Chapter 1024: Milestone (11)
The training ground, located near the Magic Tower’s back gate.
The training ground, usually filled with constant shouts and impact sounds, was silent as a tomb.
“……”
Dozens of superhumans, as if on cue, stopped their training and looked up at the raised platform of the training ground.
Lennok rested his chin in his hand on the honored seat prepared on the platform, facing Weian, who stood rigidly before him.
“……Van?”
Unable to bear the unending silence, Weian opened his mouth with difficulty.
Cold sweat, which he hadn’t shed even when deep in training, drenched his back.
“Well, if I…… if I did something wrong……”
“……”
“If you’d tell me…… I’ll try to fix it……”
Lennok’s indifferent gaze met Weian’s bewildered protest.
As Weian twisted his body, unable to endure, mercenaries nearby began to whisper.
“What did he do wrong this time?”
“Don’t know. He just came over and started staring, they say.”
“Poor guy……”
“If Van’s like that, there must be a reason.”
“If it’s Weian, isn’t it his own fault?”
“No……!”
It was clear what Weian’s usual reputation was like, given that he received no sympathy despite having done nothing wrong.
Late afternoon. The training ground’s atmosphere was so languid, it felt as if the events of Gateway City were a lie.
Lennok, gazing intently at Weian, murmured.
“I don’t like it.”
“Gasp……!”
Hearing those words, those nearby swallowed their breath, not to be outdone.
“This is big trouble.”
“He’s not getting off easy.”
“I knew it.”
“Apologize! I don’t know what you did wrong, but apologize!”
The Antares and Krimgal mercenaries noisily fussed, but Weian couldn’t even take their words as a joke.
Lennok slowly shifted his gaze, looking at Weian’s face, which had turned purple.
The mana perception of the Level 8 Trait-type Spellcaster, Conjunction Spell Master Avesta Chapman, was transcendent, nearly rivaling Lennok’s own.
Not only could he directly detect intruders across Gateway City, but he could also perceive targets to conjoin with, forcibly turning them into spell targets.
It was a talent that went beyond merely sensing mana well, possessing immense potential depending on how it was utilized.
Lennok had not forgotten that Weian also possessed a similar talent.
“You can do much better than this. Why did you do it?”
“……?”
Of course, the Conjunction Spell Master’s perception and Weian’s perception were not of equal value.
It was natural that a Trait-type Spellcaster like the Conjunction Spell Master and a physically enhanced individual like Weian would handle perception differently.
Their lives, environments, relationships—everything was vastly different.
However–
Thump!
“Make time to come see me with Felix.”
“Gasp!”
“From now on, I will personally instruct you on how to train your perception.”
Lennok said, placing a hand on Weian’s shoulder as the latter flinched as if seeing a ghost.
“I’ve learned a new spellcraft. I think I can practice it while guiding your perception training.”
“T-that’s…… isn’t that just needing a punching bag……”
Lennok smiled, watching Weian steadfastly speak his mind.
He truly intended to use Weian’s help to practice Conjunction Spellcraft.
By utilizing the perception held by both Lennok and Weian, he could internalize the sensation of Conjunction Spellcraft more quickly.
However, it was also true that he felt a desire to have Weian acquire the understanding of perception he had gained while fighting the Spell Master.
“That will depend on you from now on.”
Whoosh!!
With those words, Lennok vanished, leaping through the air.
Weian remained alone on the platform, trembling, as the mercenaries watched.
“Oh.”
Only then did the other mercenaries tilt their heads in confusion.
“Perhaps, this wasn’t the time for jokes?”
“Van, welcome.”
The office located on the top floor of the main building.
A vast space where Virgil alone used an entire floor for official purposes.
Virgil, who had been staring intently at a monitor, immediately rose from his seat upon seeing Lennok.
He seemed subtly, vaguely hurried.
“The Chairman will be here soon, so please wait a moment. She seems busy with delayed appointments.”
“Adamant Thunder.”
Claris, who had already arrived at the office, nodded at Lennok.
“Welcome. Is everything prepared?”
“The Cartel’s Executive Board was the one who directly received the Veil Fragment, weren’t they?”
Lennok replied with an expressionless face.
“The preparations should be made by the Cartel, not by me.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve completely cleared out the main building’s underground laboratory. Everything is fully prepared to start immediately.”
Virgil turned off the monitor screen with a wry smile and turned around.
As Claris sipped her coffee, Lennok, who had been staring at Virgil, asked.
“You’ve consumed Anathema’s blood. How does it feel?”
