Dam Ho-pung was an elder of the Flying Dragon Clan, but he was famous for having no regard for formalities and for building friendships with all sorts of people.
Among them were major factions like the Red Magic Tower and the Golden Altar of Alchemy.
It was through these connections that he accidentally heard a piece of news.
-A Transcendental Realm master who has broken through the wall has visited the Red Magic Tower to meet with Miss Serena!
When the news, which was being whispered around the Red Magic Tower, reached Dam Ho-pung, he immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed straight to the Red Magic Tower.
A Transcendental Realm master.
Aren’t those beings who are almost non-existent even in this vast metropolis of Elleun?
Even among the major factions, their numbers are extremely few, and each one is typically secluded deep within their own sect.
That’s why they are rarely seen.
Dam Ho-pung, who had long been blocked by a wall, wanted to see with his own eyes a Transcendental Realm master who had leaped over that wall and learn a thing or two.
Of course, it’s impossible for Transcendental Realm masters to easily give out such teachings, but this guest visiting the Red Magic Tower was different.
‘They say he’s a practitioner from Jiryong Mountain! And what’s more, he’s from the Bear Tribe Beastfolk. They are the type who, if they take a liking to you, bestow kindness and enlightenment regardless of your realm.’
They tend to ignore ordinary humans who lack talent, but conversely, they never hesitate to offer various kinds of help to talented humans.
Dam Ho-pung was aiming to approach him with that in mind.
If he could get advice from a Transcendental Realm master, he might be able to shatter the wall that had long blocked his path!
“Ah… I see.”
Only then did Lee Tae-sung guess who the Transcendental Realm master guest was.
‘So Volkran came straight here as soon as he came down from the mountain.’
It was clear he had moved immediately after receiving Serena’s letter.
“Sigh… Young man. You don’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the current situation. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Seeing that Lee Tae-sung didn’t seem particularly impressed, Dam Ho-pung let out a deep sigh and put on a serious expression.
“Let me give you some important advice. Take this. And start sweeping quickly.”
“Huh?”
Dam Ho-pung quickly shoved another broom that was leaning nearby into Lee Tae-sung’s hand.
“He’s a practitioner who has broken through the Transcendental Realm wall, I tell you. A master of a level rarely seen even in Elleun, and on top of that, he’s known to be generous with advice to those he takes a liking to. If you miss this chance, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Uh…”
“So stop spacing out and grab this and sweep the courtyard too! We don’t know when or where he might see us and come over!”
Dam Ho-pung was earnestly carrying out his ‘What?! A Peak Realm master sweeping the courtyard!?’
Operation.
To Lee Tae-sung, it seemed like a plan that would never work…
“Huh!? He’s coming! Quickly, get into position!”
Just then, Dam Ho-pung spotted Volkran and hurriedly struck a pose.
And just as Dam Ho-pung had hoped, upon noticing them, Volkran broke into a wide smile, didn’t he?
Then he strode over.
Dam Ho-pung’s sweeping hand sped up even more…
“You! You’ve already come down from the mountain!”
Volkran walked right past Dam Ho-pung without even looking at him and went straight to Lee Tae-sung.
Then he wrapped his furry chest around Lee Tae-sung in a bear hug.
“Ugh-bup-!”
“Uheheh. It’s truly good to see my benefactor again here!”
“Ubp ubp!!”
“Ah, can’t breathe? My apologies. I was just too happy.”
Volkran let Lee Tae-sung go with an apologetic face, while Dam Ho-pung, standing to the side, gaped.
‘No way… How on earth?’
He kept looking back and forth between Lee Tae-sung and Volkran with eyes full of incomprehension.
*
Right after meeting Volkran, Lee Tae-sung went with him to meet Serena.
-Ding!
[Quest Completed]
[You have obtained 13 gold coins, 8 Skill Points, a large amount of experience, and a Red Magic Tower magic tome (choice) as rewards]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Two level-ups and eight Skill Points.
In total, he had gained ten Skill Points.
For a quest that wasn’t particularly difficult, it was an incredible reward.
“Thank you. Thanks to you delivering the letter quickly, we were able to welcome the elder sooner.”
Serena expressed her gratitude to Lee Tae-sung.
Just contacting him at the peak of Jiryong Mountain was not easy, so finding a reliable courier had been difficult, but Lee Tae-sung had perfectly carried out the request.
It wasn’t for nothing that he was the Flying Dragon Clan’s ace and had risen to Special-class Disciple at an absurd speed.
And what was even more surprising.
‘What in the world did he do to make Elder Volkran show such an attitude?’
Volkran kept looking at Lee Tae-sung with a pleased expression.
Serena had to suppress her considerable inner surprise.
Who was Volkran?
A practitioner who had left worldly connections behind to train near the summit of Jiryong Mountain.
Even before he began his training, he was a master who had entered the late stages of the Peak Realm, so even major factions treated him as a distinguished guest.
And now, after completing his training, he had entered the Transcendental Realm.
Considering that even in major factions like the Red Magic Tower, only a handful of individuals, including the Tower Lord, have broken through the Transcendental wall, this meant he had become a powerhouse whose name would be known across the entire continent.
Yet such a Volkran was treating him as a ‘benefactor’.
