Mightiest Melee Magician
Chapter 30
As the name suggested, the breakfast served in the late noon of the was quite warm.
A warm chicken soup and bacon roll.
Cabbage and fried eggs.
After focusing on the quest for the whole of the morning, this late breakfast I had eaten was truly delicious.
As I was finishing my meal, Jason came down the stairs, yawning and with messy bed hair.
“Are you awake?”
“Yaaaaaawn… Ah, Ruin. You’re up early.”
“Early? What time is it to be early? The sun’s high in the sky.”
“This is the charm. To have no humanity…… But how long did I sleep?”
“I don’t know. Probably 12 hours?”
“It’s probably because of the mana train. My condition’s a bit weird. I really fainted yesterday.”
“That’s true. You fainted spectacularly. Even when I woke you up for food, you would be like, ‘Uhgghgh. I’m gonna sleep more…’ ”
“……”
As I dragged on my impression of him, Jason scratched his head in embarrassment.
And following me, he ordered the same breakfast menu as me and flopped next to the table.
He looked in disgust at my clothes wet from sweat and shook his head.
“Are you really training all the way out here too?”
“Yeah.”
“Ugh. You musclehead.”
Even if he said it like that, I couldn’t really do much.
1 quest per day.
This was the homework I must complete.
On top of that, because I wasn’t at the academy, the training area was restricted, and I needed to train at dawn and early mornings when there were less people.
Then, Jason abruptly stood up from his seat and said this.
“Listen properly. This Jason will tell you about the ways of the man. Traditionally, when a man comes to a place like this to enjoy himself—”
“He drinks alcohol and sees women?”
“That’s right. Looks like the repeated lessons have some effect. So back to what I was saying, how about going for a drink tonight? I’ll teach you what alcohol truly means and—”
“Nah. I need to go somewhere tonight.”
“Go somewhere? Where?”
You just arrived in ‘Altein’ yesterday, so where would you need to go?
Naturally, Jason had his suspicions.
“Should I come with you?”
“Next time. Eat properly.”
“Ruin!”
I smiled at Jason and stood from my seat.
After returning to the lodging and then showering, I changed my clothes.
The direction I headed towards was none other than towards Professor Hydel’s room.
“Professor. It’s Ruin.”
“Come in.”
The form of Professor Hydel I saw as I entered was a direct replica to what he looked like yesterday.
He was wearing the same brown cardigan from yesterday while his rimless glasses half rested on his nose.
Even his posture was the same, and he read the same book.
The only thing that signified time had passed was that the book had fewer pages left.
“What is it?”
The Professor looked at me with quite a bit of curiosity in his eyes.
It was as if he was asking, ‘Where are you going after reporting to me?’
To that professor, I replied with a bored tone.
“I want to look around the city.”
“Look around the city?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t be late.”
Professor didn’t ask anything else.
As always, he trusted me.
“Then, I’ll take my leave.”
I closed the door to his room and came down to the 1st floor.
“Ruin!”
“Just where are you going?”
“Can’t you tell me?”
Including Jason and Hankus, most of the students were interested in my outing.
But why should I tell them?
“I’ll be going.”
Well, it’s not like I had anything I could say.
I asked Straang, who was sitting on my shoulder,
“Draka’s relic. Are you sure?”
“I’m certain. Even though I’m like this, I’m still the ‘Incarnation of Strength’. This strong of a wave isn’t common.”
“Hm? You’re not the Incarnation of Perversion?”
“I won’t deny that I do have a hobby of checking out your body… but this is real. Well, I don’t know which relic it is though.”
One thing was certain.
Within the commercial district of ‘Altein’ lay a relic of Draka.
However, there was no way to tell what type of relic it was.
That’s why I just started walking through the heart of the city.
There was only one hint.
“Left!”
Only the ‘stench of strength’ that just Straang could sense could give us the general direction of it.
Altein boasted a similar appearance to yesterday.
It was easy-going and wealthy.
As I was fully immersed in this foreign city’s atmosphere…
“Eh?”
My ‘minimap’ had changed slightly.
In one corner of the minimap, a red dot had appeared.
The skill I obtained with the .
I had no use for it in the past since I’d only stayed at the academy.
But this minimap that plainly showed me the surrounding 500 meters was more effective than any other skill in this foreign area.
Pr/n: Approx 550yd
“…It looks like it’s here.”
Like this, I moved towards where the red dot was marked on the map.
It led me to a type of ‘antique shop’.
* * *
* * *
Even though it was an antique shop, it wasn’t as run down as I expected.
It was a clean small shop that didn’t hurt the beautiful view of Altein and showed sophistication with a name like ‘Store of Memories’.
“You’re saying ‘Draka’s relic’ is in a place like this?”
‘Draka’s Relic’.
An object that the black dragon personally used at that.
It was too different to the underground black market, a billionaire’s safe, or an auction house like I imagined it to be at.
However, Straang said it could be here.
“Draka’s relics aren’t normal to begin with.”
“What do you mean?”
