arc5 · 083-ch83

Arc 5: The Immortal's Coup d'État

Episode 83: The Old Master of Gu Poison

"Hello, fellow brethren"

The figure on screen is an elderly man with short white hair, wearing a weathered white shirt that shows its age. His face is etched with wrinkles, and his slightly stooped back speaks to his age.

"Watching this video means you've manifested poison magic, or at least have an interest in it"

Whether due to status benefits or not, despite his age his face is well-defined. Whether because of that or not, the old man's words had a certain intensity that drew people in.

A voice that raised goosebumps just listening to it. You didn't want to hear it, but you couldn't help hearing it. Like the feeling of watching a horror movie out of morbid curiosity.

"To such brethren, I'd like to teach all I know about poison magic... but that would violate guild confidentiality. If you want to know, join my former guild. Everything is written there"

Guild member information is guild property. When retiring, naturally you sign a non-disclosure agreement. Presumably, this video was also checked by the guild before posting.

"Now, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am the Old Master of Gu Poison. The origin of my name is this"

As he said that, the old man's face transformed into an insect-like face. A strange figure like a bug-man, but immediately returned to his original elderly face.

"My existence evolution is insect. And because I use poison magic, I was called Gu Poison. Sounds like an affected name, doesn't it?"

Existence evolution can be turned on and off like a skill, but for some people the effects of existence evolution constantly appear. The Sword God's eyes were dyed red, and some people always had horns growing or tails appearing—there were various cases.

Since the Old Man's appearance showed absolutely no traces of the insect from before, he must be the type where the effects rarely appear.

"Explorer rank is quasi-first-class. I'm an old fool who couldn't surpass the wall of 150"

Just as Suzuka underwent human species strengthening when he exceeded level 50, when you exceed level 150, existence evolution strengthening occurs. And with level 150—where existence evolution strengthening occurs—as the border, first-class and quasi-first-class are divided.

"Poison magic skill level is 8. Fellow brethren. Before explaining poison magic, let me tell you this. Poison magic shows its true worth at level 5. If poison magic has manifested and you seek strength, raise your level with desperate determination"

The Old Man stands from the stone he was sitting on. The camera angle changes, showing the place where the Old Man had been.

That place, thought to be outdoors, looked like some mountain. A sloping surface was shown, with grass growing here and there but mostly exposed rock and gravel spreading out.

"When poison magic reaches level 5, you can mix poisons to your own taste. Compared to only being able to use poison and paralysis before that, the degree of freedom increases so much it's like something completely different"

The Old Man walks slowly. The camera follows as if being manipulated by someone, but it seems to be using a drone camera rather than a person operating it.

"Increased freedom is both good and bad. If the scope of what you can use is narrow, ordinary people and geniuses reach similar ideas, and by diligently honing your technique you can reach the heights"

At first glance, you can't tell whether that's a dungeon or not. The rugged rock surface and that grassy landscape look like nothing but high-altitude mountain scenery.

But something that didn't fit such scenic beauty appeared in the shot.

"But the more freedom increases, the more the talent of the user is required. Even if you put in 99% effort, without the 1% flash of insight, you won't become a genius, it seems"

What appeared in the camera were monsters. Three lizard-like monsters walking on two legs were shown. They wore clothes like armor, and held shields and swords in their hands.

"I was an ordinary person. Despite such a magic with so much potential manifesting, I couldn't even reach 150, and my skill stopped at 8"

From appearances they seemed like quite strong monsters, but as if the screen were frozen, they didn't move at all. The Old Man was moving, so the screen definitely wasn't frozen. The monsters were stopped as if they were taxidermy specimens.

"Having high freedom in magic means your imagination is tested. For example, these guys here are being stopped by my poison. Now I ask you—can you create a poison that stops a monster's movement?"

The Old Man walks in front of the monsters without holding any weapon, defenseless. But the monsters don't move so much as a fingertip. Even the movement of their gaze is stopped.

