Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 163.2

Translator: Pai_

The sparring match was held in the middle of a desolate wasteland next to the makeshift conference hall.

Even though it was just a light exchange, since it was a clash between the heads of two great noble houses, the other wizards had withdrawn to a distance of several hundred meters.

The only one who stood relatively close was Osel, who, being a powerful wizard himself, didn’t have to fear dying easily.

Keeping a distance of about thirty meters, Haroon tapped his hat a few times to adjust it, then spoke to Turan.

“To be honest, I brought it up, but I didn’t expect you to agree so readily. I thought you’d take a moment to weigh your answer.”

“Because you spoke the truth.”

“If you’re so certain and push forward like that, you really are like him.”

Wasn’t that kind of pushing everything in one direction called confirmation bias?

As Turan muttered the suddenly resurfaced term in his head, he pulled a slingshot from his pocket.

Since it was just a light spar, he had no intention of using advanced techniques like Spirit of Fire or the railgun.

Skills he had used when he was a somewhat more ordinary wizard, the ones publicly known, would suffice.

And since Haroon already knew about the Mimic Relic, there was no reason to hold back.

“Well then... shall we begin?”

The moment he murmured those words, Haroon’s figure vanished from the spot.

It was the Concealment ability characteristic of the Zahar Bloodline.

Turan had wondered if it would be different with a family head-level wizard, but thankfully, the Mimic Relic could detect even that.

Instead of firing the loaded stone immediately, Turan, just like his past opponents, quickly created a sphere of light.

In an instant, the surroundings for several kilometers lit up brightly.

“...Oh.”

Surprisingly, instead of canceling his Concealment, Haroon responded by draping a pitch-black fog around his body.

It was surely a skill, not ordinary magic.

Turan responded by flinging the stone he had been spinning directly into the black fog.

After all, what else could be hiding in there?

Boom- without using Wind Path, the stone flew at supersonic speed, tearing through the air with a loud blast, and struck its target accurately.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say Haroon had raised his staff to deflect the flying stone.

“That doesn’t seem like a particularly useful technique.”

Turan spoke to Haroon, who had now released his Concealment.

Of course, the precise hit had only been possible thanks to the relic’s detection abilities, but even without it, simply targeting the black fog would have sufficed.

At that, Haroon laughed heartily.

“I just wanted to show you that there are other ways. And you can’t really say it’s useless. If the enemy can’t even tell how injured they are inside the fog, or whether my attack landed, it can be quite a psychological blow.”

Indeed, so that’s how that technique was meant to be used.

Turan reached inward for the symbols handle and used the same technique Haroon had just shown.

The black fog that should have only existed as a symbol within him now enveloped his whole body, allowing him to conceal himself even under bright light.

“Then I suppose it’s my turn now.”

At that moment, Haroon spoke softly, unwrapping the cloth around the staff he held and aiming it at Turan.

Just from that motion, it wasn’t hard to guess the item’s purpose.

Back when he had fought the dwarves in the mountain range, they had used steam rifles...

Though this one was smaller and more compact, its overall construction was so similar that it was unmistakable.

The moment a light flickered behind the pitch-black muzzle, Turan covered his chest with both hands and converted the relic to the Ruvan Bloodline.

A metallic bullet shot from the muzzle flew at such a speed that it was nearly impossible to perceive, aiming to shred Turan’s arm.

“Ugh...!”

Despite the Guardian's defense power derived from the Ruvan bloodline, plus the Guardian magic artifact he possessed, and the protective clothing Meisa had made for him, his forearm still stung.

Judging from the impact, if he had taken that hit without the help of relics or artifacts, the bullet would have pierced not just his arms but also his heart.

The sensory feedback from the relic had already warned him, but the sheer power of the shot was only possible because the weapon itself was a powerful relic.

As Turan was knocked back and rolled dozens of meters across the ground, he glared sharply, and Haroon let out a hearty laugh.

“I trusted that you’d be able to withstand that much. Come to think of it, wouldn’t your slingshot have hurt quite a bit if I’d taken it head-on?” 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Just like before, that old man had a strange knack for making anyone who tried to argue with him look foolish.

“More than that, judging from your reaction, it seems you’ve seen a gun before. How did you know? Did Cadrum or Reshion tell you?”

“I saw the dwarves in the mountains use them. Theirs used steam.”

“Oh, I see.”

"More importantly, how did you know I had Cadrum and Reshion with me?"

"I heard it from that friend in the northwest. He said someone had stolen the Soul Labyrinth. If that was you, of course you’d have fought and stolen your opponent’s soul to interrogate them.”

