Chapter 10

Thud-thud-thud-thud.

A procession of one hundred horses and wagons formed a line, racing through the pitch-black wilderness. The lanterns mounted on each horse and wagon cast shadows that danced in all directions.

Creak. Creak.

At the center of the caravan sat a large stone. Adorned with sacred ropes and plastered with talismans, it resembled a small deity.

It was a mobile barrier, a rock imbued with magical power and processed through totem magic.

Rumble.

The massive stone occasionally trembled as if experiencing an earthquake. The wagon creaked beneath it, and the talismans attached to the sacred ropes rustled.

The nomads concealed their anxiety and focused only on pressing forward.

Growl-

The sky, layered with thick black clouds, emitted bizarre sounds. Occasional flashes of light fell between the clouds, sweeping across the ground.

In my fourteen years of life, I’d never seen such a sight. It was as if the entire world had transformed into a cruel giant pursuing us.

“That’s the Calamity of the Labyrinth, that’s the Calamity of Lightning, the Calamity of Storms… looks like there’s a Calamity of Night too. Every calamity in the area has gathered.”

Temurin said this as he hauled the exhausted Monggu onto a wagon.

“Hack… huff…”

After glancing at Monggu writhing in pain atop the wagon, Temurin continued.

“Should we really be continuing the training in this situation? The aggro will keep rising…”

He anxiously gazed up at the dark sky. The one who reassured him was the nomad’s best hunter, Baek Ho-ryang—my father.

“Both the mobile barrier and the protective talismans are operating at full power, so we’ll be fine. They’ll hold until we reach the Red Tree Crossroad.”

Temurin nodded at my father’s assertion, but he still didn’t look convinced. He cast his gaze toward the pitch-black darkness beyond where even stars couldn’t be seen and muttered.

“We really need to reach the Red Tree Crossroad soon…”

Even as he said this, Temurin drove his horse to rescue another straggler, Lidia, pulling her up onto the wagon.

Lidia, too, twisted in agony on the wagon, struggling to catch her breath.

Magical power was being faintly absorbed into her, and the protective talismans around her hummed ceaselessly to conceal its presence.

Rumble!

The mobile barrier also twisted its massive form again, making a deep rumbling sound.

Temurin, who had been holding his breath, clicked his tongue.

“On top of everything else… the kids are suffering too.”

My father chuckled.

“What can we do? At their age, missing even a day of training can be devastating. Surviving now is important, but we must prepare for the future as well.”

He was right. Calamities were gathering from all directions, aggro levels had risen dangerously high, and both the mobile barrier and protective talismans were under strain—yet even in these circumstances, we had to continue our daily magical training.

That meant running on foot alongside the horses.

“Hack! Huff!”

“Ugh… gasp!”

The children, breathless and exhausted, continued running.

Driven by the belief that enduring a little longer would yield more magical power, they persevered through the pain.

“Phew! Phoooo…”

I was no exception.

However, I made a concerted effort not to show my fatigue. Acting nonchalant, pretending to be unfazed… it was excruciating, but I had no choice.

Currently, the most prevalent energy around us was black magical power. Based on my experience, black magical power despised any display of weakness. To absorb more, I needed to project strength and toughness.

That wasn’t all.

“Hey! Isn’t that mana grass?”

“Wow… so much wormwood. If we weren’t in this situation, I’d harvest it all!”

I overheard adults chattering.

The swaying lanterns illuminated vast fields of wormwood growing abundantly.

Despite our desperate flight, while everyone else deliberately ignored the wormwood fields as they ran, I couldn’t do the same.

“Hup!”

Though I felt like I might collapse, I took a deep breath and surged forward. A full sprint that left the other children far behind.

“Ugh… that bastard Baek Jun-woo is at it again.”

Sweat-drenched Kallin scowled as he watched me dash ahead.

Ignoring him, I raced forward, then bent down to harvest the wormwood while trying to calm my heart that felt ready to burst from my mouth.

