HBWnovel Book 2: Chapter 402
Book 2: Chapter 402
Book 2: Chapter 402 He wandered around in
…He ate a lot of Lukas.
There were countless ‘failed Lukases’. It wasn’t just bandits.
Swordsmen, Knights, Guards, Martial Artists, Farmers, Fishermen, Doctors, Peddlers, Herbalists, Mercenaries, Priests, Nobles…
Lukas was directly able to experience the infinite possibilities of one being.
He stopped.
Suddenly, it occurred to him that a lot of time might have passed.
He slowly looked around.
He was still surrounded by thousands of corpses piled onto each other, but now, he was familiar with all of them.
This meant that he’d rummaged through all of these corpses at least once.
He passed them.
The corpses around him changed, and the colour of the ground and walls changed. This was proof that he’d entered another area.
Lukas had learned a lot about the dump site’s environment.
Firstly, it wasn’t just himself and the corpses in this place. (TL: And Pale.)
Three Day Bugs. In addition to those insects which inflicted terrible pain, there were other living beings.
Surprisingly, there were many different kinds, and there were even some among them that were threats to him.
Throb-
He had a headache.
It was a pain that had been following him consistently from some point, but now, he could barely feel it.
It first appeared after he’d eaten three corpses.
The pain had come unexpectedly.
It felt like his entire body was being torn apart. It was so painful that he couldn’t even scream. It was as if ‘Three Day Bugs’ had dug into his skin, and were gnawing on his internal organs, muscles, and blood vessels.
That pain had stayed with him for days afterward.
It didn’t stop, and he didn’t get used to it. Instead, it felt like it was getting worse.
So Lukas had no choice but to continue forward.
It felt like the pain would never end even if he waited forever, so he had no choice but to continue doing what he was doing.
He ate another corpse.
When he ate the fourth and fifth corpses, the pain doubled. At that time, it was hard for him to stay sane.
But he ignored it.
Stumbling, he looked for the next corpse.
He struggled to keep a hold on his blurring vision and raised his concentration as high as he possibly could. Among the pain ripping through his body, the most severe by far was the headache. The thought that it would be better to just smash his skull appeared in his mind tens of thousands of times a day.
But he couldn’t. Death was no more than an escape. Lukas had no intention of dying.
He ate a corpse.
He even ate a corpse that wasn’t a ‘Lukas’ by accident. As mentioned before, his vision was blurred and his sanity waning.
Then, at some point, the pain began to fade. It wasn’t that he was growing used to it, it was really fading. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t know when.
That wasn’t the only thing that changed.
He no longer felt full even after eating a complete corpse. To be precise, it felt like he could no longer absorb it efficiently. It was like pouring water into a cup that was already full—
…It was at that moment that Lukas’ corpse feast came to an end.
Then, he sat down and inspected himself.
He realised that he’d become stronger.
Was it maximum magic power? Absolute quantity of mana? Or, a state beyond 10 stars?
No, it wasn’t.
The power he’d gained from abandoning his humanity was nothing like that. At least he didn’t think so. A simple increase in the strength of his magic power, which he now had, was not enough to defeat the Twelve Void Lords. It couldn’t surpass Yang In-hyun’s sword.
He continued to observe within him.
…Mana.
He could now feel the familiar energy that filled his body a bit better.
But as he ate more corpses, the nature of his mana seemed to change, and at some point, it began to feel turbid. As a result, his mana could no longer be called pure energy.
Mana was the most natural and purest energy. It was infinitely close to the source of fire, water, earth and air, which were the matter that made up all creation.
Energy that gained its value from its purity.
If that was the case, then what was the value of this turbid mana?
“…”
Mana was a type of energy that didn’t fit in with this world.
Lukas had felt this a long time ago. The way to replenish it was also inefficient, and the power of absolute had failed to have an impact on an Absolute being like Yang In-hyun.
It wasn’t just Yang In-hyun.
Lukas knew that in this world, he was not even on the same level as the truly strong beings.
Michael, Pale, and the giant monster whose throat was the entry point for the dump site he was currently in.
They were all stronger than Lukas.
He knew that.
Despite knowing that, he was not able to completely abandon mana. It was Lukas’ only weapon. In a way, he could even be called obsessed.
His mind was in tatters as if it had been stitched together countless times, but, paradoxically, it was stable in that regard.
Knowing just how much of a mess he was as a being, he was able to stay rather calm.
Lukas had thought that he’d reached the end of the path of magicology.
But was that really the case? In the first place, could a field of study even have an end?
—He thought for a long time, but his decision was quick.
Lukas…
Decided to abandon mana.
Shaa-
Lukas’ entire body felt a state of extreme weakness. He’d metaphorically opened the lid of his mana room, which was always tightly closed. And the mana poured out of every orifice in his body.
He let it go without holding anything back.
No, the mana wanted to stay.
It didn’t want to leave the mana room, where it had stayed for a long time.
So this was a one sided release on Lukas’ part.
Ohhhh-
A strange sound resonated when the huge amount of mana was gently released all at once. It sounded like a howl or a scream of resentment.
It was a strange feeling.
They were like companions, friends, family, lovers… and maybe even more than that, for a long time. And now it felt like he’d killed the other with his own hands.
But there were no large ripples in his already blackened heart.
At most, there was a small hint of regret.
What Lukas was looking at was ‘what was in front of him’.
Abandoning mana was only the beginning. There was still a lot he had to throw away.
Abandoning mana was the same as abandoning his identity as a Wizard. Naturally, the title Great Mage was also being abandoned. He also didn’t have the right to teach anyone anymore, so the title Great Teacher was undeserved.
He wasn’t throwing away his worldly shackles. This was far from such a noble sacrifice, which was usually practised by religious people.
It was more than that…
A bit more…
“___”
A thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
If he threw everything away one after the other,
What would be left at the end?
…
…
It wasn’t long before his mana ceased to exist. Surprisingly, it had taken longer than he’d expected.
Completely draining all of the mana in his entire body had been much harder and more meticulous than he’d initially thought. It wasn’t just his mana room, it was difficult to remove the residue left behind by mana in the pathways throughout his body which the mana passed through like veins.
However, he was now completely empty.
At the very least, Lukas now no longer had any mana.
Then what was he to do now?
Should he find another weapon?
Swords, spears, axes, blunt weapons, bows, dozens and hundreds of weapons appeared in his mind. It wasn’t just physical weapons. Spirit arts, black magic, and holy power also crossed his mind.
However, would those work?
He’d felt it while eating countless Lukases.
He was stronger than any Lukas in the dump site.
In other words, it could be said that Lukas, who had pursued magicology, had made the best choice when it came to strength. But he had already abandoned mana.
He had no intention of reverting that decision. Mana was not enough to help him fight the Twelve Void Lords. He was sure of this.
“…”
At that moment, Lukas suddenly had an absurd thought.
It was so ridiculous that it was hard for him to put it into words, but he also found that he was unexpectedly drawn to it.
‘I wonder if I can use magic without mana.’
(TL: So The ‘Not Great Mage’ Returns After 4000 Years?)