Chapter 119: ‘It’ (3)
Before Elwin Krieger was recognized as a Top Hunter by all.
At ten years old, a mere boy.
It wasn’t just his master, The Azure Hunter, Sarakia, who recognized and trained his talent.
—You guys are strong, right? Please… no, I beg you! Make me stronger!!!
The other three Top Hunters also instinctively saw Elwin’s innate combat sense and talent upon meeting him.
It likely started with curiosity.
—All magic begins with understanding the Magia formula. But must we strictly follow the rules?
—Elwin, are you interested in martial arts? I can teach you well.
—Hahaha! Elwin! Good morning! Let’s ignite our passion with sword training today too!
The Top Hunters reached out to Elwin, subtly, slyly, or outright, each teaching their knowledge and martial arts in their own way.
Comprehensive training from the versatile The Azure Hunter.
Magic from the Black Hunter, swordsmanship from the Red Hunter, and martial arts from the White Hunter.
For Elwin, who preferred close combat, swordsmanship and martial arts suited him best.
—Disciple, you mustn’t reveal all your cards from the start.
His master, the Azure Hunter, said.
—Since you carry the halo of being my disciple, people will easily misjudge you. Hide your full strength.
Elwin followed his master’s advice.
It was hard to defy his revered master, and it was indeed advantageous for him.
In other words—
BOOOOM!
A broken sword posed no issue to his full strength!
Considering that few weapons could withstand a Top Hunter’s power, attacking barehanded was far stronger and more efficient than wielding a sword.
WHOOSH—!
With a graceful kick, Elwin sent ‘It’ flying into the sky, then shot up slightly higher.
‘It,’ unable to steady itself from the shock of being forcibly airborne, panicked.
Elwin, grinning, clasped his hands and slammed them down.
CRASH!
‘It,’ plunged at a right angle, spewed blood.
Yet, despite the pain, it couldn’t even twitch a finger.
Elwin landed softly on the ground.
“Wow!”
“…What am I even watching?”
Hake and Zeraphe, witnessing this, let out quiet exclamations.
“This isn’t a fight.”
It was one-sided violence. Exhilaratingly, overwhelmingly so.
“I never doubted he’d win…”
Zeraphe chuckled wryly.
He’d been anxious when the weapon broke.
A clear victory and a nail-biting one carry different weight, even if both are victories.
“A Top Hunter is a Top Hunter.”
But Elwin, as if mocking their concerns, seized the upper hand from the unknown enemy with barehanded combat alone.
…No, that might be inaccurate. He never lost the upper hand.
‘Heaven beyond heaven.’
As if proving his sky-high reputation, Elwin continued to dominate ‘It’ in combat.
“It’s not over already, is it? Show me more fight!”
It might be a cute analogy for a Top Hunter, but… it was like a cat toying with a mouse.
Even now, Elwin’s face, as he toyed with ‘It,’ was filled with innocent joy.
“KIIEEK!”
‘It,’ enraged by Elwin, roared irritably, scattering ferocious black mana.
Zeraphe thought it resembled Gale gagging on overly sweet chocolate, but quickly shook his head.
Comparing such an unclear monster to Gale, the most ‘human’ person he knew, was a grave insult.
“What… is that thing?”
It looked exactly like Gale Garav but exuded an unbelievably sinister aura, neither Geoma nor monster.
Having seen both, Zeraphe knew.
It was too human to be a Geoma, too malevolent to be a monster.
‘It’s like all the world’s evils gathered in one place.’
As a mage sensitive to mana flow, Zeraphe detected fragments of negative emotions in the black mana ‘It’ emitted.
A mix of various emotions, hard to distinguish, but some stood out starkly.
‘Hatred, rage, betrayal…’
Yet no matter how he pondered, Zeraphe couldn’t deduce ‘It’s identity.
Having dealt with the Dark Sect for dark attribute mana, he didn’t believe in demons.
Only someone like Elwin, a reincarnator, or a long-lived being would know.
Zeraphe’s disbelief was natural.
And it wasn’t just that—something else piqued Zeraphe’s curiosity.
His gaze fixed on Elwin.
“Still holding up?”
As Elwin extended his hand, ‘It,’ lying prone, floated into the air.
Clenching his fist and moving it side to side—
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM—!
‘It,’ floating in the air, jerked violently with Elwin’s hand movements.
Slammed to the ground, flung upward, then plummeting to crash into the hard earth.
Seeing it face-plant, if ‘It’ were human, it’d be in considerable pain.
“…I see. Now I get it.”
