Chapter 44

### Spatial Leap (1)

After emerging from the forest, I rejoined Baros, who had been waiting. Even as we rode in the carriage, I practiced making various shapes with the blood in my hands, or dividing it. I wasn't yet fully accustomed to controlling it, so I planned to keep practicing to build up my skills. With nothing else to do during the ride, it was a new source of energy for me.

I had no intention of hiding the existence of blood magic from Ashel or anyone else, because they would find out eventually. I would have to use it openly at some point, so there was no reason to hide it. Ashel, who had seen me use blood magic for the first time, kept glancing at me from across the carriage, probably wondering why I was suddenly manipulating blood.

"Do you have something to say?"

When I spoke, she hesitated and asked carefully, "Lord Ron, were you a vampire?"

I chuckled and asked, "Do I look like a vampire?"

"......No, you look human."

"Right, I am human."

But how can you manipulate blood?

I could feel Ashel's curious gaze, but I had no intention of satisfying her curiosity. There was no need to tell her that I had absorbed blood magic from the Blood Pool.

After practicing blood magic for quite a while, I finally stopped.

'Now, the next destination is......'

Originally, my plan was to delay visiting the Elrod Forest and head straight to the next mystery. But that changed when I discovered the vampire. In the end, I successfully obtained blood magic, and everything turned out well.

The next destination is the 1st Principality. The mystery I need to find there is a defensive ability.

'Spatial Leap.'

As the name suggests, it's a mystery that allows for instantaneous teleportation. In this world, abilities related to space are extremely rare. In typical games, teleportation is something any mage can use, but in the Rasa world, it's not the case. Very few mages can use spatial magic, and there are many restrictions.

'This one will be particularly hard to find......'

I already felt a sense of helplessness building up in my chest.

Finding mysteries has never been easy, but this one is especially challenging. The Gaitan Lake in the 1st Principality is where the Spatial Leap mystery is hidden. Since it involves underwater exploration, there will be a lot of preparation needed.

'Once I get this, there will be only one mystery left, right?'

After obtaining Spatial Leap, the last mystery I need to find is not for my own use. However, it is something I must find, no matter what.

I must prevent 'him' from finding it if I can.

However, since the hidden location is one of the magical places on this continent, I have to find other mysteries first to boost my abilities......

'Could it already be too late?'

I don't know exactly when 'he' discovered the mystery, so it might already be too late. In fact, the probability is high. Considering various factors, he might have found it years ago and is now preparing.

'But since I don't know for sure, I have to try to find it.'

For now, I need to focus on finding the Spatial Leap mystery.

Five years before the game's starting point, a considerable amount of time has passed, and the main story's beginning is less than five years away. It's been about half a year since I started wandering in Calethric. Thinking that the end of my journey is in sight, I turned my gaze to the window.

***

Ashel glanced at the 7th Prince, who was staring out the window. Initially, she thought her only responsibility was to guard him without worrying about anything else. However, after almost half a year of wandering in Calethric, the numerous unexpected aspects of his character had piqued her curiosity.

Sometimes he seemed so ordinary that it was hard to believe he was a prince, and other times he appeared to be a righteous person who couldn't tolerate injustice. At times, he seemed like a cold-blooded, emotionless killer, and at others, he seemed like a transcendent being who cared little about worldly matters.

His abilities were also varied. He had the ability to kill with words, like a verbal command, and an invisible shield. The blood manipulation ability he just demonstrated was something she had never seen before.

Considering his conversation with the vampires, it seemed he had a deep connection with their ancestors from hundreds of years ago, but it was unclear if this was related to his abilities.

'A completely unpredictable person.'

However, one thing she was certain of was that he was not a villain. He didn't ignore people dying in front of him, he saved those who were captured as slaves, and he helped resolve significant issues that affected a tribe's peace.

Even if there were hidden intentions behind his actions, she wanted to believe in him.

"Are you focused on your guard duty?"

"Excuse me?"

"You keep looking at my face."

"......I'm sorry."