There was no need to pretend ignorance or beat around the bush.
From the moment he entered the office, he could tell at a glance that Virgil’s presence had transformed into a dangerously distorted form.
An intense sense of otherness, making the vampire he had known for years feel like an entirely different being.
He belatedly realized that this was the result of Anathema’s blood, which he had gifted to Virgil just before leaving for the Central region.
A noble of Ars Nova. A survivor of Anathema. A Level 8 Dragon Sorcerer and a monster fallen to apostasy.
The history and causality contained within Armas von Anathema’s blood were, even to Lennok, far from ordinary.
Even if it was only a part, if a vampire consumed the blood of that apostate, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be significant changes.
This must have been the decisive reason why Madam, not Virgil, appeared at the meeting with Cheonbeon.
“……You’re perceptive. Did you already notice?”
Virgil tilted his head back with a wry smile.
The veins of his exposed neck glowed faintly.
“You’re right. My magic power is not just boiling, it’s rampaging, making it difficult to even calm it down.”
“……”
“It’s the blood of the dead I consumed, but such a severe backlash is new to me. I was bedridden for three days, unable to move.”
Virgil adjusted his shirt, leaning back with a tired expression, and spoke.
“If I hadn’t received Madam’s help during the transfusion, I would have died. I’m ashamed to have caused the Chairman concern.”
“It seems Olivera helped you with the transfusion. And then an urgent appointment came up, causing her to be late now?”
“Ah, that……”
Virgil hesitated, then nodded with a wry smile.
“It’s related to the Elder Council. The Chairman said there’s an agenda item that she absolutely cannot ignore.”
“The Elder Council? Did the Cartel have a separate agenda item to get involved with them?”
“Rather than the Cartel, there’s a secret matter involving the Chairman herself.”
Lennok sat on the enormous sofa in the middle of the office, and Virgil, sitting opposite him, spoke.
“From what I know, it’s also related to you, Van.”
“……Related to me?”
“The Chairman will explain when she returns, so please bear with us for a little while.”
Virgil, who had skillfully made coffee for Lennok and Claris, said.
“Other than that, feel free to ask anything you’re curious about.”
“……”
“Something I’m curious about, you say.”
Lennok narrowed his eyes.
Realizing his gaze had turned to the monitor on the desk, Virgil’s shoulders twitched.
“Then, may I check what you were looking at in this office just now?”
“……That.”
“It seems to me that it might be somewhat related to Olivera’s business.”
Just before Lennok entered the office, Virgil had been checking something on his computer.
If this uncharacteristically diligent vampire had been engrossed in it before meeting Lennok, it must undoubtedly be an extension of his work.
It’s highly likely that the work he was doing on the computer is connected to the current situation.
“If you won’t tell me, it should be fine if I check it myself, right?”
“No, as for it being work-related……”
A flustered Virgil soon avoided his gaze, bowing his head slightly.
At his strange reaction, as if something that shouldn’t be discovered had been, Claris also showed interest.
“Virgil. For you to react like this, you must have something to hide. You’re not, by any chance, recording Elder Council information in Cybernetic Space, are you?”
“No, I am not. But……”
Virgil stammered out excuses, his face pale as only a vampire’s could be.
But he hesitated, unable to state the reason himself.
“Don’t worry. I won’t mention anything I see here.”
Lennok, watching him, stepped in front of the computer in a single stride and spoke.
“Let’s just say I bypassed your restrictions and forcibly checked the information.”
“……Do as you wish.”
Turning his back on Virgil, who tightly closed his eyes, he reached out to the computer.
Ignoring Claris, who approached with an intrigued expression, he focused his mind and adjusted his power.
Crack!!
An electrical current flowing from Lennok’s fingertips instantly streamed into the computer’s main unit.
‘Davi. Can you do it?’
‘Of course. It’s not difficult at all, butuuuut……’
Davi said confidently, then suddenly tilted her head.
A reaction that was subtle, almost unenthusiastic, much like Virgil’s just now.
‘Oh dear?’
‘……?’
Flash!!
The darkened monitor lit up, restoring the page it had been viewing before the computer shut down.
“……The Deep Web?”
A Diamond-tier bulletin board where only VIP members could post.
Among them, several posts, each with thousands of comments, were displayed simultaneously.
[Cheonbeon’s Military Achievements on the Central Front After Being Defeated by Adamant Thunder.txt] +2323
[Conjunction Spell Master < Cheonbeon < Adamant Thunder] +1342
[Honestly, if they fought again, it would be a fair match, agree?] +4644
[Recommend if you think he’d just be absolutely crushed by Adamant Thunder without putting up a fight] +6501
“……”
Lennok, after checking the post titles, was speechless.
