Chapter 16: Alive!

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Talent Spirit of the Magic Cow’s Physicality moved suddenly. It rubbed its face with both its hands, then opened its eyes wide and curiously observed the world around it.

It cheered softly. Its transparent wings vibrated as it charged toward Su Ye, leaving behind a ray of light made out of thin shards of starlight.

Su Ye reached out to receive it, but the Talent Spirit zoomed directly into his body and vanished.

Su Ye looked around. There were no traces of the Talent Spirit left, but he felt as though it had become his power.

“Hmm… If I become a powerful enough mage in the future, I’ll be able to see it.”

“Powerful mages can also create Talent Spirits, but the materials cost at least ten thousand Golden Eagles. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that a creation attempt will succeed. In Greece, only the greatest and wealthiest nobles might be able to purchase one. If we set the exchange rate based on the prices of housing in this world and the Blue Star, Talent Spirits would cost a few million dollars each. Of course, that is only a rough estimation.”

“Powerful Talent Spirits cannot be created. Most of them are given from birth or gifted by the deities. The third way that powerful Talent Spirits are gained is by continuous training. I wonder if this altar will give me the chance to obtain even more powerful talents, or even the Talent Deities from the legends…”

At this moment, the sacrificial altar shook gently and created an immense attractive force. The light coming from the sacrificial altar got dimmer as the attractive force sucked the other three Talent Spirits and the rest of the light back into the altar.

“It looks like I could only choose one…”

Su Ye looked at the bag of coins and the bronze short sword on the sacrificial altar.

“Oh?”

Su Ye noticed that there seemed to be no change to the bag of coins. He opened the bag and realized that all the gold coins were still inside, though they now seemed duller than before.

There were no changes to the bronze short sword.

“That’s weird…”

Su Ye thought about it for a long time, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what had happened with the offering. Finally, he shook his head and decided that he would save further experimentation for the future. He didn’t have the time now.

“It looks like I need to prioritize earning money. Then let me decide on a small goal; I’ll first earn a hundred Golden Eagles. The first chance I get, I’ll see if I can trade my hundred Golden Eagles with someone else, then offer my new coins on the altar. However, the gold coins are still here even after the offering is complete. Just what did the sacrificial altar absorb?” Su Ye wondered. He grabbed the short sword and bag of coins and thought about returning to his room.

Light flashed past his eyes. Su Ye was in his bedroom when he opened his eyes again.

Su Ye hurriedly looked at the bag of money. The mouth of the bag was open, and the hundred Golden Eagles were still there. The surface of the coins looked a little dull, but there seemed to be no changes to the bronze short sword.

Su Ye examined his body closely. There seemed to be no major transformations, but he did feel a little warm.

“Since this is a talent, its effects should be activating gradually. There’s no need to be anxious.” Su Ye thought as he walked into the living room once again.

Nothing had changed here. The three deities and Plato’s projection were still guarding the door.

Su Ye sat down, his thoughts flying wildly.

“Should I meditate for a moment? Forget it, I’ll save that for when I survive to see tomorrow.”

Su Ye shook his head in frustration.

He had accidentally been exposed to meditation when he was in the Blue Star. He didn’t feel anything initially, but he practiced constantly to improve himself. In the end, he realized that both his mental state and attitude had been affected. His vitality and strength also seemed to have received a boost.

Thus, Su Ye systematically started to study psychological theories on meditation from both the east and the west. He even attended Zen lessons and looked into himself. He had once looked into himself so deeply that he isolated himself from the outside world. He hadn’t used his phone or the internet, nor had any human interaction. He only ate, slept, and washed up, not once saying a word. He had spent a full ten days in that state, meditating all the while. He had reached an extremely high level.

Su Ye sat silently on the ground. He thought continuously about his future in Greece and slowly fell asleep.

As Su Ye slept, the powerful Talent Power finally woke up within Su Ye. Warm power coursed into every inch of his body.

Su Ye’s skin became sturdier, his muscles firmer, his skeleton thicker. His entire body started to grow taller.

