The Genius Magician Hides His Swordsmanship - Chapter 22

Chapter 22. Adonis Khan (3)

Inside was a large square. Wide enough to easily accommodate dozens of people.

‘That way.’

My steps were unhurried. A display stand in one corner caught my eye.

‘Everything is still the same.’

On the shelf, various weapons greeted me. They were equipment that would receive rave reviews no matter where they were put out in the world.

‘You’ve managed them well…’

Even after a thousand years had passed, it had not lost its original light.

“These are in really good condition, even for me, who doesn’t know much about equipment.”

Of course, I was only 15 years old, so that was all I could use as a compliment.

“I took good care of them. I’m glad you like the results.”

Admun hung his head, his face turned pale.

“If you had sold just one of these, you could have lived well for several years. Why didn’t you?”

Admun only smiled softly.

“All possessions belong to the Khan family. We only managed them.”

It was honesty that made my head proud.
Some were taken from enemies, and some were obtained while traveling.

‘Anyway, I don’t use these things…’

I was upset. They were just spoils of war, but Dolph and his descendants were more precious to me than these things.

[Why is there such a stupidly kind family?]
‘I can see a lot of good in them.’

Although my interest went elsewhere, since I kept the things I really cherished separately.

“Let’s go inside the square.”
“Oh, okay!”

Admun said, looking a little reminded. His eyes lit up with anticipation.

[Didn’t you know that no one else could go in there except you?]
‘Yeah, I didn’t tell Dolph back then either.’

My hideaway was managed by the Dolph family for a millennium. There was a place that even they couldn’t go in and out of in the furthest corner of the square.
An orange barrier greeted us again.

“Does master know how to enter this place?”
“Of course, it has been passed down from generation to generation in the family.”

For Admun, who has managed this place all his life, it would be an honor to be able to see this.
I didn’t even ask Admun to step back.

‘You won’t be able to memorize it anyway.’

Whoosh!
As I raised my hand, an archaic string jumped.

I IV VI
III V IX
VIII II VII

It looked like a random number plate.
The numbers appeared in a different order each time and were in ancient language, so I knew he wouldn’t be able to memorize them after seeing them once or twice.
I quickly punched in the numbers.

‘114, 215, 316, 418, 521, 623, 725, 829, 935.’

The first digit was the last number of stars I had achieved as a swordsman.
The last two digits were the age at which I achieved them.

[You love yourself too much.]
‘These are all great achievements.’

Even when I was young, I had been living in the lower parts of the market, but I had grown more rapidly than anyone else by wielding a sword and meeting Oberon.
I punched in the numbers, and it glowed gold.
Brrr…
A small vibration happened and the space behind the crystal opened up.

“Wow, I’ve only ever heard of this place in legends.”

Admun stood with his mouth wide open.

“Come with me. I’ll show you what it looks like.”

We entered a tiny room that dwarfed in comparison to the other places

“What is all this?”

Admun tilted his head. At first glance, they must have seemed no more valuable than the armory outside.

“They’re martial arts books.”
“If you say martial arts, then…”

“Yes, I myself Ad- uh no. It’s a compendium of things Adonis learned from watching the rituals of the other families. Additionally, he established his own rituals as well.”
“…Oh! So that’s why they were set aside.”

Admun nodded. As important as spellbooks are to a mage, so are martial arts books to a swordsman.
Of course, these were still fresh in my mind, and I hadn’t come here to look at a bunch of texts. I was there for something else.

‘There it is.’

A small display case in the corner, where the martial arts equipment I had used in my past life was displayed.

‘I haven’t had much use for them since I became a 9 star.’

These are the things that will help me more than anything right now.

‘Let’s take these first.’
[Oh, it’s been a long time!]

I couldn’t take all the armor that stood out. Phew. I grabbed the sword sack in the corner.

* * * 

I went back into the square, I saw a landscape that I hadn’t seen before when I passed. There was a well in the center and a small garden in the corner.

‘This reminds me of when I was practicing lung training.’

For the perfect lung training, a self-sufficient system was in place.

[You got to 9 stars back then.]

It was still well maintained and provided the same environment as it did back then. If I had to point out something, the size of the garden was a little bigger than it was back then.

‘It’s a bit too big for me to be alone in.’

A question then arose.

“By the way, where did the rest of the family go?”

If this had continued for a thousand years, there would have been quite a bit of Dolph’s family.

“Well…”

Admun’s face darkened sharply.

“Originally, my family was located on a fairly large scale on the ground here. Although we were commoners, its size was worthy of being called a prestigious family. Everyone acknowledged us as ancestors of las.”
“However?”
“Three years ago, people from the mage tower came in. They said that we were hiding something here, so they wanted us to leave this place.”

It became hard to hear Admun’s words that followed.

“We fought because we couldn’t let them take this land. The result was… death.”

He continued his speech with his fists clenched.

“In the end, at the last moment, my father took me and my younger brother into the barrier. They said that there must be someone who will succeed Adonis Khan’s descendants.”

They prioritized me over themselves even until the very last moment.

‘What did I do that was so good to deserve this…’

I couldn’t hear any more. My heart was constricted and I couldn’t stand it.

“So, where is your brother? Is he doing well here?”

Please say yes. I wanted to scream out so much. But Admun’s head shook slowly.

