Stygian Mage

The planet Astara that Soren was currently on was a Major World, filled with concentrated Mana and various resources. There were five major continents on this planet that covered half of its surface area; the other half of the planet’s surface was covered in seas and oceans. These major continents which were separated by the vast amount of water were named as such: Akias in the north, Aebrios in the east, Sulisica in the south, Eton in the west, and Sephish in the center. If the planet was seen at a certain angle and from a certain distance, these continents would look like a rough and disjointed circle with a dot in the center.

……

Aebrios, the continent in the east, was the third-largest amongst these five. It had all kinds of terrains and landscapes; from snowy mountains to volcanoes; from meadows to swamps. But above all that, this continent had a huge desert in the south-east area that divided the whole land into two. Being cut off from the rest of the continent, the smaller part on the right side of the desert failed to keep up with the current development and was deemed as a backwater area by the rest of the continent; crossing the desert was quite a challenging task, after all.

Around five hundred years before the current timeline, the land of this backwater area was divided between four countries: the Atucan Empire in the north-east, the Frabar Confederation in the north-west, the Stuteron Kingdom in the south-east, and the Douvell Kingdom in the south-west; each of them sharing their boundaries with two other countries. Around that time, these four countries had a peace treaty that kept them from fighting each other; they just focused on developing their own countries with the resources that they had available. But one day, the Atucan Empire suddenly invaded the Frabar Confederation and razed it to the ground within a very short period of time. Of course, the Atucan Empire also suffered a lot in that war and had to restrain all its activities to recuperate and slowly consolidate what it gained from the Frabar Confederation.

Given the situation at that time, everyone believed that both the Stuteron Kingdom and the Douvell Kingdom would invade the weakened Atucan Empire, which now shared its boundaries with both the kingdoms after taking over the land which previously belonged to the Frabar Confederation. But these two kingdoms which had shared a long history of conspiracies and wars just couldn’t put their hatred aside. Instead of joining together to fight the Atucan Empire, with this incident acting as the spark, they started a cold war with each other.

Time passed like this and the situation remained in a stalemate position for a long time.

The decision-makers of both the Stuteron Kingdom and the Douvell Kingdom believed that they could fight off the Atucan Empire if it dared invade the south. This belief of theirs was based on the landscape that divided the northern area from the southern part; that landscape was a very long mountain range. This mountain range which was named Langmar Mountain Range spanned across the whole border above the Stuteron Kingdom and the Douvell Kingdom and divided them from the Atucan Empire which now also included the former Frabar Confederation.

But this belief of theirs was soon shattered as the new Atucan Empire invaded both the kingdoms at once and destroyed their defenses one after another. Such a result shook both the kingdoms to their core as they realized just how bad the situation had gotten. With no other option left, the two kingdoms finally decided to put their differences aside and work together to fight off the invaders. To make sure this alliance remained intact for a long time, they used marriage to further strengthen their bonds. The enemies of the past were now bound to each other by blood.

Because of this alliance, the momentum that the Atucan Empire had built-up finally came to a halt. But the empire was, after all, much stronger than these two kingdoms. So, even though the two kingdoms were able to defend against the empire by combining their strength, they were still being pushed back bit by bit.

……….

Soren walked out of the dilapidated building and went to find a place to stay. He had already accepted the mission but the merchants were going to depart after ten days. Because of that, Soren now had to find a place to spend the next ten days. But before asking anyone for directions, Soren first walked towards the nearby clothing store and bought himself an eye-patch. It was a white-colored eye-patch with the image of a ghost on top; its string ran diagonally from Soren’s right forehead to below his left ear. The white color of the eye-patch created a deep contrast with his black hair and turned his previous terrifying image into a more refined one. With his looks, it now became much more convenient for him to speak with people.

Finally, after asking some people for the directions, Soren arrived at a small inn which looked quite run-down. To book a room there, he had to pay first so he did just that and went upstairs to give his tired body a rest; the price was only 1 Mana Crystal for 5 days so he paid 2 crystals upfront. Taking out his backpack from the Storage Pearl and putting it on the table, Soren first took a bath with Argus and then went to sleep after changing into comfortable clothes.

By the time he woke up, it was already dark outside. Although he was still feeling sleepy, he forced himself up and went out with Argus to have dinner; the inn that he was staying in did not provide food services so he had to go out to eat. After cramming every last bit of the meat that was left on the plate, Soren walked out of the restaurant with a satisfied expression. But suddenly, his expression darkened as he thought back to what had happened while he was eating.

“Argus, how many times do I have to tell you not to pee on my clothes? If you want to do it, then tell me beforehand.” Soren said angrily as he glared at Argus who was now making an innocent face and hiding inside his jacket; his expression said it all—‘It was not me.’

Staying together for this long, they had already become extremely comfortable around each other. So much so, that they fought with each other all the time over small matters. Of course, it didn’t take them long to make up after the fight.

