Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

Chapter 5

In the quiet stillness.

The woman spoke in a determined voice

"I\'m leaving this place. And... I\'m going to get revenge. I swear it."

It was a complete 180 from the tearful breakdown she\'d had a moment ago.

Revenge, huh?

I couldn\'t say it was a good thing, but it wasn\'t bad either.

A clear goal would give her a foothold to move forward.

Even if that meant harboring resentment towards her own parents.

"I\'ll make them regret abandoning me."

Whoosh.

A deep purple glow ignited in her rage-filled eyes.

Simultaneously, ambient mana began to converge on her.

...Manipulation?

I couldn\'t help but be surprised again.

She said that she had awakened her magical powers, but it was at a higher level than I thought.

She\'s quite talented.

In [Demon Fantasy], awakening magic requires three stages: Awakening, Manipulation, and Manifestation.

The first stage - \'Awakening\' is when one can see mana.

The second stage - \'Manipulation\' is when one can control it.

The final stage - \'Manifestation\' is when one can use that mana to cast spells.

Only upon reaching \'Manifestation\' can one be considered minimally qualified to be a mage.

Of course, even that minimum qualification isn\'t easy to achieve.

I reached Manifestation instantly thanks to my Mythic tier trait, but...

Normally, even with a decent magic-related trait, one would have to spend two months in the training grounds just to learn mana manipulation.

In that sense, the woman\'s talent was undoubtedly exceptional, considering she had no formal training.

She must have awakened a Heroic-tier trait by chance... It was something to seriously consider.

...Should I take her with me?

[Demon Fantasy] is not a world one can navigate alone.

This cruel world is designed to be experienced by making and losing countless companions.

For mages, especially in the early stages, companions were not a choice but essential.

The sooner one found companions, the better. It significantly reduced the extreme difficulty of the early game.

However, there was a catch... trust.

Can I trust her?

The betrayal I felt from the old man still hadn\'t faded. I hesitated because of that.

It didn\'t matter what she\'d been through. Just because someone has suffered doesn\'t mean they won\'t betray you.

It all depended on her character.

If she was a good person, she would become a reliable companion.

If not, she would eventually stab me in the back.

I couldn\'t afford to make the same mistake twice with a hasty judgment.

I\'ll keep an eye on her for now.

There was no point in worrying about it.

You can\'t judge a person based on a brief encounter.

It took a long time of conversation and observation.

I recalled the reason I\'d come here and decided to postpone my choice.

I stood up and looked around.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing."

It was too dark to see clearly, but at a glance, there were no obvious places to hide a safe or money.

Well, I had expected as much.

There was no way they would keep something so precious in a place like this.

And even less so, would they keep a woman locked up next to it.

So it must be somewhere else.

I glanced at the bundle of keys.

There were only four keys left.

Where could they have hidden it?

"What are you searching for?"

"A safe."

I mentioned my goal in the hope that she might know the location.

Fortunately, my guess was right.

"A safe, huh..."

The woman nodded as if she knew just the place.

"I think I know where it is. Follow me."

She led the way up the stairs.

"What are you doing? Aren\'t you coming?"

"...I\'m coming."

Despite providing me with crucial information, she didn\'t make any demands.

Was it gratitude for unlocking the door? Or for listening to her story?

I wasn\'t sure.

Okay.

So far, so good.

***

"Not here."

The woman named Kayla stopped abruptly in the second-floor hallway.

It was the same place where I\'d fought those guys.

Kayla stared at the corpses causing her expression to twist in anger.

"...Those bastards. I\'ll kill those bastards, they\'re not even worthy to be fed to demon minions!"

Even though they were already dead, Kayla continued to curse.

Well, she must have built up quite a lot of resentment.

"What happened to them?"

Kayla turned to me.

Oh right, I hadn\'t told her.

"I killed them."

"You...?"

Kayla looked at me with questioning eyes.

I didn\'t mind.

If I were her, and a skinny, raggedy beggar told me they\'d killed three men, I wouldn\'t believe it either.

"Why did you kill them?"

"They poisoned my food."

"Poison? Why?"

"Well, the dead guys know the reason better than I do."

Of course, I had heard from the old man that they were trying to take my heart, but there was no need to mention that.

If I told her that, I\'d be revealing that I\'d awakened as a mage too.

It was better to keep it hidden, at least until we trusted each other more.

"The guy with all-white hair was pretty skilled, so it took me a while to..."

I paused.

Something felt off.

I slowly looked around.

A vast space with a clean interior and antique decorations.

...Is he that skilled?

When I asked how this place came to be, the giant had replied.

"You could say it\'s the power of magic. Space, lighting, materials... there\'s no place that magic hasn\'t touched."

And the giant had said that...

"Yeah, a pretty high-level mage lives here. He\'s our boss too. Oh, here he comes."

As if their leader, the white-haired guy, had accomplished everything.

Something was off.

To create a space of this size, you need to be a truly top-notch mage, from using space expansion magic to infusing mana into ordinary tools and making a lot of investments.

