NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 73
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The tentacles shot swiftly towards the turtle.
The turtle deflected them with its shell and quickly dodged. With that, even more tentacles struck where the turtle had just been.
The trees that the tentacles brushed against began to dissolve like water, releasing a murky mist into the air. I inspected the turtle’s shell, feeling the magic as it oozed. The spots where the tentacles had been deflected were now damp and melting, even damaging the magic contained within.
Cold sweat started to bead on my forehead. But thanks to the turtle, an opportunity arose. It had shown a weakness. I quickly opened my mouth.
“Now!”
As soon as I said that, Kashian drew her sword. Wrapped in magic, that sword soared out of the turtle’s mouth and shot at the tentacles, starting to sever them one by one.
The tentacles fought back, but under that swift sword, they simply fell to the ground. They started to dissolve where they landed and disappeared completely.
The sword didn’t stop there. It was shot toward the direction from which the tentacles had come. At the end of that trajectory was a massive egg. Hanging from a tree, it looked almost like a pure white eyeball.
That was the original owner of the tentacles. An unknown monster. The sword smashed the tree where the egg had been resting.
The creature on top fell down. It barely managed to support itself with the remaining tentacles, but it couldn’t prevent the fall.
“Now, we run!”
I shouted that command to the turtle, which took off without looking back. I glanced at Mira. She nodded at me as she caught my eye.
From her fingertips, mist began to ooze out, flowing out through the turtle’s mouth, gradually concealing its body.
The sword that had dropped the creature quickly returned to Kashian’s hand. She watched it as she put it back at her waist.
The creature could be seen getting back up. It climbed another tree and was searching for us. It looked as if it had suffered no damage at all. Even the severed tentacles had already regenerated.
I had the feeling that it was watching the direction we had left. However, thanks to the mist, it couldn’t find us, and it began to turn back to its territory.
My tension loosened a bit. That should be enough. I sighed. It had been a week since we left the tower. How many times had we run away already? Those monsters were just too strong.
“That one looks like it would be tasty if roasted,”
Kashian murmured, swallowing. The bear doll beside her nodded along.
I forced a bitter smile. On the way here, monsters had been pouring down in droves. Like rain, really. I had accumulated quite a bit of fatigue from dealing with them, day and night.
I glanced around. Inside the turtle, we were surrounded by the byproducts of monsters. Even though we had only collected the usable portions, it was still this much. There were countless things we had discarded.
Among those discards, I had tried cooking some. It seemed too wasteful just to throw that much away. And I served those dishes to Kashian.
This was almost the first time I had given food I made to someone other than Professor Ilian. My cooking had been honed solely withher in mind.
Mira remembered being served my cooking a few times experimentally during that process. Perhaps that’s why she seemed quite pleased when I mentioned that I was making the food.
Fortunately, it seemed that Kashian enjoyed it, as after her first taste, she began participating eagerly in hunting monsters.
Especially if the monster was strong like just now. The stronger the monster, the tastier it was.
“But taking on something like that is a bit much, so what can we do?”
I said that. The creature looked like a higher-level monster. It was clear that we wouldn’t stand a chance if we faced it head-on. Even running away like now was exhausting.
Kashian nodded, looking gloomy. The bear doll rummaged through its pocket and took out a small piece of jerky, offering it to her. She accepted it and began to nibble on it slowly.
Watching that scene, I took out a map. It was something I hadn’t used in a while, packed for this journey. I checked our location through it.
Mira sidled up and wrapped her arm around mine, looking at the map with me.
“Oh my, we’re almost there!”
“Yeah, it looks like we won’t see any more monsters soon.”
I nodded. We were quite close to our destination now, the Canyon City that Kashian had mentioned. Just about another 30 minutes of travel. The city and our location were almost overlapping.
I hadn’t expected such powerful monsters to pop up so close to a city. I had assumed it would be similar to the stalagmite city, so I had let my guard down, almost getting caught badly.
The truth was, my range of activities hadn’t been that wide. When I asked other students in the tower, they moved around two or three cities as their territory.
I had been using only the stalagmite city as a reference point. No, to be more precise, I had been using just my tower as a reference. From there, the stalagmite city was the closest, and I never felt the need to go to other cities.
Because of that, in the past five years, the only places I had been were Professor Heisen’s tower and the stalagmite city, just those two. It was unavoidable, considering how hectic managing the tower had been.
For that reason, there weren’t that many monsters around there, according to the students. I hadn’t quite understood that. There were a few monsters I had encountered on my way, but they thought that was few.
It was only during this journey that I finally realized how true those words were. The area near the stalagmite city was relatively well-managed. There weren’t any strong monsters, and even lower-level monsters were consistently dealt with through requests.
The moment I stepped out of that area, all kinds of monsters poured in. I had only heard the words ‘a lot of monsters,’ but this was my first time experiencing it firsthand.
“Hehe, I should buy some clothes and change before heading into the city. Each city has its own style, after all. Kashian, you’re coming with me, right?”
Mira said with a smile. Kashian swallowed the jerky she had been chewing and looked a bit reluctant. When Mira quietly watched her, she awkwardly nodded.
“Yes, Sister Mira.”
