I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game

Chapter 51

Hot sweat soaked through my robe. The robe, now heavy with sweat, weighed down on my slender shoulders and legs, making it impossible for me to bear its weight.

“Hah, damn it... Stop the nonsense and just give me what you promised,” I said, taking a deep breath and demanding the reward from Dajin. Pushed to my physical limits, my tone became harsh, something I couldn't help.

Isn’t it only when you can breathe properly that you can be polite and pretend to be dignified?

Right now, I’m dragging my body, which screams with muscle pain, and I’m exhausted from walking all the way here from the barracks. I don’t remember exactly, but it seems like I passed through a life-or-death ordeal at least twice on the way here.

No, was it three times?

I don’t even remember clearly now. I just want to get this over with and return to the barracks.

“Uh, well...”

Lir, seeing me speaking sharply to Dajin, gave a slightly confused expression.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand her reaction. Dajin, the lightning spirit, was someone who deserved to be revered by lightning mages, after all.

He brought the concept of magic into this world and showed them the way. A discernible god.

In every magic-related book I’ve read so far, spirits were described in that way.

“Ugh, I’m really dying here...”

But so what?

If I stand here any longer, I might be visiting the realm of the unseen gods.

“Hah! I don’t dislike bold children. You’ve got guts, I’m starting to like you more and more!”

Bold, my ass. I’m just asking for my quest reward.

Was it a necessity to have guts to demand the payment for rightful labor back in the Middle Ages?

I confirm once again today that the term "Dark Ages" wasn’t just some random saying.

When are labor laws going to be enacted?

“Right! I should reward you all. First, I’ll grant you my blessing.”

Hearing the word "reward" made it sound like he was doing us a favor.

Does that deer bastard not have a conscience? We almost died fulfilling the task he asked of us.

I’m really starting to understand why people in the Middle Ages who fought for labor rights were called martyrs.

“Extend your hands, Lir, you too.”

Without a word, Lir and I both placed our palms towards Dajin’s horns as instructed. At that moment, a faint and warm lightning sparkled on the tips of our fingers before it burrowed into the backs of our hands.

A faint scar remained where the lightning passed through our skin. It wasn’t particularly hot or painful, but since Lir and I had relatively pale skin, the scar was quite noticeable.

Meanwhile, the lightning that had entered our hands spread through our entire bodies. For a brief moment, I felt a strange sense of omnipotence as though I was floating in the air.

“Children, I will help you ascend to a higher level.”

It felt like all my blocked veins had been opened. A sensation of potential I hadn’t even known existed exploded in my mind like a burst.

My brain instinctively began to work like crazy, interpreting the true nature of this lightning that had pierced my skin.

“This is...”

“Enlightenment, magic, and at the same time, my blessing.”

The spirit’s blessing.

It was a passive magic with special prerequisites that could only be awakened by connecting with a spirit matching a mage’s magical nature.

Such special condition magics like the spirit’s blessing couldn’t even be set as a locked feature in the character creation screen.

In other words, even though I created my character with all magic except for ‘Bloom’ locked, I could still use this magic with no issue.

“...Hah, at least the minimum conditions have been met.”

I muttered quietly as I looked at the lightning-shaped scar on my hand.

In my re

“And one more thing, you promised something, didn’t you?”

However, I wasn’t satisfied just with learning the Spirit’s Blessing magic. Originally, this magic could be obtained just by touching a Rune Stone.

But that deer bastard had given me a quest I had never heard of, and I almost lost my life several times while completing it.

The additional hardships warranted a corresponding reward.

“Something special? You’re in a hurry, aren’t you? Not even savoring my blessing.”

Dajin clicked his tongue, glancing alternately at Lir and me, who were busy analyzing the lightning that entered our bodies.

“Well, I guess. Considering the realm you’ll develop and create, this level of blessing isn’t such a big deal, is it?”

Dajin turned around slowly and walked towards the tree where his Rune Stone was buried.

The lightning spirit, in the form of a deer, began inserting several strands of lightning from its body into the thick and solid roots of the tree, eventually pulling out a small branch from deep underground.

It was a sharp, jagged branch that looked like lightning had been materialized, with a particularly striking appearance. Dajin handed it to me.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

So, the special gift Dajin handed me appeared to be nothing more than a branch about two or three hand spans, with a slightly unusual appearance.

‘...A staff?’

The branch, despite being struck by Dajin’s lightning, was intact. No burning at all. In fact, it seemed to absorb the lightning little by little.

It heated the surrounding air and created an updraft, and the cumulonimbus clouds formed slowly, dimming the sunlight in the process.

“Try holding it.”

Dajin shaped the lightning into a bowl and placed the earth-covered branch in front of me.

Even after playing the game for so long and testing every Easter egg and item, I had never seen a staff like this.

Usually, staffs were crafted with handles for the user to easily wield, but this staff had no clear handle.

Looking at this staff, which was no different from a knife without a handle, I hesitated for a moment before carefully placing my fingers on the bottom part.

My fingers were pricked by a sharp thorn, drawing blood. How the hell was I supposed to carry this around...?

“Ah.”

However, [N O V E L I G H T] as soon as my hand touched the lightning-filled staff, it shattered into pieces. It felt like the sensation I got when I first touched the Red Crystal, spreading from my fingers to my entire body.

The molecularized staff began to seep under my palm and into my skin.

I looked at Dajin in disbelief as the brown-colored molecules burrowed beneath my palm.

“...An artifact?”

“Uh, what?! Wait, an artifact?”

I could hear Lir’s voice, frantic and surprised, from behind me.

“...Damn, you should have told me it was an artifact.”

I let out a deep sigh and shot a displeased look at Dajin.

“Uh... Don’t you like it?”

Dajin asked, his voice somewhat flustered, clearly surprised by my reaction.

Lir, who had also received the artifact, looked puzzled as she observed me being uncomfortable rather than happy.

Artifact.

These weapons, hidden all over the world, were very strong and unique in their properties and characteristics.

Some of them even had powerful effects but came with deadly restrictions.

The most famous example was the "Necklace of Mortality."

This artifact had the devastating effect of multiplying a character’s experience points by twenty times. However, the cost was that the character who obtained it would only live for two more years.

It didn’t mean two years would be deducted from their lifespan, but that they would only have two years left to live.

The moment you ate it, you’d only have two years to live.

‘...When I think about it again, that’s one crazy artifact.’

Moreover, once absorbed, the effects of an artifact couldn’t be discarded even if you didn’t like them due to the special binding restrictions.

So, a wrong artifact absorption could be a fatal disadvantage to character growth.

“...Please explain the effects. Are there any drawbacks? Will it affect my lifespan or health?”

Even though the world in the game and the real world were different, I had been planning to continue growing based on the ‘one-hit mage’ development route I had created by spending hundreds of hours in front of my monitor.

Since the artifacts and magic in this world were exactly like the ones I had seen in the game.

But suddenly, being forced to absorb an artifact I’d never heard of...

If things went wrong, my entire growth route and build could become meaningless.

“Quickly. Explain it.”

I silently prayed that my build wouldn’t be completely ruined as I demanded an explanation from Dajin.

“Hmm, hmm! First, calm down...”

Dajin cleared his throat as if trying to hide his embarrassment and then continued speaking.

“...Calm down?”

What the hell is this guy saying?