EP.138 The Past, An Even More Distant Past (1)
“…You mean you’re going to climb the Kurakt Mountain Range?”
Eryhal blinked. He was taken aback.
The warriors surrounding Eryhal also gasped. It was rare for a duke to be flustered. When such a rare event happened, there had to be a reason.
“Yes, I plan to climb it in three days.”
Eryhal’s gaze shifted to the girl before him.
The girl’s voice was calm. It sounded as if she were merely planning to hike a local hill. However, the Kurakt Mountain Range was far from a mere local hill. Absolutely not.
“Professor, do you know what Kurakt is like?”
“I’ve heard it’s the most rugged mountain range in the North.”
“Right, but it would be better to add the phrase ‘no one has crossed the mid-section of Kurakt for the past centuries.’ Do you know what that implies?”
Eryhal squinted.
“Climbing Kurakt is a suicide mission.”
It was a straightforward statement, but in Eryhal’s view, there was no more appropriate expression than that.
“Warriors enjoy challenges. Sometimes, they dare to risk their lives and face them head-on. However, climbing Kurakt cannot be considered a challenge.”
It was merely a suicidal act.
“The blizzards surrounding Kurakt can’t simply be described as ‘severe.’ Have you seen the blizzard of the sanctuary? Kurakt is worse, Professor.”
It meant entering knowing you would die.
“Imprudent. I can only advise against it.”
“Is that so?”
In response to Eryhal’s warning, the girl nodded lightly. She heard the warning but did not seem to accept it.
“…But you still plan to go?”
“I have my reasons.”
“What are those reasons?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
Her voice remained composed.
Listening to the silky flow of her voice, Eryhal squinted his eyes.
Eryhal had seen many humans.
Having seen countless humans, he could vaguely understand why the girl before him displayed such an attitude.
‘She’s already made her decision.’
The girl’s blue eyes were heavy.
Her calm yet serious voice conveyed the demeanor of someone who had already resolved their intent.
‘There’s no point in saying anything more…’
While some people could easily change their minds, others certainly didn’t. The girl before him clearly belonged to the latter.
“…Hoo.”
Eryhal sighed.
“No matter what I say, you’re determined to climb Kurakt.”
“Because I’ve decided.”
“Well, I don’t know what awaits you there….”
Eryhal slowly raised his arm.
He extended his index finger to point at something.
“Just remember this, Professor.”
He pointed to Rania’s eyes.
Pointing at Rania’s blue eyes, Eryhal said, “Whatever you see, don’t panic. Just accept it. Kurakt is that kind of place.”
What does that even mean?
Rania didn’t ask such a question. She simply nodded slightly and stood up.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
2.
Regarding the decision made, I tend to act quite swiftly. Three days since deciding to climb Kurakt, I had spent those three days quite busily.
“Let’s call it a day.”
For three days, I had taught Lac.
I set out around noon and trained with Lac until sunset. Lac was quick to absorb my teachings.
“Is this how it’s done?”
“Right. First, take a breath, then move your whole body. Don’t try to do it all at once; take it step by step.”
Lac earnestly followed the training.
Lac was always like that. He knew no easy way. He had no idea about efficient methods. He simply accepted whatever was taught.
‘In a way, it may seem foolish, but…’
Lac was a bit different.
Lac quickly accepted everything. He never rejected anything. Because of that, Lac grew at a pace much faster than I expected.
“Shall we stop here for today? Is that okay?”
“Um, I think I can go a little further.”
From the first training session, he had made significant progress.
Amidst the intensifying blizzard, Lac had managed to endure for nearly two hours at most. Instead of fainting, he was now simply collapsing from exhaustion. The number of times Lac lost consciousness had reduced to hardly a handful.
“Good work.”
Lac had achieved substantial results over the three days.
It seemed he had grasped the concept, and now it was Lac’s turn to try on his own. On the evening of the third day after training Lac, I quietly warned him.
“Be cautious of the Sword Demon.”
“…Are you referring to Draka?”
It was a warning to be careful of the Sword Demon.
