Chapter 3 (2/2)
Destroyer of Worlds, Draka.
And also, ‘Player’.
These unrelated and unfamiliar words repeated in my head.
That wasn’t all.
‘I think there was one other thing…’
I repeated what the disparate voice said, and muttered under my breath,
“Status window?”
And then, something appeared in front of my eyes.
* * *
* * *
“Woah! What the?”
Surprised, I kicked the blanket off my bed.
Helen hurriedly came and asked me,
“Are you ok?”
“…Eh?”
“Your face is turning pale. Are you hurting anywhere?”
“Oh… No. It’s just… Do you not see this?”
I gestured to the half-transparent blue screen before me.
Looking like a mana barrier, there were words written in small font.
Ruin Ardell
Incarnation of Draka, Destroyer of Worlds
As a result of his pursuit for infinite strength, the magician Draka perished along with his world. For Draka, who from birth lacked the ability to evoke mana, strength was the origin of his power.
Player: An artifact of Draka that can summon the Status Window, and limitlessly increase one’s power through quests.
Strength: 150 +++
Agility: 100
Wisdom: 1550
“This thing! Here!”
Honestly, the face Helen made in response was the best.
“Ruin. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“What?”
“Come here. Let me check your head.”
“?? What are you doing??”
“Stay still.”
Like treating a pitiful moron, she put her hand on my head and injected some mana.
Ah. Did I go insane?
However, Helen tilted her head in confusion.
“It doesn’t look like you went insane.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t go insane?”
“No, you didn’t. Insane people don’t think that they are insane.”
“Then, what the hell is this…”
It wasn’t insanity.
Even if I rubbed my eyes to get it out, I could still see it clearly.
This probably could only be seen by me.
Wait, should I have accepted this so easily?
“What did you say you could see?”
While Helen was waving her hands, it clearly passed through this ‘Status Window’.
This confirmed it.
Only I could see it.
“Ah, no. It looks like I imagined it.”
“Sure. Rest for a bit longer. We need you to be more stable.”
After Helen left, I had no choice but to acknowledge this.
“This is real…”
* * *
Ruin Ardell
Incarnation of Draka, Destroyer of Worlds
As a result of his pursuit for infinite strength, the magician Draka perished along with his world. For Draka, who from birth lacked the ability to evoke mana, strength was the origin of his power.
Player: An artifact of Draka that can summon the Status Window, and limitlessly increase one’s power through quests.
Strength: 150 +++
Agility: 100
Wisdom: 1550
“……”
First of all, I didn’t know what this was.
I tried to figure out what I could understand first.
First, .
This was probably one of those artifacts of legend that disappeared long ago.
‘Player’ would be the name of the artifact, and it utilized ‘Quests’ to enable me to gain infinite power.
Next, .
I was a bit surprised at this part.
“Someone whose mana evocation was constrained… Draka.”
This magician, Draka, was disabled just like me.
With the same disorder as well.
And he, through a medium called ‘Quests’, was able to grow his strength and become more powerful.
Infinite strength.
So strong that he destroyed both himself and his world.
And finally,
“This… represents the current status of my body after becoming a ‘Player’.”
Strength: 150 +++
Agility: 100
Wisdom: 1550
Strength, agility, and wisdom.
Wisdom being abnormally high was because I devoted myself to studying magic my whole life.
The structure started making sense.
“So, I understand up to this point…”
I didn’t understand it in my heart.
Only by analyzing it in my mind.
That’s right.
A strange event that I found hard to believe had happened to me.
This ability saved my life.
And the artifact of this ‘Draka’, who also had Evocation Inability Disorder, was transferred to me.
The dream I had before was probably connected to this as well.
Perhaps that red-eyed man was Draka.
However, there was one important question.
“Why me?”
Especially during a chance encounter with death.
‘Because I’m also disabled?’
This was something I couldn’t find out unless I directly met ‘Draka’ and asked him.
‘I’ll know after trying.’
I shook away my thoughts and stood up.
I noticed and focused on a small corner of the Status Window that said ‘Quest’.
‘I don’t know what that is…’
I knew it was a medium to increase my strength.
Even though I didn’t know what it was in detail…
‘I have nothing to lose.’
I was already a failed magician.
The future of my life in the Academy was set in stone.
I would fail the graduation test and be constantly held back year after year.
If I couldn’t graduate, I would become at best an assistant magician, or a librarian at a Tower where I’d grow old and die.
Perhaps, I would live my life without doing anything close to magic and die quietly somewhere.
I never wanted to be like that.
This was why, even though I knew how futile it was, I never gave up, remaining at the academy.
‘Infinite power…’
I closed my eyes, slowly opened one, and pronounced quietly,
“Quest!”
Another strange window appeared in front of my eyes.
——