16 Chasing shadows
"No, I wouldn't," the boy firmly rejected.
Hans looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze before remarking, "Is this the ambition of young men these days?? When I was your age I dreamt of wealth and fame."
"Well, sorry I don't have time to waste on that," the young boy retorted with a mocking tone.
Hans shot another glance at the dreamless kid before him, "Weren't you at least being polite before?! What changed you now?"
"Mph! I don't think you have the right to talk about respect while you are trying to deceive an innocent person like me."
"Hey! I'm serious. How much do they pay you here? I'll double it," Hans offered.
"It's not about money, I won't work for you!" The young fellow rejected once again before he walked away and entered the elevator, casting a strange look at Hans as the doors closed.
"It'll take some time. I guess convincing someone to join your side isn't so easy," Hans mused, not wanting to worsen the impression any more than he already had.
_____
Today's target: {E-Rank gate, Wraith's Lament.}
[You have entered the gate: Wraith's Lament.]
The next moment, Hans found himself in a dense forest of pine trees where the air was cold and a pervasive silence that emanated an ominous feeling.
After a brief exploration, he found his first prey: a floating creature, seemingly unaffected by gravity at all.
Its red eyes pierced the darkness while its body was composed of swirling black smoke.
At the end of each of its arms, instead of hands, there were three seemingly sharp claws.
{Race: Wraith
Name: None
Lvl: 37
Strength: 38
Dexterity: 48
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 21
Skills:{Blessing of solidity
Effect: Every time a part of the user's body is damaged, it will be regenerated with the help of the rest of the body.}
It didn't take long before the creature's instincts kicked in and it noticed Hans before charging toward him.
{Fireball}
Even though he didn't have to cast the magic spell to conjure it, Hans still needed to think about it if he wanted to activate the spell.
The fireball pierced right through the monster, but unlike other monsters, it persisted.
Soon enough, the hole in the wraith's body just a moment ago was replaced with the smoke from the rest of the body while the monster didn't even react, it was as if the creature was immune to pain.
'Again!' {Fireball!} {Fireball!}
The two consecutive spells once again pierced right through it, making holes into the creature's body.
However, this time, as it recovered from its wounds, Hans noticed that it looked much smaller and thinner than before.
Realizing what was actually happening, Hans threw a couple of fireballs once again before the monster disintegrated with all its ashes falling to the ground.
Every time the wraith had to heal a wound, its body wouldn't actually regenerate, rather it would replaced by one part of the body to the wounded spot, which meant that if a large amount of damage was dealt to the creature, its body would shrink until it was destroyed.
For the next few wraiths he encountered, Hans managed to hunt them down much quicker and without any issues.
After more than an hour, a slightly larger wraith with something that seemed like a decayed crown donning its head appeared.
{Boss Monster
Race: Wraith King
Name: None
Lvl: 42
Strength: 52
Dexterity: 60
Endurance: 23
Wisdom: 40
Skills:
{Blessing of Solidity
Effect: Every time a part of the user's body is damaged, it will be regenerated with the help of the rest of the body.}
Other than the wraith king, about a dozen figures appeared beside him for aid, consisting of normal wraiths.
Hans, who had been patiently waiting for this kind of challenge, was delighted and unleashed {Blizzard} in his battle for the first time.
This time, however, he had to cast and chant this new spell, {Blizzard}!
A ball of cold mana formed above Hans' head before rushing forward and dispersing into an extremely aggressive wind that froze all the monsters.
Though the power of his spell wasn't at the level used by the Moon Python, Hans was getting closer to it.
Besides, low-endurance enemies like wraiths were a perfect target for practice.
[You have defeated the boss monster]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Current Level: 39]
Unfortunately, this gate didn't give any drops from the monsters. This was more because the monsters disappeared the moment they fell, forcing him to walk out empty-handed.
[You have cleared the E-Rank gate: Wraith's Lament]
[You have been rewarded with the E-Rank Skill {Ghostification}]
{Skill Name: Ghostification (Rank E)
Effect: If someone tries to slash or pierce the user's body, the user will be able to let the blade pass through them without suffering any damage. The larger the wound the attack would've inflicted, the greater will be the stamina used.
It cannot block attacks from enemies at the same level or higher.