This was my instinct. It was a guess hit upon without concrete evidence, but my instincts typically held some truth.
“Their eyes are strange.”
“Strange eyes?”
“Normally, Sword Demons don’t walk around with their eyes wide open like that. Bloodshot eyes always chase only the heretic. They are filled with hatred. But… the Sword Demons I saw in the North were somehow different.”
Indeed, they were a little different.
“They didn’t have the eyes of the Braver.”
I warned Lac.
“There’s something purposeful about their gaze. I don’t know what it is, but they definitely won’t use normal means. So be careful.”
While I could handle most things myself, I needed to be absent for a while. Hence, I passed this warning to Lac. It was just in case.
“Hmm… understood.”
Lac nodded at my words.
His expression still showed he didn’t quite understand. I hoped nothing would occur to change that expression… and having returned to White Night Castle, I finished preparing to ascend the snowy mountain.
The morning of the departure day dawned.
“Hoo.”
I took a short breath and lifted my head.
Upon lifting my head, the towering snow-capped mountains came into view, rising so high they almost seemed endless. That was just the tip of the iceberg.
What lay in my sight was but half.
Most of the highest peak was shrouded by whirling snowstorms, obscuring vision completely. And that place was where I intended to go. The summit of Kurakt, wrapped in a pure white storm.
‘The answer must be there.’
I took a step forward.
3.
The Kurakt Mountain Range.
There were countless rumors about it.
Ghosts appear. The blizzards distort the passage of time. Monsters dwell within the raging storms. Trials have caused even the indomitable Warriors of the previous generation to yield, among others.
Some of these were mere hearsay, while others contained a bit of truth. Conversely, distinct truths also existed within the rumors.
“In Kurakt, the flow of time gets tangled.”
Originally a rumor, it became a fact uttered through the mouth of a warrior after ascending that place in the past.
“I spent ten days in Kurakt. Yet only two days had passed outside.”
The Indomitable said so.
The disheveled Indomitable muttered while lowering his gaze.
“I never want to climb that place again.”
“Is there really that much to say?”
Recalling that anecdote, Rania murmured.
She was climbing the mountain, cutting through the snowstorm. Each step she took left smudged blood footprints on the snowy ground.
‘It’s certainly not just mere hearsay.’
Rania lightly brushed her hands off.
Pulling off the solidified blood frozen on her gloves, she glanced back slightly.
“Hmm.”
Monsters were buried in the snowy ground.
Some had their necks torn off, while others were bent in half at the waist. It was quite an avant-garde landscape.
There were indeed monsters.
They were unique types of beasts that couldn’t be seen from the outside, but still, they were merely a single kind.
‘Compared to the beasts produced by that madwoman…’
The beasts churned out by the heretic.
From Rania’s perspective, having faced countless beasts blended with the best traits of each, the monsters of the snowy mountain were not much of a problem.
“It doesn’t feel that cold.”
The blizzard couldn’t pierce the mana encasing her skin.
No matter how much she thought about it, she still couldn’t find anything terrifying enough to instill fear in the previous generation’s warrior, the Indomitable.
‘It will be difficult to find my way, though.’
The blizzard obscured her vision. With each step, her feet sank into the snow. She had to walk while paying attention to what was beneath her feet since she couldn’t see ahead.
‘If it weren’t for this arm, I’d have struggled quite a bit.’
Rania looked at what she was holding.
It was the heretic’s arm. It felt very creepy to hold, but… the strange mana emanating from this arm accurately pointed the way.
‘As if there’s a path made for me.’
Thunk.
Stopping mid-stride, Rania snapped her fingers.
In an instant, a spell was completed, and flames ignited on the snowy ground. After a while of melting the snow, the ground was revealed.
“…It’s real.”
The ground that appeared after the snow melted.
It wasn’t bare earth. Small tiles were laid there. Rania looked up. The tiles continued to lead toward a cliff.
A sheer cliff.
Glaring at the cliff, Rania stretched both arms out. She unleashed spells stocked in her arms. Ashen mana coiled into a chain-like form.
Chain.
The ejected chains pierced the cliff.
