'Black Heart? What's this?'
Sungmin looked down at his body in confusion. Clad in the magic armor, he could not feel any change. The distracting noise of the heartbeat had also disappeared. He couldn't hear it like he just did. However, he still had that strange feeling that something foreign was inside his chest. He placed his hand on his chest and calmed his breathing.
He first opened up his status window. He didn't know what this 'Black Heart' was, but since he heard a voice like when he learned skills, he thought that he should be able to check it on his status.
It was just as he thought.
-Black Heart.
The Lich Prescan's ultimate goal.
The problem was here. The skill he could check through the status window, like all other skills, was too vague. It said that it was Prescan's ultimate goal, but just what was his ultimate goal? The lich that Sungmin remembered, Prescan, was simply a mad scientist who wanted to become a woman and have a child.
"Uh… Sir Lloyd?"
Hesitating momentarily, he called for Lloyd. Lloyd asked him to destroy the heart, but he unintentionally acquired it instead. Sungmin felt the situation was difficult and called out.
"Sir Lloyd?"
However, Lloyd did not reply. Sungmin approached Lloyd in surprise. Collapsed, Lloyd was still. Sungmin immediately checked for his pulse.
Fortunately, Lloyd had only passed out. His 'fatal injuries' didn't seem that serious either. Or rather, it was progressing to that point. Sungmin could see that Lloyd's wounds were regenerating at a visible speed.
Xeon, on the other hand had his eyes wide open, as though his death came suddenly. Sungmin let out a sigh and reached towards towards Xeon. His hesitant hands closed Xeon's eyes, and he searched his belongings.
A small cloth pouch could be felt in his hands. Sungmin carefully took it out. Although the pouch was only palm-sized, he was able to put his arm elbow-deep into it.
When he searched around, various items could be felt. Sungmin grabbed one of them and took it out.
'Hundred Steps Divine Fist.'
That was the title of the old book. The moment he read that, Sungmin's heart thumped loudly. The Hundred Steps Divine Fist was one of the famed arts of the Shaolin, and it was what Xeon had learned.
When he searched around a little more, he found some more martial arts manuals. Sungmin exclaimed after looking at the manuals for Bodhidharma Cultivation art, as well as Arhat Movement art. These were both top-tier arts of the Shaolin. As he had learned the Purple Cloud Divine art and Shadowless Phantom movement art, Sungmin wasn't too greedy over the Bodhidharma cultivation art and the Arhat Movement art, but he did want the Hundred Steps Divine Fist. He judged that it wouldn't be bad to learn it just in case he was put in a situation where he couldn't use his spear.
'Though, I probably won't have much time to learn it properly….'
However, he should be able to use it in emergency situations. But since he couldn't learn it immediately, Sungmin put the three manuals into his own spatial pouch. Then, he rummaged through Xeon's spatial pouch some more.
Two wooden chests – one of which he had seen before. This was the chest that Xeon had offered to Sungmin when he invited him to join the Corona mercenaries. Sungmin gulped and opened the chest.
The Lesser Restoration pill – one of the secret pills of the Shaolin, was inside it. Sungmin wanted to dance in joy, but he suppressed the impulse and opened the other chest.
A sudden wave of fresh fragrance hit his nose. Within it rested a red pill, slightly larger than the Lesser Restoration pill. This was the Greater Restoration pill. Sungmin had never seen a Greater Restoration pill in person, but he had no doubt that this was it. Sungmin closed the chest with trembling hands and put them inside his own pouch.
"…Don't resent me too much. It should be better for me to take it than let someone else take it, right?"
After muttering that to Xeon's corpse, Sungmin searched around his corpse a little more. Unfortunately, there was nothing other than the spatial pouch. Sungmin took the spatial pouch, searching the remaining mercenaries' belongings as well and taking them.
After taking everything he needed to, Sungmin went over to Lloyd and hoisted him over his shoulder. Then, he looked for a way out of the dungeon. As for the corpses of Xeon and the others, he just left them there. He originally planned to take their bodies back using a large-scale spatial pouch from Bern or the other dead people, but it didn't go as he had expected. Other than Xeon and the mummified mercenaries, the others didn't even have an intact corpse.
In the end, Sungmin climbed up the stairs carrying Xeon and the other mummified corpses as well as Lloyd.
It was a pity that he couldn't take the remaining artifacts from the dungeon, but with the secret techniques and pills of the Shaolin, this was in no way a loss for him.
When he left the dungeon, the sun was setting. Since they entered the dungeon just before noon, at least 6 hours had passed already. Sungmin let out a sigh and looked at Lloyd who was on his back. Lloyd was still unconscious, but his breathing was regular.
Fortunately, since they left the horse carriages nearby the dungeon, leaving wasn't an issue. The horsemen were shocked to see Sungmin returning with the unconscious Lloyd and other corpses, but when Sungmin explained to them, they accepted for the time being.
"Let's go back to Behengerr."
Said Sungmin in a fatigued voice. Although he only spent half a day in the dungeon, he… had gone through too many things. He felt as though his head was going to burst from all of the thoughts crowding his mind.
During the bumpy ride, Sungmin decided to take note of what he had learnt in the dungeon. He took out the note and pen from his pocket.
