The Blockhead Became an Overpowered Magician

6 – Unexpected Results (3)

The wheels of spinning fire appeared, and the sky began to be covered in flames.

The monster sensed that the cause of this situation was the lone human standing before it.

Leaving the adventurers it was chasing behind, the Mountain Turtle began to charge towards Eren. But it was already too late. The casting had ended long ago.

The flames descended. The whirlwinds that began from the wheels of fire grew longer and struck the monster.

-■■■■■!!!

The Mountain Turtle writhed and shrieked in the scorching flames. Its screams echoed throughout the forest.

‘So we’ve entered the final phase. It’s a good thing its HP is low.’

It was the final phase of the boss battle, called ‘Writhing.’ When the player’s attacks started to get close to the core, the creature lost its mind and tried desperately to escape the situation.

‘We’re lucky.’

Since it was small, its writhing wasn’t too threatening.

The Turtle’s body was engulfed in flames. The icy hills piled on its shell began to melt. But the Turtle stubbornly tried to resist. It shook its body like crazy, stomping its four legs, trying to shake off the hot flames.

But it was no use. Multiple ＜Descending Flames＞ relentlessly attacked the designated target. Eren had cast it earlier, so now he leisurely watched the spectacle unfold.

The fiery tornadoes fiercely spun, tearing into the monster. Intense heat concentrated on the summit.

The battle between the whirlwind of flames and the monster was reaching its climax. The magic tried to break through the monster’s defense by colliding with the ice, and the Turtle resisted with its shaking body.

-Crack!

‘It’s broken through!’

Finally, the Mountain Turtle fell to its knees. With a sound of something bursting, the massive body powerlessly fell to the ground. As the corpse hit the ground, the nearby trees snapped weakly.

[Monster Defeated]

[+7000P]

“…”

The forest grew quiet. The adventurers felt the tension leave their bodies and slumped to the ground.

“We made it…”

“Th-thank you!”

Eren approached the adventurers. Naturally, he looked down at them.

The adventurers couldn’t express any dissatisfaction as they looked up at Eren.

It wasn’t just because they were exhausted. They knew what they had done.

They threatened to return to the camp, but instead followed and got caught. Plus, they lured the monster towards them.

“…”

John suddenly snapped to attention upon seeing Eren staring at him expressionlessly.

‘This isn’t the right time!’

John had seen the scene where dozens of fire columns took down the monster. The turtle constantly twisted its body and moved back and forth, trying to avoid the attacks, but his magic never missed for a single moment.

John thought Eren was a great archmage. It was amazing that he could cast so many spells simultaneously, and even more so that he adjusted his aim in real-time. It was different from the half-baked magic that merely skimmed by.

‘I shouldn’t have messed with an archmage….’

There was a saying among adventurers: Do not hastily provoke outstanding mages, for they are all eccentric. But John had not only ignored him, but he had also risked his life.

‘I must grovel!’

The mage in front of him might now say, “I saved your life, so now I will personally take it,” and cast a spell!

“May I ask you something?”

“Oh, great archmage, I’m truly sorry for before! Being ignorant of magic, I didn’t recognize…”

John began to stammer out words of apology and excuse.

“So once in the past, I met a charlatan mage – Oh! I’m not saying you’re a charlatan, great archmage. How dare I? hahahahaha…”

‘Why is this happening?’

It was understandable to be grateful for defeating the turtle, but it was strange to flatter him with fearful eyes.

‘Is he still in a state of panic?’

He thought it was possible since his life had been threatened by the monster earlier.

“No, never mind that.”

“Pardon?”

“How did you awaken the Mountain Turtle?”

“Oh, it’s unfair! Absolutely! It wasn’t us who awakened it! We just followed it, and when we saw the great abilities of the archmage, we swore! We intended to return to our camp! Our party was…”

Since John seemed determined to tell his whole life story, Eren cut him off.

“Please, just be quiet for a moment.”

“Yes.”

“You thought it was just a hill, but it turned out to be the Mountain Turtle, right?”

“That’s right!”

“I know this monster doesn’t awaken easily. But it woke up, didn’t it? Did you happen to do anything special on the hill? Like sprinkling a potion…”

Another party member answered.

“Um… Sir Mage, this might sound absurd, but I feel I should tell you, it was me who…”

***

‘He peed on it?’

It was unbelievable.

‘No way… it can’t be…’

There’s no way that kind of thing would be the condition for waking up the Mountain Turtle. There must be something else that the adventurers hadn’t noticed. No, there had to be.

‘…Even so.’

The problem was that there was nothing to pinpoint. He had listened carefully to the adventurers’ story from beginning to end, and even dug into their curiosities.

‘It means that it’s impossible to wake it up before the event starts if it’s real.’