It would require a truly high-level mage.

But the white-haired guy?

No way.

That doesn\'t make sense.

From what I\'d experienced, the white-haired guy was definitely not a \'high-level\' mage.

If he was, even with my Mythic-tier trait, I wouldn\'t have been able to dispel his magic.

A mage who reaches a certain level can create their own unique patterns within their mana.

And once that pattern is formed, no one else can manipulate it.

If a mage can use space expansion magic... they\'d obviously have that level of skill.

In other words, the all-white-haired guy hadn\'t done this.

There was definitely another mage. And a very skilled one at that.

That suspicion turned into certainty when Kayla spoke.

"But where are the others?"

...No wonder it\'s so big. It wasn\'t just for two people.

"...How many people were here?"

"Well... when I was captured, there were at least 20?"

"...20 people."

I coldly assessed the situation.

If the others who had left returned, would I be able to survive?

And they weren\'t just ordinary thugs.

...They said this was made by former mercenaries.

My decision was made.

I\'m going to die.

The power difference between Kayla and me and them was too great.

It wasn\'t just a matter of numbers.

As long as there was a chance that there was a powerful mage on their side, I had to give up hope of winning.

So there was only one thing left for me to do.

"Lead me to the safe. Quickly!"

I had to hurry and grab what I could before getting out of here.

Time was of the essence.

***

“Huff... huff!”

Kayla reached their destination and gasped for breath.

Considering she was out of breath after running such a short distance, her stamina must be about the same as mine.

I was also breathing heavily, but I didn\'t have time to catch my breath.

"Is this the safe you were talking about?"

"...Yeah, yeah."

Click.

I quickly inserted the key.

Thankfully, the second key turned the lock.

However, for some reason, it wouldn\'t open.

"This..."

It didn\'t feel physically blocked.

I quickly figured out the reason.

Crackle!

"Ouch!"

"What, what\'s wrong!"

A tingling sensation shot up my fingertips.

At the same time, a faint magical energy flowed from the lock.

Electric magic.

They had enhanced the safe with it and added a double lock.

"...They went into a lot of trouble, huh? It\'s a double lock."

"Double lock?"

"Yeah, it seems like you have to inject magic into the key to unlock it..."

"Wait, can you try?"

Kayla took the key with a confident expression and stood in front of the safe.

But soon, a cry was heard.

"Ouch! What, what is this!"

Damn it, it didn\'t work.

I missed being a zombie swordsman character.

Back then, I could just smash things to solve problems...

...I guess I have no choice.

I wanted to hide my awakening as much as possible, but I had no other option.

I didn\'t have the time to figure out another way.

I had to step in.

I took the key back and let out a short breath.

"...Huh."

"What are you going to do?"

"Opening it."

Luckily, perhaps out of consideration for the white-haired guy, the double lock didn\'t have a unique pattern.

In other words, as long as I could manipulate magic to some extent, I could open it.

And that manipulation of magic would be adjusted to the level of the white-haired guy.

So...

It should be possible.

Click.

I inserted the key and turned it.

At the same time, I channeled mana into the safe through the key.

I closed my eyes and focused on the mana.

"You, you?"

Mana stretched out like tentacles and meticulously explored the inside of the lock.

Soon, the structure of the device began to take shape in my head, almost like drawing a blueprint.

And there it was, a place that was clearly meant to pass through mana.

Carefully, I channeled mana through it.

It was something I had never done before, but my mana didn\'t deviate from my intention at all.

Yes, this is it.

The safe door creaked open right then.

"No way... why did that happen? More importantly, were you an Awakener? And you can use mana too?"

Is that what matters right now?

I ignored the question and checked the safe first.

A golden glow assaulted my eyes.

Gold coins!

A large amount of gold coins were neatly stacked vertically.

At first glance, it was enough to get me out of Sector 7.

And next to it.

"A rock?"

Kayla asked as she approached the safe.

I said firmly,

"It\'s not just any rock."

Sitting neatly on a small box, this object looked ordinary on the surface but was anything but.

"It\'s an artifact."

And a high-rank one at that.

In the game, it was called the [Blink Stone].

It\'s a one-time use item that teleports the user to any location they\'ve been to.

Although it has the limitation of only working on places the user has visited, it\'s perfect for emergency situations.

"Why do they have something like this?"

"Probably as a means of escape in an emergency. This place isn\'t exactly the best."

"...That makes sense."

While Kayla nodded, I quickly grabbed the [Blink Stone].

It felt like I had gained an extra life.

Kayla said with a bitter expression,

"...Consider this as payment for my debt."

"Well, okay."

I grabbed a suitably sized bag nearby and stuffed it with gold coins, then immediately thought of my next task.

...So, the money problem is solved.

All I have to do is get out of this building. Just as I thought that...

Creak!

A faint sound from a distance. Small but definitely piercing my ears.

I didn\'t need to think about what it was. It was the sound of a door opening.

The direction was... the central entrance, where I first came in.

"...Already?"

They\'re back.