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The man drank the completed S-grade decoction.

Gulp gulp.

And before long, the man who had been lying down started to slowly rise from his spot.

It seemed the effect of the decoction was so astounding that even he himself was surprised.

Ethan cleared the quest in precisely 20 minutes.

Ethan took a deep breath and smiled.

‘It’s fortunate the S-grade came out right away.’

With this, the man’s illness was cured.

‘I even increased my reputation and achieved an achievement.’

Moreover, the man’s expression was unusual. From his past experiences, Ethan knew that the rewards differed greatly depending on how one cleared the quest.

“How could this… I never thought I’d be able to get up like this.”

He looked over his restored body.

“You’re incredible, friend! Truly incredible!”

The man laughed as if he were about to cry.

Then, with a snap of his fingers, the shackles binding his ankles instantly shattered with a clanking sound.

“Now you can tell me the story.”

“Of course. But I received too much for just telling a story. I’ll give the change back to you.”

“A life that was once dead. Since you revived me, I’ll give you the most precious things I have. Choose one.”

Anisida was the man’s name.

‘Anisida is offering these rewards.’

“They may look humble, but they’re all highly effective. I should have introduced myself earlier. I am a spirit mage named Anisida.”

The spirit mage Anisida.

Though he explained it briefly, he was one of the most renowned spirit mages on this continent.

‘He was a great spirit mage who left his mark on the history of the continent.’

He had contracts with more than five high-ranking spirits, and even a contract with the Spirit King.

In terms of skill alone, he was an exceptional spirit mage unmatched anywhere – this was Anisida.

‘Although he is quite old now.’

His mana must have deepened that much more.

Ethan decided to first find out the effects of Anisida’s items.

“Could you tell me the effects of those items?”

“First, this bracelet…”

Anisida explained about the rewards.

The bracelet was an artifact that could store mana, and the ring had the effect of increasing mana.

The robe and necklace had resistance attached to various types of magic.

‘This is the most suitable for me right now.’

“I’ll take the bracelet.”

Besides the bracelet, the other items were not something Ethan could use. If he stored mana in the bracelet, it would definitely be a great help someday.

[Anisida’s Bracelet] [S-grade]

A bracelet used by the great spirit mage Anisida. Mana can be stored and withdrawn for use when needed.

Mana Storage: 1,000

It was an S-grade piece of equipment, no less.

Ethan received Anisida’s Bracelet with a satisfied expression.

‘As expected, there are rewards for overwhelmingly clearing the quest.’

“Now then, let me tell you about the treasure you’re looking for. It’s that lightning, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Just as the story was about to begin, a loud bang echoed through the cave.

And shortly after, someone came walking this way. Anisida frowned and raised his hand, but Ethan glanced at him, reassuring him with his eyes.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Ethan smiled at Yerica, whose clothes were stained with blood here and there.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

For it was not her own blood.

“After sending you in, it would be embarrassing if I got hurt.”

She snapped her fingers, and immediately used a clean spell to remove the blood stains from her clothes.

“But why didn’t you use the clean spell when you came in?”

“I wanted to look a little cool.”

She grinned.

“Is she your companion?”

“Yes, she is my escort.”

“Then we can continue the story.”

At Ethan’s gesture, Yerica also entered inside the iron grates and began listening to Anisida’s story together.

“This desolate valley was originally a city. A city full of green…”

In front of this Titi Valley, there had been a city.

Not a desolate place like now, but a city full of greenery, called the Silk Valley.

“It was the land I ruled, the Silk Valley.”

The owner of the Silk Valley was the spirit mage Anisida before them.

Utilizing his unique talent, Anisida had turned the Silk Valley into a city specialized in spirits, and numerous spirit mages had gathered there.

As the spirits gathered, the area around the Silk Valley was further enveloped in greenery under their influence.

That was the start of the calamity.

“The scale of the Silk Valley continued to grow, and more and more skilled spirit mages flocked there. But among the spirit mages who gathered, there was one who dealt with dark spirits.”

Dark spirits were different from ordinary spirits.

They were spirits that fed on life force and were banished from the Spirit Realm.

“I tried to step in, but I was overwhelmed with the affairs of my territory and the influx of spirit mages… So his younger sister decided to take care of that matter instead.”

Anisida spoke of his sister.

Having lost their parents at a young age, Anisida and his younger sister had relied on each other and lived together.

Being twelve years older, Anisida had raised his younger sister almost like a parent.

His younger sister had always strived to lessen her brother’s burden.

– It’s supposed to be good for your body!

But it turned out to be an herb that caused stomach aches.