……

Soren first went back to the inn to take a bath, changed his clothes, then came out and went towards the largest shop in the town. Myriad Items did not have a branch in this town so he had to go to another shop; a local one. Although Soren did not have much expectation from this kind of shop, he still went in to give it a try. And so, upon entering the building, Soren asked the shopkeeper to show him all the cultivation techniques they had……

A few minutes later, Soren came out of the shop with a thoughtful expression on his face. Not only had he bought all the cultivation techniques they had in the shop, but he also had bought some information; the cultivation techniques were all low-grade and similar to what he had found in the Storage Pearls of those Initiators so it didn’t cost him much. As for the information, one part of it was actually about a vestige that was going to open a month later; the opening date of the entrance had been calculated according to the strength of the protective restriction that was surrounding it. This vestige was one of those common ones that were left behind by Rank 1 Initiators; it was not that hard to find such a vestige.

Of course, Soren had no interest in the resources inside the vestige of a Rank 1 Initiator but he was interested in getting the cultivation technique that this Initiator had cultivated with; he was trying to collect as many cultivation techniques as he could so he didn’t want to miss this chance. And the reason he was making a thoughtful expression right now was that he was hesitating whether to wait one month for it or not.

If he decided to wait for it, he would have to leave the mission that he had accepted. The penalty for leaving the mission didn’t concern him much. The thing that he was worried about was whether he could find another mission like this or not. In the list before, he had found some similar missions but all of them were going in a different direction.

So, after thinking it through and taking everything under consideration, Soren finally decided not to wait for it; he decided to continue the mission he had picked. The reason was that he wanted to reach the royal capital of the Stuteron Kingdom without wasting too much time; of course, he had a specific reason for that.

Based on the information that he had just bought, the Stuteron Kingdom and the Douvell Kingdom were currently being invaded by the Atucan Empire. This invasion had continued for quite a few years now and the two kingdoms were slowly being pushed back. If things continued like that, it would not be long before the Atucan Empire would completely burn the two kingdoms to the ground; at most, they had five or six years more. While the people living in these two kingdoms would be devastated after hearing something like that, Soren saw an opportunity instead.

The fear of extermination would give birth to desperation. And these two kingdoms were now desperate. In that desperation, the two kingdoms had decided to bring out all the resources they had. Anyone fighting for them could buy these resources using the contribution points that they would be able to gather in the war. For Soren, who was looking for different types of cultivation techniques and defensive spells, this was a very good opportunity.

……

After making a definite plan for the future, Soren walked around the streets looking for a place where he could get good alcohol; he was still craving something like that ‘Freezing Lava’ very much. As he had already decided to take a rest for these ten days, he was going to enjoy himself without any restraints.

Finally, after wandering around for a bit, he found a decent looking place that offered good alcohol. As for how Soren knew that they offered good alcohol, it was written on a board outside their place—‘We offer good alcohol’. Of course, no matter how good their alcohol was, it could not make Soren drunk; it was like that for all the Initiators. Only those wines and alcohols which were made with special items and had Mana infused in it could get any Initiator drunk.

But of course, this didn’t stop Soren from enjoying the nice taste of good wine. According to the person who served Soren, the alcohol that they were selling was made from a sweet berry which was found around this area. And indeed, Soren liked the taste of it. Although it could not get him drunk, he enjoyed it nonetheless……

Soren was currently sitting at a bar that was made from dark-brown wood. The area around him was dimly lit and there were also not many people there. He liked this kind of silent atmosphere where he could just sit back and enjoy his drink.

“Hello, would you like to join us for a drink?” Suddenly, Soren heard a female voice from behind him. Given the situation with his eye, he had already made a habit of using his <Elemental Sense> all the time to increase his mastery level in it. As such, he had already seen the two girls approaching him. Not only that, but he also knew that they were Initiators; albeit, they were low layered.

But going with the flow, he faked a surprised expression as he turned around. The girl who had just spoken was actually the one who had helped Soren earlier when he was looking for the Hunter’s Association; she was with a young guy at that time and they seemed like they were on a date but right now, she was here with another girl.

“Sure,” Soren answered with a sweet smile that didn’t match his current look at all.

……….

Morning arrived as the sun rose above the horizon, spreading its warmth to kill the coldness that the winter night had left in its wake.

Soren walked out of a room which was not his while carrying a grumpy Argus. Although he had done some strenuous activities with the two girls last night, he currently looked extremely refreshed and full of energy. Argus, on the other hand, was not interested in such things at all, so he had crawled inside Soren’s jacket which was thrown on the ground and had just slept in there for the whole night; while Soren did his thing. He just woke up right now when Soren had picked him up; hence his grumpiness.

After walking out of the inn, Soren went towards a restaurant to have breakfast. As for dealing with the aftermath of his activities, Soren had already used his <Spark> on both the girls before moving out….

Soren spent the next few days just like this; having fun and releasing steam. Of course, he did not forget to do the important things like studying the new cultivation techniques that he had bought and simulating the different ideas he had for his defense spell.

And like that, the day of the mission arrived. 

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