Chapter 119 – Star Fall (2)

Whoosh—!

A blindingly bright light. The feeling of his body floating in the air. And…

Powww!

“Gwuhh. Big small human. Sleeps well.”

“Notum…”

“I didn’t know that a person who’s so alert in a fight could be that sound asleep. How can you sleep in this mess? With senses as sharp as a werewolf?”

“Borka…”

“It means this place is mute territory, even if it looks safe. Most Rank 9 mutes are based on slimes in the first place. Low-rank slimes have a body made mostly of water, so they usually spend most of the day underground but have a core that’s suffering from hypothermia 24 hours a day. It’s a creature that’s just created!”

Pwhk!

“In a terrible way!”

“Good morning, Professor. You seemed tired, I am sorry to wake you. Slime-type Rank 9 mutes have been lingering around the camp all night, so we are taking shifts on patrol except for you. They look weak, but they are still dangerous to touch because you get infected, as they are mutes. Some are physically dangerous as well, like the acid or boulder slimes.”

“Aldrich, Mage Ottman…!”

“Hm? What is the matter, Professor?”

“Ahem, hm, it’s nothing! The morning breeze is nice! Ah, how refreshing!”

Looking at my comrades in GG, I could feel my nose sting a little. I had completely forgotten about them because of the mess outside, but I logged out of here in a pretty urgent situation as well.

The impact sounds that I heard when I woke up was the sound of the ‘Professor Knight Party’ kicking away the slimes that had gathered at their camp overnight. The Slime-type Rank 9 mutes, which the mutes usually deploy for collecting resources, have a habit of moving in a half-liquified state through the ground or underground wells and approach any source of heat they sense, which was why they were attracted to our campsite.

“…Do you still have some dark magic lingering in your head? Is this guy okay?”

“Let’s just say I… learned the value of a normal body. Ah, this is the life! It hits differently when you have two hands!”

After scooping himself a bowl of the stew cooking on top of the campfire, he also followed his companions and kicked away the slimes. Kicking away slimes in the forest with dried fish in one hand and soup in the other as he inhaled the fresh air, it felt like he was on a nice vacation.

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– takealook : Tip / When you want to enjoy having a terrible Glass Body trait character in the game? Add a Type 3 mutant to your body in real life. The game will feel like paradise.

– professor : shaddup

– Noru_is_druig : Tip / If you’re able to shut down the Dome’s Executive Department, demolish the Raptor’s tank army, and beat up a named Type 3 mutant like Old Picture singlehandedly, then you can enjoy playing a randomized character in GG Realistic Mode.

– professor : bastard. i can combine the chat again if you want.

– takealook : mb

– Noru_is_druig : My apologies oh great professor.

– Numb3rtree : To threaten your viewers with a peaceful chatroom. You’ve grown as a streamer sir!

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Before he came into the game, he tried to clear up the traffic in the chatroom, but ultimately just split the chat into two rooms. One for the new users that entered in the last 14 days, and one exclusively for the original residents of the Area 47 chatroom. Obviously, the chat he was looking at in GG was the original chat. He did have the other one open all the way in the corner too, but…

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– Armbarssador : Helloo! We exist too!

– novemv : Thought he was joking when he said he streamed.

– Ticorita : fr. isn’t he like super rich if he’s the leader of BDSM? why’s he even streaming?

– D.Asset3315 : Streamer Gyosu Park has a personal reason for playing GG. He is a streamer officially contracted with the Dome, so any spamming, rude comments, cyberbullying are subject to ban, or tracking in serious cases.

– Ticorita : LMAOOOO tracking?? and how are you gonna do that? hack the GG code? go ahead and try r*tards!

– D.Asset3315 : Player ‘Ticorita’. Posted 7 days ago [damn, didn’t know the dome can make lightning shoot upside down. That’s f—ing epic.] / Posted 34 days ago [heard other areas are in a sandstorm but skies over here are crystal clear. drying the laundry outside.] / Posted 68 days ago [why the psycho gangs around my house all gotta be crazy murderers. i want good pizza too] / Based on these posts, we’ve estimated Player Ticorita’s house to be among the shelters located in one of the 15 safe basins in the high crime areas of Area 46. Do you wish to continue?

+ player ‘Ticorita’ has left the chatroom.