There is another being with a twisted karma. I don't know who, but from the way the lich said that he couldn't do anything about this being, I estimate that they have the ability of the exceed-level at minimum. There is something other than twisted karma about me. Kim Jonghyun knows something about this, but cannot say it to me. The being that the lich summoned refused to take me as offering. However, Msh and Nevel are desirous of my soul. I do not know what differences the lich's summoned being have to Nevel or Msh. After I returned to the past, I'm receiving a strangely large amount of goodwill from others. In my previous life, the magic armor turned a third-rate mercenary into a peak-level expert, but I feel no changes. I have acquired something called the Black Heart, but I don't know what it is. Lloyd, who originally died, now lives. Lloyd promised me rewards in return, but I don't know what I'll get. Mercenaries other than me are all dead. I acquired the Lesser and Greater Restoration pills from Xeon's body, as well as the secret arts of the Shaolin temple.Sungmin had a look at the things he wrote down. When he put his raging thoughts onto the paper, he felt a calm wash over him. The problem was, writing them down didn't help at all in terms of finding any answers.
'In the first place, is there something to do with the stone of transmigration?'
Sungmin frowned and fell into thought. When he grabbed the stone of transmigration, nothing special happened. He just wondered what a stone was doing in that place, and not too long later, he died.
Still, he found it fortunate that there are people who could tell him the truth about the magic armor and the Black Heart.
When he arrived at Behengerr, it was already night. Sungmin immediately went to the mercenary guild to tell them about the tragedy that occurred, and showed Xeon's corpse as well as the mummified mercenaries as proof.
"Th, the guildmaster. What happened to him?"
The middle-aged mercenary that took care of the guild while Bern was away, hastily asked. He was Jo Young, an S-rank mercenary. Although they were acquainted, Sungmin wasn't so close to him.
"He has passed."
Regarding Bern's death, Sungmin also felt bitterness… Bern had been quite nice to him.
"N, no way..?!"
"I'll explain the details later."
"What? Where do you think you are going! What's more urgent than this?!"
"The Tower Lord of the Gold Magic Tower, Sir Lloyd, has been injured. The only reason I was able to survive was because Sir Lloyd appeared at the dungeon and chased out the Black Mage. In that process, Sir Lloyd received serious injuries."
"The Tower Lord of the Gold Magic Tower…? Is, is that true?"
Jo Young's eyes widened in shock. The Tower Lord of the Gold Magic Tower had an absolutely higher position than a mere branch head of the Behengerr mercenary guild. In the first place, Magic Towers were treated specially even amongst mages. A Tower Lord implied that Lloyd was in the top 10 in regards to skill and reputation amongst the entire mage guild, so it was no wonder that Jo Young was shocked.
"Yes. So first, I wish to take Sir Lloyd to the mage guild…."
"…Well… if that's the case, I can't stop you."
In the end, Jo Young could only hold back. He made a bitter expression while looking at Xeon's corpse in the carriage.
"To think the leader of the Corona mercenaries would die like this… even sir Bern… fuu."
Sungmin left the sighing Jo Young, putting Lloyd on his back again. The mage guild wasn't far from the mercenary guild, so it didn't take long to get there.
When Sungmin arrived at the mage guild, the entire guild flipped over. The news that the Gold Tower Lord was carried in injured was enough to shake the entire guild. Although it was late at night, the mages of the guild moved around busily and looked for a way to restore Lloyd.
"They're overreacting."
Scarlett approached, grumbling. Sungmin, who was leaning against a wall, gave a short greeting to Scarlett.
"I saw that his wounds were all healed. He only fainted because he ran out of magic energy. Once enough magic energy returns to his body, he should open his eyes."
"Doesn't that mean that there's no need to heal him?"
"Yes, but there's a need to show him that 'we did our best'. Only then would we be able to say 'we helped you out' when he wakes up."
Scarlett giggled. Her attitude showed that she didn't seem to like the beings known as 'Tower Lords'.
"Don't all mages admire Tower Lords?"
"What is there to admire? I don't like those old farts. They are always full of secrets. They never take disciples, nor do they ever share their knowledge with others."
It felt rather strange to hear that from Scarlett, who would later found the Lecire School, and become the lord of the Red Magic Tower. Although people change; what is it that made Scarlett have such a drastic change of heart?
"Rather than that, you… that armor looks neat. Where did you get it?"
"…I was lucky."
"I heard that the other mercenaries all died. …You really were lucky. You should be thankful. If you died, I would have had a hard time sleeping."
"You were worried about me?"
"Kid, you're so cheesy. It's natural that an acquaintance's death would make me feel unpleasant."
Scarlett grumbled and smacked Sungmin's head.
"I was wondering why it was so noisy late in the night."
Sungmin heard a familiar voice and turned around.
Kim Jonghyun, clad in a white gown, was standing there, yawning.
T/N: Woot! Pills!
Next chapter teaser: Sungmin against Kim Jonghyun – round 2! The secret behind the magic armor?
ED: I really love how Lloyd conveniently goes unconscious as our MC absorbs the mysterious evil heart… Maybe the true function of his new armour is actually plot armour?