Chapter 772
Episode 190: The Marliet Hister Legacy Site (2)
Whoooooosh—!
A gust of magical wind, conjured by Valeria, gently enveloped the two of them.
They landed gracefully on the ground, smoothing their clothes as they touched down.
“So this is how the traps of a legacy site start—by pushing you out like this. Interesting creature. Just like your ancestor Marliet.”
Valeria nodded and placed her hand against the wall, as if eager to touch the heritage left behind by her forebear.
The wall was made of a crystal-clear mineral, through which a faint magical current flowed.
If this had been the old Valeria, or if she had come here alone, she would never have dared to touch it—too risky, who knew what trap might trigger.
But now, with Jin by her side, she felt no fear, confident that whatever happened, he would handle it.
Jin read her thoughts and smiled warmly.
“This place feels different from the other legacy sites we’ve found so far.”
“How so?”
“Usually, legacy sites radiate a sacred aura that humbles you the moment you step inside. But here… it feels like someone’s playfully watching us.”
“Really? Despite the legacy site’s notorious reputation for cruelty, Marliet might have been a good person after all.”
In his previous life, Jin had never heard the name Marliet from Valeria.
In other words, this was a legacy site that the past Valeria had never discovered.
‘Besides the communication device said to be created by Zen Rutberg, I hope there’s something else here that could greatly help my master. Surely, some records or magic left behind by Marliet remain.’
Looking around, they spotted a short path drawn ahead, ending in a fork.
“A fork right from the start. Which way should we go?”
Valeria lightly waved her silver pine staff, summoning a record window.
She intended to check any notes about which path was correct.
But the last record left here was over three hundred years old—and someone had tampered with it.
“It seems Marliet took measures to prevent easy access to the records.”
“So we have to choose blindly.”
“Let’s try the left path first.”
As they stepped through the left entrance, an ominous noise echoed from afar.
It sounded like a massive iron sphere rolling rapidly toward them.
Kugugururuk—!
The sphere was roughly the size of a young dragon’s torso.
Anyone with enough combat skill to barely defeat Honka would know to turn and run immediately.
Jin instinctively clenched his fist to shatter the sphere, but then recalled Honka’s advice.
Instead of breaking it, he spread his palm and stopped it in place.
Thud—!
The sphere halted, producing a heavy sound.
“The slope it rolled down is pretty steep. This feels like a device designed to force us to take the right entrance.”
Jin said.
Valeria shared the same thought.
Leaving the sphere where it was, they exited and tried the right entrance.
Sure enough, only minor traps triggered—just a few stones shot out.
“Looks like they intentionally made the easier path more tempting. So that’s probably the real way.”
They returned to the left path and decided to proceed.
Jin pushed the iron sphere aside with brute strength, clearing the way.
About halfway up, they noticed a hole in the floor.
The sphere couldn’t fall through it, but a person could easily fit.
“A shortcut, maybe?”
“Yeah, probably.”
They dropped through the hole and immediately found themselves in a vast cavern.
It was clear this space was used as a kind of battlefield.
The floor, walls, and ceiling were scarred with signs of combat—slash marks, traces of misfired magic, and claw-like scratches.
[Gu, uu, intrusion, arrival… 3 minutes… 24 seconds. New record. Average: 78 hours 13 minutes. Extremely fast. Superhuman level or higher, formidable opponent…]
It was a golem.
Jin and Valeria turned toward the source of the voice.
A golem roughly their size, humanoid in shape, flickered its yellow eyes and moved awkwardly.
‘78 hours? So if you can’t use the shortcut, it usually takes that long? And this isn’t even a biological golem, yet it has this level of intelligence and judgment?’
Jin had never heard of such a golem in either his past or current life.
[Honka… survival confirmed. Legacy site intact. Red hair, pure magical entity. Hister. Confirmed. Fully armed, level 1 hostility not applied.]
The golem spoke in a slow, halting voice.
Chiiiiiing—!
Suddenly, runes appeared all over its body, releasing an immense surge of magic.
Jin was more amazed by the golem’s intelligence than its magic.
[Legacy bearer, the final… trial begins now. If you feel you will die, shout out. Surrender.]
