Chapter 111: Rest

“Huh? No way. This is a high-grade mana potion I got with so much trouble… I had to sell three harps for it.”

Haidian pulled out another vial and chugged it in one gulp.

“It works for me?”

“It doesn’t for me.”

“Why… not?”

“Ah, your bloodline must nullify mana potion effects. Mouse-brat blood really is worse than nothing. Tsk.”

Ion considered several possibilities. Nullification, or…

Or because my ability isn’t strictly magic.

Ion’s “supposedly magic” was shrouded in mystery—especially since it used life force.

Teacher had said life force—vital essence—was something no being could handle. It couldn’t even be used as raw material for abilities. Yet you can wield it? He had been deeply suspicious.

He repeated so often that it was bizarre and unnatural that even Ion started feeling like a freak.

That was why Ion had never told anyone except Teacher that his powers consumed both mana and life force.

In any case, mana potions being useless was depressing.

“Sorry… Cheer up, Ion-ssi. Want a drink?”

“No…”

“It helps a lot when you’re sad. The only thing that comforts me in this world is alcohol…”

“Is alcohol tasty? I’m curious. Is alcohol a helpful drink? Give me alcohol.”

Baba showed interest. Ion hurriedly turned Baba toward himself and glared at Haidian.

Haidian panicked.

“N-no, alcohol is bad for your health! It’s highly addictive, narrows blood vessels, causes memory loss—it’s the root of all diseases…!”

“What? Then why recommend it to Dam Ion? Dam Ion, don’t drink.”

“I won’t. You don’t drink either.”

“Okay.”

Haidian bitterly resumed chugging.

“Anyway, Ion, now we know potions are nullified for you—conserve mana from now on. Bran and I will handle monsters as much as possible.”

“Thank you. That would help.”

Haidian, listening to the conversation, tilted his head again.

“You keep saying ‘nullified’… what does that mean…?”

“You ignorant fly-brat. Study instead of drinking all day. Oh wait, maybe all that alcohol made your brain stupid?”

Haidian didn’t get angry. He just smiled prettily and said to Baba,

“Baba-nim, the coolest, most special, and greatest bat in the world—please add ‘fly-brat’ to the banned swear list?”

“Got it. Bran, no more ‘fly-brat.’ Command.”

Bran’s lips flapped uselessly, but no one cared.

For four days, no more Age cultists appeared—only frenzied monsters.

Level-3 monsters were no obstacle to a hybrid duke and a fairy warrior. The two were more than enough, so Ion stayed out of combat.

Yet his mana still hovered dangerously low, thanks to the brutal schedule.

Neither Bran nor Haidian needed much rest physically, and Ion wanted to reach Jin Seong-ha quickly—worried the Shift-Ult cultist might encounter them.

So after every fight, they immediately took to the sky with flight magic and crossed the desert.

A schedule of one or two hours of sleep per day.

Celestials apparently weren’t a race with vastly superior stamina like demons or fairies (he had guessed from their size). Ion had the endurance of a trained human.

With constant mana drain on top of that, crisis loomed.

After one skirmish,

Ion hugged Sanse and rubbed his cheek against the leaves. The cool green soothed his headache, but his limbs stayed heavy.

Should I just ask Bran to carry me from now on…?

As he entertained the lazy thought, he spotted monster blood splattered on a leaf.

“…!”

FWOOSH.

He instantly evaporated it with magic.

“Ugh…”

Another headache hit, so he rubbed his face again. For some reason, the leaf surface now felt prickly.

Was Sanse angry that monster blood touched it?

Ion glanced nervously at the plant when Bran approached, shaking blood off his hands.

“What is this ‘madness’ contagion? Ridiculous disease. It wipes out even the instinctual fear of death. It definitely won’t spread to Idea, right?”

“Yes. Only the demon world.”

“Will every demon species end up like that?”

“Giants are almost gone already… in a few years, demons, then even pure demons. It’s unstoppable.”

“Hmm…”

Bran stroked his chin, deep in thought. Hybrids scorned demon-world natives as cowards, but learning of this tragic fate seemed to give him much to ponder.

“Ion-ssi, I collected all the byproducts. Let’s move.”

Haidian approached while chugging. As the only awakener, he monopolized field drops—probably one reason the elder sent him into a red field.

“Right. Let’s go.”

“Wait!”

It was Baba who shouted.

Perched atop the pot, wings on hips (?), glaring as sharply as its tiny eyes allowed.

“What. Why?”

“It’s night now. I’m tired. Rest! No moving until tomorrow!”

“…”

Ion ignored it and cast flight magic. Transparent wings modeled after Alsomitra macrocarpa seeds sprouted from his back.

