< 63 : Black Sky (1) >
Several days had passed since I handed over the skill book to Eutenia.
It was only a few days for me, but it must have been much longer for the characters in the game.
Did she finish deciphering all the magic books that I gave her?
After work, I logged into the game and checked the [Magic Book: Control Weather] in my inventory.
It seemed that Eutenia had been practicing her magic whenever she had time, while completing the quest that I gave her.
Eutenia showed me that she could learn any magic book that I gave her without any difficulty.
Considering that Roan couldn’t achieve the same results even if he got the skill book, it was right to think that Eutenia was special.
“I made a great character.”
I felt satisfied as I looked at the [Magic Book: Control Weather] in my inventory.
How many people among the players of this game had a filial character like Eutenia?
Eutenia was a gem of talent that I barely found among countless characters.
It was a lucky chance that I got with an amazing probability.
I gave Eutenia a cake through the trade window as a reward for returning the magic books.
Maybe it was because it had been a long time since she had a cake.
Eutenia smiled happily and ate the whole cake that I gave her.
Of course, she didn’t share a single piece with the horseman character in front of her.
“Thank you for your grace today.”
I watched Eutenia eating for a while, then I moved my eyes to the inventory and looked at the magic book.
The [Magic Book: Control Weather] in the inventory was emitting a purple glow unlike other magic books.
It was the same glow that I could see from rare items like [Magic Sword: Ednos].
I wondered how powerful the magic would be.
Click.
As I pressed the magic book in the inventory, a message popped up asking me if I wanted to learn the skill.
-Do you want to learn <Control Weather> skill?
-The magic book will disappear when you learn it.
-Yes / No
Of course, my only choice was ‘yes’.
As soon as I pressed the acquisition button, the magic book in my inventory disappeared and a new skill icon appeared at the bottom of the screen.
A skill icon with an intuitive design of a cloud and a sun.
I had successfully acquired the <Control Weather> skill by using the magic book.
-You have acquired <Control Weather (Lv.MAX)>.
You can now use the Control Weather magic by consuming mana.
Now that I had acquired a new skill, it was time to try it out for myself.
I moved the screen to create as much distance as possible from Eutenia.
If I used the magic recklessly, there was a possibility that Eutenia would also be affected by it.
Swoosh. Swish.
After switching the screen a few times, I saw a village with people.
Having discovered a new village, I immediately touched the skill icon of <Control Weather> to activate the skill.
“Do I have to choose the weather condition that I want to change first?”
As soon as I pressed the icon of <Control Weather>, six buttons appeared on the screen.
Clear. Cloudy. Rain. Heat. Storm. Eclipse.
These were the list of weather conditions that <Control Weather> supported.
I touched the ‘Storm’ button among the six buttons.
I thought that I could confirm the change of the tile more clearly than other weather conditions.
Thud.
As soon as I pressed the storm button, a target marker appeared to set the range of the skill.
“I can also adjust the skill range separately?”
The new target area had an additional marker that allowed me to adjust the range.
I touched the marker and tried to manipulate the range of the target area.
The skill’s range increased when I pulled the marker, and it decreased when I pushed it in.
Of course, there was no such thing as increasing the skill’s range without any penalty.
The estimated mana consumption that appeared at the top of the screen increased as I pulled the marker.
On the contrary, when I reduced the range, the estimated mana consumption decreased.
“There’s also a duration setting besides the range.”
There was also a button to set the duration on the upper right corner of the target area.
The minimum duration was one hour, and I could maintain the weather phenomenon for up to seven days at most.
I could see that the mana consumption decreased when I set the skill’s duration shorter.
It seemed that <Control Weather> was not a low-mana-consuming skill, so it would be difficult to abuse it even with my greatly increased mana amount.
When I reduced the size of the target area to a reasonable level and set the duration to one day, an estimated mana consumption of about 2% appeared.
This level was not too much of a burden for me to use the skill for testing purposes.
After finishing all the settings, I pressed the target area and activated the <Control Weather> skill.
-You used <Control Weather: Storm>.
-The effect of <Control Weather> will last for one day.
As soon as I used the skill, dark clouds began to gather around me.
It was not just raining, but maybe it was because I chose the storm option.
The trees within the range of the skill were shaking violently.
The dark clouds that gathered quickly did not take long to produce their result.
A few minutes after the clouds started to form, rain began to pour from the sky.
“Wow…”
Splash.
Thick raindrops were falling in the area where <Control Weather> was activated.
The weather around me changed according to the weather environment I had altered.
As the storm hit the village, I saw a piece of laundry hanging on a line fly away in the distance.
I felt a strange sense of wonder as I watched the rain pouring from the sky.
It was the most extensive and intuitive magic among all the spells I had used so far.
The sight of the weather changing at my fingertips was very interesting.
“It’s not bad, except for the high mana consumption.”
Maybe because it was a high-tier magic, it was not a low-mana-consuming spell.
But even considering that, it was undoubtedly a fun spell.
I could whimsically change the weather as I pleased when I used the skill.
“But I wonder… how far can I extend the range?”
After using the skill with a reduced range, I felt like trying to use it with the maximum range possible.
If I used most of my mana to cast <Control Weather>, how far could I change the weather?
It was a curiosity that anyone who played the game would have.
My eyes naturally went to the skill icon of <Control Weather>.
“I should check it out.”
It was only natural to experiment right away if I was curious.
