Return of the Calamity-Class Death Knight

Chapter 159

Chapter 159: A New Foundation (1)

***

The day after the duel, Damien had a private audience with the Mercenary King in his quarters.

After sitting down inside the quarters, the Mercenary King didn’t say anything for several minutes. He just stared at Damien with a sullen expression.

“……You.”

Then, the Mercenary King suddenly opened his mouth.

“Earlier…… What was it…… It was really…… I mean…… Great…… Anyway…….”

The Mercenary King stammered and couldn’t finish his sentence.

“G, great…… No! What was so great about it! It was nothing! That’s right! It was nothing!”

The Mercenary King roared. Damien looked at him strangely.

“I understand, so please give me the promised reward.”

At Damien’s request, the Mercenary King snorted.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to take it back. I’m a man who keeps his promises.”

The Mercenary King opened a subspace and took out a small glass bottle.

As soon as the glass bottle came out, the temperature inside the quarters dropped instantly.

When he put the glass bottle down, even the table started to frost over.

“This is three drops of Mithra Holy Water. This should be enough.”

At those words, Damien’s ears seemed to perk up.

Mithra Holy Water was a potion that was created one drop every hundred years in a deep cave in the extreme polar region.

It was a great item that ranked at the top of all potions with yin properties.

‘It’s more than enough.’

Mithra Holy Water had an extremely yin property, so it was a dangerous item that could freeze all of one’s internal organs and kill them if ingested carelessly.

‘He seems to want to make me suffer.’

A figure like the Mercenary King would probably have several other potions that were similar in level to Mithra Holy Water but were safer.

The fact that he gave him Mithra Holy Water anyway showed that he wanted to torment Damien.

“I will use it well.”

Damien put the Mithra Holy Water into his subspace.

Even though it would be difficult to consume it right away, he would be able to think of a way if he pondered it calmly.

“I’ll let you choose the mana cultivation technique yourself. Just wait a moment.”

The Mercenary King took out a large brass key from his bosom and turned it in the air.

Then, a small door appeared in the air. Damien couldn’t help but be surprised at the sight.

“Is that perhaps a relic?”

Originally, subspaces could only be used to store objects, not for people to enter.

This was because the subspace technology that modern mages could handle was limited to that extent.

However, there were some relics that could create a subspace that could be entered.

Needless to say, they were extremely rare items. It was impossible to obtain them even if you tried.

“You have good eyes. Then let’s go in.”

Damien entered the subspace with the Mercenary King.

Inside, there were rows of bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling, and they were filled with books.

A quick glance at the books showed that there were a variety of genres, including novels, encyclopedias, and history books.

“This is an amazing place.”

Damien exclaimed in genuine admiration. He had thought that his father’s study in Spring Castle was spacious, but compared to this place, it seemed small.

“Reading is my hobby. When I have nothing to do, I sit here and read books. It’s the joy of my life.”

It was an unusual hobby for a man known for his love of women.

“From here on, it’s all mana cultivation techniques. I’ll let you read the title and the first page. Choose the one you want and take it.”

Damien took out the mana cultivation techniques on the shelves and looked at them one by one.

There were some made of paper, but also some made of leather, parchment, and even stone tablets.

‘This is amazing. It’s really amazing.’

Even after reading just one page, he could get a rough idea.

What purpose was this mana cultivation technique created for? What principles does it contain?

They were all of high level. They were all written after years of experience and research.

‘It’s really worthy of the Mercenary King’s study. I wish I could take them all.’

Suddenly, a strange object caught Damien’s eye.

It was not a book or parchment. It was a fist-sized crystal.

Inside the crystal, three rings were stacked one above the other.

“This is…….”

Damien stared at the crystal. Surprisingly, even with Damien’s eyes, he could not figure out the secret contained in the crystal.

“You seem to be curious about that.”

The Mercenary King, who had approached at some point, said to Damien.

“What is this?”

“It was the previous, no, the previous previous generation’s Imperial Supreme Sword who made it before he died. He said that if you can unlock the secret hidden in this crystal, you will gain knowledge that surpasses his own.”

The Empire was the largest power ruling the continent.

The most powerful force supporting it was the knights. The Empire produced tens of thousands of knights every year.

That meant that there were also many masters produced by the Empire. Even the Church and the Fafnir Mercenary Group had to bow down to the Empire.

That’s why the title of Imperial Supreme Sword was considered to be on par with the title of World’s Best Swordsman.

“You have an amazing item.”

