Hearing the voice alone, Syuroi and the Bulgasari spirit, who had guided Lee Tae-sung this far, were terrified and fled at full speed.
The Flame Emperor’s voice seemed to notice something only then.
— Is this the Water Spirit Realm?
What is…
Ah!
That is the bracelet I left behind!
Oh!
Then, by any chance, are you the one inheriting my legacy?
“…By any chance, are you the Flame Emperor?”
— Pwahahahahat!
Even when I left that behind, I had my doubts.
Honestly, I thought no one would find it and it would just be discarded.
This is truly fascinating.
Instead of answering Tae-sung’s question, the Flame Emperor laughed for a long time.
Paradoxically, that served as the answer.
The Flame Emperor he had imagined in his head while tracking the man’s traces so far felt exactly like this.
He felt like an excited child with a hint of madness, yet also like a wicked villain…
— This is why they say life is interesting.
It really is fun.
Thank you, disciple.
Thanks to you, I’ll be able to endure a bit more sanely in this boring place.
“……Disciple?”
— Of course.
You are my disciple.
There is no way the communication bracelet would have reacted if you weren’t the successor who inherited my true lineage.
To think a disciple would appear now, when I never had one even while roaming the West Continent.
Pwahahat.
Then, a beat late, Abeson cut in.
Having heard the Flame Emperor’s voice, he was in shock like the spirits and remained speechless for a moment.
After being defeated by the Flame Emperor in the past, how many times had he chewed over that day while waiting for the moment of revenge?
The Flame Emperor’s appearance, voice, tone, and atmosphere…
Those things were still vivid in Abeson’s mind.
With the voice of such a man echoing in front of him, he couldn’t help but be flustered, even in his state as a Death Spirit.
— A Death Spirit?
Are you a ghost?
How dare a scrap of smoke like you treat this body as an equal.
Do you want to die?
Do you really want to die?
<……That’s right. That cheap way of speaking.>
— Ha!
Do you know me?
Did you see me passing by?
Abeson was flustered.
In his time, he was a mage who ranked within the top ten in the world.
He must have been a formidable opponent even for the Flame Emperor, yet the man failed to recognize him even after hearing his voice.
— Who are you?
You are talking like a lover who is pathetically clinging after a breakup.
It’s disgusting.
<…….>
Abeson ground his teeth.
Words that made one’s skin crawl just by listening to them.
Nevertheless, he was a ruffian who spat out whatever he wanted to say without any filter because of his ridiculous martial prowess.
Abeson had gotten angry at that attitude and the way the man seemed to look down on fire mages, so he had picked a fight and suffered a total defeat.
— But what of it?
Since you keep talking like that, I feel like I might have heard it somewhere before.
Are you one of the kids I beat up?
If so, the number is too high, so I might not be able to recognize you.
<…Forget it. Enough about that. What happened to my son?>
— Your son?
— Oh?
You were Leo’s father?
And you know me?
This truly is fate.
So, who are you?
What’s your name?
“Khup…”
At that moment, Lee Tae-sung staggered, his body twisting as a nosebleed broke out.
Simultaneously, the small hole created by the Heavenly Fire Holy Law Art distorted.
The reason was simple.
The gold bracelet had used the mana from the Heavenly Fire Holy Law Art to create a sort of hole, and maintaining it was consuming a massive amount of mana.
It had drained almost all of Tae-sung’s mana in just a few seconds, and the shock caused the nosebleed.
— Ah, boy.
What’s this?
You’re on the verge of Mana Exhaustion?
Disciple, why are you so weak?
Let’s see…
Eh?
First-rate?
Is this even the level of a human being?
The Flame Emperor seemed to have checked Tae-sung’s level using some method, as he shouted in a shocked voice.
— Are you a primate?
I don’t think you are my disciple?
“Y-your words are a bit harsh.”
— Harsh?
I’m holding back because I want to say even harsher things.
Sigh.
If you’re that weak, people won’t even believe it if you tell them you’re my disciple.
“……”
— I have a lot I want to say, but if we drag this out any longer, you’ll die.
Listen carefully.
First, go to Jiryong Mountain.
You’ll find something helpful there.
I left it behind because I didn’t need it, but it’s a good thing I did.
‘Jiryong Mountain, Jiryong Mountain…!’
Even as his consciousness grew hazy from the excessive mana consumption, Tae-sung repeated it in his mind to ensure he wouldn’t forget the Flame Emperor’s words.
— It looks like you’ve learned the Heavenly Fire Holy Law Art.
With that, you’ve at least shed the beginner label.
What else have you learned among the things I left behind?
“I-I’ve learned the Heavenly Net Flame Hand and the Flying Flower Explosive Shadow.”
— A palm technique and a footwork technique?
Ho.
You’ve learned some pretty useful things for your level.
Is your main specialty a palm technique?
“No. It’s swordsmanship.”
— But you don’t have a sword technique?
The solution is simple.
Go to Hyrex and find the Nine Dragon Bookstore.
It’s a huge place, so it probably hasn’t gone bankrupt yet.
You’ll find something decent there.
Unfortunately, the conversation ended there.
“Khu-hu-urk….”
Unable to endure any longer, Tae-sung collapsed, blood spraying from his eyes and nose.
His vision blurred.
— Then let’s talk again later, disciple.