During the later stages of the night, the Talent Power finally started to die down.

Faint starlight fell onto the yard. Suddenly, a shadow at the base of the wall started to move.

The moving shadow got larger and larger as it rose slowly like a pile of black mud.

Finally, the shadow split open to reveal a black human figure. His entire body was covered in a long black robe.

The black-robed man walked to the center of the yard, his long shadow falling across the ground.

Within the shadow were countless contorted human faces, all of them either wailing, crying, furiously cursing, or struggling…

There seemed to be a wave of shadows under the feet of the black-robed man. They dragged the body along as they advanced, then suddenly stopped outside the colonnade.

The three divine statues with blurry faces stood in the door of the living room. Behind the divine statues, the smiling magic projection of Plato remained motionless.

At this moment, four pairs of eyes seemed to have locked onto the black-robed man.

A long time passed before the black-robed man slowly retreated. He finally melded into the shadows and vanished without a trace.

The night went on. Su Ye was sleeping.

The roosters called. Su Ye was sleeping.

The sun rose. Su Ye was still sleeping.

Clank…

The bronze short sword fell onto the ground.

Su Ye’s body shook as he was jolted awake. Flustered, he snatched up the bronze short sword and pointed it out the door.

The light of the morning sun hung outside the door like a golden veil.

“I survived!”

Su Ye was extremely excited. He laughed loudly and released all of the fear and helplessness he had felt for the entire day. He then quietly wiped the corner of his lips.

Rumble…

Su Ye touched his belly. He stood up and stretched. He was about to prepare breakfast when he suddenly felt as though something was off.

Su Ye had a bad feeling as he looked out the door.

The sun seemed a little too high…

Suddenly, a three-dimensional marble arch emerged from within the open spellbook. A violent voice rang out from within the door.

“Su Ye! Are you ignoring the warning of a powerful mage like myself? You are the only one in school who’s late for the opening ceremony! Get yourself to the academy for your lessons immediately, immediately!”

Boom…

The marble arch fell heavily back into the spellbook.

Su Ye nearly broke out in cold sweat. He hadn’t expected Plato’s assistant to be so furious.

Su Ye surveyed his surroundings. He no longer cared about his appearance or breakfast. He grabbed the bag of coins and his spellbook, then turned and walked out the door. As he walked through, he told the three divine statues, “Please enjoy the sunlight for now. I’ll take the three of you back into the house when I come back tonight. Please forgive me for any disrespect.”

Su Ye entered the bedroom and changed into a clean robe. He then lifted the hem of the robe and tucked away his spellbook as he charged out the door.

He had already sent the bag of money into the Wasteland.

The muscular man Figo turned with a roll of wheat bread in his hand. When he saw Su Ye, he let out a joyous exclamation. “Su Ye! Are you alright?”

Su Ye smiled and said loudly, “I’m alright! The money has been paid, and I’m safe! Thank you, Uncle Figo!” After he spoke, he snatched the half-eaten bread from Figo’s hand and continued running.

“I already bit into that!” Figo shouted after him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tear off the area where you took a bite!”

“What a crafty lad!” Figo gave a comfortable smile as he looked at the young man’s rapidly disappearing back.

The neighbors nearby stepped out of the house.

“I told you that Su Ye would be fine.”

“His entire family are good people.”

“I hope that he will become a mage in the future and exact revenge for his parents.”

“Shhh…”

***

Su Ye clenched his jaws as he ran barefoot over the streets. He got closer and closer to Plato Academy.

A hunchbacked elder walked slowly forward as Su Ye passed through Arena Street. The old man had a long metal hook in his hands. The rust on the metal hook was extremely dark, colored in shades of black and red.

The people nearby instinctively retreated when they saw the elder, their gazes uncertain.

Only the owner of a coffin shop greeted the man with a smile. “Old Barker, you’re going to the arena this early?”

Old Barker continued his lurching walk forward. He raised his metal hook without looking at the shop owner and continued walking toward the arena.

Su Ye ran for a while longer after he passed through Arena Street before he arrived at the main gate of Plato Academy.