Melen gates.
Kael skillfully hailed a 'taxi', and sitting in the horse-drawn carriage gave him a peculiar sense of novelty.
There was no interrogation as he had anticipated, likely to avoid drawing attention from Orario, and he left the city without incident.
The carriage's final stop was a village quite a distance away from the Labyrinth City.
Kael rested his arm on the window frame, enjoying the passing scenery.
What would become of Cassandra's family? What choice would Uncle Ilion ultimately make?
He wasn't particularly interested. He wasn't actually from the Rudra Familia, so his threats about selling people to brothels were entirely baseless.
However, Kael had glimpsed the "love" hidden beneath the madness in the uncle's eyes, proving the man wasn't completely beyond redemption. He had simply used this method to try awakening that love, to see if it could bring him back to his senses.
This demonstrated that not everyone in the Evilus was a hysterical fanatic...
Perhaps each member was once an honest person with personal reasons for their life choices. Those followers also deserved the right to choose how they ended their lives.
This point... I don't care about...
Of course, as long as they don't provoke me.
"So, never provoke an honest person."
As for Cassandra.
This girl possessed the script and the rare Skill [Five Dimension Troia], allowing her to assist with life simulations — a true super cheat. Naturally, he wouldn't let her go.
Even without joining a Familia yet, she could still use her ability. Some strange talents are innate; the Falna merely expresses them more precisely.
If her father had already gone mad, Kael would have simply "tricked" the girl away.
But now...
"I've shown my face. When the time is right, she'll appear before me on her own!" Kael's lips slowly curled upward.
The idea was simple: leave a deep impression in Cassandra's mind first.
Later, when he needed a "life simulation", he would decide that if she didn't appear before him within a certain time limit, he would track her down and kill her.
Then Cassandra, dreaming of her inevitable death, would naturally find a way to break the deadlock according to the prophecy.
With my "miracle" magic, [Second Dimension Pandora], obtaining an "enemy tracking" ability wouldn't be difficult. Escaping my hunt would be nearly impossible — her only option would be to negate the very event of "Kael wanting to kill me" at its source.
In other words, she would need to find me proactively.
Perfect. A flawless logical loop.
This way, with Cassandra's assistance, before embarking on grand plans and adventures, he could conduct a life simulation first. And that sense of security... those who know, know.
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The wheels rumbled as time passed quietly. As dusk approached, Kael bid farewell to the driver, paid the fare, and jumped off the carriage.
"Are you sure you want to get off here?" The driver looked around at the rocky walls, mountain paths, and cliffs, "There's nothing here — no villages or inns nearby. It won't be easy to find another carriage."
"It's fine, this is my destination."
Kael watched the driver depart, then took two steps toward the edge of the mountain path. Crumbling rocks and soil fell from the cliff, plunging into the rushing river below.
"This is the place."
To obtain his current target — Black Dragon Scale — he needed to find the hidden village outside Orario: Edas Village.
{T/N: This item, as you might imagine, fell from the One-Eyed Black Dragon and ended up in this Edas Village. This item can repel monsters due to its origin, but it's not confirmed whether it's effective in the lower floors of the Dungeon.}
Located deep in the Beol Mountains, surrounded by steep cliffs, it was a tranquil mountain village.
This was originally a sanctuary where reclusive elves lived in seclusion. After the Age of the Gods descended upon the earth, the elves left to seek their deities, while others seeking to escape war or criminal charges settled here instead.
Kael didn't know the exact location, only that jumping down from this spot would allow him to follow the river until eventually reaching the village entrance.
"It feels like jumping off a cliff to retrieve a secret manual — so cool. But I better do this while my 'Working Like a Dog' skill is still active."
He secured all important items on his body to prevent them from being washed away. After testing the Nica Pouch multiple times to ensure it was secure, he leapt off the cliff, plunging into the river a hundred meters below.
Glug Glug—
The rushing river and hidden reefs tormented Kael, causing him countless instances of near-drowning, cramping, and painful impacts.
Finally... The sky donned a black veil, with the silver moon hanging high above.
Not far from the dark river lay a valley. Kael spotted a flickering, faint light — the glow of a magic stone lamp. He crawled ashore bedraggled, dragging his soaking wet clothes toward the light source.
Rustling sounds emerged from the valley. The pitch-black night suddenly lit up with numerous star-like gleams — the eyes of watching creatures.
Kael stopped, skillfully conjuring a fireball in his hand. The firelight cut through the darkness, illuminating the creatures before him.
They were beautiful women with red hair, covered in blood-red feathers, with slender, round feet but sharp, pointed toes.
Half-human birds, commonly known as Harpies or bird women.
They possessed human female faces but bird bodies. These creatures once had Level 3 potential, but generations of land-dwelling had reduced them to mere Level 1.
Kael snapped his fingers again, and numerous fireballs materialized in his hand.
"I'm getting better at this!"
Without using the brilliant seven-colored magic, he relied on mental strength to forcibly replicate the runes for this simple spell.
The [Miracles Ring] imposed no chanting text restrictions, eliminating the risk of "Ignis Fatuus" from incorrect chanting or mental guidance errors.
This powerful adaptability meant that, theoretically, Kael could master magic independently — just like ancient magic — if he perfected the correct mental wave patterns and incantations.
It sounded simple, but without a Falna's assistance, mental wave patterns were exceedingly difficult to reproduce perfectly. With the [Miracles Ring], it resembled singing the same song — everyone's style, accent, habits, and mood differed, creating varying effects.
{T/N: With his "infinite" magic repertoire, he aims to learn spells by their unique "sounds". Like recognizing musical notes, he wants to replicate the mental vibrations of each spell so he can cast them without relying on Miracles Ring. Simpler spells have simpler patterns, while complex magic requires mastering intricate "melodies".}
Kael remembered those bewitching melodies that made him forget their original singers. For now, he could only reproduce simple single-character symbols, not yet capable of forming complete magical "songs".
"The advantage is that I can easily perform concurrent chanting, an advanced technique. Movement itself becomes part of spellcasting!" He dashed forward while casually throwing fireballs, "If spells requiring chant time are real magic, then this is more like a hero's basic attack."
The fireballs struck the harpies, exploding into showers of fire dust.
His rapid movements occasionally caused errors, resulting in wind blades and ice spikes mixed among his attacks, but these mistakes grew fewer as Kael's skill improved.
Yet this elemental attack, barely qualifying as magic, could hardly inflict significant damage on the harpies.
Kael ceased dodging, reached into his bag, opened the "sound recorder", then pivoted sideways, gripped his wrist, and extended his five fingers skyward:
"Gaia!!!"
Let's (try to) summon magic, baby!
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T/N: Favorite, comment and save to your library of best reads in the world, thank you for reading this far!
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That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)