First thing I saw waking up, a dirty, ragged korean man laying on the ground. In every other circumstance this would be a shocking sight, but now I was relieved.
I stretched and strained my spirit a bit. Surprisingly, not even the shadow of the terrible weakness remained.
Even better, like a stretched balloon, the capacity of my spirit monstrously increased. A tremendous magic pool hid within me. Sadly, I didn't have my spellbook anymore.
For the first time in weeks, I could gaze into the unfathomable, endless darkness of the universe. Rare stars breached the thick veil of void. Such a sight quickly overwhelmed my mind, I couldn't even tell how long I dumbly stared into the window.
I pondered, was even the creator of the train God? Actually no, I couldn’t care less who, but rather ‘why’? What was the possible profit they gained from this train?
As I slowly approached the window, my hand accidentally rubbed against a pulsating book laying on the table. I was quickly brought back to reality.
Lillian vibrated on the table. Was she awake? I waved my hand and effortlessly channelled a sizeable amount of magic toward the book.
I was quite amazed at how much my spirit evolved due to such hardship. High risks and high rewards, huh.
Lillian dashed into the air, and for the first time, her pages opened. I figured that with enough energy she could weaken the seal, giving her control over the book.
Weak magic waves flew to my brain; if I wasn’t paying attention, I would have assumed they were regular magic winds.
[HEY HEY HEY HEY]
"You can talk! Can you see me?"
I wondered, if she could move and talk, could she see?
[I only perceive the world through magic waves.]
Interesting; she used something similar to echolocation, or more like ‘magilocation’.
"How long can you remain animated?"
[I don't know, I feel great right now; if I don’t use any spells… hmm, several hours?]
Maybe I should consider sustaining her 24/7. She could definitely be useful, and she didn't seem to require much magic.
"So you accepted the deal right? You are now helping me right?"
[Yeah, yeah. Are you going to look at the notice or not?]
How did she know about such a thing? Oh yeah right, I showed her my inbox after she healed me and Jinhyung. She must have noticed the last car's completion notification.
Lillian grabbed my ticket by closing herself onto it. Obviously, I could do it faster, but this was quite amusing to see. Then she awkwardly flew and dropped it between my fingers.
I couldn’t help but giggle at such a sight.
[Hey, fuck you, I just tried to be kind. Stop laughing.]
There was nothing left of the demonic vampire that she once was. Thankfully, she even dropped her snobby behavior.
-Notification-
Congratulations! Your party completed the challenge 'Castle of Nightmares'
Contributors: Friedrich Mercer, Kim Jinhyung
Party name: N/A
Ranking: 5
Score: 2230.5 pts
Train coins gained: 10 000
Full pointage breakdown:
Vampires slayed (100% value): 17, 340 pts
Chimeras slayed (100% value): 39, 390 pts
Trolls slayed (100% value): 3, 90 pts
Vampire Lord slayed (100% value): 1, 1000 pts
Vampires indirect slayed (5% value): 235, 235 pts
Chimeras indirect slayed (5% value): 151, 75.5 pts
Chimera King indirect slayed (5% value): 1, 100 pts
Tsk, deaths caused by the explosion of the false sun were worth only 5% of their original value, what a scam.
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[You guys are ranked 5th? With all of the help I gave you, kinda disappointing.]
"Well, group sizes were unlimited. Some groups had dozens of people," I said shamefully, almost as if making excuses.
Lillian flew just above Jinhyung's head and smashed his head.
[Hey sword guy, how long are you going to remain asleep?]
Jinhyung, visibly angered, quickly grabbed the floating book and smashed it into the ground.
"JINHYUNG STOP!" exclaimed I grabbing his hand, trying to ease the grip on Lillian.
[Hey fucker, let me go. You want a rematch? Without the beast's energy, you are nothing.]
"Fred, why is that demon here?"
"Do not worry, she is on our side."
Suddenly, A strong magic energy surged from the book, black chains wrapped around Jinhyung before he could react. Lillian then escaped his grasp and flew to the other side of the room.
"Oh Really? This demon wants only our demise. Or perhaps is she a better companion than me?" he screamed, effortlessly breaking from the chains, unsheathing his blade.