“Draka, like you, based his magic on strength. So, unless the user knows to use strength as well, they wouldn’t be able to tell if it was a relic or some junk.”
Ah, so it was like that.
I nodded my head and opened the door to the antique shop.
At that, the man inside that looked like the owner spoke to me.
“Welcome to Altein’s Store of Memories, Touched by History!”
“Yes.”
There was another customer inside.
‘They’re a magician.’
It was a woman that looked similar in age to me.
Even without using the , she exuded such an aura that anyone could tell she was a magician.
‘On top of that, she’s from the Seiki Women’s Residential College.’
One of the strongest magic schools on the continent.
She was wearing the Seiki Women’s Residential College’s uniform with the black crow insignia on it.
They were probably a participant in this year’s Grand Festival.
At that, the owner spoke up.
“Hoho. We have quite a few ‘magician’ customers today. It’s probably because of the Grand Festival. Please take a look.”
“Sure.”
“……”
At the word ‘magician’ that the owner used, she peeked at me with a neutral expression.
Her gaze landed on my academy’s ‘incandescent lighting’ insignia.
And then our eyes met one another.
“She’s pretty.”
As Straang said, she was pretty enough to make me faint.
“But, if I can turn into my human form, I’m prettier.”
“……”
Ah, is that so?
Our eyes met for only a moment.
She returned to what she was doing and started to focus on her search for something,
And I stopped caring about her as well, moving on to do what I came here to do.
It wasn’t that hard to find Draka’s relic in this small antique shop.
The clearly highlighted Draka’s relic.
‘A red smoke.’
Even if I shook it hard, the small ring was surrounded by the everpresent red smoke.
There were no markings or decorations on it.
It was a simple silver ring.
However, as my fingertips touched the ring, a status window popped up.
Ring of Invulnerability
Player exclusive unique artifact
★★★☆☆☆
The first artifact created by Draka, but also his first failure. Using the authority of Invulnerability, there is a small chance to resist any physical force that touches your body.
Increases the chance to negate physical damage.
This was a type of passive skill.
A skill that, when equipped, negated an opponent’s attacks.
Of course, because of the ‘chance’, I couldn’t rely on this skill alone.
But it was a pretty precious artifact that could save my life.
This was a ‘failure’?
Didn’t it look pretty good?
As I looked at Straang with a confused expression, Straang just shrugged her shoulders.
“So, this was the thing that called to me… Ring of Invulnerability. It’s been a while.”
It was an artifact that Straang knew.
She smiled at it, as if she were glad to see it again.
“Your face is asking why this is a failure. I’ll tell you. This is definitely a failure.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t just resist ‘attacks’. If your friend taps you on the back or if your lover tries to hug you, it’ll ‘resist’ it.”
“……”
What the hell?
So, what you’re saying is… it will sporadically resist all physical contact on my body?
“It sometimes won’t activate when you desperately need it to, and it’ll deflect at useless times. That’s why it’s a failure. However, you really do need this as it increases your strength.”
It was true.
Equipping the ring had a weak ‘Strength Increase’ effect attached to it.
Just this was enough to justify using the artifact.
I decided on purchasing this ring and wore it on my finger.
I was worried that it wouldn’t fit, but it tightened perfectly around my middle finger.
As if it were made for me.
I looked up and down the ring and asked the owner,
“This ring. I’ll buy it. How much is it?”
At that, the owner just glanced at me and my ring…
“Keke, just take it.”
“What? Why?”
“That ring, since I was a little kid, meaning since my grandfather was running this shop… No. Since my grandfather’s grandfather’s era… and that grandfather’s grandfather’s time before… eh. In any case, it’s been here for a long while. It’s already been unsold for a few hundred years. I just didn’t have a way to get rid of it. So I won’t put a price on it. Just take it.”
“……”
Of course, just looking at its appearance, it was just an ordinary silver ring with no special features.
However, it was an artifact.
An artifact that a black dragon crafted and used himself at that.
Of course, because it was of a special Player exclusive nature, no one else could see the true value of this ring.
But to give it away for free?
I’m fine, but was it really ok?
However, the owner’s expression was genuine.
I nodded my head and said,
“Then, I’ll buy another item from here.”
“Hoho. Go ahead.”
Since I’d gotten a good item for free, I should buy another thing.
I started to slowly look at all the items in the antique shop.
Naturally, there were no special items that emitted red smoke that enticed me like with the ‘Ring of Invulnerability’.
‘Player’s Eye’.
Using the that let me see the real value of these objects, I started to scan through them.
Since I’d already decided to buy something, I hoped for something good.
And then…
In my eyes,
‘Eh?’
A worn-out book came into view.
I reached out for this book.
However,
“……”
It wasn’t one hand.
There were two.
My hand…
And the hand of the only other customer in this antique shop.
These two hands reached for the book at the same time.
Irene Prius
5th-class Magician
Potential: Very High
???
I looked at her status window involuntarily.
Irene Prius.
She looked at me and said in a stern voice,
“Let go.”
——
