abcnovels
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
———
Chapter 2 – The Crazy Mage’s Return
A sense of unease washed over me, and I looked around.
A dark and gloomy room.
Hazy smoke and a pungent smell stung my nose, and loud shouts filled the air.
The people around me were either staggering or sitting down with strange grins, or lying on the ground rolling around like idiots.
‘Even in death, I’m surrounded by lunatics. Could this be…?’
At that moment, a man with hollow eyes approached, glaring at me. I swallowed dryly and asked,
“Hey. Is this hell?”
“Cut the crap. Look at how expensive this is, why did you drink it all yourself?”
Suddenly, I felt a moist, bitter taste on my lips.
I licked them without realizing it.
The dizziness and the feeling of my body going limp were all too familiar. It was a taste from the distant corners of my memory.
‘Hallucinogenic herbs?’
Just in case, I looked down, and my unbelievable suspicion was confirmed.
The bubbling yellow bottle in front of me contained psychotropic drugs.
Next to it were half-burnt, cheap hallucinogenic herbs.
‘This is what I used to see when I was a thug, right?’
Even in the most chaotic hell, this shouldn’t exist. Could I still be alive?
“Ruin still hasn’t come to his senses. It’s been a while since you got a beating, hasn’t it?”
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but those hollow eyes were staring at me with murderous intent. Two burly men surrounded me. They looked like third-rate thugs.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
“Ha.”
“Oh, you’re laughing? Are you really crazy? Are you?”
“You’ve got that right. I’m the Crazy Mage.”
I glared at the man with hollow eyes and said,
“Now that you know who I am, stop this. The Crazy Mage doesn’t go easy on anyone, even kids.”
The man cracked his neck and looked at the burly guy next to him.
“Krak.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Bring that crazy bastard over here. I need to teach him a lesson today.”
The burly man called Krak approached me with a grotesque grin.
“Hehehe.”
A good beating is the best medicine for kids who don’t understand words. I immediately kicked off the ground, aiming a punch at Krak’s face, but…
As soon as I took a step, I realized something was wrong.
My body felt heavy, as if filled with a thousand pounds of iron.
At the same time, dizziness washed over me.
Instead of panicking, I focused on the situation in front of me.
I tried to draw mana from the air as much as I could.
Even with my mana circles damaged, I could still cast 1st Circle magic without much difficulty.
‘Huh?’
As I chanted the incantation for ‘Wind,’ I felt something was wrong.
The wind that manifested in my hand was much weaker than expected.
Meanwhile, Krak’s heavy fist was approaching my face.
I condensed the wind in my hand into a gust and threw a punch.
Our fists collided.
Wham!—
“Ugh!”
Krak grimaced, clutching his hand.
A look of surprise flickered across the eyes of the other men watching.
I took a moment to assess my condition.
I definitely heard a cracking sound from my right arm.
‘Damn it, did I dislocate my elbow?’
The pain intensified as I rotated my elbow.
This didn’t make sense. No matter how much I thought about it… this wasn’t my body.
“Hold on.”
First, I needed to understand the situation. I spoke to the men who were still looking bewildered.
“I’m Ruin of Samael. Identify yourselves first.”
The man with hollow eyes narrowed his eyes and replied,
“Ruin Samael? Are you really out of your mind?”
“I don’t have a surname. I’m just Ruin.”
“Right, you ungrateful bastard.”
“…”
When I didn’t respond, the man with hollow eyes said,
“You really are out of your mind. I am Blok of House Bayern.”
“Never heard of that House. I’m Ruin, the Crazy Mage, the last survivor of the Final Expedition. Where the hell is this? It doesn’t seem like hell.”
“What?”
The man with hollow eyes paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! This crazy bastard. The Final Expedition? You’re completely delusional. Are you a dragon? An elf? Have you been alive for 300 years? It seems like I need to beat you 300 times for you to come to your senses.”
I stared intently at the man with hollow eyes. I could tell whether he was lying or telling the truth by looking into his eyes.
That’s when something incomprehensible happened.
*
– ?The ability ?Mind’s Eye? is activated?
– ?You gaze at the target with your mind’s eye?
– ?If the opponent is of a similar level, you can ascertain information about them?
*
=======
? Blok Bayern — Corpse Eyes
? Talents: Weapon Skill [Swordsmanship (D)], Elemental Affinity [Water (C)]
? Traits: Stamina [C], Mental Strength [D], Mana Resonance [F]
? Tendencies: [Exploiting the Weak], [Despicable], [Observant], [Extravagant], [Pleasure-Seeking]
? Overall Grade: Magic (D)
======
Information about the man flooded into my mind.
I wasn’t surprised. I had seen many illusions while fighting demons.
The only thing I believed now was that the murderous intent in Blok’s eyes was growing stronger.
“Hey, Hollow Eyes.”
“What?”
“On second thought, Corpse Eyes is a more fitting name for you.”
