Lukas focused on cleansing Min Ha-rin’s body until the next day.
Min Ha-rin had to suffer through tremendous mental torture. What was worse than throwing up the impurities was the bad smell that remained in her mouth. Unfortunately, the headquarters didn’t have anything that helped bad breath, so she could only brush her teeth every time she got a break.
‘If I keep brushing my teeth like this, won’t they wear away?’
While she was contemplating this dilemma, Lukas called out to her.
“Look at me.”
Min Ha-rin turned to look at Lukas.
Then she was amazed. She could see a blue haze rising up from his body.
“Can you see it?”
“Yes… so that’s mana…”
“Right.”
When Lukas nodded, the blue haze disappeared.
“I just intentionally made my mana visible. You won’t be able to see the mana in the air just yet, but it shouldn’t be a problem for you to sense it with your body. So focus on gathering mana from today.”
“That means…”
Lukas nodded.
“The preparations are complete.”
“Ah…!”
In other words, she wouldn’t have to vomit out any more disgusting impurities!!
Min Ha-rin almost cheered from the joy rising up within her heart.
“Before that, you must first learn how to move it on your own. Can you feel the presence of your Mana Room?”
“Yes.”
“Repeat the thought of opening and closing your Mana Room. You can imagine a faucet as a substitute. Uncontrolled mana will be released through your skin after running wildly around your body. You don’t need to force yourself to control it at first. It’s no different from moving ki, so you’ll be able to learn it quickly.”
“Understood.”
“When your mana runs out, sit down and absorb the mana flowing in the atmosphere. Breathing while feeling like your body is accepting all of the energy in the air will help. When you have collected a certain amount of mana, release it again. By repeating this process, the cycle of absorption and release of mana will gain momentum.”
Lukas looked around the training room.
“The structure of this room allows you to gather mana easily. It would be helpful to stay here even when you eat and sleep.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Min Ha-rin nodded with a determined expression.
“I will return in a week.”
After saying this, Lukas left the room.
Now that she’d taken her first steps in Magical Science, he wondered just how far she’d go.
‘This world is filled with mana.’
It was so full that he couldn’t help but find it strange.
Even Lukas was unable to guess the reason.
In general, scientific advancement and conservation of nature are factors that are incompatible. And the science in this world was very advanced.
Naturally, this meant that nature suffered from a lot of damage, so it would have been normal if the mana in this world’s atmosphere was sparse.
‘Not this place.’
This world had at least twice the mana density of the world he was born in.
As proof of that, it had only been a few decades since he’d spread the knowledge of Magical Science to this world and there were already many outstanding Wizards. Even if Lukas secretly helped them, such a rate of growth was abnormal.
There must have been a reason for this freak phenomenon.
Lukas had tried to find the cause during his time here, but his investigations had not been successful.
And in a way, the lack of results was the most conclusive evidence.
That was because it meant that there was something in this world that even an Absolute like Lukas could not have decipher.
* * *
Lukas went up to the city above.
This wasn’t because he had taken Nina’s advice to look around. Instead, he had another goal.
However, it would have taken some time to accomplish this goal. Until then, it would’ve been fine to observe the culture of this world’s humans with his own eyes.
Lukas had traveled the world for decades, but he had never stayed in a human city for a long time. So naturally, he didn’t know much about their culture or lifestyle.
Nevertheless, he knew that this was a relatively advanced world.
In this world, there was no outward manifestation of power and mystery. But that didn’t mean they didn’t exist at all. Although the systems were different, there was still magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. There were also Magic Warriors and Knights who trained their bodies.
Nevertheless, their activities were never recorded in history. Instead, they were passed down as legends, myths, or fairy tales.
Instead, the world developed along the path of science, and this hideout was a byproduct of that.
The European Branch headquarters was located beneath the city. In fact, most of the hideouts were. Because this was the best way for them to avoid the Demon’s prying eyes.
There were only two ways to enter or leave the headquarters.
By using the portal or by taking an elevator to the surface.
The method Lukas chose was the latter. He approached the security guard who was standing in front of the elevator.
“Are you going to the surface?”
Instead of answering, he simply showed the guard the card he’d received from Nina. It was a free pass card stamped with the President’s seal. It was the highest level pass, which allowed unlimited access to any facility without restrictions.
That’s why it wasn’t strange that the guard flinched and bowed his head.
‘Is this the man whom Vice President Ludwig mentioned?’
He didn’t seem that special, so he didn’t understand how this man was able to capture President Nina’s heart.
Of course, this wasn’t something that a simple security guard like him could afford to care about.
“Pardon me.”
Wiing-
Lukas took the elevator to the surface.
The city was right above the base. In other words, they needed something to camouflage the entrance to the headquarters.
The elevator led to a shabby clothing store. Even when Lukas opened the back door and stepped out, the owner of the store, who was sitting at the counter, didn’t react. He simply yawned with a bored expression as if he couldn’t see him. It would probably be the same when he returned.
When he left the clothing store, he smelled salt. This meant that a sea was nearby.
This city was called Sochi. It was located in the Krasnodar Region in the southwestern part of Russia, and it was once a famous resort that was well-known for its beautiful natural scenery and beaches.
When one thought of Russia, one would have usually thought of extreme cold, but Sochi was one of the warmest places in Russia.
In other words, it was a tourist attraction. Of course, the streets now were so quiet that one would never have that thought.
