Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 81

The Staff, Mityel

The lake city, Worspia.
Centered around the Magic School of Arniel, which was built on the lake, Worspia had become a major hub of transportation, one of the bustling cities where tens of thousands of people came and went each day.

At first, he worried that his disguise might not hold up well. He feared it might not work among real mages, but his concerns were needless.

In conclusion, Elise’s disguise technique was flawless. With just a simple bit of makeup and clothing, it completely transformed him into a convincing mage.

Even the real mages passing by didn’t seem to sense anything strange about him.

“You’re the exchange student, Deis, right? You’ll be staying in room 502. Looks like you’ve got a bit of luggage there. It seems heavy… How did you manage to carry it here? Hey, you guys! Stop slacking and get to work!”

“We’ll carry it for you!”

“Huh? No, I can carry it myself.”

“No way! We should carry it for you!”

No one believed that he could have ever wielded a sword.

When Harang tried to gather his belongings and carry them out, a few men insisted on helping him, offering unnecessary kindness.

He didn’t refuse their kindness.

He had been repeatedly reminded not to let his physical abilities be exposed.

‘The disguise seems to be working.’

Elise’s disguise technique wasn’t one that altered a person’s skeleton or appearance. It was a simple technique, designed so that he could easily maintain it and make minor adjustments as needed.

Even so, the effect was impressive.

Although Harang’s frame was smaller than most trainees his age, no one seemed to find it suspicious, which felt almost awkward.

“Here we are. If you have any issues with your room, feel free to let us know at any time.”

“Ah, yes…”

As the hotel staff carried his luggage up for him, Harang thought about offering a tip. But when he opened his wallet, they quickly waved their hands, refusing.

“Oh, no! We didn’t do it for any reward. You looked like you needed help, and of course, we had to assist!”

“Hahaha! Absolutely!”

The staff laughed heartily as they boasted about their muscles and then left.

‘People here are pretty kind.’

They helped him out for free, after all. After placing his luggage in his room, Harang collapsed onto the bed, closed his eyes, and gathered his energy.

After about 10 seconds of focusing his magic into his eyes, Harang slowly opened them.

[Eyes of Truth]

His silver eyes gleamed as he carefully scanned the inside of the hotel. Two star-like shapes spun around his pupils like comets, thoroughly checking every inch of the hotel room, but he found nothing suspicious.

‘Well, it’s not like a place like this would have magical eavesdropping devices or barriers.’

Withdrawing the Eyes of Truth, he took out some paper and a pen from the table. It was time to record the day’s events.

Aside from the ride on the magical carriage, there wasn’t much else to record, so Harang finished his notes quickly.

After tucking his notebook and journal away, he began preparing to head out.

To enroll in the Magic School, he needed a lot of supplies. However, if his family supported him financially, it might attract unwanted attention, so he had to gather everything on his own.

As Harang quietly walked through the streets of Worspia, he realized once again that this was an entirely different world.

Since being reborn in this world, he had spent most of his life in the sweat-soaked environment of White Night Castle. When he visited the Harana Canal, he marveled at how everything was new and beautiful. But this place was on a completely different level.

Everyone on the streets was either a mage or an aspiring mage.

The most astonishing thing, however, was that there were more non-human species than humans.

In this world, the word “humankind” referred to both humans and other races.

There were humanoids with tails, humanoids standing over 3 meters tall with yellow skin, others with red skin standing no more than 1 meter tall, and even elf-like beings with pointed ears.

‘Beastkin of the Feline Tribe, Giants, Dwarves, Elves… There’s no race that isn’t here.’

It wasn’t unusual to see orcs walking around with glasses, reading magic books, or young children playing with floating water droplets on their fingertips.

Children born with natural talent in magic often had parents who would sell everything they owned to move to Worspia, hoping to nurture that talent.

Even if their children couldn’t gain admission to Arniel, the area was surrounded by excellent magic schools, academies, and towers. They could still receive top-notch education and earn certifications.

That’s right.

The dream of most aspiring mages walking these streets was singular.

To be accepted into the Magic School of Arniel and receive its teachings!

Known worldwide for having the most advanced magical techniques and the highest level of educational curriculum, it was no wonder that the beautiful castle of Arniel, rising like a spire in the center of Worspia, was the ultimate goal.

Arniel was characterized by its white base with golden decorations that glittered in the sunlight. Surrounding the castle was a golden ring, spinning continuously around it.

This was the Absolute Circle, a magical barrier said to be capable of blocking even the breath of the strongest Guardian at least once.

‘So, our family is going up against monsters like them.’

Not just competing, but until a few years ago, they had completely overwhelmed the Five Great Magic Families.

However, as Kaladan’s magical technology gradually advanced, the five great magic families, feeling a sense of crisis, banded together. Now, they had amassed such overwhelming magical power and technology that no one could rival them.

“First… the staff.”

There was a specific staff Harang had always wanted to see, and so he passed by countless expensive-looking magical shops without hesitation.

After walking for quite a while, he found himself in a narrow alleyway, where an old and small magic shop stood.

‘El Radier.’

The sign of the magic shop bore the ancient magical empire’s language, meaning “Law, be eternal.” Ironically, that ancient magical empire had perished without achieving eternity.

Though the empire was gone, its magic had survived, continuing to flourish to this day.

‘It’s more worn-out than I had heard.’

This old shop looked more like an antique store than a magic shop, but it was said to hold a staff with a legend similar to the Kaladan family’s Sacred Sword Terandal.

