Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World
chapter-60

Goodbye, Highten (2)

When Ryu Han-bin and Artis came to Highten from Onpros City, their preparation was simple.

They only needed to travel a short distance, and neither of them was in such a good situation at the time.

They prepared only the necessary amount for a walking trip.

But things were different now.

“It’s going to be a long journey, so it’ll be more convenient for us to buy a wagon. Besides, we have a lot of money now.”

“Oh, are you rich? I thought you had spent all your money on magic scrolls.”

Looking back at Ryu Han-bin, Artis shrugged.

“I mean, you have a lot of money.”

Then, Artis extended his palm towards Han-bin.

“Come on. Lend me some money.”

With simple words, arrogant eyes, and no shame on his face, Artis was indeed as proud as vanity!

“… You seem to be changing your attitude?”

With a sigh, Han-bin shook his hand.

“Let me buy the wagon. I’m using my money anyway. What’s the point of this?”

“No! I haven’t paid for my life yet!”

In the end, Artis’s strange obstinacy couldn’t be reasoned out.

Han-bin clicked his tongue, lending Artis money.

“At first, I thought it was some form of great belief, but now you look like a fool. Do you know that?”

Artis, holding a bag of gold coins, rose from his seat.

“Then let’s go to the wagon workshop.”

* * *

With a lot of money, Artis suggested buying an automatic wagon.

“It’ll be easier for us to manage.”

Han-bin tilted his head in wonder.

“Automatic wagon?”

The nuance told it was a wagon that ran automatically and didn’t provide any other explanation.

‘Then it’s not a wagon anymore. Isn’t it just an automobile?’

He got the answer once he arrived at the workshop.

Looking at the two horses standing in front of him, Han-bin nodded.

“That’s an automobile.”

They were moving horse statues, not living ones.

It was a kind of Golem fueled by Spirit Stones.

‘The horse is the one that’s automatic, not the wagon itself?’

Since they weren’t living creatures, there was no need to feed them or clean up after them.

When given an order, it didn’t do anything else but what it’s been tasked to do.

It was indeed automatic.

The workshop owner guided the two golem horses towards them.

“Two Golem steeds, as ordered.”

Artis asked, looking at the condition of Golem steeds.

“You got a pretty good product. What is the efficiency of the Spirit Stone?”

“It’s in grade three. In the Highten Mage Guild, it’s hard to produce more efficient Golem.”

“No, I’m fully satisfied with it.”

Artis handed over the sack of gold coins.

“Then here’s the payment.”

The workshop owner went away to prepare the bill.

Han-bin looked at Artis.

“Why don’t we just make a Golem wagon that runs on its own?”

He wondered if it was necessary to make a horse out of a Golem and drag the wagon.

Even though he was an engineering illiterate, the automatic wagon’s energy conversion efficiency didn’t look good.

“Oh, like a car on Earth?”

Understanding what he meant, Artis began an explanation.

“It’s too much. Magic doesn’t make things like wheeled golems.”

“Why?”

“Because wheels don’t exist in nature.”

Golem magic was a way to copy and implement life magically.

Until wheeled creatures existed, wheeled golems couldn’t be made.

“A Spirit Stone engine? I’ve heard an Alien is trying to do that…”

It apparently consumed so much Spirit Stones to start the engine that the concept was disregarded due to its inefficiency.

Besides, Earth cars were not compatible with Latna’s culture in many ways.

“It’s not convenient if we turn it into a car.”

That Golem steed alone had a level requirement of 45.

Artis could finally buy it.

Making a car with magic would surely have a similar restriction level, which meant it wouldn’t be usable without a decently high level.

On the other hand, it was different in the case of automatic wagons.

It was just a normal wagon without the Golem steed.

Ordinary low-level people could use it.

“You can leave the Golem steed or just use the wagon; hence it’s much more efficient.”

“Is that comfortable?”

Ryu Han-bin scratched his head.

‘I think it would be much easier just to change the whole car for use.’

Regardless, they’ve made the payment.

They entered the workshop.

“We’ll have to pick a wagon.”

Inside the workshop were dozens

Ryu Han-bin checked the wagons out without much thought.

Artis looked around and admired the scene.

“Thanks to Earthlings, this process became much more comfortable.”

“What?”

“They didn’t make wagons like this before.”

Decades ago, Latna’s wagon workshops started production only when orders were placed.

However, with the introduction of modern sales offices’ concept, wagons began to be displayed and showcased in places where there were many travelers to help them choose the product they needed.

“Why haven’t Latna people come up with such a simple idea?”

“I’m more amazed at you admiring this. You ignored guns and cars.”

“That’s because it’s negligible. This is convenient.”

Of course, the two were unaware.

The people in the workshop were having the opposite conversation.

“We have to stop making and displaying wagons in advance like Earth.”

“We’ll have to. We sell one per month at most, and it only costs more to make each type in advance. It’s better to make it when there is an order.”

“It’s just a loss for us to follow the trend.”

“Why are Earthlings doing this nonsense?”

Since the economy type and scale were different, clumsily copying the concept couldn’t be profitable.

Artis chose a wagon.

It was a covered wagon suitable for long-distance travel.

They didn’t forget to visit the Mage Guild.

It was to sell their house.

Artis clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Oh, it’s been less than half a year since I bought the house.”

“If I had known this, I would have just rented it.”

“I didn’t expect for you to level up that fast.”

