Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

Chapter 170

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None

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Kira prepared a torch to explore the cave.

Krysus frowned.

"We have Ian. Can't we go without fire?"

"What? Explore the cave without light?"

Belenka looked at Ian, bewildered.

Exploring a cave without torches sounded insane to anyone listening. Coincidentally, the one suggesting it was a wizard. Wizards spouting nonsense wasn't anything new.

"That's fine. Let's just use torches," Ian said, neatly ignoring Krysus's complaint.

Krysus immediately whined.

"But why! It's hard to use ice magic when the air is hot!"

"Do we really need to use ice magic?"

Ian snapped his fingers lightly.

The torch sparked in response, as if agreeing with Ian.

Kira caught the flame with her bare hand and tossed it behind her back. "We have two fire wizards here, don't we?"

"Well, aren't you special!" Krysus retorted.

Sorry Krysus, but fire magic was far more powerful than ice magic in combat. You could tell just by how much higher Ian's fire magic level was compared to his ice magic.

"We'll handle the fighting. Senior, please focus on investigation," Ian said.

Krysus reluctantly nodded.

Ah~ This could've been a chance to show off the power of the almighty ice magic! What a waste!

In truth, Krysus wanted to pull her weight inside the cave, since it'd be hard to demonstrate ice magic once they left. But if Ian said it wasn't necessary...

Krysus had witnessed Ian's fire magic with her own eyes. She had to admit it. Ian was far more reliable in combat.

"Let's proceed carefully," Belenka said.

Belenka and Jubal took the lead, with the other wizards following behind.

As they descended into the cave, Belenka said, "They were probably using this place as a storage area."

"Storage?"

"I heard the temperature deep inside the cave is particularly cold. Perfect for preserving things."

Krysus puffed out her chest proudly.

Ian muttered halfheartedly, like reading from a textbook, "Wow. Looks like it's cold inside, just as you said, Senior."

"Heh. That's basic knowledge!" Krysus rejoiced at her successful prediction. She was the only one rejoicing.

"Ian. Are we going the right way?" Kira asked. The cave was a single path. She wasn't asking if they were lost.

"It's so... cold?"

The cave was much colder than expected, so she was asking, "Is this normal?"

"Ugh. It's too cold."

"Indeed. This temperature could freeze even ice."

"What an unpleasant place."

The companions were feeling uneasy.

Ian exhaled sharply. A puff of white breath billowed out.

"Senior Krysus. This is..." At Ian's words, Krysus nodded.

"You're right. It's magic."

Someone had clearly set up a spell to summon cold air inside the cave. There was no other way to explain this abnormal chill.

[Ah. How refreshing.]

[Winter truly is the best.]

"...?" As they went deeper, Ian heard the mystery of cold whispering.

He'd expected there to be a mystery. But it wasn't winter right now, was it?

"Senior. Did you hear that?"

"Huh? Hear what?"

"The mystery of cold. It's gathered down there."

Is... is that so?

Krysus focused her mind, straining to hear the voice of the cold, but... She couldn't hear a thing.

'Is he lying to me?' Krysus stared at Ian for a while, half-expecting him to yell "Surprise~!"

But his expression wasn't playful.

Ian had truly heard the voice of the cold that even she couldn't hear!

"Ian. You're a dark wizard, right?"

"Yes."

"Then... how did you learn ice magic?"

"...?"

Ian didn't understand Krysus's question. How did he learn ice magic? Wasn't she an ice wizard herself? Why ask such a question?

"How did I learn it? I buried myself in snowy mountains and tried to befriend the cold."

Krysus fell silent for a moment...

The process of entering ice magic wasn't much different from hers.

"I swam in a lake in the dead of winter..."

"That must have been tough."

"It was really tough... Wait, that's not the point!"

The initiation process was normal. This meant Ian truly had an exceptional affinity with the cold attribute.

"Why did you become a dark wizard with that aptitude?"

"???"

"You should've obviously become an ice wizard!"

Eredith wouldn't have recommended ice magic to ruin a perfectly good disciple(?), and Ian had no lingering attachment to ice magic.

The supreme 0-tier magic, ice magic, was enough for Krysus alone to use...

"Ah. I can hear it too."

As they advanced further, Krysus muttered. She heard the mystery of cold whispering, just as Ian had said.

"Someone intentionally gathered the cold."

Krysus closed her eyes and focused on the voice of the cold.

"The way they handle the cold is excellent. But... something feels unnatural."

Ian focused his mind as well. He quickly caught on to what Krysus meant by 'unnatural'.

"The cold doesn't recognize the wizard as human."

"Yes. That's it."

That was the source of the unnaturalness. The cold, clearly gathered by a wizard, didn't mention the wizard at all.

[I wish it was winter all year round.]

[I feel like I could live here forever.]

[But hey. Don't you sense something warm and cold?]

[Indeed.]

[How strange. The body is warm, but I feel a sense of kinship.]

'Oh no.' Ian opened his eyes.

Perhaps because two ice wizards had gathered, the mystery of cold quickly recognized Ian and Krysus's presence.

The mystery recognizing humans meant... Magic was about to begin.

A biting cold wind blew from the darkness.

"Ugh!"

