The Floating Continent was, quite literally, a continent suspended in the sky. And being a massive landmass, it naturally housed a wide variety of monsters.
Among them, the weakest ones hovered around level 100. During his stay in the Shadow Principality, Do-Jin spent most of his ti hunting those monsters.
[Colossal Frostfang Spider: Lv. 105]
This monster boasted high attack and defense stats, plus the added threat of poison as a special ability. However, its low magic resistance and health made for obvious weaknesses.
As Karin held him aloft, flying over the region where the spiders resided, Do-Jin took them down one at a ti with Black Dragon’s Fangs. Although it was a completely one-sided hunt, since the level difference was too large, the experience penalty kicked in hard. He wasn’t able to power level, but it was definitely better than sitting around doing absolutely nothing.
“Do-Jin! You flew a lot again today, so tell another story about your world!”
He spent most of his free ti with Karin, who was currently overflowing with curiosity. The mont there was even a sliver of silence, she would start asking questions. The more she learned about him, the more obvious her delight beca. She would listen intently whenever he answered her questions about humans, other worlds, or Regenian, and then carefully record it all in her diary.
Before either of them realized it, a week had passed in the Shadow Principality. Do-Jin woke up at the usual ti and naturally turned his head. He looked in the sa direction as always to see Karin in her usual spot, waiting for him to get up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Sothing was different about her today. Her bright smile had completely vanished and her drooping eyebrows gave her the look of an abandoned puppy.
“Father wants to see you.”
The mont she said that, Do-Jin figured out why she looked so down.
So the reward is finally ready.
The reason he had stayed here was because Duke Tirund asked him to wait until the reward was prepared. Once he received it, there would be no reason to stay any longer. Their parting was inevitable, and Karin already understood that, hence her miserable expression.
“Are you bumd out?”
At the question, her eyes began to well with tears. It looked like they would spill over with the slightest touch. If she wasn’t a vampire, she probably would have already broken down crying. Unable to bring herself to speak, she just gave a small nod.
I want to ask him to stay longer, but I can’t. This is no good for a human like him. So... what if I just go with him instead?
Karin had thought about that possibility from the very beginning, but she knew all too well that she couldn’t.
Even if our blood has thinned over the long centuries, to humans, vampires are still terrifying monsters. We are predators, after all.
If the Empire or the Celestial See found out that a vampire was walking around on the Central Continent, it wouldn’t end well.
If that happens, it would cause huge trouble for Do-Jin. I cannot let that happen.
As she silently wrestled with those rationalizations, Do-Jin’s hand ca to rest gently on her head.
“I have lots of things to take care of. That’s why I cannot stay here.”
“I know...”
“But you don’t have to look like that. You know I am an adventurer, right? When I am strong enough, I will co back to explore the Floating Continent. We’ll et again.”
After hearing that, her face lit up. “Really...? Will you actually co back? Even though there is nothing here?”
Contrary to her belief, the Floating Continent had been abandoned for over a thousand years. With many places left untouched and unclaid, it was a treasure trove full of elixirs, riches, and ancient artifacts just waiting to be taken.
In my previous life, the Elders kept wiping out the mont I set foot there, so I gave up after a few attempts. But this ti, there’s nothing to worry about. I will co back and sweep the whole place clean.
Do-Jin had already made up his mind. Once the ti was right, he would plunder the Floating Continent and take everything for himself.
“It is far from empty. From my point of view, the Floating Continent is more than worth the adventure. That’s why I plan to co back as soon as possible, before anyone else sets foot on it.”
Karin’s face brightened imdiately. The shift in her expression was so extre it was as if she had never been upset in the first place.
“Really? Are you really going to co back to explore the Floating Continent?”
She had been terrified he would give her one of those vague promises like, “I will co find you soday!” In all the books she had read, not one of those promises had ever been kept, but the promise he made seed different. There was a specific goal, and it was grounded in sothing real.
“Next ti, I will make sure I can fly with you much more smoothly! I am going to start practicing every day from now on!”
There was no real need for her to go that far, but Do-Jin knew better than to try and stop her.
***
“Karin seed really reluctant to let you go.”
After a week apart, the duke greeted them with a troubled remark about his daughter.
“She’ll be alright,” Do-Jin said. “Once she realizes just how much she’s loved, she’ll bounce back quickly.”
“That is what I hope,” the duke replied with a faint sigh.
He sounded like even he didn’t buy his own words, like he was trying to convince himself rather than Do-Jin. It was the kind of half-hearted response soone gave when they knew things would play out unfavorably.
Eventually, the worry subsided, and the man’s expression flickered from that of a doting parent to a more dignified Grand Mage. This was the Duke Tirund that Do-Jin was familiar with, the one who ruled over the vampires.
“Now then. Let show you the reward I promised,” he said.
He raised his hand and a pillar of blood burst into view, rising tall and pulsing with geotric patterns. The whole thing was made from an interwoven ss of lines and symbols. Looking at it made Do-Jin think of a strand of DNA, twisted and glowing with power.
“This is the Magic Eye, sothing I’ve personally crafted over the past week.”
Just hearing those two words made Do-Jin’s heart jump. If it’d been any random rare item, he wouldn’t have been this excited, but the Magic Eye wasn’t just a tool or an item. It was a full-blown mutation, the kind of thing that could reshape one’s entire combat style from the ground up.
Magic Eye’s trait sits at the top of the hierarchy in terms of rare items...