“Actually, it’s not that great. No one has been able to unlock its secret for hundreds of years. So I bought it cheaply when it was floating around the black market.”

If even Damien couldn’t figure it out, what about others?

It seemed that everyone had considered it to be the Imperial Supreme Sword’s prank and had ignored it, which was why it had ended up here.

“It seems you’re interested in that crystal…… I recommend you choose something else.”

The Mercenary King was right. It would be wise to choose another mana cultivation technique.

After all, even if he did unlock the secret, it might be a mana cultivation technique that was useless to Damien.

But Damien couldn’t take his eyes off the crystal, or to be more precise, the rings inside the crystal.

“I’ll take this.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

The Mercenary King asked in surprise. Damien nodded.

“Yes, I’m drawn to it.”

The Mercenary King thought for a moment and then said.

“Well, there’s no point in me telling you what to do. Do as you please.”

Damien thanked him and took the crystal.

***

“Then I’ll be going now.”

After leaving the library, Damien was about to return to his quarters.

“Wait a minute. I still have something to talk to you about.”

The Mercenary King stopped Damien. Damien looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“About the Mithra Holy Water, I gave you… you have a way to absorb it?”

“Not yet.”

At Damien’s answer, the Mercenary King glanced at him and said.

“Is that so? That’s perfect. I have a way to neutralize the yin properties of Mithra Holy Water… If you do one thing for me, I’ll tell you how to do it.”

At those words, Damien made a tired expression.

“Are you going to keep doing this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re going to make another strange bet because you’re sorry for the Mithra Holy Water and the mana cultivation technique you gave me. You’re going to try to take them back.”

“What, what? Who do you think I am! I don’t have the slightest intention of doing that!”

The Mercenary King shouted, his face red.

“Then what are your intentions?”

“My, my intentions… I’m just trying to help you as a senior.”

Even as he said that, the Mercenary King couldn’t meet Damien’s eyes.

Damien looked at the Mercenary King with a very suspicious expression.

“I’ll hear it out first and then decide.”

“That’s right! You’re thinking well!”

The Mercenary King said with a smile.

“As you know, potions that concentrate energy on one side can kill you if you take them wrong, right?”

Damien’s eyes turned a little cold. It was clear that he had given him Mithra Holy Water on purpose.

“However, if you take a potion with the opposite energy at the same time, they will neutralize each other and the risk will be greatly reduced. Not only that, but you will also be able to gain more mana.”

Damien nodded in agreement.

“Recently, there was a request from the Kingdom of Grape. They promised to give me a Flower of Fire if I complete the request.”

At the words “Flower of Fire”, Damien couldn’t help but perk up his ears.

The Flower of Fire was a special moss that grew in volcanic areas. It was known for its extreme yang energy, so much so that even ordinary people would get burned if they touched it.

“It’s a legendary potion, though it’s a bit lower in rank than Mithra Holy Water.”

“But I received another request from another place. I don’t have enough manpower to take on both requests. If you help me complete the request from the Kingdom of Grape, I’ll give you the Flower of Fire.”

From Damien’s point of view, it was a risk-free request.

On the contrary, it was a very good opportunity. It was not easy to obtain a precious potion like the Flower of Fire.

“Fine. But first, you need to tell me what the request is.”

“Recently, a plague has been spreading in the Kingdom of Grape. They asked us to kill the undead that have naturally spawned in the plague area.”

Undeads were not always created by dark magic.

They could also occur naturally in places filled with death and corpses.

“It must be quite dangerous if it’s worth a Flower of Fire.”

“It is said that it injured two high-class people and escaped. There were even reports that it had the upper hand throughout the fight.”

A newly created undead had the upper hand against two high-class people?

‘Wait, an undead that naturally occurred in the Kingdom of Grape…?’

Damien recalled a past memory. He happened to know one undead that fit those two conditions.

Fenrir.

It was one of the Beasts of Destruction that had caused great damage to humanity during the War of Destruction.

A huge size that easily surpassed the walls. Leather that even bounced off magic and aura.

Numerous castles collapsed under Fenrir’s attack.

‘It was originally a naturally occurring undead, but the dark mages of Pandemonium captured it and presented it to Dorugo.’

After recognizing Fenrir’s potential, Dorugo personally modified it. Soon, Fenrir was reborn as a monster among monsters.

“Alright. I’ll take the request.”

Fenrir was a being that had to be eliminated for the future.

Damien decided to accept the Mercenary King’s request.

“You made the right choice.”

The Mercenary King said with a satisfied expression at his answer.

***