Sister—what an awkward word. She seemed to find her own words strange, glancing around slightly. It was the result of Mira constantly sticking to Kashian for the past week.
Mira stepped away from me and went over to Kashian. They began chatting softly.
I checked the surroundings with the turtle’s eyes. I could still feel quite a number of monsters’ magical powers. They were inspecting the turtle. But perhaps because of the mist surrounding us, they couldn’t pinpoint our exact location and merely brushed past us.
I wondered what would have happened if Kashian and Mira hadn’t been here. If I had come alone, I probably wouldn’t have reached my destination even in a month. Thanks to them, I could merely focus on moving.
Suddenly, I remembered the spatial portals. Had Hwa-ryeong mentioned it? That in the past, cities were connected through spatial portals. That must have been really convenient. I couldn’t help but feel envious of those people from that era.
But now, the number of monsters was starting to decrease little by little. The turtle was boldly breaking through the trees. The mist around us began to clear up.
How many mountains had we crossed? Following the map, we finally reached near the city. In the distance, strange tracks began to appear.
Were they thin fissures? I could see several people coming out from there. It was a split canyon positioned between mountains. Kashian nodded as she saw it.
“Ah, that’s it.”
“Is that so?”
I glanced at her. She looked quite dejected. The bear doll comforted her gently. Mira simply looked at her with a cute expression.
I understood Kashian’s feelings. The people we would encounter in the city were incredibly impressive.
I had been very surprised when I first heard about the individuals backing her. It wasn’t a typical organization supporting her. It was the Blade Association, the rulers of Canyon City.
I thought it had no relevance to me and hadn’t paid attention to it. They only accepted swordsmen as members. So, it made sense that they would support her.
And they had summoned her. Supposedly to check the reason for not ascending to the third floor. When she heard that, she practically melted into the ground.
They had said they’d called her after the lecture was over. No one knew how that conversation would go. Kashian tilted her head, admitting she didn’t know much either.
I had been in a similar situation. I recalled the ones I had faced—Miryeong and Maira. What if I had to talk to them face to face?
Thinking about facing them made my lower abdomen throb slightly. Kashian must have felt the same. Especially since she had to report her failures to them.
“Don’t worry. We’ll follow you, everything will be fine,”
Mira gently rubbed Kashian’s waist. Kashian trembled slightly at that. Mira started to massage her body gently. The ‘improvement’ work was beginning. I turned my gaze away.
Before I knew it, we had gotten closer to the canyon. That fissure, that sight had become clear. I couldn’t help but marvel at it. The fissure was enormous. A truly massive canyon.
The name “Canyon City” instantly made sense. The gigantic chasm stretched all the way down below. At the very bottom, a gigantic lake could be seen.
As I overlooked the canyon, it felt as if the sharply divided magical energy was aiming towards the turtle. That drew my attention back to the shape of the canyon.
It looked like a massive sword had sliced through it. The magic flowing through the canyon seemed to affirm that it was sharp and fast.
The city presented that sight boldly. This was a point where it differed from stalagmite city. While that place felt hidden among the mountains, this one felt like it was all laid bare.
However, there was one similarity. The city was indeed underground. The city was positioned against both walls of the canyon.
Buildings formed in multiple layers, like a beehive, followed vertically along the canyon. Each layer had a different atmosphere. The further down, the more rudimentary the structure became.
It was a structure I was quite familiar with. I had heard that most cities were built this way underground. It made sense. The magic levels here were problematic.
The turtle stopped by the canyon’s edge, not approaching any closer. Perhaps it was because of the people approaching with their weapons covered in magic from afar. They seemed to have mistaken the turtle for a monster.
“Shall we go down and check it out?”
At that, Mira gently pulled away from Kashian. Kashian gathered herself and hugged the bear doll. Her face, buried in the doll, had turned slightly red.
The turtle’s side opened, creating a pathway to the floor. It led the way as we ventured out.
As we did, the surrounding magical energies became more distinct. A slight metallic odor accompanied the sharp magic that brushed against my body.
Kashian and Mira followed behind as we descended. The turtle curled up, clinging to my chest. Given how much was packed inside it, it felt incredibly heavy.
Petting the turtle, I took in the city. The approaching figures noticed us and sheathed their swords. Then, they began to return to the city.
I thought we could follow them. With that thought, I moved my steps.
We entered the city, and time passed.
I glanced at Kashian beside me.
“Are you alright?”
“No, it hurts….”
She winced. The clothes she had bought with considerable effort were tattered under the rough gash of a sword. Her body was covered in wounds.
Mira was treating her. Each time the mist wrapped around Kashian’s body, her wounds were concealed, leaving behind a sort of bandage-like trace.
Kashian’s body quickly began to heal. Along with that, her complexion also seemed to ease a bit. She hugged the bear doll tightly, letting herself slump down.
I looked around.
It was a neat room. It had a somewhat similar atmosphere to the room used in the auction house. There was a slightly luxurious feel to it.
But the walls were encased in strong magic. It seemed like several layers of protective spells were wrapped around the outside. The door was the same, tightly sealed as if to block our exit.
I forced a bitter smile. There was no way to escape. This was a sort of prison. I took a quick glance at Kashian. Looking at her made my heart feel heavy.
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