Ashel blamed herself for being distracted and refocused on her guard duty.

***

A lot of time had passed as we traveled through several cities from the 3rd Principality. We arrived at Poizelt, one of the major cities in the north of the 1st Principality, near Gaitan Lake. The first thing I did after securing lodging was to visit the adventurer's guild, as I always did.

One of the main tasks of guild staff is to connect clients with suitable adventurers, which is the guild's primary reason for existence. Therefore, to find a suitable person, the guild is usually the fastest place to go, even if the conditions are somewhat demanding.

"Hmm, so......"

The guild staff member repeated, confirming my request. "You're looking for an adventurer who can use both enchantment magic and breath-hold magic, correct?"

I nodded. "And it would be better if they also have some knowledge about Gaitan Lake."

The staff member gave a slightly awkward smile, a smile filled with difficulty. I understood her reaction. I had also wondered if there would be an adventurer who perfectly fit these conditions.

Enchantment magic.

As the name suggests, it's a magic that bestows magical effects on other objects. In this world, magic-infused items are merely auxiliary tools for mages to use magic more easily. The more complex the magical formula, the faster it is erased from the magic stone, or something like that. I had read about it in a book at the Principality's castle, but I couldn't remember the details.

Therefore, mages only engrave the essential parts of the formula and fill in the gaps as needed. Non-mages can't use these items because they don't know the magic. In ancient times, there was a technique to store magical formulas for long periods, but it no longer exists in the modern world.

Thus, in the game, items with active abilities, except for those of the mage class, were quite rare. Despite this, the game maintained a good balance in other ability stats.

In any case, enchantment magic is highly regarded in this world. Since very few mages can use it, it is even more valuable. In this world, there are certain magical properties that one must be born with, and some spells, like spatial magic and enchantment magic, cannot be used if the properties don't match, no matter how skilled the mage is.

'And breath-hold magic is a spell that almost no mages learn.'

What would a mage use breath-hold magic for?

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to learn it, but it would be more practical to learn more useful and powerful spells during that time.

In short, finding a mage who has learned both enchantment and breath-hold magic would be very difficult.

However, since it was necessary to explore the lake, I had to be picky.

"Is there no adventurer who fits the conditions?"

Honestly, I didn't have high hopes. If there was none, I would have to think of another way, perhaps using more power, like going to the city's mayor.

But the staff member gave an unexpected answer.

"Well, there is one top-tier adventurer who fits the conditions, but they are not currently in the city."

"Where are they?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know exactly...... They often visit the city, but if they were staying here, I would have heard about it. Would you like me to send a message if they come?"

I nodded and handed her a silver coin.

"Please send a message to room 305 at the Teria Inn. If you can, tell them that there's a client looking for them and bring them here."

"Ah, yes! Understood!"

She perked up and quickly took the money. I decided to stay in the city a bit longer and wait for the adventurer to arrive.

About a week later, the message I was waiting for arrived at the inn.

"They're in the city now?"

The staff member, who had come to my room, nodded and said apologetically, "Yes, sir. I tried to bring them with me, but they said the client should come to them......"

I chuckled and left the inn room.

Well, if they have business to discuss, they should come.

I immediately followed her to the tavern where the adventurer was.

"That's him."

She pointed to a bearded man sitting alone at a corner table. I approached him.

He was drinking beer alone and looked at me and the staff member behind me, then smiled and asked, "Ah, are you the one looking for me?"

I had imagined him to be a bit more temperamental, but he didn't seem that way.

I looked him over and said, "Can you use enchantment magic and breath-hold magic?"

He scratched his nose and chuckled, "Yes, I can. But may I ask what you plan to use me for?"

"I'm going to explore Gaitan Lake."

"Ah, Gaitan Lake......"

The man smiled and said, "Did you get a treasure map or something? Even so, it's quite a bold plan to explore such a large lake. You have good initiative."

I sat down in front of him.

"Enough small talk. First, tell me more about enchantment and breath-hold magic."