The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 78

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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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Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 78
Childhood.
Ilhyang—or rather, Trevallion—was born and raised in the Outpost Village located on the outskirts of a small Duchy.
This small Outpost Village, built along the border with the Hostile Kingdom, perpetually suffered from material shortages, and to compensate, the residents themselves reclaimed the Wastelands beyond the Outpost, scraping together what they needed to survive.
Most people living in the Outpost Village were families of the garrison soldiers.
Because of this, whenever the Hostile Kingdom launched provocations or massive monster waves erupted,
everyone—soldier or not—threw themselves into battle with absolute commitment.
The problem was that with so many civilians participating in combat, each battle resulted in staggering casualties.
Yet this too was unavoidable.
It was an era where everyone accepted living with such dangers as a matter of course.
Losing one or two family members was considered common sense.
A place where death was closer than life.
That was daily existence in the Outpost Village.
So when Trevallion became an orphan around age three, it was hardly remarkable in the Outpost Village.
Trevallion’s parents died during a battle with the Hostile Kingdom.
Left alone, Trevallion was taken in and fed by the villagers in turns.
Besides Trevallion, there were quite a few orphans.
When battles erupted, most of these orphans were the first to die.
Shot down while carrying arrows or stones, struck by stray projectiles.
But Trevallion survived to the end.
Once, a fierce battle raged so intensely that the entire population of the Outpost Village was cut nearly in half.
Even then, Trevallion emerged alive without question.
Not a single wound on him.
Young Trevallion understood how to draw a clear line between life and death.
And he exploited everyone around him, clawing desperately to survive by any means necessary.
After all the battles ended and the Outpost Village was in the midst of recovery, the people could only marvel at the survival instinct of this child who had lived through even the great battle.
The nobleman who served as Outpost Commander and Baron gladly bestowed upon the Kid the nickname “Leech.”
That was the first nickname Trevallion ever received.
And so Trevallion survived through battle.
Each time he survived, he rapidly acquired survival skills and combat techniques.
Trevallion needed no separate master.
Everyone around him was both his teacher and his comrade.
With extraordinary aptitude, I learned swordplay from knights and mercenaries, and by observing the mages, I learned their magic.
By the time I reached my mid-teens,
I left the Outpost Village and ventured into the world.
Much later, my name became legend.
【How many have you consumed to grow? You! Do you feel no shame?】
At the reproachful voice echoing in my mind, I gazed upon the visions of my past and broke into a grin.
“I harbor not the slightest regret about my past life. I lived fiercely and well. I’m truly magnificent.”
【Hah~ Because of you, so many lives have been severed… How many lives could you have saved instead?】
“They were simply unlucky. I’m not a babysitter. If you want to save lives, go ask the Hero, not me. I’m not the vessel for such things.”
As his cold words faded, the vision of the past shimmered before my eyes, then gradually blurred and scattered into fragments.
At the same moment, Ilhyang opened his eyes.
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was the barren, empty expanse at the very top of the Magic Tower.
‘Sixth Circle.’
I had finally reached the Sixth Circle.
Attaining the Sixth Circle in the Lower Realm, where mana was desperately scarce, was no trivial feat.
Had I not met the Nine-tailed Fox and gathered the necessary materials, achieving this now would have been nearly impossible.
I had crafted a special elixir using the Fourth-tier Core Pearl she had given as an advance payment and consumed it, yet I still had three Fifth-tier Demon Beast Core Pearls unused.
“Hmm.”
How much time had actually passed?
I remembered it being the dead of winter, bitterly cold.
Yet now, for some reason, warm air brushed against my cheeks.
It felt as though at least two or three months had slipped away.
It was understandable.
Typically, up to the Fifth Circle was considered demigod status.
Or the final ceiling of humanity, as it was called.
From the Sixth Circle onward, one transcended that threshold and was treated as a god.
Ilhyang himself had first joined the Hero at precisely the Sixth Circle stage and departed on a journey to slay the Demon King.
As I rose from my seat and stretched,
Crumble—
the long robe I wore disintegrated into powder.
Likely, the aura that had poured from my body during the Sixth Circle breakthrough had desiccated the garment entirely, reducing it to dust like this.
‘Moreover,’
my immature body must have undergone rapid growth as I broke through the threshold.
I would need new clothes regardless.
I felt at least several heads taller than before.
“I need to make clothes first.”
Ordinary garments would no longer suffice.
Even the slightest movement would generate tremendous pressure.
If I carefully controlled my strength when facing an opponent, I would squeeze all the surrounding mana and cast magic.
Common clothing could not withstand that.
So an artifact.
In other words, by this world’s standards, I would need to craft it as at least a Dharma Treasure to wear properly fitted clothes.
“For now, I’ll have to make do with something hastily thrown on.”
Ilhyang muttered and retrieved clothes he had prepared in advance at the tower’s base, putting them on.
The wrists protruded from the sleeves, exposed.
The lower garment was the same.
“Sigh….”
My body had already grown to the level of an adult man.
