Chapter – 13
Pirancheva found that the gossip and provocations from the cliques had decreased since her confrontation with Hollande. This was because, just as she had anticipated, the attention of the cliques had been divided between her and Hollande.
Seeing this, it seemed Midorant was naive compared to Chedrin.
Thanks to this, Pirancheva could focus on her training a bit more easily. She then received word that all the trainees would be going to Mount Mantoba to deliver supplies.
“I have to go and come back without being seen. I don’t have much time.”
Rest time would be given after lunch, so she had to use that period. She also had to return by dinner time, meaning she had to finish her task within four, or at most five hours: retrieve the item from the Hobgoblin Dungeon and get out.
“It can’t be that the dungeon isn’t there, right?”
Although she had gained some confidence while creating the Mana Hole and Mana Circle, the terrain was different.
“What if there’s no dungeon?”
She was somewhat worried, but decided to deal with any problems that arose later, when they happened.
“I said I’d go tomorrow, so I need to prepare too.”
There wasn’t much to prepare; the only weapon she could carry without the knights noticing would be a dagger, but just in case, she planned to acquire three or four and hide them on her person.
“First, I’ll practice the internal energy method.”
Pirancheva sat in the lotus position and closed her eyes.
She slowly inhaled mana through her breath, then guided it along the mana pathways formed within her body. The mana completed one cycle and entered the Mana Hole.
Within the Mana Hole, the impure energies of the mana were filtered out, and these filtered impurities were expelled externally through her exhalation.
This process inevitably slowed Pirancheva’s breathing. A single breath seemed to take about three minutes.
As she breathed slowly and circulated her energy according to the method of the Mana Yeon’gongbeop, the total amount of mana accumulating in her body seemed to increase rapidly.
On top of this, Pirancheva also used the mana meditation method employed in magic, allowing her to increase her total mana capacity twice as fast as an ordinary person training.
Blindly increasing total mana capacity typically placed a strain on the body. Therefore, physical stamina was necessary to support it. In the case of mages, situations involving vigorous movement were rare, so even if their total mana increased, their bodies could withstand it.
Pirancheva hadn’t known this fact until now, when she created the Mana Hole and realized it.
She had never even considered that total mana capacity could be a mage’s weakness.
Learning swordsmanship was becoming an opportunity for Pirancheva to understand the weaknesses of a mage one by one.
As the mana repeatedly entered and exited the Mana Hole with each inhalation and exhalation, the Mana Circle settled within the Mana Hole was stimulated and began to slowly rotate.
As the Mana Circle rotated, it absorbed the mana in the Mana Hole and then expelled it, during which it purified the impure energies within the mana once more.
Then, when the Mana Hole expelled the impure energies through exhalation, it also expelled these further purified energies.
With the Mana Hole and Mana Circle purifying the energy of the inhaled mana twice, Pirancheva could accumulate mana that was exceptionally pure and refined within her body.
However, Pirancheva herself was unaware of this fact.
Pirancheva focused on the internal energy method as if she had entered a state of profound concentration.
It took approximately two hours for the mana to enter her body and complete the microcosmic orbit, the minor heavenly cycle, and the major heavenly cycle.
Although the energy circulation was complete, Pirancheva kept her eyes closed for a moment longer, as if savoring the lingering sensation.
“Phew…….”
After letting out a long breath and opening her eyes, Pirancheva smiled a satisfied smile.
“The Cheonma-Gong (Heavenly Demon Art) might be an even more incredible martial art than I thought.”
Pirancheva recalled the circumstances of that time.
She had gone to complete a quest but failed, and fell off a cliff. A powerful wind blew then, pushing her body towards the cliff face, and she happened to discover an ancient dungeon.
However, that ancient dungeon was being explored by the Balrog family, known as the Combat Demon Clan of the demon world, who were seeking the dungeon’s legacy. Unfortunately, she ran into them head-on and had to fight.
True to their name as the Combat Demon Clan, their combat prowess was beyond imagination. Even she, a 9th Circle Archmage, was stymied by the Balrogs and struggled significantly.
After narrowly escaping death over a dozen times, she finally managed to defeat the Balrogs and obtain the ancient legacy they sought: a single martial arts manual and a single sword.
“Ah, that sword is still intact in the dimensional pocket.”
Thinking about the dimensional pocket, Pirancheva grumbled as if a sense of injustice was bursting forth.
“The items inside that dimensional pocket alone would be worth a fortune……”
Then a different thought occurred to her.
“Wait, if the world view is the same and the terrain is the same, couldn’t the dimensional pocket exist here too?”
A glimmer of hope sparked in Pirancheva, but summoning the dimensional pocket still seemed like a distant dream.
“To summon the 7th Circle magic, Dimensional Pocket, it would take at least 10 years, even at the fastest.”
Saying 10 years was optimistic; in reality, it could take longer. However, since Pirancheva had reached the level of a 9th Circle Archmage and her magic and experience were fully inherited, she said 10 years.
“Well, if I just live long enough, even after 10 years pass, I’ll only be 18 years old, so that in itself is really amazing.”
If what Pirancheva said came true, it would be an unprecedented event in the continent’s history.