– Ulyssysmoa : lmaooooo he goneee

– Ngabius : That Gyosu Park guy must be one special guy for the Dome to use an IT team on him like that. Don’t they usually only do that for rankers?

– aisosi32 : He is on par with rankers in the first place. It’s one of the most popular streams these days. Since the rankers are coming back to World 3 after realizing that there’s no hope for the current World 4 seed. His playstyle’s pretty unique too.

======

It was still too chaotic. Thankfully, the Dome sent him a ‘Streamer Support Team’ or something like that and cleared things up for him and talked with the original guys. If it weren’t for them, he would have spent the entire day answering questions.

Anyhow, what’s important is that he was in an environment where he could enjoy the game again.

“Mmm… this won’t do. [Cold Swallow]!”

Splooosh!

While I was eating breakfast and sorting out non-game-related things, Ottman finally decided to use magic. Centering around where Ottman was standing, the ground started to moisten, and with the sound of the campfire going out, the area around the camp was drenched in cold water.

“There will be no end to this if we continue. These monsters dislike cold water, so let’s use this moment to move camp.”

“Good idea. Let’s get moving!”

While the mute slimes were struggling in the cold water, the group quickly started packing.

“You seem to be in an especially good mood today.”

“Heheheh, what do you mean, sir? I’ve always been this happy!”

Picking up a large bag, Professor took the lead of the group with a grin on his face.

To be honest, after all those shenanigans outside, the game really did feel nice and peaceful.

Plip— Plip— Plip— Plip!

“Yes! Remember this feeling! Water may seem weak and formless, but it has a strong enough repulsive power to lift up massive ships! Use that!”

Five days since they left the village where they killed the dark mage.

Unlike their concerns, the only things they met for the past 5 days were Rank 8 mutes like mute slimes and infected dogs and badgers.

“This is… too peaceful. Captain, isn’t it weird? Considering we met a dark mage at the very beginning, we haven’t seen a proper mute or even traces of dark magic for the past five days.”

“That’s true.”

“Chances are that this is the enemy’s trap…”

“Hup! Is close to zero. I can’t guarantee it, but I’m about 95 percent sure. So rest up while you can, Borka.”

Under Mage Ottman’s instruction, Professor was water-stone skipping on the bare ground, muttering to himself.

“Not only are they small in number, but the dark mages didn’t have an opportunity to expand because of the dispute with the mutes. They’d obviously have fewer high-ranking mages then. And with most of the combat-type mutes out on the western frontlines, the places ideal for dark mages to collect sacrifices are pretty limited.”

“Ideal to… collect sacrifices?”

“Yeah. What do you think the dark mages will be thinking now that they can’t even participate in the war? They’re probably thinking that instead of the quality sacrifices from Rodrick’s main force, they should rather try and collect as many weak refugees as they can.”

Frowning at the water bubble that bounced about six times before popping, Professor drew a rough map of Northern Rodrick on the wet ground with a stick.

“Logically, they wouldn’t try to cross the desert in the East, so that’s a no-go. And because the refugees don’t know that the mutes are swarming towards the West, some might try to cross the western blue line and escape to another country. But imagine that you’re a refugee. Would a random country you don’t know a thing about be better, or would you think that running away to our own country with even the title of ‘Land of the Knights’ would be a safer option?”

“Obviously, the latter?”

“Yeah. So most of the refugees are running away from the mutes coming from the north to the south, where the capital, Kingsland, is. And on the way to Kingsland is Tobrune, and the one that was blocking the way towards Tobrune was that dark mage. Aside from the dark mages that directly attacked cities, that was probably the best spot to settle down.”

It was just speculation, but the dark mages most likely shared the good lands among themselves. Someone would rest since they had directly attacked Touran. Someone would take this nice spot since they’re the highest rank, someone here… and the guy that we fought was also probably in a nice spot like the village on the way to Tobrune because he was a dark mage strong enough to become a demon-lich.

The main point was that the high-ranking dark mages were most likely located in spots where a lot of refugees would go. The places we were heading to—cities that were already taken over by the mutes—were far away from those locations. He already had the thought that this trip was going to be easy when they left the village and met the mute slimes.

“So that’s why we can take our time like this. The mutes to the western frontline, and the dark mages to seal up nearby city entrances. That means there’s nothing left in the enemy’s newly captured territory.”

