The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 71



Only Krnovel

Episode 71

“You might be the only one who can cross the gap.”

Quilbian kept his ears open as he looked through the magic book that Winte had created. It was the book he had looked at so many times in Altera’s room.

“Nak is the starting point and solution to all problems. It is different from Mana, but it is a power that Mana can respond to.”

“So?”

“Let’s start with magic. There’s nothing better than magic to understand Nak.”

“I know about magic. He even taught me directly.”

After the curse left by that woman was removed, Nak moved freely. Quilbian tried using magic for the first time in a long time.

A drink of the shape of a yellow sippin.

He lit a cool flame from his fingertips.

The tiny flame the size of a fingernail gradually increased in volume. The flame became as big as a fist.

He snapped his fingers. The fireworks rose into the sky, forming a circle.

“There are few things you can do without a talisman.”

The sparks dancing in the air fell into my hand.

Even in the deep darkness, I could discern everything based on my sixth sense. The small flame was useless.

“How much Nak did you pour?”

Winte asked.

“I wrote it the way I felt before. I don’t know the exact numbers.”

“Keep injecting.”

He shrugged and let the Nak flow away. An unknown force that responded to his will moved into flames.

“Can you see the flow of mana?”

“Yes, I can see it.”

“Keep observing.”

The flames grew larger and larger. When they were large enough to cover a grown man, I asked again.

“Should I continue this?”

“Continue. The magic increases in volume, doubling the amount of available Nak.”

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a blast of flame into the sky. The flames floating in the air caused Nak to continue moving.

About an hour passed like that.

A blue sphere about 50 meters in diameter was floating in the sky.

“It doesn’t seem to be getting any bigger.”

Winte looked at Quilbian.

“It’s a well that never dries. The outside is constantly flowing in. The gap here is clearly disconnected, so how do you draw the narc in?”

Not here, not there.

In the gap, another me lives. Countless Quilbians must be living their own lives at this very moment.

The Nak they held was transcending the providence of God and coming into reality.

The question of how was unnecessary.

Who knows what even God doesn’t know?

We had to focus on understanding and exploiting the phenomenon that had occurred.

“Wait a minute. I’m starting to feel overwhelmed.”

My head was spinning. The water that had been flowing smoothly was quickly drying up.

As the magic was disrupted, the huge flames disappeared in an instant.

The surroundings, which had been as bright as day, became dark.

“It’s a shame that the amount that can be released at once is limited, but the durability is outstanding. Above all, the amount of Nak that can be drawn in continues to increase.”

“When I first started tinkering with amulets, I got tired quickly.”

“That’s right. Even then, you were bringing in Nak from outside. You were already interfering in the gap from then on.”

Winte seemed to be enjoying this situation very much. His smile was as wide as when he drank the fragrant coffee.

“If I find Twella… … can I get it out of there?”

“Before I discovered your singularity, I would have thought it was impossible. But you are definitely able to cross the gap. You are only a mental entity, but won’t you be able to cross the physical one someday?”

“Why are you saying such hopeful things?”

“It’s fun because there’s still a possibility.”

Quilbian looked at Winte.

“I have a question. How old are you?”

“I was created before you existed.”

“You’ve really lived a dirty life for a long time.”

“I’ve lived a long time. That’s why I need things to enjoy.”

Quilbian took a bright red book of magic from the bookshelf. He tried to open it, but the pages wouldn’t fall. It was like a tightly-fitting clamshell.

Quilbian squinted his eyes and looked back and forth through the book, then thought back to an old method of perception.

Distinction.

The eyes, different from the sixth sense, are used only to discern Nak.

A raccoon was seen wriggling over the red magic book. The raccoon had blue legs and its long body was tightly wrapping the red book around itself.

The snout was at the upper left corner of the book. When I put my finger on it, it lifted its blue head and shook its long antennae without mercy.

I had a feeling that if I touched it, it would be a headache. Judging by the silence of my intuition, it didn’t seem like my life was in danger.

I shook my index finger over the fox’s head. The creature, which had been waving its antennae, suddenly raised its head and tried to bite my index finger.

Exactly!

A loud noise came from the guy’s jaw.

“Here’s a fierce guy protesting that this is his house. Can we take this down?”

Quilbian asked, shaking the magic book.

“Try it.”

“When you say that, I feel anxious again. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“I told you to try.”

With eyes that looked like they were having fun, Quilbian grabbed the fox’s head without hiding his displeasure.

The fox’s head, held between the thumb and index finger, made a strange noise, like scraping metal or shattering glass.

It was clear that it was something I didn’t want to hear.

I could just use my strength to make his head burst, but the concept of a ‘curse’ bothered me.

The curse left in the eyes of ‘that woman’ was also a curse. It was a power that clung tenaciously and turned people’s hearts inside out.

Quillbian gently grabbed the fox’s head and pulled it. The creature, which had been holding on with its legs, let go of the book it was holding on to and straightened its long body.

He leveled his eyes with the fox. His four pairs of small eyes sparkled like oil floating on water.

“Let me look at the book. I’ll return it to you after I finish reading it. Okay?”

It seemed as if the creature he had swept away with his sword would understand what he was saying, but it quickly fell down from the book and wrapped itself around Quilbian’s arm.

A not-so-pleasant sensation spread across my arm.

