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Chapter 25

***

Thud, thud.

Dercion walked silently towards somewhere.

"..."

Although I\'m following him, I was feeling anxious enough to go crazy.

Even though I\'ve been treated well for the past two months and have tried to get rid of Aldeon\'s bad image, I can\'t trust this old man.

Who knows what eccentric task he\'ll make me do next?

"Um... What did you call me for?"

I finally couldn\'t hold back and spoke first.

But was I worried for nothing?

The words that came out of Dercion\'s mouth were surprisingly normal.

No, they were actually helpful to me.

Very much so.

"I\'m going to give you the [Essence of Light]."

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

Suddenly he\'s giving me the [Essence of Light]?

There had been no mention of it for two months, so I thought the talk about the [Essence of Light] was just a baseless rumor.

"...Is that true?"

"Yes, I\'ve been planning to give it to you since the evaluation ended. There were just many preparations to be made beforehand."

"...Huh."

I\'m not sure what exactly he had to prepare, but he didn\'t seem to be lying.

So he\'s really going to hand it over...

But why?

\'...Don\'t trust him. He must have some ulterior motive.\'

I kept doubting, over and over again.

However, as we reached Dercion\'s room and the essence was placed before my eyes, I couldn\'t help but waver.

"This is the [Essence of Light]."

"This is really..."

Whoosh.

A transparent crystal emitting a brilliant white light.

Aldeon\'s secret technique that grants a Heroic tier growth trait.

The crystallization of light magic.

It was far more beautiful than what I had seen in the game, and now it was right in front of me.

"It\'s too early to be amazed."

Snap!

As Dercion snapped his fingers, all the light magic illumination in the room went out.

All I could see was pitch-black darkness and the brilliant [Essence of Light] illuminating that darkness.

"Light shines brightest in darkness."

"..."

I was so captivated by its beauty that I nearly lost my mind.

"We call the light that illuminates the deepest darkness... \'true light\'. Aldeon is a place that pursues that true light."

"...True light."

"Since the time of my predecessor\'s predecessor, we\'ve pondered and tried countless times. Ways to see the true light. But all that came back were failures."

"So you still haven\'t seen that light?"

"Until now, that\'s been the case."

Dercion said this with a slight smile.

Unlike what I had seen before, it was a genuine smile.

"Three months ago, I received a \'revelation\'. That revelation showed me how to see the true light."

"...What is that method?"

"It was very simple. Even from a fundamental perspective, it was a method we could have known. We were foolish. We had been looking far away for such a simple method... tsk."

What on earth is he talking about?

I wanted a more detailed explanation, but Dercion shook his head.

"You\'ll know soon enough. What you need to know now is..."

Swish.

Dercion reached out and caressed the [Essence of Light].

As his fingers moved, deep shadows rippled.

"Only those who can fully receive this essence can bring forth the true light. I\'ve decided to give this essence to you."

"...Why me of all people? Surely there are elders more devoted to light than I am."

"Didn\'t I tell you? We\'ve gone through many trials and errors. It can\'t be them. Only a young and exceptional talent can bring forth the light."

"...Is that why you opened the magic tower and held the evaluation? To find someone like me?"

"Yes."

Even after Dercion\'s explanation, many questions remained.

What was the revelation, what\'s the method to bring forth the light, how can he trust me when I could just run off with the essence, and so on.

But Dercion didn\'t seem to care about my doubts at all.

"Choose. Will you become the key to open the light?"

His eyes were filled with the sole intent of seeing the light.

Probably like my eyes looking at the essence right now.

\'This isn\'t something to hesitate over.\'

I still couldn\'t guess Dercion\'s true intentions, and I don\'t know what eccentric demands he might make of me after I use Aldeon\'s secret technique.

But even knowing this, I had no choice.

The [Essence of Light] is one of the most crucial items for my build.

It\'s the trait that makes a mage shine the brightest in this world full of evil.

Therefore.

"I\'ll do it."

I had to accept it, regardless of the risks involved.

"A good choice."

Dercion smiled with satisfaction and placed the [Essence of Light] on my hand.

"Use it."

"Yes."

After swallowing hard once, I opened my mouth.

The method to use the [Essence of Light] isn\'t difficult.

It\'s just reciting a set phrase.

"Light, answer me-."

The change began at that moment.

Whoosh!

A brilliant white light burst out from the crystal as if releasing the power it had been holding in.

It instantly turned the dark room pure white, and I reflexively closed my eyes.

And when I opened them again.

I was left alone in a pure white space with nothing but myself.

A phenomenon as intense as when I tore the trait selection ticket right after falling into this world.

"...Where is this?"

It was a space even I had never seen before.

There wasn\'t even such a scene in the game.

All that happened there was a system message popping up saying I had gained a trait.

"What am I supposed to do?"

I took small steps forward, aware of the possibility that this could be a trap set by Dercion.

The one fortunate thing was that at least my heart wasn\'t racing fast.

Of course, I couldn\'t let my guard down since it was uncertain whether the awakening effect applied here too.

After taking a few steps like that.

Rustle.

Suddenly, something dark slowly rose from the floor.

Something that looked like black ink in contrast to the white background.