"The torch!" Kira desperately protected the flame.

Just then, Krysus shouted, "There's someone over there! An ice wizard!"

Krysus couldn't see through the darkness. She only saw a vague human outline.

But Ian was different. Ian noticed that the approaching figure from the darkness wasn't human.

Maria shouted, "No! That's not a person!"

The being that had been gathering cold in the underground cave was... A human corpse.

"A lich!"

A dead wizard, moving in an undead body.

It was a lich.

---

---

A dead wizard resurrected as an undead. That's what we call a lich.

Generally, liches are called monsters, but sometimes they're not. The factor that determines the classification of a monster is intelligence.

[Ahhh...]

"A ghost! A ghost has appeared!" As the emaciated corpse approached with heavy steps, Jubal cried out in fear.

Jubal, brave against monsters and humans, became infinitely weak before supernatural beings.

"Ian!"

"Wait! Let me try talking first!"

Belenka waited for Ian's instructions, her sword drawn.

Ian decided to attempt a dialogue with the lich first. Ian, now well-accustomed to this medieval fantasy world. First, try talking. If communication is possible, resolve it through dialogue. That was the wizard's way Ian had learned.

"[Who are you!]" Ian asked in fluent Maronius language.

Undead monsters like liches often retain their personalities from when they were alive. Meaning this lich's personality could be either good or bad.

"Wait a minute! Ian! That's too rude to our senior!" Krysus interjected.

"Pardon?"

"Move aside!" Krysus pushed Ian aside and stepped forward.

She bowed gracefully to the lich and sang in a soft voice in Maronius language. "[It's an honor to meet you, respected senior. I am Krysus, disciple of Montana, an ice wizard.]"

Ian felt a bit annoyed at Krysus's unnecessarily polite speech... No, how can someone who knows how to speak like this usually talk in a way that makes you want to smack them?

[Ahhh...]

"[And this dark one is Ian, an ice wizard,]" Krysus continued.

"I'm not an ice wizard though," Ian protested.

"Shut up. Introducing you as a fellow disciple from the same school will make you look cuter."

The "cutie"(?) Ian tilted his head. Krysus was speaking with a bright smile, but...

Somehow, that lich. It seemed like it had been having trouble speaking since earlier...?

"Ian!"

That's when it happened.

[Ahhh...!]

The lich's eyes flashed red. It pulled out a long icicle from the ground and started swinging it!

Clang!

"Step back! Ian!" Belenka intervened at the right moment, deflecting the lich's icicle.

Ian staggered back. He thought something was off. But a sudden attack! And a physical attack with an icicle, from a lich no less!

Sh*t, is this the Ice King from Adventure Time?

"Wait a moment! Senior!" Krysus shouted, but the lich didn't even pretend to listen.

It didn't even properly engage with Belenka.

Clang!

The lich's body, immersed in massive cold, had frozen as hard as cold steel. Belenka managed to cut off the lich's wrist with her longsword, but the undead lich felt no pain, showed no agitation, and only rushed towards Ian.

[Die! Black wizard!]

"...?"

For the first time, the lich uttered proper language. But the content was absurd. Calling Ian a black wizard? Weren't they meeting for the first time today?

'No, think later!'

Ian focused on the lich. What magic should he use to stop this ice robot-like undead?

Skill card magic? Spear of Flame would be appropriate, but it's on cooldown.

Arcana magic? That's too random. It's not desperate enough to play real-life Hearthstone.

Ian looked around.

And came to a conclusion.

'It's ice magic!'

There was an abundance of cold power around. Enough to respond immediately to Ian's call!

"[Mystery of cold!]"

With a loud shout, a massive amount of cold erupted from beneath Ian's feet.

Just as the lich had pulled out an icicle. Ian pulled out a giant ice pillar from the ground!

Boom!

The ice pillar struck the lich. Despite being frozen solid, the lich's skull shattered like it had been hit by a siege hammer, and it rolled on the ground.

"Ian!" Belenka breathed a sigh of relief.

Ian grinned. As expected of the almighty ice magic! Ice magic is too strong!

"It's not over yet!" At Kira's cry, Ian looked at the lich.

It was true. The shattered bones were reattaching, returning to their original form!

'Undead regeneration.'

Undead don't die easily. They're beings that have crossed the boundary between life and death.

Burning them thoroughly is most effective, but this lich, annoyingly enough, was one that handled the power of cold. The combination of undead and cold was truly troublesome.

If it weren't for the cold, Kira would have already summoned a massive flame.

'Huh?'

That's when it happened.

Maria, who had somehow approached the lich, tightly embraced the regenerating lich.

"Maria!"

Maria gritted her teeth at the lich's cold touch. But she didn't let go. Blood dripped from her nose, staining the ground.

"Yes... Yes... Listen to my voice... I want to be your friend..."

Maria whispered.

"..."

The mystery of death floated around Maria. The attention from the mystery, usually a poison, could now be called a 'medicine'.

Surprisingly, the lich... was captivated by Maria's voice. Though regeneration was complete, the lich no longer attacked Ian.

"Maria. Has that lich... become your 'friend'?"

Ian asked.

"Yes. They turned out to be nicer than they looked."

Maria was a novice, but she was a necromancer.

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