Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: none

Join the discord! Here

The forest woke from its early slumber to unexpected footsteps.

Birds scattered noisily as hunting dogs barked and chased after them.

Small animals held their breath, waiting for the human army to pass.

"How's it going, Sir Murray?"

The leader of the human army was Fin, the lord of Heltingen city.

Sir Murray was a master hunter who never lost his prey once marked.

Before becoming a knight, he was better known as 'Murray the Hound'.

"No doubt about it. They passed through here."

"Impressive. So we've almost caught up?"

"Of course, my lord."

Sir Murray's tracking abilities bordered on the mystical.

Even Ian would have been shocked if he knew.

In this medieval era where proper maps were hard to come by, such tracking skill?

But human talent shines through regardless of era.

Every field has its geniuses.

'Seeing his praise, the pay must be good.'

Sir Murray smirked. He was a knight who only cared about getting paid.

Lord Fin also wore a smile of satisfaction.

'Whatever you do... I'll never let you have the count's title!'

Though his alliance with Father Berum had hit a snag, it wasn't over yet.

That damned treasure mentioned in his father's will!

If he could just get the treasure back somehow, everything would return to normal!

'It's just a temporary abnormality! I'll set everything right!'

Lord Fin dreamed of normalizing the count's house...

"Hurry! We must catch him before he steals the family treasure!"

"Leave it to me, my lord!"

Sir Murray led the way.

Lord Fin and his soldiers diligently pursued the wizard Ian.

#

After setting up the treasure excavation camp, Ian reported his scouting results to Belenka and Baron Mud.

"Skeletons?"

"Yeah. Seems there are undead monsters wandering around."

Belenka and Baron Mud nodded silently.

Belenka was one thing, but Baron Mud was surprisingly calm?

Ian was somewhat impressed by this unexpected reaction.

Though he called him a thief...

Could it be that real thief's courage lived in his heart...!

"Baron Mud. You don't seem surprised?"

"What's there to be surprised about? When you rob graves, you meet undead till you're sick of them."

That was it.

Baron Mud had encountered undead monsters so many times that skeletons no longer surprised him.

But Ian saw Baron Mud differently now.

Meeting monsters often and not feeling fear were separate matters.

The reason he could stay calm before monsters must be because he had the ability to neutralize them!

"Oh, then you must know how to deal with skeletons?"

When Ian asked, Baron Mud grinned and answered.

"Of course!"

"What is it! How do you do it?"

"First, bring some slaves as bait to distract them. If there are no slaves, draw lots to pick an unfortunate sacrifice..."

Belenka kicked Baron Mud hard.

"Ouch!"

"You bastard. We really should hang you. You dare use fellow Heaven's Faith believers as bait?"

"N-No... that was just a surprise~ It was all a joke!"

"A joke?"

"Hahaha! Got you good, didn't I? Pretty convincing, right?"

"Belenka. Give him a few more kicks."

Thump, thump.

Watching Baron Mud get thoroughly beaten, Ian thought.

As expected, there was no clever way to deal with undead.

In his experience as a wizard, Ian found 'opponents you can't talk to' the most troublesome.

At least if you could talk, you might try persuasion...

When conversation wasn't possible, it was hard to utilize a wizard's strengths.

'I miss Maria.'

Ian suddenly missed Maria, the necromancy prodigy.

Though Ian had witnessed death's mystery several times during his travels, for some reason he hadn't gained much necromancy experience.

So Ian still couldn't use necromancy.

'Feels like I'm almost there...'

Unable to communicate with the mystery, Ian felt an inexplicable frustration and discomfort.

It was an unfamiliar sensation for the genius wizard Ian.

Who knew being unable to communicate with mystery could be this uncomfortable!

But if other wizards knew Ian's thoughts, they'd be speechless with shock.

Of course...

Mystery normally doesn't communicate!

Isn't it abnormal that fire, water and wind understand human speech?!

All wizards desperately study magic to resolve the 'frustration' Ian felt.

They research and experiment to find ways to communicate with mystery somehow.

That's exactly why people like Ian who could handle all schools of magic were extremely rare.

Most people had to dedicate their entire lives just to communicate with one type of mystery.

"Ian. If there's no proper method, the answer is to charge straight in."

"Yeah. No choice."

Just brutally smashing through with force.

Though it was a simple brute force method about 1 light year away from a wizard's communication-focused approach, Ian had no other options.

He couldn't think of any other way to deal with undead monsters.

"Alright. Baron Mud! Get people to gather water and food. Let's head deep into the dungeon."

"Yes sir!"

Baron Mud answered with a salute.

He was a weird guy who started using honorifics after getting beaten.

"The wizard's calling?"

"Woohoo~ Boys, we're moving out!"

"Kehehehe!"

But seeing the thieves gathered as reinforcements, Ian was filled with a strange sense of doubt.

Had he ever seen such embarrassing fellows...

Should he just go in with Belenka and Baron Mud?

But more people was better, so he decided to bring them along even if just as porters.

"Careful going down. Watch that the torches don't go out."

"Yes sir!"

Ian led the thieves toward the depths of the underground dungeon.

#

Before entering the dungeon, Baron Mud gave a speech to the thieves.