Blok shouted,
“Get that bastard over here, now!”
Krak charged at me again.
In my current state, even moving was a struggle. But who was I?
I wrapped my left fist with ‘Wind’ and threw a punch.
As soon as our fists met, I heard another cracking sound, and my left elbow felt dislocated.
‘Ugh.’
Suppressing the pain, I lunged at Krak’s face and headbutted his jaw.
*Wham!*
“Cough!”
Krak’s eyes rolled back as he fell backward.
Damn it, I was already out of breath after just a couple of moves. My vision started to blur.
The other burly man, who had been watching silently, cursed and drew his sword.
“This bastard is asking for it!”
A sudden surge of anger overwhelmed me.
I grabbed a nearby bottle and focused on the flow of mana around me. My broken body was already at its limit.
The cold sensation of the blade approaching my face grew stronger.
I had to wait. There weren’t many opportunities.
I needed to aim for one perfect moment.
“I’ll blow a hole in your head, you bastard!”
Just as the thug’s sword, accompanied by a stream of curses, was about to pierce my forehead…
I gathered all my strength and chanted a low incantation.
“Blazing flames, Fireball.”
*Fwoosh*
A small flame appeared in front of me.
At the same time, I quickly dodged the thug’s sword strike.
The cold touch of the blade grazed an inch above my forehead.
Taking advantage of the thug’s off-balance stance, I slammed the bottle in my right hand onto his head.
*Crack*
“Cough!”
Shattered glass fragments flew through the air, and liquor spilled over the thug’s head.
The flame ignited the liquor.
*Whoosh*
“Argh!”
“What the hell! Water! Pour water!”
“What happened!”
Voices clamored. But it wasn’t over yet.
In the chaos, I approached the thug who was rolling on the floor with burns.
I grabbed a shard of broken glass and stabbed it into his neck.
“You son of a… Cough!”
Blood flowed down my hand, following the thug’s twitching Adam’s apple.
Meanwhile, Krak, who had regained consciousness, saw me and drew his sword.
“Ugh… I’ll kill you, you bastard!”
I met his gaze and replied,
“…Think carefully, thug. If you swing that, you’ll die too.”
The moment our eyes met, Krak flinched and lowered his hand.
I felt blood dripping from my forehead onto my lips, so I licked it with my tongue.
“Keuk.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The smell of blood confirmed that I was indeed alive.
I turned my head again, and Blok’s eyes were shaking uncontrollably.
“You, you little…”
It was clear that he had never experienced anything like this before, as he was visibly terrified. His body was even trembling.
It was then that someone’s voice rang out.
“Hey, stop it, both of you. You know you can’t hold each other accountable for this, right? It seems you’ve forgotten where you are.”
As if waiting for those words, Blok slowly backed away and said,
“Ruin, you son of a bitch, I’ll kill you next time I see you.”
“Why don’t you finish it now? What, are you scared?”
“…”
When I glared at Blok, he blushed and quickly looked away.
Blok hastily turned and walked out, then suddenly glared at the thug lying on the ground with a glass shard in his neck and kicked him hard.
“You useless piece of shit.”
“…Ugh.”
The thug’s face twitched, so he wasn’t dead yet.
Krak dragged the fallen thug and followed Blok.
I watched the three of them disappear and cursed inwardly.
‘Damn it.’
I couldn’t feel any strength in my body. I was trembling as if I had a severe cold.
My vision blurred. But I couldn’t show weakness here.
‘The Crazy Mage looks pathetic.’
Step by step.
I pushed through the crowd of lunatics and finally made it outside the building. Then, my body gave out, and I collapsed on the ground.
* * *
“Oh, Young Master!”
About an hour after I collapsed, a slender young man cried and carried me on his back.
For some reason, even though I was unconscious, my mind was clear.
The young man ran somewhere while crying.
I turned my head and memorized the location of the building I had been in. I would definitely come back and kill that Corpse Eyes bastard.
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu washed over me. The surrounding scenery was strangely familiar.
The streets were unfamiliar, but the distant mountain peaks and the unique scent were similar to a place in my memory.
‘Could it be?’
The feeling became more certain as time passed.
‘No matter how I look at it… this seems like Samael territory.’
The only strange thing was that the surroundings were too gloomy. It was just like the back alleys where I lived when I was young.
The young man carried me for a long time, running towards the mountains where there were fewer people.
Then, passing through the gate of a clearly run-down family estate, he shouted,
“The Young Master is injured! Healer! Call the healer!”
Thwack—
A wooden plank from the gate’s ceiling broke and hit the top of my head.
‘Ah…’
I had a bad feeling about this.
* * *
Incomprehensible things continued to happen.
“What in the world is going on, Ruin?! Oh dear, oh dear…”
A middle-aged woman burst into tears upon seeing me, and an elderly healer next to her started poking and prodding my body.
“It’s fortunate, ma’am. The Young Master’s internal injuries aren’t too severe.”
