How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 6: Altius (4)

With a sigh of regret, Karl looked around the room one more time. He was just about to leave the library when—

[A Sudden Quest has appeared.]

<Sudden Quest: Find the Hidden Spellbook>

Search for a hidden spellbook in this area. You might find something if you check the 22nd bookshelf closely?

Quest Reward: None

"...?"

A hidden spellbook?

Karl tilted his head, then headed over to the 22nd shelf.

It was a vast space, and the shelves were massive. Searching them properly would take a good while.

"Would’ve been nice if they told me exactly where to look."

Annoying, but oh well.

Since a quest had appeared, there was probably something actually worth finding.

Without another word, Karl silently began checking between the books and behind the shelves.

A long time passed.

"...Huh."

Glancing around, Karl let out a low murmur.

He’d found something suspicious.

After moving aside the books at the bottommost part of the inner shelf, he discovered a faint, rectangular crack along the back wall.

Drrk...

He gave it a gentle pull. With the sound of old wood splintering, a hidden panel came loose.

No one else was nearby, but Karl still looked around, then carefully peeled it open.

"Cough."

A cloud of dust billowed out.

Inside was a book—ancient-looking and worn down by time.

[Sudden Quest: Find the Hidden Spellbook — Completed!]

Seemed like he’d found it.

He pulled the book out, dusted off the front and back covers, and examined it from all angles.

‘No title. What the hell is this?’

Was it some kind of ancient grimoire?

Filled with rising anticipation, Karl activated the information on the unidentified spellbook.

But contrary to his hope, his expression quickly hardened as he read.

"...What the fuck is this."

The words escaped before he could stop them.

And honestly, how could they not?

This wasn’t some ancient grimoire—it was a dark magic spellbook.

<Turning to Undead (20,000 SP) — 4th Circle>

Reanimate a corpse as an undead under your control.

The undead loses its former will and obeys only the caster’s commands.

This spell cannot be cast on targets vastly superior in power to the caster or on severely damaged corpses.

Maximum controllable undead: 10

Did this damn quest really just hand him a spell to learn this?

In this world, dark magic held the same reputation it did in most stories—if not worse.

Forbidden magic. Blasphemous magic. A remnant of demon lords. A continental-level threat.

In short, if anyone caught you with it, you were fucked.

Karl, whose only goal was to survive and somehow return to Earth, had no intention of letting something like this blow up in his face.

Still, that also made it one hell of a rare find.

Dark magic had been purged and hunted to extinction ages ago. In modern times, it was practically mythical.

‘...I guess in a way it is ancient magic.’

More importantly—what the hell was something like this doing in the Altius main library?

Karl bit his lip, then forced himself to think rationally.

‘First things first, store it in the inventory.’

Its SP cost was way higher than any normal 4th Circle spell.

Whether or not to learn it could be decided later—he had to stash it away for now.

Still, would it even go into the inventory?

[Item stored in inventory.]

Thankfully, it did.

Items that weren’t considered the user’s property couldn’t normally be stored. But since this book had no registered owner and Karl found it himself, it was recognized as his.

He let out a breath and stood up.

And just as he rounded the shelf to leave—

He flinched, nearly bumping into someone.

"...You?"

It was Sharon.

She seemed just as startled, like she hadn’t expected to run into him either.

"......"

"......"

"I'm leaving?"

He had no particular reason to talk, so he tried to walk past her.

She grabbed his sleeve.

"The outcome would’ve been different."

"...?"

"If there hadn’t been spell restrictions, I would’ve won. I didn’t get to use any of my personal magic."

Ah. Sure.

Karl smirked and replied.

"Coming from someone who cried after losing, that’s really convincing. Oh—wait, did you happen to learn some Circle technique where crying boosts your mana or something?"

Sharon’s face turned bright red.

"S-Shut up..."

"Yeah, okay. I’ll shut up. Now let go of my sleeve, please."

He peeled her hand off and started walking again—but her voice rang out behind him.

"We’ll fight again! With other spells next time!"

Karl waved a hand vaguely without even turning back.

He was about to leave this place anyway. No rematch was happening.

* * *

"Here you are."

A day later, Karl finally received his identification.

He examined the card that Seindal handed over.

"It’s magically encoded, huh?"

"Of course. If you show it at any of the faction branches, you’ll be able to get whatever help you need. You’re officially a full member now."

"Right, about that..."

Karl gave a sheepish smile.

"I’m not staying here, and I’ll be leaving soon. Won’t the other elders say something if I just take the title and vanish? I mean, I don’t care personally, but Elder Seindal—are you okay with that?"

Seindal smiled faintly and answered:

"What on earth are you talking about?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"...Excuse me?"

"You’re just leaving to gather research materials at my personal request, aren’t you? There’s no reason for the other Elders to interfere."

Karl stood frozen for a second before letting out a chuckle.