If your energy reserves are too low, the skill won't activate.}
Meanwhile, the rest of the day was spent learning to drive and studying his newly acquired spells.
After training in a freezer room that wasn't used anymore by a butcher, Hans was able to attain an intermediate proficiency with {Blizzard}.
Additionally, he also managed to successfully create the 1-st Tier spell {Ice Spear}
{Ice Spear (1st Tier)
Description: A low-level basic spell of the ice path for mages.
Effect: Utilizes mana to conjure an ice spear; mastery over the spell will enhance the spear's sharpness and size.}
Over three days, Hans diligently repeated the same routine till he knew that he had perfected everything he needed for the driver's license exam and both his ice skills had reached the proficiency level of an expert.
This triggered the disappearance of both the tomes and the popping up of a familiar window.
[Congratulations on comprehending the Tier 3 {Blizzard} tome. Due to the effect of the skill {Knowledge Hunger}, you have been rewarded with 30 wisdom points.]
[Congratulations on comprehending the Tier 1 {Ice Spear} tome. Due to the effect of the skill {Knowledge Hunger}, you have been rewarded with 15 wisdom points.]
[Your wisdom has surpassed the 500 threshold, current wisdom: 504]
[You are now eligible to advance to the third circle.]
"So, the time has come huh," Hans murmured. "Finally, my third circle…"
"After that maybe I could dispel the curse, then they'll wake up, and then-"
The high-speed train of ideas that rushed through his mind suddenly stopped and calmed his excitement.
He didn't want to raise his expectations for nothing, after all, even if he were to advance, there was nothing that could assure him that he would be able to identify the curse, much less dispel it.
"First of all, I must honor my promise to that old blacksmith," he resolved.
"I forgot to visit him yesterday despite having agreed to it a week ago. He must've thought I had already absconded away with his sword."
Last time, advancing to the second circle took him almost three days and he didn't know how long it would take this time. It wasn't his character to go back on what he promised, so even if it was already late, he picked up the sword and headed to the smithy, unwilling to break his work.
It was silent and dark, but that changed the moment Hans entered the old man's workshop.
Upon entering the shop, he was greeted by a loud, rhythmic clanking of metal that resonated throughout the room while a peaceful warmth covered him and a shadow of a man hammering the steel was vaguely discernible on the wall.
Hans silently walked further in and arrived at the forge, where the old man was working hard to create yet another blade.
Thinking that it was impolite to disturb him, Hans simply waited there in silence.
He waited, waited, waited, and waited while the old man heated the steel, when he annealed it, he tempered it and finally sharpened it.
When the bearded man was finally done, sweat covered his body and a smile shined bright on his face.
Seeing him like this, Hans wondered what the weapon was and out of curiosity, inspected it.
{Piercing gaze}
{Name: None
Grade: Top Rare
Master: None
Creator: ???
Requirements: To be able to manipulate aura, the aura of the user has to satisfy the weapon standards.
Effect: ??
Special skill: ??}
"Wh-what the hell is that!???" Hans exclaimed in disbelief.
"Whatchu mean? This is my- Aaaaaah!!! Why the hell are ya here?!!!!" startled, the old man held his chest, afraid of his heart failing due to shock.
"What do you mean why am I here? I obviously came here for this," Hans replied, holding up the borrowed sword.
"Oh, so ya didn't run away!" the old man chuckled to tease him.
"Like hell I would!!" Hans retorted before he extended his arm to give the sword back while the old man accepted it.
"By the way, what would a mage like ya need a sword fo'?" the old man asked with genuine confusion.
Hans quickly retracted his arm, caught off guard by the inquiry, "How do you know tha-"
Though he began, thinking that the man in front of him was a dangerous individual, Hans instinctively used {Piercing Gaze}
But the answer he received left him stunned with his mouth wide open.
This was because it was the very first time that he had received such a result.
[Unable to identify.]
[The level difference is too high.]
His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
'Too high?? Even a presumed A-class could be analyzed by my skill, but this old blacksmith is labeled-TOO HIGH!'
At that moment, Hans realized something: the man standing before him was one of the greatest awakened, an S-Rank.
And there was only one blacksmith that currently resided in America that met the criteria.
The legendary: Hephaestus