"Powerful paralysis? No, no. Dreaming happy dreams from drugs? Does it look like that? Poison that stiffens muscles? That's also different"

The Old Man taps the monsters, but there's no sign they'll move.

With paralysis, it's difficult to stop movement so perfectly, and even if you did stop them, they wouldn't be able to stand and would fall down. If you could create poison, you might be able to do something similar by creating poison that stiffens muscles, but the Old Man says that's also different.

"Those who can't think of it are still living in the pre-1950 world. What a waste to live only on Earth knowledge. This is a dungeon, you know? Humans move fast like fighter jets, fire appears from their hands, and they fight monsters many times their size. Such dream-like things happen in reality here, you know?"

The Old Man shakes his head as if lamenting.

"Lately, explorers have made that common sense. They've been like that since birth, can't be helped. But what a waste. Fire comes from your hands, you know? I can emit poison. If anything, I can even change my form to an insect. You don't get it, do you? It doesn't make sense. To lump that together as common sense is nothing but an act that narrows possibilities"

He looks at the camera with an expression of extreme regret, with pity in his eyes.

"So then, how do I explain this poison?"

As he said that, the monster on the right suddenly caught fire. As if flames were appearing from inside, it spouted a pillar of fire from its mouth and burned with a roar. Immediately the monster turned into smoke and was sucked toward the Old Man.

"What about this poison?"

Then the monster on the left began to swell. Like a balloon, every part of its body swelled, and the parts that finished swelling burst open and eventually turned into smoke.

"How about this poison?"

Finally, the monster in the middle changed. As if weathering and crumbling away, its body became tattered and flowed like dust in the wind. The dust turned into smoke and was sucked toward the Old Man.

"I'm ignorant so I might just not know, but can you explain the poisons just now with your common sense?"

The monsters died in ways that didn't seem like poison at all. But the Old Man says it was due to poison magic.

"Fellow brethren. Think carefully. Magic is such a free thing. Don't you think it's a bit wasteful to bind it with chains called common sense?"

A poison mist appears around the Old Man. Not just that. Poisonous balls and walls like sludge, even the ground had changed to become like a poison swamp.

"Make them inhale gas to poison them? Create poison bullets or spears like fire or water magic to attack? Create a shield that poisons anyone who touches it? Or make a swamp that poisons anyone who steps in it?"

When the Old Man waves his hand, the various poison magics that had appeared until now disappear as if melting into the air. But perhaps because he displayed magic so flashily, the two humanoid lizards from before could be seen approaching at tremendous speed.

"Attack methods discovered through trial and error will eventually become common sense and help your battles. Magic with good usability like your own habits will surely lead to your confidence. But if you want to become even stronger, if you wish to see what lies beyond, you need the resolve to discard those once. And think. About poison magic's possibilities. Re-examine it. Poison magic itself. Squeeze it out. Poison magic's limits"

The space around the Old Man warps. No, the space itself was contaminated. It wasn't something visible like poison mist. It wasn't that level of poison. Like a forbidden ground you must not enter, despite the threat being invisible to the eye, instinct rejected stepping in.

Toward such an Old Man, the monsters attacked without hesitation, swinging the weapons they held. But the raised weapons were never swung down.

The moment the two monsters touched the contaminated space, they instantly turned to smoke without showing any sign of pain. They probably didn't even recognize that they had been attacked. The monsters died instantly, melting away, to that extent.

"I could not reach the pinnacle of poison magic. I could not even peek into the abyss of such a beautifully cruel magic. That is why I can only hope that those who watch this video will be able to set foot in that land"

The Old Man turns toward the camera. He's an old man wearing a weathered white shirt with white hair, but after seeing the power to instantly kill powerful monsters, you couldn't let your guard down just because he's an old man.

"Fellow brethren. What I can teach is limited, but I want you to learn as much as possible and certainly make it your nourishment. This video ends here. In the next video, let's confirm from skill level 1 in order. Well then"

Saying that, the first video of the Old Master of Gu Poison drew its curtain.