“I’ve heard most Magic Eyes co with side effects,” Do-Jin said. “Is this one safe?”
He had to be thorough. No matter how good sothing sounded, walking into a trap just because it looked shiny was a classic rookie move. Even the smallest risk needed to be ruled out.
The duke gave a slow, understanding nod.
“A mage should always be deliberate. When I returned to the mindset I had in my early days and began this work, I nearly overreached without noticing. That is why mages must never forget to be careful.” It almost sounded like he was talking more to himself. “What I’m telling you cos from experience. It is not advice from an immortal beast, but from an old mage who learned the hard way.”
“A mage must be cautious. I’ll take that to heart,” Do-Jin said, his voice steady.
The duke twisted his fingers slightly, and the DNA-shaped Magic Circle made of blood burst open with a flash.
“This eye was made from ,” the duke said calmly. “I used my own blood. I refined it through magic. Then I broke it down, degraded it again and again, until I could shape it into sothing that could be safely implanted into a human.”
What the fuck? Did he just say this was his eye?
Do-Jin blinked hard. For a second, he felt like his own eyes might fall out of his skull.
What kind of Frankenstein bullshit did this old bastard cook up?
“You seem a bit shocked,” the duke said with a smirk. “But there’s no reason to be. In the process of making it compatible with humans, nearly all of the original material was stripped away. Its uniqueness is mostly gone. It is no different from a standard Magic Eye now. I removed most of the functions to ensure stability.”
Right. Just a “standard” Magic Eye. Nothing special. Except the list of what it could do said otherwise. The duke continued speaking with his calm and clinical tone, like he was listing grocery items.
“New mana reservoir that significantly increases total mana capacity... An additional Magic Circuit shaped like an eye that will function as a secondary circuit... Permanent Night Vision that functions at all tis, just think of it as a permanently active spell. Lastly, it will grant you a new form of sight that allows you to see mana directly.”
Do-Jin felt his brows rise. This was anything but a basic Magic Eye. Even just the first two features would already qualify as a high-end, top-tier implant that cost a fortune. Between the rare materials, the specialized magic craftsmanship, and the risk-heavy surgery, a “low-tier” Magic Eye could easily eat through hundreds of millions.
However, this one ca with two more features stacked on top. It was a one-of-a-kind item that could not be bought, even with a mountain of gold. More than just a reward, it was the kind of absurd miracle that could change the trajectory of a man’s life.
“And there’s one more thing...”
Maybe it was just in his nature as a noble, but Duke Tirund had this maddening obsession with returning favors in full and then so. The way he insisted on balance and repaynt was the most aristocratic behavior Do-Jin had ever seen. He most definitely did not find this annoying, however.
“I hid a small riddle inside the Magic Eye,” the duke continued. “Right now, you probably won’t even notice it’s there, but as you continue to grow as a mage, you’ll eventually co to recognize it. If you keep pushing forward and sharpen your abilities further, you might even be able to decipher it.”
“So your final gift is a puzzle you want to figure out myself,” Do-Jin said, letting out a dry laugh. “That’s... about as mage-like as it gets.”
“I suppose I’ve never stopped being one,” the duke replied with a faint smile as he stepped forward and held out his hand. “Well then. What will you do? I’ve explained everything. Now it’s your turn to decide.”
Do-Jin took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. Then, he raised his eyes and locked onto the duke with a steady gaze. “A mage should always be cautious, but I also believe there are tis when a mage needs to be bold as hell, so I’ll take it.”
The code floating above the duke’s hand shot toward Do-Jin’s left eye like a bullet and disappeared into it.
“I nad this eye the Silent Night,” the duke said.
It was a fitting na for a still and endless night, cold, deep, and noble, just like the vampire who had created it.
[Magic Eye code Silent Night has been successfully registered.]
Do-Jin’s left eye briefly flared with a red glow, then sank into total darkness. It was the kind of pitch black that could swallow light, like the kind one would find in the deepest part of the ocean. As he blinked, searching for any sort of stimulation, he felt a bit of pressure and a dull heaviness. There was so stiffness and a little burn behind the socket.
Suddenly, the Grimoire of Truth butted in.
[Encrypted code detected within newly registered data.]
[Initiating analysis of encrypted code.]
Diagrams visible only to him started flooding Do-Jin’s field of vision, swirling chaotically as they broke down, unfolded, and recombined. The scattered fragnts snapped into alignnt, forming a fully intact spell.
[Information analysis complete.]
[Unique Spell Wedge of Drain has been recorded in the Grimoire of Truth.]
It was Wedge of Drain, one of Duke Carneth Tirund’s personal creations. The Unique Spell born of his own magic was now handed down without a word, hidden inside the Magic Eye.
So this was the final gift...?
Do-Jin stared at the floating system ssage, then turned toward the duke again with his expression frozen in disbelief.
“Looks like it’s settled into place. That’s good. Still, you’ll need so ti to fully adjust to it. As for the riddle I ntioned, solving it will take even longer. And depending on how far your talent takes you, you might hit a wall and never crack it at all.”
Do-Jin lifted his gaze and asked, “Would this be the riddle you’re talking about?”
He raised his hand. Floating just above his palm was the spell he had just acquired. A wedge forged from dense, blood-red mana vibrated quietly in the air, pulsing like it had a heartbeat. The mont the duke laid eyes on it, he staggered back a step.
“What— That’s impossible!” he shouted, genuine shock twisting across his face.
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