Hope and Adventure Loving Inn.
It was a new inn in the free city of Leeb-An City with warm and reliable staff and luxurious food that could put most fancy restaurants to shame.
‘Then I can go get it.’
The silence had started after the proclamation by the twenty years old Cale Henituse of the Henituse household.
“Uhh… mm……”
Mercenary King Bud Illis tried to say something while looking at Cale who was smiling, however, he just quietly took another bottle of alcohol out after seeing the look on the faces of others.
‘The Eastern continent’s information is accurate.’
According to the Eastern continent’s information network, Cale Henituse was someone with a strong sacrificial mindset and that it was almost impossible to find such a good and heroic person in the world.
The children of the Roan Kingdom who were asked about who they wanted to be in the future would mainly shout, ‘young master Silver Shield,’ while a few children would say, ‘sword master,’ or, ‘necromancer.’
Mercenary King Bud Illis took a swig and casually commented.
Bud then flinched.
“Good? Who? You think I'm a good person?”
Cale looked shocked.
“I'm actually on the bad side?”
Bud shared his honest sentiments after seeing the rest of Cale's group start to frown even more.
“Are you drunk? It's not good to drink too much in the morning.”
‘What is he talking about?’
Cale listened to Bud Illis’s nonsense and thought that this punk was the one who was drunk from the morning.
He heard a voice in his mind at that moment. Are you trying to sacrifice yourself?
‘What’s up with the Super Rock?’ Human!
‘What?’
Cale realized that the cool breeze he had been feeling was the result of Raon spinning in circles above him.
Tap. Tap.
Cale lowered his head after hearing someone tapping on the ground.
On was tapping away with her kitten paws.
“Meeeeeow.”
Hong was dangling on Cale’s leg. Cale slowly tried to look at the others before quickly turning away as he was unable to look at Ron or Beacrox in the eyes after seeing their vicious glares.
‘I feel like this father-son duo's gazes becomes more vicious as time goes by.
Their gazes are scarier than the White Star.’
Cale looked toward Choi Han instead.
Choi Han looked calm.
‘As expected.’
Cale then thought about turning toward Eruhaben before changing his mind. It was awkward to look at the ancient Dragon right now.
Cale heard the ancient Dragon’s voice at that moment.
“…Wind Island.”
Cale looked shocked after hearing Eruhaben’s voice.
It was because there was something more than sadness at the fact that he needed to send Cale there for his own life.
Cale started to speak.
“What about Wind Island?”
Cale didn’t think that it would be that hard to visit that island because the thief of the Sound of the Wind had said that her other power was located there.
He had a weird feeling that the island would welcome him.
However, Eruhaben’s expression turned serious.
The reason for this was the same reason Ron and Beacrox’s expressions were more serious than the others.
“The Western continent has the Five Forbidden Regions.”
The Five Forbidden Regions included Henituse territory’s Forest of Darkness, the Caro Kingdom's Land of Death, etc etc.
That was the reason for the stiff expressions on the father-son duo.
The Three Restricted Areas.
They were locations that living beings were not allowed to enter.
Mercenary King Bud Illis started to speak.
“The children of the Eastern continent grow up hearing about the Three Restricted Areas. People say that they are dangerous places. They tell children that they will die if they go there. The methods of death are described as well.”
The Three Restricted Areas.
People who enter these areas died in specific ways.
As for the story regarding the Wind Island…
“They say that, ‘only a corpse with an endless number of slashes remains where the wind blew by.’ ”
“Can you do it? Can you go somewhere that even Dragon-nim is saying is a restricted area?”
“Ha!”
The Mercenary King could see Cale laughing in disbelief. Cale looked toward his group and answered Bud's question.
“Yes.”
‘Why wouldn’t I be able to go?’ My top's whip and the ancient artifact I stole are located there. It was not a divine item, but an item of the temple that belonged to the people who claimed they served a god.
The thief’s husky voice was becoming more passionate as Cale started to speak.
“Bud, my friend. Do you think I will not be able to do something that you were able to do?”
“What?”
Cale pointed to the Mercenary King’s slightly flushed cheeks and continued to speak.
“Pwahahahah!”
Bud Illis laughed before opening his palm toward his mage friend.
“Hey, let me borrow a magic scroll.”
“You think I'm a bank or something?”
The Poeff household’s survivor grumbled as he took out a bundle of magic scrolls from his pocket. They were all teleportation magic scrolls.
“I don't need to sober up!”
Bud laughed loudly as he handed the scrolls to Cale's group.
He then continued to speak.
“I'm always fine!”
“Fine my ass!’
The mage’s voice was drowned out by Bud's laughter.
“Haaaa.”
Cale heard Eruhaben sigh at that moment but feigned ignorance. He could see the ancient Dragon's mouth opening and closing as if he had something to say, but he didn't care and quietly whispered to Eruhaben.
