Chapter 73: A Brother’s Gift and the Path to Arcanos

Thinking back, Jang Xuan had given Lee Tae-sung many things without asking for anything in return.

From minor things, like his influence as a Commissioner of the Party’s Central Committee, to major things, like Elixirs within the Dream World.

Although Lee Tae-sung had saved his life in the game, he had received far more in return.

‘I just received something like this again; I can’t just keep taking without giving back.’

Tae-sung didn’t want it to be that way.

Jang Xuan was a brother who had greeted him so warmly, calling them sworn brothers, and Tae-sung wanted to do whatever he could for him.

Although Tae-sung’s skill to bring items from the Dream World into the real world was a secret, he was even willing to risk a bit of exposure for Jang Xuan.

Of course, he intended to hide it as much as possible.

“Brother, can I go somewhere for a moment?”

“Hmm? Do you have urgent business?”

“Something like that.”

“Go ahead. I only called you to give you this anyway, so my business is already finished.”

Jang Xuan smiled and waved his hand.

Lee Tae-sung immediately left the Red Magic Tower grounds and entered a market alleyway.

Visiting a general store, he bought several empty bottles that looked fairly decent.

Afterward, he went to a secluded spot and transferred all the Elixirs he had received from Jang Xuan.

Since the stabilization process for these Elixirs was already complete, simply moving them from one bottle to another would not cause the contents to spoil.

Next, he summoned Ashaka.

The white fox appeared on his shoulder, and Lee Tae-sung shook a bottle in front of him.

“Ashaka, can you change the color of this object?”

Color is something distinguished by the eyes as they detect wavelengths of light.

A light spirit could control that light, and changing a color was incredibly easy.

Ashaka wagged his tail and tapped each Elixir bottle once, causing the colors to change.

The original blue liquid had now turned golden.

The Elixirs were perfectly transformed.

The effect remained the same, but the appearance was entirely different.

‘It was a sudden thought, but it’s not bad.’

At this level, even Jang Xuan, who had made them himself, wouldn’t be able to tell without a detailed component analysis.

Now, for the long-awaited finale.

Lee Tae-sung used his skill.

*Ding!*

**[You have used a Dream Item Realization Rune.]**

It was a Realization Rune he had purchased some time ago.

Since he could drink one bottle in the game for himself, he left his portion and transferred the remaining four bottles to the real world.

***

Afterward, Lee Tae-sung returned to his tasks.

The Flying Dragon Clan was still poking around the Mortu Nocturn branch, but Lee Tae-sung approached the core area while receiving greetings from the people.

Luck had played a part, but since he had achieved the feat of defeating the Branch Manager, no one stopped him.

He then secretly passed through the gate leading to the Dark Spirit Realm.

As soon as he entered, Gobel met him with a look of displeasure.

“You look like you were hoping I wouldn’t.”

<…….>

The dark spirit, Gobel, did not answer.

He knew that the heir of the Flame Emperor was not as eccentric as the Flame Emperor himself, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid.

This was the existence that had traumatized the entire Dark Spirit Realm.

Just recalling those days made cold sweat pour down and made him feel like he was going to vomit.

How could he treat the Flame Emperor’s heir comfortably?

In fact, Gobel had been severely rebuked by his colleagues while Lee Tae-sung was briefly away.

—You crazy fool!

The heir of the Flame Emperor!

You’re bringing disaster upon us?!

—We have to take him to the high-ranking spirits!

It’s summary execution!

—N-No!

It’s not like that, so please spare me…!

Gobel had begged for his life, saying he had also been captured, and had barely managed to survive.

He was just a victim swept up in the disaster!

Regardless, the spirits guessed that even if Lee Tae-sung returned, he wouldn’t stay for long.

So, they reached a conclusion.

They would cooperate fully until he left!

That way, he might leave sooner!

“Back to the prison first.”

Going to the prison, Lee Tae-sung met with Ashaka’s main body.

“I can take him out with me, right?”

<…You may.>

Not knowing what would happen if he said no, Gobel nodded.

The prison door opened, and Ashaka came out, hopping onto Lee Tae-sung’s shoulder.

Ashaka had been captured as a prisoner long ago during the war between the Light Spirit Realm and the Dark Spirit Realm.

He had been locked in prison for a long time since then.

For some reason, he could be summoned in the real world, but it had been impossible in the Dream World.

Because he was in a state of imprisonment, he couldn’t respond to the summons, but now that he was free, that restriction had completely disappeared.

Afterward, Tae-sung resumed the search he had started last time.

There were several people of different races, including humans, inside the prison, but they had been imprisoned for so long that they had lost their minds.

Since he couldn’t ask them anything, Lee Tae-sung fell into deep thought after leaving the prison.

‘Where should I go to find traces of Master Abeson’s son?’

He thought that if a map had been inserted into the ring, there would surely be a trace somewhere here.

However, he couldn’t search the entire vast spirit realm.

‘Let’s think. If I were Leo, what would I have done here?’

A genius with talent as a spirit magician.

He clearly came to the Dark Spirit Realm for a purpose.

If so, rather than staying quiet and leaving, he likely would have caused some sort of commotion…

Lee Tae-sung asked Gobel.

“Was there anything unusual happening here?”

“Not that.”

“No, not that. Was there anything else besides things related to the Flame Emperor?”

<……OH!>

When Lee Tae-sung shouted, the startled Gobel fell into thought and suddenly remembered something.