Hake, who had been watching Elwin with a strange expression, gained certainty in his eyes.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“That power Lord Elwin is using.”
Hake pointed at Elwin, diligently stomping on ‘It,’ which was struggling to escape.
“KREK—! KIIEEK!”
‘It’ screeched as Elwin crushed it, as if the stomped area was painful.
But the screams didn’t quite seem like those of pain from being crushed… something was off.
“Krhk, kek! Kehek!”
‘It’s face, pale as paper, turned red as it coughed, struggling to breathe.
Like someone suffocating.
It was bizarre. As a sharp sensation struck him, while Zeraphe stood dumbfounded, Hake spoke.
“It’s unique magic.”
Throughout watching Elwin’s fight, Hake felt a familiar déjà vu.
“I didn’t know the Top Hunter of Yellow was a unique magic user too.”
“…Unique magic?”
“Yeah. Definitely.”
Hake was certain. A strange intuition only a fellow unique magic user could have.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s using much mana, but that monster is writhing as if hit by an invisible shock.”
“Couldn’t it just be that Elwin’s naturally strong?”
“…Maybe! But no matter how you look at it, it’s like it’s being crushed by an invisible ‘weight’!”
When the ‘conditions’ of unique magic are met, it often produces results beyond common sense.
Minimizing mana consumption while maximizing effects.
“Lord Elwin’s unique magic is probably ‘gravity,’ right?!”
“Gravity…”
“GHEK!”
Zeraphe observed ‘It,’ flattened and flailing. He nodded.
“Makes sense.”
“Right!? But I don’t know what the condition is.”
The condition for Elwin’s unique magic was beyond guessing.
Unless an exception like Hake, unique magic conditions were typically stringent.
‘Ah.’
Hake, habitually analyzing weaknesses, let out a faint gasp.
He didn’t need to do this anymore, but his ingrained habit had unconsciously analyzed Elwin’s info.
Hake flicked his ears awkwardly, then grinned brightly and shouted cheerfully.
“Well, whatever. Not my business!”
Zeraphe nodded calmly.
“Right. Let’s just wait here quietly. No need to worry anymore.”
They relaxed and decided to keep watching.
Where else could you safely observe a Top Hunter’s battle so comfortably?
‘I can’t miss this chance!’
With eyes ablaze, they focused on Elwin.
Meanwhile, Elwin picked up a piece of the broken sword, examining it.
“Now that I think about it, it was about time for it to break.”
CRACK!
He abruptly drove it into ‘It’s shoulder, pinning one arm.
“GRAAAK—!”
A beastly scream erupted, but Elwin didn’t flinch.
“It was fresh from the warehouse before visiting Noel’s grave. Hmm…”
The sword Elwin had, just broken by ‘It,’ was a custom piece by the famed smith Macarba.
A splendid sword, worthy of being called a masterpiece, often supplied to Elwin for missions outside the Central Isles.
“How many times did I use it…”
Elwin counted on his fingers.
Once in Mauli Village, once in Virga Village, once sparring with the trio, once in Nevera Valley, once in Batevil Castle.
Five times total.
Elwin had infused his mana into it exactly five times.
“Six was too much, I guess.”
The real reason the sword broke. Though ‘It’s strength was unexpectedly high, the sword’s durability was already exhausted.
Infusing powerful mana into a sword at its limit was a death sentence. The sword had done its best.
‘I should ask Grandpa Macarba or Miss Sirine if there’s a more durable sword. Or maybe carry a spare in my subspace. How many items can my subspace hold now…?’
With such nonchalant thoughts, Elwin slowly approached ‘It.’
“GHEK! KREK!”
While Elwin took his time, ‘It’ didn’t flee but lay there, writhing.
Crushed by an invisible force… or, as Hake guessed, immense gravity, it gasped heavily.
“Now what.”
Elwin looked down at ‘It,’ muttering coldly.
He’d been toying with it to buy time, but Gale showed no signs of waking.
‘Not yet.’
Gale’s state was like a cracked jar.
A temporary phenomenon where the seal’s gap allowed sinister mana to leak and dominate his consciousness.
‘If I drain a bit more strength…’
Then, sensing a life-threatening crisis, ‘It’ erupted with black energy.
“RAAAAH!”
Unable to move or resist, it seemed to make a final struggle.
Elwin widened his eyes. It using mana like this was actually helpful.
Since Gale was learning Elwin’s mana techniques—
‘If I deplete all the black mana leaking from the seal…’
Gale would wake.
“What a high-maintenance disciple.”
Elwin grinned fiercely, resuming his fighting stance.
As a master, it was his duty to look after his lacking disciple.