Of course, if it were a different seed, the path we went through would be packed with Rank 7 and 6 mutes like a mall during the weekends instead of these Rank 9 mutes, but the mutes in my seed are poorer than any other mute seed in GG history.

Plip— Plip— Plip— Plip— Plip— Splt!

Professor, who made another water bubble in his hand while explaining this to Borka, let out a deep sigh as the blob of water burst once again during its run.

He actually acquired [Water Mana – Level 2 : Repulsion] a couple days ago. It must have been because he still remembered the feeling of walking on the water disks that Ottman created, but the awakening itself was incredibly easy compared to the drowning training he did.

Measuring the distance Professor’s water rock went, Ottman also let out a sigh.

“Level 1 is usually the hardest stage of learning water magic, and usually levels 2 and 3 are easy to pass. So even with a lot fewer mages, the Reedflow Academy has a lot more middle-rank mages around the Level 4 stage than other academies. Although it is a different story if you go above that.”

“Then why can’t I use the magic even though I had the awakening?”

Professor asked the older mage as he bounced a small ball of water above his hand. He wanted to get stronger in some way before getting to Pelas, but unlike how he got the awakening, the magic burst just before the magic was completed.

“There are several reasons. First, the ‘Water Shield’ that you are trying to use is a quite difficult spell, and more than anything… you do not ever try to use chants.

“Isn’t it possible to skip the chant if I use hand motions?”

“That is like trying to fly before even starting to crawl. Chants are what turn a person’s internal imagery into words. It is similar to a sort of poem. I will not try to suggest it to you since you do refuse so profoundly… but it will definitely be easier to get accustomed to the magic by summoning the images with chants.”

Professor scratched at his head, hearing Ottman’s regretful tone. He did feel a little sorry. Since he was basically saying that he didn’t want to learn the proper way in front of someone who was genuinely trying to teach him.

But…

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– Noru_is_druig : Ahh, don’t worry about us. We don’t care at all about whatever you’re doing prof.

– takealook : I’m actually deaf. Couldn’t hear anything since abt 30 seconds ago.

– Undam_undam : What a coincidence, me too!

======

’…How can I do a chant when these bastards are looking at me!?’

It wasn’t just the fact that it was embarrassing. Magic in this world was activated with an image set hard enough into one’s soul that it could change the laws of the world, but every single time I tried to say the chant, the embarrassment of saying it stalled the magic from coming out. I could have done things like that too if it was just me playing games by myself.

But currently, I am a superstar that is being called the ‘Hero’ of Area 47. Involuntarily, I’ve become famous. If I say a chant like ‘My heart is the lake, and thy waves are the mirror to my soul that not even the blades of a sword can pierce!’ then the Community would immediately be filled with videos of ‘Mage Gyosu Park’ and his cool magic. The second I think about that, the magic dissipates right away.

That was the reason why Ottman and I were struggling like this. A mage that can’t say chants. The depth of my awakenings was still too shallow for me to create magic just with internal images, and the hand motions were only a temporary solution.

“Hm… if you cannot chant, then are spells okay?”

“Ah, uh, yes. That should be fine….”

“I see. Then how about we try this?”

“What is ‘this’ exactly…?”

“It is a bit of a loophole, but we can try the method that knights use.”

When Ottman waved his hand, a small round shield of water appeared in front of him.

“What is this?”

“It’s, well… a water shield.”

“Yes. It is a water shield. Then… [Water Shield]!”

Splshh!

Next to the small shield appeared a slightly stronger-looking shield.

“I will say this beforehand, but these all use the exact same amount of mana. You do not need to pay much attention to the image inside or combine it with a hand motion or chant. And…”

Clack, clk, cack!

[Even if they crack and break, you will never be able to cut through the ocean. Ottman Bodlair’s, Water Shield.]

Tzzing!

What appeared this time was a shield twice the size of my height with a smooth and solid surface, like it was created out of a blue gem, yet still somehow looking gentle. It was a beautiful creation that was worthy of being called a ‘shield of water’. He was once again reminded that Ottman was a high-ranking mage.

“This… is the Water Shield interpreted by me. Hand motions, chants, and spells. These are all tools to strengthen one’s image. Even if you take out the chant, you should be able to use a decent level of magic as long as the rest are detailed enough. The next one is a method I’m not too familiar with since water mages do not use it that often… ahem. This may be a little loud, just to let you know.”