As soon as the golem finished speaking, a barrage of transformation spells unlike anything Jin had ever seen poured forth.
Jin and Valeria simultaneously formed protective barriers—not to avoid injury, but to study the golem’s magic.
It was incredible that the golem could wield such high-level spells.
Though the golem said to surrender if they felt they’d die, the two calmly observed the spells within their shields.
If this had been a knight or mage of around 8-star rank, they would have struggled greatly and likely lost.
“Your ancestor was truly remarkable.”
“I’m just as shocked.”
Honka had called the traps Marliet set up ‘works of art,’ and this golem was undoubtedly the masterpiece.
“This magic… a variation of the hellwind spell? The way the flow is altered is impressive. The timing of the magic bursts is especially remarkable.”
“Setting it to cast alongside rapid-fire fire orbs is clever. And judging by the casting speed—on par with someone who has the initial-stage quick-casting talent—it must be firing spells stored in the runes.”
“Storing magic in runes… theoretically possible, but to store this many high-level spells?”
“Not with ordinary magic methods. I think it’s a variation of record magic—imbuing the records with storage properties.”
As Valeria said, all the golem’s magic was what Marliet had used in life.
Marliet had ‘recorded and stored’ his magic within the golem.
“Record and storage… If we could develop this as a Union technology, all Union knights might fight like magic swordsmen. Even those without a single star of magical power could just use stored spells at the right moment.”
Surprisingly, it was Valeria, not Jin, who said this.
Jin widened his eyes and glanced at her profile.
Suddenly, he remembered how much he had enjoyed looking at Valeria’s side profile in his past life.
“Of course, it wouldn’t compare to a true magic swordsman like you, but it would greatly enhance every knight’s combat ability. If we could research it, it would be as groundbreaking as the communication device we’re seeking.”
The two spent about ten minutes discussing inside their protective barriers.
By then, the golem’s stored magic seemed depleted; its attacks noticeably weaker.
[10 minutes 32 seconds elapsed. 871 spells used. Effective hits: zero. Trial… concluded, legacy bearer.]
The golem’s glowing eyes dimmed as it spoke.
When Jin and Valeria lowered their shields, the golem placed its left hand over its chest in a gesture of respect.
[Follow me. It is time to see the master’s world.]
Jin and Valeria followed, unable to take their eyes off the golem’s back.
Up close, its craftsmanship was far more intricate and complex than it had seemed.
After a few minutes, they reached a massive door stretching up to the ceiling.
[Notice.]
“What is it? Some kind of warning?”
[Inside, there exist spirits who have overlaid themselves onto the legacy site. They are previous passers. Their state is unstable but harmless. You may rest assured. Also, they are not your future—unless you choose to become like them.]
“Are you talking about Zen Rutberg?”
Valeria asked, and the golem nodded.
The letter’s contents were not metaphorical—they were literal.
[Correct. And Teven Hister.]
“Teven Hister… so that was the name of the ancestor who wrote this letter. Got it. But what’s your name?”
Kurururu…!
The golem didn’t answer but placed its palm into a groove at the center of the door.
Magical energy flared across the entire door, illuminating it.
Slowly, the door began to open, revealing the end of the legacy site.
A vast, open space stretched out like a sunny day by the sea, dotted with hundreds of blue points floating within.
Each point was a record window.
As the golem had said, this was the ‘world of Marliet Hister’—the essence of the records Marliet left behind.
Valeria instantly felt a deep reverence, but before she could fully absorb the emotion, new voices echoed.
“Oh! A living person! And a new one!”
“Finally, a descendant has come…!”
It was the voices of Teven and Zen.
Though ghostly and faint, their excited expressions were unmistakable even from afar.
Valeria bowed first in respect.
Having grown accustomed to meeting spirits lately, she wasn’t overly startled.
“Nice to meet you, ancestor. I’m Valeria Hister.”
“I’m Jin Runkandel.”
Teben and Zen smiled brightly in response, then immediately fired off questions at the two.
“You guys!”
“When you came in here, did you do the elephant trunk thing and all those weird moves too!?”
It wasn’t exactly the kind of question you’d ask someone you’d just met after three hundred and fifty years, but to Zen and Teben, it clearly mattered a great deal.
The Golem watched them and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.