He needed to keep his promise of letting Eruhaben live many more years. Right?
Cale looked toward the group and started to speak.
“Those who want to come along even if they can’t go to the island itself-”
Cale saw Ron smiling at him and let out a fake cough before changing what he was going to say.
“You decide the team, Ron.”
“I will do as you command, young master-nim.”
Cale looked away from the smiling Ron and asked Bud Illis a question.
“Bud, where are we going? We can't go directly to the island, right?”
The Mercenary King smiled at Cale's question before responding back.
“Wind Island has a twin island. It is an island that looks the same and is located right next to it.”
Mm.
Beacrox started to speak as Cale turned toward him.
“…Alcoholics.”
He only said one word.
However, Cale got the chills for some reason and turned back toward Bud. Bud took another gulp of alcohol before continuing to speak.
“That island is my hometown!”
The mage from the Poeff household quickly added on to Bud’s comment.
“It is Wind Island's twin island. It has the Eastern continent’s largest and best brewery.”
He continued to speak in a stoic voice.
“It is heaven for alcoholics.”
‘Heaven for whom?
There’s something like that next to one of the Three Restricted Areas?’
“It is a place where nice people will fill your bucket with alcohol all day as you walk around. It is a place where it is easier to find alcohol than water.”
“It is my amazing hometown! It is a place I am very proud of! It is a place that is always like heaven to me! The heaven for alcoholics!”
Mercenary King Bud Illis's face slowly started to turn redder. It was turning red with excitement. He had quite a bit of pride for his hometown.
“Cale! My drinking buddy! You will definitely like it. That place, that place-!”
Bud Illis looked to be full of admiration as he continued to speak.
“Truly is paradise!”
“It’s just a chaotic mess.”
The Poeff mage clicked his tongue and added on. Human! The Mercenary King is weird! He’s definitely smart, but something is weird!
Raon who stopped spinning in the air spoke into Cale's mind.
The Mercenary King walked over and patted on Cale's shoulder before continuing to speak.
“Shall we make a drinking bet?”
‘Ho.’
“I want to develop the Mercenaries Guild in the Western continent later, so you will help me with that if I win. What do you think?”
‘How interesting.’
Cale could not help himself from smiling.
Bud Illis wanted to make a drinking bet regarding the far future rather than worrying about the White Star. Cale decided to play along with whatever this bet may be.
Bud Illis subconsciously gulped after seeing the cold look in Cale's eyes as Cale put his hand on Bud’s shoulder and started to speak.
“And if I win?”
‘What would be good?’
What should Cale take in return if he won this drinking bet?
Cale soon said what was on his mind.
“You become my de- no.”
‘Aigoo. I almost said detector on accident.’
Bud Illis's special ability. He needed that power in the fight against the White Star.
“…What?”
Bud Illis looked toward Cale in shock.
‘Secretary? Servant? Me?’
“The duration will be about 6 months.”
Cale didn't care about Bud's reaction as he continued on.
“What’s wrong? Do you think you are going to lose?”
The Mercenary King subconsciously responded back.
“No.”
“Then it should be fine.”
Cale started to smile.
“The bet is now official.”
The Poeff mage, Bud’s long-time friend, would end up being correct in this case.
Bud's pupils started to shake. Cale continued to speak as all that happened.
“Shall we go?”
Cale started to move toward Wind Island.
“Weren’t we heading directly to your hometown island?”
Cale looked in front of him.
He could see the ocean that was covered in fog.
The medium-sized ship was rocking on the quite high waves.
Cale's group, the Mercenary King, and his friend were on the rocking ship.
“My hometown island does not give out the coordinates for teleportation when we are bringing foreigners with us. Please understand as there is nothing I can do about it.”
Cale lightly nodded his head.
They couldn't head directly to Bud’s hometown island, but they were able to teleport to an island that was an hour away.
“But my mage friend is raising the speed right now, so we should get there pretty quickly.”
Bud pointed to his friend and started to speak.
“Stay at the island for a few days and observe Wind Island. You’ll be able to get a clear view of it. I'll prepare everything so that you can get started whenever you are ready.”
“…Ready?”
Bud nodded his head at Cale’s question.
“Yes, you need to prepare first. Don't you need to look at the flow of the wind?”
Wind Island was a place where sharp wind blades attacked on multiple sides.
Bud had determined that even someone with the wind attribute would need to get used to the flow and pattern of the wind first.
The Mercenary King could see Cale responding calmly to him. He didn’t seem concerned at all.
“It's fine. My ancient power will tell me the way.”
“…Hmm?”
“Hmm?”
Bud Illis subconsciously asked.
The confused Cale made eye contact with Bud and asked back. The Mercenary King started to frown a bit as he explained himself.
“Cale, you can’t just trust your wind ancient power no matter how strong it is.”