When I think about it, Jinhyung knew only the psycho side of Lillian. And when he was assaulted by her, he couldn't help but feel threatened.
This was really the worst possible outcome. I had no choice but to use 'this'.
I stood up and started to unveil my 'presence'. As my magic filled the whole cabin, everything trembled. I gathered a bunch of magic in my lungs and exclaimed,
[Stop now!]
Lillian dropped to the table, and Jinhyung staggered back a little. I didn't have any spells, but I had a tremendous amount of magic now.
[Lillian don't you dare attack Jinhyung; Jinhyung, please listen first.]
The strength of one's magic voice was proportional to their presence; with each of my words, the magic within the cabin shook.
Such a show-off was sure impressive but not really efficient as I already used up about a third of my magic pool. I quickly released the pressure.
"Jinhyung, I understand she was a deadly foe. But she agreed to help me in exchange for her life. She is now on our side."
"But she attacked me!"
"Yes, she is a brat, but please, she didn't try to really harm us."
"Tsk, I see. But my reaction is understandable!" Jinhyung was still quite mad; he slowly sheathed his sword with a grim picture on his face.
Luckily, Jinhyung was somewhat reasonable.
[Yeah, my bad. I scared your boyfriend, hihi.]
"This bitch!" growled Jinhyung.
In a quick gesture of my hand, I directed more power toward Lillian, this time stronger. Strong enough to crash her into the wall.
[Kuaakkk!]
"We are companions, nothing more."
[Aww, but you look so good together. Joking, joking, don't hit me.]
She silently absorbed the energy and flew near me.
Jinhyung's face darkened even more. He got up and walked out of the cabin.
"I am going to the market; are you coming with me?" he said already outside.
I had 5039 coins on my balance. Amazing! I never felt that rich before. In the old world, even though I had loads of money, I never truly desired anything.
I quickly ran out before the cabin's door closed and followed Jinhyung. Lillian quietly floated near my right shoulder. Jinhyung accelerated his pace once he noticed that Lillian didn't stay in the room.
After our short and awkwardly silent walk, we arrived at the elevator capsules, and I glanced at Jinhyung; he was still fuming.
[Hey, why did we stop? Where is the market?]
"This is a transportation device; you enter the capsule, and it brings you to the destination."
[Oh, a portal? But I do not feel any magic.]
"It's powered; hmm, how to explain it? Something similar to clockwork."
[Really??? Your world seems so interesting... I wished I had real eyes...]
Lillian lived hundreds of years in a medieval setting; even steam-powered mechanisms would seem like wonders beyond imagination.
Once we got inside the capsule, she asked,
[Hey, since I do not feel his presence anymore. Can we talk privately for a bit?]
"Sure, but be quick."
I wondered what kind of gossip an ancient vampire's soul had to share with me.
[I think he is jealous of me. That's why he gets very angry whenever he sees me.]
"Jealous? Are you sure? You did hit him, you know."
[How blind can you be? He is obviously scared that he won't be your only companion leaving him alone, he brought that up himself!]
"I would never."
[I know; he knows it too, but he cannot be rational before such a great fear.]
I was astonished; she could read and interpret Jinhyung's state of mind in mere minutes of knowing him. On the other hand, I was always oblivious to how people felt around me.
[Haha, don't be impressed; you are just that bad at understanding people.]
"..."
This bitch.
When we got out, Jinhyung was nowhere to be seen; he entered the elevator before me. Didn't he wait for me as usual?
Good thing he didn’t go too far away, I saw his figure near the entrance of the market.
[Hey, before he can hear us, just know that he deeply cares for you. I envy you for having such a friend by your side. You are very lucky. Do not lose him.]
"I know; this may be the only thing I know about him."
[Hihi, how cute.]
I wondered why Jinhyung stood at the entrance; he was looking at something. As I joined his side, he gasped in wonder,
"The 'strongest'."
A large system panel floated under the ceiling of the market.
Trial of the Second Car Ranking (5 days left)
1: King (1)-10 000 pts
2: Great Magic Alliance (25) 6 543 pts
3: The Coven (5) 4 556 pts
4: Lone Swordsman (1) 2 800 pts
5: (N/A) (2) 2 230.5 pts
6: New Order (12) 600 pts
7: N/A
8: N/A
9: N/A
10: N/A