The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Our Town’s Strongest (121)
“That’s right, I came with Aleingde Mir.”
“First, I must offer my gratitude. Thanks to you slaying the Tower Master, we were able to break free from the Curse of Restraint. Thank you.”
Jang Gain received their bow, his expression growing uncomfortable for a moment before he spoke through Luksikana’s mouth.
“I didn’t ask for your gratitude, yet you offer it so readily. I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I am Kain, Duke of the Smed Kingdom.”
The eyes of both mages widened in an instant.
“What? Ah! You’re the Duke Kain who established authority in the Smed Kingdom to protect the other races and minorities of the Crerarion Mountain Range, faced a dragon, survived, and was given a dukedom. It is truly you, my lord.”
“You know quite a bit about me. How is it that those in a remote Magic Tower such as this know so much?”
“Mages from our Magic Tower have dispersed throughout various kingdoms, and they send us news from time to time. Recently, you have become the most talked-about topic among them, Your Grace.”
“So I’ve become famous without meaning to. But earlier you said you would pledge your loyalty if I spared your lives, yes?”
“Yes, if you spare us, we will pledge our loyalty.”
“Can you make that pledge by your mana? If you swear by your mana, I will do more than simply spare you—I will make you both Sub-Towers of this Magic Tower.”
The two mages heard these words from Jang Gain through Luksikana’s mouth, exchanged glances briefly, then nodded in agreement.
“We can pledge by our mana. Then will you become the Tower Master, Your Grace?”
“No, I will not serve as Tower Master. Instead, I will appoint my representative as the Tower Master.”
Through Luksikana’s vision, Jang Gain gazed upon the mages gathered in the plaza below, wandering about in confusion.
“To pledge by your mana, you must see my face directly. Go down and briefly explain the current situation to the mages below, then come to the Underground Chamber.”
“Understood.”
Whoosh.
As Luksikana vanished through Space-Moving Magic, both of them let out sighs of relief nearly in unison.
‘Phew! We’re alive!’
* * *
After Luksikana appeared in the Underground Chamber via Space-Moving Magic, she fell motionless. Then, shortly after, Jang Gain, who had been sitting in a cross-legged position, opened his eyes.
“You wield magic quite skillfully for someone who isn’t a mage.”
Noxscasarsis spoke with a hint of surprise, and Jang Gain simply shrugged and rose to his feet.
“When I entered Luksikana’s body, I found her soul sealed. So I only had to issue commands—I didn’t do much.”
“That wasn’t a soul; it was a soul fragment.”
“A soul fragment? It seemed like a soul to me.”
“It’s a soul fragment without self-awareness or free will. If it were truly a soul, it would have asked you to break the chains binding it, but it never made such a request, did it?”
“No.”
“That’s because it’s a soul fragment. A soul fragment recognizes someone as its master and obeys whatever that master commands.”
“Ah, so that’s what a soul fragment is. That explains why it called me master from the very beginning.”
“It’s somewhat different from a chimera. Anyway, you observed how magic manifests in a mage’s body in great detail, so surely you can now unfold most spells?”
What he had observed from outside could never compare to experiencing the flow and transformation of mana firsthand while synchronized with the body itself.
Jang Gain pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
“If I had mana, perhaps. But without mana, I cannot unfold magic.”
“You can substitute your aura for mana.”
“How do you substitute aura for mana?”
“Ah, is it difficult with a human body? I see, it is difficult with a human body. Watching you makes me forget you’re human sometimes. I apologize for saying something foolish.”
“So dragons can substitute aura for mana?”
“Yes, dragons can substitute mana for aura or aura for mana whenever necessary. That’s why we can enjoy ourselves as knights or warriors.”
“How is such a thing possible?”
“When a dragon transcends from hatchling form to adult form, it receives all manner of spiritual energy in the world and creates an additional heart. That second heart allows for such things.”
“So for humans with only one heart, such a thing is impossible.”
“That’s right. Oh? Those two mages you spared are lingering in front of the broken barrier. What should we do?”
“Ah, those two are the mages who pledged loyalty to me earlier. Let them through.”
“They’re Six-Ring Mages.”
Noxscasarsis snapped a finger, and the barrier that had been repairing itself was instantly dispelled. Shortly after, Cremura Rile and Hooliba Rile entered.
The two swept their gaze across everyone in the Underground Chamber, then found themselves staring blankly at Luksikana, who stood motionless.
They asked carefully.
“Might you be Duke Kain Jang?”
“I am Duke Kain. This is the Green Dragon Noxscasarsis. And this is the Duke’s personal mage, Aleingde Mir.”
“Magnificent! We are blessed to behold you. I am Cremura.”
“Magnificent! We are blessed to behold you. I am Hooliba.”
“Your eyes shine with spirit—worthy of being spared by Kain. I am Noxscasarsis of the Green Clan. Henceforth, you will address me as Noxscasarsis.”
“Yes.”
“You two, you know Aleingde Mir, I presume?”
“Ah, yes. It has been a long time. Aleingde.”
“We last met twenty years ago—quite some time indeed. I had thought you both had left the Magic Tower, yet somehow you remained until now.”
“After you departed, the previous Tower Master placed a Curse of Restraint upon our hearts. We wished to leave but could not.”
“I left the Tower partly because the Tower Master seemed off to me, and I was fortunate enough to escape before he could extend his reach to me.”
“Had I remained, I would have been caught by the Curse of Restraint just like you two and reduced to a puppet.”
As the three of them began to speak at greater length, Jang Gain interjected.
