Chapter 14 Part3 (1/2)
<chapter 14.=”” new=”” pace=”” -=”” 3=””>
”Friendly fire...?”
”That's right. I'm a hero!”
”A hero!?”
The Magician muttered blankly. Hearing an undead a.s.sert that they were a hero must've considerably shaken them; they had already stopped attacking. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo felt relieved in that regard, but then Jin yelled startlingly.
”The ground. The ground!”
”Tch...”
The problem was the spell that they'd cast before was still around. The wall, composed of sharp thorns of ice were surging upwards several dozens of meters! Now wasn't the time be relieved!
”Heup!”
Without thinking, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo brought out a Melting Double Bone Axe and threw it hard. The axe shattered the wall's sharp edges, and exploded the moment it lodged into the wall's interior; even though they had responded a bit late, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin somehow managed to come out relatively unscathed, amidst the shards of ice.
”I thought we'd become skewers.”
”Don't worry, we don't have any meat to grill, so... Wait, no. It's my fault. I'm sorry. Stop shaking.”
”You're really terrible. You know that? Absolutely terrible.”
”It was all my fault. I'm really sorry. Stop shaking.”
”It certainly doesn't seem like you've been affected by the curse...”
While Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin were struggling to find a way to survive, the Magician watched them and spoke to herself. But for now, they had completely ignored the Magician in favor of reaching safe ground. They barely felt at ease.
”Are you really heroes? Even though you're undead...?”
At last, she went back to questioning them. The slim woman stretched her hand outwards from her magician robes, holding an orb that looked like a crystal; it seemed as though she had her magic at the ready depending on how they responded.
”We're undead, but we're definitely heroes. If...”
The situation wasn't favorable for them, and he a.s.sumed that they'd ultimately have to fight the magician; he a.n.a.lyzed his opponent's magic, and while doing so, picked one of the lines that only a hero would know to say and just said it.
”If you can't believe me, then would you like to access the chatting channel together and check?”
”The chatting channel... right, there was that.”
It hit the mark. The Magician's hostility towards them was noticeably diminis.h.i.+ng. He also considered that she might be a hero that attacked, saying 'Death to all the undead!', even after acknowledging his claim, but fortunately, it looked like she had abandoned all thoughts of attacking them.
”It was impossible to ascertain your ident.i.ty, so I thought maybe... I couldn't bring myself to discard the possibility that were you some unknown undead. Sorry for attacking you.”
”Ah... now that I think about it.”
She'd even given them an earnest apology! Even after hearing that, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo inspected her, but he couldn't figure anything out about her. A hero's fundamental ability of checking their opponent's level and ident.i.ty didn't work on her. Now that he thought about it, it didn't work on Jin or Ye Jin Jin either.
If that's the case, then it should've been plenty enough to discern that they were heroes, but... Lee s.h.i.+n Woo decided he'd double check that in the chatting channel later and replied.
”I'm Lee s.h.i.+n Woo. This guy's Jin. For the record, this guy's a hero too.”
”Kratia Melloi [1].”
The magician threw her robe's hood back, revealing her face and name. She was a young lady whose beauty matched her beautiful voice; she was short, so he had roughly a.s.sumed that she was a woman before, but she looked younger than he'd expected, so Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was shocked.
Her eyes were a sky blue, like the frozen sea, with large pupils; her lavender hair, which stretched in every which way as if she didn't bother to comb it, was especially memorable. To be completely honest, her appearance matched well with the magic she wields.
'In any case, I've never seen someone called Kratia Melloi enter the chatting channel before... Wait a sec.'
a.s.suming that she wasn't lying, as she gave her name and showed her appearance, there was someone who matched her description.
”How long has it been since you've arrived here?”
”3 weeks.”
”As I thought...”
She was definitely the 'newbie' that he'd heard about in the chatting channel a short while ago. Kratia must've been the one who had entered the chatting channel once and left immediately, as she felt uncomfortable with all of the seniors' attention on her. His seniors did say that she didn't enter again following that incident.
But what was surprising was that it had only been 3 weeks since she'd been dropped underground, yet the level of her magic was considerable. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo couldn't even a.s.sess the level of her magic, so that meant she was at least higher than level 5. But if that were true, that meant that she started out with that much power. Otherwise, she had to have received that power from G.o.d.
”Do I become like you guys by any chance if a lot of time goes by?”
The Magician, Kratia Melloi asked, her eyes filled with a bit of fear. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin simultaneously shook their heads and denied her. This confirmed that she was indeed a newbie hero.
”We became like this because of our wishes. On the flip side, there were some things we got in exchange, but I can't really recommend it.”
”You became undead because of your wishes? ...As I thought, that woman's got a mental disorder or something.”
She nonchalantly insulted G.o.d and shook her head. And even though he didn't ask, she extended her hand gripping the orb and said.
”I don't like other people touching me. So when I asked for ice that could grow, she gave me this.”
”So she could fulfill that wish because you were already strong, huh...”
Though she was originally a powerful magician, there should've been a limit to what G.o.d could give her with her powers; she'd successfully managed to receive an artifact that developed all on its own, so she may have made the best choice.
If his senior heroes were to have heard, they would've said something like 'you should've asked for a skill that improves the effectiveness of ice type abilities!' and would've been frustrated in her stead.
”s.h.i.+n Woo, what are you going to do?”
Right when he was finished thinking, Jin whispered to Lee s.h.i.+n Woo. Jin, who was easily frightened, seemed to still be afraid of Kratia, as he was secretly hiding behind his back.
Is this really the guy who courageously yelled out that when they died, they would die together... Lee s.h.i.+n Woo softly stroked his back to tell him it was alright and said his farewells to Kratia.
”I don't think there are a lot of cases like us, but be careful from now on. Then, we'll get going. It was nice meeting you, Kratia Melloi.”
”Wait a sec.”
He got atop Jin's back and tried turning around, but Kratia's sudden urgent voice stopped them. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo felt Jin inwardly yell, as he'd wanted to leave smoothly.
”I know I've been somewhat foolish. Teach me about how this world works.”
”If you just enter the chatting channel, our seniors will scramble to teach to you. Especially, Lloyd and Prince.”
”Those guys make me feel uneasy. I also haven't seen their faces even once...”
Kratia a.s.serted quite firmly. Their seniors had a tendency to be way too excited when a newbie comes in, so it was understandable that she felt unnerved by them. Moreover, though he hadn't known her for very long, this woman didn't seem to like socializing very much.
Even so, didn't it seem weird that she trusted an undead whose face she'd seen, rather than a human whose face she hadn't seen? At least, that's what Lee s.h.i.+n Woo thought.