The fox seemed to like its temporary shelter and became quiet, its head drooping.

I briefly wondered what would happen if I threw it as food to the eagle, but I never did.

Because you won’t get sick from eating it.

The interlocking bookshelves opened gently.

There was a yellow piece of paper with a blue dot on it. The dot was about the size of a thumbnail, and it was smudged, as if someone had spilled water on it.

The next chapter was no different. Just paper and a blue dot. That was it.

The naked eye, the sixth sense, the eye of discrimination.

No matter what identifiable means were used, nothing changed.

what?

“Is this kids’ graffiti?”

“You should ask the owner, why are you asking me?”

It was Winte enjoying coffee while sitting on a chair suspended in the air.

As the owner, his gaze naturally shifted to the fox wrapped around his arm.

“You’re the owner, right?”

I tapped his head. The tentacles that had been spread out lazily lifted.

“I want to see what’s inside.”

I put the book to my arm. The fox released its body from around my arm and climbed onto the book.

What are you trying to show me?

I waited for a long time.

The fox lay blankly on the book, like a broken mechanical doll.

“What aren’t you doing?”

When I tapped its body, the fox raised its head. It seemed to be getting nervous.

“… … I’m asking just in case, can you speak?”

The fox’s tentacles shook left and right twice. The fox twisted its body and climbed onto the arm again.

Its head was raised stiffly, and beneath it, a sharp chin and mouth were visible. The snout wiggled in a disgusting way.

It looked like a baby hawk whining for food.

“Oh, rice?”

What does a fox eat? Should I give it some crushed apples?

After thinking for a moment, I gathered the nack flowing through my body onto the tip of my index finger. The nack flowed out in thin streams and flowed into the fox’s mouth.

The shiny body of the fox took on a dull blue hue. The fox was sucked into the blue dot on the yellow paper.

Smoke rose from the dimly spread dot. The blue smoke drew various patterns in the air.

Unknown patterns filled the air.

I saw layered triangles and overlapping squares.

I had no idea what any of them meant.

The shapes that filled my retina suddenly blurred and turned into a single sphere.

The sphere slowly descended and landed in front of Quilbian’s mouth.

I glanced down and saw the fox that had disappeared lifting its head and moving its mouth.

It seemed like it was meant to be eaten just by looking at it.

The sixth sense was quiet.

I guess you won’t die if you eat it.

I put a sphere smaller than my fist into my mouth. My eyes widened at the unfamiliar foreign substance that filled my mouth.

Should I melt it and eat it or chew it?

After a moment of hesitation, the sphere melted away.

I felt it going down my esophagus.

And an hour passed.

There was no change.

I picked up the red book again. The blue dots on the pages were gone.

“Has the magic lost its effect?”

Asking Winte wouldn’t help, so I ignored him for now and reached for another book.

My back felt tingly.

Did you get bitten by a bug?

This time the signal came from the thigh.

Mild pains occurred simultaneously.

What the hell is going on?

He looked up at Winte in the sky and tried to open his mouth.

The lips did not part.

His jaw was wide open as if it were sewn shut with invisible thread, and his lips were stuck shut and twitched.

“Eww! Eww!”

It was time to make a chewing sound.

My body bent forward. The strength suddenly left my waist.

My shoulders felt heavy. It felt like someone was pressing down on me from above.

I was glued to the floor.

I tried to raise my head, but for some reason I couldn’t use my strength.

Charararak.

I could hear the sound of fox footsteps from all directions. I rolled my eyes. A fox with blue legs was spinning around in front of me.

The tentacles raised toward the sky looked like a prayer to God.

Damn it!

The skin on his back was cracking.

There was no pain. My intuition was still intact.

Quillvien struggled to lower his chin. He needed to see what was happening inside his body.

And what I saw was.

It was a blue leg poking through the tattered skin.

The fox’s legs were growing out of its body.

That wasn’t all.

The arm that was supposed to be attached to my shoulder fell off and melted away.

Even in the severed areas, the fox’s legs were sticking out.

“Eeeeek!”

I realized clearly what was going on.

My body was turning into a fox.

The raccoon, who was the owner of the book, was still looking at Quilbian with his tentacles raised.

Fuck!

Is this a magic that turns humans into foxes?

Time passed with a stinging pain.

The body moved. Quilbian intuitively knew how to use the dozens of pairs of long legs.

Winte, sitting in the sky, was still enjoying his coffee.

That fucking kid.

He straightened up. His body, which must have been at least 10 meters tall, straightened up.

“How does it feel to have finished disguising yourself?”

I wanted to swear, but no voice came out.

“There’s a saying I like. Hearing something a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. And seeing something a hundred times is not as good as doing it once.”

He swung his body and struck Winte.

The body that reached the chair was bounced off by a transparent membrane.

“There are three ways to learn magic. First, read and learn documented information as if you were acquiring general knowledge. Second, swallow the magic that has been kindly implemented. Lastly… … .”

Winte continued speaking with a faint smile.

“Get some rest. You’ll get dizzy.”

The moment I heard those words, my eyes started spinning.

Quilbian’s massive body crashed down onto the rooftop.

Quilbian, who had fallen down, looked at the small fox in front of him.

A fox that lifts its body as if it is excited and moves from side to side.

This sucks, really.

Quilbian lost consciousness after wriggling dozens of pairs of legs.

(Continued in next episode)