“Since these two have come to swear their loyalty to me, let’s have them make their oaths first, and then we can catch up properly.”
“Ah, yes. Then I shall now swear my loyalty to you, Lord Jang Gain. I, Cremura Rile, Water Mage, do solemnly swear upon my Mana to serve you faithfully.”
“I, Hooliba Rile, Fire Mage, also swear upon my Mana to serve you faithfully.”
“I, Jang Gain, accept your oaths. I hereby appoint you both as Deputy Tower Masters of this Magic Tower.”
“Thank you, my lord. Though, if I may ask…”
“Go on.”
“While you have slain Tower Master Grasilah, does that not make you the Tower Master in name only? Even if we are appointed as Deputy Tower Masters, we have not gained the consent of the other mages in the tower… Should we not at least gather the mages and make a formal announcement?”
“I intend to appoint you two as Deputy Tower Masters first, and once the Tower Master awakens, I will gather all the mages and make the announcement then.”
“The Tower Master? Now that you mention it, who will be the Tower Master?”
“The person sleeping over there will become the Tower Master.”
Jang Gain pointed, and there lay Laila Frang.
* * *
“Look! Laila created one Mana Ring in her heart yesterday, and it seems she’s attempting to create another one today.”
Upon hearing Jang Gain’s observation, Aleingde Mir approached with a startled expression.
“What? She’s creating another Mana Ring? She only became a Five-Ring Mage yesterday, and now she’s challenging the Six-Ring Mage level today? That’s far too rushed and dangerous.”
As Aleingde Mir paced anxiously, Noxscasarsis beside him clicked his tongue.
“Dangerous? Nonsense. That’s precisely the right choice.”
“Pardon? The right choice? Isn’t it dangerous?”
Aleingde Mir, hearing words from a dragon who was the progenitor of magic itself, could not protest and merely tilted his head in confusion.
“Tsk, it’s hard for humans to understand at your level, so let me explain it simply. Mandrago first absorbed Laila’s Mana. Then later, it absorbed the Tower Master’s Mana. As those two distinct Manas were refined in Mandrago’s roots and mixed together, had Mandrago not absorbed them, the two Manas would have collided due to their different natures and mostly dissipated. But because they were within Mandrago’s roots, the two Manas mixed together in perfect harmony.”
“Ah! So Laila is now absorbing that harmoniously blended Mana.”
“Exactly. Laila is currently absorbing Mana far superior in quality and refinement to what she originally possessed. I believe you called such things fortuitous opportunities?”
“An opportunity of no ordinary kind at that—she’s absorbing the very essence of the Mana once stolen from her, refined and harmoniously blended with the essence of decades of cultivation by the Tower Master himself.”
“Ah! Then it’s not dangerous for her to create the sixth Mana Ring as she is now.”
“The quality of her Mana is so excellent that she might even create a seventh Mana Ring.”
Aleingde Mir’s eyes widened in shock.
“What? She could create even a seventh Mana Ring? No matter how high the quality of the Mana, wouldn’t that be excessive?”
“Why would it be excessive? If one can do it, one does it.”
“Mana Rings cannot be created simply by gathering high-quality Mana in abundance. One must attain the corresponding insight and understanding. That is why I said creating the sixth ring was already dangerous.”
At that moment, Noxscasarsis beside him clicked his tongue at Aleingde Mir.
“Tsk tsk, now I understand why you never broke through the wall of the Six-Ring Mage level.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“Laila has stood at the crossroads of life and death for several days now, serving as nourishment for Mandrago. A person’s spiritual power awakens even from half a day at that threshold—yet she has stood there for several days. Think of how much greater spiritual power and insight she must have gained in that time.”
“…….”
In the face of Noxscasarsis’s rebuke, Aleingde Mir fell silent.
“Because Laila is your disciple, you cannot accept that her level will surpass yours. But Laila has already experienced something you cannot even imagine, and the insight gained from that experience will be far more profound than anything you could conceive. So stop your petty jealousy.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“If you’re not jealous, then keep your mouth shut and watch how much your disciple grows.”
When Noxscasarsis finished speaking, Aleingde Mir held his silence thereafter and simply watched over his disciple.
* * *
“Even watching it happen, I can scarcely believe it.”
At Noxscasarsis’s words, Jang Gain and Aleingde Mir nodded in agreement.
What they were witnessing was Laila Frang, Mandrago’s roots, and the corpse of Tower Master Grasilah.
Seven Mana Rings spun violently within Laila Frang’s chest, generating an immense Mana Force Field. And Tower Master Grasilah’s corpse had withered into a mummy—shriveled and desiccated, it resembled nothing so much as a rotting, dead tree.
Crunch.
When Noxscasarsis touched Mandrago’s roots with a finger, they crumbled like brittle biscuit.
“She absorbed not only Tower Master Grasilah’s Mana, but all of Mandrago’s Mana and medicinal properties as well.”
“Incredible! A Four-Ring Mage has grown into a Seven-Star Grade Mage in mere days.”
“Such a thing has never occurred in the history of the magical world.”
Hummmmm……
At that moment, an otherworldly sound emanated from Laila Frang’s body, and the Mandrago roots embedded in her flesh fell away and crumbled into dust.
And Laila Frang’s body began to rise slowly, defying gravity.
“Her body has completely made the absorbed Mana her own.”
“Moreover, since that Mana is utterly distinct in quality from any other mage’s—pure and untainted—it will be rare indeed for her to encounter a Seven-Star Grade Mage stronger than Laila Frang.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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