You dare think you can play around with me?”

The beast that had been wrapped around her fingers had broken free and was now baring his teeth towards her. He approached Dolorence, who no longer had enough strength to resist, and lifted his Warhammer.

“S-stop!”

Dolorence, who had realized what he was about to do, could only flail her arms and legs while shouting pitifully, but it was all meaningless. Sanggil crushed her limbs one after the other. She shrieked in pain each time, but the hatred never left her eyes.

“I will curse you…Sanggil Ma!!”

“Do what you want to, Mage.”

Sanggil stomped on her head with his military boots after mercilessly crushing her limbs. Her face was then shoved into the ground.

With his foot still on her head, Sanggil pulled out a pipe and began to smoke as he talked to himself and held a smug smile on his face.

“I should have done this from the start. It’s just that I’m too soft at times. Isn’t that right, Mage?”

He gradually added strength to his foot as he continued speaking. Dolorence tried to scream, but it was buried by the dirt.

Sanggil leisurely puffed some smoke as he looked over at the frozen Sungchul.

“Is this that brat Ahram’s stand-in? It looks like he had some luck on his side.”

Sanggil casually kicked Dolorence’s head before heading towards Sungchul to look over his frozen form.

“Quite a pity, but this is the kind of place Other World is. This kind of helpless situation happens so regularly here.”

Sanggil lifted his Warhammer once again, seeking to finish what Dolorence had started, but as he begun his swing, an ironic voice spilled out from the front.

“That’s what I think as well.”

Sanggil’s eyes grew wide. In the next moment, the ice shattered and a rough hand gripped around his neck.

“Ugh…ughp…”

Sanggil’s feet were lifted into the air and began flailing about helplessly. His eyes filled with terror on seeing the monstrous person that had broken out of the ice.

‘W-What is this? This fucker…’

It was unimaginable. The Grand Knight, who had reached the qualities of a super human and whose strength surpassed 300, was being oppressed so easily. He tried to break free of the grip on his neck using all of his strength, but it was pointless.

“Kuuh…”

Through his fading vision, Sanggil saw the mysterious man touching his own face. His bones and muscles were making grotesque noises as they were adjusted. It was at this moment that Sanggil came to a terrible realization.

‘C-could it be?!’

When he finally saw the monster’s face, he started panicking and let out an incoherent scream.

“E-Enemy of the W-World, K-Kim!!”

Crack

Sungchul’s grip literally pulverized Sanggil’s throat. The Grand Knight, who was still in the air, fell limp and a mixture of feces and urine came spilling out from his shining armor.

Sungchul tied a noose around Sanggil’s neck then hung him from a tree. He then headed over to the broken-limbed red-headed Mage who lay awaiting death.

“You sure love pranks.”

Dolorence spat out the dirt in her mouth and looked at the person that was looking down at her.

‘Who…?’

There was no way a nobody like Dolorence would recognize Sungchul’s face. He stood over her and spoke quietly.

“But you were unlucky.”

A large hammer materialized in Sungchul’s hands. It was the legendary Warhammer forged by tempering the sky into a weapon, Fal Garaz. A forgotten name formed in her mind as soon as she saw this legendary weapon.

‘Could it be…that this person is…!’

Wham!

A refreshing sound wave rang out from the forest. Sungchul left the forest, leaving behind the Bracelet of Alibi in front of the splattered remains of Dolorence’s skull.

Sporadic groups of Summoned could be seen walking through the field along a burned-out road that headed towards the Golden City.

‘What should I do now?’

He had managed to get hold of a Mage class, but it was just another beginning. He was familiar with how to deal with Mages, but he didn’t know as much about Magic itself. One had to enter a School of Magic or a Guild to properly learn about Magic from its foundations, but he had a curse that didn’t bode well with that situation.

“Status Screen: Curses”

Sungchul brought up a screen showing the curses that had been cast on him. His eyes were filled with many words.

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[Curses]

Final Declaration of Grand Mage Balzark
(Intuition -10)
…
Adelwight, Witch of the Haunted Forest’s Common Curse
(-5 Strength / Erectile Dysfunction)

Enemy of the Kingdom
(Faction: Nemesis of Human Kingdom, Blank Check Reward)
…
Enemy of the Allied Mage’s Guild
(Faction: Nemesis of Allied Mage’s Guild and Sub guilds)

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The immediate problem within the screen was the curse which made him the enemy of the Allied Mage’s Guild. The Allied Mage’s Guild was an alliance formed between every guild, school, and military organizations only excluding wandering or exiled Mages. This was the kind of organization he had been declared an enemy of.

He might be able to hide his identity with the Deceiver’s Veil, but it was another matter to enter a guild or a school with Mages who were naturally suspicious and prone to deception themselves.

“…”

As he briefly contemplated on a plan, a familiar friend lingered around his feet.

“Kyu Kyu!”

It was Krill’s orphaned Sky Squirrel. Sungchul held out his hand for the Sky Squirrel to climb onto his shoulder.

“There you are!”

Farther north of the road, a man with a prosthetic limb wearing a dog-hide robe smiled brightly as he walked over. It was the Slave Hunter, Christian Ashwood.

Sungchul looked over the Slave Hunter without much thought as a serene smile suddenly formed on his lips. He had only now recalled Christian’s former profession.

 

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