This was quite fun.
Uhahahat.
With the Flame Emperor’s laughter as the end, his vision was dyed pitch black.
***
Lee Tae-sung woke up again before long.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the Spirit Realm filled with water.
If this were the bottom of the ocean instead of the Spirit Realm, he would have drowned long ago, but fortunately, he was fine enough to breathe.
“Ugh….”
Tae-sung sat up with a groan.
He felt as if his insides were completely wrecked.
Abeson floated up from his pocket at that moment.
“I am not okay. I feel like I’m going to die.”
“I don’t think it’s just regular Mana Exhaustion.”
Tae-sung gave a bitter smile.
He had experienced Mana Exhaustion several times before.
However, this time was completely different.
It wasn’t just exhaustion; it had taken a massive toll on his body.
Just now, he had briefly scanned his internals, and the condition was a mess.
It was damaged to the point where he would have to recuperate for a while.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be permanent damage.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“It wasn’t that long. Abeson… are you okay?”
Tae-sung asked while observing Abeson’s expression.
The fact that Leo was the Flame Emperor’s companion, and the fact that the Flame Emperor didn’t recognize him even though he could only hear his voice.
Both must have been incredibly shocking to Abeson.
After all, he was a man who had spent his final years with a desire for revenge against the Flame Emperor, and had even become a Death Spirit because of that obsession.
“That’s a relief.”
Having said that, Tae-sung looked around.
Seeing him looking for something, Abeson guessed what it was and told him.
Abeson pointed downward.
There, what used to be the gold bracelet lay scattered in fine fragments.
Even then, a significant amount had been swept away by the current, leaving only a small portion behind.
“Oh. That’s a shame. I was planning to try communicating again once my body felt better….”
Tae-sung clicked his tongue.
“What on earth was that? Is the Flame Emperor still alive?”
“A Death Spirit?”
Abeson trailed off as he finished speaking.
“I’ll have to find a way to communicate with him again. If I look around the places he mentioned, wouldn’t there be something else?”
Jiryong Mountain and Hyrex.
The former was a mountain, and the latter was a city.
Without needing to worry about where else to find traces of the Flame Emperor, it seemed he could just head there immediately.
***
Afterward, Lee Tae-sung left the Water Spirit Realm.
He wanted to meet the spirit that had guided him here or the one that had gone mad and bring up the topic of a contract, but they were nowhere to be seen, having fled far away.
Moreover, he looked around a bit, but everyone had disappeared, and not a single spirit was left.
If he hadn’t known, he would have mistaken this for a wasteland rather than the Spirit Realm.
“Yes.”
“I’m not the Flame Emperor.”
Perhaps the Light Spirit Realm had never fought the Flame Emperor, as Ashaka did not know of him.
However, just by seeing the reactions of the Shadow Spirits or the Water Spirits, Abeson could guess the general idea, and he was certain they would never contract with the Flame Emperor’s disciple.
Ashaka’s words were likely correct.
Tae-sung clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘I was thinking of contracting with a Water Spirit and trying to create a technique like a lightsaber. I guess that’ll be difficult.’
There was no guarantee such a thing would even work, but it was a shame.
After leaving the Spirit Realm, Tae-sung immediately departed Arcanos.
Although he wasn’t in as much of a hurry as when he had arrived, he returned to the metropolis of Elleun at a pace that wasn’t exactly leisurely either.
In terms of time, only a few days had passed, but seeing the scenery of Elleun made him very happy.
Tae-sung passed by the Flying Dragon Clan as he followed the main road.
Rather than announcing his return, there was a place he had to go first.
The place he stopped was a building boasting an immense presence.
It was one of the major powers famed across the entire continent and one of the largest groups in Elleun: the Golden Altar of Alchemy.
Entering the Golden Altar of Alchemy, he stated that he had come to see Elder Miginic, and it wasn’t long before he was guided inside.
“Ho ho. Welcome.”
“Elder. Have you been well?”
“I am always the same.”
“Are you not having medicinal wine with Elder Dam again?”
“I am currently refraining, as it is a period of abstinence.”
“Oh. I bought this as a gift on my way back from Arcanos.”
Tae-sung held out a wrapped bottle of liquor.
“I bought it because they said it’s a famous wine in Arcanos, but should I take it back?”
“…Ah, now that I think about it, the period of abstinence coincidentally ended yesterday. As I get older, I tend to forget things often. Ho ho. Thank you for the gift. It would be quite nice to share this with my friend Dam Ho-pung.”
Elder Miginic quickly took the bottle.
Seeing him look at the bottle with a satisfied expression, Tae-sung knew he had chosen the right gift.
“And Elder, remember what you told me before.”
“What did I say?”
“That if I found a lost treasure of the Golden Altar of Alchemy or brought back something the Flame Emperor used during his lifetime, you would break the sect’s rules and pay a corresponding price.”
“Ah, right. Depending on the level of the recovered treasure, I am more than willing to pay the price.”
“Then, would you mind taking a look at this?”
Tae-sung pulled out an old glove onto the desk.
The fabric was so frayed that it looked difficult to even wear properly, causing Elder Miginic to tilt his head.
When he looked at Tae-sung, Tae-sung opened his mouth.
“It’s the glove the Flame Emperor used during his lifetime.”
“……?”