Cale gently explained to Bud, who seemed to have some sort of misunderstanding. This was the first person he had met other than the White Star who was in possession of an ancient power after all.
“…Huh?”
Bud asked once again.
Cale stopped for a moment. Bud’s reaction was odd.
“…Cale, why would an ancient power talk?”
“…Huh?”
It was Cale’s turn to be shocked this time.
‘Why is an ancient power talking?’
“Don't the owners of the ancient powers usually talk to you?”
“Huh?”
The two were going back and forth saying, ‘huh?’ to each other. Bud Illis started to speak with a look of total confusion.
“What are you talking about? You can hear the voices of the ancient powers? How does that make any sense?”
‘What?’
Cale was absolutely shocked.
He heard the ancient Dragon Eruhaben’s low voice at that moment.
‘…Yes sir?’
Cale had been hearing the voices of the ancient powers this whole time as if that was natural.
But that wasn’t the case?
He heard the voices of the ancient powers at that moment. Oh, you didn't know.
It was the cheapskate owner of the Fire of Destruction. He really didn’t know it seems. He didn’t know that this was weird.
The glutton priestess of the Indestructible Shield chimed in next. Wow, eureka. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t know.
The clear voice of the Sky Eating Water came next. The Sound of the Wind commented after her.
The Super Rock was the last to comment.
Ancient powers are powers that are embedded in a person's body and soul. They are created from within a person or in nature.
That is why the White Star left the ancient powers in his body for his future generations. That is the source of the fake ancient powers he discussed.
These were the ancient powers of the Dragon Slayers that Cale and the fake Dragon Slayer Syrem had in their possessions. On the other hand, the White Star kept the strong ancient powers of the Dragon Slayers captured in his soul and carried them with him with each reincarnation. Those powers became stronger and more complete with the flow of time.
The White Star had taken 1,000 years to gather the ancient powers one by one other than his Dragon Slayer power.
Of course, one could wonder whether someone really would need 1,000 years for this, but the White Star probably had his own circumstances.
Cale recalled something the White Star said to him in the last battle.
‘Tsk tsk. Cale, you don't even know how to use ancient powers properly.’
The Super Rock had said that Cale needed more time to fight against the White Star.
The Super Rock continued to speak. Do you wish to defeat the White Star?
‘Obviously I want to win.’ I will teach you the easiest way.
Cale suddenly got the chills.
All five of them, the wind, water, fire, earth, and wood, chimed in together at that moment. Get rid of us.
These were powers that needed to be embedded in a person's soul.
That was why ancient powers only became complete once they fused into a person's soul. However, the wills of the past owners were still within the ancient powers inside Cale.
That was not having complete possession of these powers.
The glutton priestess of the Indestructible Shield continued on. Eat us.
Each time Cale got rid of the will of the past owner and make one of them disappear…
The cheapskate, Super Rock, glutton, thief, and the Sky Eating Water. Each time one of them disappears… You will get stronger.
Cale was filled with an odd sensation.
‘Get rid of them and become stronger?’
Cale thought about the conversations he had with the owners of the ancient powers until now.
‘I'm hungry.’
‘Are you going to sacrifice yourself?’
Cale clearly remembered the many things that the owners of the ancient powers had said to him in the past. He was someone who accurately remembered the things he wanted to remember.
The Super Rock chimed in again at that moment. Actually, there is an even easier method.
Cale’s expression changed.
An easier way to defeat the White Star than getting rid of the owners of the ancient powers.
The Super Rock filled Cale’s mind with that method. There is a human who has a plate as large as the White Star’s.
Cale suddenly tightened his grip on the railing of the ship. Turn that human into a weapon.
A weapon that could defeat this strong enemy called the White Star. Find ancient powers and give that human one of each attribute.
Turn that person into a weapon. And make that person fight the White Star in your place.
Pat.
Cale felt something on both of his shoulders.
“…Cale-nim?” Human! Are you getting seasick?
Choi Han's hand and Raon's paw were on his shoulders. Cale's gaze headed not toward the side with the invisible Raon but toward Choi Han.
Choi Han was supposed to be the original main character of < The Birth of a Hero. >
In that case, the person who would fight against the White Star would be Choi Han as well.
The reincarnator and the dimensional traveler.
He could see the worried expression on Choi Han’s face. He heard the Super Rock's voice at the same time. Yes. The human you are looking at right now is the person with a plate as large as the White Star's.
Turn him into a weapon and have him fight against the enemy called the White Star.
The ship rocked along with the wave.
Cale started to speak.
The easy method and the easiest method.
Cale suddenly felt seasick. Will you sacrifice him?
The Super Rock asked.
Cale responded back.
‘Of course it’s like this.’
“I have to take the hard path.”
Cale was someone who never had anything come easily in his life.