With a light foot stomp, Rania grasped the chain and jumped. Thud, she stepped on the part that jutted out from the cliff and jumped again.
Clap!
She landed gracefully atop the cliff, snowflakes swirling around. Long footprints were left on the snowfield. Rania, who landed on the cliff, paused for a moment.
“…….”
She squinted her eyes.
The flow of mana had shifted. Being sensitive to mana, Rania could sense something.
‘…It’s mixed.’
Something was stirring the mana in the air.
Rania instinctively looked up. The sun that had been high in the sky before crossing the cliff was now setting beyond the mountains. The sunset had deepened.
“In Kurakt, the flow of time gets tangled.”
She felt she understood the meaning behind that phrase.
“Hoo.”
Just as Rania exhaled lightly and prepared to take another step, her head turned sharply. Although she felt no presence, someone stood there.
“…Indomitable?”
The hero known as the Indomitable.
He was a warrior active in the generation right before Kyle, and he had long been dead.
‘Why is he here?’
She had never seen that face before.
However, having seen it countless times in records, Rania recognized him at a glance. It felt as if she were witnessing a ghost.
“Why are you…”
Snap, snap.
Rania tried to speak, but there was no response. The Indomitable clattered his teeth, shivering his body. Something felt off. Rania squinted her eyes.
Where the hell are you telling me to go! If you’re going to give me a prophecy, do it properly…!
Despite standing right next to him, he seemed completely unaware of her presence. It was as if he were muttering to himself.
‘Something’s strange.’
Rania reached out her hand toward the Indomitable.
But it didn’t connect. Rania’s hand merely passed through him. Only then did Rania realize.
“…Hah.”
She let out a hollow laugh.
‘The flow of mana gets tangled, time is distorted… and ghosts appear.’
Amidst the rumors, there was a truth.
The rumors weren’t just nonsense. Witnessing the wandering specter of the Indomitable upon the snowy mountain, Rania murmured.
“…It’s a remnant.”
The reason remained unknown.
What was clear was that the twisted mana of the snowy mountain was holding onto the remnants of those who had passed through here in the past.
Huff, huff!
Rania looked around.
The only person wandering the snowy mountains was not just the Indomitable. There were also those being chased by something, those walking bloodied, and those being swallowed by the snowstorm.
All of them belonged to the past.
Although she squinted her eyes, she could not read any mana from them. They were merely remnants left behind.
‘Faint.’
Even to Rania, who had high sensitivity to mana, the remnants appeared faint. To ordinary people, they would surely seem nothing more than a mass of gathered mana.
‘So, this is what qualifies as a ghost.’
Rania saw ghosts in the Kurakt Mountain Range. This was the true identity of that rumor.
Rania closed her eyes. Focusing the mana in her eyes, she opened them again. When she opened her eyes once more, everything became clear.
Clap.
She moved forward.
Following the direction pointed by the heretic’s arm, she walked on. Each step quickened. Rania began to understand what the ancient elf wished for and why he had sent her here.
Thud.
Rania halted.
The blizzard still surged around her. However, amidst the howling blizzard, something remained visible.
“So then.”
Rania shifted her gaze.
To where the heretic’s arm was pointing.
“Are you telling me to come here?”
A long, stretching path.
A path pointed out by strange mana.
There was a man already walking along that path. A man who had walked this path in the past, even more distantly in the past.
“Kardi.”
Kardi.
The ancient elf who introduced himself in such a manner.
-…
He slowly turned around.
Whether by coincidence or because he truly heard Rania’s voice, she couldn’t know. However, the appearance of Kardi was somewhat different from what Rania knew.
His hair was not the silver she always saw.
Rather than silver, it was closer to ash-gray.
-Is that so?
Though the color of his hair differed, his amber beast-like eyes remained the same as ever. He looked at Rania with eyes that seemed to penetrate through her.
-Have you come to follow me?
No, more accurately, it wasn’t Rania he was addressing.
Rania turned around.
There stood an apparition of someone.
-Skebal.
A presence Rania knew well.
The specter of the ancient lich Skebal floated there.