I couldn’t stray too far from the caravan as that would be dangerous, so I kept moving while plucking the wormwood.

Wormwood was a type of mana grass, plants containing trace amounts of mana.

When properly dried and burned, it became mana powder, which could be refined into mana coins.

A single wormwood plant would yield only about 2 Sparks of mana—roughly 20 Korean won—but that was still worthwhile.

I continued jogging slowly, frantically yanking up the abundant wormwood and stuffing it into my gathering pouch.

But after harvesting only about 30 plants, the nomad procession had already moved far ahead.

“Hey! Baek Jun-woo! Where do you think you’re looking! Keep falling behind and you’ll be in danger!”

Temurin, who was riding around collecting stragglers, called out to me with an irritated voice.

“Coming! Let’s go, Heukseom!”

Increasing my pace, I quickly plucked 10 more wormwood plants before mounting Heukseom who had approached, and galloped to catch up with the caravan again.

I rode to my father Baek Ho-ryang’s wagon, dumped the wormwood from my pouch, then dismounted to rejoin the running children on foot.

The effort left me gasping for breath, but I desperately swallowed my breaths to hide any sign of fatigue. I nearly snorted water through my nose when saliva backed up my throat. Still, I maintained a composed expression to the end.

“Sigh… didn’t take you for the greedy type… you know you won’t gain any magical power training like that, right? All that for maybe 80 Sparks? What are you thinking? Hey! Answer me! Sigh… unbelievable… Hey, Ho-ryang! Say something to your son!”

Temurin tried to involve my father, but he just offered a wry smile.

“Let him be. I’ve tried talking to him, but he says it’s his own training method.”

“Good grief. His own training method… what does he think he is, the genius of the century?”

My father just laughed off Temurin’s sarcasm. Temurin then shifted his gaze back to me, regarding me with annoyance. He was irritated that I was breaking formation during a group activity.

And his ill feelings toward me were actually quite helpful.

Shiver,

A chill ran across my skin. Even while sweating profusely, I felt cold due to the black magical power surrounding me.

The black magical powers showed interest in me.

As if saying, ‘Look at that one. Interesting fellow, isn’t he?’

That’s right. I’m not a fool who would waste energy just to earn 80 Sparks.

The key was gaining the favor of the black magical power that saturated our surroundings.

Not only did it despise weakness, but it also favored negative traits like greed and shamelessness.

The greedier I acted, the more Temurin resented me, and the more shamelessly I ignored his resentment, the more black magical power I could absorb.

Thanks to this, the magical power now showing interest in me far exceeded what the other children were attracting.

I’d pulled quite a few crazy stunts over the past few months trying to figure out black magical power’s nature… and now it was time to reap the rewards.

Growl!

I looked up at the howling sky.

I saw monstrous black clouds and the glowing eyes of calamities searching for us between them.

Crunch.

My teeth ground together involuntarily.

Before calamities, we humans always scurry away like insects.

Even when family and comrades fall victim to calamities, we can’t even dream of revenge. We simply forget the dead and focus on survival.

Life on Earth, glimpsed through the Stone of Memory, wasn’t always easy either. But compared to our existence, it was practically paradise.

The Star Continent has magic and many mysteries to uncover… but ultimately, this world belongs not to humans but to calamities.

We merely eke out an existence while evading them.

Even my desire to become a mage is ultimately just a selfish wish to survive more safely and longer—there’s no real dream or romance in it. No greater purpose.

‘I want to know everything about this world.’

That kind of ambition shown by Earth’s scientists doesn’t exist here.

That frustrated me deeply.

Staring at the sky where calamities growled, I sharpened my resolve internally.

‘Just wait. Someday I’ll bring all of you to your knees. I’ll take this world back from your grasp.’

Shiver!

As if pleased with my thoughts, the amount of black magical power showing interest in me increased.

Yes. This is how I accumulate power.

This is how I become stronger.