Of course, it didn’t have the mythic tales of cutting down countless guardians and sealing the Demon King, like Terandal did. However, this staff was known to have been used by a great mage in the distant past to summon a meteor from the sky, and it now lay dormant in this magic shop.

People strongly speculated that this meteor summoning spell had been used by Natalen.

The timing and the type of magic were quite similar.

The reason the identity of the caster remained unclear was because the meteor summoning had been used unjustly, and it was said that the caster’s identity had been erased from history to remain anonymous. But… no one knew the truth.

Unless they asked the person directly.

‘Oh, that? Ahem, it’s a bit embarrassing to talk about… back then, I couldn’t retrieve the staff I had fixed in place as part of the coordinates for the meteor summoning.’

Harang’s master, clad in armor, had said this in a cheerful tone.

‘It’s a shameful moment in my past, but at the same time, one of my most beautiful memories. It’s the staff I made to prove myself to the world, to be acknowledged for who I am. At first, it was nothing special.’

Since the meteor summoning spell wiped out an entire region, the caster could never escape unscathed, so Natalen had immediately fled for safety.

The staff he left behind became permanently fixed at the coordinate point, and though it seemed it would never move again, the staff, Mityel, welcomed a new owner decades later, leaving a significant mark on history for a time.

Even after that, whenever its owner passed away, Mityel would return to its original place, sealed once more. Occasionally, it was said that the seal would be broken when someone with the ‘proper qualifications’ appeared.

Currently, Mityel had been sealed for 109 years since its last user, and no new owner had appeared.

‘So, that staff is sealed inside this magic shop.’

Despite the shop’s decrepit exterior, it was curiously surrounded by refined, well-dressed wizards wearing expensive suits and robes.

Not far from the store, a wealthy man greeted a lady of nobility with great delight, while a man who appeared to be a diplomat wooed a wealthy noble family’s young lady.

For some reason, the upper-class people were bustling around the shop.

“Isn’t the shop open today?”

“So I heard. It’s been more than half a year since they last opened…”

“I heard the wizard who came last time wasn’t qualified and ended up leaving. Though, he seemed satisfied enough, having received a handcrafted staff from the city’s greatest staff artisan.”

The magic shop El Radier had long kept its doors firmly shut. The artisan who protected the staff Mityel was known for his unique stubbornness, selectively accepting only certain customers.

As a result, even the children of prestigious magical families were often turned away without ever getting a chance to step inside.

‘There are way too many people…’

Harang, worried that the presence of so many nobles might expose his identity, took out a pair of glasses from his pocket and put them on.

Glasses were truly fascinating accessories. Just wearing them could completely transform one’s impression.

Usually, Harang had an expressionless and somewhat blank image, but with the glasses on, he now looked a bit more intellectual.

As he wove his way through the crowd and approached El Radier, a few nobles looked at him curiously.

“Young Master, that’s not a shop just anyone can walk into, you know?”

A gentleman smoking a long pipe near the door chuckled as he spoke.

What bothered Harang wasn’t so much that the door was closed, but the way he was addressed.

“…Do I look like a young master to you?”

“Hm, aren’t you? Haha, your fair skin made me think you might be a noble, but there’s no family crest on your robe, so I wasn’t sure. Are you a commoner, then? Well, it doesn’t really matter. There’s no rank when it comes to gaining knowledge.”

“…”

In other words, despite not having a family crest, he had still been mistaken for a noble.

It was one of the distinctive traits of the Kaladan family.

Typically, those who practiced martial arts would develop a rugged, wild look over time, but the Kaladan family, blessed with divine bodies, always maintained a beautiful appearance.

Even the famous Emblitz family of swordsmanship, out of jealousy, was said to have hired top-tier skincare experts to ensure their members always looked polished and handsome, spending vast sums of money in the process. The Kaladans, on the other hand, didn’t need such efforts—they were born with it.

‘I can’t help looking like a noble… but not being seen as a martial artist might actually be a good thing.’

Without confirming or denying his noble status, Harang approached the door of El Radier. Several gentlemen nearby advised him to reconsider.

They said that if someone uninvited touched the door handle, a powerful barrier magic would knock the person unconscious.

Clunk!

However, the moment Harang placed his hand on the door handle, there was a loud sound of the lock disengaging.

All eyes in the vicinity, especially those of the nearby wizards, were instantly drawn to him.

“…Huh?!”

“W-What? Could it be that the barrier isn’t working?”

“No way. I could feel the strong flow of magic in the barrier just moments ago!”

Harang felt the intense gazes upon him and sighed. While the attention wasn’t necessarily unpleasant—he had been something of a natural show-off—he still found it bothersome, considering he was trying to keep his identity hidden.

Creak!

To avoid further stares, Harang quickly pushed open the door.

It seemed, however, that this only made more wizards gather around, but… what could he do?

‘Getting inside was my first goal anyway. In any case, this turned out well.’

The owner of the magic shop El Radier was the most skilled staff artisan in the city. It was said that every wizard who managed to enter the shop was guaranteed a handcrafted staff.

In other words, even if Harang couldn’t obtain Mityel, just entering this place meant he was bound to receive a special staff.

“Wow… he’s so young.”

“Has there ever been a case where someone so young was allowed in?”

“Never.”

“To think that Radier’s handcrafted staff will end up in a child’s hands.”

“I can’t believe it.”

Ignoring the astonished murmurs of gentlemen, nobles, and wizards alike, Harang stepped into El Radier.