It moved as if it were alive, constantly changing its shape.

"What is that?"

I felt the danger the moment I voiced that question.

Shwaaak!

Thump!

My heart pounded along with the threatening sound.

I instinctively turned my head, but the thing, now transformed into spikes, grazed my cheek as it passed.

Sss.

Along with a stinging pain, I felt something flowing from my cheek.

...It was blood.

"Who taught you to attack without warning, you ill-mannered thing?"

Crackle!

I immediately conjured an electric sphere to counterattack the unknown entity.

The electric sphere was launched as fast as it had shot its spikes.

Although it took the form of a slime and bent its body into a \'C\' shape to dodge the sphere.

"...!!"

Zap!

The second sphere I had created right after hit it squarely.

"Stings, doesn\'t it?"

"☐☐☐☐...!!"

I\'m not sure what it\'s saying, but it seems quite angry.

Judging by how it\'s raising spikes all over its body.

I responded by shooting light magic.

Zzing.

It\'s my first time using light magic in combat.

The mana that climbed up my [Holy Staff] turned into a beam of light.

It felt like shooting a laser with the staff.

Bang!

"☐...!"

The entity hit directly by the light beam scatters into gray powder.

I knew light might be its weakness since the electric spheres weren\'t very effective, but...

"What, is it over already?"

The battle ended more anticlimactically than I expected.

There\'s no feeling of gaining experience either.

Most importantly, I still haven\'t escaped this space.

With no other choice, I walked forward with heightened vigilance.

Soon, I encountered another black slime.

I\'m not sure if it\'s the same individual as before.

What\'s certain is...

"☐☐☐☐!!"

It\'s bigger.

Zing!

I shot a beam of light without hesitation and annihilated it.

After walking a few more steps forward.

I encountered yet another black slime.

If the previous one was about half my size... this one was large enough to swallow me whole.

Moreover.

Ziiing!

Whoosh! Whoosh...!

The bastard jumped up and down as if he couldn\'t take any more hits, dodging the light magic I shot at him.

It was only then that I understood the whole meaning of this place.

What I needed to do here.

"It\'s some kind of trial."

I had to move forward endlessly in this pure white space, killing increasingly stronger evils entities.

Towards an unknown destination.

***

Boom!

A massive black slime fell with a thunderous sound.

...It\'s hard to even call this a slime anymore.

"☐☐..."

Large iron horns on both sides of its head, beast-like fur covering its entire body and hooves supporting its huge frame.

And the iron mace that seemed to be its symbol.

Its appearance strongly reminded me of the \'Minotaur\', an advanced demon race from [Demon Fantasy].

Well, its combat ability wasn\'t quite the same though.

If it had been, I would have long since been skewered on its horns and turned into a human kebab.

It seems the balance was adjusted to match my level.

Thanks to that, I was able to defeat it after a 2-hour battle.

Swish swish swish-!

The creature scatters away as a gray powder.

That\'s when the light began to recede.

Dercion\'s room gradually revealed itself from the ceiling down.

"...Is it finally over?"

Stagger-.

For a moment, my legs gave out and I almost fell.

Thud!

I barely managed to support myself with my staff and regain balance.

Honestly, right now I was standing purely on willpower alone.

That\'s because I had defeated no less than 50 black slimes that constantly changed their form, size, and abilities.

I couldn\'t tell the exact time, but it felt like it took over 20 hours.

If only I had come mentally prepared...

I never expected using the [Essence of Light] would be such a grueling task.

But well... it\'s fine now.

Because that arduous task is finally over.

"Yuhan!"

I heard someone urgently calling my name.

It wasn\'t a welcome voice. The owner of the iron-like voice was the room\'s owner, Dercion Pygma.

"...Were you waiting?"

"Waiting? Only 5 minutes have passed since you started using the essence."

"Ah..."

Fuck, 5 minutes...? Then who\'s going to acknowledge all the hardship I went through in there...?

My face soured without me realizing it, but Dercion didn\'t seem to care and got straight to the point.

"So... did you succeed?"

He said he had gone through many trials and errors, so he must know very well how difficult this was for me.

Although I wasn\'t in the best mood, I decided to give him the good news anyway.

"...Yes, I succeeded."

But what followed from Dercion\'s mouth was an unexpected question.

"How far...?"

"Pardon?"

"How far did you succeed, I ask!"

How far? Was that something that was decided?

I honestly relayed to Dercion what had happened in that space.

And then.

"...Minotaur? Then... did you reach the end?"

Dercion expressed surprise in an unusual way.

With two eyes that have grown large and round.

Soon he began to laugh like a madman.

"Hah! Hahahah!"

A state close to insanity.

I soon understood why he was acting this way.

"I\'m so proud of you. To think you\'ve reached the level of conveying the story in the beginning! With this, our Aldeon has come one step closer to the true light!"

I didn\'t hear anything else.

Only one phrase Dercion uttered stuck in my ear.

The level of conveying the story.

"Huh?"

That was what NPCs in [Demon Fantasy] called a \'Legendary trait\'.

Then I realized.

In this world, the one acknowledging my dog-like struggle was not a person... but the reward itself.

***