“You really won’t listen!”

Just as he was about to take off, Baba shot forward like lightning and head-butted Ion’s face. It felt like a cotton ball thrown hard.

“W-what are you doing?”

It didn’t hurt, but it startled him. Ion quickly peeled the bat off. Between thumb and finger, the tiny bat looked extremely displeased.

“I’m tired. Need rest. Enough sleep. Enough rest. Sanse says he needs rest too.”

“Stop making up Sanse’s opinions. And you just sit on the pot or Bran’s head the whole time—what’s tiring about that?”

“Being carried is tiring too. It’s not easy being a passenger.”

“You sleep the whole way…”

“Dam Ion, are we resting?”

“No.”

“Then I have a way.”

Baba slipped from Ion’s fingers and flew to Bran.

“Baba-nim?”

“Bran, rest. Command. We leave tomorrow.”

“…!”

A fight between master and pet, yet the fallout hit Bran.

At that simple order, Bran’s limbs froze solid.

Only when they officially decided to camp could Bran move again.

“Goddamn it… my life… Hey, fa-fa-fa-fairy-pipi. I’m drinking tonight too. I can’t survive the night without alcohol.”

“…Fine. Drink slowly.”

Even Haidian, who didn’t get along with him, pitied Bran enough to hand over a bottle.

Haidian set up the tent he brought; Bran erected a barrier against monster attacks. Ion started a campfire and sat hugging Sanse.

“Even if it’s undergoing spiritification, is it really okay for a plant to be this close to fire?”

“I’m right here, so it’s fine. Sanse feels safe when I’m beside him.”

“…Your relationship is weird.”

“What’s weird about it? Sanse loves me, and I love Sanse. That’s all.”

“B-but no matter how love transcends species, human and plant is a bit much, right? You can’t even have a physical relationship.”

“Did you always think love only meant that kind? You’re over two hundred—stop acting like a horny teenage boy.”

“Can’t help it. Demon blood makes us instinctively lustful. It’s a racial trait.”

“Can’t control yourself so blame the blood~ Ion-ssi, ignore that filthy talk and have a drink.”

Same instinctive excuses from both sides.

When Ion refused again, Haidian stopped pushing and resumed chugging.

By the campfire, on a small wooden table Haidian had set out for snacks, a chubby-bellied bat was snoring soundly, covered with a thick blanket—Ion had tucked it in.

Utterly carefree in a field where monsters could attack any moment.

Bran poked the round belly with a finger.

“Really was tired, huh. Not hot at all. Soon we’ll have roasted bat.”

Ion chuckled, but Haidian turned serious.

“How can you make such a barbaric joke… I’ll tell Baba when he wakes up.”

“Hey, come on! Can’t I even joke? Damn, fairy-pipi really trying to strangle me.”

“Keep using species slurs and I’ll have Baba ban all swearing.”

“You do it too! You called me mongrel…!”

Baba squirmed—kyuuu…—at the noise.

Both Bran and Haidian shut up instantly.

Baba spread its wings wide but didn’t wake.

After that, their voices dropped.

“Hey, but all the fa-fa-fairies have that ‘gem’ thing, right? I don’t see any on you lot?”

“We have them somewhere. And just say fairy—why fa-fa-fairy? Do you need to swear that badly? Typical mongrel.”

“See? You swear too but only stop me.”

“You started it with fly-brat.”

“I stopped, so you stop.”

“You didn’t stop—you can’t.”

“Fa-fa-fascinating.”

“…I’ll have that banned too.”

“Fa-fa-fascinatingly shameless.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, mongrel bastard.”

Still bickering, but quietly.

Ion listened to their low squabbling while watching the dark night and the red campfire, eyelids growing heavy.

Maybe I really should sleep a bit…

In the past he would have pinched the back of his hand inside his robe to stay awake, but now… a short nap seemed okay.

He leaned against a sturdy Sanse leaf, slowly relaxing his neck, when Haidian’s voice snapped him awake.

“Oh! The blue triangle got super close. Ion-ssi, the blue triangle really wants to see you… It’s been moving every time I check the system window.”

Ion blinked and looked at the empty air Haidian was staring at.

“How many days until we meet?”

“We’ve covered this much in four days… at this rate, tomorrow or the day after. Must be nice seeing hometown folks after so long.”

“Only if the blue triangle really is the Earthlings I think…”

“Who else could it be? It’s an Earth-connected dungeon.”

“Could be Age cultists.”

Bran said. Ion thought the same.

At first he assumed Earthlings, but as far as he knew, no Earth skill marked people with blue/red triangles…

Three cultists missing from the camp plus the one who escaped—four in total.

One of them might have placed the mark.