– This will really help you, big brother. I saved up four months’ worth of my salary to buy this.

The robe whose effects were fake was bought by his little sister with her salary that she had saved up while resisting her favorite snacks.

Still, the little sister always wanted to help her brother, thinking that her brother was sacrificing himself for her all the time.

“But I told you I’m fine now.”

Even after Anisida used his talent to become the lord of Silk Valley, his little sister still wanted to help Anisida.

Knowing her heart, Anisida entrusted the matter of the dark spirit to her.

“I wanted to lighten the burden on her heart.”

However, the situation took a turn for the worse.

“My sister was chosen by a special lightning spirit. The spirit mage who made a pact with the spirit of darkness had been targeting that from the start. Through the dark spirit, they… tainted my sister and took the lightning spirit, even reaching the Lightning Spirit King.”

The Lightning Spirit King became enraged.

The Thunder God and king of all lightning spirits cast a curse.

“My sister, who took that curse head-on… started rampaging while wielding the lightning that the lightning spirit had once gifted her. And because of that rampage, Silk Valley was destroyed… and I was imprisoned in this state while trying to stop her.”

“So your sister still had some sanity left at that time.”

“…Yeah.”

– I’m sorry, big brother. I just wanted to help this time.

Anisida recalled his sister from that time.

Yerica’s eyes were red after hearing the whole story.

Crack!

Crackle crackle!

Then, the sound of lightning striking came from the forest outside the cave.

“It’s better to give up. I know you are so talented that you can heal me. I can see you have some skill in swordsmanship too. But… it will be too much for you to handle.”

Anisida spoke with a resolved expression.

“And all of this… is a problem I have to solve. Even if you got involved, it was my little sister who did this. As her older brother, I have to take care of everything.”

‘Normally, Anisida would not become this healthy.’

No matter what healthy medicines he was given, he would not become healthy.

‘He would not recover to the point of being able to walk around like this, so all you could do was give him advice.’

Ethan had cleared this quest multiple times, but had never seen Anisida able to stand and move.

As a result, he had to clear this quest entirely on his own. All Anisida could do was give advice.

‘At most, he could provide a bit more help by using spirits. Just that much.’

But now it was different.

‘It’s because he drank an S-grade decoction.’

Additionally, since he had cleared the quest with a three-day time limit in just 20 minutes, he could be considered to have fully recovered his health.

‘I could even fight alongside him.’

If that happened, he would be able to clear the quest much more easily. With Anisida’s spirit abilities helping, it would not be difficult to defeat the boss.

“I absolutely must obtain that treasure. And… don’t we have to restore this valley to its original state?”

“…Why?”

“I am a descendant of the Moon Goddess. I came thinking there would be a shrine here, but since there isn’t, I want to build a new shrine myself this time.”

“You’re telling me to rebuild Silk Valley?”

“You don’t know? There are still people who used to live in Silk Valley building villages and living in this area. This place is their hometown. They want to reclaim it, but can’t.”

Ethan utilized his knowledge and information.

Having cleared the quest multiple times, he was well-versed in the detailed information.

“I will help you.”

Ethan said.

“To rebuild Silk Valley, to stop your sister. In exchange.”

Ethan took firm control of the quest.

“Allow me to build a shrine to the Moon Goddess here. And help me gather worshippers of that goddess.”

“I set out boldly, but I lost even then.”

Anisida said that, and talked about the power held by the lightning and dark spirits.

“That lightning is a sword. A sword that is also lightning. And that sword is brimming with the power of the dark spirit, so ordinary weapons can’t match it.”

He also said that his sister, who had been completely driven mad by the curse, had all her potential going berserk, so a head-on battle was absolutely impossible.

‘He’s right. In my current state, I absolutely can’t fight head-on.’

When he had cleared this quest before, he had prepared thoroughly.

The fallen Lightning Guardian was a boss boasting tremendous attack power. As a result, equipment with high lightning resistance or skills and high stats to withstand that attack power were essential.

Especially armor with high lightning resistance was a must.

On top of that, additional means to somehow block that tremendous attack power were needed to endure the attacks and clear it.

‘Back then, my body wasn’t weakened like now. So a head-on battle wasn’t impossible.’

He had brought everything necessary, so a head-on battle was possible.

But now it was difficult.

In his current state, even using Supreme Resilience could get him killed.

‘But that doesn’t mean there’s no way.’ 𝚏ree𝚠𝚎𝐛nove𝚕.com

He had already thought it all out before coming.

“Don’t worry. There is a way.”

Ethan said.

“No matter how strong the attack is, if it doesn’t hit, it’s meaningless.”

Author's Thoughts

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