"Ah, right. I’m only leaving to gather research materials for you, Elder Seindal."

"Exactly. It’ll probably take quite a while for you to return, but that’s only natural. The path of magical research is long and arduous, after all."

Seindal clapped Karl on the shoulder.

"If you can, try to contact us whenever you pass by a faction branch. Accept help if needed, offer help when you can. That’s all I ask."

"Yes, of course. I’ll do that."

"And if you ever want to come back, you’re welcome at the main branch anytime. I’ll be continuing Jeron’s ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ research in the meantime. With your help, we could make faster progress."

Nope. Absolutely not coming back.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Despite that firm decision inside, Karl simply smiled and nodded.

[Main Quest has appeared.]

[Second Scenario begins.]

<Main Quest: Find the Sage of Bones>

Locate the Sage of Bones, hidden deep in the forests of Hirloren.

Quest Reward: 200,000 SP

Karl froze in place.

Seindal looked at him curiously.

"What’s wrong all of a sudden?"

"It’s nothing."

Perfect timing for a new quest.

‘Sage of Bones, huh.’

Didn’t sound like the most wholesome mission, that’s for sure.

Either way, it was finally time to leave.

* * *

With Seindal seeing him off, Karl departed the Altius main branch.

He led a horse by the reins.

‘I can’t keep putting this off forever. It’s just a horse—how hard can it be?’

At first, he avoided riding because he was too weak to travel alone. Later, he just kept delaying it out of laziness. But from now on, knowing how to ride was practically a survival skill.

It wasn’t arrogance—he really did have enough power now to protect himself.

Especially since his next destination was Hirloren.

He’d have to cross several nations to get there. If he stuck to caravans and hitching rides like before, who knew how long that would take?

If he traveled solo with a horse, he could cut that time drastically.

Prrrrhh!

"...Well, I’ll manage somehow, right?"

Everyone’s a beginner at some point.

He’d taken a little time to practice before setting out, but now that he was about to ride long-distance, the nerves were kicking in again.

Would’ve been great if horseback riding could be learned like a skill.

As he fumbled with the reins in circles near the city gates, someone spoke to him.

"First time riding?"

Karl turned his head.

A man nearby was adjusting his own horse, apparently preparing to depart.

Karl stared at him. The man continued:

"Hope I’m not butting in, but if you ride like that, your backside won’t survive the trip."

"Ah."

Karl gave a sheepish nod.

"Yeah, it’s my first time. Is my posture really that bad?"

Without saying a word, the man dismounted and approached, reaching out.

"Lower your hips, thighs closer like this... yeah, just like that. Ride like this and you’ll be fine."

After fixing Karl’s posture, he returned to his own horse.

Karl, now sitting much more comfortably, was genuinely impressed. He glanced over, curiosity piqued.

"You a hunter?"

The man had a bow slung across his back, and his outfit gave off that vibe.

He nodded.

"Just stopped by to sell some pelts. Was heading back to the village."

Then, in his typically blunt manner, he turned to leave—but Karl saw an opportunity and caught up beside him.

"If you’re heading that way, you must be from one of the villages near Gaster City."

"Yeah."

"Mind if I tag along? I was planning to head that way too."

The man looked at him for a moment, then gave a small nod.

"I’ll be moving fast. As long as you can keep up, I don’t mind."

Karl grinned.

"I’ll try my best."

The guy sounded stern, but judging from how he helped earlier, he didn’t seem the type to just leave someone behind.

Which meant Karl had found himself an unexpected teacher—one who would correct his riding form throughout the trip to Gaster City.

* * *

Three days.

Over three days of riding together, Karl not only became completely used to horseback travel, but also learned quite a bit about the blunt hunter.

His name was Jeep.

He was a hunter from a place called Antlerstag Village, located near Gaster City.

And most notably, his archery skills were the real deal.

Every time they stopped to rest, he’d disappear into the woods and come back with freshly hunted game, arrows still stuck in their necks.

"Starting to feel a little guilty for eating your food every time," Karl said, biting into a nicely roasted rabbit leg.

"You said we’ll reach the village by tomorrow evening, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do the locals usually avoid outsiders? I just need a place to spend the night."

Jeep shook his head.

"You’ll be fine. There’s an inn, and merchants pass through now and then. It’s not a closed-off village."

"That’s good to hear."

They chatted a bit more about the village—but then Karl suddenly fell silent.

Jeep’s expression had darkened ever so slightly.

"...Something wrong?"

"...?"

"I mean, your face kind of clouds over whenever we talk about the village."

"...It’s nothing."

Jeep fell silent for a moment.

Then, with a sigh, he spoke again.

"No, I guess I shouldn’t say it’s nothing. Something bad is going on."

"What is it?"

Jeep’s voice lowered, grim.

"A monster’s been spotted in the forest near the village. Folks have been getting killed by it for the past few weeks."