“Unlike the game world of Freedom, this world is a ‘death ending’ game where if you die once, it’s all over. So, I shouldn’t charge ahead recklessly and proceed haphazardly like I did in Freedom.”
Although it shared the same world view as Freedom, this was not a virtual world but the real one. Rather than reckless challenges, she needed to climb step by step, safely, as if stepping on stairs.
“But that doesn’t mean I have to suppress my nature entirely.”
Pirancheva brushed herself off and stood up.
“Maybe I can sneak a few daggers from the training grounds.”
The training daggers in the training grounds were blunt, not sharpened.
Pirancheva could use 3rd Circle magic, and by using the 1st Circle spell ‘Sharpen’, she could sharpen the dagger’s edge, so it didn’t matter if they were dull or rusty.
“Tomorrow, or the day after, I should be able to confirm it.”
* * *
Mount Mantoba was quite a distance away, beyond the main territory of the Marquis Lawrence domain.
A supply cart loaded with goods, along with knights and soldiers guarding it, as well as squires, knight trainees, and apprentice trainees, were all heading towards Mount Mantoba.
While passing through the vast plains, the figures of the domain’s peasants farming could occasionally be seen.
As she walked while guarding the cart, Pirancheva looked around.
‘It’s a bit different from the Marquis Lawrence domain I saw in the Freedom world.’
Just like the County of Ilya, it felt somewhat more developed than the world of Freedom.
‘Perhaps if time had passed, it would have developed like this.’
Memories from that time came back to her vividly.
“Pirancheva!”
It was a senior knight calling her. She immediately responded and ran over to him.
“I heard from the Marquis.”
The senior knight had heard from Marquis Eastern that Pirancheva was not of ordinary status.
“The Marquis is quite worried about this, so please refrain from any personal actions.”
“Understood.”
“I know it’s an age of great curiosity, but that curiosity can sometimes harm you. You understand what I mean by saying this, right?”
“I will keep it in mind.”
“Good. Once we arrive at Mount Mantoba, focus on gathering a lot of data for your research.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Because she seemed particularly close to the knights, some trainees were curious about her origins, but they never imagined she was Pirancheva Ilya, the youngest son of Count Amand. While the name Pirancheva wasn’t extremely common, it wasn’t like there were no others with the same name. Furthermore, rumors said the youngest son of the magic family had excellent magical talent, so they simply thought this Pirancheva, who was so diligent in swordsmanship, was a namesake.
After giving Pirancheva the warning, the senior knight sent her back.
After about 30 minutes of travel, the foot of Mount Mantoba came into view.
At the mountain’s base, numerous tents were pitched, reminiscent of an advance base for war.
When the supplies arrived, knights and soldiers came out and helped those who brought the supplies unload them.
Moving the large quantity of supplies took a considerable amount of time.
They had left the main castle early in the morning, arrived at Mount Mantoba in the afternoon, and by the time they finished unloading, the sun was already setting.
People hurriedly prepared food for the evening meal, and meanwhile, the knights and soldiers who had gone out for monster subjugation returned.
Behind them came laborers carrying byproducts obtained from hunting the monsters, each carrying a sack full on their backs.
As these people came down, the merchants who had been waiting in their tents became busy.
They haggled with the knight in charge of the supplies to purchase the monster byproducts.
Ordinary merchants bought monster hides or meat, while merchants trading with the Magic Tower competed to buy monster blood, fangs, organs, and occasionally the magic stones—stones imbued with magical power that could be obtained from monster bodies.
Pirancheva helped the knight trainees preparing food for the knights and soldiers by fetching various things for them.
“Bring some spices, please.”
“Yes.”
By the time the food was ready, the haggling over the monster byproducts had concluded.
Both the merchants and the knights seemed satisfied with their deals, so they could enjoy the evening meal in good spirits.
While eating, Pirancheva also gauged the atmosphere. With many tents and the noisy surroundings, it seemed that even if one person disappeared for a while and reappeared, no one would notice.
‘I’ll revise the plan and move after dinner. That should give me time until tomorrow morning, so I’ll have plenty of time.’
Pirancheva raised her eyes and looked up towards the summit of Mount Mantoba.
‘Please, let no one have found the dungeon yet.’
* * *
After finishing her meal and completing the cleanup tasks like washing dishes, Pirancheva carefully observed the mood of the people.
The knights and soldiers, who had been camping out for seven days subjugating monsters on Mount Mantoba, were provided with alcohol and meat. The atmosphere became lively with the alcohol and meat, which they were enjoying after a long time.
Additionally, the merchants, satisfied with their deals, provided alcohol to the knights and soldiers to stay in their good graces for future satisfactory transactions. Consequently, more alcohol was provided to the knights and soldiers than initially expected.
But no one complained about it.
Pirancheva thought the current revelry was her chance and quietly slipped away from the site.
“Haste!”
Pirancheva cast a spell on herself.
Using the Haste spell, her body became as light as the blowing wind.
“Phew.”
After taking a deep breath, Pirancheva sprinted towards the summit of Mount Mantoba, where the dungeon was located.