“I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead.”

At those words that were spat out calmly, I unknowingly screamed out loud.

“You don’t know if he’s alive or dead?! What do you mean?!”
“Literally, it was a few months after we took refuge in the hideaway. We went outside to check the situation, and we ran into the mages. My brother was captured by them, and I had to flee.”

I was devastated. I had finally met a descendant of Dolph, but the world did not allow us to reunite so easily.

“They were the mages from the mage tower, right?”
“Yes, judging from the fact that the barrier hasn’t been broken yet, fortunately it doesn’t seem like it went smoothly…”

Admun couldn’t continue. It was most likely that his brother was already dead.

‘Those guys won’t be so strong when I’m done with them!’

I didn’t know what happened to him after he was caught. But I couldn’t trample on Admun’s last hope.

“Don’t worry about it too much. I’ll find out.”

First of all, I had no choice but to comfort Admun.

[How do you plan on finding out?]
‘Well, I can freely enter and leave the mage tower. I have to use all my resources.’

After a moment of sadness, Admun hurriedly looked up.

“Oh, but you have to leave soon.”
“Why?”
“It will be time for breakfast soon. If you don’t leave now, you’ll have to wait until lunchtime.”

I couldn’t miss the mage tower’s class.

“Okay, we should go to the mage tower first.”
“I’ll guide you outside the fence.”
“Please do.”

I followed Admun outside. It was already dawn.

‘Has so much time already passed by?’

I can finally see what they’ve been hiding in their tents.

‘These are all the traces of people of the Dolph family.’

Most of it was demolished, but I noticed some remains of homes. All the places where the barbed wire was laid were places where Dolph descendants have once run around & played in.

‘…I will get my revenge.’

With that vow, I walked alongside Admun. Since he was familiar with the geography of this place, he quickly reached the nearby fence.

“This is one of the ways I get in and out.”

There was a small gap in the fence. He squeezed himself through the small gap like an opening. He looked like he was demonstrating it.

‘I don’t exactly need to do that…’

Then I used the ritual of the Arens family.
Boing!
I jumped over the fence.

“Ah, you’re amazing, I apologize for trying to instruct you.”
“No, no. You don’t have to.”

I didn’t know what to do. Maybe I should have just pushed myself through the hole.

“The mage tower is just down the road that way.”

Admun purposely led me in the direction closest to the mage tower.

“Alright. I’ll be back soon, so stay safe.”

I was about to turn to leave, when Admun bowed.

“Oh, wait.”

I dug into my pockets and handed over all the gold I had.

“This is all I have for now.”

“Oh, thank you but there’s really no need.”

I threw up my hands in frustration.

“You’ll just have to make do with this, and stay in an inn for a while, not underground.”

He couldn’t resist and thanked me.

“…Thank you.”

* * * 

There was no time for sleep.
I returned to my room and began aura and muscle training.

‘It’s already time for class.’

Outside the window, the morning sun was already bright.
Knock! Knock!
There was a momentary knock on the door.

“Ian! Let’s go to class!”

It was Drew’s voice and it was exceptionally lively.

“Alright, let’s go.”

With him, I headed to the classroom where the class was held yesterday. By then, I had become quite adapted to moving around.
Wooh!
I entered the classroom on the 12th floor.

“You guys just got to 3 stars, which means you’re newbies.”

Yesterday’s old professor was in charge of the first class. The 100 odd students who enrolled this year were divided into 4 classes.

“Your class will learn the principles of each attribute from me this morning.”

It was a way to have a teacher for each subject. Of course, that old professor named Andrei was an accelerated theory lecturer.

‘A boring person teaching a boring subject.’

Besides, I had already studied these countless times in the ancient language books.

‘I’ll have to practice my aura during class.’

Whoosh!
I felt the aura building up in my body. It started piling up in my muscles, not the danjeon. Then, I gathered the aura at the tip of my right arm.

‘Now I can fill up my forearm muscles.’

It was the result of gathering aura scattered throughout my body.

A long time after I started concentrating on my aura.

“…Huh?”

A sense of déjà vu that I had felt before came rushing in.

“Ian! What did I just say?”

Andrei glanced at me, adjusting his glasses.

‘Oi, what did he just say?’
[Ha, am I your babysitter now?]
‘Oh, please.’
[Ugh!]

Oberon shook his head.

[The fire attribute is a spirited attribute, so you must always be careful when handling it. Otherwise, the caster could also be seriously injured.]
“The fire attribute is a spirited attribute, so you must always be careful. Otherwise, the caster could also be seriously injured.”

I said that and smiled bashfully.

“Tsk!”

Andrei clicked his tongue and ended the class, wondering what he didn’t like.

“Ian, you seemed to be absent minded, but you were still listening.”

Drew was assigned to the same class. His eyes were shining.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Oberon murmured from behind saying, ‘Do you see the constellations as dog water?’

“The next class is mana management right? Ian, you’re the best at that!”
“Oh! Really?”

I was most confident at it.
Slide!
The classroom door opened and a new professor appeared.

“Hey everyone!”

My eyes widened when I saw him.

“Kek!”

Drew even choked on a snack he was secretly eating.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Aloy!”

He was our instructor at the Delemar academy. I wonder why he’s here.

[To be continued…]