This was inevitable. The world had fallen to ruin, so who would’ve still cared about tourist attractions? Especially when considering the fact that it was in Europe and close to the region where the Demons were most active.
Lukas looked around the city for a bit before entering an alley.
It was an incredibly beautiful city, but the back alleys, which did not get much sunlight, had a rather nasty vibe. This was further pronounced by the fact that they didn’t bother to clean these streets.
The atmosphere became even gloomier when he exited the shopping district and entered the residential area. The air in this place even felt a bit cold.
Nevertheless, Lukas continued to walk through these alleys as if he was possessed.
By the time the road started to narrow, a group of people appeared in front of him.
These men all wore thin clothes as though they were trying to show off their muscles. They were also chuckling sinisterly to themselves, and one of them was spinning a military knife like a pen.
They smelled like cigarettes and drugs.
It was impossible for him to continue walking because they were blocking him. To be precise, it felt like they wouldn’t let him pass easily.
When Lukas turned around, seemingly intent to go back the way he came, he found that more men were standing there.
A man in front of him smiled so brightly like his eyes squeezed shut. His yellow teeth were revealed in the dark alley.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
“Talk?”
“Ah. Of course… If you don’t want the talk to become screams, we’ll need you to cooperate.”
A man with a bald head grinned and pulled out a gun. In this narrow alley, there was not much distance between them.
Even a powerful hunter would not have been able to dodge a bullet.
Click-
Lukas felt movement behind him. The men who were blocking his way back had moved closer.
He raised his hands and said.
“Okay.”
This attitude unnerved the man a bit. He had heard that Lukas was not a hunter, but since this man could enter the European Headquarters, he’d thought that he had at least trained to an extent.
However, when he saw him in person, his skinny, weak-looking body didn’t seem to have even the slightest signs of training. There was the possibility that he was a Wizard, but now that they had closed the distance so much, that wouldn’t matter. He could rush forward and cut off his tongue before he could even chant a spell.
But he didn’t relax.
This person was an acquaintance of the scumbag Nina. It was natural that he would have some hidden secrets.
But when he just obeyed without any signs of resisting, he felt empty.
‘No.’
The man erased that thought.
Things were going well. He shouldn’t complain.
“Follow me.”
Lukas followed behind the man.
The men surrounding him tried to make an intimidating atmosphere by spouting vulgar curses or grabbing and poking him in the back with the handles of their knives. Nevertheless, they soon stopped when he didn’t react to their actions as if they were bored.
The man walked through the maze-like residential alleys, making one turn after another, before finally coming to a shabby-looking house.
In front of the house was a large iron gate that didn’t match with the house. When the man opened the door and they entered the house, it felt like the air had become heavier.
“You came sooner than I expected.”
Then they heard a deep voice. The man in front bowed his head and called out.
“Boss.”
Lukas’ gaze turned to the man who was called boss.
It was a large, threatening man with many tattoos on his arms. His entire body was covered in injuries.
While sucking on a large cigar, the man said.
“You must have made the smart decision since you were brought here in such a nice manner. Did you get a rough explanation from my men?”
The subordinate was the one who answered.
“Ah. He… he was more obedient than we expected. We haven’t told him anything yet.
“That so? Hmmm. Ah. Don’t be scared, my blonde friend. Just answer my questions. Then, I’ll let you go cleanly without a scratch.”
The men around him burst into laughter at his words.
Lukas glanced at them.
They all seemed to have well-trained bodies and experience handling weapons. In particular, the man referred to as ‘Boss’ seemed to be exceptionally strong.
Nevertheless, their races were diverse, and their clothing and weapons were, too.
“You guys are not hunters.”
A look of interest appeared on the boss’ face.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re too weak-minded. That’s not something you can hide.”
“Kukuku.”
This guy was funny.
Boss Vaches chuckled as he thought that. His men also responded with soft guffaws as if they were watching a comedy skit.
“You’re a pretty good detective. But you’ve gone too far.”
When Vaches grinned, a man behind Lukas stepped forward and put his hand on Lukas’ shoulder.
No, he tried to.
Crunch-
“…u-, urk?”
The pain took a while to register.
“Kuack!” (TL: is it strange that I’ve only just realised that this is practically ‘quack’?)
The man screamed, grabbing his arm, which had been bent in the wrong direction. Then something heavy struck his face.
It was Lukas’ fist that he swung backwards without even looking.
“Urk!”
Holding his nose, the man collapsed.
It was the perfect position, and Lukas didn’t miss the opportunity. With a well-aimed strike to the back of the man’s neck, he passed out cold on the ground.
“You son of a bitch!”
It was almost at the same time that the man wielding a knife beside him rushed forward. At first glance, it seemed that he had lost his reason in anger, but the man’s eyes were cold. This showed that he had never lowered his guard.
Hwuk.
Lukas narrowed the distance. The man shrank back subconsciously when his opponent came so close.
The gap that this action caused was fatal.
Paak!
Lukas’ elbow hit the man’s face. The shock from the attack was multiplied due to the fact that they were running towards each other.
With a crunch, the man could feel his nose shatter. But that wasn’t enough. While it hurt a lot, it wasn’t enough to make him faint.
Lukas grabbed the man by the collar before punching him in the chest and stomach with his left hand.
The man couldn’t even let out a scream before he collapsed to the ground.
“…”