The woman let out a sigh of relief and pleaded with the healer.
“Please, I beg you.”
“Don’t worry too much.”
Hmm. He seemed like a quack to me.
A madman knows another madman well. This healer was definitely a quack.
And as expected…
Because of all the strange things he did to my body, I was bedridden for over a week, when I should have recovered in three days. I couldn’t even lift a finger.
Damn quack.
The only strange thing was that my mind remained clear throughout my illness.
I had a lot of time to think during that week.
At first, all I could think about was getting revenge on Corpse Eyes, but as time passed, more fundamental questions arose.
How did I, who was dying in the Land of Death, end up here?
…To cut to the chase, I survived.
To be precise, the past ‘Ruin’ died, but I gained a new life. Based on the conversations I overheard, it was clear.
Ruin Samael.
The current eldest son and sole heir of House Samael.
I was reborn as an 18-year-old kid.
‘And 300 years later, as a descendant of House Samael, no less.’
I was told that 300 years had passed since my death. I was unsure when I heard Corpse Eyes say it, but after seeing the calendar on the wall, I was certain.
Moreover, the young man who carried me was named Lihan Perer.
The surname ‘Perer’ had been passed down through generations of stewards serving the Samael bloodline, so this was indeed House Samael.
‘But why does he have to be named Ruin too?’
Unluckily, we shared the same name. The previous owner of this body was also named Ruin.
That’s why Corpse Eyes called me ‘Ruin Samael.’
And the moment I accepted all these facts…
Pfft, I actually laughed at first.
Samael was unlucky, that was true, but that was back in the expedition.
What was my original dream?
Wasn’t it to live a prosperous life with power and a good background?
House Samael was the most prestigious family on the continent, so there couldn’t be a better background than this. Even if the family rules were a bit strict, sneaking out was a piece of cake for me.
In the past, I was too weak to enjoy that background, but now it was different.
But something was strange.
‘Why is this Samael body in such a state? There are no mana circles even at eighteen?’
If he was a descendant of Samael, he should have at least reached the 3rd Circle by eighteen, even if he was the worst.
But this body had no trace of ever forming a circle.
Moreover, it was so emaciated that it was a wonder he was still alive. My mind was hazy, as if filled with fog, and I was incredibly thirsty.
These symptoms were clear. It was evidence of addiction to hallucinogenic herbs.
‘How could this be?’
The descendants of House Samael underwent rigorous physical and mental training from the age of eight, so it was impossible for them to have a body like this.
…Ah.
Suddenly, the insults that Corpse Eyes hurled at me echoed in my mind.
I also remembered the dilapidated scenery of the estate I saw when Lihan carried me through the gate.
A sense of unease crept over me, as if this wasn’t the House Samael I knew…
No, that couldn’t be. The greatest House on the continent couldn’t have just disappeared.
“Ahem.”
I tried to suppress my anxiety with a cough, and Lihan Perer, who had been waiting outside, rushed in.
“Young Master, you’re awake! Oh my, I thought you were going to die this time.”
I immediately launched my secret weapon.
“Hey. What’s my name?”
The classic ‘I’ve lost my memory’ act.
Lihan didn’t believe me at first, but when he realized I really couldn’t remember anything, he sighed.
“…Ha.”
“…”
“It seems you really have lost your memory. Well, it’s understandable, considering how bad your condition was when you fainted.”
Lihan started to ramble, and I listened quietly before getting to the point.
“So, what kind of family is our House Samael?”
“A great family, of course!”
Lihan’s confident answer, with his chest puffed out, eased my anxiety a little.
“Right?”
“Of course.”
“Then why the hell is this idiot… no, I mean, what have I been doing to end up like this? These are symptoms of severe hallucinogenic herb addiction.”
“Well…”
Lihan glanced at me awkwardly, hesitating to answer.
“It’s okay, just tell me.”
“There’s nothing to hide. It’s because you’re such a troublemaker, Young Master. Ah, I misspoke. Anyway, you like to go to those places, don’t you? And there’s no one to stop you.”
“What are you talking about? What about the Head of House? The elders? And before that, it doesn’t make sense for the White Knights, who uphold the family rules, to just let it slide. They wouldn’t just stand by and watch, even if you are a bloodline member, would they?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
A sudden headache hit me, and I waved Lihan away.
Come to think of it, this room was too small and cramped for a bloodline member’s quarters.
There wasn’t even a single artifact in sight, as if everything had been sold off.
‘This won’t do. I need to meet the current Head of House. What the hell happened to Samael?’
Ah, wait. There was something I had to do first.
Since I was reborn, there was no need to remain weak like I was in the back alleys.
The mere thought of the humiliations I suffered back then made my blood boil.
‘First, the mana circles.’
Even if my current body was trash…
The brilliant talent flowing through the Samael bloodline couldn’t have disappeared.
I knew that for sure.
———