‘He generally looks favorably upon mages, but he ruthlessly ignores martial artists he deems lacking in talent…’
It was an unavoidable fact, as the talent for martial arts among the Bear Tribe far surpassed that of humans.
So, even though she had known Volkran for a long time, this was the first time she had seen him treat a human martial artist so gently.
Serena quickly composed her surprised feelings and continued speaking.
“As this request was important to me as well, I was thinking of giving you one of the Tower’s magic tomes as a reward. Of course, not every tome is available, but it won’t be something that would make people say we treated you poorly either.”
At those words, Lee Tae-sung fell into thought.
‘A magic tome…’
The fact that Serena said that meant she could give him one of the lower-grade secret books among the Red Magic Tower’s collection.
The problem lay elsewhere.
‘Do I even need a magic tome?’
In the past, he would have accepted it without a second thought, but now Lee Tae-sung’s identity had completely solidified as a martial artist.
Although he was a Hybrider, a combination of martial arts and magic, he leaned heavily towards the martial arts side.
He was even on the verge of facing the Peak Realm wall.
In this situation, no matter how good the magic was, it wouldn’t be much help in raising his current realm.
It would be much better to go searching for the martial arts left behind by the Flame Emperor.
However, there was one thing he coveted.
“I once received a Hidden Detect magic tome as a quest reward before. Could I receive a higher-tier magic tome from the same series?”
Magic is more useful when its scope is broadened to various fields, not just combat.
Among them, the one he had used particularly well was Hidden Detect.
A magic that detects weak stealth and helps find minor traces.
Thanks to it, he had avoided many traps and discovered numerous fortuitous encounters, medicinal herbs, and such.
Since it was a magic he used well, he wanted to obtain an upgraded version.
“There is one.”
Serena nodded.
“True Sight. It’s definitely a higher-tier magic than Hidden Detect. It’s one of the secret arts created by our Red Magic Tower and is among the magics that Magic Towers keep under important guard. Will this be acceptable?”
“It couldn’t be better.”
Lee Tae-sung smiled brightly.
After that, Serena had someone sent to fetch the magic tome from the Tower’s library.
“Here it is, Teacher.”
Not long after, her disciple, Jang Xuan, brought the magic tome.
He was surprised to see Serena and Lee Tae-sung together, but quickly grasped the situation and winked as if to say ‘well done’.
Lee Tae-sung also returned a look of gratitude.
The magic tome he received was like this.
[True Sight]
– 4th-Circle Magic Tome
– Has the effect of finding hidden objects or enemies in stealth.
Can also collect traces nearby to track vanished enemies.
– Sees and discerns more things with an even more enhanced vision.
The description was almost similar to Hidden Detect’s, but it was an overall enhanced version.
It was exactly what Lee Tae-sung wanted.
-Ding!
[Would you like to learn True Sight?]
[Requires 8 Skill Points]
The Skill Points required for a 4th-Circle magic tome was eight.
Since the Flame Emperor’s martial arts were such extraordinary divine techniques, they had required thirty-two points each. Compared to that, this was a negligible amount of points to pay.
-Ding!
[You have acquired a new skill]
[Skill: True Sight]
Lee Tae-sung, who had immediately learned the skill itself and was smiling contentedly.
Seeing that Lee Tae-sung seemed satisfied, Serena averted her gaze from him, looked at Volkran, and opened her mouth.
“Elder. The reason I urgently summoned you… As I wrote in the letter, it’s because remnants of the Nameless Blood Cult have been discovered. I already sent a first investigation team, but they were annihilated, and…”
“I’ll step out.”
Since Serena seemed to want to talk to Volkran privately, Lee Tae-sung tried to excuse himself.
He had no further business anyway.
“No. You stay too.”
However, Volkran held him back, as if telling him to stay a little longer.
“You’re going to ask me to go up north anyway, right?”
“Yes. However…”
“There will likely be many situations where external help is needed. It would be good to have a reliable friend to assist. A friend whose character and skills are useful.”
Serena immediately grasped what Volkran was trying to say.
She asked Lee Tae-sung.
“Would you be interested in accepting an additional request from the Red Magic Tower?”
“Of course!”
Lee Tae-sung answered as if there was no need to even think about it.
The advantage of major factions isn’t just Skill Points or level-ups; it’s that you can obtain other rewards like magic tomes that are hard to come by.
It was always beneficial to accept such requests.
“That’s good. Then please sit back down. I’ll explain. First, have you ever heard of the Nameless Blood Cult?”
“This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
“Well, that’s possible. You’re an Outsider, and it’s a faction that perished hundreds of years ago.”
But among the NPCs, there were still many who remembered that place.
Because until their downfall, they had nearly dominated the world.
“It started in the far north. As soon as they emerged into the world, they began sweeping south like a tidal wave. At the time, the Nameless Blood Cult, with its leader who was The World’s Best, and his followers, wiped out numerous factions, and blood flowed like a river.”
“I see.”
“And then, one master… appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the Nameless Blood Cult. It’s said that the entire East Continent almost became a sea of blood, but they barely survived.”
“Who was that master?”
“You probably haven’t heard this name before either, but do you know the Flame Emperor?”
“……?”
I know him very well, but…