My body had been forcibly manifested at its absolute peak condition.
There was no helping it.
Ilhyang threw on his upper and lower garments somewhat haphazardly.
Then descended the Magic Tower’s staircase.
The first thing I encountered was the Red Fox, her eyes narrowed to slits.
It was Geumok.
[Why are you so late!]
Ilhyang gazed at Geumok as she exhaled sharply through her nose, her voice trembling with fury, and smiled leisurely.
“I was busy.”
Truly busy.
Even after reaching the Sixth Circle.
I had to spend time properly stabilizing it.
During that process, I encountered Shimma.
But contrary to my expectations, she only showed me memories from my early childhood—nothing particularly noteworthy.
‘Before, I saw Lian spouting nonsense.’
This time, there was nothing unusual.
Ilhyang scratched beneath Geumok’s chin as she thrust her head forward insistently, then slowly descended the staircase again.
Had I made it about halfway down?
Gong Jeol-gang came rushing up from below in a fluster.
“Master! Congratulations on your advancement in cultivation!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Gong Jeol-gang looked up at his master with barely contained excitement.
His master, whose eyes now gazed from a height above his own.
The Sixth Circle was equivalent to the realm of the Primordial Spirit or the Divine Incarnation.
“Ah! The Seventh Princess is waiting for you. She said she has urgent matters to discuss with you, Master.”
“Hmm….”
The Seventh Princess didn’t seem likely to propose anything particularly compelling.
In any case, the authority of the Lower Realm and such.
I had no interest in such things.
‘Rather.’
Right now, savoring this sense of omnipotence that came with reaching the Sixth Circle again, and peacefully regulating my internal mana was far more important.
“Tell her to wait longer.”
“Understood.”
Ilhyang walked down the staircase, gently lifting Geumok from his embrace and placing her atop his head.
Certainly, my senses had become far more acute than before.
I could distinctly feel how the mana circle in my heart itself had grown thicker.
It seemed I would now be able to cast Fifth Circle magic without incantations.
‘Though the mana consumption would be considerable.’
In truth, it seemed I wouldn’t be able to use even Fifth Circle magic in the Lower Realm, but the Upper Realm would be different.
The Upper Realm was overflowing with monsters and mana alike.
Ah! Of course, that’s only true in the Demon Immortal Realm.
The Immortal Celestial Realm is oddly strict about mana control.
Even I couldn’t cast magic freely in a place like that.
Just as I finished that thought and rose from the Magic Tower floor.
Something caught my eye.
‘That is….’
A massive window on the Magic Tower’s staircase.
Beyond it, the distant River Bank visible in the far distance.
On the sandbank of that river stood a figure in oddly familiar clothing.
Black sunglasses covering both eyes.
A colossal backpack slung across his shoulders, as tall as a person.
My mouth fell open.
Finally, a low, pained voice escaped my lips.
“Manmulsang!”
In that same instant, my body vanished from the spot like smoke.
A hastily deployed spatial displacement spell.
Gong Jeol-gang’s face went slack with shock.
But I was already standing directly before Manmulsang.
“You….”
Manmulsang, with his rotund frame and black sunglasses, lifted his glasses slightly.
He flashed a bright, cheerful smile at my sudden appearance.
“Oh my! Pleased to make your acquaintance! I’m Manmulsang. Haha, I never expected to meet someone so qualified so quickly.”
“….”
Reading his gaze beyond those black sunglasses, I felt my eyes light up as a thought crystallized.
‘He doesn’t recognize me.’
Why?
At first glance, it made sense—my body had changed, so it was natural he wouldn’t recognize me.
But Manmulsang was an entity that didn’t belong to this world.
An [Administrator]—a mysterious existence.
So if he were truly such a being, he should be able to perceive not just my outward appearance, but my inner soul.
‘Is he deceiving me? Or does he genuinely not know?’
I couldn’t make an accurate judgment yet.
So I decided to play along for now.
“Where did you come from?”
“Ah! If you’re asking about my birthplace, I’m not originally from around here.”
Of course not.
He wasn’t from this world in the first place.
As I stared at him silently, he scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression.
“That’s a secret, hehe.”
A foolish expression and a somewhat vacant laugh.
Yes, this fellow had always been this way from the start.
But the fact that he appeared at this particular moment…?
Could it be because of the commotion that occurred in the Upper Realm last time?
Or perhaps because I broke through the barrier of the sixth circle?
I couldn’t say for certain.
But his appearance carried profound implications.
“What brings you here?”
“Haha, as you can see, I have quite a lot of merchandise to sell. My quota is absolutely enormous!”
He opened his backpack with a grin on his face.
Ilhyang glanced inside once, but there was nothing visible within.
It couldn’t be otherwise.
That too was a Manmulsang item.
To be precise, it was an ultra-capacity inventory.
“We have anything the customer desires. Just name it! Oh, and you’re welcome to purchase on credit as well~”
He spoke with a gentle smile.
Just as he had appeared before the Hero’s party back then.

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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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