“A mad spirit?”

“Good. Let’s go there.”

An unusual spirit.

He didn’t know if that fellow was actually related to Leo, but he intended to go look for anything he could find.

However, Gobel grew restless at those words.

“I’ll avoid it as best I can.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

The truth was that he couldn’t call him, but at Lee Tae-sung’s words, Gobel was able to feel somewhat relieved.

***

The mad spirit was exactly as Gobel had described.

Gobel tried to say something, but the opposing spirit would have none of it.

It simply attacked, creating and firing black thorns without warning.

Gobel blocked and counterattacked appropriately, trying to resolve it through conversation, but it didn’t work.

“Step aside.”

Lee Tae-sung knew how to deal with someone like this.

‘Once I beat him up, everything will work out.’

A mad dog needs a stick!

Lee Tae-sung drew his sword and channeled the energy of the Heavenly Net Flame Hand, and Ashaka jumped into it.

White flames, burning like a lightsaber, manifested at the tip of Lee Tae-sung’s hand.

Unlike the real world, the mana consumption wasn’t even that high.

Since Ashaka was using his own power directly, he didn’t drain Lee Tae-sung’s mana at all.

*Riiip!*

With the sound of tearing air, the white flame sword grazed the mad spirit.

The creature barely managed to dodge and successfully retreated.

However, even though the strike didn’t land, the effect was clear.

<…Flame Emperor?>

Gobel made a surprised expression.

This was a fellow who hadn’t listened to reason and had been attacking his own kind for a long time, yet he had come to his senses after just one strike from Lee Tae-sung.

‘It makes sense.’

If one felt the energy of the Flame Emperor emanating from Lee Tae-sung’s blade, it would be expected.

A trauma strong enough to bring even a madman back to his senses!

Gobel bound the creature and dragged it before Lee Tae-sung.

The fellow trembled as he looked at Lee Tae-sung.

“I am not the Flame Emperor. I am his heir.”

“I won’t kill you, and I won’t torture you. I just want to ask you a question and leave, so I’d like you to answer.”

Lee Tae-sung spoke quickly, fearing the spirit would cause a fuss like the others.

The spirit nodded.

“Good. Then, have you ever met a human here?”

“!! Really?”

He had asked without much expectation, but an unexpected answer came back.

“Essence?”

The spirit’s explanation followed.

A spirit carries an essence like a core inside its body, and one day a human spirit magician came and stole half of it before running away.

After that, the spirit had gone mad.

Then, upon seeing Lee Tae-sung, who carried the energy of the Flame Emperor, the greater shock had snapped him back to his senses.

“Do you know where he went?”

‘So he just stole the dark spirit’s essence and ran away.’

He had thought he would find a trace here.

To think he had already gone somewhere else.

While Lee Tae-sung was lost in thought, Abeson floated over and spoke.

His expression was serious.

“What do you mean, Master Abeson?”

Abeson had read a book called Ancient Spirit Magicians a long time ago.

It told the story of a certain genius spirit magician who tried to aim for a realm beyond that of an Archmage by collecting the essences of various spirits.

Abeson had a bitter expression at the feeling that his son had become corrupted.

“What should we do now?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Since things had turned out this way, there was no choice.

“Where is the location?”

“Arcanos.”

The maritime city of Arcanos, found by heading west from the great city of Elleun.

Another spirit realm entrance that Abeson knew of was located there.

‘But this feels familiar…’

Arcanos…

Arcanos…

He felt like he had heard it somewhere before.

At that moment, a memory flashed through Lee Tae-sung’s mind.

—Then I’ll head out first.

I’ll check Cheonghwa Fortress first, and if there’s nothing special there, I’ll take a look around Arcanos and Paleten as well.

‘Ah! The place where the Flame Emperor’s Hideout might be!’

It was what Baek Woon-ho had said when they parted ways at Chimgeom Mountain.

***

*Pshhh*

Lee Tae-sung logged out and stepped out of the capsule.

Since it was time to sleep, he had ended the connection.

‘Brother hasn’t come out yet.’

The capsule next to him was closed.

In fact, he had come out a little early, anticipating this.

In his arms was the Elixir he had brought back using the Dream Manifestation Rune.

An elegant bottle with golden liquid sloshing inside.

*Pshhh*

A short while later, Jang Xuan also logged out and sat up.

“Brother.”

“Ah, were you waiting for me? I’m sorry. I got caught up in a research task and lost track of time. If I knew it would take this long, I would have come out sooner. You should have just gone to bed.”

“It’s fine. How could I do that as a guest?”

“You are not a guest, you are my brother. You can be at ease and act like this is your own home.”

As Jang Xuan yawned and prepared to leave the capsule room, Lee Tae-sung spoke up.

“Brother, have you happened to hear any news related to me in Korea recently?”

“What kind of news?”

“I’ve been selling Elixirs to large guilds.”

“Ah. I know. My secretary told me.”

A man of Jang Xuan’s stature had several secretaries assisting him.

Among them was someone who periodically collected and reported information from the Republic of Korea related to Lee Tae-sung, so he knew the general information.

“I didn’t know my younger brother had such a talent. I thought you were only outstanding in martial strength, but to be so good at alchemy as well.”

“It just happened to turn out that way. Then I don’t need to explain further. Please take this.”

Lee Tae-sung pulled an Elixir bottle from his coat and handed it over.

“This is…?”

“Please let your father try it. It should be effective.”