It was a little surprising that the Biologist had told Haroon so readily that his item had been stolen, but on second thought, it made sense.

He likely wanted House Zahar to perceive Turan as a threat and subjugate him, thereby solving the problem without lifting a finger himself.

While surprised by the unexpected revelation, Turan focused back on the spar and reached inward toward his symbols handle.

There was something among the techniques he had just seen that he wanted to try out in real combat.

It was the type that added properties to attacks, probably...

“Oh!”

Haroon, who had been deflecting incoming stones as before, exclaimed in surprise.

The stone he had knocked away bent mid-air and came flying back toward him.

The principle itself was similar to the Tracking Magic Turan had often used when he was a regular wizard, but in terms of angle of deflection and magic consumption, it was on an entirely different level.

Normally, compensating for the overwhelming loss of force caused by ignoring inertia with magic would result in self-destruction, but this skill could track the enemy without any such side effects.

No doubt, the ancient Night Hunter had used this ability to shoot and kill distant enemies.

Otherwise, there’s no way a projectile would travel over a hundred kilometers without the target moving.

'I should test later if I can attach tracking functionality to the railgun as well.'

If possible, it would allow him to further refine that terrifying weapon.

Though he had a hunch the power might weaken a little as a result.

As Turan was having that thought, shadowy tendrils suddenly burst up from beneath Haroon’s feet and devoured the stone Turan had launched.

It was presumably a power of the Shadow Bloodline.

“Don’t think of this as part of the demonstration. You won’t be able to replicate it.”

“I figured as much. This is just out of curiosity, so you don’t need to answer if you’d rather not, but didn’t the Shadow Bloodline go extinct ages ago?”

Even as he spoke, Turan extinguished the light and concealed himself to avoid the incoming attack.

To overcome that, Haroon would likely need to generate light himself as well.

However, contrary to expectations, Haroon did not create light. Instead, he stomped the ground as if casting a terrain alteration spell.

With that motion, dark purple tendrils erupted from the ground in all directions, piercing through a radius of hundreds of meters.

Naturally, that included the area where Turan had been, so he used flight magic to escape while still concealed.

The moment one of the tendrils brushed past him, Haroon’s gaze snapped toward him.

“There you are.”

Bang- the ignition of gunpowder rang out, a sound he hadn’t caught clearly before, but it had no effect.

Rather than blocking it with his body like earlier, he had triggered an explosion around himself to execute an evasive maneuver.

When Turan landed and released his Concealment, Haroon also withdrew the shadowy tendrils that had blanketed the ground.

“The Shadow Bloodline is something we’ve preserved in secret. But we keep it to only the faintest level of power, just enough to prevent them from becoming proper wizards. If someone with excessive strength is born, we prune them.”

“Because of your bloodline management regulations?”

“Exactly. On top of that, the Shadow Bloodline is... dangerous. Not quite like the Alchemist Bloodline, but close.”

“Is that the reason you severed both bloodlines?”

“That’s right. If they had remained, the world would be far more tormented than it is now. I can guarantee that."

As they talked, Turan approached and threw a punch, and surprisingly, Haroon engaged him directly in close-quarters combat.

Even though he had activated the power of the Ruvan Bloodline, Turan didn’t find himself being easily overpowered, in fact, it even felt like the other side was more unyielding.

Just as Turan used the Guardian magic artifact, it was clear that Haroon possessed a magic artifact that granted superhuman strength, like the Fighter Bloodline.

How many exchanges had passed like that?

When Turan massaged his numb jaw and took a few steps back, Haroon slung the gun over his shoulder.

“Looks like we should stop here. I’m starting to get tired.”

It didn’t seem like an empty statement, Haroon’s face clearly looked more drained than it had just moments ago.

Just like Badal had been before.

At that time, Turan hadn’t understood why, but now he knew the reason.

Unlike Turan and his companions, whose souls and bodies were in full harmony, the vessels of the gods lacked such cohesion, causing the Soul Chain that held them together to tire easily.

If the soul and body belonged to entirely different species, like with the half-elves, it became difficult to even properly use skills, just as it had been with Reshion.

If Turan were to fight them in the future, he would have to take full advantage of that fact.

Would it be best to finish things off now while the opponent was worn out?

As the sudden temptation surfaced, Turan wrestled with it for a moment before shaking his head.

Regardless of moral considerations, attempting a surprise attack in the middle of a sparring match between guest and host would lead not only his subordinates but even his ally Osel to look at him with contempt.

“It was a good match.”

As the two bowed respectfully to each other to mark the end of the duel, cheers erupted from the surrounding spectators.

*****

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