The showdown between Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon had shaken the entire mega-city.
It was impossible to estimate the full impact that Adamant Thunder’s victory and Cheonbeon’s defeat had on Vulcan.
Even after the public hearing brought the situation to a temporary close, it was undeniable that the actions of the two wizards continued to attract public attention.
This was partly because of the immense shock and destruction that Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon had carved into the mega-city.
But also because there were almost no precedents of two Level 8 wizards fighting for their lives and both surviving unscathed.
As post-battle expert analyses confirmed that both Archwizards had deployed their respective Domains during the showdown.
It was also clear that more people were interested in how the paths of the two, who had settled their match by clashing their Domains, would continue.
But he never imagined that even Virgil would be interested in such topics and monitoring the Deep Web.
“I never imagined you’d be interested in such topics.”
Lennok, who had been silently staring at the monitor, chuckled and looked up.
“So even managing a corporation, your essence remains that of a superhuman, I see.”
“……Van.”
Lennok, having browsed the Deep Web a few times, knew that he had to filter through much of the information exchanged within it.
Naturally, Virgil wouldn’t be unaware of that fact, yet he was specifically looking at these posts.
This meant that Virgil also had a great deal of interest in such topics.
“I understand. Watching other people fight is always the most entertaining, after all.”
“My apologies. The reactions regarding you and Cheonbeon’s affair were quite intense……”
Virgil’s expression fell.
“I was looking for data on the Central Front’s activities, and the Deep Web was relatively more convenient for checking that information.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize so much.”
Lennok shook his head with a wry smile.
“If we’re being precise, I was the one who dragged Cheonbeon into this. I don’t wish to control what happens afterward.”
“……”
“Heh…… Ohh……”
“Considering that the Executive Board had faced Cheonbeon before, it’s not incomprehensible that you’d want to secure analytical data–”
“Hmmmm……”
“……Claris Richellen. What have you been doing?”
Claris, who had taken the mouse Lennok had let go of, was browsing the Deep Web with a curious expression.
Strange exclamations continually burst from Claris’s lips as she viewed the posts.
Her reaction was like someone from the wild encountering civilization for the first time after descending into a city.
Given Claris’s true identity, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible, but……
“The human species of this city are truly endlessly fascinating.”
Claris murmured, staring at the Deep Web posts as if entranced.
“Over a simple topic comparing two wizards…… how can they debate so passionately?”
“……”
At her genuinely bewildered reaction, Lennok himself felt momentarily embarrassed.
Virgil, perhaps unable to tolerate such pure reactions, took a step towards the computer.
“Lady Claris. I apologize, but please……”
“No. I’m sorry, but I’ll just look a little longer.”
Claris firmly rebuffed Virgil’s resistance, staring intently at the monitor.
“Reasons why this incident proved Cheonbeon is stronger than Adamant Thunder…… evidence that Adamant Thunder completely went easy on Cheonbeon……”
“Agh……!!”
“Both posts making completely opposing arguments have tons of comments. If so many humans are voicing their opinions, it must clearly be a topic worthy of serious discussion.”
Virgil reacted as if taking mental damage just from reading the titles of the viewed posts.
But he couldn’t bring himself to stop Claris, merely enduring it with trembling shoulders.
‘You insolent beings!’
Davi huffed indignantly from inside Lennok’s pocket.
‘How dare they have such interesting things happening on the Deep Web without me……!’
“……”
‘Unforgivable. Master, please grant me permission to deploy!’
“How absurd.”
Lennok sighed, walked past the hesitant Virgil, and took the mouse from Claris.
“Aah!”
“Filter it appropriately and then stop. Those are certainly pieces of information far removed from what you consider serious discussion.”
“Adamant Thunder. But look at this.”
Claris pointed at the monitor, not giving up.
“Are you really not curious about anything, even after seeing this title?”
At her words, Lennok finally turned his gaze to the monitor Claris was looking at.
[Title: Cheonbeon’s Domain, ‘Flame Flower’s Full Bloom’ Final Analysis. Predicting Adamant Thunder’s Domain and the Rematch Outcome Through It.] +26634
“……”
A title that compressed every topic likely to be trending on the Deep Web at the moment into a single line.
While Lennok was speechless at the utterly preposterous attention-seeking, Davi moved first.
‘Hmph.’
With a click, the post was selected, and the content of the main body immediately unfolded.