There is no way that while playing a game, you can do something like [Menu]＞＞[Actions]＞＞[Other Actions]＞＞[Urinate]. ‘Fantasia’ is a game with a high degree of freedom, but… that crosses the line.

‘I don’t know…’

He decided not to think too much about it. Whatever the cause, it was important that they had caught the Arctos Mountain Turtle early.

“Please hold on tight, Sir. The path is treacherous.”

‘Is it that bad?’

Still, he decided to obediently follow Reyna’s advice, just in case. He put more force into his hands that were gripping her shoulders.

Eren rode behind Reyna on the horse, following the traces left by the turtle. It wasn’t difficult to follow the large and deep footprints.

-Lord, can I leave the rear-guard to you for a moment? I need to visit the place where the turtle was sleeping.

-Of course, my lord. I’ll lend you my horse as well.

-Uh… I can’t ride a horse.

Reyna offered her help at that moment.

-I’ll go with you!

The hill wasn’t too far away. They decided to send a signal flare if anything happened on the upper side, so there was no need to worry about their escort for a while.

“This must be the place.”

The spot they arrived at was a circular area where the ground had sunk in. The brown dirt was exposed because the snow hadn’t accumulated while the Mountain Turtle was sleeping.

“I’ll go and have a look by myself.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know if something happens.”

Eren got off the horse to investigate the pit. He cautiously extended one foot first, due to the incline.

The soil forming the wall was harder and more slippery than Eren had anticipated. And when Eren stepped on the ground with his remaining foot…

‘Huh?’

He slid down.

-Whoosh!

‘Ah-ah-ah!’

Without any time to react, Eren slid all the way down to the bottom. Fortunately, he didn’t fall. Like surfing, he rode the wall of the pit with both feet and arrived at the bottom.

“Phew…”

Ern let out a sigh of relief. His sigh didn’t reach Reina.

“Oh…”

Reina marveled at the dexterous way Ern moved.

‘He’s not only good at magic!’

She could easily imagine Ern performing brilliantly at the front lines. In a place surrounded by monsters, running freely through the terrain and casting magic spells!

‘Cool…’

Meanwhile, standing in the middle of a pit, Ern looked down at the ground and then crouched down on one knee.

‘It should be around here.’

The item seemed to be buried in the ground. He thought it would be nice to have a shovel, and just as he was about to reach for the dirt…

‘…Wait. I’m a wizard, right?’

＜Psychokinesis＞

He scooped the hardened soil out as easily as taking water out. Standing back up, Ern dusted his knee and resolved.

‘I need to get in the habit of using my skills.’

Not long after he started digging with magic, a foreign color appeared in the soil.

‘I found it.’

Ern carefully excavated the item and held it in his hand with ＜Psychokinesis＞. It was a garland made of various colored flowers, such as yellow, red, and white.

[Suspicious Garland]

On the surface, it’s just an ordinary garland. But this item had a hidden side.

‘I want to go to the dungeon right away… but I’ll hold back for now.’

It was the first time he’d obtained a garland so early. If he had increased his circle and mastered skills, maybe it would be alright, but he still wasn’t sure of the timing.

‘And it’s not just for me to use, it’d be better to use it with named characters if possible.’

Ern stored the garland in his inventory. Then he walked toward the wall that he had slipped on earlier.

＜Earth Manipulation＞

He created a staircase by digging out the dirt with magic and attaching it.

‘I should’ve gone down this way earlier…’

It was a belated regret.

***

Arctos.

This city, which seemed to have sprouted from a wasteland of snow and ice, was one of the key hubs of the northern continent.

[Quest: Heading toward Arctos completed!]

[+1000P]

[Current Points: 11,560P]

Ern was resting at an inn in Arctos. On the first floor, there was a place where one could enjoy meals from early morning until late at night. Ern was sitting at a table, eating soup and bread.

‘Delicious.’

He had ordered cliché winter inn-style food, and it was a success. The soup was full of various vegetables and meat, and the freshly baked bread was warm and soft.

The atmosphere of the inn was cozy. Merchants and adventurers were enjoying their food, basking in the warmth of the fireplace.

“Oh dear, sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Swan, who had just arrived from outside, sat down at Ern’s table with a warm smile.

“You mentioned you’re heading to Kagon, right? I have some good news for you.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Princess Ives Eisenbern is said to be going to Kagon Academy.”

“Ives Eisenbern?”

“Oh! You know her. They say she has a talent for magic. Did you hear about it?”

Ern knew very well. She was a heroine he had conquered dozens of times.

‘So that’s why the quest appeared.’

If he had arrived in Arctos later, he wouldn’t even have this opportunity.

Either way, it seemed he’d be getting involved with a heroine again.