"The underground is dangerous! Even if someone dies next to you, you might not know until the exploration ends!"

"Ugh..."

"But don't worry! I, the master of grave robbing! Baron Mud am with you! Hahahahaha!"

Belenka, listening to the speech, commented.

"Idiot."

That was exactly what Ian wanted to say.

See, partners really do think alike!

"Baron Mud. Wouldn't it be better to skip the part about possibly dying? It's bad for morale."

"Oh please, what do you know. Brutal threats work best for controlling thieves like these!"

"Oh ho. Good to know. So to control thieves, you threaten them?"

"No... Sir Knight... please...!"

Don't apply that to me!

Baron Mud screamed silently.

The proper dungeon exploration began.

The dungeon exploration was definitely rough.

First, the skeletons.

They were completely indistinguishable from regular bones, so you never knew when they'd pop out.

"Ian! Be careful! From my grave robbing experience, I know! Those vile skeletons have ambushed and killed over a hundred people..."

"Stop right there."

Ian grabbed Baron Mud's shoulder and yanked him back.

A rusty blade whistled past, barely missing them.

[That's right! Ian! Right there!]

[There are skinny humans hiding!]

In the darkness, Ian's dark magic abilities were maximized.

Every place untouched by torchlight was Ian's domain.

In darkness, Ian could see ahead even with closed eyes, and hear enemies stirring even with blocked ears.

Ian soccer-kicked the head off a skeleton just as it was rising.

Crack!

The skeleton instantly evolved into a headless warrior!

"Whoa! Smash it!"

"Ahhh!"

While the skeleton was stunned, the thieves swarmed it like bees and shattered its bones.

"You alright? Baron Mud?"

"... Th-Thank you... big bro..."

"Cut the 'big bro' crap."

Baron Mud looked around while thanking Ian.

This was definitely different from when he robbed undead tombs.

By now, three or four people would normally be dead.

There had been dozens of ambushes, with skeletons popping out from all sorts of bizarre places.

But...

Somehow, Ian knew exactly where the skeletons would appear.

'So this is magic.'

Baron Mud started to understand why skilled wizards commanded such high prices.

Just adding one wizard completely changed the quality of exploration!

No swordsman, no thief familiar with the underground could imitate a wizard's unique abilities.

"M-Master Wizard! There's a group of skeletons...!"

"I know. Keep your voice down."

Ian pressed against the narrow passage and whispered to the mystery of darkness.

"Del raha disnos."

[Using Skill: Dark Stealth]

Darkness has the power of concealment.

The power to hide things and make them undetectable.

Ian maximized this power with magic.

"Master Wizard! Master Wizard! They're coming...!"

"Stay calm. They won't find us."

The thieves held their breath, waiting for the skeletons to pass.

"!"

Just as Ian said, the skeletons didn't notice them...!

'Wow...!'

'So this is a real wizard!'

The thieves looked at Ian with almost love-struck eyes.

The wizard had uttered mysterious incomprehensible words, and even undead monsters couldn't detect them!

Even to ignorant thieves, Ian's magic had 'style'.

If a wizard like that helped with thieving... it would be so romantic!

"When we get out of here safely... should we ask the wizard if we can join him?"

"Hmm..."

"Hmm..."

They imagined founding a 'magic-thief gang'.

Phantom thieves who freely control darkness appear! The Holy Empire now fears the night!

The true lord of the night, Wizard Ian!

While lost in such delusions, one of the thieves suddenly had a seizure.

"Master Wizard! Please help!"

Belenka frowned at the convulsing thief.

"Ian. Did they catch something..."

"No. The magic worked properly. This one's been stuck to him since we entered the dungeon."

Ian's necromancy knowledge wasn't perfect, but he had the basics down.

"He-hehehe...!"

The thief foamed at the mouth and burst into maniacal laughter.

It was a typical case of spirit possession by an evil spirit.

"Looks like we've got ghost-type undead too, not just skeletons."

"...You didn't know? Ian?"

"Nope. Didn't know."

"There's something even you don't know?!"

When Belenka expressed surprise, Ian was actually bewildered.

What, am I not allowed to have things I don't know?!

"Well, I never learned necromancy."

"My goodness. To think there's magic even you don't know..."

It wasn't like he was born with necromancy talent like Maria.

Expecting Ian, who had already mastered various magics, to learn necromancy too was asking too much.

And hadn't Ian already shown natural talent for dark magic?

"I don't know all the magic in the world..."

Ian paused mid-sentence.

[Skill: Necromancy (100/100) - Achievement Complete]

[You are ready to learn a new skill!]

"?"

[You can now learn Necromancy.]

[Condition: Communicate with the mystery of death.]

[You've detected a friendly mystery of death nearby!]

Ian blankly stared into space.

He really could sense a unique death power that he hadn't felt before.

"Ian?"

When Ian suddenly spaced out, Belenka worriedly called out.

Could he have been possessed by a ghost too?

"Belenka."

"Yeah. Tell me."

"You know how I didn't really understand necromancy until now?"

"?"

"Well, I think I get it now."

"???"

Belenka stared at Ian in disbelief.

Don't tell me... you just figured out a new magic right here?!

'What an absolutely crazy genius...!'

---