Huuuup—

After taking a deep breath, Mage Ottman yelled at the top of his lungs.

“WA—! TER—! SHIELD!!!!”

Pwshhhhhh!

When he did so, a massive, violent whirlpool of water appeared, the complete opposite of the previous spell. The magic that was twice the size of the proper method that Ottman used looked more like an attack spell than one for defense.

“Cough, cough! Eummh, this method tires me easily. The last one I showed you is the method that knights or fire-type mages favor.”

“Uh… yelling?”

“I would say otherwise, but that is indeed an accurate explanation of the method. It’s to force one’s determination onto the image. As you can see, the image itself is slightly distorted, but its power is certainly strong. Have you seen knights fight before? Like a battle to the death, or one on a similar level?”

“Yes.”

Professor thought of the battle in Touran at Ottman’s question.

“They say that in a battle between high-ranking knights, they exchange dozens of battles among each other in the blink of an eye. Before they swing their sword, they check the opponent’s movement and which direction their eyes are trained on, and use those to trick the opponent. They also calculate the land for every step they take, and so on… So they have many things to take into consideration before they even start clashing swords. But even in those situations where the exchanges happen at a speed close to instinctual movements, knights still waste their precious breaths to yell out spells.”

Ottman picked up a couple tree branches on the ground, then threw them at the proper water shield and the large, unstable one. One bounced off with a clack- sound, and the other…

Krggkgkk!

…was grinded to dust by the vortex floating in the air.

“They don’t do that because they are dumb. Actually, they are indeed dumb. The way knights express their strength in the world is the opposite of what mages do. They isolate themselves from the world.”

“Iso…late?”

“Yes. While a mage changes their surroundings through their strong will, knights become beings that are completely detached from the world. Continuous training, self-reflection, and cultivation. Through that, they expand on the concept of being called ‘me,’ and grow into a being that dwells beyond the world’s laws.”

“The most representative concept of that is ‘aura’. They use the same mana that mages use, but what the knights create is a form of power that rejects the world and destroys anything and everything. In contrast, although mages alter the natural flow of the world, they still create something that exists within the world.”

“Aura…”

The bright color of the aura, similar to an early sunset, was coming from Charlotte’s sword. A skill that is said to cut through anything in the world. An alien substance that does not exist naturally in the world.

“According to knights, growing one’s aura is the act of ‘emptying out the sword in one’s heart’. To become one with the sword, or something like that, but I do not exactly know what they mean by that…”

“To extract one’s own will… onto the sword.”

The creation of the aura that Ottman heard from the knights. That was the description of an NPC’s will, one of the most fundamental compartments of this GG world.

‘Each living organism is given one portion worth of will equal to its existence that they can use to control what happens in GG. And dragons have a massive capacity within their souls, which is how they use their will worth hundreds and thousands of people to use Dragon Speech. The knights and warriors of this world are just wielding their portion of their GG authority, which could also be called their will or soul, and using the keyword ‘isolation’ in order to extract that and apply it to their sword or body! My goodness!’

After hearing Ottman’s explanation, he understood why the aura has such a destructive nature. That was only natural! What was applied to that sword wasn’t just energy or power, but a source of power from GG itself! Using aura wasn’t a concept of cutting or destroying, but instead slipping between and separating it! By pushing against their own will, they separated themselves from the laws of the world!

As Professor stared into the air with a stunned face, Ottman nodded as if he had forgotten.

“That reminds me, you are a mage, but you use your body more often than mana. You should know better than me about that concept, then. Anyway, the last magic I showed you is used in that way. Words contain power. The power to transform an abstract thought into reality. The stronger the will you put into those words, the stronger their nature becomes. That is how knights apply their dozens of years of experience, memories, and movements into one word when they swing their sword. The moment they speak it, the countless times that they spent training that action become actualized by the word and are applied to their sword. The attack method called ‘skills’ was created in such a way.”

Splshhh!

Watching the water shield collapse behind him, Ottman smiled widely.

“This method has neither a proper way nor loopholes. You have to think not like a mage but like a warrior charging into a battle. My life depends on this magic! I will die if I don’t use it! You embed that sort of will into the magic and combine it with hand motions and your image. But I will say in advance, it is extremely inefficient.”