I touched the <Control Weather> skill and pressed the ‘eclipse’ button to select the weather I wanted.
Then I moved the marker to expand the target area of the <Control Weather> magic as much as possible.
When I extended the target area to the limit of my mana, the target area grew to about 20% of the movable area.
It was undoubtedly a very large area, comparable to a village.
“I could probably extend it more if I reduce the duration.”
The current range was based on the default duration of three days.
If I reduced the duration of the skill from here, I might be able to expand the range proportionally.
I adjusted the duration setting of <Control Weather> and lowered the duration of the skill to one day.
As I reduced the duration of <Control Weather>, the estimated mana consumption decreased by a third.
If I moved the marker in this state, I would be able to widen the range of the skill more than before.
“Good. The range keeps increasing.”
I continued to move the skill marker and widened the scope of the skill.
It was a huge area, covering half of the movable range. The estimated mana consumption reached 89% of the maximum mana amount.
I had already used 2% of my mana to make it rain.
If I used up all my mana here, there was a high chance that the characters would not receive enough mana from me.
I stopped moving the skill marker when the estimated mana consumption reached 89%.
Then I touched the target area again and cast the <Control Weather> skill.
-You used <Control Weather: Eclipse>.
The effect of <Control Weather> will last for one day.
As I touched the target area, messages indicating that I used the skill appeared one after another.
At the same time, something strange started to happen on the whole screen.
Boom——.
The screen darkened and a loud noise echoed from somewhere.
I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from, but it was clear that something big was changing.
“What? The skill sound is… why is it so loud?”
Boom——!
The sound from the speaker kept getting louder.
The screen of my smartphone also kept getting darker.
Boom. Boom——.
The volume that kept increasing reached the point where it filled the whole room and more.
The moment the sound reached the output limit of the speaker.
A thick darkness descended on the entire screen.
* * * * * *
The western part of the empire. The Ketterland region.
Van Krite, a special investigator of Cloud, looked ahead with a sharp gaze.
In front of him were black-robed dark mages who had fallen to the ground.
They had all been defeated by Van’s swordsmanship.
The dark mages who lay in front of him were the low-ranking members of a secret organization called ‘Abyss’.
Van had been dispatched here personally to investigate the traces of Abyss, which had started to move recently.
“Did you find any clues?”
The subordinate who was accompanying him asked Ban, who was looking serious and troubled.
Ban Krite was a fairly famous investigator within Cloud.
He had formidable power, brilliant strategy, and a handsome appearance to match.
There were countless investigators in Cloud who admired him.
The subordinate who was with Ban was also one of those who respected him.
He asked Ban this question because he trusted Ban’s sharp insight.
“The altar is bothering me.”
“The altar?”
The subordinate’s gaze followed Ban’s words to the altar nearby.
It was an altar of demon worship used by the Abyssal black mages.
The altar was covered with numerous geometric symbols.
The black mages had to offer sacrifices through such altars to gain power.
The subordinate knew about the existence of these altars from seeing them every time, but he didn’t know much about the types of altars.
Ban added an explanation for the subordinate about the altar in front of them.
“Black mages accumulate karma by offering sacrifices to the beings of the abyss.”
“It’s a well-known story that black mages offer beasts or humans as sacrifices.”
“But this altar is much bigger and more elaborate than the other altars we’ve seen before.”
It was bigger and more elaborate than the usual altars.
That was what made Ban’s expression dark.
The symbols on the altar were not mere decorations, but had magical meanings.
The fact that the symbols on the altar were big and elaborate was something that Ban had to seriously consider.
“Elaborate means… it might be a more important altar.”
“It might be offered to a more extraordinary being than the usual demons.”
The altars that the black mages had were altars that required a considerable level of difficulty to make.
How amazing would a being have to be to use such a splendid altar?
As Ban was pondering, a name that he had read in an ancient document flashed through his mind.
The Necromancer King, Arcrosis.
The being that became the origin of all black mages, who summoned the most evil and dreadful demon.
Could such a being be summoned through this kind of altar?
Ban sighed and turned his back on the altar.
“Are you done with the investigation?”
Thud. Thud.
The sound of Ban’s footsteps echoed in the cave where the black mages were hiding.
As Ban was about to leave the hideout, the subordinate who was following him asked him.
The subordinate had some evidence collected from the hideout in his hand.
Ban nodded his head and answered the subordinate’s question.
“I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like this is different from the demons we’ve seen so far.”
“Maybe we’ll have to fight a much stronger demon than before.”
“That might be the case. We have a lot to report today.”
The higher the rank of the demon contracted by the black mage, the more sacrifices Cloud would have to make.
If the enemy was the legendary Necromancer King, there was a chance that Ban’s skills would not be enough to stop him.
He couldn’t let his guard down just because he had easily defeated his previous opponent. The next one might be much tougher.
As he was pondering the identity of the demon, Ban stepped out of the hideout.
He was faced with a completely different problem than what he had been worrying about.
“What is this… how can…”
“…”
Right in front of the hideout he had just left.
Where the sun had been shining just moments ago, there was now a black sun in the sky.
In the dark night sky, even the stars were barely visible.
A black sun. A gloomy sky.
And the dark world below it.
Ban’s eyes were trembling violently as he faced the black sky.
“What on earth is happening?”
Black Sun
What he saw before his eyes was a scene that defied human common sense.
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