The house was entrusted to a sales representative by the Mage Guild.

If the house was sold, the remaining amount of money could be transferred from other cities’ Mage Guild.

The guilds in Latna also served the same functions as the banks on Earth.

Finally, by applying for the Hunter Guild’s membership cancellation, their work at Highten Dungeon City was finished.

* * *

The next morning, after all the preparations, Han-bin and his party left their home.

As she climbed on horseback, Effir looked faint.

“It’s time to say goodbye to this house now. I’ve been attached to it a lot.”

Ryu Han-bin soothed her, then bluffed.

“Why don’t you buy a better house? No, should I just buy a mansion? I have a lot of money.”

And right away, Artis scolded Han-bin.

“Prices in the central area of the Continent are extremely high. You can’t even buy a cabin in that area with your savings.”

“Ah.”

Artis then got into the wagon.

Han-bin suddenly hesitated.

“Wait, can I get into the automatic wagon? Valtara warriors avoid Magic Tools.”

Artis waved, telling him it would be okay.

“Valtara warriors avoid the use of Magic Tools, not everything related to it.”

To be exact, they hated the activation of it.

Unlike people with hydrophobia who were afraid of water, they were not afraid of the Magic Tool itself.

“You’ve been eating meat stored in a cold storage room or bread heated in a Magic oven, but no one thought it strange.”

It would be strange to drive the Golem steed himself, but there was no problem if he was just a passenger in the wagon.

“Well, if it were that way, I’d have to be freaked out every time my opponent wields a magic sword. I got it.”

Convinced, Ryu Han-bin also got on the wagon.

“Then we’re leaving.”

Sitting on the coaching box, Effir shouted the activation word.

“Activate, Golem steeds!”

The two Golem steeds, which were hardened like stone statues, began to spring alive.

Tap, tap.

Soon the wagon moved forward with a cheerful hoof.

She waved cheerfully at the remote canyon.

“Goodbye, Highten! Thanks to you, I’ve leveled up.”

* * *

There was a splendid masonry hall with shining magic lights all over it.

A man and a woman were bowing their heads apologetically inside it.

Richard and Leslie had left the countryside and had returned to the center.

With his head down, Richard stuttered.

“I’m sorry. I did as instructed, but I don’t know what’s wrong…”

In front of him was a middle-aged man looking down on them.

He looked about forty, but in fact, he was nearly ninety.

His aging had stopped because of the Goddess’s blessing.

He was the greatest Magic swordsman in the present Latna continent and one of the four strongest beings. He was the absolute ruler in that era, who punished Great Earth and was blessed with immortality.

Garhan, the Terrible, asked the two in a gentle tone.

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s…”

Shivering, Leslie crawled forward.

And she politely offered the black crystal.

Garhan’s eyes, which received the crystal, shone clearly.

“Is this…?”

He placed the crystal on a large monument next to him.

It was a measuring stone.

Garhan couldn’t figure out the magic item as soon as he saw it, unlike Aliens could.

Soon the letters of light displayed the item’s information.

[Blessing of Near-Completion Omphalos (Unique Item)]

Garhan smiled bitterly after reading the name.

“There’s something wrong with it.”

Leslie bowed her head deeper and deeper.

“Please forgive me…”

After a moment’s thought, Garhan gestured in the air.

“Go away. I will decide on your fate later.”

Richard and Leslie immediately withdrew.

Garhan, who was left alone, frowned.

“Not a complete success, but not a failure either?”

In agony, he grasped the crystal.

Even if there was a problem, it was the first time that such a high-quality result was made.

It was well worth a try.

“Mix.”

The black crystal melted itself into the palm of his hand.

“Is there an amplification on body capacity? But this doesn’t mean much…”

It felt like a Giant equipping a Magic Tool that allowed it to utilize the physical ability of an Orc.

Did an Orc’s muscular strength matter to a giant?

It was a powerful force that seemed to destroy the world for Zhang Luxin, but it was insignificant to Garhan, one of the strongest four.

What he wanted was not that ability.

“Shall I test it?”

Mumbling, Garhan rose.

He left the hall and went underground.

Standing in front of a huge prison blocked from all sides, he looked inside.

There was a man in his 40s trapped inside the prison.

He was covered with blood as if he had been through hardships.

The man freaked out when he saw Garhan.

“Oh, Lord G-Garhan! Please mercy!”

Garhan had a curious look on his face.

“Well, it looks like this.”

His level was revealed before his eyes.

[Race: Human. Wizard lv. 68.]

“I can’t believe I can get other people’s information so easily…”

The man cried out.

“S-save me!”

Garhan didn’t even blink.

He slowly lifted his finger and pointed it at the man.

“Arghhh!”

The man’s neck was cut off, causing blood to spill.

The headless body fell on the cold floor.

Judging from the fact that the body remained intact, he seemed to be a human being in Latna, not an Alien.

Soon the message of light appeared before him.

[Lv. 68 Wizard cleared. You’ve got an experience of 4,359,130.]

[Current Experience: 4,359,130/213, 871,945,300]

A woman’s voice was heard on the other side of the aisle.

“How is it going, Garhan?”

She revealed herself out of the darkness.

She was a young woman with dark skin and curly, glossy blond hair hanging down to her waist.

“It’s a success, Genovia.”

Looking back at her, Garhan smiled contentedly.

“Listen to Holien. It’s time to start the second experiment.”